What Movies Did You Watch Last Week? (20/03-26/03) CLOSED

YOURS

The China Syndrome - 8/10
Moana - 4.5/10 
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - 4.5/10 Cringe-inducing
Rumble Fish - 7/10
Slap Shot - 6.5/10
Pretty Poison - 6.5/10
Billy Madison - 6/10
A View to a Kill - 6.5/10
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - 8.5/10 They had all time great effects when they came out and they still hold up now as far as I'm concerned. 

MINE

Elle (2016 Paul Verhoeven) - 5.5/10
Man on the Moon (1999 Milos Forman) - 7.5/10
Bambi (1942 James Algar & Sam Armstrong) - 7/10
Broken Embraces (2009 Pedro Amnodovar) - 6.5/10
Alice in Wonderland (1951 Clyde Geronimi & Wilfred Jackson) - 7/10
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991 Fax Bahr & George Hickenlooper) - 7/10
Black Beauty (1994 Caroline Thompson) - 7/10
The Sword in the Stone (1963 Wolfgang Reitherman) - 7/10
A Bug's Life (1998 John Lasseter & Andrew Stanton) - 7/10
Robin Hood (1973 Wolfgang Reitherman) - 7/10
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991 Kevin Reynolds) - 7/10
Shaun of the Sheep Movie (2015 Mark Burton & Richard Starzak) - 4.5/10
The Little Mermaid (1989 Ron Clements, John Musker) - 7.5/10
Pocahontas (1995 Mike Gabriel & Eric Goldberg) - 7.5/10
Peter Pan (1953 Clyde Geronimi & Wilfred Jackson) - 7/10



Film Awards

BEST PICTURE - Man on the Moon
BEST ACTOR - Jim Carrey (Man on the Moon)
BEST ACTRESS - Isabella Huppert (Elle)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Alan Rickman (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Penelope Cruz (Broken Embraces)
BEST DIRECTOR - Milos Forman (Man on the Moon)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Black Beauty
BEST SCORE - Black Beauty

Updated Paul Verhoeven ranking

1. Basic Instinct - 7/10
2. RoboCop - 6.5/10
3. Flesh + Bone - 6.5/10
4. Hollow Man - 6/10
5. Starship Troopers - 6/10
6. Total Recall - 5.5/10
7. Elle - 5.5/10
8. Showgirls - 4.5/10
9. Black Book - 4/10

Here is my current Francis Ford Coppola ranking 

1. The Godfather: Part II
- 10/10
2. Apocalypse Now
- 10/10
3. The Godfather
- 9.5/10
4. The Conversation
- 7.5/10
5. Bram Stoker's Dracula
- 7/10
6. The Godfather: Part III
- 7/10
7. The Rainmaker
- 7/10
8. Rumble Fish
- 7/10
9. Peggy Sue Got Married
- 7/10
10. The Outsiders
- 7/10
11. Tucker: The Man and His Dream
- 6/10
12. The Cotton Club
- 5.5/10
13. Tetro
- 5.5/10
14. One From the Heart
- 5/10
15. Jack
- 5/10
16. Twixt
- 4.5/10
17. Dementia 13
- 3.5/10
18. Finian's Rainbow - 3.5/10

I think the effects in LOTR have started to show their age a bit.


Elle - an odd film, but I liked it. Huppert was great. 7/10

Bambi - not much to the story, but it's entertaining. 7/10

Alice in Wonderland - don't care for the characters or story much. Good animation though. 6/10

Hearts of Darkness - I don't really rate documentaries, but probably a 7.5/10

The Sword in the Stone - 7/10

A Bug's Life - 8/10

Robin Hood - 7.5/10

The Little Mermaid - 7.5/10

Pocahontas - 7/10

Peter Pan - the lost boys are annoying, but it's a fun film overall and Hook and Smee are awesome. 7/10

I like some of the movies you watched last week - the disturbing conspiracy thriller 'The China Syndrome', Francis Coppola's experimental juvenile delinquent picture 'Rumble Fish', Noel Black's seminal black comedy 'Pretty Poison', the hilarious Adam Sandler vehicle 'Billy Madison' from indie mainstay Tamra Davis ... I think you had a good week!

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Here's my viewings for the week ...

’Autumn Almanac’ (1984, Öszi almanac - Béla Tarr)

The co-habitants of a dark, decrepit apartment are consumed by jealousy.

‘Autumn Almanac’ is a difficult film about envy, selfishness and greed that carries a grave tone and projects a sombre mood. It’s a dank, squalid chamber piece that unfolds inside a cramped and musty flat but the sparring sessions are submerged by dense blocks and channels of heavy light that further weigh down the story’s put-upon protagonists. It’s an impressive technical feat but it’s slow and purposefully burdensome so there’s little to smile about. Bela Tarr is a fascinating filmmaker.

'Roy Orbison And Friends : A Black And White Night' (1988, Documentary – Tony Mitchell)

Singer-songwriter Roy Orbison performs in concert with Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, J.D. Souther, Steven Soles, T Bone Burnett and the TCB Band. Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes and K.D. Lang provide backing vocals. Billy Idol and Kris Kristofferson join the audience.

This well-produced concert film captures the Big O in crystalline black & white images. It really is a beautiful ride.

‘Oooh … ooby dooby ooby dooby!!’

’My Twentieth Century’ (1989, Az én XX. Századom - Ildikó Enyedi)

Identical twins Dora (Dorota Segda) and Lili (Dorota Segda) accept a date with destiny as the 20th century beckons.

‘My Twentieth Century’ is a dazzling monochrome experiment about the on-set of modernity in which technical ingenuity and spiralling madness are propelled by the stirrings of revolutionary spirit. Dorota Segda creates magic as playful schemer Dora whom we’re introduced to courting trouble at every turn on the Orient Express, and effervescent street urchin Lili whom we first meet padding in the snow at a village train station in Austria. The unrestrained narrative travels from the United States of America to France, Germany to Austria, Hungary to Russia, soaring through time while shattering the barriers of sound and light. The soundtrack is stunning and every image is an immaculate wonder in Ildikó Enyedi’s jaw-dropping cinematic masterpiece.

’Houseparty Of The Dead 6’ (2010 – Andy Edwards)

A house party is torn asunder by zombie mayhem.

The 18 minute short subject film ’Houseparty Of The Dead 6’ is a rowdy gutmuncher with ample satirical bite for zombie fans to feed on. Paula Gilbert and Christie-Leigh Emby are terrific as fast friends Dina and Susan who are first in the firing line. It’s nicely put together with crisp edits, controlled pacing and a balanced musical combination of stretched string motifs, deft orchestral manoeuvres and metallic electrobeats. If you like hanging with zombies, be sure to check this out on the youtube.

'Magician : The Astonishing Life And Work Of Orson Welles' (2014, Documentary – Chuck Workman)

Orson Welles was born on May 6th, 1915 in Kenosha, Wisconsin and schooled in neighbouring Illinois. This is his astonishing story.

’Magician : The Astonishing Life And Work Of Orson Welles’ is a reasonable documentary that offers a general overview of the film and theatre star’s storied career. It’s constructed in a rather haphazard manner, using clips, interviews and archive materials to form an undulating melange of liquid-sponge flashbacks. I think it’s too much of a trifle to set a sustainable mood. Enthusiastic filmmakers pop up to eagerly submit their contributions but these are negligible at best. Welles’ artistic achievements, commercial endeavours and professional affairs demand greater analysis but his explosive personality and lively approach to life are captured well.

'Jane Got A Gun' (2015 – Gavin O’Connor)

When her husband Bill Hammond (Noah Emmerich) falls foul of evil bandit John Bishop (Ewan McGregor), Jane (Natalie Portman) picks up a gun and asks ex-fiance Dan Frost (Joel Edgerton) to help protect her home and family.

The wild west melodrama ‘Jane Got A Gun’ is a small, subtle, surprisingly subdued morality play given a frank, low-key treatment. Natalie Portman delivers a bracing character study of a grieving mother who’s been pushed to desperate measures by years of abuse. The backstory set in 1864 is told through flashbacks to Jane’s travails out on the trail, heading from Missouri down south to Texas. Both past and present reflect the stark, cerebral interior worlds that Jane occupies with stoicism and ruefulness.

’The Accountant’ (2016 – Gavin O’Connor)

Shaolin accountant Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is a first-rate number fixer who cooks the books for some of the underworld’s most violent criminals. Wolff takes a job with Lamar & Rita Blackburn (John Lithgow & Jean Smart) to evade a secret investigation launched by Treasury Agent Ray King (J.K. Simmons). When his colleague Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) comes under surveillance, Wolff realises his new role may not be all that it seems.

Gavin O’Connor’s engaging crime thriller ‘The Accountant’ is a tangled mystery involving state officials, business leaders, mob enforcers and money launderers. Ben Affleck is aces as embattled accountant Wolff, backed by a powerhouse supporting cast who lay it all on the line. The action sequences are effective and the pursuit is reasonably well executed if a little far-fetched. ‘The Accountant’ is an enjoyable crime outing with a twist.

’Chasing The Bookworm’ (2016, Documentary – Doctor D-Cloud)

A profile of political commentator and Fox News contributor Dana Perino.

Dana Perino was a welcome addition to the staff roster at the Fox broadcasting corporation when she was hired back in 2009. This versatile anchor brings genuine political experience obtained at the highest level, veteran smarts and she’s an outstanding orator too. She’s also funny, well read, extremely savvy and full of fight. I like her.



’Ibiza Undead’ (2016 – Andy Edwards)

Creepy gangster Karl (Matt King) runs a stripper bar in Ibiza where exotic dancers commit acts of gross indulgence upon chained zombies. Ellie (Cara Theobold, Liz (Emily Atack) and Zara (Algina Lipskis) arrive to pa-aa-aa-aa-rty!!

The shiny new shocker ‘Ibiza Undead’ uses the European terror alert and high security lockdowns to spin a tale of self-medication and narcotic relief amidst a pustulant spread of disease and pestilence. Thus, Ibiza is cast as an idealised escape for horny teenagers and shady business dealers who flock to a happening dance party clubzone to witness live-action Grand Guignol productions. Sadly, much of the zombie action is lensed under ugly colour filters which are ghastly to look at although the fudged visual design does distract from the poverty of the writing and paucity of visual ideas. Online U K movieworld pin-up Alex Zane is your celebrity Master of Ceremonies so strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.

’The Love Witch’ (2016 – Anna Biller)

Seductive suburban love witch Elaine (Samantha Robinson) teaches her new friend Trish (Laura Waddell) to embrace the eternal and deadly power of her femininity.

Anna Biller’s vibrant new picture ‘The Love Witch’ is several years in the making because she painstakingly makes costumes, props and set constructions by hand – and fortunately, it’s worth the wait. She hasn’t improved much as a writer but her films are immersive experiences that exist within their own worlds and I like that. ‘Viva’ (2007) was a louche, languid lounge act that inhabited a world evocative of classicists like John Stahl, Douglas Sirk and Mark Robson as well as eroticists like Russ Meyer, Radley Metzger and Zalman King. ‘The Love Witch’ conjures the post-psychedelic period when pictures like ‘Twins Of Evil’ (1971), ‘Virgin Witch’ (1972), ‘Daughters Of Satan’ (1972), ‘Necromancy’ (1972) and ‘Blood Sabbath’ (1972) were playing at movie theatres but it’s shot through with a style redolent of the psychedelic horror thrillers of Italian filmmakers like Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, Umberto Lenzi, Dario Argento and Sergio Martino. The didactic script and threadbare plot are massively overstretched by the two hour running time but there’s a charm to the writing which often takes a backseat to Biller’s tangible obsessions; the rich textures of Technicolor melodramas, the delights of ladies’ underwear, the ways in which men succumb to the lure of female flesh and strange supernatural goings-on. Biller’s costumes are gorgeous and her sets are always eye-catching. Samantha Robinson and Laura Waddell do excellent work at the heart of this affair.

’The Women Who Run Hollywood’ (2016, Documentary, Et la femme créa Hollywood – Clara Kuperberg & Julia Kuperberg)

A portrait of female writers, directors and producers who achieved artistic and financial success during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

{Insert – Pictures & Quotes – Anita Loos & Dorothy Parker}

’Inside The White House’ (2017, Documentary – Charles Iverson)

A look at the important role played by CNN correspondant Sara Murray in obtaining the latest news from the White House.

Sara Murray was a leading light at the Wall Street Journal before joining Wolfhound Blitzer, Kate Bolduan and Anderson Cooper at CNN. She’s originally from Mount Pleasant, Michigan and graduated from the University of Maryland. Like her network associates, she’s a tremendously exciting journalist whose quick with the questions and even quicker to challenge soft answers.




"This is deserving of my favorite movie quote of all time: "Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!"

- Kate Bolduan

I agree they hold up well enough to not ruin the experience for me. I'm just saying that there are some effects that don't look great by today's standards.

Paul Newman was sports mad in real life. Coming from Ohio, was he a Cleveland Browns fan? He was always hanging out with sportsmen. 'Slap Shot' is great fun!

This horror mess 'Muck' was so bad I chucked the dvd in the bin after smashing it. I barely remember it except that I rated it my lowest rating for being completely and utterly awful.