The Best Man (Franklin Schaffner, 1964) 8/10
Political machinations behind the nomination of a presidential candidate. Based on the play by Gore Vidal the story revolves around a former President (Lee Tracy) hoping to endorse one of two candidates, both of whom have skeletons in the closet. The present upright Secretary of State (Henry Fonda) has a fondness for the opposite sex and was once diagnosed as manic depressive after a nervous breakdown and despite a collapsing marriage his wife (Margaret Leighton) arrives to offer support while his harried campaign manager (Kevin McCarthy) tries to dig up dirt on his opponent. The shark-like senator (Cliff Robertson), who has risen from poverty, is determined to claw his way to a win while his wife (Edie Adams) and his elder brother and campaign manager (Gene Raymond) try to reign in his ruthless tendencies when an old hint of homosexuality from his past threatens to derail his bid for the Presidency. Lee Tracy, as the wily no-nonsense and dying former President, runs off with the film as he tries to choose which of the two candidates to endorse. It was the actor's last role which he created on Broadway (winning a Tony nomination) and here received a much deserved Academy Award nomination for his swansong. Both Fonda and Robertson are at the top of their game with able support from both Leighton and Adams as their wives. Ann Sothern is hilarious as the garrulously vulgar vice chairperson of the party. The word "homosexual" was for the first time heard in a Hollywood film.
The Wilby Conspiracy (Ralph Nelson, 1975) 6/10
In South Africa, during the Apartheid era, a relentless cop (Nicol Williamson) tracks a black revolutionary (Sidney Poitier) - who is just out of prison - and a white engineer (Michael Caine), who have both beaten up two police officers. They are chased from Capetown to Johannesburg while trying to escape across the border into Botswana while smuggling a big cache of diamonds to be used against the white oppressors. Helping them along the way is the engineer's laywer mistress (Prunella Gee), her estranged husband (Rutger Hauer), an Indian dentist (Saeed Jaffrey), his sexy assistant (Persis Khambatta) - who has it off with Poitier in a cupboard - and assorted colored folk working in the underground. The film almost seems like a re-working of "The Defiant Ones" - Poitier, in handcuffs, on the run with Caine - but changes tracks by switching into an action adventure film with the cops trying to stop them from getting the diamonds out. The eclectic cast do their best with Williamson outstanding as the evil racist cop.
Cuba (Richard Lester, 1979) 4/10
Atmospheric but lackluster story set in Cuba during the last year of U.S.-backed military dictator Fulgencio Batista. A British Major (Sean Connery), a mercenary, is hired by a General (Martin Balsam) to train Batista's army against Castro's guerillas. He realizes that he is too late as the Cuban Revolution is just waiting to happen so he takes up with his former lover (Brooke Adams), now married to a sleazy plantation owner (Chris Sarandon) who in turn is involved with a sexy worker (Lonette McKee) at his cigar factory. The disjointed screenplay cannot decide if it wants to be an action adventure, a political exposé or a sweeping romance. It fails on all counts despite a great cast - also standing out in brief roles are Jack Weston as a sweaty American businessman, Hector Elizondo as a cynical cop, and Denholm Elliott as a gunrunner - and dazzling cinematography by David Watkin and Shirley Russell's colorful costumes. Lester does manage to create a sense of underlying chaos as the Batista regime was collapsing all around while people went about their lives as if all was well. Shot in Spain for obvious reasons.
Man in the Saddle (André DeToth, 1951) 6/10
The first of star Scott's six Westerns with director DeToth. A farmer (Randolph Scott) resorts to violence when a ruthless land baron (Alexander Knox) not only wins his ambitious sweetheart (Joan Leslie) but also attempts to usurp his land. Fast paced film has a number of action set pieces - a shootout in a saloon in the dark, a fistfight that destroys a hut and continues down a snowy mountainside and another long drawn shootout at the end. Ellen Drew is very good as the lady who carries a torch for Scott.
Hidden Fear (André DeToth, 1957) 4/10
Shoddy B-noir was shot entirely in Copenhagen which gives it a slight european edge. American cop (John Payne) aids the Danish police when his sister is arrested for murder. She is innocent of the charge but is upto her neck with assorted nefarious types (Conrad Nagel & Alexander Knox). An over-weight Payne gets in on the action - assorted shootouts, fist fights and a car chase - as he discovers a counterfeit ring. Low budget film is a bore.
Thunder Over the Plains (André DeToth, 1953) 4/10
Carpetbaggers versus civilians in Texas who are taken advantage of right after the Civil War when Texas had not been readmitted to the Union. A Federal Captain (Randolph Scott), a Texan, has to enforce the law against the violent opposition of his own people. While trying to contain a rebel leader (Charles McGraw) he has to also contend with a newly arrived trigger happy officer (Lex Barker) who makes a move on his wife (Phyllis Kirk). Scott is good in this slow moving B-western but this is an average and rather dull oater.
Crime Wave (André DeToth, 1954) 7/10
Tough B-noir has an ex-con (Gene Nelson) - who now has a wife (Phyllis Kirk) and is leading a straight life - suddenly finds himself upto his neck in trouble when a wounded ex-colleague turns up on his doorstep. When the man dies he is forced to call his parole officer to get him out of the jam which leads the cops to start sniffing around. When the dead man's partners (Ted de Corsia & Charles Bronson) also turn up, a relentless cop (Sterling Hayden) begins to harrass the couple for information. Matters become worse for the couple when they are forced to participate in a bank robbery that gets bungled. Exciting film benefits from its location shoot on the streets of Los Angeles. Nelson and Kirk are very good with Hayden tough as nails as the hard nosed cop who has a surprising twist up his sleeve at the end.
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Verdens verste menneske / The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier, 2021) 5/10
Rambling and often rather tedious film about a young woman (Renate Reinsve) unsure about her life and about her relationships with two very different men. She cannot make up her mind as she flits from relationship to relationship. She labels herself the worse person in the world as she feels guilty for not making up her mind. This is a rom-com for grownups and unlike the Hollywood variety there is no happy ending in this often gloomy Norwegian film. Just like in life one has to live with whatever decisions, good or bad, one has made. Reinsve is outstanding - she won an acting prize at the Cannes Film Festival - and gives a lovely mature perfomance. The film has been nominated for an Academy Award for its screenplay and in the International Feature category.
Rambling and often rather tedious film about a young woman (Renate Reinsve) unsure about her life and about her relationships with two very different men. She cannot make up her mind as she flits from relationship to relationship. She labels herself the worse person in the world as she feels guilty for not making up her mind. This is a rom-com for grownups and unlike the Hollywood variety there is no happy ending in this often gloomy Norwegian film. Just like in life one has to live with whatever decisions, good or bad, one has made. Reinsve is outstanding - she won an acting prize at the Cannes Film Festival - and gives a lovely mature perfomance. The film has been nominated for an Academy Award for its screenplay and in the International Feature category.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Burnt by the Sun (1994) - 8/10 - During the summer of 1936, Colonel Kotov, a hero of the Bolshevik Revolution, is vacationing with his wife, young daughter, and friends. His wife's former fiance arrives after a 10 year absence and seems friendly at first, but has a hidden agenda involving Stalinist purges. It has nice cinematography and is well acted.
Character (1997) - 7/10 - A prominent bailiff has sex with his housekeeper on one occasion. She leaves when she realizes that she is pregnant and raises her son in poverty on her own. The son has a few unfavorable encounters with his biological father over the years as he works his way up and becomes a lawyer. It's shot very well, but is done in a rather cold and dispassionate manner. The bailiff and the housekeeper fit that mold as well.
I've now seen all of the winners for the Academy Award for Best International Film. I have 22 of the nominees left and hope to have 21 of those finished by the end of May.
Character (1997) - 7/10 - A prominent bailiff has sex with his housekeeper on one occasion. She leaves when she realizes that she is pregnant and raises her son in poverty on her own. The son has a few unfavorable encounters with his biological father over the years as he works his way up and becomes a lawyer. It's shot very well, but is done in a rather cold and dispassionate manner. The bailiff and the housekeeper fit that mold as well.
I've now seen all of the winners for the Academy Award for Best International Film. I have 22 of the nominees left and hope to have 21 of those finished by the end of May.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
È stata la mano di Dio / The Hand of God (Paolo Sorrentino, 2021) 7/10
The film has a strong whiff of Federico Fellini's "I Viteloni" and "Amarcord" and continues this director's film journey sort of apeing the classic director - I hated Sorrentino's "The Great Beauty" because it seemed like a copycat version of a Fellini, yet I found this film absolutely charming for the exact same reason. Go figure. Highly personal film, with autobiographical elements, the story is about the coming-of-age of a young Maradona-obsessed Neapolitan boy (Filippo Scotti) who lives at home with his parents (Tony Servillo & Teresa Saponangelo - both outstanding) and surrounded by his very large (and eccentric) family members who delightfully embody what is famously remembered as Fellini's grotesquerie - the entire supporting cast, including the extras, seem carefully chosen and are placed purposely in front of the camera like mannequins. They don't have anything much to do but add superb colour to each background shot. The screenplay is a series of vignettes - a family outing where they swim in the Bay of Naples, and on a boat where the boy and all the men oogle an aunt who sunbathes stark naked as the camera zooms in on her naked breasts as she intentionally adjusts her legs to reveal her thick bush to her family audience, the thrill of watching Maradona play football, a visit to an actor's audition, the father's infidelity and reaction of the mother, joyrides with a petty criminal, and general walks around Naples taking in its architecture and moods. And then tragedy strikes followed by his farfetched first sexual encounter between the legs of his most unlikely neighbor who provides valuable advice about his future which he decides is going to be all about becoming a movie director. The last shot has him on a train going to Rome and to a life in and around movies. Charming film is nominated for an Oscar in the International Film category.
The Lost City (Aaron and Adam Nee, 2022) 4/10
Innocuous but formulaic action-adventure is a total rip-off of "Romancing the Stone" and proves once again that Hollywood studios prefer to regurgitate old money-making ideas instead of coming up with something original. Depressed middle-aged romance novelist (Sandra Bullock) finds herself kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who thinks she knows about treasures in a lost city which she wrote about in one of her silly novels. Coming to her rescue is the cover model (Channing Tatum) from her book jackets, a man she detests, and who insists on saving her. He gets a little help from an ex-Navy SEAL (Brad Pitt in a delightful surprise cameo) who manages to shoot his way into the villain's camp, rescue the novelist and ends up with his brains plastered all over Tatum's face. Does he really die? Tired plot has action set pieces far too familiar from other much better films. Radcliffe is badly miscast while Bullock has very little chemistry with dimwit beefcake Tatum. Scoring major points is Brad Pitt who breezes in, effortlessly provides laughs, and breezes out with a bang.
Last Stand at Saber River (Dick Lowry, 1997) 6/10
Selleck brings nothing new to the genre. At least nothing we haven't seen before in countless Westerns from the 1950s. However, its important that the grandeur of the genre stays revived and its to the credit of actors like Selleck, Kevin Costner, Sam Elliott and Clint Eastwood who ensure we get stories both on the big and small screens set in the Old West. After the Civil War is over a returning Confederate veteran tries to reclaim his land and home in Arizona which has been illegally occupied by Yankee carpetbaggers. He is forced to team up with a Union sympathiser (Keith Carradine) to go after the real villain. Rather stale plot is livened up by the cast - Suzy Amis is fiery as Selleck's school teacher wife - and the New Mexico locations subbing for Arizona.
The film has a strong whiff of Federico Fellini's "I Viteloni" and "Amarcord" and continues this director's film journey sort of apeing the classic director - I hated Sorrentino's "The Great Beauty" because it seemed like a copycat version of a Fellini, yet I found this film absolutely charming for the exact same reason. Go figure. Highly personal film, with autobiographical elements, the story is about the coming-of-age of a young Maradona-obsessed Neapolitan boy (Filippo Scotti) who lives at home with his parents (Tony Servillo & Teresa Saponangelo - both outstanding) and surrounded by his very large (and eccentric) family members who delightfully embody what is famously remembered as Fellini's grotesquerie - the entire supporting cast, including the extras, seem carefully chosen and are placed purposely in front of the camera like mannequins. They don't have anything much to do but add superb colour to each background shot. The screenplay is a series of vignettes - a family outing where they swim in the Bay of Naples, and on a boat where the boy and all the men oogle an aunt who sunbathes stark naked as the camera zooms in on her naked breasts as she intentionally adjusts her legs to reveal her thick bush to her family audience, the thrill of watching Maradona play football, a visit to an actor's audition, the father's infidelity and reaction of the mother, joyrides with a petty criminal, and general walks around Naples taking in its architecture and moods. And then tragedy strikes followed by his farfetched first sexual encounter between the legs of his most unlikely neighbor who provides valuable advice about his future which he decides is going to be all about becoming a movie director. The last shot has him on a train going to Rome and to a life in and around movies. Charming film is nominated for an Oscar in the International Film category.
The Lost City (Aaron and Adam Nee, 2022) 4/10
Innocuous but formulaic action-adventure is a total rip-off of "Romancing the Stone" and proves once again that Hollywood studios prefer to regurgitate old money-making ideas instead of coming up with something original. Depressed middle-aged romance novelist (Sandra Bullock) finds herself kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who thinks she knows about treasures in a lost city which she wrote about in one of her silly novels. Coming to her rescue is the cover model (Channing Tatum) from her book jackets, a man she detests, and who insists on saving her. He gets a little help from an ex-Navy SEAL (Brad Pitt in a delightful surprise cameo) who manages to shoot his way into the villain's camp, rescue the novelist and ends up with his brains plastered all over Tatum's face. Does he really die? Tired plot has action set pieces far too familiar from other much better films. Radcliffe is badly miscast while Bullock has very little chemistry with dimwit beefcake Tatum. Scoring major points is Brad Pitt who breezes in, effortlessly provides laughs, and breezes out with a bang.
Last Stand at Saber River (Dick Lowry, 1997) 6/10
Selleck brings nothing new to the genre. At least nothing we haven't seen before in countless Westerns from the 1950s. However, its important that the grandeur of the genre stays revived and its to the credit of actors like Selleck, Kevin Costner, Sam Elliott and Clint Eastwood who ensure we get stories both on the big and small screens set in the Old West. After the Civil War is over a returning Confederate veteran tries to reclaim his land and home in Arizona which has been illegally occupied by Yankee carpetbaggers. He is forced to team up with a Union sympathiser (Keith Carradine) to go after the real villain. Rather stale plot is livened up by the cast - Suzy Amis is fiery as Selleck's school teacher wife - and the New Mexico locations subbing for Arizona.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Gangubai Kathiawadi (Sanjay Leela Bhansali, 2022) 9/10
The role of the prostitute in Bollywood films is either romanticized or gritty. The former category has been a great success through interpretations by Waheeda Rehman ("Pyaasa"), Meena Kumari ("Pakeezah"), Sharmila Tagore ("Mausam"), Rekha ("Muqaddar Ka Sikandar"; "Umrao Jaan"), and Madhuri Dixit ("Devdas"; "Kalank"). Gritty prostitutes were successfully played by Shabana Azmi ("Mandi"), Tabu ("Chandni Bar"), Kareena Kapoor ("Chameli"; "Talaash"), and Vidya Balan ("Begum Jaan"). Bhansali here takes a chance by casting angel-faced Alia Bhatt as the gritty female mafia don and madame of a brothel in Kamathipura, the neighborhood in Mumbai famous for its flesh trade. Bhatt effortlessly rises to the occasion and transforms herself through body language and voice modulation to portray a very gritty prostitute. Bhansali's screenplay is adapted from one of the chapters of Hussain Zaidi's book "Mafia Queens of Mumbai". Sold into prostitution by her husband she, through dint of strong perseverance manages to survive her harsh life. There are clashes with the greedy madam (Seema Pahva) who insists she sleeps with a man who beats and scars her. She seeks help from and befriends a local Don (Ajay Devgn) who becomes her rakhi brother, faces political rivalry from a transgender (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), has a romance with a younger man, successfully stops the brothel from being moved by presenting the case to Prime Minister Nehru and works diligently to solve various issues of orphans and women in the prostitution business. Bhansali's stylized set of the red light area is surprisingly subdued - all muted colours and a far cry from the opulent brothel in "Devdas" - and which appears to be a stepping stone towards his next ambitious project about a cross generational saga set in the famous red light area of Heera Mandi in Lahore. Compared to his other extravagant (and deliciously vulgar and over-the-top) films this one is almost subdued in comparison working more as a character piece. Of course casting the "fair 'n lovely" Alia Bhatt automatically romanticizes the story - the real Gangubai was not the charming creature on display here - but the actress manages to give an approximation of the woman's tough no-holds-barred character while keeping it well within Bollywood film conventions in order to ensure it is a boxoffice success which it has happily become for the entire creative team behind the film. It also allows Bhatt to emerge as a force to reckon with in Bollywood - a female star (without coat-tailing a major male co-star) - at the helm of a big budget film that is a huge success at the boxoffice. Although the supporting cast - Seema Pahwa, Ajay Devgn, Nawazuddin Siddiqui - play equally flamboyant characters they don't get too much of an arc in the story as Bhansali focuses with full concentration on Gangubai and on his new muse who vividly creates the part.
Adorable menteuse / Adorable Liar (Michel Deville,1962) 2/10
An annoying young girl (Marina Vlady) - the "adorable" of the title - can't stop lying. When she falls in love with a much older man she stops lying and only speaks the truth. But nobody believes her as they think she is still lying. Silly film goes on too long.
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (Richard C. Sarafian, 1973) 4/10
Chase western - rich woman (Sarah Miles) runs from her husband (George Hamilton) and reluctantly takes off with an outlaw (Burt Reynolds) who with his gang has robbed a train. Offbeat film has the oddball casting of the two leads while off-set there was a scandal when Miles' secretary-lover was found dead of an overdose with unexplained injuries to his head and body. The widescreen photography by Harry Stradling Jr. is a plus along with a strong supporting cast in Jack Warden, Bo Hopkins and Lee J. Cobb as the sheriff in pursuit. The total lack of chemistry between the two leads is a detriment and the script (by Eleanor Perry) fails to provide Reynolds with anything to do except mainly stay in the background and emerge sporadically to prevent his men from raping Miles who has many nude scenes scattered throughout. Cat Dancing is the name of Reynold's squaw.
Jesse Stone: Night Passage (Robert Harmon, 2006) 6/10
Series of cop films made for tv and based on the novels of Robert B. Parker. Alcoholic cop, Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck), is asked to resign from the LAPD and accepts a job in a small town in Massachusetts. He soon gets involved in a homicide involving a crooked city official (Saul Rubinek) and a sadistic hood (Stephen Baldwin) who launders money for the mob. Familiar premise - like any of the countless cop shows headed by a major star during the 70s and 80s - with Selleck in full-on laconic mode with a troubled past married life that intrudes via a long distance phone call. Viola Davis plays a bored cop on his beat.
Jesse Stone: Stone Cold (Robert Harmon, 2005) 7/10
Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) is inundated with homicides as he investigates a serial killer who has shot two bullets into each of the four victims' chests. One of the victims is a close friend of Stone. In addition a high school girl is gang raped by three male students and a hotshot lawyer (Mimi Rogers) represents the principal suspect who is put in jail by Stone. Selleck is fine as the perpetually melancholy cop who knows instinctively that something is wrong.
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (Robert Harmon, 2006) 6/10
Cop Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) investigates the murder of a pregnant High School girl who is found bound and gagged underwater in a lake. The town also reveals a wife beater who holds a supermarket hostage when his wife decides to finally leave him. Stone's chronic drinking problem is addressed by a shrink (William Devane).
Jesse Stone: Sea Change (Robert Harmon, 2007) 3/10
Boring entry in this cop show is more about the alcohol issues of Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) caused by his escalating problems with his ex-wife - all his scenes with her are on the phone where we just hear her voice - and his attempt to open a long dead case. Plus there is an attempted rape which has to be solved. Viola Davis, as the chief dispatcher, gets written out of the show - she was finally hitting the big league in movies - and brusque Kathy Baker joins the cast. Slow and boring episode got Selleck an Emmy nod.
Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (Robert Harmon, 2009) 6/10
Slow burn series just like the character of the cop, Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck). The location - fictional Paradise, Massachusetts but shot in Halifax, Nova Scotia - almost gives it a feel of "Murder, She Wrote" except the melancholy rhythm of the plots take it pretty far away from the upbeat Angela Lansbury series. Stone and the police chief (Stephen McHattie) get shot while on a stakeout. A woman (Camryn Manheim) approaches Stone about her kidnapped baby which she feels is still alive even after the case was closed years before. He thinks the child is dead but secretly investigates when his dispatch officer (Kathy Baker) insists she will go ahead alone and look for the child. His boozy binges continue as he wallows in misery courtesy of his ex-wife's phone calls much to the disgust of his pot-smoking shrink (William Devane). The series has a cute Golden Retriever which Stone adopted a few episodes ago after its former owner ended up shot dead at the edge of a lake.
Jesse Stone: No Remorse (Robert Harmon, 2010) 7/10
Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) gets suspended from the police force of Paradise so he helps out a friend with a serial killer case in Boston. He also tries to get acquainted with a cell phone bought to escape the neurotic daily phone calls received from his ex-wife. Meanwhile back in Paradise the dispatcher (Kathy Bates) and Stone's second in command (Kohl Sudduth) try to catch a convenience store robber/murderer. The Paradise town council call Stone in for a meeting at the tail end of the episode. Will he be reinstated?
Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (Dick Lowry, 2011) 6/10
After he is forced to retire, Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) investigates the death of an old friend who overdosed and was working as a prostitute. Meanwhile back in Paradise his old colleagues are having a hard time working with the arrogant man who has replaced him as police chief.
Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (Robert Harmon, 2012) 7/10
When the new police chief of Paradise is blown up in his car the town council reinstates Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck). The series formula gets slightly tweaked as only one case remains to be solved with no subsidiary case in sight. Also his usual partners at the office are missing. Finally Stone touches and strokes his dog after ignoring him for the last 7 episodes. He also has a steamy romance with a blues singer (Gloria Reuben) who he credits for helping him through his most troubled times.
Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (Robert Harmon, 2015) 7/10
Last episode in the adventures of small-town cop Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck). It's three years after his last appearance and he is off his shrink and off the blues singer who dumped him for her ex-husband. In Boston he takes on the case of a serial killer (Luke Perry) who, in jail, insists he cannot take credit for the murder of a white woman. He admits to the murders of three black women and maintains the fourth was a copycat killing. Meanwhile back in Paradise he tries to resolve the issues of a young school girl whose mother is a drunk. Stone's last dog died and he adopts the dog belonging to the hooker who was murdered. Stunning locations all around in Nova Scotia substituting for Boston.
The role of the prostitute in Bollywood films is either romanticized or gritty. The former category has been a great success through interpretations by Waheeda Rehman ("Pyaasa"), Meena Kumari ("Pakeezah"), Sharmila Tagore ("Mausam"), Rekha ("Muqaddar Ka Sikandar"; "Umrao Jaan"), and Madhuri Dixit ("Devdas"; "Kalank"). Gritty prostitutes were successfully played by Shabana Azmi ("Mandi"), Tabu ("Chandni Bar"), Kareena Kapoor ("Chameli"; "Talaash"), and Vidya Balan ("Begum Jaan"). Bhansali here takes a chance by casting angel-faced Alia Bhatt as the gritty female mafia don and madame of a brothel in Kamathipura, the neighborhood in Mumbai famous for its flesh trade. Bhatt effortlessly rises to the occasion and transforms herself through body language and voice modulation to portray a very gritty prostitute. Bhansali's screenplay is adapted from one of the chapters of Hussain Zaidi's book "Mafia Queens of Mumbai". Sold into prostitution by her husband she, through dint of strong perseverance manages to survive her harsh life. There are clashes with the greedy madam (Seema Pahva) who insists she sleeps with a man who beats and scars her. She seeks help from and befriends a local Don (Ajay Devgn) who becomes her rakhi brother, faces political rivalry from a transgender (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), has a romance with a younger man, successfully stops the brothel from being moved by presenting the case to Prime Minister Nehru and works diligently to solve various issues of orphans and women in the prostitution business. Bhansali's stylized set of the red light area is surprisingly subdued - all muted colours and a far cry from the opulent brothel in "Devdas" - and which appears to be a stepping stone towards his next ambitious project about a cross generational saga set in the famous red light area of Heera Mandi in Lahore. Compared to his other extravagant (and deliciously vulgar and over-the-top) films this one is almost subdued in comparison working more as a character piece. Of course casting the "fair 'n lovely" Alia Bhatt automatically romanticizes the story - the real Gangubai was not the charming creature on display here - but the actress manages to give an approximation of the woman's tough no-holds-barred character while keeping it well within Bollywood film conventions in order to ensure it is a boxoffice success which it has happily become for the entire creative team behind the film. It also allows Bhatt to emerge as a force to reckon with in Bollywood - a female star (without coat-tailing a major male co-star) - at the helm of a big budget film that is a huge success at the boxoffice. Although the supporting cast - Seema Pahwa, Ajay Devgn, Nawazuddin Siddiqui - play equally flamboyant characters they don't get too much of an arc in the story as Bhansali focuses with full concentration on Gangubai and on his new muse who vividly creates the part.
Adorable menteuse / Adorable Liar (Michel Deville,1962) 2/10
An annoying young girl (Marina Vlady) - the "adorable" of the title - can't stop lying. When she falls in love with a much older man she stops lying and only speaks the truth. But nobody believes her as they think she is still lying. Silly film goes on too long.
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (Richard C. Sarafian, 1973) 4/10
Chase western - rich woman (Sarah Miles) runs from her husband (George Hamilton) and reluctantly takes off with an outlaw (Burt Reynolds) who with his gang has robbed a train. Offbeat film has the oddball casting of the two leads while off-set there was a scandal when Miles' secretary-lover was found dead of an overdose with unexplained injuries to his head and body. The widescreen photography by Harry Stradling Jr. is a plus along with a strong supporting cast in Jack Warden, Bo Hopkins and Lee J. Cobb as the sheriff in pursuit. The total lack of chemistry between the two leads is a detriment and the script (by Eleanor Perry) fails to provide Reynolds with anything to do except mainly stay in the background and emerge sporadically to prevent his men from raping Miles who has many nude scenes scattered throughout. Cat Dancing is the name of Reynold's squaw.
Jesse Stone: Night Passage (Robert Harmon, 2006) 6/10
Series of cop films made for tv and based on the novels of Robert B. Parker. Alcoholic cop, Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck), is asked to resign from the LAPD and accepts a job in a small town in Massachusetts. He soon gets involved in a homicide involving a crooked city official (Saul Rubinek) and a sadistic hood (Stephen Baldwin) who launders money for the mob. Familiar premise - like any of the countless cop shows headed by a major star during the 70s and 80s - with Selleck in full-on laconic mode with a troubled past married life that intrudes via a long distance phone call. Viola Davis plays a bored cop on his beat.
Jesse Stone: Stone Cold (Robert Harmon, 2005) 7/10
Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) is inundated with homicides as he investigates a serial killer who has shot two bullets into each of the four victims' chests. One of the victims is a close friend of Stone. In addition a high school girl is gang raped by three male students and a hotshot lawyer (Mimi Rogers) represents the principal suspect who is put in jail by Stone. Selleck is fine as the perpetually melancholy cop who knows instinctively that something is wrong.
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (Robert Harmon, 2006) 6/10
Cop Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) investigates the murder of a pregnant High School girl who is found bound and gagged underwater in a lake. The town also reveals a wife beater who holds a supermarket hostage when his wife decides to finally leave him. Stone's chronic drinking problem is addressed by a shrink (William Devane).
Jesse Stone: Sea Change (Robert Harmon, 2007) 3/10
Boring entry in this cop show is more about the alcohol issues of Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) caused by his escalating problems with his ex-wife - all his scenes with her are on the phone where we just hear her voice - and his attempt to open a long dead case. Plus there is an attempted rape which has to be solved. Viola Davis, as the chief dispatcher, gets written out of the show - she was finally hitting the big league in movies - and brusque Kathy Baker joins the cast. Slow and boring episode got Selleck an Emmy nod.
Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (Robert Harmon, 2009) 6/10
Slow burn series just like the character of the cop, Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck). The location - fictional Paradise, Massachusetts but shot in Halifax, Nova Scotia - almost gives it a feel of "Murder, She Wrote" except the melancholy rhythm of the plots take it pretty far away from the upbeat Angela Lansbury series. Stone and the police chief (Stephen McHattie) get shot while on a stakeout. A woman (Camryn Manheim) approaches Stone about her kidnapped baby which she feels is still alive even after the case was closed years before. He thinks the child is dead but secretly investigates when his dispatch officer (Kathy Baker) insists she will go ahead alone and look for the child. His boozy binges continue as he wallows in misery courtesy of his ex-wife's phone calls much to the disgust of his pot-smoking shrink (William Devane). The series has a cute Golden Retriever which Stone adopted a few episodes ago after its former owner ended up shot dead at the edge of a lake.
Jesse Stone: No Remorse (Robert Harmon, 2010) 7/10
Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) gets suspended from the police force of Paradise so he helps out a friend with a serial killer case in Boston. He also tries to get acquainted with a cell phone bought to escape the neurotic daily phone calls received from his ex-wife. Meanwhile back in Paradise the dispatcher (Kathy Bates) and Stone's second in command (Kohl Sudduth) try to catch a convenience store robber/murderer. The Paradise town council call Stone in for a meeting at the tail end of the episode. Will he be reinstated?
Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (Dick Lowry, 2011) 6/10
After he is forced to retire, Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) investigates the death of an old friend who overdosed and was working as a prostitute. Meanwhile back in Paradise his old colleagues are having a hard time working with the arrogant man who has replaced him as police chief.
Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (Robert Harmon, 2012) 7/10
When the new police chief of Paradise is blown up in his car the town council reinstates Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck). The series formula gets slightly tweaked as only one case remains to be solved with no subsidiary case in sight. Also his usual partners at the office are missing. Finally Stone touches and strokes his dog after ignoring him for the last 7 episodes. He also has a steamy romance with a blues singer (Gloria Reuben) who he credits for helping him through his most troubled times.
Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (Robert Harmon, 2015) 7/10
Last episode in the adventures of small-town cop Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck). It's three years after his last appearance and he is off his shrink and off the blues singer who dumped him for her ex-husband. In Boston he takes on the case of a serial killer (Luke Perry) who, in jail, insists he cannot take credit for the murder of a white woman. He admits to the murders of three black women and maintains the fourth was a copycat killing. Meanwhile back in Paradise he tries to resolve the issues of a young school girl whose mother is a drunk. Stone's last dog died and he adopts the dog belonging to the hooker who was murdered. Stunning locations all around in Nova Scotia substituting for Boston.
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Belle (2021) - 8.5/10 - Suzu lost her mother when she was six years old and has sort of been in a shell since then. She's close to graduating from high school and joins U, an immersive virtual reality world where people can get a fresh start. She becomes an incredibly popular singer in U, though this doesn't affect her real life all that much at first. She becomes interested in helping Beast, a fearsome looking character who is combative and on the run from the self appointed guardians of justice in U. This is a nice version of the Beauty and the Beast fable and the songs are pretty good as well.
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The Thing from Another World (1951) - 7/10 - Soldiers and scientists investigate an alien ship that has been discovered frozen in ice in the far north. They find a humanoid creature inside and accidentally let it thaw out after which it attacks the people at the base. The film has a lot more suspense than actual creature time, but isn't bad.
Psych 3: This is Gus (2021) - 8/10 - Gus is about to get married to his fiancee, Selene, who also happens to be 9 months pregnant. Shawn suspects that something isn't quite right about Selene and that she isn't who she says she is so he starts to investigate. This is another fun Psych case and I'm ready for the next one.
Psych 3: This is Gus (2021) - 8/10 - Gus is about to get married to his fiancee, Selene, who also happens to be 9 months pregnant. Shawn suspects that something isn't quite right about Selene and that she isn't who she says she is so he starts to investigate. This is another fun Psych case and I'm ready for the next one.
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Against the Ice (Peter Flinth, 2022) 5/10
Films about explorers can be rather tedious after the initial set-up. Filmmakers have to sustain interest by showing the explorer go through assorted hardships - since the story is set in turn of the century Greenland there are precarious moments hanging off icy cliffs and rampaging polar bears. True story about Danish polar explorer, Ejnar Mikkelsen (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who in 1909 organizes an expedition in Shannon Island, East Greenland, to recover the records of the missing members of the ill-fated Denmark expedition. After various attempts which fail he tries one more time by going inland along with his mechanic, Iver Iverson (Joe Cole), who is the only member of the expedition who volunteers to go on the dangerous journey with him. They are successful, find the important records of the ill-fated Danish expedition, but return to find their teammates have abandoned them and left them all alone. The two men were finally rescued in 1912 just when they had given up hope and were starting to hallucinate. Overlong film fills out the running time with repetitious scenes involving Mikkelson's fiancé who he imagines has joined him at the remote outpost. Superb visuals courtesy of location shooting in Iceland and Greenland. Man vs nature story is well acted and has its moments but often feels quite a chore to sit through.
Svart krabba / Black Crab (Adam Berg, 2022) 7/10
Old fashioned thriller / war film with a screenplay that throws the audience straight into a war zone without any explanation or details. A weary soldier (Noomi Rapace), who was separated from her teenage daughter two years before, is given a mission to deliver two canisters across the ice- covered archipelago which will help them to win the war. The journey, by the 6-member team on ice skates, is fraught with danger as they are chased and picked off by the enemy. Rapace, who knows the mission is suicidal, has been given the hope of meeting her daughter at the end of the mission. Will the group make it? Will she survive and be reunited with her daughter. And what exactly is in the canisters? Eerie camerawork on the endless expanse of desolate ice is an exciting highlight with tough Rapace balancing the plot on her fragile shoulders. Exciting film stumbles a bit at the end as it tries to reach an appropriately dramatic denouement.
Eaux profondes / Deep Water (Michel Deville, 1981) 7/10
Patricia Highsmith's psychological novel, "Deep Water" gets a french screen adaptation. A loveless marriage is unusual in that the couple continue to live with each other while the wife (Isabelle Huppert) openly indulges in affairs with young men while her much older husband (Jean-Louis Trintignant) silently seeths but tolerates her relentless infidelity. Divorce is never mentioned for the sake of their precocious little daughter. When the husband, during the spur of the moment, drowns one of his wife's lovers it seems to turn into a gleeful habit when another one is later also disposed of in an equally violent fashion. The result of these murders is quite unexpected. Deville sets this marital cat-and-mouse game in a stunning rural setting which makes the murders seem surreal in such quiet and exquisite surroundings. Trintignant creates yet another of his great complex characters as he painfully worships, hates yet tolerates his slutty wife. Huppert, in full defiant mode, seems to be taunting her husband with each sexual move almost wanting him to retaliate. As he continues to ignore each indiscretion she takes sadistic delight in flaunting herself onto more and more men. This pas de deux between them suddenly takes an ironic turn when the murders begin. Remade by Hollywood in 2022 with Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas without an iota of sexual tension.
To the Devil a Daughter (Peter Sykes, 1976) 3/10
This partly rehash of Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" has a suave Christopher Lee as a satanic cult leader. His victim and child bride for Satan is 14-year old Nastassja Kinski as a nun. Trying to save the child at the behest of her father (Denholm Elliott) is an American occult writer (Richard Widmark) who hopes to profit from the lurid goings on before he discovers the depth of the planned depravity - the child's body is to be used as a vessel for Satan. His literary agent (Honor Blackman) falls prey to a knife in her neck, a foetus that resembles E.T. is born covered with dripping blood, Lee strips to his birthday suit (his body double did the deed) while mounting Kinski who goes full frontal nude and comes on to Widmark. A baptism with blood caps the film's rather abrupt ending. Absurd film only has David Watkin's lush cinematography to recommend it.
Films about explorers can be rather tedious after the initial set-up. Filmmakers have to sustain interest by showing the explorer go through assorted hardships - since the story is set in turn of the century Greenland there are precarious moments hanging off icy cliffs and rampaging polar bears. True story about Danish polar explorer, Ejnar Mikkelsen (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who in 1909 organizes an expedition in Shannon Island, East Greenland, to recover the records of the missing members of the ill-fated Denmark expedition. After various attempts which fail he tries one more time by going inland along with his mechanic, Iver Iverson (Joe Cole), who is the only member of the expedition who volunteers to go on the dangerous journey with him. They are successful, find the important records of the ill-fated Danish expedition, but return to find their teammates have abandoned them and left them all alone. The two men were finally rescued in 1912 just when they had given up hope and were starting to hallucinate. Overlong film fills out the running time with repetitious scenes involving Mikkelson's fiancé who he imagines has joined him at the remote outpost. Superb visuals courtesy of location shooting in Iceland and Greenland. Man vs nature story is well acted and has its moments but often feels quite a chore to sit through.
Svart krabba / Black Crab (Adam Berg, 2022) 7/10
Old fashioned thriller / war film with a screenplay that throws the audience straight into a war zone without any explanation or details. A weary soldier (Noomi Rapace), who was separated from her teenage daughter two years before, is given a mission to deliver two canisters across the ice- covered archipelago which will help them to win the war. The journey, by the 6-member team on ice skates, is fraught with danger as they are chased and picked off by the enemy. Rapace, who knows the mission is suicidal, has been given the hope of meeting her daughter at the end of the mission. Will the group make it? Will she survive and be reunited with her daughter. And what exactly is in the canisters? Eerie camerawork on the endless expanse of desolate ice is an exciting highlight with tough Rapace balancing the plot on her fragile shoulders. Exciting film stumbles a bit at the end as it tries to reach an appropriately dramatic denouement.
Eaux profondes / Deep Water (Michel Deville, 1981) 7/10
Patricia Highsmith's psychological novel, "Deep Water" gets a french screen adaptation. A loveless marriage is unusual in that the couple continue to live with each other while the wife (Isabelle Huppert) openly indulges in affairs with young men while her much older husband (Jean-Louis Trintignant) silently seeths but tolerates her relentless infidelity. Divorce is never mentioned for the sake of their precocious little daughter. When the husband, during the spur of the moment, drowns one of his wife's lovers it seems to turn into a gleeful habit when another one is later also disposed of in an equally violent fashion. The result of these murders is quite unexpected. Deville sets this marital cat-and-mouse game in a stunning rural setting which makes the murders seem surreal in such quiet and exquisite surroundings. Trintignant creates yet another of his great complex characters as he painfully worships, hates yet tolerates his slutty wife. Huppert, in full defiant mode, seems to be taunting her husband with each sexual move almost wanting him to retaliate. As he continues to ignore each indiscretion she takes sadistic delight in flaunting herself onto more and more men. This pas de deux between them suddenly takes an ironic turn when the murders begin. Remade by Hollywood in 2022 with Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas without an iota of sexual tension.
To the Devil a Daughter (Peter Sykes, 1976) 3/10
This partly rehash of Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" has a suave Christopher Lee as a satanic cult leader. His victim and child bride for Satan is 14-year old Nastassja Kinski as a nun. Trying to save the child at the behest of her father (Denholm Elliott) is an American occult writer (Richard Widmark) who hopes to profit from the lurid goings on before he discovers the depth of the planned depravity - the child's body is to be used as a vessel for Satan. His literary agent (Honor Blackman) falls prey to a knife in her neck, a foetus that resembles E.T. is born covered with dripping blood, Lee strips to his birthday suit (his body double did the deed) while mounting Kinski who goes full frontal nude and comes on to Widmark. A baptism with blood caps the film's rather abrupt ending. Absurd film only has David Watkin's lush cinematography to recommend it.
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Dangal (2016) - 9/10 - A wrestler from a small village in India is a national champion, but has to give up on his dreams of international success. He hopes to be able to train his sons as wrestlers, but he ends up only having daughters. He trains the two oldest daughters in wrestling, though they are resentful of this at first. The acting is excellent and the wrestling sequences are also very good.
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Deep Water (Adrian Lyne, 2022) 4/10
Director Lyne ("9 1/2 Weeks", "Fatal Attraction", "Indecent Proposal", "Lolita", "Unfaithful") returns to the screen after 20 long years and tries hard to maintain his lurid reputation. If there's any flaw here its that he is a tad too slow to get to the juicy stuff which unfortunately turns out not to be all that lurid after all. The premise is very promising though. The story, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, was first adapted in 1981 as the french film, "Eaux profondes" with Jean-Louis Trintignant and Isabelle Huppert. Here Ben Affleck plays the cuckold, desperately in love with his sexy European wife (Ana de Armas), who likes to walk around topless at home and openly indulges in affairs with young men. This listless marriage is tolerated by the husband just as long as the word "divorce" is never mentioned for the sake of their cute precocious daughter. When he decides to start murdering his wife's lovers the dynamic of their relationship shifts but in a surprising direction. The problem with Hollywood has always been to depict sex in a certain squeamish manner, almost as if calling out to the hijab to come and cover up. Lyne, especially during the 1980s, was pretty much no-holds barred when it came to sex and sleaze on the screen. Rip roaring kinky sex was unabashadly on display which made a couple of his films into guilty pleasures. While de Armas bares her body - she's Spanish so nudity is no big deal - the violent aspect of the plot is too softly presented. We want blood, sex and gore. Instead we literally get Disney, which is the studio at the helm, making its first erotic film in a very long while. The studio obviously has no clue about the meaning of the word "erotic". It's no wonder the film's best performance comes from the little tot - Grace Jenkins - who plays the all knowing little daughter. One eagerly awaits Bond girl de Armas' next project - the NC-17 rated film based on Joyce Carol Oates' novel "Blonde" about Marilyn Monroe.
Julia (Fred Zinnemann, 1977) 9/10
Alvin Sargent's screenplay, based on a chapter of Lillian Hellman's book of memoirs, "Pentimento", mainly concentrates on a cloak-and-dagger episode in the life of Hellman (Jane Fonda), the famous American playwright, who is seen here as a struggling writer living with her mentor and lover, famed author Dashiell Hammett (Jason Robards), who finally tastes sucess when her play, "The Children's Hour", makes her the toast of Broadway. The film's main thrust, however, is about the deep friendship between Hellman and her lifelong friend Julia (Vanessa Redgrave) who came from a privileged background but spent her entire life fighting the then growing menace of fascism. Hellman is recruited by one of Julia's compatriots (Maximillian Schell) to smuggle money to her in Berlin while enroute to the USSR for a promotional tour. The film's highlight is the scene set in a Berlin cafe where the two friends meet after many years - with two great star actresses getting to emote as a visibly shaken and upset Fonda is consoled by the luminous Redgrave, whose brief moments throughout the film provide her with an etherial quality. The film was later criticized that the screenplay failed to capture the friendship between the two women who seem awkward in each other's company. There was further controversy when it was discovered that there was no real person by the name of Julia and Hellman had created the character from an amalgamation of different people. Viewed from this point of view the character of the often mysterious Julia comes sharply into focus as a Christ-like figure to whom Hellman looks up to with a great deal of awe. Superbly acted film, with outstanding production values, won three Academy awards - for the screenplay and for both Robards and Redgrave. In addition it was nominated for Best Picture, for the performances by Fonda & Schell, for Zinnemann's direction, Douglas Slocombe's cinematography, Anthea Sylbert's costume design, George Delerue's score and for film editing. Meryl Streep makes her film debut as a bitchy society dame.
Star! (Robert Wise, 1968) 4/10
Ponderous film just goes on and on making Julie Andrews sing every five minutes as she poses in front of the camera wearing a new outfit with each scene change. The lovely costumes were nominated for an Academy award but pity they forgot to concentrate on the screenplay as the studio seemed hell bent to duplicate Andrews' success in "The Sound of Music" - she was under contract for a second film - so it was decided to bring the life of Thirties British revue star and stage performer Gertrude Lawrence to the screen. Andrews acts, sings and dances her heart out as she is pursued by a bevy of admirers (Michael Craig, Richard Crenna, Robert Reed) while she befriends and performs on stage with Nöel Coward (Daniel Massey - who was actually Coward's godson and was nominated for an Academy award for his witty performance). Many of the scenes in the film are remarkably similar to "Funny Girl", the rags-to-riches story about stage performer Fanny Brice, also coincidently released the same year. At almost three hours this film is overstuffed and rightfully crashed at the boxoffice being one of several expensive musicals at the time that brought the Fox studio to its knees. Episodic film is beautiful to look at although despite being set in London, Paris and the Riviera there are far too many scenes with back projection which confirm that the cast never left the studio lot. Although the film purports to be about Lawrence it is quite clear that we are watching a film about Andrews who never does manage to resemble Lawrence - Maggie Smith most certainly would have been a better casting choice. An "A" for effort - the film got a slew of Oscar nods - for Ernest Laszlo's dazzling cinematography, the costume, production and sound design, the score and title song and one for Daniel Massey. Unfortunately the audience in the late sixties was mostly unaware of Gertrude Lawrence whose star shone bright during the Twenties and Thirties so having Andrews have a go at singing and dancing, and that too at such an inordinate length, was just not going to cut it.
Starting Over (Alan J. Pakulla, 1979) 5/10
Divorce was big in Hollywood films during the late 1970s and none bigger than in "An Unmarried Woman" where Jill Clayburgh gets dumped by her husband, and following much angst takes up with a sexy painter (Alan Bates) but makes a feminist point by going on alone through life. A year later and she is back here tackling the singles scene once again as an insecure school teacher although the screenplay (written by James L. Brooks and based on Dan Wakefield's novel) is about a divorced man (Burt Reynolds) who gets dumped by his ambitious songwriter wife (Candice Bergen) who he cannot forget. Antiseptic comedy-drama was an attempt by Reynolds to shake off his yahoo action screen persona but he merely ends up floundering. Clayburgh, as the mousy woman he dates, was inexplicably nominated for an Oscar - she was on a brief roll back then with important films back-to-back, although her character doesn't quite gell with Reynolds. Candice Bergen, as the daffy ex-wife who insists on singing her awful songs in a hideous voice, was also nominated for an Oscar. While she is not quite funny here her performance seems to be a warm-up towards her very funny role as Murphy Brown on tv almost a decade later. Silly sitcom-like situations also don't help. Reynolds was famously annoyed later on when both Clayburgh and Bergen received Oscar nominations while he was ignored and not helping at all was his off-screen lover (Sally Field) winning the Oscar that year for "Norma Rae".
Director Lyne ("9 1/2 Weeks", "Fatal Attraction", "Indecent Proposal", "Lolita", "Unfaithful") returns to the screen after 20 long years and tries hard to maintain his lurid reputation. If there's any flaw here its that he is a tad too slow to get to the juicy stuff which unfortunately turns out not to be all that lurid after all. The premise is very promising though. The story, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, was first adapted in 1981 as the french film, "Eaux profondes" with Jean-Louis Trintignant and Isabelle Huppert. Here Ben Affleck plays the cuckold, desperately in love with his sexy European wife (Ana de Armas), who likes to walk around topless at home and openly indulges in affairs with young men. This listless marriage is tolerated by the husband just as long as the word "divorce" is never mentioned for the sake of their cute precocious daughter. When he decides to start murdering his wife's lovers the dynamic of their relationship shifts but in a surprising direction. The problem with Hollywood has always been to depict sex in a certain squeamish manner, almost as if calling out to the hijab to come and cover up. Lyne, especially during the 1980s, was pretty much no-holds barred when it came to sex and sleaze on the screen. Rip roaring kinky sex was unabashadly on display which made a couple of his films into guilty pleasures. While de Armas bares her body - she's Spanish so nudity is no big deal - the violent aspect of the plot is too softly presented. We want blood, sex and gore. Instead we literally get Disney, which is the studio at the helm, making its first erotic film in a very long while. The studio obviously has no clue about the meaning of the word "erotic". It's no wonder the film's best performance comes from the little tot - Grace Jenkins - who plays the all knowing little daughter. One eagerly awaits Bond girl de Armas' next project - the NC-17 rated film based on Joyce Carol Oates' novel "Blonde" about Marilyn Monroe.
Julia (Fred Zinnemann, 1977) 9/10
Alvin Sargent's screenplay, based on a chapter of Lillian Hellman's book of memoirs, "Pentimento", mainly concentrates on a cloak-and-dagger episode in the life of Hellman (Jane Fonda), the famous American playwright, who is seen here as a struggling writer living with her mentor and lover, famed author Dashiell Hammett (Jason Robards), who finally tastes sucess when her play, "The Children's Hour", makes her the toast of Broadway. The film's main thrust, however, is about the deep friendship between Hellman and her lifelong friend Julia (Vanessa Redgrave) who came from a privileged background but spent her entire life fighting the then growing menace of fascism. Hellman is recruited by one of Julia's compatriots (Maximillian Schell) to smuggle money to her in Berlin while enroute to the USSR for a promotional tour. The film's highlight is the scene set in a Berlin cafe where the two friends meet after many years - with two great star actresses getting to emote as a visibly shaken and upset Fonda is consoled by the luminous Redgrave, whose brief moments throughout the film provide her with an etherial quality. The film was later criticized that the screenplay failed to capture the friendship between the two women who seem awkward in each other's company. There was further controversy when it was discovered that there was no real person by the name of Julia and Hellman had created the character from an amalgamation of different people. Viewed from this point of view the character of the often mysterious Julia comes sharply into focus as a Christ-like figure to whom Hellman looks up to with a great deal of awe. Superbly acted film, with outstanding production values, won three Academy awards - for the screenplay and for both Robards and Redgrave. In addition it was nominated for Best Picture, for the performances by Fonda & Schell, for Zinnemann's direction, Douglas Slocombe's cinematography, Anthea Sylbert's costume design, George Delerue's score and for film editing. Meryl Streep makes her film debut as a bitchy society dame.
Star! (Robert Wise, 1968) 4/10
Ponderous film just goes on and on making Julie Andrews sing every five minutes as she poses in front of the camera wearing a new outfit with each scene change. The lovely costumes were nominated for an Academy award but pity they forgot to concentrate on the screenplay as the studio seemed hell bent to duplicate Andrews' success in "The Sound of Music" - she was under contract for a second film - so it was decided to bring the life of Thirties British revue star and stage performer Gertrude Lawrence to the screen. Andrews acts, sings and dances her heart out as she is pursued by a bevy of admirers (Michael Craig, Richard Crenna, Robert Reed) while she befriends and performs on stage with Nöel Coward (Daniel Massey - who was actually Coward's godson and was nominated for an Academy award for his witty performance). Many of the scenes in the film are remarkably similar to "Funny Girl", the rags-to-riches story about stage performer Fanny Brice, also coincidently released the same year. At almost three hours this film is overstuffed and rightfully crashed at the boxoffice being one of several expensive musicals at the time that brought the Fox studio to its knees. Episodic film is beautiful to look at although despite being set in London, Paris and the Riviera there are far too many scenes with back projection which confirm that the cast never left the studio lot. Although the film purports to be about Lawrence it is quite clear that we are watching a film about Andrews who never does manage to resemble Lawrence - Maggie Smith most certainly would have been a better casting choice. An "A" for effort - the film got a slew of Oscar nods - for Ernest Laszlo's dazzling cinematography, the costume, production and sound design, the score and title song and one for Daniel Massey. Unfortunately the audience in the late sixties was mostly unaware of Gertrude Lawrence whose star shone bright during the Twenties and Thirties so having Andrews have a go at singing and dancing, and that too at such an inordinate length, was just not going to cut it.
Starting Over (Alan J. Pakulla, 1979) 5/10
Divorce was big in Hollywood films during the late 1970s and none bigger than in "An Unmarried Woman" where Jill Clayburgh gets dumped by her husband, and following much angst takes up with a sexy painter (Alan Bates) but makes a feminist point by going on alone through life. A year later and she is back here tackling the singles scene once again as an insecure school teacher although the screenplay (written by James L. Brooks and based on Dan Wakefield's novel) is about a divorced man (Burt Reynolds) who gets dumped by his ambitious songwriter wife (Candice Bergen) who he cannot forget. Antiseptic comedy-drama was an attempt by Reynolds to shake off his yahoo action screen persona but he merely ends up floundering. Clayburgh, as the mousy woman he dates, was inexplicably nominated for an Oscar - she was on a brief roll back then with important films back-to-back, although her character doesn't quite gell with Reynolds. Candice Bergen, as the daffy ex-wife who insists on singing her awful songs in a hideous voice, was also nominated for an Oscar. While she is not quite funny here her performance seems to be a warm-up towards her very funny role as Murphy Brown on tv almost a decade later. Silly sitcom-like situations also don't help. Reynolds was famously annoyed later on when both Clayburgh and Bergen received Oscar nominations while he was ignored and not helping at all was his off-screen lover (Sally Field) winning the Oscar that year for "Norma Rae".
Last edited by Reza on Sun Mar 20, 2022 11:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Adam Project (Shawn Levy, 2022) 5/10
A recent article had an apt comment about the kind of audience - "developmentally retarded adults acting like kids" - Hollywood caters to. This, too, is one of them and sitting through it makes me a retard as well. Time travel nonsense has a pilot (Ryan Reynolds) in 2050 going back in time to discover why his wife (Zoë Saldana) disappeared. He teams up in 2018 with his younger self (Walker Scobell) and his neglectful but loving and brilliant quantum physicist dad (Mark Ruffalo) who wrote the algorithm necessary for controlled time travel. They come up against the evil businesswoman (Catherine Keener) who funded the scientist's research and took over the project after his death in 2022. Lots of whizzing noisy action set pieces where the kid's expertise in box games comes in handy as he annihilates soldiers sent to kill them. Hollywood, through its constant barrage of similar junky comic flicks, continues to keep us stuck in retard mode. We need to come up for air sometimes by inhaling a Kurosawa, Bergman, an Allen & Antonioni or a Fellini to understand that there are stories about normal people too who don't go whizzing through the air.
Scenes From a Marriage (Hagai Levi, 2021) 5/10
American remake of the iconic 1973 Swedish miniseries (by Ingmar Bergman) gets a gender flip in this outing. A long married couple, with a daughter, suddenly finds their relationship in a twist when the wife (Jessica Chastain) announces that she has been having an affair and has fallen in love with a much younger man. She is the family breadwinner while her husband (Oscar Isaac) is a stay-at-home writer and dad. He cannot understand why she wants out of the marriage and even willing to abandon their daughter for long periods of time. Searing and often harrowing look at a collapsing marriage has great chemistry between the two stars but the screenplay does not fully explain the wife's state of confusion about her marriage which tilts the drama in favour of Isaac who is superb as the bewildered man trying to understand his wife's decision. The story covers several years as the couple struggle to live their independent lives while they both often meet up for sexual trysts which result in further angst. This should have been made as a feature length film instead of a 5-part miniseries which begins to drag after a while. Stick to the version by Bergman which has influenced many filmmakers over the years and has outstanding performances by Erland Josephson (in this original version its the husband who wants out of the marriage), Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen, 2008) 6/10
Second tier-Allen has surprisingly not too much of Barcelona where the film was mostly shot. Two American tourists, also close friends, take a trip to Spain. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) the methodical one, with a steady boyfriend back in New York, is appalled when a Spanish painter (Javier Bardem) invites both girls for a weekend holiday with him which also includes a visit to his bed. After persuasion by Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), the unconventional friend, they both go ahead with the trip. Despite the initial incredulous hesitation she goes ahead and has a one-night stand with the sensual man. When her boyfriend arrives planning a quickie wedding in Spain she agrees to get married while her friend takes up with the painter. The affair is going great guns when the man's former, very tempestuous, wife (Penélope Cruz), moves in with them after a failed suicide attempt. The threesome soon practice free love while she discovers her vocation as a photographer after being encouraged by both her lovers. Things take an ugly turn when the American decides to step aside resulting in gunplay by the former wife. Allen's familiar neuroses about sex and love gets re-worked over, Johansson takes on the mantle of Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow (as Allen's new muse) and Cruz won an undeserved Oscar.
A recent article had an apt comment about the kind of audience - "developmentally retarded adults acting like kids" - Hollywood caters to. This, too, is one of them and sitting through it makes me a retard as well. Time travel nonsense has a pilot (Ryan Reynolds) in 2050 going back in time to discover why his wife (Zoë Saldana) disappeared. He teams up in 2018 with his younger self (Walker Scobell) and his neglectful but loving and brilliant quantum physicist dad (Mark Ruffalo) who wrote the algorithm necessary for controlled time travel. They come up against the evil businesswoman (Catherine Keener) who funded the scientist's research and took over the project after his death in 2022. Lots of whizzing noisy action set pieces where the kid's expertise in box games comes in handy as he annihilates soldiers sent to kill them. Hollywood, through its constant barrage of similar junky comic flicks, continues to keep us stuck in retard mode. We need to come up for air sometimes by inhaling a Kurosawa, Bergman, an Allen & Antonioni or a Fellini to understand that there are stories about normal people too who don't go whizzing through the air.
Scenes From a Marriage (Hagai Levi, 2021) 5/10
American remake of the iconic 1973 Swedish miniseries (by Ingmar Bergman) gets a gender flip in this outing. A long married couple, with a daughter, suddenly finds their relationship in a twist when the wife (Jessica Chastain) announces that she has been having an affair and has fallen in love with a much younger man. She is the family breadwinner while her husband (Oscar Isaac) is a stay-at-home writer and dad. He cannot understand why she wants out of the marriage and even willing to abandon their daughter for long periods of time. Searing and often harrowing look at a collapsing marriage has great chemistry between the two stars but the screenplay does not fully explain the wife's state of confusion about her marriage which tilts the drama in favour of Isaac who is superb as the bewildered man trying to understand his wife's decision. The story covers several years as the couple struggle to live their independent lives while they both often meet up for sexual trysts which result in further angst. This should have been made as a feature length film instead of a 5-part miniseries which begins to drag after a while. Stick to the version by Bergman which has influenced many filmmakers over the years and has outstanding performances by Erland Josephson (in this original version its the husband who wants out of the marriage), Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen, 2008) 6/10
Second tier-Allen has surprisingly not too much of Barcelona where the film was mostly shot. Two American tourists, also close friends, take a trip to Spain. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) the methodical one, with a steady boyfriend back in New York, is appalled when a Spanish painter (Javier Bardem) invites both girls for a weekend holiday with him which also includes a visit to his bed. After persuasion by Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), the unconventional friend, they both go ahead with the trip. Despite the initial incredulous hesitation she goes ahead and has a one-night stand with the sensual man. When her boyfriend arrives planning a quickie wedding in Spain she agrees to get married while her friend takes up with the painter. The affair is going great guns when the man's former, very tempestuous, wife (Penélope Cruz), moves in with them after a failed suicide attempt. The threesome soon practice free love while she discovers her vocation as a photographer after being encouraged by both her lovers. Things take an ugly turn when the American decides to step aside resulting in gunplay by the former wife. Allen's familiar neuroses about sex and love gets re-worked over, Johansson takes on the mantle of Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow (as Allen's new muse) and Cruz won an undeserved Oscar.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) - 8/10 - Near the end of the 18th Century, a female painter is hired to paint a portrait of a woman to be sent to her prospective husband. However, the subject is reluctant to be painted. This was well acted and an interesting film. Choosing to go with natural sounds instead of a soundtrack seems like it was the right decision.
In a Better World (2010) - 8/10 - Anton is a Swedish doctor who splits time between his home in Denmark and a Sudanese refugee camp. He is separated from his wife and his older son Elias gets bullied on a daily basis. Christian is an angry young man who moves back to Denmark from London after the death of his mother. He ends up in the same class as Elias and stands up to the bully who torments his new friend. The two families are each going through tough times, but the friendship between the two boys can make matters better or worse (or both). It's a well acted drama for the most part.
Salaam Bombay! (1988) - 7.5/10 - Krishna lives on the streets of Bombay, working part time for a tea seller and doing odd jobs to try and save 500 rupees so that he can go home. His friends are the other street kids, a drug seller, and a couple of the local prostitutes. We get to see the daily lives of Krishna and some of his friends. Krishna becomes infatuated with a new young girl who is brought in to the brothel. It's a pretty good movie and I thought the acting was also good.
In a Better World (2010) - 8/10 - Anton is a Swedish doctor who splits time between his home in Denmark and a Sudanese refugee camp. He is separated from his wife and his older son Elias gets bullied on a daily basis. Christian is an angry young man who moves back to Denmark from London after the death of his mother. He ends up in the same class as Elias and stands up to the bully who torments his new friend. The two families are each going through tough times, but the friendship between the two boys can make matters better or worse (or both). It's a well acted drama for the most part.
Salaam Bombay! (1988) - 7.5/10 - Krishna lives on the streets of Bombay, working part time for a tea seller and doing odd jobs to try and save 500 rupees so that he can go home. His friends are the other street kids, a drug seller, and a couple of the local prostitutes. We get to see the daily lives of Krishna and some of his friends. Krishna becomes infatuated with a new young girl who is brought in to the brothel. It's a pretty good movie and I thought the acting was also good.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Turning Red (2022) - 7/10 - A young girl discovers that she now turns into a giant red panda when her emotions get out of control. It causes problems, but also creates opportunities. It's a decent Pixar film that gets more fun as it goes along. I'd put it below Encanto and Luca from last year, but it's entertaining, though fairly predictable as well.
Booksmart (2019) - 8/10 - It's the day before graduation and two of the top senior girls realize that they have spent all of their time studying and should have had more fun while in school. They set out to find the huge party that is happening that night, but it is harder to find than they thought it would be. I thought it was pretty funny and I could relate to a lot of it.
Leave No Trace (2018) - 8/10 - A 13 year old girl (Thomasin McKenzie) has been living deep in the woods in a Portland, Oregon park with her father (Ben Foster) for the past four years. He is a veteran suffering from PTSD and he has been keeping up her education while in the woods. They are discovered by authorities and brought in for testing and assessment. McKenzie and Foster are each very good in their roles.
Booksmart (2019) - 8/10 - It's the day before graduation and two of the top senior girls realize that they have spent all of their time studying and should have had more fun while in school. They set out to find the huge party that is happening that night, but it is harder to find than they thought it would be. I thought it was pretty funny and I could relate to a lot of it.
Leave No Trace (2018) - 8/10 - A 13 year old girl (Thomasin McKenzie) has been living deep in the woods in a Portland, Oregon park with her father (Ben Foster) for the past four years. He is a veteran suffering from PTSD and he has been keeping up her education while in the woods. They are discovered by authorities and brought in for testing and assessment. McKenzie and Foster are each very good in their roles.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Parallel Mothers (2021) - 7/10 - Penelope Cruz stars as Janis, a woman in her 40s who unexpectedly gets pregnant. While in the hospital, she befriends her roommate Ana (Milena Smit), a much younger woman who is also expecting a baby. The movie wasn't bad and the acting from Cruz and Smit was good, but I'd rate it as my least favorite of the six Almodóvar films that I've seen so far. The side plot with the mass grave from the Franco era seemed a bit out of place even if it did tangentially relate to the main story.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) - 7.5/10 - Egon Spengler's daughter and grandchildren move to his farm in Oklahoma after his death. I thought the movie was a lot of fun. It may have reused elements from the first film, but it did so in an entertaining fashion.
The French Dispatch (2021) - 6/10 - I've enjoyed the other Wes Anderson films that I've seen, but I found this one to be mostly boring and uninteresting. It is certainly visually stylish as expected and I did like the animated sequence toward the end plus scattered bits throughout the film, but overall I'd call this one a miss for me.
The Worst Person in the World (2021) - 8/10 - Julie is a young woman who changes her mind about her major, her career path, her boyfriend, etc. with some regularity. Eventually she meets Aksel, a successful comic strip artist who is a bit older than her and more settled in what he wants. The movie is told in a number of sections and the acting is very good. I think that there are many people like Julie in a number of ways who find it hard to stick to one career plan because they don't really know what they want yet.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) - 7.5/10 - Egon Spengler's daughter and grandchildren move to his farm in Oklahoma after his death. I thought the movie was a lot of fun. It may have reused elements from the first film, but it did so in an entertaining fashion.
The French Dispatch (2021) - 6/10 - I've enjoyed the other Wes Anderson films that I've seen, but I found this one to be mostly boring and uninteresting. It is certainly visually stylish as expected and I did like the animated sequence toward the end plus scattered bits throughout the film, but overall I'd call this one a miss for me.
The Worst Person in the World (2021) - 8/10 - Julie is a young woman who changes her mind about her major, her career path, her boyfriend, etc. with some regularity. Eventually she meets Aksel, a successful comic strip artist who is a bit older than her and more settled in what he wants. The movie is told in a number of sections and the acting is very good. I think that there are many people like Julie in a number of ways who find it hard to stick to one career plan because they don't really know what they want yet.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Batman (Matt Reeves, 2022) 7/10
This Batman is relentlessly dark. LITERALLY. The film appears to have been shot with the camera lens covered with dark muslin. It was such a bloody chore to see the actors on the screen as none of the buildings or rooms in Gotham City had light bulbs. And every shot outdoors was set during nightime or at dawn. So yet more darkness. I was actually surprised to see that Peter Sarsgaard had a role in the film which I discovered during the end credits. The screenplay sets the story during an early phase in Bruce Wayne's adult life while he is still fumbling with his Batman persona. Robert Pattinson, who is very good in the part, plays him very scarred with life, and with the relentless doom and gloom related to rampant crime on the streets. His parents' traumatic murders also hang heavy over him although there is no flashback to their death. He seems tongue tied around Selena Kyle - Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), who is a waitress with a side business as a drug dealer, a cat burglar and is bisexual (which again was a plot point, amongst many, that totally escaped me in the dark). Batman's relationship with Alfred (Andy Serkis), his faithful butler, is curt, formal and quite hostile unlike how the butler was portrayed in previous film versions by both Michael Caine and Jeremy Irons. And Jeffrey Wright makes a fine Lieutenant Gordon allowing this new franchise to show the cop climb up the ladder to Commissioner in subsequent sequels. Causing mayhem in every possible form are assorted villains - The Riddler (Paul Dano), a serial killer who sets off bombs around the city, the Penguin (Colin Farrell stuck under tons of prosthetics) who is a small time mobster running a nightclub, and Catwoman's father (John Turturto) who is a Gotham crimelord. The film ends with a spectacular action set piece involving a flood. So much of the film's excitement is lost due to the dark images as its so difficult to decipher what is going on. Look forward to future installments with Pattinson.
Days of Glory (Jacques Tourneur, 1944) 8/10
Hard to believe but once upon a time the United States considered Russia to be an important ally. Much praise was lavished on a country which, suddenly post-WWII, became seriously so persona non grata that Americans actually turned in on themselves to betray their own fellow countrymen suspected of being communist. That hilarious (and ridiculous) about turn would take place some years on from the timeline of this film. Rousing wartime propaganda is set in Russia during the Nazi invasion and focuses on a group of guerrillas hiding in an underground bunker in the woods from where they emerge to kill german soldiers. Their leader is a former engineer (Gregory Peck in his film debut) who with rabid precision and mounting excitement goes for the kill. He also finds time for romance with a Russian ballerina (Tamara Toumanova - the celebrated Russian prima ballerina making her film debut) who strays from her troupe and finds herself at the bunker. Stock characters all around - poetry spouting peasant, teenage partisan also in love with the ballerina, his naive young sister wanting to marry her own brother and a female fighter also in love with their leader. Hollywood's American response to the bravery of Russia and its people against a common enemy. The film failed with both critics and the public at the time and is since looked at with embarrassment ever since America decided Russia was a menace and a threat. However, it is an interesting film and despite the corny dialogue during the sappy love scenes the film is moving and both stars are surprisingly very effective and etherial (as most big stars came across on screen). This mostly set-bound film is beautifully shot by Tony Gaudio and was nominated for an Academy award for its Visual Effects.
Trail Street (Ray Enright, 1947) 6/10
Bat Masterson (Randolph Scott) brings law and order to a Kansas town as he goes after a corrupt land baron. George "Gabby" Hayes provides comic relief, lovely Anne Jeffreys provides saloon-girl oomph and Robert Ryan surprisingly does not scowl playing the good guy also facing up to the cattle baron and his henchmen. Visually striking Western is a cut above the regular shoot 'em ups.
This Batman is relentlessly dark. LITERALLY. The film appears to have been shot with the camera lens covered with dark muslin. It was such a bloody chore to see the actors on the screen as none of the buildings or rooms in Gotham City had light bulbs. And every shot outdoors was set during nightime or at dawn. So yet more darkness. I was actually surprised to see that Peter Sarsgaard had a role in the film which I discovered during the end credits. The screenplay sets the story during an early phase in Bruce Wayne's adult life while he is still fumbling with his Batman persona. Robert Pattinson, who is very good in the part, plays him very scarred with life, and with the relentless doom and gloom related to rampant crime on the streets. His parents' traumatic murders also hang heavy over him although there is no flashback to their death. He seems tongue tied around Selena Kyle - Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), who is a waitress with a side business as a drug dealer, a cat burglar and is bisexual (which again was a plot point, amongst many, that totally escaped me in the dark). Batman's relationship with Alfred (Andy Serkis), his faithful butler, is curt, formal and quite hostile unlike how the butler was portrayed in previous film versions by both Michael Caine and Jeremy Irons. And Jeffrey Wright makes a fine Lieutenant Gordon allowing this new franchise to show the cop climb up the ladder to Commissioner in subsequent sequels. Causing mayhem in every possible form are assorted villains - The Riddler (Paul Dano), a serial killer who sets off bombs around the city, the Penguin (Colin Farrell stuck under tons of prosthetics) who is a small time mobster running a nightclub, and Catwoman's father (John Turturto) who is a Gotham crimelord. The film ends with a spectacular action set piece involving a flood. So much of the film's excitement is lost due to the dark images as its so difficult to decipher what is going on. Look forward to future installments with Pattinson.
Days of Glory (Jacques Tourneur, 1944) 8/10
Hard to believe but once upon a time the United States considered Russia to be an important ally. Much praise was lavished on a country which, suddenly post-WWII, became seriously so persona non grata that Americans actually turned in on themselves to betray their own fellow countrymen suspected of being communist. That hilarious (and ridiculous) about turn would take place some years on from the timeline of this film. Rousing wartime propaganda is set in Russia during the Nazi invasion and focuses on a group of guerrillas hiding in an underground bunker in the woods from where they emerge to kill german soldiers. Their leader is a former engineer (Gregory Peck in his film debut) who with rabid precision and mounting excitement goes for the kill. He also finds time for romance with a Russian ballerina (Tamara Toumanova - the celebrated Russian prima ballerina making her film debut) who strays from her troupe and finds herself at the bunker. Stock characters all around - poetry spouting peasant, teenage partisan also in love with the ballerina, his naive young sister wanting to marry her own brother and a female fighter also in love with their leader. Hollywood's American response to the bravery of Russia and its people against a common enemy. The film failed with both critics and the public at the time and is since looked at with embarrassment ever since America decided Russia was a menace and a threat. However, it is an interesting film and despite the corny dialogue during the sappy love scenes the film is moving and both stars are surprisingly very effective and etherial (as most big stars came across on screen). This mostly set-bound film is beautifully shot by Tony Gaudio and was nominated for an Academy award for its Visual Effects.
Trail Street (Ray Enright, 1947) 6/10
Bat Masterson (Randolph Scott) brings law and order to a Kansas town as he goes after a corrupt land baron. George "Gabby" Hayes provides comic relief, lovely Anne Jeffreys provides saloon-girl oomph and Robert Ryan surprisingly does not scowl playing the good guy also facing up to the cattle baron and his henchmen. Visually striking Western is a cut above the regular shoot 'em ups.