What Films did You Watch Last Week (27/05 - 02/06) 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

Nightfall (1956, Jacques Tourneur)
This film Noir sees Aldo Ray give a surprisingly low key and realistic performance as an artist who finds himself falsely accused of bank robbery as well as murder and is pursued by the authorities and the real killers. It is a stylish affair and an enjoyable one, I for one enjoy it more than the directors more successful Noir films.
6.5-7

Booksmart (2019, Olivia Wild)
The plot from Superbad is employed here this time with Superbad star Jonah Hill's sister starring in a female led version where the two students want to go to a party the night before graduation. The film skips the gross out gags and has a bit more heart but gets a little to silly and aimless in the middle act.
6/10

The Shadow on the Window (1957, William Asher)
This crime drama with some noir overtones is quite an interesting film, especially parts set in the farmhouse with the three teenage criminals.
6/10

Finger Man (1955, Harold D. Schuster)
This gritty and tough film noir sees an ex-con going undercover for the government to "finger" the crime boss who made his sister a drug addict.
It is quite a nasty affair but it works, although the lead could have been a bit more likeable.
6/10

REPEAT MOVIE VIEWING

The Apartment (1960, Billy Wilder)
blu ray
Such a great classic with superb nuanced performances. Jack Lemmon (Some Like it Hot) plays a man who tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.
The writing and direction are also excellent, a very rewatchable film.
8/10

FIRST TIME DOCUMENTARY VIEWING

New Zealand: Skeletons in the Cupboard (2015, Peter Marsh)
Interesting if fairly cheaply made look at the Maori oral history that unravels early civilizations that shaped the maori culture to come.
Recommended

Cousins Across the Sea (2016, Peter Marsh)
A look at the origins and oral history of the Hawaiian nation.
Recommended

FIRST TIME TV SERIES VIEWING

The Umbrella Academy (2019, Season One)
A fairly well realised version of the comic book about a disbanded group of superheroes who reunites after their adoptive father, who trained them to save the world, dies.
Recommended

WEEKLY FILM AWARDS

BEST FILM: The Apartment
BEST ACTOR: Jack Lemmon - The Apartment
BEST ACTRESS: Shirley MacLaine - The Apartment
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Fred MacMurray - The Apartment
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Peggie Castle - Finger Man
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Joseph LaShelle - The Apartment
BEST SCORE: George Duning - Nightfall
BEST SCRIPT: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond - The Apartment
BEST DIRECTOR: Billy Wilder - The Apartment


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