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

[Reza]

The Great Gatsby (Elliott Nugent, 1949) 8/10

The second Hollywood attempt at filming Fitzgerald's ironic tale (the silent first version in 1926 is now lost) was initially cast with Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney in the lead roles (Tierney was rejected for being too beautiful and Power then decided he didn't want to make the film without her). So Paramount cast their boxoffice champ Alan Ladd who is surprisingly excellent as bootlegger turned mysterious millionaire, Jay Gatsby, who throws lavish parties at his mansion on Long Island in the hope of attracting his one time love Daisy (Betty Field) now married. Her husband Tom (the superb Barry Sullivan) is old money, has a roving eye and is involved with Myrtle (Shelley Winters) the wife of garage owner Wilson (Howard Da Silva). The enigmatic Gatsby and Daisy are brought together by Nick Carraway (Macdonald Carey) who is Daisy's cousin and Gatsby's tenant. Rounding out the main characters is society friend Jordan (Ruth Hussey) who has her eye on Nick and Elisha Cook Jr. as Gatsby's oldest crony Klipsinger - although his other great friend Meyer Wolfsheim is missing. It all comes to an ironic and bitter end resulting in lies, an accident and death. The screenplay, although fairly abridged and bending to the censors of the time where major characters are provided extra dialogue to atone for their behavior, wonderfully captures the spirit of the novel. The script also has Dan Cody (Henry Hull), a character briefly mentioned in the novel (missing in the '74 version of the film but also present in the '13 version), who introduces a dirt poor Gatsby to the high life before he went into the army and met Daisy. The film is also less extravagant in the party scenes compared to both the later film versions but has beautiful production design and costumes (by Edith Head). The rich cinematography by John F. Seitz evokes the best film noirs of that time (an Alan Ladd speciality) and compliments the story which is presented in the form of a mystery.

[Reza]

Dark Places (Gilles Paquet-Brenner, 2015) 7/10

An 8 year-old girl escapes a massacre in her home where her mother and two older sisters are killed in cold blood and she is manipulated by the press and lawyers into accusing her weird older goth-like brother of the crime. Almost three decades later Libby (Charlize Theron), who has survived on generous donations from a sympathetic public and royalties from a ghost written book about the gruesome murders, reaches rock bottom when she is told there is no more money. She is approached by a group of "fans" of the "Kansas City Massacre" who try to convince her that her incarcerated brother (Corey Stoll) is innocent and she must re-open the case so the mystery can be solved. Sceptical at first, Libby gets drawn into the dark labyrinth of her past which results in a shocking denouement. Theron appears to have cornered the market for playing psychologically scarred females from the bottom rung of society and she once more rises to the occasion. Her natural beauty comes slightly in the way of such characters but she overcomes it through strong body language and an appropriately drab wardrobe. The David Lynch-like plot with bizzare and ghoulish characters - a teenage nymphomaniac (Chloe Grace Moretz), strippers, satanic cults and paedophiles - pepper the plot taking it strictly into potboiler territory with twisted family secrets coming to the fore. However, Theron along with some neat twists and turns make the audience guessing till the end.

[Reza]

Gunman's Walk (Phil Karlson, 1958) 8/10

A one-time gunslinger (Van Heflin), now living a rich respected and retired life on a huge cattle farm, is dismayed to find one son (James Darren) is dating a half breed (Kathryn Grant) and the other son (Tab Hunter) is going around on a killing spree comfortable in the view that the father would bail him out just as he's done all his life. Matters come to a head when it becomes impossible for the old man to constantly bribe people or stall the law to save his son. Atmospheric little western which builds up to a suspenseful climax with excellent performances all round. Tab Hunter is memorable as the young man who is fed up of living in the shadows of a strict and righteous father.

[Reza]

Life (Anton Corjibin, 2015) 4/10

Corbijin's previous films have been so full of life that it's surprising how lifeless this one is especially since it's set mostly in Hollywood and is about one of the most iconic stars. Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson), an ambitious photographer at Life magazine, chances upon an unknown actor James Dean (Dane DeHaan) at a party at the house of Nicholas Ray where the girl on his arm is Natalie Wood. Dean has just filmed "East of Eden" which is about to have it's premiere and Stock suggests to the magazine that he would like to profile the young upcoming actor. The two men embark on an oddysey which would eventually result in the iconic photographs of Dean in New York (the famous photograph of Dean walking down a wet and deserted Times Square with his upturned collar and cigarette in mouth would later became the most reproduced photograph in the world) and back on his family farm in Indiana. Unfortunately this fascinating subject is presented in such a slow and low key fashion - Pattinson's dull performance is a major hinderance - that the film starts to crawl almost as soon as it begins. DeHaan is superb as Dean, capturing the child-like, brooding and selfish quality of the actor. He is particularly good in the scene during a press conference where he finds out via a journalist that his girlfriend, the actress Pier Angeli, has become engaged to singer Vic Damone. The film scores points for creating the right mood helped by wonderful production design of scenes set in Hollywood (Ben Kingsley makes a good Jack Warner) and New York (evocative scenes set in jazz bars where Dean dances with Eartha Kitt) in 1954-55 although the film's low budget clearly shows. The film has an eerie quality as we know the outcome of Dean's life which would end just eight months later. Stock would go on to have a long career as a photographer. The film has striking photography - all saturated colors - no doubt thanks to Corbijin who started his career as a photographer.

[Reza]

The Shooting (Monte Hellman, 1966) 6/10

Visually striking if rather idiosyncratic plot uses all the tools of the western genre but presents it in a typical 1960s drug infused way. An un-named woman (Millie Perkins) hires a bounty hunter (Warren Oates) and his sidekick (Will Hutchins) to take her into the desert. A mysterious hired killer (Jack Nicholson) follows them. Nothing is really explained but one is hooked by the silence and the beauty of the barren landscape as the trio ride on. A cult film by Roger Corman.

[Reza]

Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Kabir Khan, 2015) 7/10

Bollywood's biggest boxoffice hit of 2015 has it's heart in the right place with it's message about India-Pakistan brotherhood. It takes the sentimental route as most successful Bollywood films are wont to do in it's story about a cute 6 year old Pakistani girl who is separated from her mother and left behind in India. The girl, who can't speak, is taken by her mother from Pakistan to a holy shrine in India. On the train journey back the child gets down from the train and gets left behind. An honest Indian (Salman Khan) comes to her help and the film charts his efforts to return the child to her parents. The film is a total crowd pleaser with the star giving a wonderful performance with songs, dancing and a good supporting cast along for the ride - Kareena Kapoor as the sassy love interest, Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a journalist, Om Puri as a helpful maulvi. The film tends to drag towards the end with unnecessary slapstick antics with the cops in pursuit. The script makes clever digs at the "atom bomb" and on Kashmir - two thorns in the backside of both India and Pakistan. The scene with the suffocating burqaa is especially funny with the star in drag. Wonderful production design and stunningly photographed throughout with the opening and closing scenes in Kashmir especially memorable.

[Precious Doll]

Jess & James (2015) Santiago Giralt 2/10
The Legacy (1978) Richard Marquand 4/10
Boulevard (2015) Dito Montiel 4/10
The Visit (2015) M. Night Shyamalan 1/10
45 Years (2015) Andrew Haigh 8/10
Steve Jobs (2015) Danny Boyle 4/10
Anomalisa (2015) Duke Johnson & Charlie Kaufman 7/10
My Skinny Sister (2015) Sanna Lenken 7/10
Noroit (1976) Jacques Rivette 4/10
Duelle (1976) Jacques Rivette 5/10

Repeat viewing

Germany Pale Mother (1980) Helena Sanders-Brahms 7/10 (Director's cut)

[Reza]

It Had to Happen (Roy Del Ruth, 1936) 4/10

An Italian immigrant (George Raft) in New York rises to become a racketeer and falls in love with a married rich society dame (Rosalind Russell). By-the-numbers plot with nothing new to say.

So glad you posted this. Thanks for letting me know why it was by-the-numbers with nothing new to say.

That was the plot. No more, no less. Very familiar.

[ksrymy]

It Had to Happen (Roy Del Ruth, 1936) 4/10

An Italian immigrant (George Raft) in New York rises to become a racketeer and falls in love with a married rich society dame (Rosalind Russell). By-the-numbers plot with nothing new to say.

So glad you posted this. Thanks for letting me know why it was by-the-numbers with nothing new to say.

[Reza]

City Streets (Rouben Mamoulian, 1931) 8/10

Artistically designed and photographed film about beer racketeers which was one of Al Capone's favorite films. The gangsters are all very civil with the violence all taking place off screen. A young girl (Sylvia Sidney) takes the rap for a killing and goes to prison. When she comes out she discovers her boyfriend, the Kid (Gary Cooper), is now part of the gang and living the high life. When the Boss (Paul Lukas) makes advances on her things take a turn for the worst for the young lovers. Both Cooper and the underated Sylvia Sidney are superb.

[Reza]

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (George Lucas, 2002) 6/10

Ten years have passed since episode I and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his Jedi pupil Anakin Skywalker (the wooden Hayden Cristensen) are assigned to protect Senator Amidala (Natalie Portman) by the Supreme Chancellor (Ian McDiarmid), Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) and Yoda. The Republic is facing a crisis and while Anakin and Amidala fall in love on her home planet - the villa where they mouth inane romantic dialogue at each other seems to be on Lake Como in Italy - Obi-Wan follows a lead and goes chasing after a nasty bounty hunter who has created an army of clones under orders of Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). Meanwhile Anakin goes in search of his mother (Pernilla August) - now remarried to Jack Thompson and whose son is Joel Edgerton - and discovers she has been kidnapped. He finds her but in the process there is a gradual shifting of his personality towards the dark side. The film basically bridges the two episodes flanking this one and has two terrific set pieces - an airborne chase through a city and the sequence set in a gladiatorial arena which Lucas rips off from Quo Vadis? with Anakin playing the Deborah Kerr role. The inventive CGI monsters that substitute the lions from the old Roman epic are appropriately gruesome as the three main characters do battle with them. The bad dialogue not withstanding this is not as bad as episode I although McGregor, Christensen and Portman are all pretty lifeless.

[Reza]

Hero (Nikhil Advani, 2015) 1/10

This stupid film continues the Bollywood tradition of introducing second generation actors. Here the son of Aditya Pancholi-Zarina Wahab and the daughter of Suniel Shetty make their film debuts in a remake of Subhash Ghai's 1983 production which was Jacky Shroff's debut and a huge success. Unfortunately this film seems stuck in the early 1980s with it's corny outdated plot and both young actors in serious need of acting lessons. Since it's a Salman Khan production we get the Hero (Suraj Pancholi) constantly displaying a topless chiseled body doing workouts. He plays the son of a mobster (dad Aditiya Pancholi supporting sonny boy's debut) who meets a shrill snob (Athiya Shetty) at a disco, falls in love with her and kidnaps her. Shit hits the fan because she is the daughter of the Police Inspector who has imprisoned the mobster. Outdated acrobatic fight sequences, boring love scenes and countless song and dance sequences make this an incredible chore to sit through. Pancholi needs to quickly reinvent himself (unbelievably he was awarded the Filmfare award for this debut performance) instead of playing a second rate Salman Khan clone. And Shetty needs to immediately check out other career options or return to her alma mater - The New York Film Academy - and take further lessons if she wants to continue working in Bollywood. An absolute mess.

[Reza]

It Had to Happen (Roy Del Ruth, 1936) 4/10

An Italian immigrant (George Raft) in New York rises to become a racketeer and falls in love with a married rich society dame (Rosalind Russell). By-the-numbers plot with nothing new to say.

[Reza]

Personal Affair (Anthony Pelissier, 1954) 5/10

A young student (Glynis Johns) is infatuated with her much older Latin teacher (Leo Genn) much to the consternation of his patrician wife (Gene Tierney). When the girl mysteriously disappears the man is suspected of murder. Extremely low key but overheated drama about how gossip can ruin people's lives. A dull ending doesn't help although the excellent cast gamely tries to keep this uneven drama afloat.

[Reza]

Gypsy (Mervyn LeRoy, 1962) 5/10

This celebrated Broadway musical arrives on the big screen minus the star - Ethel Merman - who made the part her own on stage. Hollywood tried teaming Judy Garland and then newcomer Ann-Margret to play the leads but settled instead for Rosalind Russell (whose husband held the movie rights) and Natalie Wood. Thankfully most of the lovely score remains intact in this story of ambitious stage mother Mama Rose (Rosalind Russell) who forcefully steers her two daughters into showbusiness. Younger daughter June (Ann Jillian/Morgan Brittany) is the star performer who runs off with a man while Louise (Natalie Wood), the mousey older daughter, becomes star of burlesque under the name of Gypsy Rose Lee. Karl Malden blusters his way through as Rose's love interest and manager to the girls. This bittersweet and bloated film version drags on endlessly with both stars proving uneven - Russell does a reprise of her Auntie Mame act, disgracefully hamming it up (although she is good during the finale singing "Rose's Turn). Wood's whiny voice grates and she is too plastic and skinny (the role called for a voluptuous figure and they ended up having to tape Wood's breasts together to create cleavage). The saving grace in this monumenral bore of a film are the wonderful songs - "Let Me Entertain You", "Some People", "Small World",,"Everything's Coming Up Roses" and "Rose's Turn". The film is handsomely photographed and has an array of lovely costumes. Pity the film comes off as such a slog to sit through.