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Post by delon on Aug 17, 2019 16:19:41 GMT
Comments/ratings/recommendations/film posters are welcome and much appreciated.
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Post by wmcclain on Aug 17, 2019 16:28:13 GMT
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Post by vegalyra on Aug 17, 2019 16:30:05 GMT
I finished one that I had started last week, Leon Morin, Priest What a wonderful film. Melville in fine form. The dialogue between Belmondo and Riva was fascinating and engaging. I also enjoyed that most of the film was set in either Riva's house or Belmondo's office/apartment. Definitely recommended.
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Post by mikef6 on Aug 17, 2019 16:38:38 GMT
Railroaded! / Anthony Mann (1947). Producers Releasing Corp. (PRC). Some people (including me) have described PRC as the poorest of the studios on Hollywoodâs âPoverty Row.â A lot of their output bears out that analysis. But occasionally, under the right conditions, they could produce some minor gems. This is one of them. The right conditions were 1) a dangerous and scary performance by John Ireland (in his first lead role) as a remorseless killer with additional good thesping from Sheila Ryan and Jane Randolph as Irelandâs partner in crime who cracks under pressure; 2) PRC had just been taken over by Eagle-Lion Films, a British owned production company and higher ranked âBâ movie studio; 3) an engaging screenplay from John C. Higgins (Border Incident, Shield For Murder) and Gertrude Walker (Whispering Footsteps, The Damned Donât Cry), and 4) Anthony Mann, supplied by Eagle-Lion, who was following up on his popular and critical success âT-Men.â The story: Clara Calhoun (Randolph), who runs a bookie operation in the back room of her hair salon, partners with her mob boyfriend Duke Martin (Ireland) to rob her weekly take and put the blame on innocent Steve Ryan (Ed Kelly). The robbery goes wrong and a police officer is killed but the frame sticks and it looks like Steve will take the fall. The only person on his side is his sister Rosie (Ryan) who resolves to solve the case herself. Also doubtful of Steveâs guilt is homicide detective Mickey Ferguson (Hugh Beaumont). This is a nice little suspenser and a worthy addition to Anthony Mannâs reputation. âRailroaded!â (donât forget that exclamation point!) is based on the same true life case that inspired âCalling Northside 777.â Impact / Arthur Lubin (1949). Harry Popkin Productions / United Artists. This fine crime thriller has more turns than the mountain road in which a violent car crash occurs that changes the storyâs direction. High powered business executive Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) has only one soft spot, his wife Irene (Helen Walker) who he is going to have to leave for a while on business in Denver. Irene, however, has other plans. She has already cooked up a scheme with her lover to murder Walter and blame it on an anonymous hitchhiker. Things go badly wrong, however, when Walter survives and lover-boy is killed in a fiery wreck. Walter walks away so everyone thinks the burned body is him. Then comes a long middle stretch following Walterâs life as a hobo wandering up into Idaho. He is too heartbroken to care about anything. But just when you are thinking that things are starting to get really sentimental and mushy, reality hits Walter again and you canât force me to tell anything about the final third of the movie. Also with Charles Coburn as a dogged police detective and Ella Raines as the girl Walter would like to settle down with. Ella Raines (bottom right corner) does NOT wear that gown in this movie, worst luck Charles Coburn and Helen Walker Transit / Christian Petzold (2018). Germany. Director Petzoldâs last film was âPhoenixâ back in 2014, a film I think is one of the best of the decade. âTransit,â his first film in five years, has been getting great critical acclaim, but it just didnât sit well with me. I was disappointed. The novel this film is based on took place during the Nazi occupation of France in the 1940s. The film, though, takes place in an alternate ânowâ as can be told by clothes, hair, and vehicles. But Paris is being occupied again by unnamed aggressors. A young man named Georg (Franz Rogowski) is asked by a friend to take a letter to a famous writer hiding in the city. When Georg gets to the writerâs apartment, he learns that the writer has committed suicide. Georg gathers all the dead manâs papers and flees to Marseille where the occupiers will not reach for two weeks. He hopes to get a ship out of the country using the dead writerâs identification. While there, he meets some people who will change his outlook, including a deaf woman, her young son, a doctor also looking for transit papers, and his lover â a woman who refuses to leave because she is looking for her husband. The plot turns on who her husband is. The main problem I had is that the actor playing Georg (who bears an amazing resemblance to Joachin Phoenix) has been directed to not react to anything but keep a neutral continence no matter what is going on around him. He is something of a cipher. Iâm sure this is exactly what was meant, but I donât think it worked. However, be aware that my perception is a minority one. Maybe a minority OF one. The Spy Behind Home Plate / Aviva Kempner (2019). Ciesla Foundation. Documentaries are given short shrift by the Oscars and most other movie awarding organizations. They rarely, if ever, appear on Top Movies Of The Year lists, but there are a handful that deserve Best Picture respect right alongside fictional feature films. âThe Spy Behind Home Plateâ is one of them. It tells the story of a very unusual major league baseball player. Morris âMoeâ Bergâs story is similar to that of Hedy Lamarrâs in that they were both surprising heroes of WWII whose accomplishments have only in recent years come to widespread public attention. Berg (1902-1972) was the son of Jewish immigrants fleeing pogroms in Russia. Even so, he overcame anti-Semitic bias to graduate from Princeton, get a law degree at Yale, and become a major league baseball catcher. He also had a great affinity for picking up foreign languages. It has been said that he was fluent in 12 other languages, including Japanese and Sanskrit. In college, while playing shortstop, he and the second baseman would discuss strategy in Latin when in front of opposing base runners. When asked what they would do if the other team also knew Latin, Berg said, âWe would switch to Sanskrit.â Berg traveled to Japan twice in a baseball capacity. He went with two other players in 1932 to coach a Japanese team but in 1934 there was a grand tour of the country by top baseball all-stars including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Dom DiMaggio and other future hall-of-famers. Japan had already begun its military aggression by this time, having invaded Manchuria in 1931. Berg may have already been in contact with U.S. Intelligence agencies at this time because during the tour he disobeyed rules about no photography by going to the roof of Tokyoâs highest building and taking a panorama view of the skyline with an 8mm movie camera. Bergâs film was reportedly used in the planning of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo just four months after Pearl Harbor. But it was after Bergâs baseball days and after the start of World War II that Moeâs adventures turn serious, dangerous, and inspiring. After the start of WWII, Berg was recruited by the OSS because of his knowledge of language and other cultures and because of his ability to connect with other people. I wonât go into the details here. They must be seen and heard to be believed. What a remarkable man. I will jump to the ending. His last words, spoken from a hospital bed, came when he asked his nurse, âHow did the Mets do today?â There was a feature film about Berg from 2018 called âThe Catcher Was A Spy.â Paul Rudd played Berg. I donât think it ever came to my town. Anybody seen it? The reviews indicate that it focuses on one major incident. Even if you have seen it, donât miss this documentary which will be much more detailed.
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Post by teleadm on Aug 17, 2019 18:27:38 GMT
And here is the ones I've seen: Imaginative and smart, but sadly it didn't engage me, could be the Swedish voice actors, Sorry! At least Disney tried something new instead of remaking their old familiar hits. Though this movie might have sounded great on paper, it feels like a muddled mess that wanted to be much better. The first 45 minutes or so is so cunfusing it's difficult to comprehend, that the rest just felt uninteresting. CGI was great though Instead of making an ordinary tearful reunion movie, they made a a crazy twisted campy part biography, part autobiography and part how the TV-series was made instead. Adam and Burt play themselves, and other actors plays them when the were young, with Julia Newmar, Frank Gorshin and Lee Meriwither popping up in cameos. If they had to do a beloved TV-series that was campy but entertaining, this was the right way to do it, by being as campy as the original series A warm and lovely movie. I can't explain it I just love it. A parody/satire of late night television in the United States of the 1970's and 1980's, since I'm not familiar with it, I didn't get most of the jokes. So for me it was a mixed bag of hits and misses, mostly misses. The Sci'Fi parody is a bit fun though. Old-fashioned matine movie, where Gulliver meets Lilliputs and Giants. I had to read up a bit about Jonathan's Swift's novel, and now understaning that it was a satire, and that fits in with this movie, since no matter how much Gulliver helps Lilliputs and Giants in knowlledge, the powers in command always invents new problems, so they can blame someone. All this bickering sadly becomes a bit tiresome in length. Special effects are on the old side, but that is part of the charm of older movies. Legendary Bernard Herrmann's score is super great. Anything that has do do with the real Enrico Caruso a purely incidential. This is MGM at it's technicolor prime, a glossy production using a famous name and inventing a story. As a movie it's more entertaining than I thought it would be, and Mario Lanza was a one of his kind star who carries this movie very well, and damned what a voice he had, and I don't even care about opera, but damn what a voice! No wonder he became a teen idol. That co-star Ann Blyth recently would turn 91 I wasn't aware of last Sunday when I watched it. Sorry not much old stuff this week! Well enough about what I've seen and over to the next poster:
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Post by teleadm on Aug 17, 2019 18:58:49 GMT
Once again I have to disturb you wmcclain Jack the Giant Killer, is it worth searching out, if not, is it OK on a matine level?
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Post by wmcclain on Aug 17, 2019 19:36:52 GMT
Once again I have to disturb you wmcclain Jack the Giant Killer, is it worth searching out, if not, is it OK on a matine level? It's not essential. Children will like it best. Adults: only those most fascinated with stop-motion animation in the style of Ray Harryhausen. They tried to replicate his 7th Voyage of Sinbad but came up short. The Blu-ray has another version, re-edited as a musical in the mid 1970s. The commentary track on the original says it is excruciating.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Aug 17, 2019 21:23:31 GMT
Legend (2015). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Itâs as though all the happiness has gone from the world of Harry Potter...must be the Dementorsâ fault. Having never read the books, I canât complain about things changed/left out and only judge the films on their own merits. Iâd felt the series kept getting better, reaching its peak with 'Goblet of Fire', which I thought fonud the right balance between darkness/light-hearted fun. This film, however, I didnât find âfunâ at all. It got off to a bad start by including the loathsome Dursleys again (after blessedly skipping them in GoF). I also preferred how the last film started in the realm of magic, rather than the âreal worldâ like this one. Things didnât improve much when Harry was put on trial for using magic in front of his mush-mouthed cousin. Apparently magic trials are as boring as âreal worldâ trials. The only interesting parts to me were the visually stunning flight over the Palace of Westminster and the introduction of Nymphadora Tonks (who dislikes being called by her first name, judging by her tone/hair colour changing). Sadly, she disappeared after that. Mad-Eye Moody and Professor Lupin didnât fare much better, getting only small amounts of screentime. Things improved slightly with Ron, Hermione and the intriguing new character of Luna Lovegood. Evanna Lynch gave an exceptional performance, stealing every scene she was in (talking about Nargles and hoping for pudding). I especially liked her bonding with Harry over being âdifferentâ along with skeletal horses called Thestrals that could only apparently be seen by those whoâd seen death (makes you wonder how freaked out the others were when flying on them if they couldnât *see* them). Unfortunately, Harry was at his most unlikeable this film. Being moody/angry all the time mightâve been the *point*, but it certainly didnât make for fun viewing (though I shared his frustration with Dumbledore/understood his sudden outburst after getting sick and tired of seemingly being ignored by him). Ron and Hermioneâs characters seemed a bit more âsubduedâ this film than how theyâd been previously, thus making them feel quite different. Snape, who has felt underused for a while, got some focus when teaching Harry how to shield his mind from Voldemeort and it led to a flashback of young Snape being the victim of bullying from Harryâs father, James. However, that doesnât excuse Snapeâs current attitude/behaviour towards Harry and his friends (talk about holding a grudge against the wrong people). While Lucius Malfoy gets his most screentime since the second film, this feels like the least amount of Draco weâve seen. Meanwhile, we learn about the tragic fate of Nevilleâs parents at the hands of the wickedly evil (and clearly insane, given the hair) Bellatrix Lestrange. When you need someone to play a nutter, get Helena Bonham Carter! Sheâs quite fun, playing someone so evil. Sirius is backâŠbut we donât get much time with him (nor does Harry, sadly). Seamus Finniganâs brief falling out with Harry (who insulted his mother) hasnât much impact; Ronâs brothers bring some slight âfunâ to proceedings, poor Cho Chang gets very little screentime kiss with Harry comes seemingly out of nowhere. When their ârelationshipâ hits the rocks, all you can think is âWHAT relationship?â due to it being given minimal development. Professors McGonagall and Trelawney are also sorely underused. At the other end of the spectrum was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, (seriously, do some background checks before giving people for that position!) Dolores Umbridge, who I felt had far too much screentime, zapping whatever fun was to be had out of every scene she was in. Sheâs every super strict teacher everâŠonly *worse*, because she also abuses students by forcing them to write things over and over again with a magic quill that scratches what theyâre writing into their hands. How wasnât she immediately fired? Wizard logic!). Sheâs the absolute WORST. Whatâs a School of Witchcraft and Wizardry without magic? Pretty damn boring. If Imelda Stauntonâs performance is to be measured by how much I hated her characterâŠthen she gets top points. While it was nice to see the students going behind Umbridgeâs back and training for their oncoming âwarâ, as âDumbledoreâs Armyâ, the sense of fun from the previous films was all but gone, I felt (the only part I really liked was seeing the various animals that the studentsâ Patronus charms took the forms of). The first four films had this sense of wonder and blew your mind with the magical creatures and spells, etc. This movie was much more serious and had very little humour in it (and what humour it *did* have, I felt, more often than not fell flat). Some might like that fact, but to me, these films have always been about escapism and fantasy. Letting yourself be pulled into a world of magic and having a rollicking good time. As more and more of the real world merges with the magic world, we seem to be losing some of the more fantastical elements. Sure, there are spells cast in this movie, there's a dodgy CGI'd giant (the best part of that scene is Hermione showing it whose boss and Ronâs protectiveness over her), there's duels involving wands (that more than slightly resemble the light-saber duels from the Star Wars films), there's centaurs and other things. I liked the âBattle of the Department of Mysteriesâ, and Dumbledore vs Voldemort allowed for some great visuals, but on the whole I just didnât feel the âmagicâ this time around and thatâs why this is my least favourite film of the franchise. Shazam! (2019). Mary Queen of Scots (2018). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). Magic has returned to the world of Harry Potter! After being disappointed by Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince was a nice surprise. Goblet of Fire remains my favourite, but this oneâs not far behind. The absence of Dursleys was a good start, and although the film begins in the âreal worldâ, itâs a more exciting scene than the last filmâs opening, as Death Eaters (including a wolfman dude) wreak havoc, leaving Muggles thinking âWTF?â...including a waitress who gets chatted up (and then stood up) by self-confessed "tosser", Harry Potter, who's whisked away by Dumbledore to the world of magic and weâre introduced to part-time armchair, Professor Slughorn. Jim Broadbentâs character is a welcome addition, as Slughorn likes to âcollectâ special students and the prospect of acquiring âthe Chosen Oneâ is too good to pass up. Meanwhile, the still wickedly fun Bellatrix Lestrange and Draco Malfoyâs mother, Narcissa, have a special mission for Draco (and ensure Snape keeps him safe/makes sure he follows through via a magical 'Unbreakable Vow' handshake). Harryâs soon reunited with his friends and it quickly becomes clear that films are not only ramping up Ronâs/Hermioneâs feelings for each other, but also the heretofore barely-touched-upon Harry/Ginny relationship. Luna Lovegood, who was the fifth filmâs bright spot, makes a welcome return when saving Harry from Dracoâs foot-to-the-face (this film feels a bit more âbrutalâ than prior ones, with a fair amount of blood) thanks to snazzy glasses called âSpectrespecsâ and Harryâs head apparently being full of something called âwrackspurtsâ (her particular brand of âkookinessâ and dynamic with Harry lights up every scene). Another scene-stealing new addition is Lavender Brown, who becomes obsessed with Ron, starts a relationship with him (much to the annoyance of Hermione, who you *donât* want to get on the bad side ofâŠlest she magically sic a flock of birds on you), but verges into âstalkerâ territory. Jessie Cave is hilarious in every scene. Also funny is Hermioneâs (unwanted) admirer, Cormac McLaggen. The amusement derived from his rivalry with Ron is only surpassed by Hermioneâs reactions to his advances/leering looks and her efforts to ditch him after taking him as a âdateâ to Slughornâs party. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are in fine form playing both their charactersâ humourous sides and their more serious/dramatic sides. Their chemistry with each other and Daniel Radcliffe is the glue that holds this whole film series together. Speaking of, Iâm surprised to learn Daniel Radcliffe apparently disliked his performance here, as I thought he was very good (and certainly more likeable than in the previous film). He proves to have nice comedic skills (especially in a scene with Hagrid, Slughorn and a dearly department friend of Hagrid), and this filmâs humour was sorely needed after the last filmâs lack of/failed attempts at âgoodâ humour. Harry also goes through some quite dramatic stuff too. His relationship with Dumbledore gets some major focus, proving crucial to the filmâs plot. There are some really dark/shocking moments towards the end of the film. We also get flashbacks to pre-Voldemort Tom Riddle, and the two young actors playing him at different ages do a good job of portraying this creepy soon-to-go-bad-wizard-in-the-making. Finally getting some overdue focus/screentime is Draco. Or rather, it *seems* like heâs getting a lot more focusâŠbut, mostly, itâs just him being his usual âfoul evil loathsome little cockroachâ self (and if I had to watch him pull the cover off that damn Vanishing Cabinet ONE MORE TIMEâŠ!). Ginny gets more screentime as well, though it doesnât amount to very much other than snogging, shoelace-tying (yes, really) and running into danger after Harry (though the attack on the Weasleyâs Burrow is pretty awesome). Also getting focus, but with a bit more substance, is Snape as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (because THAT bodes well). He does something pretty dramatic near the end and Harryâs confrontation with him is a memorable one. Although the movie is quite lengthy, it never really felt like it âdraggedâ. There was plenty of action and magic on display, but when things slowed down I still felt invested in what was happening. The film is quite gloomily-lit in places, but it doesnât forget to have a sense of âfunâ (wackiness with love potions, âLiquid Luckâ, and cursed objects just being a few examples). For me, this movie was everything the fifth one wasnât, and thatâs why it joins the 3rd and 4th films as one of my favourites of the series. Book readers might have issues with things left out/changed, but I found the movie entertaining/riveting, and a fine lead-in to the two part finale. Away and Back (2015). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010). The only thing âDeathlyâ about this movie is how slow it moves...like someone cast an âArresto Momentumâ/Slowing Charm. This slog of a movie starts with the most âminimalistâ version of the HP theme yet, as we float through the rusted WB logo. At this rate, we wonât even hear the HP theme AT ALL in the final movieâs beginning. And while weâre at it, can we please put a moratorium on floating through company logos/film titles at the start of movies? Itâs SO over-used. Bill Nighy close-up alert! He brings his own particular style of speaking to the opening scene, though not even he can make the scene particularly interesting. Surely Ralph Fiennesâ Voldemort will liven things up, right?! Not exactly. Maybe the book moves at a similarly glacial pace, but not being a reader of the HP series, it came as quite a surprise to me that things seemed so dragged out, despite the fact that it was a scene full of villains! A big deal is made of Voldemort commandeering Lucius Malfoyâs wand...but non-book readers probably wonât get WHY so much time is devoted to seemingly very little happening onscreen. About the only thing of note is some Hogwarts teacher, who was apparently Snapeâs âfriendâ, becoming snake chow (wouldâve had more impact had it been a teacher we *knew*. I thought it was Trelawney for a minute). Itâs a relief to get to the main trio, and thereâs a memorable scene featuring seven Harrys (thanks to Polyjuice Potion turning his friends into identical copies of him, though still with their own voices), but this attempt at creating decoys doesnât work so well and theyâre attacked, with casualties. Hedwigâs death upset me, while Mad-Eyeâs offscreen demise (delivered flatly with one line by Ronâs heretofore unseen eldest brother, Bill, whoâs shown up to marry Fleur Delacour from the 4th film) sadly lacked any impact for something that shouldâve been pretty emotional. Nighyâs Scrimgeour shows up to deliver the trioâs inheritance from Dumbledoreâs will, allowing for a few callbacks to the early films. Instead of spending time with characters we actually KNOW at the wedding, we get a clunker of an info-dump from two characters we donât know delivering exposition, grinding things to a halt, before picking up again with a Death Eater attack and the trio escape. Things screech to a halt once more when thereâs a needlessly convoluted plot involving what looks like Dobby the house-elf after heâs become old and crotchety (though thatâs a different house-elf, actual Dobby *does* turn up), another Polyjuice escapade to get the real Horcrux locket from Umbridge at the Ministry (apparently the centaurs *didnât* âtake careâ of her like a half-horse Mafia in the 5th film, useless jerks. WHY couldnât that pink b!tch have been one of the casualties in this film?!), and a case of mistaken identity over Ronâs assumed form (leading to awkward snogging). Thankfully, we eventually move away from that messy situation and focus on the trio as they attempt to destroy the locket, which makes funny noises every time they zap it, with little success. Things then take a turn for the Lord of the Rings-esque when they alternate between whoâs going to wear the Horcrux to keep it âsafeâ (great idea...except for making those who wear it go all Frodo-wearing-the-One-Ring-style angry/paranoid, with Ron being the most susceptible, which leads to him looking like a homeless person and arguing with Harry/Hermione, who he thinks have been having late night rendezvous with each other, then abandoning them in a huff). At this point it must be mentioned that all three main actors have come far with their characters in terms of development and performances. Theyâve âmaturedâ a lot, and Rupert Grint shows heâs highly capable of portraying a weary, mad, downright unlikeable version of Ron who hits Harry where it hurts. Meanwhile, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson prove what great chemistry they have by carrying a good percentage of the film on just their shoulders. A particular bright spot amongst all the doom/gloom is when Harry dances with Hermione to cheer her up. Theyâre just friends...but, oh, what mightâve been. A Potter gravesite visit and snake attack later, they figure out that Gryffindor sword from film #2 is the key and a mysterious doe Patronus the way to it in frozen pond, where Harry (naturally) goes near-nakedly swimming for it and consequently gets nearly choked by the locket...which shockingly doesnât want him gaining the one thing that can kill it. Ron finally returns to save the day and help destroy the Horcrux...but not before it is opened and unleashes his worst fears (which isnât just spiders). If you wish to see creepy silver Harry and Hermione snogging seemingly naked together, then this is the movie for you! For the rest of us, itâs both an exciting AND CREEPY scene. Itâs then determined that Lunaâs dad is the person to go see. Unfortunately, Luna is nowhere to be found and her father proves much less interesting/entertaining than his daughter (though they both dance amusingly at weddings). Heâs just a weirdo (and NOT the âfunâ variety). He does reveal, though the filmâs title refers to three items â the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone and Cloak of Invisibility. We learn the origins of these items via what I thought was one of the few stand-out moments from the movie: a story narrated by Hermione told through a beautifully animated sequence. The filmâs climax is where things get REALLY dark, with Bellatrix Lestrange torturing poor Hermione (itâs hard to listen to her screaming in pain, since weâve gotten to know her/feel close to her character) and an unexpected death (though right before that is the funniest line the character who winds up dead has ever uttered). Itâs all very depressing by the end. The movie obviously had a lot of ground to cover, but it felt like it kept stop-starting, almost causing whiplash. The film ends on more of a âThatâs it??...Huh.â note than one leaving you anxiously awaiting Part 2 (whichâll hopefully be better).
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Post by OldAussie on Aug 17, 2019 22:27:48 GMT
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Post by politicidal on Aug 17, 2019 23:59:44 GMT
Shazam! (2019) 7/10
Klute (1971) 6/10
Captive State (2019) 4/10
Assassination of a High School President (2008) 7/10
...slow week for me.
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Aug 18, 2019 3:53:28 GMT
Hi all,I hope everyone is having a good weekend,and a day before having to go dentist to get a old filling redone I found a CEX voucher that was starting to fade,which I decided I'd use when I had to go to town the next day. Distracted a bit due to part of my face being numb, (always the right moment to buy something!) I thought I had picked up De Palma's Body Double,only for it to click in at home that I actually purchased: Body Heat (1981) 8 Dumping their left over US stock in the UK under a "Premium Collection" label exclusively in HMV, WB present a shockingly poor transfer, from the audio being so muted I had to turn my volume to max for the first time in years, and the grainy image being a encoding no longer used, all tied up by the lazy gits even putting the old DVD menus onto the Blu-Ray. Stepping into cinema, Kathleen Turner gives a seductive, head-turning debut performance as Femme Fatale Matty Walker, who holds all the men in her grip with a burning sensuality that Turner keeps Matty well aware of knowing when to ignite, crossed with a deadly long-term planning mind-set,which tugs Racine to walk her line.Sweating out with fellow lawyers Peter Lowenstein and Oscar Grace (played by the terrific Ted Danson and J.A. Preston) building cases for their clients, William Hurt brings the Noir loner out in the early days of the "Greed is good" era with a excellent turn as Racine, whose morals and friendship Hurt tears into a single, greed- Fuelled focus in getting his hands on more of Matty. Taking a drastic turn from writing the action-packed Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark,to a intimate Neo-Noir, the screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan brilliantly displays Kasdan's skill in characterization, via what initially appear as minor characters, (such as Racine's lawyer buddies) being taken by Kasdan as the forces who dig into Racine's and Matty's façade foundation. Clutching Racine in the midst of burning passion, Kasdan thrillingly seeps in Neo-Noir cynicism into his "romance" with Matty, until Racine becomes aware all too late that he is drowning in her deadly game. Keeping Kathleen Turner company in her not being the lone person here to make a debut,Kasdan delivers an impressive directing debut, with Kasdan & cinematographer Richard H. Kline keeping the steamy sex scenes (which include a naked Kathleen Turner) erotic,rather than raunchy (pity!),with graceful close-ups on the faces of Matty and Racine, tracking Racine heading towards a crime of passion. Shot during a cold season, Kasdan creates a scorching hot Neo-Noir atmosphere, where every location displayed in stylish panning shots is dripping with sweat, and in enticing overlaying images chopped by close-ups on Racine's face,capturing his realisation that the body heat has gone cold. Dutch duo: One I think manfromplanetx & mikef6 would enjoy. The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short (1966) 9 With Eng Subs: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vyxVUeb8W4Originally planned to be a TV movie until praise at festival screenings led to it being put on the big screen instead, co-writer (with Anna De Pagter)/director Andre Delvaux subtly displays Miereveld's detachment via framing group shots where Miereveld stays alone in the background/in the empty side of the frame. As the years roll by, Delvaux brings out the heaviness Miereveld's obsession with Fran has on him, in long tracking shots (backed by a pretty flute score from Frederic Devreese) of Miereveld walking the streets on his own, twirling into shiny, elegant panning shots towards Miereveld meeting the adult Fran. Leaving the school to get away from the sight of Fran, Pagter & Delvaux adaptation of Johan Daisne's novel take a excellent, forensic approach to the balding Miereveld, whose OCD at first becomes hair-raising during a trim from the hairdresser, and continues to consume Miereveld as he becomes delusional with life. Moving on to doing autopsies for the police over a decade whilst nursing his obsession for Fran, the writers unleash an astonishing, double locking twist ending in the reunion between the duo, which keys into the unreliability of Miereveld's memory, with the decades Miereveld has wanted to express his for her, being wiped by the perfect Fran he has seen, proving to be a image of his own desires. At a distance from the obsessive Miereveld until the final entanglement, Beata Tyszkiewicz gives a outstanding, thoughtful performance as Fran, whose polite talking style,sweet smile and thoughtful in keeping her personal life private, is interpreted by Miereveld in a unique way. Uncomfortable in his own skin, Senne Rouffaer gives an extraordinary turn as Miereveld, thanks to the restrained shell appearance he wears being used by Rouffaer to bottle up the obsession with Fran and the gallons of necrotic filling him up,pouring out when Miereveld has his hair cut short. Looking for Eileen (1987) 8 Offering a brief glimpse into the marriage before Marjan's death, co-writer/(with Leon de Winter) director Rudolf van den Berg adaptation of Winter's own novel displays a striking thoughtfulness in expressing the grief of Philip, by having it not be easily solved like in most films, but be a part which lingers in his heart for years. Encountering a familiar face, the writers take the Thriller genre themes of obsessing over a identical person of a dead loved one, and brilliantly twist them inside out, via Philip's dream-logic encounters with Eileen unveiling her obsession to remain in the shadows, which lights up a thrilling blast from the past for Philip,when a figure from Eileen's past appears, demanding Philip shows him the new pages in life Eileen has turned. Backed by a oddly fitting smoothing synch score, director Berg & cinematographer Theo van de Sande layout the contrasting state of Philip's mind, at first being blissful, glossy overlapping images and dissolves over his marriage to Marjan, that crash down into wet, stilted shots of Philip being washed out on life. Filmed at the site of real crumbling buildings, Berg and Sande take Philip down a new dark path in excellent long tracking shots going pass the side streets of Amsterdam filled with thugs and the drugged homeless, into the rubble of the decayed underworld buildings Philip hopes to pull Eileen out from. Losing all his pages in life, Thom Hoffman gives a great turn as Philip, thanks to Hofman keeping his grief intact,even as Philip enters the thrill of becoming obsessed with Eileen. Given a extra dreamy vibe by Marijke Veugelers dubbing her voice, Lysette Anthony gives a gripping, measured turn as Eileen, who Anthony balances between appearing openly heart felt, whilst keeping a close watch on how much info she gives out,which leads to everyone looking for Eileen. Other flicks: Beyond (2010) 7-Thanks Chalice_Of_Evil for push to finally watch it! From the opening scene in bed, co-writer/(with Lolita Ray) debut feature film directing Pernilla August & cinematographer Erik Molberg Hansen make the colour blue be the most prominent recurring motif in the movie,with the light tint of blue during car rides and the families being surrounded by blue objects in their homes, bringing out a cold light of down clarity, to the fake, brightly coloured meek image they try to present. Closely working with sound editor Tomas Krantz, August makes the scenes of wife beating extremely beat, wisely trimming a score away, and keeping the muffled sounds of whimpers and thumps coming from the next bedroom as the lone noise. Dividing their time line between the 70's and the present in adapting Susanna Alakoski's novel,the screenplay by Ray and August takes excellent care in examining the long-term effect physical abuse can have, highlighted in Leena being in a chillingly normalised abusive relationship, whilst meeting her dying mum, who tries to black out the abuse her husband/ Leena's dad inflicted on all the family. Married at the time in real life, Noomi and Ola Rapace both give outstanding performances as couple Leena and Johan,with Johan's sways from romantic to violence given a unsettling turn by Ola, whilst Noomi pulls back into Leena's childhood (played by future Lisbeth Salander as a child, Tehilla Blad )traumas that have continued affecting her to the present, with no sign of answers from the great beyond. Angel Enforcers (1989) 6 Despite the see-through white English subtitles making a few bits difficult to pick up, the screenplay by Hank Lai and Yale Leung keeps the Girls With Guns antics loaded, from the cackling robbers building transatlantic links with Vancouver, (a popular destination of those who left Hong Kong in the run-up to the Handover) to cop Yip-Ching coming up with unique ways to take each gang member down. Leaning onto Bollywood in the melodrama background of the main cop, the writers take inspiration from the Heroic Bloodshed of the era, with a terrific, fatalist heroism ending. Diving into the gang, Pan Pan Yeung (who impressively jumps on top of a car) gives a lively performance as Yip-Ching, thanks to Yeung dishing out the smoothly performed fighting moves with a gleeful relish, welded to downcast emotions when Yip-Ching opens up about her family life. Although the action scenes are far too short, director Godfrey Ho & cinematographer Raymond Chang make them sparkle from the stylish kitsch off the multi-coloured biker outfits worn in the opening, melting into slick smash cuts on Yip-Ching's high-kicks,to the slow-motion squib galore exchanges between the robbers and the enforcing angels.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Aug 18, 2019 8:19:52 GMT
Hi All The Wizard of Oz (1939) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0032138/reference Timeless classic still entertaining the masses as each new generation comes in.Dorothy is a young girl living on a Kansas farm, during a tornado, she, along with her dog Toto, is swept up and plonked down in a magical and mysterious land known as Oz. Desperate to get back home and under threat from a wicked witch, she is advised to seek out a great wizard who should be able to help her get back home. As she sets off and on her way, she meets and befriends a wonderful array of characters whom also have something to ask of the fabled wizard. It's a journey that will prove to be both magical and fraught with danger. The Wizard Of Oz is a film that has been pored over and dissected from almost everyone involved in the wonderful world of film. One thing that strikes me every time I view it is that there not only is no place like home, there is also no film like The Wizard Of Oz, and really, when all is said and done, there is unlikely to be another film of its ilk to ever grace the silver screen. Upon multiple viewings only the most biased of film fan could say that it is a technically perfect picture, it clearly isn't, for at times it's a wee bit creaky and when scrutinised, some of the performances in the piece are far from being of an excellent standard. Crucially, though, any misgivings are quickly erased due to the utter wonder of it all, you see this is because the film has a beguiling ability to transport everybody who is watching it and slot them into OZ alongside Dorothy. The Wizard Of Oz appeals (and caters) to every demographic and pretty much any age group, we have adventure, the meeting of new friends, fears and trepidations, booming colour, songs to singalong with, and of course the total crux point of homely values. The Wizard Of Oz stands up well 80 years later because it taps into all the emotions available to the human being. Be it a young child spellbound on a first viewing, or an octogenarian couple of grandparents wistfully humming along to the tunes, it's a film that shouldn't be dissected looking for faults and hidden meanings, it's a film that should be loved and praised for the ode to fantastical whimsy that it so obviously is. The film of course will forever be associated with its darling star, Judy Garland. Viewing now, and knowing what a sad life she would eventually lead, The Wizard Of Oz is a fitting picture on which to remember what a magical and wonderful performer she was. Myself as a lump of waning middle aged machismo, has no shame in saying that as Judy sings Somewhere Over The Rainbow I melt and feel as though I'm being sent spinning into another world, that's the power of the piece, because as a sepia Kansas becomes the glorious colour of Oz, nothing else in my world matters, I'm in hook line and sinker. There are many interesting back stories to the picture, with books galore available to anyone interested. Some notes that might interest you being the original castings to be W.C. Fields, Shirley Temple and Deanna Durbin, munchkins running riot, drunken cast members, sadness and suicides, and grizzled old pros fighting hard not to let Garland steal the picture. Well it makes for a great read, for sure, but what remains to this day is one of the most beloved pictures to have ever been made, for once in the pantheon of great cinema we have a film that is termed a classic, that actually deserves to have that tag! One of the great things about the advent of technology is that it can benefit old classic movies to make them better, for now we can view remastered editions of The Wizard Of Oz and appreciate even more what a great job the makers did. Keep your eyes on Dorothy's Ruby Slippers during the film and see how they are the sparkling important character that they should be, or take in the brilliant work of the make up crew, the tiniest of rivets on The Tin Man a testament to the brilliant work that goes into bringing magic to our lives. Get the newest copy you can and then also see it on the biggest screen available to you because The Wizard Of Oz is a 10/10 movie. And then some. A League of Their Own (1992) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0104694/reference The Drunk and the Babes.It's 1943 and Baseball in the states has been decimated by all the men being called up to join the services. Enter the ladies who themselves help to kick start a womens league to keep the Baseball fires burning. The first thing any prospective first time viewer of this piece should note, is that it's not actually a film about Baseball. It's about friendships, challenges and differing off shoots to the complications of war, it just so happens that it's the game of Baseball that brings it all together! Directed by Penny Marshall (Big), screenplay by Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel (City Slickers/Parenthood) and featuring Tom Hanks (wonderful as drunken coach Dugan) as the leading male, it's no surprise that "A League Of Their Own" booms with sentiment and no little amount of comedy. It is to me a very rewarding picture, the sort that wants you to chuckle along with it whilst noting the need for human interaction during a troubled time. The lady actors do great impressions of bona fide athletes, asked to parade in short skirts and entertain the watching public, these gals, led by the always engaging Geena Davis, deliver a sparky picture that never veers into maudlin territory. There are of course some sombre moments, but they are placed nicely by Marshall in the context of the films' events, never trite, they serve more as tender vignettes to run alongside the frivolity on offer. Ultimately "A League Of Their Own" has achieved its aims come the final credits, its not taxing and its not purporting to be an intelligent look at a period in history. It's asking us the viewers to feel heartened by what we just watched, and just maybe to give those girls back in the 1940s a piece of our respect, job done. 7/10 Never Been Kissed (1999) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0151738/referenceDon't worry baby, Everything will turn out alright.Never Been Kissed sees Drew Barrymore's copy editor, Josie Geller, yearn to be a reporter. Something that comes her way when by way of a fluke, she's selected for an undercover mission at High School. Trouble is, is that she's got to be 17 again, and that's something that brings back all of those horrible moments from her high school days. The time of having no friends, the butt of the jokes and ignored by the boys (all told in cringe inducing flashbacks). Cue much fun as the 25 year old Josie not only tries to bluff everyone that she's 17, but tries to fit in with the youth who have considerably changed from back in her days. Enter cool as ice brother Rob (David Arquette) who decides to lend a helping hand, with some funny and excellently scripted results. Not only this but we of course have the obligatory love interest, only this is a kicker as it concerns Josie's teacher Sam (a sickeningly handsome Michael Vartan). Cue Sam on mind overload as his feelings lead him onto what he thinks is morally dubious ground... It's as frothy as can be is this one, perhaps in the running for the 90s most chickiest ckick flick? But, and I say this as a middle aged guy, the jokes are spot on, it's endearing as heck and it boasts a quite marvellous turn from Barrymore. It's the sort of performance that could light up the most turgid of comedy movies. It's a threefold character portrayal of some depth and no little charm. She's well supported by the always likable Arquette, while notable turns also come from John C Reilly, the ever reliable Molly Shannon and Leelee Sobieski. While the sharp eyed will spot future Green Goblin James Franco and Susan Storm herself, Jessica Alba, nestling in amongst the teen performers. Nothing remotely new here, but for some genuine laugh out loud comedy moments, a feel good factor soaring through the roof, a kick-ass soundtrack and Barrymore herself, this is more than recommended as a pick me up movie. 7.5/10 Jungle (2017) - www.imdb.com/title/tt3758172/referenceThe Yossi Ghinsberg Survival!Jungle is directed by Greg McLean and adapted to screenplay by Justin Monjo from the book written by Yossi Ghinsberg. It stars Daniel Radcliffe, Joel Jackson, Alex Russell and Thomas Kretschman. Music is by Johnny Klimek and cinematography by Stefan Duscio. Film is the retelling of real incidents when in 1981 Israeli adventure Yossi Ghinsberg entered deep into the Amazon Rainforest and found hell waiting for him. People keep doing it, these adventure types going into treacherous Mother Nature territory to explore and discover the untapped world - only to find misery, while some are never seen again. Greg McLean mixes adventure and horror perfectly, which when coming from the director of Wolf Creek and Rogue comes as no surprise. It's standard formula in narrative drive, man meets new friends in beautiful surrounds, it's all very jolly and daring, and off they go in search of wonderment. Of course, as is often the case, these stories can sometimes end in utter distress, Ghinsberg was a very lucky fellow to come out alive and tell his amazing story, which is in turn compelling and excellently performed by the cast. As problems begin to surface, the group dynamic begins to facture, with one particular character highly dubious in motives intent. The terrain gets steadily worse, then they got to eat of course, and as bodies begin to wane, decisions on a survival course of action take precedence. Then it's over to high peril for Ghinsberg who has to try and salvage body and mind in the hope that he might somehow escape his jungle nightmare. Once the pic turns its entire focus on Ghinsberg's solitude, things become a little repetitive and much of the chilling danger begins to ebb away. Yet we are willing him to survive, to stay hooked in as we grasp for a semblance of good news to come out of an otherwise dark tale. Clearly from Ghinsberg's perspective, the real man himself, there was a yearning to be a better man, for better or worse, but the film is a little out of focus for an in depth portrayal of Yossi, with this blend of survival horror and characterisation not quite working. That said though, this still comes as highly recommended viewing, as does further reading on the incidents featured here. For come the closing credits, as real people are shown in photos, and their actual fates written in type, you know there has been no titillation here. 7.5/10 I did watch Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) for the second time and still can't decide how I feel about it, it bothers me that it bothers me and I'm not at all surprised it is divisive within the Marvel fan base. I'll wait till I have seen Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019) before committing something to review. I think I'm just not convinced about Holland in the role, which doesn't help - not that Garfield was any better either! We shall see, but at the moment I have it rated at 6/10.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Aug 18, 2019 9:19:33 GMT
Both Mike and myself reviewed Nora Prentiss recently so I wont repost here. What did you think though? Jeopardy (1953) , I like it well enough, though with some irritants > Peligro!Jeopardy is directed by John Sturges and adapted to screenplay by Mel Dinelli from Maurice Zimm's radio play "A Question of Time". It stars Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Ralph Meeker and Lee Aaker. Music is by Dimitri Tiomkin and cinematography by Victor Milner. Running just shy of 70 minutes, Jeopardy is a classic lesson in how to garner great suspense from a small cast and set-up. Beginning with jaunty music and the scene setting of a family of three off for a vacation, it's all Americana bliss, but it's not long before fate deals the family some bad cards and we land firmly in thriller territory. The dialogue is safe and assured, with the stars turning in rich characterisations as written, particularly a wonderfully oily Meeker as the villain of the piece. Though very much plein air as a production, a claustrophobic and fraught air grips the play and drags the viewer in wholesale, a sense of cruel luck, danger and ironies hold things in a noir realm. While a turn of events in the narrative is deftly played, the sub-text shattering to the point we don't need to see it to feel it. Unfortunately some irritants stop it from hitting the top end of the scale. Daft ironies and highly improbable contrivances chip away at the pic's other strengths, one scene has the son (Aaker) trapped on a dilapidated pier, to which his dad calls out "stay right where you are", I mean really, what else was the lad going to do?! Some crude back projection work also dampens down some otherwise nice production touches (Calif locales just lovely), while the ending kinda dilutes a previous moral kicker. But irritants aside, this holds its head up high as a picture well worth investing time in. 7.5/10 Jack the Giant Killer (1962) - Delightful fantasy film with quite a back story to it > It's the fairy tale land of Cornwall, England, and the Black Prince Pendragon (Torin Thatcher) plans to abduct Princess Elaine (Judith Meredith) so as to gain control of the land. However, his plans are at first thwarted when farmers boy Jack (Kerwin Matthews) slays the giant sent by Pendragon to claim the Princess. But Pendragon is not to be denied and a battle between good and evil commences. There's quite a back story to this United Artists feature film. It's loosely based on the traditional tale "Jack the Giant Killer" and features the use of stop motion animation. The mere mention of stop motion automatically brings to mind the great name of Ray Harryhausen. In 1958 director Nathan Juran had helmed The 7th Voyage of Sinbad with both Matthews and Thatcher starring as the good and evil characters respectively. A big success for Columbia, Harryhausen had offered it to UA producer Edward Small who turned it down, much to his regret. So here, four years later, he gathered the same crew for what essentially is a retread of the plot of Sinbad's seventh in the hope of replicating said success. Harryhausen, however, said no, perhaps understandably, so his creatures were created for "Jack" by Project Unlimited under the watchful eye of one time Harryhausen understudy Jim Danforth. While the other effects, filmed in "Fantascope" come courtesy of Howard A. Anderson and Augie Lohman. Columbia sued Small on the grounds of plot similarity, thus holding up the release of the film in the UK for several years (it wasn't banned as some people seem to think). Once released the film was panned by the critics and many parents were outraged that the film was too violent and scary for youngsters. Small would take this personally and intending to make something of the movie, had it re-dubbed and made into a musical. The result of which is just garbage. Thankfully the film was finally restored to its original glory on DVD and found a whole new generation of fantasy adventure fans with a bent for the lost art of stop motion animation. Kerwin Matthews passed away in 2007, a handsome swashbuckling actor, Jack The Giant Killer was his last foray into the fantasy adventure genre. It's at least comforting to know that he got to see this little treasure of a film finally get accepted by an audience. The film itself delivers everything one expects of the genre. The creatures are effective, even if the jerkiness shows that it's not Harryhausen at the helm; tho this is off set by a wonderful sequence as electricity cloaked witch demons attack Jack's ship. There's a dashing hero, a pretty princess, a vile and chilling evil doer, hell there's even the little imp of the lamp (Don Beddoe) for some limerick shenanigans. From its delightful story book opening to its final battle between hero and villain, Jack The Giant Killer is a rich and playful fantasy. 7/10
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Post by claudius on Aug 18, 2019 9:58:14 GMT
DARK SHADOWS (1969) âEpisodes 816-820â 50TH ANNIVERSARY MPI Video DVD.
HEAVENâS GATE (1980) UNITED ARTISTS 100TH ANNIVERSARY. No marathon of United Artists films cannot be complete without Leonard Ciminoâs epic box office flop that ended the Studio (as well as ending the time in Hollywood when filmmakers could do what they want). My first view of this was title only, as well as a 1994 ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY Back Page Article about the film. I didnât get to see anything of the film until 2004, when Trio TV showed the film with a documentary FINAL CUT, where I got to see the Harvard prologue. A decade later I saw the ending on TCM. This is the first time I watched the full film. Tell the truth, itâs not as bad as its reputation suggests. Criterion DVD.
HELLO DOLLY! (1969) 50TH ANNIVERSARY This Year. Another end of an era film, HELLO DOLLY!, based on the smash Broadway Musical (which was based on THE MATCHMAKER), was an expensive musical which also suffered some box office problems. I first heard the 1964 musical from a cassette in December 1994 (my first viewing of the musical was an ED SULLIVAN recording of Pearl Bailey performing âWhen the Parade Passes Byâ, which included a young Morgan Freeman as an extra). I then saw the film adaptation on Encore Network in June of 1995 (around the same time I also saw MAME). Most of my recent viewing is from the TCM BIG SCREEN CLASSICS prsentation at my cinema. Unfortunately, a mistake in showtimes (I was expecting 2 PM, it turned out to be 1 PM) caused me to miss the first 45 minutes when I got to the theatre (when Barnaby and Cornelius go to the Hat Shop). So I watched the beginning parts on my FoxVideo DVD.
POLLYANNA (1920) UNITED ARTISTS 100TH ANNIVERSARY. Mary Pickfordâs first UA film, based on the book. I remember a still of this film from my old WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA, showing a foray of Silent films. I finally got to see this film on VHS in 2001. Youtube.
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (1964) âEpisode 1: The Plotters.â CoMC 175th ANNIVERSARY. After THE THREE MUSKETEERS, Alexandre Dumas Pere wrote THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. This August marks the 175th Anniversary of the publication, so for the following months, I will be watching the many film adaptations. Like 3M, my first viewing will be this 12-part BBC-TV Serial with Alan Badel, Michael Cough, Morris Perry, and Rosalie Crutchley. SimplyMedia PAL DVD.
ZORRO (1990) âDead Man Tells No Talesâ & âDeceptive Hearts.â ZORRO 100TH ANNIVERSARY. This 1990 TV Series aired on the Family Channel with Duncan Regher and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Bootleg DVD.
THE HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929 (1929) 90TH ANNIVERSARY. MGMâs second musical is a revue featuring most of its stars (save for Garbo and Lon Chaney, although the latter gets a song in his honor) making their talking debuts. Hosted by Jack Benny (before he turned 39), with highlights including Norma Shearer warming up for her ROMEO AND JULIET with a Technicolor Balcony sequence with John Gilbert (doing OK here, although soon to doom himself with HIS ROMANTIC NIGHT) and- the filmâs most famous milestone- introducing âSinginâ in the Rainâ here by Cliff "Ukelekle Ike" Edwards. I first saw parts of this via MGM WHEN THE LION ROARS. Recorded TCM Broadcast VHS
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN (2013) âMy First and Last Opponentâ Viz Media DVD.
FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST (2004) âA Rotted Heartâ 15TH ANNIVERSARY. Funimation DVD.
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) UNITED ARTISTS 100TH ANNIVERSARY. TCM Broadcast.
DRAGON BALL Z (1989) âRun Gohan! To Mount Paozu where Chichi is Waiting.â 30TH ANNIVERSARY. Funimation DVD.
A NIGHT AT CASABLANCA (1946) UNITED ARTISTS 100TH ANNIVERSARY. The Marx Brothersâ final full film (LOVE HAPPY was HARPO THE MOVIE with guest stars Groucho and Chico). This was probably the second Marx film I ever saw, albeit the jail scene. I then saw the full film on Arts & Entertainment in 1992. Warner DVD.
THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1979) 40TH ANNIVERSARY. This year also marks the 125th Anniversary of Anthony Hope's novel, the final film version (not counting PRISONER OF ZENDA INC.) is this Peter Seller comedy, his third-to-last film. MCA/Universal VHS.
MONTY PYTHONâS THE LIFE OF BRIAN (1979) 40TH ANNIVERSARY. Pythonâs controversial comedy on the religious/political atmosphere of Roman occupied Judea. Knew about the film from reviews and VHS rentals before I finally saw it on Christmas 1992. Sony Pictures DVD.
DRAGON BALL SUPER (2018) âA Storm-and-Stress-Assault! Gohanâs Last Stand!â Cartoon Network Premiere Broadcast.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Aug 18, 2019 10:10:53 GMT
Railroaded! / Anthony Mann (1947). Producers Releasing Corp. (PRC). Some people (including me) have described PRC as the poorest of the studios on Hollywoodâs âPoverty Row.â A lot of their output bears out that analysis. But occasionally, under the right conditions, they could produce some minor gems. This is one of them. The right conditions were 1) a dangerous and scary performance by John Ireland (in his first lead role) as a remorseless killer with additional good thesping from Sheila Ryan and Jane Randolph as Irelandâs partner in crime who cracks under pressure; 2) PRC had just been taken over by Eagle-Lion Films, a British owned production company and higher ranked âBâ movie studio; 3) an engaging screenplay from John C. Higgins (Border Incident, Shield For Murder) and Gertrude Walker (Whispering Footsteps, The Damned Donât Cry), and 4) Anthony Mann, supplied by Eagle-Lion, who was following up on his popular and critical success âT-Men.â The story: Clara Calhoun (Randolph), who runs a bookie operation in the back room of her hair salon, partners with her mob boyfriend Duke Martin (Ireland) to rob her weekly take and put the blame on innocent Steve Ryan (Ed Kelly). The robbery goes wrong and a police officer is killed but the frame sticks and it looks like Steve will take the fall. The only person on his side is his sister Rosie (Ryan) who resolves to solve the case herself. Also doubtful of Steveâs guilt is homicide detective Mickey Ferguson (Hugh Beaumont). This is a nice little suspenser and a worthy addition to Anthony Mannâs reputation. âRailroaded!â (donât forget that exclamation point!) is based on the same true life case that inspired âCalling Northside 777.â Impact / Arthur Lubin (1949). Harry Popkin Productions / United Artists. This fine crime thriller has more turns than the mountain road in which a violent car crash occurs that changes the storyâs direction. High powered business executive Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) has only one soft spot, his wife Irene (Helen Walker) who he is going to have to leave for a while on business in Denver. Irene, however, has other plans. She has already cooked up a scheme with her lover to murder Walter and blame it on an anonymous hitchhiker. Things go badly wrong, however, when Walter survives and lover-boy is killed in a fiery wreck. Walter walks away so everyone thinks the burned body is him. Then comes a long middle stretch following Walterâs life as a hobo wandering up into Idaho. He is too heartbroken to care about anything. But just when you are thinking that things are starting to get really sentimental and mushy, reality hits Walter again and you canât force me to tell anything about the final third of the movie. Also with Charles Coburn as a dogged police detective and Ella Raines as the girl Walter would like to settle down with. Ella Raines (bottom right corner) does NOT wear that gown in this movie, worst luck Charles Coburn and Helen Walker And the Noir treats keep on coming Railroaded! - Well Anthony Mann is one of my favourite directors, top ten without doubt. We differ on this one though, well apart from Ireland that is. It's Duke, be petrified!Railroaded! Is directed by Anthony Mann and written by Gertrude Walker and John C. Higgins. It stars John Ireland, Sheila Ryan, Hugh Beaumont and Jane Randolph. Music is by Alvin Levin and cinematography by Guy Roe. When an innocent young owner of a company van is framed for a robbery and killing of a cop, his sister takes up the case to prove his innocence. Forming an uneasy alliance with the detective in charge of the case, it is touch and go as to if innocence can be proved since the evidence is stacked against the youngster. But someone is responsible, and that someone is moving close to the action... A difficult film to recommend with confidence to those interested in noir/crime cinema, Anthony Mann's Railroaded has some good moments but unfolds merely as a solid noirish frame-up picture. Narrative holds no surprises and goes exactly where you wish it wouldn't. The tiny budget shows and the acting away from Ireland is pretty average at best, while important points of worth in the plotting drop in only to not be expanded upon thereafter - including the poor innocent youngster sitting in jail! However, it is that portrayal of villain Duke Martin by John Ireland that more than makes it worth sitting through. This is a villain who is not only particularly bright in his decision making, but he has some odd kinks (perfuming his bullets, caressing his pistol) and thinks of nothing to handing out violence to women. Mann and Roe are wise to Ireland being their draw card and utilise his menace with some good shadow play and lighted close ups. Elsewhere there's a hugely enjoyable "girl scrap" scene between Ryan and Randolph, which is made more dangerous by the presence of Duke in the shadows. Duke's setting up of a wino stooge carries with it the requisite nastiness and his murderous executions pack a punch for dramatic impact. The finale, as expected as it is, is at least well constructed by Mann and therefore closes the film down with a double bang instead of a whimper. With "Desperate" and "Railroaded" released in 1947, Anthony Mann was still crossing over and learning about his film noir capabilities. It would be "T-Men" made in this same year, with his pairing with ace cinematographer John Alton, where Mann found his mojo and began a coupling that would produce a run of undoubted film noir classics. As for Railroaded? it's passable fare and best viewed as a time waster or appetiser to better pleasures to come. 6/10 Impact (1949) - I like a lot - Glad you do too1 Ella Impact, when two things collide. San Francisco industrial supremo Walter Williams survives an attempt on his life by his two-timing wife's lover, whom ironically is badly burned and killed at the scene himself. As the police think that Williams is the badly burned corpse, his wife is arrested and accused of his murder, with Williams hiding out and plotting revenge in the sleepy back water town of Larkspur, Idaho. But even as Williams finds new hope and re-evaluation of his life, he knows he must go back and reveal all about what happened, which is something that may well prove to be his undoing! Impact is directed by Arthur Lubin and stars Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, Charles Coburn and Helen Walker. The basic plot and story is certainly nothing new, and I will not list them, but other films such as "The Postman Always Rings Twice" spring to mind immediately upon finishing this smashing and enjoyable piece. However, what is definitely in pic's favour is that it's excellently acted (Donlevy and Raines a delight) and that it manages to bring about the main twist without any aura of inevitability hanging over it. Sitting nicely between film noir and drama, Impact is a film that possibly wouldn't stand up to repeat viewings, yet once viewed I personally feel that it leaves a mark that is most definitely favourable - and I'm not just biased because Ella Raines is stunningly gorgeous here!!! 8/10
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Aug 18, 2019 10:40:00 GMT
A warm and lovely movie. I can't explain it I just love it. Old-fashioned matine movie, where Gulliver meets Lilliputs and Giants. I had to read up a bit about Jonathan's Swift's novel, and now understaning that it was a satire, and that fits in with this movie, since no matter how much Gulliver helps Lilliputs and Giants in knowlledge, the powers in command always invents new problems, so they can blame someone. All this bickering sadly becomes a bit tiresome in length. Special effects are on the old side, but that is part of the charm of older movies. Legendary Bernard Herrmann's score is super great. Calendar Girls (2003) - I like it mostly, the final third nearly derails though. It's not naked it's nude.When Annie Clarke's beloved husband succumbs to leukaemia, her best friend Chris comes up with a unique idea for raising funds for the hospital that cared for the dearly departed John. They, and fellow members of the Knapely Womens Institute, will pose in some strategically nude pictures and sell them as a calendar! Based on a true story, and following on from the roaring success of 1997s The Full Monty, it was a story just begging to be adapted for the big screen. Also boasting a shot in the arm for actresses of a certain age, who sadly are bereft of decent cinematic parts, Calendar Girls may not be a masterpiece of homely cinema values, but it certainly warms the cockles and hits an entertaining spot in spite of the laborious last third. The cast are uniformly excellent, Julie Walters, Helen Mirren (gorgeous), Linda Basset, Annette Crosbie and Geraldine James are particularly memorable in telling this tale of a close-knit village quite unsure on how to deal with a touchy subject. From there the press sensationalism arrives and this shifts the girls (and sadly the film) to another plane. The picture manages to be that rare old thing of a comedy drama actually impacting heavy on both fronts. The comedy moments are joyous and flow frequently for the first two thirds of the picture, whilst the touching drama, of what is a serious subject at its core after all, really touches a nerve. Sadly as we enter the final third, the makers tag on an unnecessary dissection of friendships and relationships, and it nearly costs the film dear. It does survive, mainly due to the wonderful cast and the integrity laden point of view, making it a film that once viewed is clearly not going to be forgotten. So in the main we should all hail those wonderful Calendar Girls. 7/10 The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960) - How nice to see 2 Kerwin Matthews fantasy films crop up this week. Gulliver not one of his best though. Please do see my review in response to Mr Clain about Jack the Giant Killer, a big thumbs up from me. Gulliver > What you don't understand you want to destroy!The Three Worlds of Gulliver is produced out of Columbia Pictures and is directed by Jack Sher. It stars Kerwin Matthews as Lemuel Gulliver, June Thorburn as his fiancée Elizabeth, with support coming from Basil Sydney (The Emperor of Lilliput), Grégoire Aslan (King Brob), Mary Ellis (Queen), Charles Lloyd Pack (Prime Minister Makovan) & child actor Sherry Alberoni as Glumdalclitch. Filmed in England and Spain, it features stop-motion animation and special visual effects by Superdynamation genius Ray Harryhausen. Sher & Arthur Ross adapt for the screen with a loose reworking of the 18th-century English novel Gulliver's Travels written by Jonathan Swift. And music maestro Bernard Herrmann provides the score. Swift's biting satirical novel has been watered down and given a romantic edge for the family market. That said, as the kids are enjoying the froth and tickle, the adults will note that there's just enough caustic comment in the piece to get the message across. This adaptation has slimmed down the four parts of Swift's work to just the two; Lilliput land of the little people and Brobdingnag land of the giants. With our intrepid normal sized hero Gulliver and his stowaway fiancée Elizabeth under threat either way. While the script has its pleasing moments it is still only serving as a bridging work for Harryhausen's effects to be shown. Be it the giant and tiny people sequences or the perils that come to our undersized protagonists courtesy of a Gator and a Squirrel, it's these that the children will find beguiling. This, however, can not be said for Harryhausen aficionados or adults more accustomed to more modern advancements. For this is bottom rung for Harryhausen, not bad at all, yet although there's a charm here, and no one should ever dismiss the painstaking amount of time it took him to weave it together, the work is creaky and lacking the dynamism so befitting his best work. Major bonus' come with the swirling and pounding score from Herrmann and the vibrant performance of Matthews. The role of Gulliver was first offered to Danny Kaye, which naturally makes sense given Kaye's previous work on Hans Christian Andersen some years earlier. That it was also offered to Jack Lemmon, tho, makes no sense at all. Anyway, Matthews got the gig, and following on from his fine work in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, he laid down a marker in the fantasy adventure genre that secured him fondness from legions of fans throughout the years. A safe, colourful and pleasant enough piece if ultimately not one for most fantasy adventure fans to revisit often. 6/10
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Post by wmcclain on Aug 18, 2019 11:52:24 GMT
Both Mike and myself reviewed Nora Prentiss recently so I wont repost here. What did you think though? No doubt I put it on my list because of your mentions, but I don't now remember what you both wrote. It is notable for the unrelieved tone of doom. No light relief at all. Nora is the ruination of the man through no fault of her own. She didn't try to trap or corrupt him. Kent Smith is always dignified but bland. His fall perhaps hurts more because of that, maybe like the prof in The Blue Angel? My DVD was very poor quality. Whenever I see Sheridan I think of a quip by Ronald Reagan to Errol Flynn in Desperate Journey (1942): "Why do you always wake me up when I'm dreaming of Ann Sheridan?" They each made five films with her. Sometimes when recalling a title I can't remember if she starred or if it was Joan Bennett.
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Post by vegalyra on Aug 19, 2019 0:50:59 GMT
Great reviews of Jack the Giant Killer. I have the Kino bluray in my collection but still haven't viewed it. Kerwin Mathews is one of my favorite actors, I wish he had a more successful career, his filmography is unfortunately not as long as I wish it could have been. I'm excited about watching this one now, I bought it but didn't have high hopes for it so it's been pushed to the side for awhile.
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Aug 19, 2019 1:06:19 GMT
Legend (2015). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Itâs as though all the happiness has gone from the world of Harry Potter...must be the Dementorsâ fault. Having never read the books, I canât complain about things changed/left out and only judge the films on their own merits. Iâd felt the series kept getting better, reaching its peak with 'Goblet of Fire', which I thought fonud the right balance between darkness/light-hearted fun. This film, however, I didnât find âfunâ at all. It got off to a bad start by including the loathsome Dursleys again (after blessedly skipping them in GoF). I also preferred how the last film started in the realm of magic, rather than the âreal worldâ like this one. Things didnât improve much when Harry was put on trial for using magic in front of his mush-mouthed cousin. Apparently magic trials are as boring as âreal worldâ trials. The only interesting parts to me were the visually stunning flight over the Palace of Westminster and the introduction of Nymphadora Tonks (who dislikes being called by her first name, judging by her tone/hair colour changing). Sadly, she disappeared after that. Mad-Eye Moody and Professor Lupin didnât fare much better, getting only small amounts of screentime. Things improved slightly with Ron, Hermione and the intriguing new character of Luna Lovegood. Evanna Lynch gave an exceptional performance, stealing every scene she was in (talking about Nargles and hoping for pudding). I especially liked her bonding with Harry over being âdifferentâ along with skeletal horses called Thestrals that could only apparently be seen by those whoâd seen death (makes you wonder how freaked out the others were when flying on them if they couldnât *see* them). Unfortunately, Harry was at his most unlikeable this film. Being moody/angry all the time mightâve been the *point*, but it certainly didnât make for fun viewing (though I shared his frustration with Dumbledore/understood his sudden outburst after getting sick and tired of seemingly being ignored by him). Ron and Hermioneâs characters seemed a bit more âsubduedâ this film than how theyâd been previously, thus making them feel quite different. Snape, who has felt underused for a while, got some focus when teaching Harry how to shield his mind from Voldemeort and it led to a flashback of young Snape being the victim of bullying from Harryâs father, James. However, that doesnât excuse Snapeâs current attitude/behaviour towards Harry and his friends (talk about holding a grudge against the wrong people). While Lucius Malfoy gets his most screentime since the second film, this feels like the least amount of Draco weâve seen. Meanwhile, we learn about the tragic fate of Nevilleâs parents at the hands of the wickedly evil (and clearly insane, given the hair) Bellatrix Lestrange. When you need someone to play a nutter, get Helena Bonham Carter! Sheâs quite fun, playing someone so evil. Sirius is backâŠbut we donât get much time with him (nor does Harry, sadly). Seamus Finniganâs brief falling out with Harry (who insulted his mother) hasnât much impact; Ronâs brothers bring some slight âfunâ to proceedings, poor Cho Chang gets very little screentime kiss with Harry comes seemingly out of nowhere. When their ârelationshipâ hits the rocks, all you can think is âWHAT relationship?â due to it being given minimal development. Professors McGonagall and Trelawney are also sorely underused. At the other end of the spectrum was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, (seriously, do some background checks before giving people for that position!) Dolores Umbridge, who I felt had far too much screentime, zapping whatever fun was to be had out of every scene she was in. Sheâs every super strict teacher everâŠonly *worse*, because she also abuses students by forcing them to write things over and over again with a magic quill that scratches what theyâre writing into their hands. How wasnât she immediately fired? Wizard logic!). Sheâs the absolute WORST. Whatâs a School of Witchcraft and Wizardry without magic? Pretty damn boring. If Imelda Stauntonâs performance is to be measured by how much I hated her characterâŠthen she gets top points. While it was nice to see the students going behind Umbridgeâs back and training for their oncoming âwarâ, as âDumbledoreâs Armyâ, the sense of fun from the previous films was all but gone, I felt (the only part I really liked was seeing the various animals that the studentsâ Patronus charms took the forms of). The first four films had this sense of wonder and blew your mind with the magical creatures and spells, etc. This movie was much more serious and had very little humour in it (and what humour it *did* have, I felt, more often than not fell flat). Some might like that fact, but to me, these films have always been about escapism and fantasy. Letting yourself be pulled into a world of magic and having a rollicking good time. As more and more of the real world merges with the magic world, we seem to be losing some of the more fantastical elements. Sure, there are spells cast in this movie, there's a dodgy CGI'd giant (the best part of that scene is Hermione showing it whose boss and Ronâs protectiveness over her), there's duels involving wands (that more than slightly resemble the light-saber duels from the Star Wars films), there's centaurs and other things. I liked the âBattle of the Department of Mysteriesâ, and Dumbledore vs Voldemort allowed for some great visuals, but on the whole I just didnât feel the âmagicâ this time around and thatâs why this is my least favourite film of the franchise. Shazam! (2019). Mary Queen of Scots (2018). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). Magic has returned to the world of Harry Potter! After being disappointed by Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince was a nice surprise. Goblet of Fire remains my favourite, but this oneâs not far behind. The absence of Dursleys was a good start, and although the film begins in the âreal worldâ, itâs a more exciting scene than the last filmâs opening, as Death Eaters (including a wolfman dude) wreak havoc, leaving Muggles thinking âWTF?â...including a waitress who gets chatted up (and then stood up) by self-confessed "tosser", Harry Potter, who's whisked away by Dumbledore to the world of magic and weâre introduced to part-time armchair, Professor Slughorn. Jim Broadbentâs character is a welcome addition, as Slughorn likes to âcollectâ special students and the prospect of acquiring âthe Chosen Oneâ is too good to pass up. Meanwhile, the still wickedly fun Bellatrix Lestrange and Draco Malfoyâs mother, Narcissa, have a special mission for Draco (and ensure Snape keeps him safe/makes sure he follows through via a magical 'Unbreakable Vow' handshake). Harryâs soon reunited with his friends and it quickly becomes clear that films are not only ramping up Ronâs/Hermioneâs feelings for each other, but also the heretofore barely-touched-upon Harry/Ginny relationship. Luna Lovegood, who was the fifth filmâs bright spot, makes a welcome return when saving Harry from Dracoâs foot-to-the-face (this film feels a bit more âbrutalâ than prior ones, with a fair amount of blood) thanks to snazzy glasses called âSpectrespecsâ and Harryâs head apparently being full of something called âwrackspurtsâ (her particular brand of âkookinessâ and dynamic with Harry lights up every scene). Another scene-stealing new addition is Lavender Brown, who becomes obsessed with Ron, starts a relationship with him (much to the annoyance of Hermione, who you *donât* want to get on the bad side ofâŠlest she magically sic a flock of birds on you), but verges into âstalkerâ territory. Jessie Cave is hilarious in every scene. Also funny is Hermioneâs (unwanted) admirer, Cormac McLaggen. The amusement derived from his rivalry with Ron is only surpassed by Hermioneâs reactions to his advances/leering looks and her efforts to ditch him after taking him as a âdateâ to Slughornâs party. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are in fine form playing both their charactersâ humourous sides and their more serious/dramatic sides. Their chemistry with each other and Daniel Radcliffe is the glue that holds this whole film series together. Speaking of, Iâm surprised to learn Daniel Radcliffe apparently disliked his performance here, as I thought he was very good (and certainly more likeable than in the previous film). He proves to have nice comedic skills (especially in a scene with Hagrid, Slughorn and a dearly department friend of Hagrid), and this filmâs humour was sorely needed after the last filmâs lack of/failed attempts at âgoodâ humour. Harry also goes through some quite dramatic stuff too. His relationship with Dumbledore gets some major focus, proving crucial to the filmâs plot. There are some really dark/shocking moments towards the end of the film. We also get flashbacks to pre-Voldemort Tom Riddle, and the two young actors playing him at different ages do a good job of portraying this creepy soon-to-go-bad-wizard-in-the-making. Finally getting some overdue focus/screentime is Draco. Or rather, it *seems* like heâs getting a lot more focusâŠbut, mostly, itâs just him being his usual âfoul evil loathsome little cockroachâ self (and if I had to watch him pull the cover off that damn Vanishing Cabinet ONE MORE TIMEâŠ!). Ginny gets more screentime as well, though it doesnât amount to very much other than snogging, shoelace-tying (yes, really) and running into danger after Harry (though the attack on the Weasleyâs Burrow is pretty awesome). Also getting focus, but with a bit more substance, is Snape as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (because THAT bodes well). He does something pretty dramatic near the end and Harryâs confrontation with him is a memorable one. Although the movie is quite lengthy, it never really felt like it âdraggedâ. There was plenty of action and magic on display, but when things slowed down I still felt invested in what was happening. The film is quite gloomily-lit in places, but it doesnât forget to have a sense of âfunâ (wackiness with love potions, âLiquid Luckâ, and cursed objects just being a few examples). For me, this movie was everything the fifth one wasnât, and thatâs why it joins the 3rd and 4th films as one of my favourites of the series. Book readers might have issues with things left out/changed, but I found the movie entertaining/riveting, and a fine lead-in to the two part finale. Away and Back (2015). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010). The only thing âDeathlyâ about this movie is how slow it moves...like someone cast an âArresto Momentumâ/Slowing Charm. This slog of a movie starts with the most âminimalistâ version of the HP theme yet, as we float through the rusted WB logo. At this rate, we wonât even hear the HP theme AT ALL in the final movieâs beginning. And while weâre at it, can we please put a moratorium on floating through company logos/film titles at the start of movies? Itâs SO over-used. Bill Nighy close-up alert! He brings his own particular style of speaking to the opening scene, though not even he can make the scene particularly interesting. Surely Ralph Fiennesâ Voldemort will liven things up, right?! Not exactly. Maybe the book moves at a similarly glacial pace, but not being a reader of the HP series, it came as quite a surprise to me that things seemed so dragged out, despite the fact that it was a scene full of villains! A big deal is made of Voldemort commandeering Lucius Malfoyâs wand...but non-book readers probably wonât get WHY so much time is devoted to seemingly very little happening onscreen. About the only thing of note is some Hogwarts teacher, who was apparently Snapeâs âfriendâ, becoming snake chow (wouldâve had more impact had it been a teacher we *knew*. I thought it was Trelawney for a minute). Itâs a relief to get to the main trio, and thereâs a memorable scene featuring seven Harrys (thanks to Polyjuice Potion turning his friends into identical copies of him, though still with their own voices), but this attempt at creating decoys doesnât work so well and theyâre attacked, with casualties. Hedwigâs death upset me, while Mad-Eyeâs offscreen demise (delivered flatly with one line by Ronâs heretofore unseen eldest brother, Bill, whoâs shown up to marry Fleur Delacour from the 4th film) sadly lacked any impact for something that shouldâve been pretty emotional. Nighyâs Scrimgeour shows up to deliver the trioâs inheritance from Dumbledoreâs will, allowing for a few callbacks to the early films. Instead of spending time with characters we actually KNOW at the wedding, we get a clunker of an info-dump from two characters we donât know delivering exposition, grinding things to a halt, before picking up again with a Death Eater attack and the trio escape. Things screech to a halt once more when thereâs a needlessly convoluted plot involving what looks like Dobby the house-elf after heâs become old and crotchety (though thatâs a different house-elf, actual Dobby *does* turn up), another Polyjuice escapade to get the real Horcrux locket from Umbridge at the Ministry (apparently the centaurs *didnât* âtake careâ of her like a half-horse Mafia in the 5th film, useless jerks. WHY couldnât that pink b!tch have been one of the casualties in this film?!), and a case of mistaken identity over Ronâs assumed form (leading to awkward snogging). Thankfully, we eventually move away from that messy situation and focus on the trio as they attempt to destroy the locket, which makes funny noises every time they zap it, with little success. Things then take a turn for the Lord of the Rings-esque when they alternate between whoâs going to wear the Horcrux to keep it âsafeâ (great idea...except for making those who wear it go all Frodo-wearing-the-One-Ring-style angry/paranoid, with Ron being the most susceptible, which leads to him looking like a homeless person and arguing with Harry/Hermione, who he thinks have been having late night rendezvous with each other, then abandoning them in a huff). At this point it must be mentioned that all three main actors have come far with their characters in terms of development and performances. Theyâve âmaturedâ a lot, and Rupert Grint shows heâs highly capable of portraying a weary, mad, downright unlikeable version of Ron who hits Harry where it hurts. Meanwhile, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson prove what great chemistry they have by carrying a good percentage of the film on just their shoulders. A particular bright spot amongst all the doom/gloom is when Harry dances with Hermione to cheer her up. Theyâre just friends...but, oh, what mightâve been. A Potter gravesite visit and snake attack later, they figure out that Gryffindor sword from film #2 is the key and a mysterious doe Patronus the way to it in frozen pond, where Harry (naturally) goes near-nakedly swimming for it and consequently gets nearly choked by the locket...which shockingly doesnât want him gaining the one thing that can kill it. Ron finally returns to save the day and help destroy the Horcrux...but not before it is opened and unleashes his worst fears (which isnât just spiders). If you wish to see creepy silver Harry and Hermione snogging seemingly naked together, then this is the movie for you! For the rest of us, itâs both an exciting AND CREEPY scene. Itâs then determined that Lunaâs dad is the person to go see. Unfortunately, Luna is nowhere to be found and her father proves much less interesting/entertaining than his daughter (though they both dance amusingly at weddings). Heâs just a weirdo (and NOT the âfunâ variety). He does reveal, though the filmâs title refers to three items â the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone and Cloak of Invisibility. We learn the origins of these items via what I thought was one of the few stand-out moments from the movie: a story narrated by Hermione told through a beautifully animated sequence. The filmâs climax is where things get REALLY dark, with Bellatrix Lestrange torturing poor Hermione (itâs hard to listen to her screaming in pain, since weâve gotten to know her/feel close to her character) and an unexpected death (though right before that is the funniest line the character who winds up dead has ever uttered). Itâs all very depressing by the end. The movie obviously had a lot of ground to cover, but it felt like it kept stop-starting, almost causing whiplash. The film ends on more of a âThatâs it??...Huh.â note than one leaving you anxiously awaiting Part 2 (whichâll hopefully be better). Hi COE! I hope you had a good weekend & I was wondering how you found Shazam! to be? After finding BVS & Suicide Squad to be messy, (I watched them at home) I took a gamble and saw Shazam! on the big screen,and found it a complete daylight, (and far better than Captain Meh,which came out around the same time) with the "family" message of the flick having a surprising real warmth. As a aside,did you spot the cheeky dig at Snyder's action scenes? screenrant.com/shazam-trailer-moment-not-in-movie-superman-music/
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Post by hi224 on Aug 19, 2019 3:16:34 GMT
Good Boys Danny Collins Cry Wolf.
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