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

Post by **Reza** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:53 am

Nathalie... (Anne Fontaine, 2003) 9/10

A story about a failing marriage, about individuals who find it hard to communicate, about deceit and erotic desire and presented in a leisurely but mature manner which is how most french films move. A gynaecologist (Fanny Ardant) feels her husband is (Gerard Depardieu) growing distant and when he casually confesses to a few meaningless affairs she hires a prostitute (Emmanuelle Béart) to seduce him to see what makes him tick. The prostitute (they both decide her name should be "Nathalie) begins to regularly meet the wife and (for a price) describes in erotic detail what all she did with the husband. The film is one long talkfest with all the sexual activity, which is discussed in graphic detail, performed offscreen. There is also a strong lesbian undercurrent running throughout as the two women bond while discussing the husband. Béart is perfectly cast as a sexpot with her natural high cheekbones and pouty lips dressed in fishnets and sporting peroxide locks using sex as a weapon. Ardant is cool and collected, elegance personified who manages to find a fling of her own along the way. The film quietly but savagely exposes the messy side of sex and marriage with no solutions (not withstanding a twist ending) but merely suggests that the mess exists (in almost every marriage?). A story that makes you think.

Post by **Reza** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:53 am

Fiorille (Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, 1993) 8/10

A family curse passed down through the centuries. A man relates the curse to his children as they drive through Tuscany to visit their old grandfather. Three different episodes relate the curse as flashbacks to the distant past explain how stolen gold caused the death of an innocent french soldier. His lover, pregnant with his child, carried the curse forward into the present. The Taviani brothers create three different historical time periods - the Napoleanic Wars, the early 20th century and during WWII - in their typical sumptuous fashion celebrating not only a time gone by but showing Italy and it's glorioys landscapes in a shimmery hue. The outstanding production values - cinematography, production design and costumes - compliment the epic grandeur of the plot. A must-see to appreciate dreamlike cinema that is no longer to be found.

Post by **Reza** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:52 am

Il Sole Amiche Di Notte / The Sun Also Shines at Night / Night Sun (Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, 1990) 8/10

An intimate spiritual journey of a man told against an expansive historical backdrop by the Taviani brothers who, through their visually splendid films, present their country Italy in all it's splendor. Based on Leo Tolstoy's short novel "Father Sergius", the directors transplant the story from the era of Czar Nicholas II in Russia to that of Charles III of Naples. Sergius (Julian Sands), a womanizer and soldier from a minor aristocratic family, has had a childhood ambition to serve his King. Fate brings him to the attention of the ruler who arranges his marriage to a woman (Nastassia Kinski) of noble birth. On the eve of the marriage she reveals to him that she had been the King's lover. Disillusioned he flees to his family home in Southern Italy and decides to join the priesthood. Even when he retreats as a hermit to a barren part of the countryside he finds that temptation of the flesh follows him (courtesy of Charlotte Gainsbourg as a disturbed woman who reintroduces him to sexual pleasure). Defeated he tries to return to the "real" world as a drifter. Haunting story about faith and miracles glimpsed through the gorgeous camera of Giuseppe Lanci, filmed on magnificent locations with superb production values and a lovely score by Nicola Piovani.

Post by **Reza** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:51 am

The Lady in the Van (Nicholas Hytner, 2015) 8/10

Writer Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings) verbally tussles with an eccentric homeless old lady (Dame Maggie Smith) who lived in her yellow van parked in his driveway at his house in North London. Hilarious true story (shot in the actual house where these bizzare events took place) about a former ambulance driver and nun who drives around in her dilapidated vehicle and comes to settle in Camden Town. The women of the neighborhood feel sorry for her and dole out food but it's sypathetic Alan Bennet who, against his better judgement, allows her to park her van in his house and she ends up staying for 15 years. Dame Maggie (who created the part on stage) has a field day as the cantankerous old biddy dressed in rags with shit stains on her clothes, smelling to high heaven and living inside the trash strewn van. She is haughty and has delusions of grandeur believing she receives direct messages from the Virgin Mary. Smith plays the character dead straight (getting maximum laughs - think of her as Downton's Dowager but in rags) and gives an unsentimental performance gradually revealing the tragedy behind the facade. It is absolutely amazing to see that there are meaty lead roles still around for actresses at age 80 to play them. And it's a delight to see that Dame Maggie Smith has cornered them in her impeccable style. Great fun.

Post by **Reza** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:51 am

La Luna (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1979) 8/10

Erratic but hypnotic mood piece with the theme of incest thrown in for shock value. An opera singer (a miscast Jill Clayburgh) becomes widowed and moves to Italy to sing on stage. Her distraught teenage son (Matthew Barry), desperate for love and attention, gets addicted to heroin and she ends up breast feeding and masturbating him. Weird? Not really because the scene is totally devoid of any eroticism and it comes off as merely absurd. Bertolucci was not allowed to make the two lead characters Italian so he made them American which proves to be a mistake. It's all very over-the-top as Clayburgh kisses and fondles her son and he licks dirt off her face. The two then go in search of the boy's real father (an excellent Tomas Milian) who lives with his imperious mother (Alida Valli). The film is composed of a mosaic of small vignettes, some touching, some funny but many rather silly. The highlights are the lovely Italian locations (Rome and Parma), Vittorio Storarro's stunning cinematography and Giuseppe Verdi's operatic music on the soundtrack. Definitely worth a watch as this is a rare Bertolucci that appears to have gotten lost along the way.

Post by **Reza** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:50 am

Crossfire (Edward Dmytryk, 1947) 6/10

Preachy message movie about anti-semitism built around a noirish murder mystery - in the original novel the victim was a homosexual but due to censorship Hollywood changed the dead man to a jew. A man is found murdered and a group of soldiers are suspected of the crime. The story is told in flashback as various characters narrate what happened. The police Captain (Robert Young) figures out that it was a hate crime. Low budget film was nominated for a number of Oscars including for the performances of Robert Ryan (who is excellent as one of the gruff suspects) and Gloria Grahame (who plays a jaded dance hall hostess but is really a prostitute). Extremely talky film with Young the mouthpiece extolling the evils of prejudice. Strikingly photographed.

Post by **Reza** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:50 am

Born to Kill (Robert Wise, 1947) 7/10

Nasty little "B" noir with soap opera overtones. A calculating divorcée (Claire Trevor), engaged to a rich man (Phillip Terry), is attracted to a hot headed murderer (Lawrence Tierney) who in turn is married to her foster sister (Audrey Long). Add to this mix Elisha Cook Jr as the murderer's sidekick with a crush on him, Esther Howard as an alcoholic madame and Walter Slezak as a detective and you get a load full of depraved characters upto no good. Trevor, usually an excellent femme fatale in film noir, gets the scripts corny and heavy handed romantic dialogue but it's Tierney who creates one of the most amoral and vicious characters in film and is absolutely riveting.

Post by **Reza** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:49 am

London Has Fallen (Babak Najafi, 2016) 8/10

Action packed nonsense where you get to see London bridge falling down (although it's not THAT bridge), the Houses of Parliament's windows shatter, St Paul's Cathedral gets decimated and a number of other bombs go off in prominent places as well as on the Thames. It's virtually a guided tour of central London with scenes of battle galore. This sequel to "Olympus Has Fallen" has the American President (Aaron Eckhart) once more in peril with his bodygyard (Gerald Butler) by his side to save his ass time and time again. The Pres is in town (along with other Heads of State - Mr France explodes on the Thames while Mr Japan gets a spectacular exit on the bridge while sitting in his Merc - who become part of the collateral damage) to attend the State funeral of the British PM when Arab terrorists (from "Fuckheadistan"

) attack. The delirious action set pieces border on camp as our two heroes shoot, stab and survive a vicious helicopter crash (poor Angela Bassett, the token female star, meets her maker courtesy of something nasty protruding through her chest - diversity be damned if this is the best part she can get in Hollywood today. Morgan Freeman is around to make appropriate clucking noises playing the Vice President back home as they cheer on "GI Joe" to save the day. Put your brain on freeze, put up your legs, munch popcorn and enjoy the inanity on display. The year's first guilty pleasure.

Post by **Reza** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:49 am

The Hunting Party (Don Medford, 1971) 8/10

A rare and extremely violent western that got overlooked during the early 1970s in wake of the equally violent "The Wild Bunch". While not of the same stature as the classic, this film manages to hold interest throughout thanks to an excellent cast, tension ridden pacing and the cat and mouse plot twists. A vicious rancher (Gene Hackman) and his hunting buddies go after a gang of outlaws who have kidnapped his wife (Candice Bergen). The silent outlaw leader (Oliver Reed) merely wants to learn how to read and wants the woman to teach him. The gang is picked off one by one by high powered rifles from a great distance and the film becomes a bloodbath as bodies fall in slow motion. The unusual casting of Reed works quite well as the hunted outlaw falls in love with the feisty schoolmarm - Bergen spends the whole movie screaming as vicious men beat her up and attempt to rape her. The film is stolen by Hackman as the sadistic man who makes it his mission in life to get his "prey" - his performance is a foreunner to his later Oscar winning part in "Unforgiven". Well worth watching.

Post by **Reza** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:48 am

Aimez-vous Brahms? / Goodbye Again (Anatole Litvak, 1961) 8/10

Soap opera based on the Françoise Sagan bestseller has an outstanding performance by lovely Ingrid Bergman playing a glamorous 40 year old interior designer who tires of her deceitful two timing lover (Yves Montand) and hesitatingly gets into a relationship with the 25 year old immature son (Anthony Perkins) of a client (Jessie Royce Landis). Bittersweet film about people trapped in doomed relationships through insecurity and naive delusion. Perkins (riding an incredible high right after "Psycho") won a prize at Cannes giving here his usual eccentric performance full of facial and body contortions but it's Bergman who gives a complex performance (using her eyes to convey great depths of sorrow) as the vivacious woman who realises that both her relationships are doomed but decides to accept her fate with the man she can't help loving knowing very well he can never be hers alone. Brahms' Symphony No. 3 is memorably used on the soundtrack with one marvelous sequence set in a nightclub where Diahann Carroll sings a haunting blues version of the music where the lyrics reflect the sad romantic situation of the moment.

Post by **Precious Doll** » Sat Mar 12, 2016 11:41 pm

The Measure of a Man (2015) Stephane Brize 7/10
The Summer of Sangaile (2015) Alante Kavaite 4/10
Grandma (2015) Paul Weitz 5/10
The Night Before (2015) Jonathan Levine 4/10
Triple 9 (2016) John Hillcoat 2/10
Taj Mahal (2015) Nicolas Saada 8/10
Line of Demarcation (1966) Claude Chabrol 7/10
Grimsby (2016) Louis Leterrier 4/10

Repeat viewings

Burroughs: The Movie (1983) Howard Brookner 7/10
Nashville (1975) Robert Altman 10/10

Post by **Precious Doll** » Sat Mar 12, 2016 2:46 am

ksrymy wrote:
"Miss Julie," on the surface, is very good. I'm interested to see if the Jessica Chastain version is better. But this version is good at best with Sjöberg's impeccable direction guiding us through a somewhat dingy film.

[

The Liv Ullmann version in not as good as this earlier Swedish version of Miss Julie. Jessica Chastain is beyond terrible in it but it is a fascinating film to watch. Colin Farrell & Samantha Morton sparking off each other brilliantly whilst Chastain is clearly out of her depth (despite her theatrical back ground) is something in itself to see. Also the cinematography by Mikhail Krichman was the second best work by a cinematographer in 2014 (followed only by Amour Fou). Ironically, Miss Julie and Amour Fou were largely shot on sound stages so it something of an accomplishment that the too most striking looking films of 2014 have very few 'outdoor' shots in them.

ksrymy · Post by **ksrymy** » Sat Mar 12, 2016 1:20 am

The Prowler (Joseph Losey, 1951) 6/10

A cop who rousts a peeping tom starts an affair with the victim of the incident, gets dumped in favor of the woman's husband, and plans to kill said husband to cash in on the life insurance policy. Joseph Losey's "The Prowler" is utterly unpredictable. Film noir can be very easy to predict, but this film's third act comes out of nowhere.

The film tries to work like a reverse "Double Indemnity," but Van Heflin comes off oddly in the lead. He's too meek and slight to really portray a fixated sociopath. And that has to be a product of its era because all crazed sociopaths on film today are quiet and unassuming. Evelyn Keyes, though, as our unassuming protagonist. Her performance is the force the film needs to work, especially with a male lead as flaky as Heflin.

The film also does an interesting job skewering newfound suburbia. It's all about wanting to have it all and keep up with the Joneses. It's not a major, major part of the film, but it's going to be really nifty seeing how ideas of suburbia develop over time.

But "The Prowler" is mostly good at best thanks to Keyes. It /could/ be seen as a predecessor to "Blue Velvet," but that would be giving it too much credit.

The Big Night (Joseph Losey, 1951) 2/10

An armed young man speeds through the sordid underworld of downtown Los Angeles while seeking vengeance on the man who caned his father. This movie is absolutely horrible. Usually "The Big" noirs are excellent, but this one is just tripe.

John Drew Barrymore is a terrible actor and his performance is hilarious. He looks consistently constipated instead of nervous. The movie is far from thrilling, never amusing, and incredibly boring. This is one of those rare films that I'm upset I actually wasted time on. Most films have redeeming factors; this film only has one.

That factor is Preston Foster who provides the only gleam of hope and brilliance in the cast. It's not a virtuoso performance, but it looks like Hamlet compared to these Osrics in the cast. Foster deserves better than this.

I find it impossible that Losey made a film this godawful. He's usually so good with violence, so to have such a violent premise screw up so badly is unthinkable. At least the caning scene is brutal and great. The problem is that is one of the first things we see, so the rest of the film flatlines after only a few minutes in.

"The Big Night" is horrible. Without that one scene and Foster, the movie would better be off in the garbage.

REWATCH: A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan, 1951) 9/10

A disturbed schoolteacher moves in with her sister and becomes slowly tormented by her sister's husband. If ever there were a movie to describe capital "A" Acting, it's "A Streetcar Named Desire." It definitely feels theatrical but never stagey, if that makes sense. It mostly avoids the staginess because of Elia Kazan's camera movement and exploration of the set. We don't just go from one room to another, we move through the apartment as flies on walls. And Kazan's handling of the performances are excellent.

Did "A Streetcar Named Desire" deserve to win three acting Oscars? Maybe so. It's certainly an actor's film, and it knows it. Vivien Leigh gives the film's best performance as Blanche. Blanche's frailty is played to the rafters with theatricality as Leigh usually did. But the thing that makes it work is that Blanche is very self-centered - everything is her own personal drama and tragedy - so this larger-than-life aspect works very well. And this theatricality plays well off Marlon Brando's more method performance. Granted, I think Brando gets a bit hammy at times (the famous "STELLA!" scene is a bit cringeworthy upon review as is most everything leading up to it), but it's still one of his very best performances. His spiel on the Napoleonic Code is excellent. You can see how much concentration he's putting into the speech because he fully realizes how dumb and brutish Stan is. It's so smart.

As for the supporting players, Kim Hunter is good as Stella doing what is needed of her. She plays abused and dependent well. She feels like a genuine battered woman. As for Karl Malden, his performance actually won me over a bit more than before. His scenes opposite Leigh are really good, his reactions during Stan's drunken rage feel crazy realistic, and his cold attitude toward Leigh in their final scene together is amazing. I didn't remember it being so spine-chilling, but Malden carries the scene with a steely reserve and deeply-rooted anger.

I also forgot how excellent the score is (that opening sax slays me). The film's sets feel lived in and spoiling. If this is what Blanche is running to, one can only wonder what state of dilapidation Belle Reve is in.

"A Streetcar Named Desire" is as excellent as ever. It's at its best when Leigh and Malden are used at full force. It's a towering achievement in adapting plays to the screen and giving us more "adult entertainment," as the later Tennessee Williams movie posters advertised.

Body and Soul (Oscar Micheaux, 1925) 7/10

A conman masquerading as a minister extorts the owner of a gambling parlor and later destroys the life of a young, mixed race woman. Thanks to the Tallgrass Film Festival, I got to see the world premiere of the new digitization of "Body and Soul" following the Block Starz Music documentary "The Czar of Black Hollywood" which chronicled Oscar Micheaux' life. And while the documentary itself was mediocre at best (very informative but very amateurishly produced), "Body and Soul" was good. When they announced that this was Paul Robeson's film debut, I perked up a bit because, loving his "Ol' Man River" and especially his performance in "The Emperor Jones," I've found myself loving Robeson within the last year or two.

Robeson's performance is the film's highlight. It's a dual role in which he plays a conniving conman disguised as a preacher and a respectable young man courting a mixed race woman. Calling it "dual" is a bit misleading though because his role as the respectable man is very small and more of a bookend role than anything else. It's pretty by-the-books, but his performance as the preacher is electric and fiery. Robeson uses his good looks, natural charisma, and charm to create this vile monster of a man.

Mercedes Gilbert, as the young girl's mother, is also very good. She gets a bit comical when it isn't necessary, but her performance ends up being the true leading role. She on-screen more than anyone else and we see the film mostly through her eyes. This is kind of a problem though because Micheaux wants us to sympathize with and view everything through the eyes of Gilbert's daughter played by Julia Theresa Russell. And Russell's performance is mostly unexciting and dull.

I will say, though, that I'm surprised I was able to concentrate on the film so hard because the new score for the film by Paul D. Miller was terrible. I guessed that going in because he seriously goes by the name DJ Spooky. There are two bass drops in the film that are hilariously terrible. And the rest of the score is the same brush-on-cymbal beat with ever-plucking bass and occasional saxophone. It was incredibly uninspired by what was happening on screen and seems more to be focusing on postwar cool jazz than something more appropriate.

And I was also shocked to be able to concentrate because I think this was the first silent film about half of the audience had ever seen. They talked incessantly because they couldn't handle the silence (I got such wonderful commentary as, "This is a NEW house! OH! That makes sense!" after an obvious scene change, "Why is [Robeson] making such a creepy face though?" as he's about to sexually assault Russell's character, and more gold like that). They also laughed incessantly during majorly inappropriate scenes. I'd love to watch the film again in the comfort of my own home with nothing but silence (or at least a better score).

But "Body and Soul" is very good. It marks the debut of one of out finest actors and manages to be much better than most of the race films I've seen from the time.

Kind Lady (John Sturges, 1951) 6/10

An elderly patron of the arts lets a talented young painter into her life though, unbeknownst to her, he's out to covet and take everything she owns. "Kind Lady" is "Gaslight" by way of "Night Must Fall." And this version certainly wouldn't work well without Ethel Barrymore's wonderful performance as Mrs. Herries. Barrymore uses that theatrical sarcasm and those leering eyes to create an excellent portrayal of a smart woman in peril.

If only she were matched in excellence by Maurice Evans who is a rather dull villain. He tries to go for Charles Boyer in "Gaslight" but comes out more as someone just as conceited but with less charisma and talent. A story like this can't work without a compelling villain. When you're upstaged by John Williams and Angela Lansbury, both very talented but not in the movie for very long, you're doing something wrong - especially with some of the quotes he gets to say.

The sets are nice and artsy as they should be and help settle in that necessary claustrophobia to make the movie work. It's nothing like "Gaslight," "Night Must Fall," or other films of its kind, but it's good nonetheless. "Kind Lady" is Ethel Barrymore's show and she damn well knows it.

Quo Vadis (Mervyn LeRoy (& Anthony Mann), 1951) 5/10

A Roman general looks to save the Christian woman with which he's fallen in love from the grips of Nero's ever-growing insanity. "Quo Vadis" screams "SPECTACLE!" in ways I thought only Cecil B. DeMille could do. Mervyn LeRoy was never a restrained director, but I've never seen him be this bold and obvious. But would a film like this work with a even a little less spectacle? I think DeMille's "The Sign of the Cross" points to "yes."

"Quo Vadis" is mostly marred, as always, by Robert Taylor's awful performance. "Hackneyed" isn't a nice enough term for it. "Vapid" is too nice a word. "Platitudinous" is too mellifluous. Taylor is terrible. And he isn't particularly handsome, so I'm still struggling to understand why he was so popular. His scenes opposite Deborah Kerr are pretty bad too. Kerr herself isn't very good as the role is incredibly underdeveloped and nothing more than her slumming it in "damsel in distress" mode.

As for the supporting players, Peter Ustinov is so hammy he nearly turns into Spam. He does that annoying thing where he looks crazy-eyed into the distance and reaches a finger fingers towards it before realizing nothing is there. His scenes are fun, though, but not in the way they're meant to be. No, if there's a single good performance in "Quo Vadis," it's from Leo Genn as Ustinov's confidante. Genn plays Petronius with an ever tongue-in-cheek style and with witty line readings and smug eyes. He does a good job convincing us of just how self-loathing and hating of Nero Petronius is.

The costumes, sets, and other tech categories are obviously good as per the film's massive budget. The visuals are good especially during the burning of Rome.

But "Quo Vadis" isn't good. It's too much style with barebones substance. It tries to make itself a Christian picture in the last act, but revels in its sword-and-sandal glory too much for that to happen.

Awaara (Raj Kapoor, 1951) 8/10

A vagabond seeks revenge on his absent father who threw his mother into the streets years before. I read that "Awaara" might be considered the most beloved film of all-time on an international scale, and it's easy to see why. It remains distinctively subcontinental while admiring more western values. In essence, it has something for everyone.

"Awaara" is led by Raj Kapoor and Nargis who do pretty solid work as the tramp and his lawyer, but the film's best work comes from the Kapoor patriarch Prithviraj. Mr. Kapoor's performance as both angry and forgiving, and his complex work in the film's final act is harrowing and touching, is memorable and shows genuine acting talent.

But "Awaara" doesn't really want to focus on its characters as much as it does the human drama between them and its dazzling technical achievements. The film is edited, shot, and crafted well. The costumes, sets, makeup, and everything else superficial are shining. There's a fight involving a knife stuck in a rafter that is a clinic in editing.

I've been told that, as a white guy, I won't ever truly understand a Bollywood film or other films out of India. I totally believe this. But it's really hard not to appreciate and understand something so universal. "Awaara" is great. It's the first black-and-white Indian film I've seen that isn't by Satyajit Ray. It's a massively entertaining, excellent film.

Alice in Wonderland (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, & Hamilton Luske, 1951) 6/10

Young Alice wanders down a rabbit hole and ends up in the topsy-turvy world of Wonderland. I think I'm just not a fan of filmed adaptations of this story. The book is fine, and I remember liking it significantly as a kid. But whether it's this animated Disney output or that putrid pile of garbage Tim Burton created, "Alice in Wonderland" is probably best left to the viewers imagination.

Now, I may be being too harsh. I do like this movie. I just think it's pretty aimless. There isn't much to really connect the vignette structure. But I think the biggest problem with the film is that it is staunchly unemotional. There's no bridge between us and the characters. I simply felt like I was watching random people do random things. That emotional connection is majorly lacking. When Alice is crying, I don't feel sad. When Alice is happy, I don't feel happy. And I'm not a joyless person.

What makes the film good is that it is, as it should be, wildly imaginative. The croquet scene, the introduction of the Cheshire Cat, and the tea party scenes are when the film is at its absolute best. The rest seems dull filler.

I do think this is the first Disney animated film to have really good voice acting though. Alice's voice reeks of innocence, the Queen of Hearts has a monstrous voice, her king is hilariously meek, and Cheshire is great too.

But I really couldn't care less about these characters because it's lacking the one big thing every kid's movie thrives on: emotion.

The Tales of Hoffmann (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1951) 7/10

The lovelorn young Hoffmann recounts the three loves of his life to the patrons of a bar. I've never been a big fan of opera - even English language librettos. Even moreso when they're filmed. It's much more something to take in in person than it is to watch it on film. So the divide between the film and the viewer in "The Tales of Hoffmann" is a bit distancing.

But that doesn't stop this from being a crazy, surreal, wicked little film with, arguably, the best costumes we ever get to see from The Archers. Hein Heckroth, Ivy Baker, and Arthur Lawson all do some of their very best work here. What impresses me most is that we're given what is very obviously a sound stage, and it's transformed to the point of forgetting that's what it is. Moira Shearer dancing on lilypads is stunning. And Robert Helpmann is always a welcome presence in these musical films. He had such a unique charisma and look about him.

The film is an unfortunate sandwich though. We're given delicious bread, but that second act is more bologna than prime rib. It's the films weakest section with the weakest story and the worst performances. I think the Archers knew this too because, in any academic paper, where do you always hide the weakest argument?: in the middle.

But "The Tales of Hoffmann" is beautiful with lots to say on love. And with Jacques Offenbach's stunning music playing throughout, it's easy to fall in love with.

Death of a Salesman (Laszlo Benedek, 1951) 6/10

An over-the-hill salesman loses his job and attempts to make peace with his long-suffering wife and unhappy sons. It seems Hollywood took everything that was good about the play and cast it aside. It is missing all the subtle, stylistic details about Willy's affair, instead opting for a much more blunt, obvious approach. The ending is less than satisfying. I think the Production Code really stripped this film of its power and dignity.

And it's a shame Hollywood was going through their paltry little Red Scare because Lee J. Cobb would've been amazing in this role. However, Fredric March isn't bad himself. He's actually very good. He doesn't take the loud, brutish approach that Cobb made famous and, instead, goes for a more inward approach to Willy's self-loathing and frustration. And Mildred Dunnock is pretty good as Linda. Dunnock always played frail, meek women well and Linda is one of theatre's biggest pushovers, so it works well.

As for the sons, Cameron Mitchell isn't very good as Happy, but it's the weakest role in the play so that's easy to forgive. Kevin McCarthy, however, as Biff is a bit less forgiving. Biff is the most crucial role in the play. "Death of a Salesman" pivots on the Willy/Biff relationship at its fulcrum. McCarthy must've been nominated and best remembered for his final speech which, while good, is ultimately better than the rest of his performance which is quite standard.

"Death of a Salesman" is a cornerstone of American theatre, but it isn't a cornerstone of American cinema. László Benedek does his best but comes up with a film that's merely good at best thanks to Dunnock and especially March.

The Secret of Convict Lake (Michael Gordon, 1951) 7/10

After a difficult, freezing escape from prison, a group of convicts set upon a cabin full of women whose husbands are out mining silver. This movie is an interesting one. It's a prison escape flick, a noir-tinged melodrama, but, most importantly, it's a woman's picture in the least Cukorian of ways.

"The Secret of Convict Lake" is grounded by an excellent ensemble cast led by a capable Glenn Ford, Gene Tierney in a performance that's quite a return to form, Ethel Barrymore who is excellent as ever, Ann Dvorak as a repressed spinster, and, perhaps unexpectedly best of all, Zachary Scott in a delicious villainous role. Dvorak's spinster, the film's second threat, is quite good. I honestly forgot she was still working in the industry at this time (though I was saddened to find out it was her last film). But it's Scott who really permeates through the film, craftily creating his character's gold dust lust with the right amounts of loose cannon and calculation to really create an indelible villain.

The film has some gorgeous on-location photography too with the outdoor scenes among the film's most beautiful, memorable moments. Michael Gordon nicely juxtaposes the trapped, claustrophobic nature of the cabin with the wild outdoors in the best ways.

"The Secret of Convict Lake" is a blast. It's a unique western (if you can even call it that) with a hell of a cast at its core.

Joy (David O. Russell, 2015) 3/10

A single mother from Long Island hopes to turn her life around when she invents a miraculous mop. David O. Russell has gone way off the rails on this one. What exactly is he trying to accomplish?

"Joy," as most have been saying, is a total mess. Russell seems to have developed some kind of schizophrenia because the film tries for fifteen different tones than one clear vision. There are scenes that go on and on that don't really contribute anything. Bradley Cooper's spiel on "It's all in the hands" got old fast. And that Cooper/Lawrence chemistry we've come to know is completely gone here.

Robert De Niro is over-the-top hammy in awful ways, but it's Jennifer Lawrence who takes the crap cake. This performance shows too much of the actress and not enough of the character. Lawrence seems so smug and self-assured at all times as if she's like, "You're eating this shit up, guys." This is easily her worst Oscar-nominated performance and a lazy pick by the Academy. Only Isabelle Rossellini gives a halfway decent performance, and, even then, it's certainly not very good.

There's definitely an interesting story here but it is nowhere to be found in this picture. "Joy" is awful.

Steve Jobs (Danny Boyle, 2015) 6/10

Apple and tech pioneer Steve Jobs is examined backstage before three iconic product launches. This movie's best quality is Aaron Sorkin and it's worst quality is also Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin's writing is stylish and acerbic as we'd expect. And, maybe even better than these lines are those reading them. Michael Fassbender shows us the genius lying behind Jobs but never once lets us think he's a good person. This is excellent in that it is as far from a hagiography as possible. And even better than the steely Fassbender is Kate Winslet as Jobs's long-suffering friend and colleague. Winslet's accent is perfect and the exasperation Joanna Hoffman goes through is captured with precision and wit. Whenever these two are on screen, the film is at its most electric.

However, as I said earlier, Aaron Sorkin gets in the way. It's kind of annoying that all these huge events with Jeff Daniels always somehow happen minutes before a product's launch. It really took me out of this tense, interesting filmmaking that was going on. And Sorkin rears his uglier heads during scenes like "reality distortion field." Sorkin often confuses being verbose for being good, and it shows here at points.

But the actors are superb and sell it all with conviction. "Steve Jobs" is good. It isn't the biography by Walter Isaacson which is one of the finest books of the past so many years, but it's good. Fassbender and Winslet continue showing everyone just how valuable they are.

Trumbo (Jay Roach, 2015) 5/10

The life of blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo is examined. "Trumbo" is hindered by its own overbloated nature. It tries to cram too much into too small of a space. But I'll be damned if Bryan Cranston doesn't make it interesting. Cranston's Trumbo is an interesting character whose motivation and determination for work and civil liberties is enlightening and admirable. Cranston's range is in full display here as he's both tough (in John Wayne's face) and showing his weaknesses (script before birthday). Cranston deserves all the accolades for carrying this film as if he were Atlas.

The rest of the cast should be excellent. Michael Stuhlbarg, Diane Lane, Elle Fanning, and Helen Mirren would be an excellent cast for most any movie, but, here, director Jay Roach seems more focused on creating impersonations of these characters, the celebs especially, than anything else. However, these impressions are mostly done well.

The film makes it very clear that blacklisting and HUAC are bad and Trumbo is a victim. But it keeps hitting this idea over and over and the film grows monotonous quickly. It's very much produced like an HBO special. This movie felt like "Boardwalk Empire" in a way but not in the way that the Scorsese show was excellent.

"Trumbo" is pretty mediocre, but its leading man is wonderful. It's a reminder to all that Bryan Cranston deserves more film roles. He'd be worthy of an EGOT.

Bright Victory (Mark Robson, 1951) 6/10

A blind soldier comes home from war and attempts to adjust to civilian life. Mark Robson is one of the greatest of the studio hacks alongside Val Lewton colleague Jacques Tourneur. Robson takes what would otherwise be a military soap and molds it into something more feasible and palatable.

Arthur Kennedy plays our blind protagonist and he sells the unsubtle aspects of his character's blindness with conviction even if the script or direction asks for a bit too much. It's definitely "I'M BLIND!" whenever he walks anywhere. But Kennedy's line readings also pack wallop after wallop. His scenes with Peggy Dow, who is also quite good, are excellent.

The film's best work comes in its small pieces on race. Kennedy's character is talking to a fellow blind vet, played by James Edwards, a character actor I'm coming to really like, and drops the N-bomb despite not knowing Edwards is black. There's an immediate regret in Kennedy's face once the awkward silence clears that really hit home with me. And the train station ending between Kennedy and Edwards is one of the few Hollywood train station endings that isn't lazy and dreadful. It very obviously symbolizes moving on and moving to a better place, but it isn't overly dramatic.

"Bright Victory" is good if not predictable. It's a bit long even at just over 90 minutes, but it's a movie that isn't bad at all. It's an easy one to recommend if someone wants something on war or disability.

The Mating Season (Mitchell Leisen, 1951) 7/10

The owner of a hamburger stand visits her son once financial troubles hit and masquerades as the maid his wife hired to avoid embarrassment. "The Mating Season" is a funny movie late in Mitchell Leisen's career, and, the further along he moved, the worst he seemed to get. So this movie is a nice surprise.

I wish it focused more on Thelma Ritter's character because she's an absolute riot. I do think she's actually a co-lead with Gene Tierney and John Lund. She disappears for a bit of the second act to help us understand the problems between Tierney and Lund's characters, but she pops right back into the thick of things soon after. This is Ritter's best maid character too. It's certainly her most well-rounded and best-acted. She might be more careless in "Rear Window" and more acerbic in "All About Eve," but I think "The Mating Season" might actually be her best performance. She combines competence with bumbling really well so not to become a stereotype.

As for Tierney and Lund, they're mostly good though they don't carry the film very well during Ritter's absence. Tierney, though, is back to form after her depressing 1950. That, I'm glad to see. And Miriam Hopkins pops in to play Tierney's mother for a bit and she's pretty alright.

"The Mating Season" is a hoot. It's a success on almost all fronts. With some better leads, I'd say this would be a comedy great.

The Red Badge of Courage (John Huston, 1951) 6/10

A northern Civil War soldier struggles to find the courage to fight. One of John Huston's weaker outputs, "The Red Badge of Courage" is a bit truncated for the worst. The film's barely over and hour long, and there's little good that comes out of it.

What is good is that we get less time with Audie Murphy who is more of an icon than an actor for good reason: his performance is grating. I can totally see why he became a star, but you'd not be wrong to wonder why he stayed a star for a considerable amount of time.

I wish the film were longer though because Huston would get more agency to play around with the movie and flesh out some more details and paths he clearly wanted to take. A couple subplots wouldn't have hurt the film like the would in most cases. And those battle sequences were too good. They looked and sounded great.

I wish the film got a bit more philosophical too because that's where Stephen Crane's novel comes to life. Instead, we get everything told to us and not shown.

It's a film like this that reminds me I'd be a terrible director or a demanding one. I couldn't be happy with a product that ended up like this, especially if I were tasked with adapting one of my nation's most emblematic, important pieces of fiction.

"The Red Badge of Courage" is good thanks to those action sequences and an absolutely astonishing score from Bronislau Kaper.

Fourteen Hours (Henry Hathaway, 1951) 6/10

A suicidal man takes to a fifteenth-story ledge and a policeman does everything in his power to talk him down. The film reeks of post-WWII sentiment and darkness, but "Fourteen Hours" is surprisingly good by the end.

This is an odd entry into what is undoubtedly film noir where the villain is one's self and the double cross never happens. The two leads, Richard Basehart as the suicidal man and Paul Douglas as the helpful policeman, are both very good with Douglas doing the more thankless work and Basehart stealing the spotlight whenever he can. Douglas' restrained performance and overall earnestness creates a really excellent character out of his cop and plays a wonderful foil to Basehart's jumper. And Basehart does a good job not getting incredibly campy and shouting, "Why, God, why?!" and whatnot. He lets us into his character's past, and the scenes showing what all lead to this point are mostly done well.

Still, I think the film's a bit dated. It feels old and not in a good way. It's really predictable too, right down to the last minutes. We're lucky the film doesn't feel as long as the title would lead you on to believe.

"Fourteen Hours" is a good, if predictable, little film. Those strong anchors that are Douglas and Basehart make the film worth seenig.

Teresa (Fred Zinnemann, 1951) 6/10

A young man falls in love with a war orphan, but she has trouble adjusting to being around his conniving mother from hell. Fred Zinnemann is a director who is all over the place in terms of quality. He's usually pretty reliable, and "Teresa" showcases his abilities to make the mundane palatable.

"Teresa" is a pretty soapy, odd film. John Ericson's performance as our war hero is pretty bad. His face is always in grotesque, harlequin contortions that indicate he might have gout or pancreatic cancer than anything else. He's terrible, and it's any wonder why Teresa falls for him other than his jawline.

As for the title character though, Pier Angeli is pretty good. She's very timid and plays it up to almost infantile levels, but the good outweighs the bad here. Her scenes with an excellent Patricia Collinge are the film's best. Collinge's domineering, nosy mother is the film's best creation and Collinge is marvelous. It's a completely different turn than her best-known work in "The Little Foxes," so I'm glad to she she's a character actress with range.

But, without Collinge, this film would be simply mediocre. "Teresa" plays out like a very typical wartime romance but Zinnemann and Collinge do their best to make it worthwhile - and they did just that.

The Accordion (Jafar Panahi, 2010) 6/10

A thief steals an accordion from two children who earn money playing on the streets, and the children seek vengeance. Panahi's short film "The Accordion" should be a lot better. I'd love to see this as a feature-length film. I think the boys in this movie are both really good and don't come off as most annoying child actors.

I do wish, though, that the film handled the topic of religion better. It feels so rushed and thrown-in that I don't think the message Panahi wants to get across really sticks by film's (quick) end. The assault outside the mosque at the opening is really, really good, but "The Accordion" never follows through.

But even with that, the film has Panahi's excellent touches and those great touches manage to make the film good. I think it's a nice short that ranks with the director's lesser works, but lesser Panahi is still great work by other directors.

Taxi (Jafar Panahi, 2015) 7/10

Banned film director Jafar Panahi travels around Tehran picking up passengers in his taxi. I like this more than I do Panahi's two previous entries post-ban. Panahi spends too much time talking about the film ban and gets really personal with it all which is exactly where I think "This Is Not a Film" fails and "Closed Curtain" falls apart.

"Taxi" is good though. It's very good. It plays out in an almost slapstick fashion with new passengers arriving every few minutes causing some new crisis in their own lives and, now, Panahi's. These moments are far from humorous, mostly, but it's a rotating cavalcade of political problems.

And this is fairly showy. More showy than his previous two entries and more impressively so because of the claustrophobic nature of the taxi. Even though we're in the open city, we're confined to this tiny sedan. I think my problem lies in that Panahi spends too much time, especially at the time, talking endlessly about Iran's Hays Code.There's a precious young girl who basically reads the country's massive Code aloud in the least cheeky of fashions and then complains about her inability to shoot a movie on her phone that doesn't violate it said Code. It puts an interesting spin or angle on Panahi's situation, but I'd like to see him break into something else and make something like Marcel Carné did with "Children of Paradise" which was filmed in secret during the Nazi occupation of Paris. I think something like that would work better than this incessant self-pity (not that I don't feel bad for Panahi, because I do).

"Taxi" is a dark comedy, a political diatribe, a personal picture, and a really interesting work of sociology. I think it falls short of the greatness that movies of his like "Crimson Gold" and "Offside" reach, but I'm glad to see Panahi's recent work is getting better.

REWATCH: Detective Story (William Wyler, 1951) 5/10

A young embezzler, a naïve shoplifter, and other criminals inconvenience the lives of a police precinct. This is my second time viewing "Detective Story," and it's one of William Wyler's weakest films. Wyler always had great flourishes and navigational tools when it came to storytelling, so this movie should really be a cakewalk - it's anything but.

"Detective Story" has a really great ensemble (Kirk Douglas, Cathy O'Donnell, Eleanor Parker, Lee Grant, Horace McMahon, and William Bendix among others), but only McMahon and Grant do any kind of good. McMahon's stern leader plays as a great straight man to Douglas' wild child. His is the one restrained performance in a film that's basically a cavalcade of histrionics. As for the showier performances, the only good one is by Lee Grant whose timid shoplifter is quite possibly her very best work. Grant plays naïve well without ever making her character feel dumb which is a very difficult task. Her small movements and interactions with the detectives is the best part of the film. I wish it were less grand and focused more on her without turning into something like "Remember the Night" (which is great, don't get me wrong).

Kirk Douglas' hot-headed tec is really off-putting and he's more creepy than intense. Eleanor Parker shows up sporadically to remind us that abortion is harrowing and men are dumb. William Bendix does his usual schtick. These good, even great, performers don't step up and it shows. They make the film feel empty.

And the film also doesn't seem to know what the hell it's talking about. "Baby farming?" Was this written by Carly Fiorina?

But McMahon and Grant are great and deserve the many praises of this lackluster film. It is another sad case of a probably excellent play not adapting well to the screen.

The Enforcer (Bretaigne Windust & Raoul Walsh, 1951) 5/10

An assistant district attorney must start forming a new case quickly after the key witness in his case against Murder, Inc. falls to his death. "The Enforcer" has everything in place to be a great noir: Bogart, Mostel, intuitive shots, and an interesting, topical story, but nothing really comes together. It falls too far into law procedural to ever really capture the bite of a film noir. The opening twenty or so minutes until when the informant falls are really good, really tense frames of film.

Bogart mostly sleepwalks through the parts going through the many motions he's done before. Zero Mostel is actually pretty good. I'm glad to learn he was in plenty of films though he's most acclaimed for the stage. Mostel is the one very good thing about the film.

I'm not sure what else to say. "The Enforcer" is pretty forgettable. It has all the trappings of an excellent film but eschews them all.

Scrooge (Brian Desmond Hurst, 1951) 7/10

The miserly Ebenezer Scrooge has a yuletide epiphany via four ghosts who try to warn him of his lonely future caused by alienation. I think this may be the best filmed version of "A Christmas Carol" that I've seen (though I'll certainly never enjoy one more than "The Muppets Christmas Carol"). Alastair Sim is an excellent curmudgeon whose wry British mannerisms and stoicism really make Scrooge a hatable character. And most versions try to show some kind of humanity in him in the beginning, but he's despicable until Marley pops in. Sim's brilliant work is the furnace that keeps "Scrooge" going.

Because the film does drag a bit when we get to Christmas Present. And I think the story does that both in the novel and all its subsequent films. It's the least interesting segment and the hardest to do well. So while there is stumbling here, we, again, get Sim's excellent work to get us through it to not feel like a slog.

The effects are nice, the sets are beautiful, the costumes are good, and mostly everything on the film's technical levels is good. I think the film falls shy of greatness, but I've never seen an adaptation of this story that's truly great. So "Scrooge" is a big achievement when it comes to this oft-adapted tale. Sim is THE Scrooge (though I will always have a soft spot for Michael Caine).

The Model and the Marriage Broker (George Cukor, 1951) 7/10

A cynical marriage broker meets a young model and starts meddling meddling in her life by disentangling her from a married man and fixing her up with a nice radiologist. This is a genuine Cukor sleeper. I'd probably never have chosen to watch this had I not heard praises from a source I trust and been on a Thelma Ritter kick.

First and foremost, Ritter is a total delight as an out-and-out lead. I really wish she were the star of more films because she's got such an incredible knack for sly comedy. Her line readings are the stuff dreams are made of. There's always an underlying sense of cynicism and angst in her dialogue that makes her perfect for the roles she's cast in. Her performance is excellent. My favorite scenes of hers are the ones opposite Frank Fontaine whose bumbling, lovelorn Swede is adorable.

Now, Jeanne Crain, as usual I'm finding, isn't very good here. I can totally see why Mankiewicz didn't want her to play the title character in "All About Eve." She can't play nice and she can't play mean. She's stuck in a weird limbo where what you could call her "talents," I guess, don't fit for the movies she's in. Her chemistry with Scott Brady is weak, and his performance is actually alright for being nothing more than eye candy.

But the film is dominated by Thelma Ritter, and she's a total treasure. She's the one big reason to watch an otherwise good movie. She always seemed to have a talent for elevating material.

Storm Warning (Stuart Heisler, 1951) 4/10

A dress model arrives in a southern town to meet her sister when she's startled to realize her brother-in-law is a murderous member of the KKK. Okay, I hate using this word, but this film is incredibly problematic.

But let's start with what's good. There isn't too much that is though. So let's start with the mediocre. Ginger Rogers is okay in a role that's really out of her range. I'm not exactly sure how she even landed this. She looks out of her element, and it shows. But at least she tries and the performance is completely awful. Doris Day, as her sister, is surprisingly good though in a role that takes you a moment to realize it's her. Day's realizations about her husbands are fully, well, realized and her engaging performance makes it easy to follow and care.

As for the weaknesses, Steve Cochran is pretty bad as the murderous brother-in-law. His character is always giving Rogers sly looks like, "You know I did this, but what can you do? Huh?! HUH?!!!" and the fact that he's doing it in front of Day and she's not cluing in on anything is hilarious. Ronald Reagan is pretty bad, and his ending speech to the crowd is terribly done.

But then there's the major problem of the film. The KKK is evil and bad and super hard to deal with especially if you're a pretty white dress model. I'm not usually one to lock in on messages in films like this, but it's hard to talk about "Storm Warning" or other films of its ilk without mentioning it. There's almost nothing in the film regarding racism. These hoods go after innocent white folks. And while maybe this was just a Hollywood way of telling the white people watching the film that they're bad and at risk, it really undermines the entire picture. It's a riotous, farcical look at one of America's darkest chapters.

"Storm Warning" is not good. It's lucky to have someone like Day in it. Man, this is bad. I should give it a lower rating, but the production values were also fairly nice.

People Will Talk (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1951) 6/10

A respected doctor with unorthodox views becomes the subject of a witchhunt by a jealous colleague. "People Will Talk" is a very interesting film for its time. It takes medicine and philosophy much more seriously than films like "Spellbound" and other mid'-'40s "ain't-psychology-cool?" movies.

Cary Grant does his best George Clooney here coasting solely on charm and dry humor. His Dr. Praetorius is an odd creation and he handles the character well. And while his character and his character's philosophy of medicine are progressive and interesting, it's the female parts of the film that really matter most. We are presented with a really unconventional storyline for the era: a woman is pregnant from a one-night stand with a man she can't remember. This isn't some old flame, or her husband, or a rape - it's a woman expressing her own sexuality. To be fair, though, the script tries to play it off with excuses like "he was off to war," "all servicemen deserve love," and "it was in the heat of the moment." The film's best aspect in this part is that Crain isn't in love with the man. This movie was years ahead of its time in this department.

Jeanne Crain, though, doesn't really give us the performance needed to make the movie really good. She mostly looks despondent and wistful into the distance. Crain's mostly ruining every film I see her in.

The script is consistently funny though and Mankiewicz knows what he's doing in his scenes with Grant and Hume Cronyn. The story about Prateorius' past is actively engaging and keeps the film running when it starts to drag. "People Will Talk" is good but not much more.

Repast (Mikio Naruse, 1951) 8/10

A woman must contend with an unhappy life of domestic drudgery while her neglectful husband starts flirting with her niece. This reminds me that I need to start watching more Naruse. Mr. Naruse is one of the greatest directors when it comes to small, personal stories.

"Repast" is a great film, plain and simple. Setsuko Hara's pain and sorrow are our pain and sorrow. She's missing that iconic Ozu smile, but, in a year where she gave three great performances by three master-class directors ("The Idiot" by Kurosawa and "Early Summer" by Ozu), her work here with Naruse might surprise you as the best of the bunch. Hara always worked on a small scale, but this is micro-level tragedy. We're not concerned with being married off or dealing with brutish men - we're dealing with an absence of love and attention, something we all crave and need as humans. And Hara nails this role.

And the script reads more like a beautiful novel than anything. Hara's character is an early feminist character who wants to break free of the kitchen and the vacuum, but she's not quite sure what she will do after she greases herself out of the shackles. "Repast" is a film on those awkward limbos and plateaux we all reach our ways through. It's a small film with an incredible performance by the ever-luminous Setsuko Hara.

Miss Julie (Alf Sjöberg, 1951) 6/10

An aristocratic lady breaks off her engagement and goes after a manservant without realizing how much trouble this will cause. I can see why this film is super important and why places like Cannes loved it. Alf Sjöberg's camera work is incredible. He frames scenes with the best of the masters at this point. It's kind of a wonder how he isn't cited among the best directors. He's not anywhere near the one-hundred greatest, per se, but I'm just shocked his name doesn't come up more.

But that camera work is beautiful and it captures the light and sets beautifully. "Miss Julie" is lush and angsty. It's posh and brooding. And Anita Björk's performance, while wildly uneven, is mostly good. Björk wavers from histrionics to subtlety with no warning whatsoever. It gave me whiplash. She's very good when she's moody and alone, but when she's acting off another person, it gets a bit uneven. And speaking of uneven (more like capsized), Ulf Palme, as her manservant lover, isn't very good. He's what really holds the film back. His performance is all bug eyes and ham. He makes the story impossible. He isn't handsome, charismatic, or smart enough to seduce anyone. A pretty poor casting choice.

"Miss Julie," on the surface, is very good. I'm interested to see if the Jessica Chastain version is better. But this version is good at best with Sjöberg's impeccable direction guiding us through a somewhat dingy film.

Green Grow the Rushes (Derek N. Twist, 1951) 6/10

A group of enterprising smugglers make use of an ancient charter from Henry III to smuggle brandy into the southern coast of England, but when their ship is seized it looks like they are in trouble until the customs officers try and discover where the brandy went. To be perfectly honest, I didn't know much about this film before jumping in, so I was gladly taken aback when I realized this was going to be funny. To my credit, the Criterion cover on Hulu+ made this look like a swampland drama.

Honor Blackman, whom I only knew, of course, from "Goldfinger," is good as a sexy, trepidatious reporter covering the smuggling. But it's Richard Burton's turn, we're truly watching a star being born, with his smoldering eyes and gritty acting that make the film worth seeing. And especially so because Roger Livesey is merely okay in the film's biggest surprise. Livesey is usually so good so it's quite weird seeing him do layman's work here. It's certainly not bad (okay Livesey is better than most regular performances), but it's more of a huge disappointment than anything else.

Director Derek N. Twist's comedic direction is mostly very good, but the film does drag quite a bit in the second act. But it's an interesting comedic film that combines the good parts of "Whisky Galore!" with the small adventure of "The Lavender Hill Mob."

Ginza Cosmetics (Mikio Naruse, 1951) 8/10

The film examines a few days in the life of a mother in Tokyo's Ginza district as she tries to make a living for herself and her son. Mikio Naruse gives us another very good film from 1951, but, this time, we're given a luminous Kinuyo Tanaka instead of a luminous Setsuko Hara. Tanaka was always incredible as beleaguered women, so it's no surprise here that she's incredible under Naruse. And while I don't think she's as good here as she is with Mizoguchi in the coming years, her performance here is still spectacular.

It's mostly a joint effort between Tanaka and Naruse though. Tanaka plays her role well, but Naruse is good at caging her into these uncomfortable situations, the kind he loves so much: negotiating and/or begging for a small amount of yen being the first that comes to mind in his work. And one thing I appreciate about "Ginza Cosmetics" so much is that it's a dry run for Naruse's masterpiece to come at the start of the next decade "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs." The Ginza district is a boozy, smoky place and it can smell it all thanks to Naruse's excellent work. The setting is vivid and incredible. Naruse's framing of the district, along with Tanaka, really put everything into perspective. It shows us the (d)evolution of this woman over a few days. Everything is tight and cramped, and, when it gets smaller or more vast, it's noticeable and elicits a visceral reaction. This brings the "cosmetics" part into the title apart from the more obvious reasons.

"Ginza Cosmetics" is a great film. It lacks the flourishes and emotion that Mizoguchi's films on fallen women have, but Naruse is more subtle and it pays off.

The Magic Box (John Boulting, 1951) 7/10

An ill, old, and poor man reflects on his life which helped usher in the way for moving pictures. Biopics are hard to do well. They're almost always hagiographical (unless they're on dictators, serial killers, etc. - but even then...) and tend to stretch farther than they need to. "The Magic Box" is not one of these pictures.

The Boulting Brothers, behind John's direction, make an interesting film out of an interesting person who gets forgotten because he isn't Edison, Dickson, or Eastman. But William Friese-Greene is a pioneer, and "The Magic Box" captures his rapturous work and kind soul with precision and intelligence. Friese-Greene is played particularly well by Robert Donat who looks remarkably well in the old-age makeup and plays several different Friese-Greenes over time. His relationship with his second wife plays out naturally and bittersweetly. It's very much the conventional "My marriage or my work?" story, but Donat's magnetic persona makes it feel original and good. The cavalcade of other British stars in the picture is a bit much (the film lends itself to spectacle a bit too much in these small moments), but it's fun to play I Spy here if/when the film slows down.

With excellent production values, "The Magic Box" comes off as a hit. Donat would die only seven or so years later, so it's good to see he was still excellent up until the end. Also, I'd like to give a shout-out to Ronald Neame whose name always pops up in the best British pictures I find.

Decision Before Dawn (Anatole Litvak & Gerd Oswald, 1951) 7/10

A young German soldier is made into an American spy and parachuted in to find out the whereabouts of a powerful German armored unit moving towards the western front. This is really good. If it weren't so impossibly slow at points, I'd say this movie is great. Oskwar Werner's shy, timid soldier is a crazy kind of leading role. It's rare to ever see such a meek performance that isn't in a strictly anti-war film. Maybe it's a dig on the masculinity of German soldiers, but, either way, it's so smart and played tremendously well by Werner. The only performance of his that I recall being so good is his work in "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," and he's playing an entirely different kind of character there. Werner plays Happy with vulnerability and depth.

Anatole Litvak does his usual deal though where he stretches the film like its taffy and tries to savor the little moments while they simply don't need the embellishment. This film would've actually worked better had it been more straightforward.

The women in the film, especially Hildegard Knef, are really, really good though. I wasn't quite expecting them to be as excellent as they were, but this movie is anything but a typical war film. Knef's steely vulnerability is superb.

"Decision Before Dawn" is very good. It remains wonderfully tense through good editing, superb acting, and competent direction.

The Axe of Wandsbek (Falk Harnack, 1951) 7/10

A down-on-his-luck butcher's life falls apart after he agrees to execute some communists when the regular executioner can't show. Erwin Geschonneck plays the butcher and, boy, does he ever butcher himself. This is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions with everything falling back to a terrible choice made out of greed and desperation. Geschonneck's performance is very good, but it doesn't hold a candle to Käthe Braun's who, as his wife, is our Desdemona. Braun is heartbreaking and creates the thin atmosphere of empathy that we need to make the film function. It's Braun's performance that makes the film as good as it is. I only wish she'd been a lead character because more of her would've made the film great.

The film is shot and edited with impeccable precision and under Falk Harnack's keen eye. There's hardly a wasted shot or idea that doesn't translate well into a gorgeous still on-screen.

What keeps the film from being great are the performances of the actors by the shun-happy neighbors who never really convinced me that they hated Geschonneck's character. It's easy to see why on the surface, but they seem more fickle, like high schoolers not letting someone sit at their lunch table, than people with angry political reasoning behind it all.

But "The Axe of Wandsbek" is very good and the director's wife, Braun, is incredible.

The House on Telegraph Hill (Robert Wise, 1951) 8/10

A concentration camp survivor assumes the identity of a dead friend to make for a good life in America only to get involved in a deadly web of murder, inheritance, and mystery. This was outright great. This is the best spiritual successor to "Rebecca" that I've seen. I'll proclaim this as one of the undervalued gems in the Tiffany's of films noir. The film leans heavily into melodrama, but unlike all the ho-hum melonoir Stanwyck vehicles of the '40s, "The House on Telegraph Hill" manages to strike all notes properly.

This is, in large parts, thanks to Valentina Cortese whose performance as a victim of the Holocaust thrust into domestic trouble is excellent. I don't think it's quite up to par with her work in "Thieves' Highway," but it only proves further to me that she's one of the very best and underrated we ever had. Cortese plays harried, oppressed, and, above all, determined so well. Her scenes opposite Fay Baker, as Mrs. Danvers 2.0, are incredible and that's because the two play so well off one another. Cortese's worry mixed with Baker's steely, unrepentant nature makes for a hell of a dynamic.

What keeps the film from true greatness is Richard Basehart's performance as Cortese's husband. He's menacing enough, but he lacks the charm needed to draw us into the spider's web. It's pretty easy to tell that he isn't what he seems from right off the bat, and that's more of the script's fault than anything else, so it's just a little disappointing that we can see through it all. In addition to this, the scenes with William Lundigan make for a real stop-and-go effect in the first two acts.

But this small, neglected bit of film noir is a great film nonetheless. The women rule it with iron fists and make for an unsettling, wonderful slice of dark film.

Royal Wedding (Stanley Donen, 1951) 6/10

A brother-sister dance team both find love while they're asked to perform for Princess Elizabeth's wedding. This movie is so old that she was still Princess Elizabeth. That's the first thing that took me aback.

"Royal Wedding" is good, but it suffers from MGM Syndrome like the rest of the studio's output. The "plot," if you can even call it that, is so incredibly weak. If you were to take out the musical numbers, this would be an inexcusable, terrible romcom.

But, luckily, the song-and-dance numbers here are some of the best I've seen from the era. "I Left My Hat in Haiti" and "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life" are both absolutely charming and Astaire's dancing on the ceiling is rightfully iconic. The seamlessness of these numbers along with the great production values make for a delightful barrage on the senses.

But then we get Jane Powell's ballads and those bring the film to the most grinding of halts. I know they're there to showcase her range, but they feel like they belong in a completely different film. Also, while I'm talking about boring things, Peter Lawford and Sarah Churchill are pretty bland for love interests. They inspire nothing.

But those grand dance numbers with Astaire make the film entirely worth watching.

ksrymy · Post by **ksrymy** » Sat Mar 12, 2016 12:18 am

Bellissima (Luchino Visconti, 1951) 7/10

A forceful stage mother does everything she can to get her young daughter in a motion picture after realizing being cute isn't enough. Luchino Visconti sure plays around with a wide array of themes as a director, but I've noticed one comes up a little more than others: that of obsession.

Anna Magnani's crazy stage mama is a sight to behold. We've seen her desperate and haggard in "Rome, Open City" and "L'Amore," but Visconti uses her excellence in desperation to portray the opposite effect of what Robert Rossellini aimed for in those two movies. Visconti uses Magnani to demonstrate parents' obliviousness to how their behaviors and actions affect their children and also nails what it means to be a stage mother - a metric tonne of self-hatred that you never got to be famous yourself. This whole movie is an extended "Rose's Turn."

And Magnani's performance is a very, very good performance. She's becoming one of my favorite actresses the more I see of her. Her scenes with the casting directors are marvelous. And the way she acts around her daughter is spellbinding.

That being said, when the film drifts away from Magnani, and it does this with a frightening frequency, it drags and untangles the lovely mess we've been getting into. And I'm not sure whether it's the supporting cast's fault or Visconti's or the script's or all of them, but it certainly comes off clumsily.

But "Bellissima" is a very good film with a great performance at its core by one of world cinema's finest women.

Early Summer (Yasujiro Ozu, 1951) 9/10

A twentysomething's family is all ready to marry her off, but she has some surprising plans of her own. Is there an actress with a more infectious smile than Setsuko Hara's? Hara navigates "Early Summer," the second film in the unofficial Noriko trilogy, as if she's in a mist. She doesn't fully let us in on the scoop right away. It's a slow unveiling, and, when she blooms, she blooms. "Early Summer" plays into a lot of the same themes and motifs as "Late Spring," as you'd expect, but it feels surprisingly fresh. We're still given an independent Noriko but the way she handles marriage, family, and peer pressure is very different. The relationship between Noriko and her family is the most notable aspect as she isn't devoted, body and soul, to her father. This creates a unique strain on the original premise. Hara gives one of her very best performances in this film. Chishû Ryû is good as usual too as Hara's brother.

And Ozu's restrained direction is, as always, slightly stale, but, here, the camera moves more than his other films. It's very noticeable and helps us understand the newfound freedoms of some of these characters. It's an interesting thing to see from one of his films.

"Early Summer" is very great. It's an excellent follow-up on a similar premise to a masterpiece, and it dares to be original. The concepts of family and love are blurred, disintegrated, destroyed, and repaired all in the best of ways.

The Idiot (Akira Kurosawa, 1951) 9/10

An man whose epilepsy deems him insane falls in love with the same woman whom an intense man also loves. Japanese cinema doing Russian literature sounds like the most wrist-cutting of films, but leave it to Kurosawa to translate his favorite director to the screen so effortlessly.

The cast in "The Idiot" is a marvel. Masayuki Mori is superb in the lead as a timid, disabled man who falls for someone else's mistress. Mori plays his seizure scenes well and the longing in his forlorn eyes tears at your heart. And that mistress, played by the enchanting Setsuko Hara, is a hell of a character. I was floored in this aspect - the aspect that Hara frowns. "Hara Frowns!" for me is "Garbo Talks!" for the people of the '30s. Hara plays an unsettlingly seething character, and, at times, it's hard to believe it's the same woman. But Hara's magnificent performance is one of the film's best aspects. And then there's Toshiro Mifune as the intense suitor, as you'd obviously cast him, whose rage is a bit misplaced. I think Mifune is the one big drawback to the film. He's acting like he should be in another samurai film instead of a bleak social drama. I never thought Mifune would be the worst part of a Kurosawa film.

"The Idiot" has excellent production design, expert direction from Kurosawa, and a razor-sharp script to keep our eyes and ears constantly assaulted with beautiful imagery and words. I'd dare to say this is Kurosawa's most underrated film. You never see it mentioned on a list of his best movies after "Seven Samurai," "Rashômon," "Ran," and "Ikiru." But I think this is better than "Stray Dog," "Drunken Angel," and many others. "The Idiot" is bleak and confrontational, but it leaves you with a sense of wonderment and the best empty feeling you'll ever have in your stomach. A truly great movie.

The African Queen (John Huston, 1951) 4/10

After the death of her brother, a strong-willed missionary woman persuades a gin-soaked riverboat captain to turn his vessel into a torpedo boat to destroy a German gunboat that has an iron grip over the area. I don't have a lot of good things to say about this movie. I think a lot of its problems might stem from the off-camera antics (Huston's alcoholism and tyranny mostly), but it's hard to say without confirmation (though "White Hunter, Black Heart" is an excellent film on the topic).

What I did find excellent was the on-location photography. The movie is a beautiful, lush Technicolor palette explosion. There's nary a nature shot wasted and the shots are all gorgeous. It's the strongest aspect of the film.

And then there's the rest of the film. Josh Larson of Filmspotting, with whom I usually disagree, said that this film undermines its stars' greatest qualities: Hepburn's intelligence and Bogart's dangerousness. I wholeheartedly agree with this. And this isn't to say that playing against type never works because Hepburn is magnificent as a daffy lovesick woman in "Bringing Up Baby." And, much like that comedy, Bogart, too, is better in the hands of Howard Hawks ("The Big Sleep") in roles that aren't quite exactly their normal schtick (was there ever a more interesting, more laconic Sam Spade than in "The Big Sleep?"). Let's start with Hepburn. Katharine Hepburn is one of the most brilliant actresses ever. This is no argument. And her performance here is mostly alright. It's no big stretch - she played prudes well all throughout the fifties and beyond. But there's something that made me cringe in her attitude. Seeing Hepburn play someone so earnest and in-love outside of a strictly romantic or comedic film doesn't come off well. Rose Sayer is an asexual creature, so when the love story comes around, it feels rather forced. Their kisses seem so tight-lipped and disingenuous. And it doesn't help that they're shot at odd, unflattering angles.

Most disappointing is Bogart himself. Why, why, why does this have to be what he won his Oscar for? Drunk is so hard to play, and Bogie stumbles through the role in an inappropriately humorous manner. It doesn't mesh with the tone of the film at all. I never once believed this man, Allnut, could fall for someone like Rose. And when he starts calling her "Rosie," the film starts sinking a bit quicker.

"The African Queen" is a mess. It's not a good film because it's a tonal mess with some major shoehorning. The love story is pretty unbelievable and there isn't any chemistry between the leads. The action pieces are really good though even if some of the visuals look really fake at times. I wish this were as good as everyone's saying, but I find it to be disappointing, unappealing, and foolish.

The River (Jean Renoir, 1951) 7/10

An English family contends with the lure of life in India while its teenage daughter becomes infatuated with a British veteran. I think "The River" is really two movies - one good, one okay. The movie is at its best when it acts like a lush documentary about India with stunning photography and unforgettable shots of color. It calls to mind all the beauty of Renoir's black-and-white films but with a pop that I never knew was missing until now. The animals, the landscape, the culture, the world of India is sumptuous and beautiful through the eyes of Renoir.

But the main story, the actual meat of the film, is only good at best. The cast is very forgettable giving performances shockingly bland for a Renoir film. Patricia Walters' performance as the young Harriet is the biggest disappointment. You can't make a great film without a great protagonist, and the film is too reserved in its polite British mannerisms to ever let me think this young girl could be interested in such a boring character. The veteran with which Harriet falls in love is incredibly hollow and there's nothing indicating how she loves him. If it were more superficial, we'd hear all about it. She's a typical teenage girl. Everything is material. And the triangle they try to make happen flops. The performances by Esmond Knight and Nora Swinburne are mostly good though they're rather dull most of the time.

I really want to like "The River." I think Renoir is the best of all French filmmakers (except maybe Rohmer) so this feels oddly flat. It's a beautiful effort but the execution isn't up to snuff, as they say.

The Browning Version (Anthony Asquith, 1951) 7/10

On the last day of his job, a schoolmaster comes to terms with the fact that his life and career have been failures. "The Browning Version" is a moving film that may better belong on the stage but is brought to us with a keen eye, as always, by Anthony Asquith.

As most reviews would tell you, Michael Redgrave is magnificent as our embittered, forlorn lead. It's his very best performance in a long, distinguished career. His small actions and mannerisms really flesh out a truly lonely character. If ever there was a character that embodied the phrase, "Where did it all go wrong?," it's Mr. Crocker-Harris. And what a wonderful name for an uptight, pretentious literati type. Crocker-Harris.

And that's thanks to Terence Rattigan whose script is succinct, smart, and craftily written. It expounds on where his play leaves off, so trusting the playwright to craft a bigger, longer tale out of a shorter work is the right road to choose. Rattigan has a knack for conversation here and mostly manages to keep things interesting and compelling.

I think the film's weakest aspects have to be the performances by Jean Kent and Brian Smith. Smith's young, life-changing pupil who importantly introduces the titular object to Redgrave is a great character, but I don't believe there was enough conviction in Smith's performance to really drive it home. It seems a bit detached, a little too teacher's-pettish. And it's not like that's the role of the character because, mind you, nobody likes Crocker-Harris. Jean Kent's performance, as Redgrave's adulterous wife, is mostly shallow. We're told why she's dissatisfied, but, when Kent acts, it makes her seem like more of a serial vamp and seductress than someone acting out of desperation for not being loved. Had they chosen to play her a bit more somber, I think the film would've greatly benefited and even have been great.

But even with those performances, "The Browning Version" is a crowning achievement for Redgrave, one of our best.

Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson, 1951) 6/10

A frail priest assigned to a small French provincial town does his damnedest to reaffirm the locals' faiths in God but must also slowly contend with the fact that he is dying of stomach cancer. Leave it to Bresson to take the easy symbolism out of the film and give our priest some heart disorder. That's something I really appreciate.

But I did not care for "Diary of a Country Priest" very much. I don't think it's Bresson's worst (that's "Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne"), but it's certainly lacking all the brilliance of his other films. Bresson makes the world a land of quicksand and fury in which we're all sinking while God watches on and shakes his head stoically. I think this general apathy doesn't fit with the tone of the film very well. Our priest is saving people, as he is wont to do, but it's not like he's constantly being damned and self-hating. He's confused and upset about why he's become stricken with a deadly malady, and, instead, Bresson gives us a lecture on everything other than coming to true terms. We're given a small scene where the priest writes down his thoughts about the cancer, but it never feels like he truly comes to terms. Not even in his final times.

But, despite this, Claude Laydu's performance as the priest has been cited as one of the very best cinema has to offer, and I can't say that is incorrect. Laydu's performance is astounding. There's so much worry and determination in his face that I'm shocked he isn't wrinkly by film's end. Laydu's very caring, innocent looks make the part work perfectly. His scenes opposite Nicole Ladmiral are amazing. What chemistry those two have!

I wish I saw in this what most everyone else is seeing, but it simply doesn't work the way it needs to. There's a huge crisis of faith at hand - the priest thinks helping others will vicariously help himself but it never feels quite successful. It's a rare misfire by a master director.

A Place in the Sun (George Stevens, 1951) 7/10

An ambitious social climber who was passed over by his family romances a humble factory girl and a gorgeous socialite. George Stevens is almost always overbloated and asking for "ACTING!" and "MOVIEMAKING!," but, for what cuckoo reason, it absolutely works in "A Place in the Sun."

The film relies heavily on smart performances, and we're given just that. Montgomery Clift is ravishing, dashing, charming, oily, and snaky as our rags-to-riches George. I can't help but think that the name George Eastman has to bear some mention of the film inventor's name. There's a connection there that I can't see. That or Stevens and screenwriters Michael Wilson and Harry Brown though Clyde Griffiths wasn't romantic enough. Clift's ever-great brood and self-loathing is in full force here, and it's used to maximum potential. There's nary a look in the film where he isn't disgusted at what he's been through or getting into. The only scenes without that sense of disgust are the ones with Elizabeth Taylor, and this is where film becomes limited.

I don't think the love story between Eastman and Angela Vickers is very powerful or potent. Even if Clift/Taylor may be the most attractive movie pairing I've ever seen, their romantic, emotional chemistry is far from their physical chemistry. When the film comes to its fateful end, their proclamations of love feel hollow and shallow because of this lack of chemistry. And the writing doesn't really give us a sense that they're in love apart from melodramatic "I love you! I love you! I love you!"s.

The best relationship in the film, and where it's at its best, is when Clift is opposite Shelley Winters, Queen of Drowning in Film. Winters' meek, submissive, deferential wife-out-of-wedlock is the film's greatest creation. Her performance is heartrending and invites empathy like a magnet. Her phone call to the party where Eastman is with the Vickerses is incredible. She's the reason to see the film. Each scene involving her and Clift is straight fire. Both actors are hitting top gears.

The film is draped in a cloud of plush, posh atmospheres whether it be a serene lake or an ornate, decorated mansion, the film lets to know the stakes simply by emphasizing its backdrops.

"A Place in the Sun" would be great if the most central of the two romances had any sense of urgency. But it's very good to say the least, and it's hard to make "An American Tragedy" poorly.

The Steel Helmet (Samuel Fuller, 1951) 10/10

A ragtag group of American survivors band together in a Buddhist temple to fend off superior Korean forces while holding out for rescue. The first film on the Korean War is the best film on the Korean War. "The Steel Helmet" is downright incredible, a total masterpiece. Samuel Fuller always had such a unique, gripping way of maintaining tension and suspense throughout a film whether it be sociopolitical like in "White Dog" or in a pulpy fashion like "The Naked Kiss" or here in "The Steel Helmet." The urgency is dialed high and never fades. We're always aware of our surroundings throughout this film, and it works beautifully.

Gene Evans, a WWII hero himself, is excellent as our embittered lead. There's no dramatic gap between his own experiences and this film. You can tell how much of this comes and came naturally to him. Evans shows all the characteristics of a real hero including the doubt and fear. He's supported by an incredibly strong cast with extra kudos going to Richard Loo as a Nisei squad member.

The movie is crafted with such splendor and might too. The editing and sound are astounding, the shot selection is great, and the set we're trapped in never once feels dull, though it feels very entrapping. It's a total marvel how this film came together on such a low budget. Fuller is a genius.

"The Steel Helmet" is a war movie at its best. There's nothing shoehorned in. The story comes about organically and gracefully. It's a masterpiece thanks to Fuller's ever-incredible direction.

Also, this Short Round runs circles around Indiana Jones's Short Round.

REWATCH: Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder, 1951) 10/10

A down-and-out big-city journalist relocates to Albuquerque and exploits a man's being caved-in for his own benefit only to have the event turn into a giant media circus. It's hard to follow up a masterpiece with a masterpiece, but Billy Wilder makes it look easy. "Ace in the Hole" is, as cliché as it is to say, relevant as ever especially with this election year at hand. The movie takes a sensationalist route about a sensationalist topic and makes us disgusted at this kind of journalism while ironically eating it all up. It's a brilliant bit of screenwriting by Wilder, Lesser Samuels, and Walter Newman. You'd think Wilder's screenplays would suffer a bit after that breakup with Charles Brackett, but it's as potent as ever.

Kirk Douglas works the role of Tatum with ease. Possibly because Douglas himself with a disgusting slimeball off-camera, but it sure helps sell this role with incredible conviction. Douglas' rants and raves and anger and disbelief are all pitch-perfect. Tatum is a man angry that he can't be the top dog while never really trying to stymie his vices on the way there. It's a smart performance and the best of Douglas' career.

Though even better than Douglas is Jan Sterling whose sultry, complicated turn as the caved-in man's wife is one of film noir's crowning achievements. It would be so easy for her character to turn into a cheap femme fatale with lines like "I was the one who caved him in! Love me! Help me cover it up!" but we're given a character who takes advantage of this media carnival for her own profit while slowly coming to terms with her marriage. And Sterling sneering, (self-)chiding performance is the most delicious icing this delectable cake needs.

"Ace in the Hole" is a damning exposé on media politics that should be required viewing for any journalism class. It's a masterful work of art by one of cinema's best writers and directors. A smart, witty, scary film.

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (Albert Lewin, 1951) 6/10

A young woman averse to love finds herself unknowingly attracted to the captain of a yacht who is cursed to roam the seas until he finds a woman who would die for him. This movie has some brilliant, magnificent cinematography by Jack Cardiff; if only that cinematography had a better film around itself.

Don't get me wrong, I think "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman" is good. It's a sumptuous buffet of endless beautiful shots, lush sets, intricate costumes, and other excellent tech work. It's just that the performances and story are mostly hollow. Ava Gardner does her usual schtick of making cougar eyes at the camera and mugging for the best angle to shoot her jawline. It's easy to see why men would lust after her but to fall in love? No.

What's most disappointing is James Mason's flying dutchman. This role should be a cakewalk for Mason. A mysterious traveler wooing a beautiful lady basically describes a dozen of his movies, so why is it here that he becomes so wooden and dull? The scene where he pleads before the high court is so poorly done. It's very well shot, but, in execution, it doesn't work. Mason makes odd expressions to those on high and speaks with an odd cadence that depletes his charm.

Apart from the leads, I think the film suffers most from Albert Lewin's aimless direction. He makes a very static atmosphere in such a posh world that it becomes a big tonal mess.

If anyone in the cast is good, and he's very good, it's Mario Cabré as a toreador obsessed with Pandora. Cabré's wit and charm steal the movie away from its central couple. He adds much-needed humor to the film and also reads his more dramatic lines with poise and longing.

"Pandora and the Flying Dutchman" is one-of-a-kind in the way it looks, but there's a wind tunnel inside that really tampers with the whole thing. I think it's a good film nonetheless. I just wish it were better.

On Dangerous Ground (Nicholas Ray, 1951) 5/10

A brutish policeman is sent by his superiors, as a lesson, to a rural area outside the city to help solve the killing of a young woman. This has no right to be so mediocre. On paper, this should be one of the very best films noir. It has Nick Ray, Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, and Prince of Character Actors Ward effing Bond. How did this get so muddled?

The first thirty minutes of this film are excellent. They're so excellent that you forget we're supposed to head to the snowbound wilderness soon. Looking back on that, it drags on a bit long, but when it's the best part of a film, you don't complain. We get a small window, one that should've been widened, into Ryan's character's soul and past. It creates enough character development for us to really latch on to such a terrible guy. But, oddly enough, Robert Ryan's performance is a bit lacking. He's one of my very favorite actors of this era, and this performance doesn't quite work. I'm not sure whether it's because he doesn't get to be brusque enough or whether it's underwritten from a dialogue stance, but something doesn't click. Ryan's alright, but when you've seen how excellent he can be, "alright" isn't good enough.

And another actress I love, Ida Lupino, is really bad at being blind. It's nothing but bug eyes and head bobbing. She's like a Margaret Keane bobblehead doll. I don't recall her even blinking once. It's a tone-deaf performance by one of Hollywood's great women.

And What about Nicholas Ray? This should be a cinch for him. Other than his mishandling of the cast, the film doesn't look particularly good either.

Ward Bond is good, though, as the vengeful father of the murdered girl. He's always good though. I'm glad the film kept him in as long as they did because it's certainly better with him in it than without.

"On Dangerous Ground" is a textbook example of something good on paper and disappointing on execution. I'd rather have seen this under the direction of Howard Hawks or John Brahm.

Westward the Women (William A. Wellman, 1951) 7/10

A California man goes to Chicago to get 150 women to come out west to help out his ranch and make the area less male-heavy. The movie works really well when you don't think of it as a man driving 150 women to more-or-less arranged marriages.

William A. Wellman is one of the most underpraised directors of his time. He could make most anything good. His touches here with the cast and especially the women makes this film succeed. I think Wellman and screenwriter Charles Schnee could've made the movie better by focusing less on the men and more on the women. When you look at it, it's basically a story about a man inconvenienced by women who don't know the Old West. But, really, these women are incredible characters. While we get some rather milquetoast performances like Denise Darcel's and Robert Taylor's, we get magnificent performances from John McIntire and especially Hope Emerson as a sturdy, steadfast woman (shockingly) named Patience. Emerson's tough qualities and harsh, witchy features make for an incredible performance - one I'd wager is better than her Oscar-nominated turn the year before in "Caged." She certainly gets the opportunity to show more range here, and she proves she's more than a one-note character actress.

And the film is composed intricately and beautifully. All the trail shots and action sequences are thoughtfully made and stunningly realized. I think this is what John Ford was going for in "Wagon Master" but didn't quite achieve.

"Westward the Women" is excellent. Had we received almost literally any other leading man to play Taylor's part, I'd say we have a legitimately great movie on our hands. For now, I'm happy with this product.

REWATCH: Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock, 1951) 9/10

A psychotic socialite confronts an amateur tennis player with the idea of killing each other's undesirable relatives to get away with the perfect murder. I think this is my third or fourth time watching "Strangers on a Train," and it's still as potent and intense as ever.

I still think the film's biggest problem is that the female characters are really quite trite. It's the only thing keeping this movie from being a real masterpiece. This is a man's man's man's film far and away; the female characters are almost all solely plot pieces. And this would be more excusable if their performances were good. I think the best female performance comes from Pat Hitchcock whose morbid, curious sister brings appropriate touches of humor to the film and whose dramatic line readings aren't bad. Ruth Roman seems to be giving her best Joan Crawford impression but forgets that Ms. LeSueur was more than frigidity and worry. She gives the same look to the camera and Farley Granger over and over. It's a shame these women were so written off.

But the men, oh, the men, the men are top-notch. Farley Granger, an actor I usually find annoyingly mannered, is good as Guy Haines, our tennis star. But it's easy to look past his work because Robert Walker, as his (borderline) co-lead, wipes the floor with him. Walker, whose past work had never been very good, is putty in Hitchcock's hands and gives one of the greatest performances in any of the Master of Suspense's works. Walker's expert performance walks the oft-seen tightrope of charm and psychopathy, but it somehow feels revelatory and original here. He's so smart, and he makes Bruno one of cinema's most formidable, scary, and, most importantly, realistic villains.

As for the film's composition, it's masterful. The tennis game/cigarette lighter retrieval sequence is suspense at its finest. And what a whirlwind of editing. It's a clinic on how to properly edit an action sequence. And the same goes for that intense carousel ride at the end.

"Strangers on a Train" is at its best when we're not dabbling with its dull female characters. If they'd been given some meat on which to chew, I'd call this an outright masterpiece. But it remains one of Hitch's very best works and a gripping tale of suspense and anxiety.

The Lavender Hill Mob (Charles Crichton, 1951) 8/10

A meek bank clerk who has been overseeing shipments of gold bullion for years devises a plan with his new neighbor and a couple of petty criminals to steal it all. I think this is the best Ealing comedy I've seen since "My Learned Friend." "The Lavender Hill Mob" is led by a wonderfully funny Alec Guinness who, again, specializes in playing these mousy, meek British men in precarious situations. Guinness' performance is excellent as expected. He's smart, thoughtful, and shows sagacity in this role. He hits every comedic mark with precision and agility. And his comedic chemistry with Stanley Holloway, as his bumbling partner, is on point. Holloway was always good as bawdy Londoners, so to see him good in a different kind of role is pleasantly surprising.

The script is tight, well-thought-out, and damned funny. The entire sequence where Guinness/Holloway chase the British schoolgirls in pursuit of their gold is madcap and riotous. These larger action sequences courted by the most wonderfully tongue-in-cheek dialogue I've heard in a British picture since "My Learned Friend" is amazing. "The Lavender Hill Mob" is a win. It's delightful and constantly funny.

The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (Henry Hathaway, 1951) 5/10

The story of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel including his military victories and his role in the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler. Rommel is a very interesting figure in cinema. He's the one Nazi who is almost always portrayed sympathetically because he was the only one who realized what was happening was wrong. The film could even be seen as a hagiography if you'd like.

Rommel is played by a stoic James Mason who's more than happy to wear his heart on his sleeve when he's excited or around Jessica Tandy, who I completely forgot was in this film. Mason's portrayal of Rommel is good enough, but I'm afraid neither Mason himself nor the screenwriters really let us into his mind. We're given clear looks into his brilliant military mind but rarely into the man himself. We're afforded brief glimpses of this when he starts to question Hitler and Germany's policies. But we're mostly left in the dark.

And it's odd to see Henry Hathaway direct this because it's so much lighter than most of his other films. You'd expect that same hard-hitting, brooding mood his other films so often use well would be in full swing here, but he, instead, tries to take a more traditional approach. It's a real shame.

The film's war scenes are mostly good even if there's a lot of stock footage used. The opening scene is a total masterpiece though. What an intense, incredible bit of filmmaking. It's unfortunate the rest of the film doesn't live up to it. It's basically the opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan" but fifty years earlier and at a château.

"The Desert Fox" is okay. Rommel is an interesting figure and deserves a better film made about him.

REWATCH: The Thing from Another World (Christian Nyby & Howard Hawks, 1951) 5/10

Scientists and Air Force officials must contend with a bloodthirsty alien humanoid at a remote arctic outpost. A second viewing reveals what I feared: "The Thing from Another World" still isn't good. I can see why it's highly acclaimed: it inspired a beloved film almost thirty years later, it was the first space invader film, and its visual effects are really good.

But "The Thing from Another World," ghost-directed by Howard Hawks, never really feels very intense. I'm shocked that Hawks made it at all because it doesn't feel anything like his other films, and I mean that in a bad way. It lacks the sense of immediacy that "Rio Bravo" and "His Girl Friday" run on. The characters are surprisingly dumb and stumble their ways through obvious solutions. Do we really need dialogue like, "So if the alien is made of plants... we shouldn't use water to kill it!!" It takes them several minutes too long to realize fire would work far better and then settling on electricity.

The visuals looks great though as do the creature itself. Granted, James Arness is a bit clunky and when the monster attacks the "We want to be peaceful with you!" guy, the karate chop used to devastate the man looks hilariously bad, but at least it isn't Lon Chaney, Jr.'s monster-movie body language.

I greatly, vastly prefer the Carpenter and not because I saw it first (I actually saw this version days earlier). Carpenter uses the natural claustrophobia caused by isolation and has his actors actually give good performances. I'm angry that Hawks is credited on this. It's one of his worst films, and it pains me to think that he has any bad movies.

REWATCH: The Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise, 1951) 10/10

A humanoid alien and a robot come to Earth telling the planet's leaders to stop experimentation with atomic rockets or face intergalactic consequences. God, I love this movie so much. Chronologically speaking, I think that "The Day the Earth Stood Still" is the first sci-fi masterpiece since "Metropolis." And this has to be because it has a real, relevant, strong message to it other than, "Is technology getting out of control?!"

Robert Wise was always one of the best journeyman directors, and he gives "The Day the Earth Stood Still" that sense of emergency that the film has as its fulcrum. The film's best aspect is that is doesn't get preachy. Most sci-fi movies involving an overlord or destroyer of worlds have some scene where the lead says, "Yeah, well these people may not be good, but I love them and I will fight for them!" or the antagonistic figure says, "Well, I've been so moved by the kindness of one of your children or women that I won't kill you all."

No, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" ends with the very potent message of, "If you don't stop this, we will kill you." And, even with this message, Wise still manages to help us feel mostly optimistic. The shots that pan the crowd and show us the worry and change in their faces nails this point home well. We feel optimistic but don't ever once forget what we've been told.

And Michael Rennie's performance as Klaatu is importantly good. Wise and Rennie find the perfect strides to avoid Klaatu becoming a robotic, too logical, Spock-like alien. Inside, he comes off as almost fully human. It's a wonderful performance but not quite as wonderful as Patricia Neal's subtle work as a mother and housewife caught up in the film's plot. Neal was always reliable, and she turns a lackluster role into something memorable.

And the visuals, mostly in the form of Gort, are memorable, ahead-of-their-time, and generally cool.

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" is a bona fide sci-fi masterpiece. It has a message as relevant and hard-hitting as ever, and that unnerving ending is the entire reason the film works as well as it does.

The Man from Planet X (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1951) 4/10

Scottish scientists are approached by an eerie visitor while watching for a planet that may collide with Earth. Except none of them have Scottish accents and the eerie visitor mostly looks goofy. "The Man from Planet X" isn't a very good movie, but it does have some really good effects to back itself up.

The movie starts off really well by building a moody atmosphere to set the tone for our visitor only to have the last two third not follow the success of this first act. After the introduction of the alien, it all goes downhill and becomes more and more bland until it starts looking like an MST3K picture.

I'm mostly disappointed because, as he's proved several times before, Edgar G. Ulmer is a sure hand at elevating mostly disappointing, unpromising material. Sadly, not even he can make the dialogue seem anything but juvenile.

I don't have much else to say other than "The Man from Planet X" is a disappointment. It's so very promising at the start and slowly fades into dreck.

When Worlds Collide (Rudolph Maté, 1951) 6/10

As a star is bound to crash into Earth, its accompanying planet will cause havoc on land and sea; a group of scientist hurry to build a rocketship ark to get the best of humanity to the other planet to start anew. The Oscar winner for Best Visual Effects does, indeed, have some great effects. They're better than most sci-fi effects from this time even if, at times, like the earthquake, they're a little primitive. The end scene is more than enough to make up for any mishaps like this though.

The cast of characters is mostly interesting with John Hoyt's wheelchair-bound Stanton doing most of the film's best work among a bland group of actors. Hoyt actually seems to be the only actor invested in the film. Him and most of the extras.

And it's safe to say "Armageddon" and "Deep Impact" and all the other space-object-crashing-into-Earth films owe a lot to this movie because they're pretty darn close to the same.

The movie is surprisingly good. Its scientific ideas are laughable by today's standards, but we landed oil drillers on an asteroid 47 years later, so it's not that bad. The story is mostly compelling which is rare for a science fiction movie of this era. "When Worlds Collide" is a minor success.

Show Boat (George Sidney, 1951) 5/10

A Mississippi River gambling man wins the affections of the daughter of the owner of a riverboat. George Sidney's direction sinks back to its usual tone with "Show Boat." The film is a gorgeous one though. The film is a kaleidoscope of colorful flurries as swishing skirts and vibrant hairstyles pop off the screen. Everyone in it is beautiful and dressed beautifully.

The problem is that the cast isn't all too great. After having seen this and the Irene Dunne version, I think "Show Boat" just isn't all that great of a story. Maybe it doesn't translate well to film, but I'm not a fan of Edna Ferber's brainchild. Everyone in this movie is rather nugatory and spurious. Howard Keel does not play the role of scumbag well. He tries to hard to be a charming scumbag and, instead of coming off like George Wickham in "Pride and Prejudice," he comes across as an ingratiating car salesman type. And the movie is at its standstill-est when Kathryn Grayson joins Keel on-screen. Grayson's grating performance makes it really hard to like or sympathize for her character at all. And the only good thing about Ava Gardner are her puma eyes - the rest of her performance is pretty bad. I completely understand why she was a star, but Gardner really didn't have much talent at all.

Again, this is a perfect example of a hollow, tepid MGM musical forced out for profit and nothing else. But, as usual, Walter Plunkett's costumes are splendid, grand, and inspired.

The Man in the White Suit (Alexander Mackendrick, 1951) 7/10

Clothing manufacturing bigwigs are forced to take desperate measures when a timid inventor creates a fabric that never gets dirty and never wears out. "The Man in the White Suit" is definitely a movie to watch several times as there are about a dozen different readings, at the very least, one can get out of it. It would be easy to read in a Marxist fashion and a cultural perspective. Capitalism good - innovation bad.

Alec Guinness, once again, does a good job as our nebbish shrinking violet of a hero. I can't believe I never knew Guinness was such a gifted comedian. Guinness is good though I wouldn't cite it as some of his best work. Joan Greenwood is slowly revealing herself, to me, to be an excellent character actress. She steals the film.

Alexander Mackendrick is really underrated too. A satirical sci-fi comedy is not an easy feat to pull off, especially with that dry British wit. But Mackendrick somehow does it with nice stylistic touches and tongue-in-cheek direction.

"The Man in the White Suit" is very good. I think it's a bit shy of greatness as the second act is a bit stale, but it's a funny, smart, and original film.

REWATCH: An American in Paris (Vincente Minnelli, 1951) 4/10

An American in Paris falls in love with a young woman in love with the man who saved her from orphandom.

While Filmspotting's Josh Larsen and I usually disagree on modern films, we certainly agree about old, classic films. "From Gene Kelly’s forced grins to its boldly monochrome sets to the horn-heavy George Gershwin music that is the genesis for the picture, An American in Paris is an all-out assault on the senses," he writes. "If Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain, which would come a year later, revels in movie-musical joy, this effort’s defining trait is insistence."

I wholeheartedly agree with this. "An American in Paris" is joyless. Kelly's camera mugging has always been a little off-putting, but it works when there in an on-screen crowd he's entertaining. Here, he's got it plastered on his face like he's in a wax museum. And "insistence" is such a smart word to use here because the movie is basically forcing these characters onto you while screaming, "LOVE THEM!" And I cant quite do that as per what Filmspotting's Sam Van Hallgren has to say on the subject:

"Kelly is pretty charmless here and his ballet choreography is dull and pretentious. Oscar Levant can tickle the ivories, but he's no actor and even less a comedian. And poor Nina Foch as Milo. No doubt there existed - and exists - a real world equivalent to her patron of the arts who uses her money to buy not just art but the artists themselves... but the movie hates her so much that you end up feeling sorry for her. The movie would have benefited tremendously from portraying Kelly's Jerry Mulligan as less cynical and more naive (as his opening narration presents him to be) - even allowing him be taken advantage of by Foch's Milo."

I agree with his statements on Kelly and Levant, but I highly disagree on one thing: Nina Foch is wonderful in this. She's no Kay Thompson in "Funny Face," but almost nobody else is. Foch's weary, jaded patron of the arts is the one big redeeming factor in the cast's dullness.

Worst of all is Leslie Caron who is impressive as a human mannequin but terrible as anything else. Other than her looks, it's incredibly difficult to see why Mulligan would be so head-over-heels for Lise. Her performance is straight-up awful.

The film is as its best during that final ballet which, while the dancing itself seems a bit compulsory and routine, is a dazzling bit of costume and set design. The movie is a beautiful one to look at for sure.

But then that entire sequence is a bit undermined. We go through Mulligan grieving for twenty minutes but Vincente Minnelli never once convinces us that Lise is actually going to leave with her fiancé. Whether it's a too-often-seen cliché or not giving us a real reason for Lise to leave Jerry, it doesn't come off well.

"An American in Paris" is bad. It's an excuse to play Gershwin with no reward (and I love Gershwin). An empty, shallow, terrible musical

Summer Interlude (Ingmar Bergman, 1951) 8/10

A ballet dancer reminisces on a summer romance she had 13 years earlier. Ingmar Bergman's first great directing job comes here with "Summer Interlude." And Bergman keeps with the similar summer themes of his other films. Most people forget summers in Sweden are brief and intense, so there's always a romance to be just as torrid and passionate. But this is one of Bergman's more optimistic films even if it is still typically Swedish and sad.

Maj-Britt Nilsson is a revelation as our prima ballerina. Her icy-cold demeanor slowly melts with the ever-mindful memories her heart keeps presenting before her eyes. Stephen Frears borrowed heavily from "Summer Interlude"'s makeup removal scene for "Dangerous Liaisons." Bergman frames this scene with such focus and beauty that Nilsson's revelation feels like our own revelation. It's as beautiful a baptism as any "person on their knees in the rain" scene in any movie. The movie is worth seeing for this scene alone. That and the tragic diving sequence which is shot and edited with a masterful eye.

Going back to what I said earlier, the film definitely feels like a Bergman film too. His complicated relationship with God is on full display, and everything that brings you joy will eventually die and leave you emotionally-crippled. But Bergman, instead of diving (sorry) whole-hog into these scenes, only gives us sun-tinged memories, fleeting glimpses of this summer. It helps place us more in Nilsson's mind and creates a magnificent atmosphere of natural fears and longing.

"Summer Interlude" is great. And knowing that all Bergman goes up from here makes me even more excited.

Post by **Big Magilla** » Tue Mar 08, 2016 10:11 am

Reza wrote:And Then There Were None (Basi Akpabio, Rebecca Keane & Craig Viveiros, 2015) 7/10

Umpteenth adaptation of Agatha Christie's book "Ten Little Niggers". The original title of her book, based on a popular song from the mid 19th century, was changed to "Injuns", "Indians" & "Soldiers" and it's current movie title "And Then There Were None" due to the obvious racist elements. Ten strangers are invited to an isolated place (here an island) by a mysterious host and they die one by one according to the song. Who is the murderer? Is he one of them? This one follows the book's conclusion unlike most of the other film versions of which there have been numerous. Handsomely produced BBC film shot on an island off Cornwall with stunning scenic views and an interesting cast of veterans - Charles Dance, Miranda Richardson, Sam Neill, Toby Stephens - playing the assorted victims.

This three-hour TV movie will be broadcast in the U.S. on Lifetime over two nights next Monday and Tuesday, March 13th and 14th. Although I don't think any version will ever bring together better actors than appeared in René Clair's 1945 version, I am looking forward to this version which, though said not to be completely faithful to Christie's original, does restore her darker, more shocking ending.

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