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

[Reza]

The Nest (Sean Durkin, 2020) 8/10

Devastating look at the cracks appearing beneath the happy facade of a family. A hotshot British social climber (Jude Law), once a very successful commodities broker, leads a life that is enveloped in ambition, greed and entitlement which he has made part and parcel of his fast moving life. He uproots his American wife (Carrie Coon) and two kids and moves them from New York to England, rents a huge house in the country and settles into a job with his former employer. He puts the kids in posh private schools, buys a horse for his wife - she ran a riding school back in the States - and starts construction of stables. The film's subtle costuming and production design marks the period as the 1980s and the screenplay is set up to seem as if the plot is going in the direction of an eerie horror film - the imposing dark old mansion, a horse in constant agitation, editing that signals jump scares (which never come) and a music score that recalls synthpop from that decade. When each of his flamboyant business deals come to naught and the family is reduced to an empty bank balance his wife tries to come to terms with their downward spiral with husband, children and animal all taking a solid beating. The film's heart and soul is Coon as the realist who begins to recognize her husband's fatal flaw in creating a false self-image to hide his working-class origins, which in a superbly played brief scene between Law and his brittle mother (Ann Reid) becomes glaringly evident. She gains the strength to strike back at her husband in darkly humorous ways when he tries to impress clients and colleagues with outlandish stories. Law, finally looking mature on screen but still managing to retain his magnetic charm as an actor, underlines his character with slight layers of darkness. Haunting film is a slow burn but one roots for this family as they gradually descend into an abyss. Or do they?

Druk / Another Round (Thomas Vinterberg, 2020) 8/10

An experiment relating to alcohol is at first a huge success but inevitably goes awry. Four High School teachers, close buddies at the same school, are going through a mid-life crisis at their jobs and with their families. During a night out they discuss Norwegian psychiatrist Finn Skårderud's unconventional suggestion that when humans are born they have a blood alcohol level 0.05 per cent too low so it must be increased to that level in order to feel more creative and relaxed. The friends at first debunk the theory but Martin (Mads Mikkelsen), who has been facing marital problems and in class is called out for being a lackluster history teacher, decides to test the theory. To his surprise alcohol loosens him up and he becomes a success both in class as well as at home when he begins to connect with his wife and sons. His friends join in the experiment with each finding it changes their lives for the better. However, when they keep increasing their alcohol limit to the point of eventually outright binging they all find themselves in trouble. In films mid-life crisis has often been treated either as comic or as heavy drama. Vinterberg's refreshing and astute screenplay creates an interesting cocktail mix which brings on as much laughter as tears and he manages to steer what could be a very dark subject - glorifying alcohol - with deft touches of comic moments throughout leading upto an enormously cathartic ending full of joy. At the center of the film is a towering performance by Mads Mikkelson. While the Danish actor has made his presence felt in Hollywood it has mainly been through roles that allowed him to play elegant yet vicious and reptilian villains. His true forte as an actor has always been in European cinema, often in Vinterberg's films, where he has received great acclaim. This is yet another one in which he possibly gives his strongest performance yet.

[gunnar]

Hamlet (1996) - 9/10 - Kenneth Branagh directed and starred in this film of Shakespeare's play. The setting has been updated to the mid 1800s and I think the setting works very well. The exterior and interiors shots are each gorgeously shot. The film does run rather long at over four hours and flags slightly near the end, but I enjoyed the film quite a bit, even more than Olivier's version from 1948. The first part before the intermission with manic Hamlet would rate 10/10 for me.

In the Loop (2009) - 6/10 - Government officials behind the scenes are involved in trying to prevent a war...or maybe starting one. This movie isn't my type of film, unfortunately. I don't like The Office (UK or US) and that style of show so that didn't help. I found some of the things in here funny, especially the part where Capaldi goes to a meeting and finds a kid who looks like he should be in high school. I found most of the movie mildly amusing at best. I can see why some viewers might really like it, but it wasn't for me.

Joe (1970) - 6/10 - When his daughter Melissa (Susan Sarandon) overdoses and ends up in the hospital, wealthy executive William Compton (Dennis Patrick) goes to her apartment to pick up some clothes for her. He gets into an altercation with her drug dealing boyfriend and this eventually sets into motion one wild night with a guy named Joe (Peter Boyle) that Compton met in a bar. It was okay.

Father Goose (1964) - 7.5/10 - Cary Grant stars as Walter, a man who lives alone in the South Seas during WWII who is 'persuaded' to stay on an uninhabited island and serve as a plane spotter for the Australian Navy. Later, he ends up sharing the island with a woman named Catherine (Leslie Caron) and seven schoolgirls who were stranded in the islands due to the fortunes of war. He really just wants to be left alone, but that proves impossible. I enjoyed the film and thought it was predictable, but fun. The best relationship was the one between Walter and Frank (Trevor Howard), the Australian commander in charge of the various plane spotters scattered throughout the area. The relationships between Walter and the other inhabitants of the island was good too.

[gunnar]

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) - 7/10 - Lord Rawnsley announces an air race to Paris (in 1910) in an attempt to boost circulation for his newspaper. The prize money draws contestants and their planes from around the world. One contestant tries to sabotage the other contestants and use other ways to cheat in order to win. It's a decent comedy. A bit forced at times, but still fun.

Margin Call (2011) - 7/10 - An investment bank decides to downsize by eliminating most of the employees in their risk management division. However, one of the people being eliminated had discovered something that could destroy the firm. The film follows the next 24 hours or so as the firm scrambles to survive. It might be a bit dry and slow at times, but I still enjoyed it.

Out of Sight (1998) - 8/10 - George Clooney stars as Jack Foley, a charismatic bank robber who escapes from prison and shares a trunk with federal marshal Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez) during the escape. Foley and a partner set out for Detroit with a diamond heist in mind. Sisco pursues, but is conflicted in her feelings for Foley. There is plenty of humor and some action as well. I thought it was a fun movie.

Metropolitan (1990) - 7/10 - A group of young upper class Manhattan residents adopt a poor west sider into their group during the gala season. The film is mostly filled with dialogue and while it seems to be an imitation of (or homage to) Jane Austen novels, it came across to me as kind of fake. Still, I did end up enjoying the film.

[Big Magilla]

To Be to Not to Be is definitely one. I haven't seen A Night at the Opera in sme time and The Producers depends on the mood I'm in before I watch it.

[gunnar]

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) - 7.5/10 - A group of six people keep trying to get together to share a meal, but something always causes their plans to go astray. There are a number of dreams mixed into the story as well. I found the movie to be amusing and I enjoyed it, though I don't see it as a masterpiece as some others do.

Ouch! I'm not generally fond of farces. It took me several viewings to appreciate the farcical elements of The Rules of the Game and Dr. Strangelove still annoys me despite its brilliance, but this film and Duck Soup make me laugh just thinking about them.

I suppose if I had seen it at another time or in a different frame of mind I might have had a different reaction. I did like the film, but some of the dream sequences fell kind of flat for me. I've only seen Dr. Strangelove once, but I loved it. Duck Soup isn't bad, though A Night at the Opera is my favorite Marx Brothers film. Farces can be hit or miss for me. To Be or Not to Be (1942) and The Producers are a couple of examples where I enjoyed the movie a lot.

[Big Magilla]

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) - 7.5/10 - A group of six people keep trying to get together to share a meal, but something always causes their plans to go astray. There are a number of dreams mixed into the story as well. I found the movie to be amusing and I enjoyed it, though I don't see it as a masterpiece as some others do.

Ouch! I'm not generally fond of farces. It took me several viewings to appreciate the farcical elements of The Rules of the Game and Dr. Strangelove still annoys me despite its brilliance, but this film and Duck Soup make me laugh just thinking about them.

[gunnar]

Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman (1974) - 7/10 - This documentary features interviews with groundbreaking conductor Antonia Brico and looks back at her career and the gender bias she had to overcome to become successful. She conducted the New York Philharmonic plus numerous orchestras in Europe and around the United States, but it didn't come easy, especially early on. I thought it was interesting, though since my mom was an orchestra conductor I can relate to it more than some might.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) - 7.5/10 - A group of six people keep trying to get together to share a meal, but something always causes their plans to go astray. There are a number of dreams mixed into the story as well. I found the movie to be amusing and I enjoyed it, though I don't see it as a masterpiece as some others do.

Objective, Burma (1945) - 7.5/10 - A decent war film about a platoon of paratroopers who are sent into Burma to destroy a hidden Japanese radar station prior to the Invasion of Burma. Their ride home has to be scrapped, forcing them to trek through the jungle in search of another way home.

Go for Broke! (1951) - 7/10 - This is a decent war film about the 442nd Infantry Regiment which was made up largely of Americans of Japanese descent. They fought in Italy and France during WWII. The movie has quite a bit of humor and a touch of overcoming racial prejudice as shown in the person of a newly minted white lieutenant. I enjoyed the film.

Wild By Law (1991) - 7.5/10 - This documentary looks at the push to preserve wild areas in the United States during the early and middle part of the 20th Century that led to the passing of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Howard Zahniser was an environmentalist who led the fight to protect wilderness areas. Aldo Leopold is also featured. It was pretty interesting.

Rome, Open City (1945) - 9/10 - During the German occupation of Rome, they are hunting for Manfredi, a member of the resistance. He looks to hide out with his friend Francesco who is about to be married to his neighbor, a widow named Pina. There is also a priest named Don PIetro who aids the resistance. Their stories intertwine in Roberto Rossellini's excellent film which was written and filmed not long after the Nazis were forced out of Rome by the Allies.

[gunnar]

Blackboard Jungle (1955) - 7/10 - Glenn Ford stars as a veteran who becomes a high school teacher at a tough New York City school with lots of delinquents (including Sidney Poitier as Miller). He has a tough time reaching them and his pregnant wife has stress as well. I had a hard time getting through the first half of the movie, perhaps due to being in the classroom for almost 30 years, but thought it got better in the second half.

The Incredible Machine (1975) - 7/10 - This documentary looks at the human body and what it is capable of. It also looks closer at the outside and inside of the body using various technologies - skin, muscles, the heart, the tongue, the lungs, blood, etc.. I thought it was interesting.

[gunnar]

My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) - 7/10 - Omar is a young British/Pakistani man who is given a rundown laundrette to run by his uncle. He enlists the aid of his white boyfriend and they clean the place up and make a go of it, with a few side jobs along the way. There is also conflict with another family member, a shady man named Salim. This isn't a bad film, but it does seem to meander around a bit.

Inherent Vice (2014) - 7/10 - This was a long strange trip through a drug filled Los Angeles in 1970. I enjoyed visiting this world and Joaquin Phoenix was excellent as always. I also thought that Josh Brolin and much of the supporting cast was good. The movie didn't always make a lot of sense, but it was still nice to visit. I thought it went on a little bit too long, though.

The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) - 6/10 - Gary Cooper stars as Billy Mitchell, an Army officer and pilot who pushed for advances in the Air Service back in the 1920s and clashed with leaders in the Army and Navy. He was court-martialed for comments he made about the leadership. About half of the movie is a courtroom drama centered around Mitchell's trial. It's a decent movie, though I think it has aged a lot.

The Barbarian Invasions (2003) - 7.5/10 - Rémy is a college professor in his 50s who is dying from liver cancer in Montreal. He is visited in the hospital by his ex-wife and she contacts their son who flies in from London where he is a successful businessman. Family and friends start visiting with regularity to spend time with Rémy and to reminisce. The movie is a sequel of sorts to The Decline of the American Empire and while that film wasn't bad, I enjoyed this film much more.

Wing and a Prayer (1944) - 6.5/10 - A serviceable drama about an aircraft carrier that is given a decoy mission after Pearl Harbor to travel over the Pacific, but not engage the Japanese in order to convince them that what is left of the American Fleet is scattered all over the Pacific. Most aboard are unaware of their mission and get frustrated by the tactics used. Not great, but watchable.

American Splendor (2003) - 7.5/10 - This biopic covers the life of comic book writer and file clerk Harvey Pekar who published comic books based on his life for over 30 years. Paul Giamatti does a great job as Harvey, but having the real Harvey Pekar narrate and be mixed in throughout the film was very good, too. It's a nice movie.

[gunnar]

The Ladykillers (1955) - 8/10 - Alec Guinness is one of five criminals (including Peter Sellers) who rent rooms from an old woman and pretend to be musicians in order to steal a large amount of money. Their plan didn't account for Mrs. Wilberforce who is like a force of nature in her sweetness and things eventually start to fall apart after the job is done. It was pretty funny.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977) - 5/10 - A 16 year old girl who hears voices, sees visions, and has tried to commit suicide is committed to an institution where the other residents also have a variety of mental illnesses. I didn't really find this one all that interesting.

The Tin Star (1957) - 7.5/10 - Henry Fonda stars as a former sheriff turned bounty hunter who brings a bad guy that he killed into town to collect the reward. The mayor and other leading citizens want him out of town as soon as possible. The sheriff (Anthony Perkins) is young and inexperienced and hasn't been in the position for long. The former sheriff gives the new one a few tips so that he has a chance to avoid getting killed by making a mistake. I thought it was a pretty good western.

Knock on Wood (1954) - 6.5/10 - Danny Kaye stars as a ventriloquist who starts having trouble controlling what his dummy says when he gets close to marriage with a woman he likes. He goes to Zurich to see a specialist for help, but gets involved with spies trying to smuggle secret plans. He also gets involved with a female doctor who is involved with his case. There's a fair amount of slapstick and this isn't really a good movie, but I still enjoyed it.

The Leatherneck (1929) - 8/10 - Three American Marines stationed in Northern China are found to be missing, but return shortly thereafter with one dead, one seemingly insane, and the third brought up on charges of desertion and murder. At his trial, he tells his story (which is shown in flashback) of how the three soldiers met at the end of the World War and events leading up to the present day. William Boyd (pre Hopalong Cassidy), Alan Hale, and Robert Armstrong play the Marines and seem to have pretty good camaraderie. The movie moves at a brisk pace and clocks in at just under an hour. I thought it was a pretty good silent film. Sadly, the female lead and love interest (Diane Ellis) died less than two years later at the age of 20.

That Touch of Mink (1962) - 5/10 - Cary Grant stars as wealthy executive Philip Shayne. On his way to work one day, his car splashes mud on a woman named Cathy Timberlake (Doris Day) who is on her way to a job interview. Shayne sends his assistant (Gig Young) down to apologize and when the assistant brings her up to the boss and introduces them, they start seeing each other. However, things do not go as either one expects. I didn't really see much chemistry between Grant and Day and didn't care for either performance, though Grant's was worse. He seemed pretty wooden in the film.

[Reza]

Le choix des armes / Choice of Arms (Alain Corneau, 1981) 8/10

Corneau's film, although falling under the crime-thriller genre, is actually more a character study about people under great mental stress. A former gangster (Yves Montand) lives with his beautiful wife (Catherine Deneuve) on a huge country estate breeding horses. Their lives are suddenly turned upside down when two crooks turn up on their doorstep in a stolen car. His old accomplice and former close friend is badly wounded by a gunshot and is accompanied by a psychotic trigger-happy ex-con (Gerard Depardieu). When the man dies they bury him on the estate but the psychotic turns on the police chief (Michel Galabru) and detective (Gérard Lanvin) who have followed them to the estate. A gunfight ensues but the man escapes. Forced to look for him the gangster turns to his old cronies for help which leads to an error of judgement resulting in tragedy. Depardieu, in one of his early signature roles, is very good alternating between violence and compassion - he has an abandoned daughter with whom he displays gentle parental affection. He also manages to create a kinship with the gangster which results in the latter taking a conscientous step at the end despite his life being in utter shambles. Montand and Deneuve create vivid characters despite very little dialogue and there is a marvelous scene between Deneuve and Depardieu which starts off tense but gradually gives way to a quiet gentleness on part of the crook. Corneau, one of many heirs to Jean-Pierre Melville, brings to the gangster genre an elegant touch and his three stars help him create a gem of a film.

A Hologram For the King (Tom Tykwer, 2016) 6/10

Charming film not only has Tom Hanks in Saudi Arabia (the film was for obvious reasons shot in Morocco although we get external shots of Mecca where no non-muslim is allowed) but we also get to see him make out with his leading lady - not something Hanks has done in a very long time...if at all. Sarita Choudhury plays a married doctor in a hijab who goes for a topless swim in the ocean with Hanks - since women are not allowed to be in the company of men she decides to skip her top piece so neighbours from a distance think two men are swimming together. Later she also joins him for a glass of wine and a roll in the hay. I find all this fascinating because Saudi Arabia is not usually a happy mix of pleasure and one associates the country only for its religious purpose. Of course that is purely a fantasy as we get to see Hanks invited to a rocking underground party with booze, babes and drugs. All very clandestine of course. The film, based on a novel by David Eggers, follows a failed salesman, husband and father - a modern-day Willy Loman - who uses a vague connection to a Saudi prince and goes to pitch an idea about a hologram (played by Ben Wishaw) to the King. All manner of bureaucratic delays happen - the King gets delayed as he is busy traveling. So Hanks befriends a local taxi driver and gets to meet a grim doctor (Sarita Choudhury) who operates on a benign cyst on his back......which leads to the underwater and bedroom clinches. The outstanding widescreen cinematography perfectly captures the vast desert countryside and the playful screenplay allows Hanks to be less uptight on screen after a very long time - maybe "Big" was the last time his character on screen had such a good time. Not a great film but it shows Hanks in less of a noble manner which was an interesting change.

Heist (Scott Mann, 2015) 5/10

One of De Niro's many B-movie forays where he does his vicious crook-killer grimacing act. It's a small role as a crooked casino owner although the main action is centered around a heist conducted by two of the crook's employees. One (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is desperate for money to save the life of his daughter and the other (Dave Bautista) just wants to screw his mean boss over by stealing his illegal laundered money. Needless to say the heist goes wrong and the two go on the run, board a city bus and hold the passengers hostage. Chased by the crook's goons, the cops and a sympathetic detective (Gina Carano), the film takes on the mantle of the film "Speed". Potholes in the screenplay suspend belief as characters turn out not to be who they claim to be along with many convenient coincidences. Trashy film is saved by a breakneck pace and a couple of softer moments De Niro displays.

A Walk in the Woods (Ken Kwapis, 2015) 7/10

Delightful fluff is totally predictable but allows two great stars to shine on screen in their twilight years. Long gestating project was developed by producer Robert Redford as a screen reunion with Paul Newman who became too ill to act. So Nick Nolte came on board this adaptation of Bill Bryson's book about two old men - the ones in the book were 44 years old while both stars were in their seventies - attempt to hike the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. The two actors are obviously having a great time on screen as former friends who never quite hit it off but reunite to go on the trail together. Amusing adventures and pratfalls along the way constitute much of the action along with gorgeous scenery. Adding attractive but brief support are Mary Steenburgen, with a twinkle in her eye, as a hotel keeper they meet along the way and Emma Thompson as Redford's no-nonsense wife. Great fun.

[Sabin]

Mr. Jealousy (Noah Baumbach) - 5/10
I'm going through a Noah Baumbach retrospective and this (and Highball) are my sole narrative blindspots. After this, I'm going to be going through them all in chronological order. Noah Baumbach is one of my favorite filmmaker ever whose films I don't totally love (only one I adore without reservation). But most of them are intoxicating experiences with stories I don't totally love. Basically, I love how he makes movies just not the stories themselves.

Mr. Jealousy is very difficult to review. At the time, I might be more inclined to just dismiss it as a disaster following only Kicking and Screaming but with more to stack this up against in context I'm a little more charitable. Even though the film doesn't fully activate its A+ concept of therapy session imposters to really take off, there's a sweetness to its neurotic characters circling each other. Unfortunately, they're all miscast. But Eric Stoltz and Annabella Sciorra are all wrong for these parts. Eric Stoltz especially, the most laid back actor of his generation, makes Lester completely unlikable, devoid of inner-life. Now that we've seen twenty-plus years of Noah Baumbach features, it's very easy to imagine how any number of his revolving actors would've made him a more entertaining protagonist. But Stoltz is too cool for school. I think he might work better in the Chris Eigeman role, sending up his impossibly smug image. As it is, he's the least likable character in Baumbach's oeuvre and that is saying something because he has a lot of self-sabotaging dickweeds. He can't even take a punch with commitment.

But on a script level, it's easy to see flaws as well. It wastes too much time up front on showing the friendship between Lester and Chris Eigeman's pretentious writer, which makes the film feel small and less interesting, never really the farce it sets out to be. The Noah Baumbach of today would never make that mistake, but perhaps he suspected (correctly) that this movie is less a story and more of a funny situation stretched out to feature length.

Of interest as a chapter in Baumbach's ouevre.

[gunnar]

Last Year at Marienbad (1961) - 7/10 - The movie takes place at a large, gloomy hotel in the 1930s. A man spends the film trying to convince a woman that they had met at the hotel the previous year. Meanwhile, a man (her husband?) spends time at the shooting range or playing games. There is a lot of moody music and the movie is very stylish. It is also pretty repetitive (by design) and I didn't really enjoy it all that much. It is very well done for what it is, though.

Speaking in Strings (1999) - 8/10 - This documentary looks at the life and career of violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, a polarizing figure in classical music due to her style of playing. She was born in Rome and moved to the U.S. with her family as a child. The film talks about her childhood, her debut at Carnegie Hall, the injury that could have cost her her career, and her battle with depression. Nadja is interviewed along with friends, fellow performers, her mother, and teachers from Juilliard. I thought it was very interesting. I watched it with my mom who played the violin (and viola, piano, etc.), taught music, and conducted for many years. She enjoyed the film as well.

The Rogue Song (1930) - The Rogue Song is a mostly lost film where only fragments plus the complete soundtrack survive. Lawrence Tibbet plays a bandit named Yegor who falls for a Russian princess named Vera. Vera's brother does something that leads to further problems and sets the stage for the second half of the film. I watched the reconstructed version and appreciated Tibbet's fine singing voice, but the film itself seems only average or below. It's hard to judge since so little of the film actually survives and very little of that includes the Laurel and Hardy segments. The ballet was the best preserved portion of the film. It was a very early color film and I think it probably looked very nice when it was shown in theaters. If the complete film is ever rediscovered and made available, I'll likely watch it again.

[Reza]

The Night Walker (William Castle, 1964) 6/10

Typical B-movie premise as in all of William Castle's low budget productions although this time round he gives it a touch of class via his lead actors. This must have been a great casting coup for him - reuniting two of Hollywood's top former co-stars and an offscreen couple from the 1930s. In their third film together, but first since their divorce 12 years earlier, both Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck provide old fashioned glamour in what is basically a schlocky psychological thriller. A rich blind man suspects his wife (Barbara Stanwyck) of having an affair after he hears her talking about a lover in her dreams at night. He accuses his lawyer (Robert Taylor) of being her lover which the man denies. When he is killed in a mysterious explosion her dreams keep getting worse as she not only imagines her husband has returned to haunt her but a much younger man (Lloyd Bochner) keeps waking her up at night and takes her on dates. She thinks she is losing her mind when the man takes her to a chapel where wax dummies preside over their wedding. Desperate for help she seeks out the lawyer who tries to investigate the mystery. Silly but eerie hokum has Stanwyck screaming with great gusto in what was her last big screen film. Taylor offers stolid support and the twisty plot, courtesy of Robert "Psycho" Bloch, provides enough campy moments to make this a fairly easy film to sit through.

En toute innocence / No Harm Intended ( Alain Jessua, 1988) 8/10

Elegant little thriller is based on a potboiler by André Lay. The languid atmosphere of the plot masks the deep undercurrents running through the characters. A wealthy architect (Michel Serrault) runs his firm from his country estate with help of his son and daughter-in-law (Nathalie Baye). The happy threesome are looked after by their outspoken but devoted housekeeper (Suzanne Flon) and all seems well between the young couple. When the old man unexpectedly catches his daughter-in-law making love to his son's work colleague he drives off in anger and meets with a bad accident that leaves him with a broken leg, partial paralyses and loss of speech. A deadly cat-and-mouse game ensues between the old man and the woman when she tries to silence him by hook or by crook and he proves to be an equal and wily match for her. There is a strong influence of Claude Chabrol which permeates throughout the film as ordinary people suddenly display nasty traits long kept hidden. Serrault is very good as the rigid man who finds his very ordered life up in shambles, but it's Baye who is a revelation, playing against type, as the desperate woman who transforms her intense guilt into something quite vicious. Both lose all sense of proportion as their duel rapidly and relentlessly escalates. Suzanne Flon, as always, is a marvelous presence as she tarries with the pernickety old man stuck in a wheelchair and comes up with a surprise or two of her own.

Flic Story (Jacques Deray, 1975) 8/10

Deray's police procedural is based on the autobiography of Roger Borniche, a French police detective, who spent nine years in pursuit of psychotic escaped gangster and murderer Emile Buisson. Deray, known for his crime thrillers, gives this story a strong whiff of Jean-Pierre Melville. With Delon in the cast the film's opening is remarkably similar to the master's "Le samourai" except Delon here plays Borniche the detective with Jean-Louis Trintignant as Buisson, his cold-blooded adversary. The screenplay takes a departure from the usual gangster films - the suave detective dislikes violence and frowns upon his colleague's brutal methods of obtaining information from suspects. Brief but brutal scenes show the gangster rubbing out informers although he too is a man who eventually comes to terms with his pursuer as both form an unspoken bond. There is a departure from the old Hollywood adage that criminals follow a special code amongst themselves. That idea is thrown to the wind as the sociopath gangster here trusts nobody and is quick to gun down anyone who stands in his way. The film superbly invokes the late 1940s through detailed mise-en-scene. Lovely Claudine Auger plays the detective's concerned girlfriend and has a memorable moment at the end during a decisive moment with Trintignant as she plays Piaf on the piano for him. Edge of the seat entertainment with memorable turns by both stars.

[gunnar]

Wild Strawberries (1957) - 9/10 - Isak Borg is a 78 year old retired doctor and professor who has long been distant and somewhat cold with those close to him. He is about to receive an honorary degree from where he went to college, but decides to drive there instead of flying after having a disturbing dream the night before the ceremony. He is accompanied by his daughter-in-law who has been having marital difficulties with his son. During the trip, Isak has visions of the past and also has various interactions with the people he meets along the way, including his 96 year old mother, that cause him to reassess his behavior. Ingmar Bergman put together a splendid film and I enjoyed it a lot.

Dirty Pretty Things (2002) - 8.5/10 - Okwe is a Nigerian doctor living illegally in London, working as a taxi driver and as the night porter at a sketchy hotel. He sleeps on the couch of Senay, a Turkish refugee who works as a maid at the hotel. Okwe makes a surprising discovery in the bathroom of one of the hotel rooms that sets off a chain of events that will alter each of their lives. I thought the movie was very good with nice performances from the leads and the supporting cast.

The Sheepman (1958) - 7/10 - This western stars Glenn Ford stars as a stranger who arrives in town making waves right from the start. He further riles the town folk when they discover that he plans to bring in a herd of sheep right in the middle of cattle country. Shirley MacLaine plays a young woman who is engaged to the Colonel (Leslie Nielsen), a man who more or less runs the town. It turns out that the stranger and the Colonel have history. There is a lot of humor in the film and while it certainly isn't a great film, it was fun.

Jolson Sings Again (1949) - 6/10 - This movie pretty much picks up where The Jolson Story left off and follows Al Jolson as he entertains the troops, gets sick, and retires only to eventually make a comeback through the making of "The Jolson Story". As a result, we get a picture within the picture. This movie isn't as good as the one that preceded it, but it is okay.