Fish Tank (2009) - 8/10 - Mia is an angry 15 year old British teen in a poor neighborhood who dreams of being a dancer. She lives with her single mother and younger sister when her mother gets a new boyfriend. Newcomer Katie Jarvis does a nice job as Mia with Michael Fassbender as the boyfriend. The film comes off as being pretty realistic while also being engaging and entertaining.
I Saw the Devil (2010) - 8.5/10 - A government agent seeks revenge for the murder and dismemberment of his fiance. He sets out to track down the suspects and inflict pain on the one who took his love away. There is plenty of violence, but the acting and story are good.
An Indian Day (1968) - 8/10 - This documentary was filmed across India in 1967. There is no narration and it doesn't spend too long in any one place, but the music and visuals are very good and I found the film to be pretty interesting. I did laugh at the one bit where a kid was on a tree swing and his swings carried him a little bit over a street with traffic going by.
The Raid 2 (2014) - 8/10 - This picks up right after the first Raid movie ended. Rama goes undercover with a crime organization in order to get information on corrupt cops. There is a ton of action and fighting, just like the first film, though this one isn't confined to a single large apartment building. It's very entertaining and on par with the first film.
Wind River (2017) - 8.5/10 - When the body of an 18 year old Native American girl is found in the snow on a reservation with signs that she had been beaten and raped, an FBI Special Agent (Elizabeth Olsen) is sent to investigate. She enlists the help of the tribal police chief (Graham Greene) and a Fish and Wildlife Agent (Jeremy Renner) in order to investigate the death. The film is very nicely acted and is a good neo-western.
Three Identical Strangers (2018) - 8/10 - In 1980, identical triplets reunite after each being previously unaware of the existence of the other two. They were each adopted from the same adoption agency and the agency did not disclose this information. This documentary is pretty interesting and uses archival footage, recreations, and contemporary interviews.
A Quiet Place Part II (2020) - 8/10 - I think the second part was almost as good as the first film.
Last Night in Soho (2021) - 8/10 - Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) moves to London to study fashion, but finds that she doesn't fit in with most of the students in her circle there. She starts having dreams and visions of a girl named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy) in 1960s Soho. Things seem good with Sandie at first, but soon turn dark. The film has excellent music and nice performances from McKenzie and Taylor-Joy good supporting roles from Michael Ajao and Diana Rigg.
I Walked with a Zombie (1943) - 8/10 - A Canadian nurse travels to the island of Saint Sebastian to care for the wife of a plantation owner. The wife is in a zombie like state due to an illness that left her that way. The nurse starts falling for the plantation owner and looks for a way to cure the wife, even resorting to enlisting the help of native voodoo practitioners. The film looks nice and has great atmosphere along with good acting performances.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) - 8/10 - An American writer living in Rome witnesses a struggle between a woman and a dark clad figure in an art gallery. He is unable to intervene, but starts investigating himself after telling his story to the police. The figure that he witnessed may be a serial killer since there have been a few recent murders. I thought this was pretty well done.
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
The Legend of Maula Jatt (Bilal Lashari, 2022) 10/10
"Tun Tun Tun
Teri Pehn Nu _ _ _"
So goes the lone profane ditty in Bilal Lashari's stupendous reboot of the 1979 cult classic "Maula Jatt" which finally arrives on the big screen after a delay of almost two years. One would imagine that the film would be riddled with choice Punjabi profanities considering its about two warring clans set amidst a Punjab village milieu but the producer was sensible and avoided the deadly local censors. Instead the story takes on the grand mantle of both "Gladiator" and "Game of Thrones" which is hardly a call for originality but so appropriate for the plot which deliciously goes way over the top but refuses to slip into camp. The marvelous cast play their parts at the expected decible levels where dialogue is ferociously enunciated as the actors play to the gallery. The plot has old fashioned overtones bordering on cliché - an orphan is raised in secret by a widow after a rival clan slaughters his parents (Babar Ali & Resham in silent cameos during the epilogue). Maula Jatt (Fawad Khan) grows up with his foster brother in a small village where he earns money by fighting in a gladitorial arena where he beats up poor souls from neighboring villages. His hulking frame and silent demeanor mask the childhood trauma which he recalls in fits and starts but has no clue about his past. He is loved by the tough-talking village belle Mukkho Jatti (Mahira Khan). All of the film's memorable moments pit Maula Jatt against the three villains of the story - all siblings from the clan that massacred his parents. The eldest, and most barbaric, is Noori Natt (Hamza Ali Abbasi) who prefers to live inside a prison in order to be around wild, crazy and evil prisoners - he faces Maula inside the arena during the film's intense conclusion. His younger spoilt brother, Maakha Natt (Gohar Rasheed), is equally depraved and a drug addict - sniffing the fumes off burnt scorpions - who enjoys chasing, raping and capturing village belles for sport. Their sister, Daaro Nattni (Humaima Malick), is a self-professed bitch who gets turned on by Maula and proceeds to seduce him during a rather provocative moment set in a prison cell. She is in search of a strong mate who can satisfy her carnal desires even if he is the enemy. The graphic violence in the film has to be seen to be believed as bodies are sliced, stabbed, diced and decapitated with blood splattering everywhere. What remains amazing to see is the level of the film's production values - outstanding cinematography, production design, costumes, sound and editing. The entire cast is at the top of their form. Fawad Khan gets to make an entrance that befits a star of his stature as we see him walking from the back as he makes his way through a tunnel into the arena where he suddenly turns and the camera dramatically zooms in for a closeup of his face half hidden by locks of his hair - the actor seriously buffed up his body for the part. The three actors playing the villains each get their big moments and there are equally powerful and emotional performances by the two actors who play the foster mother and brother (Faris Shafi). This film production does Pakistan proud and it is a must-see.
Dobaara / 2:12 (Anurag Kashyap, 2022) 6/10
Science fiction thriller is a remake of the 2018 Spanish film "Mirage" but also has similarities to Hollywood's "Frequency". During an electrical storm a boy hears a couple fighting next door, goes to investigate and comes across a woman's dead body. A man comes after the child with a knife who runs out onto the road and gets hit by a vehicle and dies. 25-years later a nurse (Taapsee Pannu) moves with her husband and child into the same house as the dead child. Through an old tv and camera recorder she sees the same child - who can also see her from his end - just before he witnessed the crime next door and she warns him not to go there or he will die. She saves the child but in turn this mysteriously changes her own life as she wakes up to find that she is now a highly decorated surgeon with no husband or child. The man she was married to is now with someone else and does not recognise her and she has a hard time explaining the situation to a sympathetic cop (Pavail Gulati) and to other people around her. Convoluted plot zigzags between the past - where the murderer remains undiscovered and the boy tries to make sense of what is going on, and the present where the confused doctor begins to question her sanity and finds the resolution to the mystery with a most unexpected character. Briskly paced film has equal moments of tension, suspense and utter confusion. Taapsee Pannu effortlessly carries the film on her shoulders.
Drôle de drame / Bizzare, Bizzare (Marcel Carné, 1937) 10/10
A rare french screwball farce with bizzare characters acting in a bizzare fashion with the story set in Victorian England. A botonist (Michel Simon) is secretly also the writer of crime thrillers under a pseudonym. His cousin - a Bishop (Louis Jouvet) - vociferously condemns the mysterious writer and his fiction. The writer gets his stories from his secretary (Nadine Vogel) who in turn gets them from the annoying milkman (Jean-Pierre Aumont) who visits the house daily with bottles of milk only to profess his undying love for her. When the Bishop invites himself to his cousin's house for dinner it causes an uproar as the servants have fled and the bishop's wife (Françoise Rosay) refuses to appear and instead cooks the meal and has the secretary act like a servant. The following day the Botonist and his wife flee the house to avoid the pestering cousin and their absence results in the Bishop thinking that his cousin has murdered his wife so Scotland Yard is called to investigate. The Botonist returns in disguise as the writer and attempts to solve the mystery while his wife encounters a vegetarian serial killer (Jean-Louis Barrault) who has been killing butchers. Superbly acted farce by the crème de la crème of french actors from the Golden age is hysterical in tone while calmly taking a vicious and sly dig at British manners. Outstanding set design (by Alexandre Trauner) and cinematography (by Eugen Schüfftan) add to make this one of the seminal films of French Cinema.
Chup: The Revenge of an Artist (R. Balki, 2022) 6/10
While a strapping florist (Dulquer Salmaan) woos an entertainment journalist (Shreyer Dhanwanthary), a serial killer carves up film critics in Mumbai. Trying to solve the murders is a relentless cop (Sunny Deol) who gets help from a crackerjack criminal psychologist (Pooja Bhatt). Weaving in and out of the plot is the spirit of famed Indian actor-director Guru Dutt whose last directorial venture - "Kaagaz Ke Phool" - was a resounding flop after being savaged by critics in 1960. Today the film is universally regarded as a masterpiece and we get to see glimpses of the iconic film as the two young lovers enact a number of romantic moments from it. The savage murders are in the vein of David Fincher's "Seven" - very grusome and bloody - as we get to see the naked and obese helpless critics gagged and bound as the killer slashes their necks and carves a star (rating) on their foreheads before slicing up their bodies. The screenplay appears to be making points about caustic critics and about failure which can end up destroying a person and the metaphor used here is of the alcoholic Dutt who committed suicide in 1964 after being depressed by a combination of getting ridiculed in print, a failed marriage (to singer Geeta Dutt) and a broken love affair (with frequent co-star Waheeda Rehman). After a fairly gripping first half the film's last act suddenly takes on a prepostrous turn and comes up with certain bits of action that are totally unbelievable almost as if the filmmakers didn't quite know how to end the story. It was good to see Deol and Bhatt reunite on screen after 27 years but both have surprisingly underwritten parts. Acting honours go to Dulquer Salmaan star of South Indian cinema and the son of South superstar Mammootty.
The Sketch Artist (Phedon Papamichael, 1992) 6/10
A rich womanizing garment manufacturer is murdered and a courier (Drew Barrymore) runs into a woman coming out of the dead man's apartment. A sketch artist (Jeff Fahey) working for the LAPD draws a picture of the woman as described by the courier and is shocked to see that it resembles his own fashion designer wife (Sean Young). So he switches the sketch in order to protect his wife. When the cops arrest a woman resembling the fake sketch, and the courier is found dead, the man finds himself in over his head with the situation at hand. How can he save the falsely accused woman without betraying his wife? How will he explain being at the dead courier's house just before she was found murdered? Is his wife the killer? Fahey investigates and navigates through this fairly gripping B neo-noir as the screenplay pulls out all manner of red herrings.
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris (Anthony Fabian, 2022) 7/10
This is pure fluff and an adaptation of Paul Gallico's oft-filmed novel last brought to the small screen starring Angela Lansbury. In the title role lovely character actor Lesley Manville gets to play a rare lead role in a major motion picture - although the film seems not unlike one of those Hallmark or Lifetime television productions. A widowed cleaning lady (Lesley Manville) realises her dream of owning a Christian Dior dress after winning enough money to make a trip to 1950s Paris. The plot is more than just about a woman wanting to buy a dress. Its about a difficult life lived with disappointments and the sudden turn of events that allow a bit of joy into her drab life. Almost like a coming-of-age moment for the lady who not only charms the Parisians but finds true happiness in the bargain. Everyone is niceness personified which could have felt trite but the characters are all so charming - even the nasty ones - that one overlooks it and goes along with the fantasy. Charming feel good film rests on the shoulder of its leading lady and she doesn't disappoint and is helped in great part by the delightful supporting cast - Lambert Wilson as a dashing Duke who comes to her rescue when the snooty manager (Isabelle Huppert) at the couture house tries to hustle her out before the fashion show, and Jason Isaacs as a bookie who helps her win funds for the trip. The film has outstanding production design and marvelous costumes on and off the designer's floor.
"Tun Tun Tun
Teri Pehn Nu _ _ _"
So goes the lone profane ditty in Bilal Lashari's stupendous reboot of the 1979 cult classic "Maula Jatt" which finally arrives on the big screen after a delay of almost two years. One would imagine that the film would be riddled with choice Punjabi profanities considering its about two warring clans set amidst a Punjab village milieu but the producer was sensible and avoided the deadly local censors. Instead the story takes on the grand mantle of both "Gladiator" and "Game of Thrones" which is hardly a call for originality but so appropriate for the plot which deliciously goes way over the top but refuses to slip into camp. The marvelous cast play their parts at the expected decible levels where dialogue is ferociously enunciated as the actors play to the gallery. The plot has old fashioned overtones bordering on cliché - an orphan is raised in secret by a widow after a rival clan slaughters his parents (Babar Ali & Resham in silent cameos during the epilogue). Maula Jatt (Fawad Khan) grows up with his foster brother in a small village where he earns money by fighting in a gladitorial arena where he beats up poor souls from neighboring villages. His hulking frame and silent demeanor mask the childhood trauma which he recalls in fits and starts but has no clue about his past. He is loved by the tough-talking village belle Mukkho Jatti (Mahira Khan). All of the film's memorable moments pit Maula Jatt against the three villains of the story - all siblings from the clan that massacred his parents. The eldest, and most barbaric, is Noori Natt (Hamza Ali Abbasi) who prefers to live inside a prison in order to be around wild, crazy and evil prisoners - he faces Maula inside the arena during the film's intense conclusion. His younger spoilt brother, Maakha Natt (Gohar Rasheed), is equally depraved and a drug addict - sniffing the fumes off burnt scorpions - who enjoys chasing, raping and capturing village belles for sport. Their sister, Daaro Nattni (Humaima Malick), is a self-professed bitch who gets turned on by Maula and proceeds to seduce him during a rather provocative moment set in a prison cell. She is in search of a strong mate who can satisfy her carnal desires even if he is the enemy. The graphic violence in the film has to be seen to be believed as bodies are sliced, stabbed, diced and decapitated with blood splattering everywhere. What remains amazing to see is the level of the film's production values - outstanding cinematography, production design, costumes, sound and editing. The entire cast is at the top of their form. Fawad Khan gets to make an entrance that befits a star of his stature as we see him walking from the back as he makes his way through a tunnel into the arena where he suddenly turns and the camera dramatically zooms in for a closeup of his face half hidden by locks of his hair - the actor seriously buffed up his body for the part. The three actors playing the villains each get their big moments and there are equally powerful and emotional performances by the two actors who play the foster mother and brother (Faris Shafi). This film production does Pakistan proud and it is a must-see.
Dobaara / 2:12 (Anurag Kashyap, 2022) 6/10
Science fiction thriller is a remake of the 2018 Spanish film "Mirage" but also has similarities to Hollywood's "Frequency". During an electrical storm a boy hears a couple fighting next door, goes to investigate and comes across a woman's dead body. A man comes after the child with a knife who runs out onto the road and gets hit by a vehicle and dies. 25-years later a nurse (Taapsee Pannu) moves with her husband and child into the same house as the dead child. Through an old tv and camera recorder she sees the same child - who can also see her from his end - just before he witnessed the crime next door and she warns him not to go there or he will die. She saves the child but in turn this mysteriously changes her own life as she wakes up to find that she is now a highly decorated surgeon with no husband or child. The man she was married to is now with someone else and does not recognise her and she has a hard time explaining the situation to a sympathetic cop (Pavail Gulati) and to other people around her. Convoluted plot zigzags between the past - where the murderer remains undiscovered and the boy tries to make sense of what is going on, and the present where the confused doctor begins to question her sanity and finds the resolution to the mystery with a most unexpected character. Briskly paced film has equal moments of tension, suspense and utter confusion. Taapsee Pannu effortlessly carries the film on her shoulders.
Drôle de drame / Bizzare, Bizzare (Marcel Carné, 1937) 10/10
A rare french screwball farce with bizzare characters acting in a bizzare fashion with the story set in Victorian England. A botonist (Michel Simon) is secretly also the writer of crime thrillers under a pseudonym. His cousin - a Bishop (Louis Jouvet) - vociferously condemns the mysterious writer and his fiction. The writer gets his stories from his secretary (Nadine Vogel) who in turn gets them from the annoying milkman (Jean-Pierre Aumont) who visits the house daily with bottles of milk only to profess his undying love for her. When the Bishop invites himself to his cousin's house for dinner it causes an uproar as the servants have fled and the bishop's wife (Françoise Rosay) refuses to appear and instead cooks the meal and has the secretary act like a servant. The following day the Botonist and his wife flee the house to avoid the pestering cousin and their absence results in the Bishop thinking that his cousin has murdered his wife so Scotland Yard is called to investigate. The Botonist returns in disguise as the writer and attempts to solve the mystery while his wife encounters a vegetarian serial killer (Jean-Louis Barrault) who has been killing butchers. Superbly acted farce by the crème de la crème of french actors from the Golden age is hysterical in tone while calmly taking a vicious and sly dig at British manners. Outstanding set design (by Alexandre Trauner) and cinematography (by Eugen Schüfftan) add to make this one of the seminal films of French Cinema.
Chup: The Revenge of an Artist (R. Balki, 2022) 6/10
While a strapping florist (Dulquer Salmaan) woos an entertainment journalist (Shreyer Dhanwanthary), a serial killer carves up film critics in Mumbai. Trying to solve the murders is a relentless cop (Sunny Deol) who gets help from a crackerjack criminal psychologist (Pooja Bhatt). Weaving in and out of the plot is the spirit of famed Indian actor-director Guru Dutt whose last directorial venture - "Kaagaz Ke Phool" - was a resounding flop after being savaged by critics in 1960. Today the film is universally regarded as a masterpiece and we get to see glimpses of the iconic film as the two young lovers enact a number of romantic moments from it. The savage murders are in the vein of David Fincher's "Seven" - very grusome and bloody - as we get to see the naked and obese helpless critics gagged and bound as the killer slashes their necks and carves a star (rating) on their foreheads before slicing up their bodies. The screenplay appears to be making points about caustic critics and about failure which can end up destroying a person and the metaphor used here is of the alcoholic Dutt who committed suicide in 1964 after being depressed by a combination of getting ridiculed in print, a failed marriage (to singer Geeta Dutt) and a broken love affair (with frequent co-star Waheeda Rehman). After a fairly gripping first half the film's last act suddenly takes on a prepostrous turn and comes up with certain bits of action that are totally unbelievable almost as if the filmmakers didn't quite know how to end the story. It was good to see Deol and Bhatt reunite on screen after 27 years but both have surprisingly underwritten parts. Acting honours go to Dulquer Salmaan star of South Indian cinema and the son of South superstar Mammootty.
The Sketch Artist (Phedon Papamichael, 1992) 6/10
A rich womanizing garment manufacturer is murdered and a courier (Drew Barrymore) runs into a woman coming out of the dead man's apartment. A sketch artist (Jeff Fahey) working for the LAPD draws a picture of the woman as described by the courier and is shocked to see that it resembles his own fashion designer wife (Sean Young). So he switches the sketch in order to protect his wife. When the cops arrest a woman resembling the fake sketch, and the courier is found dead, the man finds himself in over his head with the situation at hand. How can he save the falsely accused woman without betraying his wife? How will he explain being at the dead courier's house just before she was found murdered? Is his wife the killer? Fahey investigates and navigates through this fairly gripping B neo-noir as the screenplay pulls out all manner of red herrings.
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris (Anthony Fabian, 2022) 7/10
This is pure fluff and an adaptation of Paul Gallico's oft-filmed novel last brought to the small screen starring Angela Lansbury. In the title role lovely character actor Lesley Manville gets to play a rare lead role in a major motion picture - although the film seems not unlike one of those Hallmark or Lifetime television productions. A widowed cleaning lady (Lesley Manville) realises her dream of owning a Christian Dior dress after winning enough money to make a trip to 1950s Paris. The plot is more than just about a woman wanting to buy a dress. Its about a difficult life lived with disappointments and the sudden turn of events that allow a bit of joy into her drab life. Almost like a coming-of-age moment for the lady who not only charms the Parisians but finds true happiness in the bargain. Everyone is niceness personified which could have felt trite but the characters are all so charming - even the nasty ones - that one overlooks it and goes along with the fantasy. Charming feel good film rests on the shoulder of its leading lady and she doesn't disappoint and is helped in great part by the delightful supporting cast - Lambert Wilson as a dashing Duke who comes to her rescue when the snooty manager (Isabelle Huppert) at the couture house tries to hustle her out before the fashion show, and Jason Isaacs as a bookie who helps her win funds for the trip. The film has outstanding production design and marvelous costumes on and off the designer's floor.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Delicatessen (1991) - 8/10 - Meat is scarce so a butcher who also owns an apartment building hires people in order to kill them and sell the meat to his tenants. The sets and production design are great plus the story is pretty funny in a dark way.
Cronos (1993) - 8/10 - An alchemist in the 1500s invents a device to extend his life. An elderly antiques dealer in the 1990s finds the device in the base of a statue and finds that the device works, though there is a cost. There is also somebody who is looking for the device and will use any means to acquire it. I've enjoyed many del Toro films and this one is certainly no exception. It's not up there with Pan's Labyrinth, but it is entertaining.
Tesis (1996) - 8/10 - Angela (Ana Torrent) is a university student working on a thesis involving violence in cinema. Her investigation into the subject leads to uncovering of a snuff film involving a woman who went missing from the school two years earlier. It's hard for her to know who to trust as there seem to be a number of possible suspects. This is the first film I've seen Torrent in as an adult and I thought that she did a very nice job, which isn't surprising based on her work as a child actress. I also thought Fele Martínez was good as Chema.
Ringu (1998) - 8/10 - I saw the American remake of this 20 years ago when it came out and enjoyed it, but never got around to watching the original. This was pretty entertaining and I liked it about the same as the remake, perhaps even a little more.
The Others (2001) - 8/10 - Nicole Kidman and her two children live in a big country house on the island of Jersey just after WWII. Her husband has been gone for some time, presumed killed in the war, and her children have a sensitivity to light. Meanwhile, three new servants are hired just before spooky things start happening in the house. Kidman and the supporting cast do a very nice job in this gothic horror film.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (2003) - 8/10 - A very nice meditation on the circle of life. An elderly monk is raising a young boy on a floating temple in the middle of a remote lake. Each segment of the film takes us to a new phase of the boy's life.
The Host (2006) - 8/10 - When toxic chemicals are released into a river in Korea, a strange creature is the result. It kills a number of people while on a rampage and also takes a young girl back to its lair. Her family fights to try and get her back. Meanwhile, the government has been taking measures to fight a virus that they say is tied to the monster. This is a very nice monster movie.
Cronos (1993) - 8/10 - An alchemist in the 1500s invents a device to extend his life. An elderly antiques dealer in the 1990s finds the device in the base of a statue and finds that the device works, though there is a cost. There is also somebody who is looking for the device and will use any means to acquire it. I've enjoyed many del Toro films and this one is certainly no exception. It's not up there with Pan's Labyrinth, but it is entertaining.
Tesis (1996) - 8/10 - Angela (Ana Torrent) is a university student working on a thesis involving violence in cinema. Her investigation into the subject leads to uncovering of a snuff film involving a woman who went missing from the school two years earlier. It's hard for her to know who to trust as there seem to be a number of possible suspects. This is the first film I've seen Torrent in as an adult and I thought that she did a very nice job, which isn't surprising based on her work as a child actress. I also thought Fele Martínez was good as Chema.
Ringu (1998) - 8/10 - I saw the American remake of this 20 years ago when it came out and enjoyed it, but never got around to watching the original. This was pretty entertaining and I liked it about the same as the remake, perhaps even a little more.
The Others (2001) - 8/10 - Nicole Kidman and her two children live in a big country house on the island of Jersey just after WWII. Her husband has been gone for some time, presumed killed in the war, and her children have a sensitivity to light. Meanwhile, three new servants are hired just before spooky things start happening in the house. Kidman and the supporting cast do a very nice job in this gothic horror film.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (2003) - 8/10 - A very nice meditation on the circle of life. An elderly monk is raising a young boy on a floating temple in the middle of a remote lake. Each segment of the film takes us to a new phase of the boy's life.
The Host (2006) - 8/10 - When toxic chemicals are released into a river in Korea, a strange creature is the result. It kills a number of people while on a rampage and also takes a young girl back to its lair. Her family fights to try and get her back. Meanwhile, the government has been taking measures to fight a virus that they say is tied to the monster. This is a very nice monster movie.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
I've mostly been watching horror films this month, though some are of the psychological horror variety or only contain elements of horror. Here are the ones I liked the most so far.
The Most Dangerous Game (1932) - 7.5/10 - A well known hunter is shipwrecked on an island surrounded by deadly reefs. He finds himself the guest of the mysterious Count Zaroff along with survivors of earlier wrecks. It turns out that Count Zaroff is a big hunter himself, though he prefers to hunt a different sort of game. This is a nice film that accomplishes what it sets out to do in a very quick manner.
Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) - 7.5/10 - A reporter (Glenda Farrell) looking into missing corpses connects them to a new wax museum that is opening. The picture looks great with its two strip Technicolor. Farrell does a very nice job in her reporter role and the film is pretty entertaining. I liked it a lot more than the later Vincent Price version.
Son of Frankenstein (1939) - 7.5/10 - Victor Frankenstein's sons shows up to claim his inheritance. He finds that Ygor is alive after a failed hanging and the monster is in a coma in a secret room. Basil Rathbone did a very nice job as Frankenstein's son and Bela Lugosi was also good as Ygor. I liked this a bit more than the original. I should go back and rewatch Bride of Frankenstein since it has been around 30 years since I last saw it.
The Curse of the Cat People (1944) - 8/10 - The husband from Cat People has remarried and has a six year old daughter named Amy. Amy has an active imagination and sometimes gets caught up in her own world which annoys the other children. She is befriended by an aging actress who stays shut up in her large home and also by the ghost of her father's first wife, Irena. This film features a number of nice performances and is a good psychological drama.
Bedlam (1946) - 8/10 - In 1761, Nell Bowen (Anna Lee) finds the way inmates at St. Mary's of Bethlehem are treated. She tries to get reforms instituted, but finds herself blocked by the head of the institute (Boris Karloff). Lee and Karloff each give very good performances in a very nice drama.
I vampiri (1957) - 7.5/10 - A nice little film about a series of murders of young women who are found with their blood drained. A reporter is on top of the story and is trying to crack the case. There is plenty of atmosphere and a nice aging effect.
House on Haunted Hill (1959) - 7.5/10 - Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) and his wife (Carol Ohmart) invite five people to spend a night in a haunted house for $10,000. One of the guests explain how there have been a number of murders in the house. There is also a nice vat of acid in the basement plus secret rooms, spooky happenings, etc. Price is good and there is a nice level of suspense in an enjoyable film.
The Innocents (1961) - 8/10 - Deborah Kerr stars as a woman who is hired as a governess to care for two children on a country estate. The uncle hired her because he has no interest in caring for children, but wants to see that they are provided for. The children seem very nice and well behaved, but the governess soon becomes convinced that the estate is haunted by the ghosts of the previous governess and another former employee named Peter Quint. Is it haunted or is she going out of her mind, though. There is plenty of atmosphere and nice performances from Kerr and the two kids.
Onibaba (1964) - 8/10 - During feudal times in Japan, a woman lives with her daughter-in-law while her son is off fighting in a useless war. The two make their living by killing stray soldiers who wander by, dropping their bodies in a pit, and then selling the belongings they scavenged for food. Their lives change a bit when a friend of the son returns from the war and says that the son is dead. This is a nice period drama with a bit of horror thrown in.
Repulsion (1965) - 8/10 - Carol (Catherine Deneuve) is a manicurist who is often withdrawn and seems to have an aversion to men. She lives with her sister and when the sister goes off on holiday with her boyfriend, Carol's condition worsens, including nightmares and hallucinations, as her mental state deteriorates. It's a pretty good film about one woman's mental illness.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) - 8/10 - Valerie is a young teen close to becoming a woman. A pair of magic earrings change how she views the world. This movie is surreal and strange, but also very colorful and mesmerizing at times. Vampires, carnival folk, music, sexual awakening, etc. are all just parts of the film.
The Wicker Man (1973) - 8.5/10 - A police officer travels by seaplane to a remote Scottish Island after a report of a missing girl. When he arrives, the people on the island deny the existence of the girl and have reverted to pagan ways. This is an excellent folk horror film with an excellent soundtrack.
The Most Dangerous Game (1932) - 7.5/10 - A well known hunter is shipwrecked on an island surrounded by deadly reefs. He finds himself the guest of the mysterious Count Zaroff along with survivors of earlier wrecks. It turns out that Count Zaroff is a big hunter himself, though he prefers to hunt a different sort of game. This is a nice film that accomplishes what it sets out to do in a very quick manner.
Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) - 7.5/10 - A reporter (Glenda Farrell) looking into missing corpses connects them to a new wax museum that is opening. The picture looks great with its two strip Technicolor. Farrell does a very nice job in her reporter role and the film is pretty entertaining. I liked it a lot more than the later Vincent Price version.
Son of Frankenstein (1939) - 7.5/10 - Victor Frankenstein's sons shows up to claim his inheritance. He finds that Ygor is alive after a failed hanging and the monster is in a coma in a secret room. Basil Rathbone did a very nice job as Frankenstein's son and Bela Lugosi was also good as Ygor. I liked this a bit more than the original. I should go back and rewatch Bride of Frankenstein since it has been around 30 years since I last saw it.
The Curse of the Cat People (1944) - 8/10 - The husband from Cat People has remarried and has a six year old daughter named Amy. Amy has an active imagination and sometimes gets caught up in her own world which annoys the other children. She is befriended by an aging actress who stays shut up in her large home and also by the ghost of her father's first wife, Irena. This film features a number of nice performances and is a good psychological drama.
Bedlam (1946) - 8/10 - In 1761, Nell Bowen (Anna Lee) finds the way inmates at St. Mary's of Bethlehem are treated. She tries to get reforms instituted, but finds herself blocked by the head of the institute (Boris Karloff). Lee and Karloff each give very good performances in a very nice drama.
I vampiri (1957) - 7.5/10 - A nice little film about a series of murders of young women who are found with their blood drained. A reporter is on top of the story and is trying to crack the case. There is plenty of atmosphere and a nice aging effect.
House on Haunted Hill (1959) - 7.5/10 - Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) and his wife (Carol Ohmart) invite five people to spend a night in a haunted house for $10,000. One of the guests explain how there have been a number of murders in the house. There is also a nice vat of acid in the basement plus secret rooms, spooky happenings, etc. Price is good and there is a nice level of suspense in an enjoyable film.
The Innocents (1961) - 8/10 - Deborah Kerr stars as a woman who is hired as a governess to care for two children on a country estate. The uncle hired her because he has no interest in caring for children, but wants to see that they are provided for. The children seem very nice and well behaved, but the governess soon becomes convinced that the estate is haunted by the ghosts of the previous governess and another former employee named Peter Quint. Is it haunted or is she going out of her mind, though. There is plenty of atmosphere and nice performances from Kerr and the two kids.
Onibaba (1964) - 8/10 - During feudal times in Japan, a woman lives with her daughter-in-law while her son is off fighting in a useless war. The two make their living by killing stray soldiers who wander by, dropping their bodies in a pit, and then selling the belongings they scavenged for food. Their lives change a bit when a friend of the son returns from the war and says that the son is dead. This is a nice period drama with a bit of horror thrown in.
Repulsion (1965) - 8/10 - Carol (Catherine Deneuve) is a manicurist who is often withdrawn and seems to have an aversion to men. She lives with her sister and when the sister goes off on holiday with her boyfriend, Carol's condition worsens, including nightmares and hallucinations, as her mental state deteriorates. It's a pretty good film about one woman's mental illness.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) - 8/10 - Valerie is a young teen close to becoming a woman. A pair of magic earrings change how she views the world. This movie is surreal and strange, but also very colorful and mesmerizing at times. Vampires, carnival folk, music, sexual awakening, etc. are all just parts of the film.
The Wicker Man (1973) - 8.5/10 - A police officer travels by seaplane to a remote Scottish Island after a report of a missing girl. When he arrives, the people on the island deny the existence of the girl and have reverted to pagan ways. This is an excellent folk horror film with an excellent soundtrack.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Shaque (Aruna Raje & Vikas Desai, 1976) 7/10
A housewife (Shabana Azmi) receives a letter in which a man accuses her husband of robbery and murder. Ten years before her husband (Vinod Khanna) had arrived home covered in blood saying a colleague had been murdered at the office and his testimony later sent another colleague to prison for the crime. The wife recalls that soon afterwards their lower middle-class life had suddenly changed for the better and their money problems came to an end. Doubt leads to suspicion and she decides to investigate behind her husband's back and visits the imprisoned man's impoverished and hysterically distraught wife (Farida Jalal), the man (Utpal Dutt) who wrote the letter and his sympathetic cabaret-dancer mistress (Bindu). When the cops later appear her husband urges her to flee with him. Is he guilty or is someone else behind the decade old robbery and murder? Gripping film manages to sustain suspense almost to the end but then devolves into typical Bollywood melodrama and silly action to allow the film's "hero" to prove heroic. The film rests on Shabana Azmi's fantastic performance as she goes from being a loving and trusting wife and mother to being suspicious and scared for her life. She and Vinod Khanna have great chemistry in this their first film together and would later star in many films opposite each other. Both Khanna and Farida Jalal (in a fantastic cameo) were nominated for the Filmfare Award.
Prem Kahani (Raj Khosla, 1975) 7/10
The story is set during the turmoil days of 1942 India when the locals were in constant agitation against the British and wanting their removal from power. For a period film it is extremely jarring to see the actors sporting contemporary clothes and hairstyles circa 1975 which clearly signals lazy filmmaking on part of Khosla. The film was a massive hit continuing the Rajesh Khanna craze at the time with the added bonus of Shashi Kapoor and Mumtaz as co-stars in a love triangle. An apolitical poet (Rajesh Khanna) lives with his freedom fighter brother (Trilok Kapoor - Prithviraj's younger brother) and is madly in love with his childhood sweetheart (Mumtaz) who comes from a family that works for the British government. Her father (K.N. Singh) makes it clear that he is opposed to their union which, through a tragedy, causes a rift between the two lovers when the poet joins the freedom struggle and breaks off his relationship with her. Sometime later, wounded and on the run, he arrives at the doorstep - with the help of a pathan truck driver (Vinod Khanna) - of his best friend (Shashi Kapoor) - a cop - for shelter and is shocked to see his former sweetheart now married to his friend. The melodramatic quotient heats up as jealousy rears its head and long suppressed feelings emerge leading to a sacrifice involving a gun. The film's music and songs helped at the boxoffice as Khanna romances lovely Mumtaz on screen while Shashi Kapoor, then in his third-wheel but equally successful phase on screen, adds a touch of class to the proceedings.
I girasoli / Sunflower (Vittorio De Sica, 1970) 6/10
Swooningly romantic, sentimental film is really not one of De Sica's best but it has at its center a fearlessly strong performance by Sophia Loren. A woman (Sophia Loren) spends years waiting for and later relentlessly searching for her husband (Marcello Mastroianni) who was sent to the Russian Front 12 days after their marriage. The brief early scenes all consist of the famous co-stars enjoying each other in bed as they can't keep their hands off each other. A plan to pretend insanity to avoid the war backfires and he ends up at the horrific snowbound Russian Front. After the war ends and he fails to return she goes to Russia in search for him only to find him married to a local woman (Ludmila Savelyeva) who saved his life. Shocked and disappointed she returns to Italy to start life again but the former lovers meet once more some time later during a dramatic scene - keep a box of kleenex within easy reach - set on a railway platform accompanied on the soundtrack by Henry Mancini's soaring Oscar nominated score. This is Loren's film from start to finish and she is quite magnificent. It was the first Western film to be shot in the USSR with scenes set in Moscow but mostly shot in Ukraine - the memorable scenes of an endless expanse of sunflowers in a field became the film's iconic image as created by the camera of Giuseppe Rotunno.
Desirable (Archie Mayo, 1934) 7/10
Suave businessman (George Brent) greatly admires a stage star (Verree Teasdale) who likes the attention but has no time for him. When he discovers her visiting teenage daughter (Jean Muir) he falls head over heels in love with her much to the mother's consternation who hid the fact from the world that she has a grown up daughter. Charming Muir is a delightful presence in this fluff as she wraps Brent around her finger without meaning to. Teasdale is fun as the imperious actress trying to hide her age. Pre-code film manages to present what could have been scandalous - man romancing both a mother and her daughter - with a touch of sophistication.
From Headquarters (William Dieterle, 1933) 6/10
Fast paced police procedural during a murder investigation takes great pains to show the ballistics expert, the autopsy surgeon (taking great delight in the murder), the fingerprint men and the toxicologist at their business of shifting and sorting clues. A playboy is murdered and the chief suspect is a lady (Margaret Lindsay) who just happens to be the former lover of the cop (George Brent) investigating the case. Comedy elements are provided by the blustery police sergeant (Eugene Pallette who never takes off his hat) bulldozing his way through to comoletely incorrect conclusions, a bailbondsman (Hugh Herbert) crawling around the precinct halls and a safecracker (Hobart Cavanaugh) who ends up in a broom closet slashed with a knife. The entire story is set within the precinct except for flashback sequences to the room where the murdered man was discovered with a bullet through his eye. Smartly directed film scores points on depicting realistic less archtype characters and a facinating way of using a first-person camera technique during all the flashback sequences.
Beast (Baltasar Kormákur, 2022) 6/10
This is basically "Jaws" on land. In the jungles of South Africa. A family - a doctor (Idris Elba) and his two daughters on vacation - run foul of a very pissed off lion whose pride was shot dead by poachers. This Man vs Beast action thriller allows Elba to shine - wtf has Hollywood completely neglected to provide him suitable lead roles? The media needs to shout foul instead of repeatedly talking shit about the actor playing James Bond. The actor is too good for Bond - even if he wrestles the CGI lion - and should be part of the A-list in Hollywood. This B-film is totally predictable but smartly does what it sets out to do - create an edge-of-the-seat thriller as the characters find themselves trapped in a jeep with the relentless predator out for blood.
A housewife (Shabana Azmi) receives a letter in which a man accuses her husband of robbery and murder. Ten years before her husband (Vinod Khanna) had arrived home covered in blood saying a colleague had been murdered at the office and his testimony later sent another colleague to prison for the crime. The wife recalls that soon afterwards their lower middle-class life had suddenly changed for the better and their money problems came to an end. Doubt leads to suspicion and she decides to investigate behind her husband's back and visits the imprisoned man's impoverished and hysterically distraught wife (Farida Jalal), the man (Utpal Dutt) who wrote the letter and his sympathetic cabaret-dancer mistress (Bindu). When the cops later appear her husband urges her to flee with him. Is he guilty or is someone else behind the decade old robbery and murder? Gripping film manages to sustain suspense almost to the end but then devolves into typical Bollywood melodrama and silly action to allow the film's "hero" to prove heroic. The film rests on Shabana Azmi's fantastic performance as she goes from being a loving and trusting wife and mother to being suspicious and scared for her life. She and Vinod Khanna have great chemistry in this their first film together and would later star in many films opposite each other. Both Khanna and Farida Jalal (in a fantastic cameo) were nominated for the Filmfare Award.
Prem Kahani (Raj Khosla, 1975) 7/10
The story is set during the turmoil days of 1942 India when the locals were in constant agitation against the British and wanting their removal from power. For a period film it is extremely jarring to see the actors sporting contemporary clothes and hairstyles circa 1975 which clearly signals lazy filmmaking on part of Khosla. The film was a massive hit continuing the Rajesh Khanna craze at the time with the added bonus of Shashi Kapoor and Mumtaz as co-stars in a love triangle. An apolitical poet (Rajesh Khanna) lives with his freedom fighter brother (Trilok Kapoor - Prithviraj's younger brother) and is madly in love with his childhood sweetheart (Mumtaz) who comes from a family that works for the British government. Her father (K.N. Singh) makes it clear that he is opposed to their union which, through a tragedy, causes a rift between the two lovers when the poet joins the freedom struggle and breaks off his relationship with her. Sometime later, wounded and on the run, he arrives at the doorstep - with the help of a pathan truck driver (Vinod Khanna) - of his best friend (Shashi Kapoor) - a cop - for shelter and is shocked to see his former sweetheart now married to his friend. The melodramatic quotient heats up as jealousy rears its head and long suppressed feelings emerge leading to a sacrifice involving a gun. The film's music and songs helped at the boxoffice as Khanna romances lovely Mumtaz on screen while Shashi Kapoor, then in his third-wheel but equally successful phase on screen, adds a touch of class to the proceedings.
I girasoli / Sunflower (Vittorio De Sica, 1970) 6/10
Swooningly romantic, sentimental film is really not one of De Sica's best but it has at its center a fearlessly strong performance by Sophia Loren. A woman (Sophia Loren) spends years waiting for and later relentlessly searching for her husband (Marcello Mastroianni) who was sent to the Russian Front 12 days after their marriage. The brief early scenes all consist of the famous co-stars enjoying each other in bed as they can't keep their hands off each other. A plan to pretend insanity to avoid the war backfires and he ends up at the horrific snowbound Russian Front. After the war ends and he fails to return she goes to Russia in search for him only to find him married to a local woman (Ludmila Savelyeva) who saved his life. Shocked and disappointed she returns to Italy to start life again but the former lovers meet once more some time later during a dramatic scene - keep a box of kleenex within easy reach - set on a railway platform accompanied on the soundtrack by Henry Mancini's soaring Oscar nominated score. This is Loren's film from start to finish and she is quite magnificent. It was the first Western film to be shot in the USSR with scenes set in Moscow but mostly shot in Ukraine - the memorable scenes of an endless expanse of sunflowers in a field became the film's iconic image as created by the camera of Giuseppe Rotunno.
Desirable (Archie Mayo, 1934) 7/10
Suave businessman (George Brent) greatly admires a stage star (Verree Teasdale) who likes the attention but has no time for him. When he discovers her visiting teenage daughter (Jean Muir) he falls head over heels in love with her much to the mother's consternation who hid the fact from the world that she has a grown up daughter. Charming Muir is a delightful presence in this fluff as she wraps Brent around her finger without meaning to. Teasdale is fun as the imperious actress trying to hide her age. Pre-code film manages to present what could have been scandalous - man romancing both a mother and her daughter - with a touch of sophistication.
From Headquarters (William Dieterle, 1933) 6/10
Fast paced police procedural during a murder investigation takes great pains to show the ballistics expert, the autopsy surgeon (taking great delight in the murder), the fingerprint men and the toxicologist at their business of shifting and sorting clues. A playboy is murdered and the chief suspect is a lady (Margaret Lindsay) who just happens to be the former lover of the cop (George Brent) investigating the case. Comedy elements are provided by the blustery police sergeant (Eugene Pallette who never takes off his hat) bulldozing his way through to comoletely incorrect conclusions, a bailbondsman (Hugh Herbert) crawling around the precinct halls and a safecracker (Hobart Cavanaugh) who ends up in a broom closet slashed with a knife. The entire story is set within the precinct except for flashback sequences to the room where the murdered man was discovered with a bullet through his eye. Smartly directed film scores points on depicting realistic less archtype characters and a facinating way of using a first-person camera technique during all the flashback sequences.
Beast (Baltasar Kormákur, 2022) 6/10
This is basically "Jaws" on land. In the jungles of South Africa. A family - a doctor (Idris Elba) and his two daughters on vacation - run foul of a very pissed off lion whose pride was shot dead by poachers. This Man vs Beast action thriller allows Elba to shine - wtf has Hollywood completely neglected to provide him suitable lead roles? The media needs to shout foul instead of repeatedly talking shit about the actor playing James Bond. The actor is too good for Bond - even if he wrestles the CGI lion - and should be part of the A-list in Hollywood. This B-film is totally predictable but smartly does what it sets out to do - create an edge-of-the-seat thriller as the characters find themselves trapped in a jeep with the relentless predator out for blood.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Blonde (Andrew Dominik, 2022) 8/10
Harrowing look at the life of an actress who begins life as the child of a mentally unbalanced mother (Julianne Nicholson in an unforgettable performance) who tries to drown her and burn her alive. Based on the novel by Joyce Carol Oates this is a nonlinear and elliptical telling of the life of Norma Jeane Baker who became the Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe. Cuban-Spanish actor Ana de Armas effortlessly transforms herself into the iconic woman and shockingly even gets the star's ever-breathless voice down pat. Her sad life of many highs, but more lows, is presented in a dreamlike matter-of-fact way which although familiar to the average fan is relentlessly unforgiving in the way every sad moment is starkly presented. The highlights of her professional and personal life get a look-in - her first important movie role on screen is achieved but only after Hollywood producer Darryl Zanuck rapes her doggy style. She is forever in search of the "daddy" who abandoned her and tries to see him in the husbands she latches onto - Joe DiMaggio (Bobby Cannavale) the baseball player who physically abuses her, and via an emotionally codependent marriage to the playwright Arthur Miller (Adrien Brody). In between we get glimpses of famous moments - the song “Bye, Bye Baby” from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes references a forced abortion she reluctantly has in order to do the movie (we get to see the abortion taking place from within her vagina), the famous subway-grate sequence from The Seven Year Itch where her skirt is blown up above her waist and which turns into a grotesque nightmare as she is gawked at by photographers and onlookers as the moment is captured on film, and later she is literally carried by two Secret Service agents and delivered to President John Kennedy, who then makes her fellate him while he casually watches television. The repetitive degradation she is confronted by becomes a vicious exercise in horror but despite the film's excessive length it is never boring as the film visually compensates through its stunning cinematography (both in lush colour and in jarring black & white) backed by a softly wailing score. Ana de Armas gives a tour-de-force performance willing to totally give herself to the role in all its literally naked glory.
Lásky jedné plavovlásky / Loves of a Blonde (Miloš Forman, 1965) 7/10
Early Forman is set during the communist era and is one of the seminal films of the Czech New Wave. A heavy gloom hangs over everything as we follow the travails of a young shoe factory worker - the blonde of the title - as she goes about with her friends looking for love, sex or friendship - whichever comes first. A night out at a village dance the young girls are horrified to find the place full of sleazy middle-aged soldiers. Forman's camera - one of his very early collaborations with the great Miroslav Ondrícek - captures these characters in stark comic closeups as the girls manage to escape the planned crude sexual advances of the leering men who try their best to lure them. The men, in full-on clumsy mode, act like silly gossiping schoolgirls as they pass remarks about the girls seated at tables across from them. The blonde hooks up with a piano player from Prague who sweet talks her into going to bed with him. In love with him she takes off the following day to the big city in search of him only to fall foul of his parents. His overbearing mother is incredulous at the audacity of this single girl who expects to move into their house. A comedy of errors acted to perfection by a cast mostly consisting of amateurs - the blonde is superbly played by Forman's former ex-sister-in-law. The film resembles the British kitchen sink dramas then in vogue and was nominated for an Academy Award in the foreign film category.
Horí, má panenko / The Fireman's Ball (Miloš Forman, 1967) 5/10
The director's second highly acclaimed film from the Czech New Wave era is an unfunny comedy about a fire department throwing a retirement party for a former boss. The whole town is invited but nothing goes according to plan and everything goes wrong which was a veiled attack at the communist regime causing the film to be banned. The film was instrumental in launching Forman's career in Hollywood. Nominated for an Academy Award in the Foreign Film category.
LBJ (Rob Reiner, 2016) 5/10
Jennifer Jason Leigh is shockingly underused as Lady Bird Johnson but Woody Harrelson makes for a robust LBJ - buried under mounds of prosthetics - as he tries to emerge from under all that makeup and create the colorful and cagey vulgarian who was the 36th President of the United States. Ambitious enough to run for the Presidential ticket he ends up as Vice President to John F. Kennedy but then eventually gets thrust into the top office when the latter is shot and killed. The screenplay sets up LBJ's political career via flashbacks from the motorcade wherein Kennedy is assassinated during that fateful ride down the street in Dallas. Once LBJ gets to the Oval office it becomes a series of verbal encounters with his nemesis Senator Robert Kennedy and his tussle with his friend and mentor - the Georgia State Senator Richard Russell (Richard Jenkins) - over the Civil Rights Bill which was Kennedy's dream and which he successfully pushes forward. He later gets elected to the presidency when he wins by a landslide - the largest share won by any presidential candidate since the 1820 election, but his popularity plummets as the Vietnam War rages amidst American deaths and intensifying anti-war protests. Interesting from the historical perspective this biopic gets a very ordinary treatment not helped by that distracting wax-like makeup on Harrelson's face.
Harrowing look at the life of an actress who begins life as the child of a mentally unbalanced mother (Julianne Nicholson in an unforgettable performance) who tries to drown her and burn her alive. Based on the novel by Joyce Carol Oates this is a nonlinear and elliptical telling of the life of Norma Jeane Baker who became the Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe. Cuban-Spanish actor Ana de Armas effortlessly transforms herself into the iconic woman and shockingly even gets the star's ever-breathless voice down pat. Her sad life of many highs, but more lows, is presented in a dreamlike matter-of-fact way which although familiar to the average fan is relentlessly unforgiving in the way every sad moment is starkly presented. The highlights of her professional and personal life get a look-in - her first important movie role on screen is achieved but only after Hollywood producer Darryl Zanuck rapes her doggy style. She is forever in search of the "daddy" who abandoned her and tries to see him in the husbands she latches onto - Joe DiMaggio (Bobby Cannavale) the baseball player who physically abuses her, and via an emotionally codependent marriage to the playwright Arthur Miller (Adrien Brody). In between we get glimpses of famous moments - the song “Bye, Bye Baby” from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes references a forced abortion she reluctantly has in order to do the movie (we get to see the abortion taking place from within her vagina), the famous subway-grate sequence from The Seven Year Itch where her skirt is blown up above her waist and which turns into a grotesque nightmare as she is gawked at by photographers and onlookers as the moment is captured on film, and later she is literally carried by two Secret Service agents and delivered to President John Kennedy, who then makes her fellate him while he casually watches television. The repetitive degradation she is confronted by becomes a vicious exercise in horror but despite the film's excessive length it is never boring as the film visually compensates through its stunning cinematography (both in lush colour and in jarring black & white) backed by a softly wailing score. Ana de Armas gives a tour-de-force performance willing to totally give herself to the role in all its literally naked glory.
Lásky jedné plavovlásky / Loves of a Blonde (Miloš Forman, 1965) 7/10
Early Forman is set during the communist era and is one of the seminal films of the Czech New Wave. A heavy gloom hangs over everything as we follow the travails of a young shoe factory worker - the blonde of the title - as she goes about with her friends looking for love, sex or friendship - whichever comes first. A night out at a village dance the young girls are horrified to find the place full of sleazy middle-aged soldiers. Forman's camera - one of his very early collaborations with the great Miroslav Ondrícek - captures these characters in stark comic closeups as the girls manage to escape the planned crude sexual advances of the leering men who try their best to lure them. The men, in full-on clumsy mode, act like silly gossiping schoolgirls as they pass remarks about the girls seated at tables across from them. The blonde hooks up with a piano player from Prague who sweet talks her into going to bed with him. In love with him she takes off the following day to the big city in search of him only to fall foul of his parents. His overbearing mother is incredulous at the audacity of this single girl who expects to move into their house. A comedy of errors acted to perfection by a cast mostly consisting of amateurs - the blonde is superbly played by Forman's former ex-sister-in-law. The film resembles the British kitchen sink dramas then in vogue and was nominated for an Academy Award in the foreign film category.
Horí, má panenko / The Fireman's Ball (Miloš Forman, 1967) 5/10
The director's second highly acclaimed film from the Czech New Wave era is an unfunny comedy about a fire department throwing a retirement party for a former boss. The whole town is invited but nothing goes according to plan and everything goes wrong which was a veiled attack at the communist regime causing the film to be banned. The film was instrumental in launching Forman's career in Hollywood. Nominated for an Academy Award in the Foreign Film category.
LBJ (Rob Reiner, 2016) 5/10
Jennifer Jason Leigh is shockingly underused as Lady Bird Johnson but Woody Harrelson makes for a robust LBJ - buried under mounds of prosthetics - as he tries to emerge from under all that makeup and create the colorful and cagey vulgarian who was the 36th President of the United States. Ambitious enough to run for the Presidential ticket he ends up as Vice President to John F. Kennedy but then eventually gets thrust into the top office when the latter is shot and killed. The screenplay sets up LBJ's political career via flashbacks from the motorcade wherein Kennedy is assassinated during that fateful ride down the street in Dallas. Once LBJ gets to the Oval office it becomes a series of verbal encounters with his nemesis Senator Robert Kennedy and his tussle with his friend and mentor - the Georgia State Senator Richard Russell (Richard Jenkins) - over the Civil Rights Bill which was Kennedy's dream and which he successfully pushes forward. He later gets elected to the presidency when he wins by a landslide - the largest share won by any presidential candidate since the 1820 election, but his popularity plummets as the Vietnam War rages amidst American deaths and intensifying anti-war protests. Interesting from the historical perspective this biopic gets a very ordinary treatment not helped by that distracting wax-like makeup on Harrelson's face.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
I'll have to check that out some time. This is the first I've heard of that film.Big Magilla wrote: I've never seen DeMille's version of J.M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton but I love Lewis Gilbert's 1957 version with Kenneth More as the butler and Sally Ann Howes in the Swanson role. Diane Cilento, Cecil Parker, Martita Hunt, and Miles Malleson are also in it.
Yi Yi (2000) - 9/10 - A middle class Taiwanese family each are dealing with a variety of issues. The father has concerns about his business and reunites with an old girlfriend. The mother struggles with her own mother's stroke. The daughter spends time with her new friend and is interested in the friend's boyfriend. The son takes an interest in photography and we get to see plenty of his school life as well. It's a very nice film
Bullet Train (2022) - 8/10 - An assassin often cursed with bad luck (Brad Pitt) takes an assignment to snatch a briefcase on a bullet train. It is supposed to be a quick job, but complications arise in the form of other assassins on the train. There is plenty of humor and violence and I thought it was fun.
Sparrows (1926) - 8/10 - Mary Pickford stars as Molly, the oldest of a group of orphan children who are used as slave labor on a farm deep in the swamps of the south. A new baby is added to the mix in the form of the kidnapped daughter of a wealthy family. There are a number of hijinx as well, often involving the bratty son of the grizzled old farmer. Pickford is good here and I thought it was fun. The journey through the swamp was done pretty well.
The Raid (2011) - 8/10 - A small group of elite police officers raid an apartment tower that is under the control of a powerful gang. The raid turns into a trap and they must fight in order to survive. Tons of action in a fairly entertaining film.
A Face in the Crowd (1957) - 8/10 - Andy Griffith gives a strong performance as Lonesome Rhodes, a drifter who is discovered by a radio reporter (Patricia Neal) while he is in jail on a minor charge. Lonesome has some talent as a folk singer and for connecting with people. He soon has his own tv show and quickly rises in power and popularity, exposing a darker side to his character. Neal is also pretty good in her role.
Dil Chahta Hai (2001) - 8/10 - Three men just out of college have been very close friends for a long time. The film follows their friendship and their romances with the women they come to love. The film has a nice mix of comedy, romance, and drama plus the songs generally add to the story rather than distracting from it. I'm not sure it had to be 3 hours long, but I enjoyed it.
A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929) - 8/10 - A an escapes from Dartmoor Prison and heads for a cottage on the moor. This leads to an extensive flashback about a jealous barber who is obsessed with a pretty manicurist who works at the barbershop. The acting is good and the camerawork and story are as well.
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Big Magilla
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
gunnar wrote:
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.
I've never seen DeMille's version of J.M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton but I love Lewis Gilbert's 1957 version with Kenneth More as the butler and Sally Ann Howes in the Swanson role. Diane Cilento, Cecil Parker, Martita Hunt, and Miles Malleson are also in it.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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 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.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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.
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.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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
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
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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.
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.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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.
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.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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.
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.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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.
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.