What classics did you see last week ? (9Feb - 15 Feb 2020)

What classics did you see last week ? (9Feb - 15 Feb 2020) Feb 17, 2020 19:52:47 GMT mikef6 likes this

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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Feb 17, 2020 19:52:47 GMT

Feb 15, 2020 19:52:07 GMT mikef6 said:

In A Lonely Place / Nicholas Ray (1950). Santana Pictures Corporation. Cinematography by Burnett Guffey (From Here To Eternity, Bonnie And Clyde). The formally successful screen writer Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bogart) is a hard-drinking and quick-tempered man who is likely to go out of control if angered. We see this happen twice in the movie’s first few minutes. But he can also be kind and witty when in pleasant situations with friends. When a nightclub hatcheck girl is brutally murdered, Dix becomes a suspect as the last person to see her alive. At the same time the investigation starts, he meets Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame) who lives in the same apartment compound. They begin a relationship pleasurable to both but Dixon’s inability to manage his anger and the danger he becomes when enraged makes Laurel start to doubt his claims of innocence in the hatcheck girl’s murder. “In A Lonely Place” is at once a spellbinding film noir, the medium for two brilliant performances (Bogart and Grahame), and one of the best pictures ever made about the Hollywood film industry. Bogart had wanted to play Dixon Steele so the book by Dorothy B. Hughes was purchased for his own independent company, Santana Pictures. Two writers, Andrew Solt and Edmund H. North are credited but director Nicholas Ray added some material perhaps based on his own marriage to star Gloria Grahame which was coming apart as the movie was in production. This may have intensified the dialog and Grahame’s acting. Also with Frank Lovejoy, Jeff Donnell, Robert Warwick, and Art Smith. “In A Lonely Place” is essential viewing for all lovers of movies.

Dix’s ride is a 1949 Mercury Convertible

The Limping Man / Cy Endfield (1953). Banner Films Ltd. Cinematography by Jonah Jones. Former American G.I. Frank Prior (Lloyd Bridges) is on a plane returning to England to reunite with his lover, Pauline (Moira Lister), who he has not seen since the end of the war. As he is deboarding, a fellow passenger is shot to death long distance by a sniper. Because Frank was talking to the victim at the time, he is questioned closely by Scotland Yard detectives. After meeting up with Pauline, Frank comes to believe she is bothered by something she is keeping from him. In a parallel investigation, the detectives tie Pauline to the murdered man. Some startling revelations, a nice surprise Reveal of the killer, and a fight on the edge of a balcony which leads to the film’s last 60-seconds and an incredibly stupid ending that made me laugh instead of insulting my intelligence which it should have done. What does that say about my intelligence?

Moira Lister, Lloyd Bridges

The Town / Ben Affleck (2010). Warner Bros. The titular town is Charlestown, Massachusetts, part of the Greater Boston metro area. Words on the screen before the story starts tells us that Charlestown has produced more bank robbers and armored car thieves than any other place on Earth. Ben Affleck, who was raised in neighboring Cambridge, and who co-wrote, directed, and stars in “The Town,” does not paint a pretty picture of Charlestown. Citizens should have some issues with Affleck. Indeed, all we see (with one exception) of the population are violent criminals or their enablers. The exception is an outsider, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), who is the manager of the bank that gets robbed in the opening scene. She is terrorized at the bank and then blindfolded and taken hostage in a van until the thieves know that they have gotten away, then they release her. The leader is Doug MacRay (Affleck). MacRay gets to know Claire and falls for her. MacRay’s best friend and robbery partner is Jem (Jeremy Renner). Jem is that tiresome cliché of the hot-headed robber who cannot be trusted to keep his head during a hold-up. So much of the movie consists of car chases and gunfights with automatic weapons. Hundreds of rounds are fired to no effect. These bullets can’t hit anybody. There is not much (if any) imagination or creativity put into all the noise and frantic activity. This is a dull movie about unlikeable people. Not recommended.

In a Lonely Place - www.imdb.com/review/rw2008778/?ref_=tt_urv 9.5/10

I do have The Limping Man, it's in one of those 20 film noir box sets that are films out of contract on the net. I started to watch it but he copy was too poor, so I'll have to see if I can stomach it at some point now you have brought it up.

The Town - Well well, we do differ considerably here, I think it's a quality Neo-Noir >

You know people get up everyday, tell themselves something's gonna change their lives.

The Town is Charlestown, Boston, a place where crime is a way of life. Following a bank robbery, professional thief Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) has to keep a watch on bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) because after using her as hostage leverage during escape from the heist, she is the only witness who could possibly identify his gang. But once the two meet they start to fall for each other, forcing MacRay to re-evaluate his life in Charlestown. It's a re-evaluation that will upset a lot of people close to him and the gangster boss who hires him, and all this at a time when FBI agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) is closing in on the gang.

One of the most startling things about Ben Affleck's second film as director is that even with the conventional plot, and the formulaic characters, it's still an exhilarating and fresh picture. With Affleck comfortable in his Boston surroundings, it's evident that he and the team went for authenticity, something which in the main they achieve. Sure there's the odd implausible moments, they are - like it or not - cops and robbers staples, but "The Town" is not your standard run of the mill actioner. It is, for want of pigeon holing, a modern day noir, resplendent with bleak mood and well oiled characters. Based on Chuck Hogan's novel "Prince of Thieves", pic follows the formula of a rotten town with rotten people doing their best or worst to live and get by. Into the pot comes the bad guy who meets a good woman who wants to leave his crappy life and crappy home behind. So far so well trodden path, then, but this is not a giant gangland operation, like, say, "The Departed" or "The Godfather" et al, this is a small neighbourhood setting, with a small group of everyday dressed young men. It's one of the reasons why Affleck's film feels so very authentic.

Helping to exude the naturalistic and human feel of the drama is that Affleck doesn't overdo his action sections, yet they are terrific sections for sure. This is not Tony Scott/Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer action for popcorn excess. From the electric kick-start of the first heist, to the mid-section car chase - and to the knock out coup de grâce set in motion at Red Sox Stadium - Affleck shows great skill as a crafter of action - aided superbly by Dylan Tichenor's energised editing. Other violence is swift and to the point, the director knowing not to dwell too long on vicious passages in the narrative, thus keeping his characters free of caricatures. Mind, he is thankful to the great cast assembled for his picture, for this is very much an actors piece. Well written without flabby periods of talk for talk sake, The Town provides proper drama for proper actors - and that includes the director himself.

Jeremy Renner is quickly turning into the go to guy for edginess, here as MacRay's best pal, Jem, he deals out a frightening loose cannon turn. Chris Cooper and Pete Postlethwaite have small roles, but both impact hard on proceedings, both memorable and both adding a touch of classy know how. Hamm arguably has the hardest role, for as FBI Agent Frawley he has to carry on his own the other plot thread that is the investigation. Not just that, but the film lends itself to one which dares you to root for the bad guys, it's a tough ask of the "Mad Men" actor but he nails it, with one two-fold scene in a bar, as he grills MacRay's ex, Krista (Blake Lively heartfelt and believable), particularly offering a glimpse of what a good actor he can be. Ultimately the main load has to be carried by Affleck and Hall as the central doomed lovers. There is death and misery every where in Charlestown - and for the protagonists of the story, including Doug & Claire. Their relationship offers hope, a beacon of hope in a murky world, but it's a relationship founded on black secrets and built around falsehoods. That Affleck & Hall draw us in with charm and acting gravitas further serves notice as to why The Town is top draw stuff.

Hardships, hard decisions and hard characters come alive in The Town, a great modern day drama that's showing "Gone Baby Gone" was no fluke, this lad Affleck really is some director. 9/10

You like Heat right?, Public Enemies?