What Films did You Watch Last Week (29/04 - 05/05) CLOSED

Welcome back to another week of the BEST & WORST edition of 'what movies did you see last week?' thread. For those who haven't been part of it before, basically your host (me) posts my weekly movies and you can comment on those and list your movie for the same time frame. I will get back to you on yours and you can talk to other users here about their films. It's a great place to talk about film.

FIRST TIME MOVIE VIEWING

Murder By Contract (1958, Irving Lerner)
This film about a contract killer is an odd little gem. It is a very stylish and uber-cool throughout with Vince Edwards in the lead who looks like Mark Ruffalo with a fake nose. The score will remind you of The Third Man but not in a rip-off sort of way. This feels more like a French gangster film from the 60's than an american noir from the 50's, it's pretty good stuff.
7/10

You Might be the Killer (2018, Brett Simmons)
This Meta-slasher sees Fran Kranz (Cabin in the Woods) as a camp counselor suffering from blackouts who finds himself surrounded by murder victims. He turns to his horror movie enthusiast (Alyson Hannigan) friend for advice. This film is fun and makes the most of its budget and one of the better films of it's type... for fans of The Final Girls.
6.5/10

The Big Combo (1955, Joseph H. Lewis)
This Noir has a pretty convoluted plot but makes up for it with legendary cinematographer John Alton's lighting andsome good performances.
6/10

City of Fear (1959, Irving Lerner)
Vince Edwards (Murder by Contract) plays a prisoner from San Quentin who escapes with a canister of what he believes to be heroin but is actually a radioactive substance that threatens all Los Angeles. The set up sounds promising but it kind of flounders in places.
5/10

Gandahar (1988, Rene Laloux)
This animated film  sees an evil force from a 1000 years in the future begins to destroy an idyllic paradise, where the citizens are in perfect harmony with nature.
I liked the premise but the animation and sound production leave little to be desired.
4/10

REPEAT MOVIE VIEWING

Kuffs (1992, Bruce A. Evans)
This action comedy sees Christian Slater (True Romance) playing a high-school dropout who just lost his job, and his college-age girlfriend is pregnant. To top it off his brother Brad is killed and he inherits Brad’s “patrol special” privatised police district and all the problems that come with it.
The Problem with this film is tonal as it does not know exactly what it wants to be. It is a cross between Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Beverly Hills Cop but the comedy does not mesh well with the more serious action parts. It doesn't help that the score is by the guy who did the music for Beverly Hills Cop and he has just done a cheap retread of that.
Slater is in his prime though and his charm manages to hold the film together somewhat but it certainly felt longer than its hour and 42 minute length.
5.5/10

FIRST TIME DOCUMENTARY VIEWING

Like Water (2011, Pablo Croce)
tv
This documentary was filmed when Anderson Silva was the deadliest man on the planet – The longest-reigning UFC Champion, and the most feared fighter in mixed martial arts. Like Water offers a unique perspective of the living legend as he trains with fellow fighters and prepares for his most difficult match up.
Recommended

Unacknowledged (2017, Michael Mazzola)
An exploration of the Alien presence on Earth and the reality of suppressed free energy technology.
Recommended

Muscle Beach (1948, Irving Lerner)
A short film documenting life at Muscle Beach in Santa Monica.
It's Fine

WEEKLY FILM AWARDS

BEST FILM: Murder by Contract
BEST ACTOR: Vince Edwards - Murder by Contract
BEST ACTRESS: Mila Jovovich - Kuffs
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Richard Conte - The Big Combo
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Helene Stanton - The Big Combo
BEST SCRIPT:Ben Simcoe & Ben Maddow - Murder by Contract
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Alton - The Big Combo
BEST SCORE: Peter Botkin Sr. - Murder by Contract
BEST DIRECTOR: Irving Lerner - Murder by Contract


10/10 - Perfection (or as close to it as possible)
09/10 - An Excellent film
08/10 - A VERY Good film
07/10 - A Good film
06/10 - A Solid film
05/10 - An Average film
04/10 - Below Average film
03/10 - A mostly bad film
02/10 - A mostly terrible film
01/10 - Awful through and through
00/10 - Not only awful but offensive too