Kiss Of Death / Henry Hathaway (1947). Twentieth Century Fox. Cinematography by Norbert Brodine. Screenplay by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer. Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) is a nice guy family man career crook who falls back into his old ways after being out of work for a year. KOD immediately jumps into a tense heist underway as the movie begins. Nick and two other guys ride a crowded elevator (it is Christmas shopping season) up to the 23rd floor of a NYC skyscraper to rob a jewelry dealer and then take the long ride back down. Nick gets caught and sentenced. Although kindly Assistant D.A. D’Angelo (Brian Donlevy) offers a deal if Nick will roll over on his two partners, Nick refuses. Later, he has cause to change his mind. He gets out on parole if he will befriend the dangerous sadistic hit-man Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark, film debut) and testify against him. But Udo gets free threatening Nick’s new life and family. If the first scene was tense, the final set-piece in an Italian restaurant where Nick goes to confront Udo quadruples the goosebumps. I wonder if Francis Ford Coppola had this scene consciously in mind when filming the Italian restaurant scene in “The Godfather.” A lot of film critics and historians take Victor Mature’s self deprecating humor about his talent too seriously. So much so that even great detailed and shaded acting such as he does here, doesn’t seem to count. Richard Widmark plays Tommy Udo as a giggling force of malevolence who cannot be reasoned with nor asked mercy of. It is a career making role and Widmark is amazing. Only the crimes go wrong in “Kiss Of Death,” the movie itself doesn’t make a false step. One of the great ones. Also with Coleen Gray, Karl Malden, Mildred Dunnock (who plays Tommy Udo’s most famous victim), and Millard Mitchell.
Richard Widmark
Coleen Gray and Victor Mature. Classic film noir framing and lighting. Check out those ceilings.
Gunman In The Streets / Frank Tuttle (1950). Films Sacha Gordine. Cinematography by Claude Renoir (The Spy Who Loved Me) and Eugen Schüfftan (Metropolis, The Hustler). Eddie Roback (Dane Clark) is an American deserter in Paris who made good as a violent underworld figure. He is finally caught and about to be sentenced when his gang breaks him loose in a shootout with Paris police. Although the tile brings up pictures of an armed man running wild down a street, this film takes an “Odd Man Out” approach: mostly taking place over one long night and early morning hours of the next day as a fugitive tries to get out of the city and avoid a cop dragnet. For help he goes to his former girlfriend Denise Vernon (Simone Signoret) who is already in a relationship with the American reporter Frank Clinton (Robert Duke). Denise is torn between the two men but leans toward violent, aggressive Roback. Dane Clark plays Roback as a bully and thug with no redeeming features whatsoever. An evil force of nature. This was the third and last movie for Robert Drake who is surprisingly good. Shot in France with a French cast (except Clark and Duke), this appears to be a U.S. production. Director Frank Tuttle (This Gun For Hire) is a seasoned noirist from the U.S and all the French actors speak English. Luckily, two top lead performers (Signoret and Fernand Gravey as the Inspector heading the search for Roback) speak excellent, if not fluent, English. Lots of darkness, lots of fog. A tight little suspenser.
The Girl In Black Stockings / Howard W. Koch (1957). Bel-Air Productions. Cinematography by William Margulies. An enjoyable murder mystery set and filmed in the resort city of Kanab, Utah. Edmund Parry (Canadian actor Ron Randell) owns a tourist lodge but is paralyzed from the neck down. Managing the lodge and acting as his caregiver is his sister Julia (Maria Windsor). Also helping is desk and switchboard clerk Beth Dixon (Anne Bancroft). Los Angeles lawyer David Hawson (Lex Barker) is visiting to unwind. He has also fallen in love with Beth. David and Beth are snogging at the lakeside when they discover the mutilated corpse of the town flirt. All the guests of the lodge are suspects so are held there by Sheriff (John Dehner). There are further murders and suspicion bounces from one character to another. There is a lot of outdoor photography emphasizing the Parry Lodge, a real place founded in the 19th century and still in business today. You can search it on Google Maps and see it, mostly unchanged, on the maps’ street view. The Marilyn Monroe wanna-be Mamie van Doran is part of the cast playing a tipsy bottle blonde loudmouthed floozy. Also in small roles are pre-famous Stuart Whitman and Dan Blocker. TRIVIA: the Kanab area was (and is) a frequent movie location site and the Parry lodge hosted many a movie star. John Wayne was a frequent visitor. In the early 1950s, Wayne, wanting a place to cool off, offered to pay half for the instillation of a swimming pool. The new pool and patio get special attention in The Girl In Black Stockings. The pool, too, is still a part of the Lodge campus. MORE TRIVIA: Anne Bancroft’s next released movie was The Miracle Worker which won her an Oscar.
The lurid poster makes it look like the movie is about Mamie (it ain’t).
Anne Bancroft and Lex Barker
Our Man In Havana / Carol Reed (1959). Kingsmead Productions. Cinematography by Oswald Morris (Oscar winner, Cinematography: Fiddler On The Roof). Englishman Jim Wormold (Alec Guinness) is the Cuban representative of vacuum cleaner company. He owns a shop in Havana but is not very successful at it but his daughter Millie (Joe Morrow) puts him in debt. When he is approached by a haughty Brit (Noël Coward) and offered to be a spy agency’s Man In Havana he agrees because the money is good and he needs it. However, he knows nothing about recruiting sub-agents or gathering intelligence so he starts sending drawings based on vacuum cleaner designs claiming they are aerial photos of a mysterious base in the mountains. This completely shakes up the agency heads in London who send him a secretary, Beatrice (Maureen O’Hara). Meanwhile, the head of the Cuban secret police (Ernie Kovacs) starts to court Millie and his only friend, Dr. Hasselbacher (Burl Ives), begins acting suspicious. Suddenly, what was a light satire on Cold War spying turns slowly into a very dark satire on Cold War spying. The movie is based on a novel by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed, the same team that brought us The Third Man. The movie is a slow starter but the wait is worth it. Guinness is brilliant, as expected and Ernie Kovacs shines in a non-comical role. Highly recommended.
Alec Guinness and Maureen O’Hara Joe Morrow, Alec Guinness, Ernie Kovacs
With his extra spy money Wormold buys himself a 1951 Morris Minor Tourer
Rambo: Last Blood / Adrian Grünberg (2019). Lionsgate. John Rambo has retired and is “keeping a lid” on his hate and rage while ranching in a serene remote spot in Arizona while helping raise his housekeeper’s sweet daughter. When the girl runs off to Mexico to find her missing father, she finds only bad luck and trouble. In revenge, Rambo lures an huge heavily armed gang of sex traffickers back to his ranch where he has set traps and proceeds to kill them all in as gory a fashion as possible. Any good that can be found in this movie lies in the continuation of the Rambo legend and backstory which began in 1982 and in Sylvester Stallone’s acting and screen presence, which is considerable. Fans of Stallone and any who want to follow John Rambo through his old age (and Stallone makes himself look old, indeed) will want to check this out. Otherwise, not recommended for casual movie watchers.
Here comes the Tele movies from last week, with a few thoughts attached.
A fairly OK euro action movie, starring a few well known names, James Coburn, Susannah York, Robert Culp and Charles Aznavour (!). A rich industrialist's wife and kids are kidnapped in Greece, the action is about getting them out, before kidnappers get their demands. Enter James Joburn, cool as usual, learning that his ex-wife and kids are kidnapped for ransom, by some terrorist group. The terrorists hide high in the Greek mountains, actually the same monestary used a few years later in the Bond film For Your Eyes Only. Coburn character by accident sees a hanggliding circus in Athens, and get's the idea of using hangliders to save the kidnapped. Fairly decent for a one time look, and if you like the stars, and wan't to know how Athens and surroundings looked like in mid 1970s.
Since I'm stll in convalescence, try something different, could be refreshing! aka The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, an Italian mystery movie and even maybe a Giallo. Watched English speaking dubbed version. An old painting has put a spell on an old respectable family, the painting fortold that every 100 years the Red Queen returns and kills family members. Do someone uses the legend to kill, or has indeed the Red Queen returned to the massive estate, about to be inhereted soon. It's an OK movie of it's kind, with a very enervating elevator sounding score by Bruno Nicolai. Maybe you like this even better if you like these kind of movies. When Woodward turned 90 I wanted to see something I've never seen before, and this happened to be the one. Woodward's character treat's severe mental patients, and in this case a person who thinks he is Sherlock Holmes, not just nutty, but actually is able to solve a few problems, and Woodward's character happend to be named Dr Watson. Based on a play, it starts very lighthearted and is very funny, with great lines, but as the story moves forward and new characters appears it becomes more and more bizarre Don't know what to make of it in the end, maybe it was done in the wrong way, or I'm too dumb to understand...
This poster makes it look like an action movie, something it isn't, though there is a few action scenes. Somehow buried among Charlton Heston's more famous movies. Lot's of artificial snow, since nobody breathes with smoke. Heston is a Maestro who's whole symphony Orchestra suddenly becomes prisoners of war, and to please the highest ranking Nazi and to save time they will give him a big concert. As the orchestra neers it's crecendo at the end it never get's very exciting, though there is some good acting, but sadly not from Heston himself who is very stoic this time.
I could watch lovely Cyd Charisse in almost anything, even after watching this one, aka Assassination in Rome, well assassination and assassination, a dead body is found at Fontana di Trevi, and who is he, and how does it link back to Charisse's character's suddenly disappeared husband. That's something American reporter (Hugh O'Brian) tries to find out, via several red herrings and mysterious characters. Neighter the best nor the worst of it's kind, lighthearted thriller movie Euro style.
As other posters have mentioned this movie I wanted to see it for myself. I've read the book that it is based on, and I see that many parts have been omitted, like the whole story of the Sheriff that hunt the heister, there is also a different ending, and many other things I noticed that I cannot tell or I would destoy the pleasure for those who haven't seen the movie yet. It's one of those things that sometimes happens, I bought the pocket book for under 50 US cents, and it must have been extremely well written since I remember many details, some not used in he movie version. If they had used all, it would have been a 3 hour movie. This movie was a highlight of the week, the tension, the acting, the direction, the plot, the issues, and together it's not just a hiest movie, it's so much more. So glad to have finally seen it.
Two redheads for the price of one! Not sure if I grasped everything, but it sure was something different. There is more than catches the eye, not difficult with Rhonda Fleming and Arlene Dahl distracting as sisters, Rhonda is the goodhearted, while Arlene is a nymphomaniac and shoplifter who get's a thrill getting into trouble. While mob handyman John Payne tries to squeeze himself in between, using the good sister for his employer the mob, and using the other sister for pure pleasure. A lot goes wrong and everybody tries to save themselves. There is a lot of tension here, and I'm not sure I got all the angles, but I don't mind, and I somehow liked to be puzzeled, this time.
Why not an old fashioned gaslight London murder mystery, and I enjoyed it, for what it is. A noble playboy leaves murdered women behind him story, and is he or isn't he the murderer. Peggy Cummings (far from Gun Fury) tries to figure out the mystery. Great cast including Vincent Price as a not-as-dumb-as-he-appears police detective, and grand dame Ethel Barrymore as Victor Mature's mother (how did her husband look like to produce Victor Mature?). Amusing and enteraining old fashioned who-done-it, that I enjoyed watching. (Those enormous estates on the countryside, what on earth did they live on?) A moss rose is part of the clue, by the way.
Since there is a new version of the famous Jack London novel at the cinemas right now, I thought I would look up an older version. Like most versions it doesn't care much about London's novel, and only uses it for action entertainment. I shouldn't sound snobbish, since I've only read the Illustrated Classics version LOL!. Clark Gable carries this movie together with a dog named Buck. I wished this could have been an old fashioned matinee, but there is an actually totally unneccesary subplot with a woman (Loretta Young who looks gorgeous), and Jack Oakie's oldfashioned sidekick that get's enervating after awhile. There are also some very good parts, like the selfcreated drowning scenes of the gold mine thieves who can't reach the surface of a river because of their greed, and Buck with his cubs. Still Clark Gable is Clark Gable, as my mother used to make very clear to her sons.
Until next week, when we have seen more movies!
Now it's the time to enjoy what others have written about what they have seen...
Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 7, 2020 22:31:50 GMT
My movie-watching for last week began and ended with two horror films, and in the middle I watched...the two Frozen films. Let it never be said that I don't like variety.
Yes, I have just used the same photos/GIFs for this film that I used last time I watched it, but..well...it took a really long time to create a collage of 'Let It Go' in full, so you BET I was going to reuse it.
Although the plotline of the movie was a little ‘iffy’ (Elsa follows a voice that she’s hearing and the others go along with), I didn’t really have a problem with this sequel (though I thought Evan Rachel Wood, who voiced Anna and Elsa’s mother, would be featured in the movie more than she was). I know people have said that the songs in this movie weren’t as ‘catchy’/’memorable’ as the first, and while there’s certainly nothing that’s on the same level as ‘Let It Go’, I *did* like ‘Into the Unknown’, ‘Show Yourself’, and ‘Lost in the Woods’. I’ve read comments that the ‘spiritual successor’ to ‘Let It Go’ is supposedly ‘Show Yourself’ (probably because, like with ‘Let It Go’, Elsa lets down her hair and uses her ice powers during ‘Show Yourself), but I actually liked ‘Into the Unknown’ a bit more.
I didn’t have a problem with there not being any clear ‘villain’ for them to fight this time around like Hans in the first film, nor did I think Kristoff was ‘useless’ like some claimed. Sure, he mightn’t have had that much to do, but he saved several people (and reindeer) and was a good friend (I found his ballad amusing in how clearly 80’s-inspired it was, and while it was nice to hear Sven – and the other reindeer – speak/sing, I’m glad it wasn’t a permanent thing, as I prefer it the way it is with Sven just making noises and Kristoff speaking for him). I loved Elsa’s new fire lizard and water horse companions.
I think if the first hadn’t been such a roaring success, then this sequel wouldn’t have been put under such close scrutiny/judged quite so harshly. I found it to be a worthy sequel with stunning visuals (though I still like the first one better).
Casablanca - because it was at my cinema and it's Casablanca 11/10 The Quiller Memorandum - inspired by the Senta Berger thread 7.5/10 Ulzana's Raid - because of the discussion here a couple of weeks ago 9/10 The Adventurers - watched before the Lewis Gilbert thread appeared by coincidence 7/10 Bad Times at the El Royale - liked it at the cinema, held up on a second viewing 7.5/10
The Leap Year has thrown my scheduling a bit. My viewings of IVANHOE and GANKUTUSOU were accidentally watched on the Saturday of February 29 when their March 1 airing should now be Sunday.
AGATHA CHRISTIE’S MISS MARPLE (1985) ”A Murder Is Announced Part 2 & 3” 35TH ANNIVERSARY. BBC Video DVD.
THE ROOSEVELTS: AN INTIMATE HISTORY (2016) “The Storm: 1920-1933” This part of the Ken Burns documentary covers FDR’s rise to politics despite the pain of crippling polio while Eleanor Roosevelt begins to define herself. PBS Video DVD.
MOBILE FIGHTER G GUNDAM (1995) “Farewell Master: Master Asia’s Last Breath” 25TH ANNIVERSARY. Bandai DVD.
VIRGIN RIVER (2019) “Lost” Netflix.
SONIC X “Friends Till the End.” English Dubbed. Funimation DVD.
DAVID COPPERFIELD (1974) “Episode One” 170TH ANNIVERSARY. This is the beginning of three BBC-TV Serials adaptations of the Dickens Novel. Since the 60s Ian McKellan version is mostly lost, I’ll begin with this Time-Life co-production with Patience Collier as Aunt Betsy, Gareth Thomas as Mr. Murdstone, and Anthony Andrews as Steerforth. Koch Video DVD.
DADDY LONG LEGS (1990) “A Good Way to Use Good Coins” 30TH ANNIVERSARY. Bootleg DVD.
ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS “Jet-Rocket Fuel Parts 31 & 32” 60TH ANNIVERSARY. Mr. Big gets referenced for the first time. Meanwhile, FRACTURED FAIRY TALES has the Elves help the Shoemaker make shoes (“But first you have to SUFFER.”) Dudley Do-Right tries to stop Strokey the Bear from causing Arson, taking him to Chicago…Sony Wonder DVD. NARUTO SHIPPUDEN (2013) “A Father’s Hope, A Mother’s Love.” Viz Media DVD.
HOLLYWOOD (1980) “Out West” 40TH ANNIVERSARY The end of the Old West linked up with the beginning of film, so the Westerns were made with people who experienced that rural age (unemployed cowboys, farmers, etc.). The episode makes no mention of THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (that was done in Episode 1) but it does handle the films of William S. Hart, Harry Carey, and films like THE WANDERING WAGON, TUMBLEWEEDS, THE IRON HORSE, and THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH. Interviews include Iron Eyes Cody (commenting on how William S. Hart got the Native American sign language wrong), Al Hoxie, Yakima Canutt, and especially John Wayne, who speaks of his relationship with Silent Western star Harry Carey and how he made a nod to the actor's memory in the end of THE SEARCHERS (which touched costar Olive Carey, Harry's widow). Bootleg DVD.
THE ROSE OF VERSAILLIES (1980) “The Black Rose Blooms at Night” 40TH ANNIVERSARY. Right Stuf DVD.
AIRPORT (1970) 50TH ANNIVERSARY Best-Seller adaptation that began the Disaster Genre, although the casualties are rather mild here. Burt Lancaster is married to the job, much to the chagrin of his family. Brother-in-law Dean Martin has impregnated stewardess Jacqueline Bisset. Old lady Helen Hayes stowaways, and deranged Van Helfin attempts to blow himself so his family can cash in on the insurance. I first saw this on TBS back in 2001 (probably one of the last times I recall the channel broadcast a pre-1980 film). Universal BluRay.
ONCE AND AGAIN (2000) “Unfinished Business” 20TH ANNIVERSARY. Buena Vista DVD.
AGATHA CHRISTIE’S MISS MARPLE (1985) “A Pocketful of Rye Part 1” 35TH ANNIVERSARY. BBC Video DVD.
I LOVE THE 80’S (2002) “1980”, “1981”, “1982”, “1983”, “1984” Here is my annual watching of the ‘I Love the (Decade)’ series, VH1’s ten-part docus about the films, tv shows, music, fashions, and incidents of the decade, commented by the people who witnessed it. Regulars include comedians Mo Rocca, Hal Sparks, Michael Ian Black, Newscasters Rich Eisen (with hair) & Stuart Scott (looking healthy), with other celebrities. This is a 2003 VHS recording of a marathon broadcast, with commercials for Hyundai, the Saturn Ion, Best Buy, films like CHICAGO, A GUY THING, and SIGNS, etc.
Post by Lebowskidoo 🎄😷🎄 on Mar 8, 2020 17:52:47 GMT
Raise the Titanic (1980)
Sleepy action adventure movie, perfect for nodding off to on the couch on a weekend afternoon. Not much happens but it's still a good movie, with a slow momentum.
No doubt seemed fantastic and far-fetched at the time, but now seems dated and silly because the ship arrives at the surface fully intact, even though witnesses described Titanic breaking in two before sinking. The actual discovery of the Titanic, five years after this movie came out, would prove those witnesses correct.
John Barry's beautiful score more than makes up for any flaws.
Deep Shock (2003 TVM)
Eels! Why'd it have to be eels?
Watched this because of the completely misleading poster that makes it seem like a horror movie, but instead we get a watered down sci-fi saga about intelligent eels and the possible end of the Earth. Not totally terrible, but would not recommend to non-film freaks such as myself who love/hate such films.
ARQ (2016)
Time loop sci-fi thriller...wait, I can sense you losing interest in this review already, and I get that! There have been a few too many of those lately. This one is pretty contained but manages to seem larger than it actually is due to some interesting ideas, good acting and sudden twists.
My only complaint being that it is so contained in the same area for so long with the same people doing the same things over and over that you feel like you're stuck in the time loop too.
Flamingo Road (1949)
Joan is a carny in a steamy, small Florida town. Corrupt politicians want to drive her away and she decides to stay!
A great vehicle for Joan Crawford, a woman out for revenge. Her confrontations with Sydney Greenstreet gave me great joy. My only complaint would be I wanted a better ending, but the one we got was pretty alright too.
Daisy Kenyon (1947)
Noir-ish melodrama with Joan Crawford torn between Dana Andrews and Henry Fonda, both jerks. Everyone in this story is kind of a jerk, really. Keeps your attention throughout, but no great pay off.
Daisy Miller (1974)
Cybill Shepherd as Daisy Miller in this Peter Bogdanovich adaptation is quite adequate, as is this movie. I think it practically screams out for a remake though. It seems a lot of people do not care at all for this version. Me, I thought it was okay. The constant jabbering on and on was impressive!
Home Again (2017)
Reese Witherspoon plays a woman who is a little unhappy, even though she has it made. Her life is ten times more perfect already than any of the people who will watch this. She has live-in tech support, child care and sex! She has a friggin' Oscar in the spare room! You'll get no sympathy from me, Reese Witherspoon! This all sounds like the real Reese Witherspoon, but its actually her character in the movie.
Husbands (1970)
Love this cast! A bit melancholy to watch now that they're all dead and discussing their hopes and dreams and regrets, but that's basically what this movie was always aiming for. Movie nerds will like seeing John Cassavetes and Nick Cassavetes in a scene together near the end as father and son, of course.
Best Bit: Peter Falk pronouncing badminton as "badmitten." 🎾😀
Kodachrome (2017)
I love movies where Ed Harris is dying. The Hours was a more superior film, for sure, but this was alright, with some very quotable lines scattered throughout.
Powwow Highway (1989)
"I think your car ate the godamned caramel corn!"
Fun road movie, nothing overly original other than being about two native guys. One is on a spiritual journey, the other is on a personal mission. They clash, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant.
The film debut of Wes Studi.
Wheelman (2017)
Like Tom Hardy's Locke (2013), only with more violence. Frank Grillo is a great actor, he deserves more starring roles because he really sells this movie.
Raise the Titanic must have been one of the early VHS releases because I recall it getting a lot of attention as a home video release. The ship model was huge--you can find pics of a scuba diver towing it.
NOBODY RUNS FOREVER 1968 - UK political thriller with Rod Taylor (using his real accent?) as an Australian cop sent to bring back wife murderer Christopher Plummer who is now a politician trying to solve world hunger. I'd seen it before and forgot most of it--which may well happen again. It's not a bad movie, just not particularly memorable or ultimately satisfying. 6/10
THE DUNWICH HORROR 1970 - Kind of bland Lovecraft film although there are some good moments of cinematic trickery (brief "Evil Dead-style rampage though the forest) and psychedelic color filters. The creature briefly seen appeared to have Dean Stockwell's eyes. 6/10
SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN 1970 - 9/10 One of my favorites. Bizarre non-linear narrative, lots of amusing scenes and dialogue (especially Alfred Marks), car chase, foot chase, killer nerve pinches.
THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL 1999 is no classic but have to comment on Geoffrey Rush doing a soft Vincent Price impression. He avoids being too obviously hammy or caricature-but every now and then he has an expression that does make him resemble VP. The sequence where he is trapped in the chamber must have been a homage to AIP Corman films--his severed head is tossed around much like Peter Lorre's in Tales of Terror, and they use a Barbara Steele lookalike as well! But it's a bad movie. CGI is really dated (although the concept of the ghost cloud was inspired) and the mansion is so well lit you think it's a department store on Fifth Avenue. The Shining seemed to avoid appearing artificial in its interiors but not the case with this or the remake of The Haunting from around the same time. 4/10
"Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow." Frankenstein
Obsession (The Hidden Room) / Edward Dmytryk. Truly an undiscovered gem. Dmytryk was in England a fairly short time before returning to America to testify before HUAC. His U.S. co-star in “Obsession,” Phil Brown had also taken refuge in the U.K. from blacklisting but remained for a couple more decades before returning to his home country in the 1990s. He lived to be almost 90. His most famous movie role was as Luke Skywalker’s Uncle Owen in “Star Wars” (1977). After his return to America, he was often seen at autograph shows.
Brown in Obession
Uncle Owen
Gun Crazy. Love your characterization of this fun couple as The Real Sex Pistols. The shooting contest where Laurie and Bart match up pushes the limits of the Production Code as sexual sparks fly. The two fall into a Mad Love that leads to Laurie goading Bart into a series of armed robberies in order to make the money she wants. Right from the opening titles – that play out over a pouring rain at night – we are in a definite noir universe. My review back when also emphasized the continuous take bank robbery. One of the great ones.
Drive. This is one film where I take issue with an almost universal critical and financially successful movie. I just didn’t like a moment of it. The main problem for me is the blank-faced flat-voiced Ryan Gosling. I have seen him in quite a lot of other movies (that I watched for reasons not connected with Gosling) and the only one, strangely, in which I enjoyed him was “The Nice Guys.” He was surprisingly good in comedy. Maybe he has been missing his real calling. Another trope I am tired of is the comedy actor given a criminal role. I liked Alan King in “Casino,” for example but never thought Albert Brooks was anything but a gimmick.
The Salvation. This is an interesting way to make a movie: set in the American west by a Danish film company and director, actors from all over the world, and location filming in South Africa. What they have come up with is a violent revenge thriller set on the American prairie in 1871. Even though the level of violence could not have been shown during Hollywood’s period of great westerns, “The Salvation,” which I like very much, is still in the American revenge western tradition. This film is ideal for those of us who think that the time between Hollywood westerns takes way too long.
I don't think you fully understand, Mr. Bigelow. You've been murdered.
Post by morrisondylanfan on Mar 10, 2020 3:54:21 GMT
Hi all,I hope everyone is having a good day,and over the weekend I went to the Manchester International Film Festival and saw:
A clip of Simon Pegg introducing the film at the event:
Lost Transmissions (2019) 8
Detailing in the 40 minute Q&A with Simon Pegg, (who due to filming of the latest Mission Impossible in Venice being delayed,could attend here) that Theo's battle with schizophrenia is based on what a close friend has faced, writer/director Katharine O'Brien makes her feature film debut with a up-close intimate atmosphere tuning into the most difficult aspects of Theo's condition.
Closely working with cinematographer Arnau Valls Colomer, O'Brien trims away wide establishing shots, instead weaving stylish, jagged dissolves cleverly placing the viewer in the mind-set of Theo's condition not allowing for any room of establishment before being shown at it's most serve.
Inspired by her musician friends struggle with schizophrenia, the screenplay by O'Brien plays fantastic low-key notes to the relationship between Hannah and Theo, as the shyness which holds her in the recording studio, is broken by her speaking up to support Theo, whose warmth towards Hannah and his music production talents are delicately held with the worst destabilising cases of schizophrenia.
Finding her own voice in the friendship with Theo, Juno Temple gives a wonderful expressive turn as Hannah, whose fragile view of herself in song writing, is hardened by Temple from Hannah finding strength to speak out and support Theo, whilst Alexandra Daddario sparkles as charismatic singer Dana Lee trying with Hannah to reach the hit song note. Although he has treated his past Comedy characters seriously, Simon Pegg gives a superb debut "serious" performance as Theo, whose condition Pegg maturely presents as a destabilising weight, leaving the glimpse of his music talents, to play out into lost transmissions.
Other flicks:
How to Undress in Front of Your Man (1970) 5
Clearly a alias, the lone script credit for "Sarah Titwillow" brings out a neat line in a dry dead-pan Comedy narration laced over this "educational" film, with the narrator offering tips on how to get men lusting. One of the very first titles he directed in what would grow into 130 credits, director Gary Graver unwraps a cute, quirky atmosphere in close-ups on the face of the frustrated woman undressing in front of her man.
My movie-watching for last week began and ended with two horror films, and in the middle I watched...the two Frozen films. Let it never be said that I don't like variety.
Yes, I have just used the same photos/GIFs for this film that I used last time I watched it, but..well...it took a really long time to create a collage of 'Let It Go' in full, so you BET I was going to reuse it.
Although the plotline of the movie was a little ‘iffy’ (Elsa follows a voice that she’s hearing and the others go along with), I didn’t really have a problem with this sequel (though I thought Evan Rachel Wood, who voiced Anna and Elsa’s mother, would be featured in the movie more than she was). I know people have said that the songs in this movie weren’t as ‘catchy’/’memorable’ as the first, and while there’s certainly nothing that’s on the same level as ‘Let It Go’, I *did* like ‘Into the Unknown’, ‘Show Yourself’, and ‘Lost in the Woods’. I’ve read comments that the ‘spiritual successor’ to ‘Let It Go’ is supposedly ‘Show Yourself’ (probably because, like with ‘Let It Go’, Elsa lets down her hair and uses her ice powers during ‘Show Yourself), but I actually liked ‘Into the Unknown’ a bit more.
I didn’t have a problem with there not being any clear ‘villain’ for them to fight this time around like Hans in the first film, nor did I think Kristoff was ‘useless’ like some claimed. Sure, he mightn’t have had that much to do, but he saved several people (and reindeer) and was a good friend (I found his ballad amusing in how clearly 80’s-inspired it was, and while it was nice to hear Sven – and the other reindeer – speak/sing, I’m glad it wasn’t a permanent thing, as I prefer it the way it is with Sven just making noises and Kristoff speaking for him). I loved Elsa’s new fire lizard and water horse companions.
I think if the first hadn’t been such a roaring success, then this sequel wouldn’t have been put under such close scrutiny/judged quite so harshly. I found it to be a worthy sequel with stunning visuals (though I still like the first one better).
Hi COE! I hope you are having a good week,and how did you find letting it go again to be?
From when I saw it in Jan:
Frozen 2:Let It Meh. 4/10.
Unable to let things go,song writers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez attempt to create another monster hit with the new 7 songs being modelled on Let It Go's tempo. With a clear focus on topping the charts, the effect is songs which come-off as sub-par carbon copies,as a basis on singing/describing a characters actions, rather their inner feelings, leading to interchangeable, utterly forgettable tunes.
From the opening sweeping shot returning to Arendelle, returning co-writers/co-directors Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee unveil a backdrop with a impeccable attention to giving the backdrop animation a realistic shine, with the ripples from the rivers dotted across the screen,along with cold winds making leaves shake, and falling snowflakes covering the icy paths Elsa and Anna must take.
Standing badly at odds with what is established in the opening shot, the directors contrast the grounded animation of the backdrop with a wide-eyed, rubbery design for the characters, whose contrasting appearance stops them blending into the world they are meant to inhabit. Bringing Elsa to the Enchanted Forest with a sirens call, the writers attempt to juggle a crowd-pleasing reunion, with a serious message, only to end up making a total mess.
Going into what led to the creation of The Enchanted Forest, the writers bluntly use thinly-veil allegory to touch on the killing of Native Americans by European Settlers. Freezing in time a moment when a tribe leader was murdered, the writers distastefully shove aside their attempt at a message, for a ill-judged rush to feel-good fantasy,which wastes the potential offered from the mysterious siren a quick and easy fix, whilst stamping all over the plight of the Natives in order to put a Disney bow on a film which does not know where to go.
Reese Witherspoon plays a woman who is a little unhappy, even though she has it made. Her life is ten times more perfect already than any of the people who will watch this. She has live-in tech support, child care and sex! She has a friggin' Oscar in the spare room! You'll get no sympathy from me, Reese Witherspoon! This all sounds like the real Reese Witherspoon, but its actually her character in the movie.
Hi Leb,I hope you are having a good week,and it looks like you caught a fun selection of flicks. With Home Again,it feels like a title which should have come out during the wave of Rom-Com in the early 2000's,but ended up being left on the shelf for too long. From when I saw it in Ovt 2017:
6.
Joined by the easy-going trio of Nat Wolff/Pico Alexander and Jon Rudnitsky as Harry,Teddy and George, Michael Sheen gives the fluffy tale a touch of gravitas as Kinney's worn-down husband Austen. Carrying the breezy mood of the movie, Reese Witherspoon gives a sweet performance as Kinney,with Witherspoon giving Kinney a strong self-belief,and an ease with lightly comedic one-liners.
Running at least 30 mins shorter than the Rom-Com epics her mum usually makes,debuting writer/director Hallie Meyers-Shyer brings out some interesting twists on the Rom-Com,from everyone being budding film makers,to Kinney's toy-boy romance,and the surprisingly romance-free ending. Whilst shot in a slick Rom-Com style by Shyer & cinematographer Dean Cundey,the screenplay by Shyer oddly decides to leave out any hint of conflict in the romance,as any disagreement or romantic feelings anyone has is pushed away just five minutes later, as Kinney goes home again.
“Onward” Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 103 Minutes, Rated PG, Released March 06, 2020:
Audience members hoping to see another animated classic along the lines of “Toy Story” or “Finding Nemo” might find themselves disappointed by “Onward,” the new computer-animated picture from Pixar Studios released by Walt Disney Motion Pictures on March 06. The difference might be cohesion.
In a world populated by faeries, elves, griffins, and centaurs, a nerdish, put-upon teenage elf named Ian Lightfoot hero worships his late father, who passed away prior to Ian’s birth. Living with his well-intentioned mom and his rambunctious and supportive but oafish older brother Barley, the hapless Ian is surprised to learn on his sixteenth birthday that prior to his death his father left him a gift for the milestone--a magical staff, and the recipe for a magical spell which will return him to life...for 24 hours.
Ian is further surprised to find within himself the ability to create magic...but bungles the spell and is only halfway successful--his father returns, but only from the waist down, sort of an animated pair of pants. So Ian in the company of the reckless and exuberant Barley must set off with their father’s lower half in tow on a “Dungeons and Dragons”-like quest to find the fabled magical Phoenix Gem and restore the rest of their father before their allotted 24 hours ticks away.
With a surfeit of plot but little narrative, “Onward” turns out to be a sputtering, stop-and-start kind of movie, with long stretches of character-driven adventure and comedy interrupting an imaginative but emotionally shallow story, all pushed through the standard template of a Pixar feature. There’s a fine line separating an imaginative story and one that’s woefully contrived, and “Onward” walks gingerly along that barrier. From a production company noted for movies so intimately crafted that audiences can be persuaded that toys have personalities and fish maintain family ties, “Onward” feels as if the filmmakers made it up as they went along.
Best known for their associations with Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tom Holland (“Spider-Man”) and Chris Pratt (“Guardians of the Universe”) as Ian and Barley supply horseplay and personality aplenty, but not enough depth. Reportedly much of the interplay between Ian and Barley was improvised by the actors, and it shows--their lines seem made up instead of scripted. In a movie ultimately about brothers and the bond they share, the brotherly relationship in the film is never quite persuasive.
Directed by “Monsters University” filmmaker Dan Scanlon from a screenplay by Jason Headley, dramatist Keith Bunin, and Scanlon himself, “Onward” has spirit and sight gags but little logic or unity. At its best when it simulates the playful and irreverent ambiance of the old Bob Hope and Bing Crosby movies, “Onward” becomes a sort of “The Road to Mushroomton”--entertaining, sometimes exciting, visually dazzling, but emotionally empty, and even exhausting. The one essential ingredient the filmmakers seem to have left out of the recipe is Disney Magic: There’s no telltale tear of happiness at the end.
Still, “Onward” like any Pixar production is miles above the competition, and kids will love it. The picture is earning glowing reviews from the critics, including an approval rating of 86% from Rotten Tomatoes, against a weighted average of 61% from Metacritic. Rotten Tomatoes notes, “It may suffer in comparison to Pixar’s classics, but ‘Onward’ makes effective use of the studio’s formula, and stands on its own merits as a funny, heartwarming, dazzlingly animated adventure.” Exit audiences polled by CinemaScore assign “Onward” an average grade of A-minus.
As usual, Disney/Pixar screenings are preceded with an animated short subject, in this case “Playdate with Destiny,” a brief traditionally-animated 2D cartoon featuring Maggie Simpson, the youngest member of television’s “The Simpsons” family. “The Simpsons” fell under the Disney Studios’ umbrella with the company’s March 2019 acquisition of 20th Century-Fox. Film buffs will note the addition of Mickey Mouse’s familiar silhouette to the Gracie Films logo.
A few of the peripheral characters in “Onward” are “borrowed” from the popular “Dungeons & Dragons” role playing board game, and accordingly receive onscreen credit at the end of the picture. A lawsuit has additionally been filed against Disney and Pixar by a California tattoo artist who alleges “Onward” animators appropriated some copyrighted images from a unicorn-themed mural she designed. The suit is pending.
“Onward” is rated PG for sequences of action and peril, and for some mild thematic elements.
“The Way Back” Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, 108 Minutes, Rated PG-13, Released March 06, 2020:
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILER
Jack Cunningham is a man with a haunted past. Once a high school basketball phenomenon and the star player on his school’s state championship team, Jack passed up a full scholarship to the basketball powerhouse University of Kansas for reasons that remain locked in his heart. Now an embittered, hard-drinking, middle-aged construction worker, Jack is offered an opportunity for redemption as the basketball coach at his old high school...but redemption comes at a cost.
Directed by Gavin O’Connor, the filmmaker behind the 2004 hockey-themed drama “Miracle,” the acclaimed martial arts-themed drama “Warrior” in 2011, and the 2016 action thriller “The Accountant” (which starred Affleck in the central role), ”The Way Back” is not an easy picture to categorize or even describe--a hybrid of a sports movie and a character study, with sharp editing and grainy photography reminiscent of a documentary, a quality enhanced by the movie’s cast of relatively unfamiliar performers.
For most of the way, the filmmakers seem to think we’ve never seen a sports movie before: A hard-luck, losing team of colorful outcasts with the intervention of the tough love of a hard-bitten new coach is surprised when the combination leads to points adding up on the scoreboard, and begins to dream of the championship. But even with the inclusion of practically every sports cliche you’re ever seen, the filmmakers proceed with an earnestness and conviction that makes the picture awfully tough to resist.
But the film is driven home by the performance by Ben Affleck as the reluctant new coach. Bearded, bloated, and foul-mouthed, carrying so much extra beer muscle that his eyes seem at times almost swollen shut, the actor contributes an uncharacteristically realistic and lived-in quality that’s authentic right down to his untucked shirt and cruddy fingernails. This is Affleck’s most heart-wrenching and gut-churning performance since...well, since ever.
The actor’s performance is so compelling that the audience follows along when events begin to head south for the coach during the picture’s third act and the picture actually becomes uncomfortable, and possibly even difficult to watch for some viewers. This is some powerful stuff, presented by people who seem to know their subject well. The dichotomy is that by the point when “The Way Back” appears like it could eschew a traditional wrapup for a more challenging and even existential denouement, the audience might not be in the mood for a challenge.
Written by Brad Ingelsby, the journeyman screenwriter behind the wrenching Pittsburgh-based 2013 drama “Out of the Furnace,” “The Way Back” is a compelling and sometimes difficult motion picture experience. These guys know their liquor--this is a movie which works hard to earn its R rating, and likely contains one of the most realistic depictions of binge drinking ever committed to film. But in a movie which reportedly has a particular emotional resonance to its star, Ben Affleck contributes a performance which might well be remembered during awards season.
“The Way Back” is receiving enthusiastic reviews from the critics, including an approval rating of 88% from Rotten Tomatoes and a weighted average of 68% from Metacritic. Rotten Tomatoes notes that the picture’s “occasionally frustrating treatment of a formulaic story is outweighed by Ben Affleck’s outstanding work in the central role.” Exit audiences polled by CinemaScore award the picture an average grade of B-plus.
Playing on 2718 theater screens across the United States and Canada, “The Way Back” is rated R for scenes depicting liquor consumption, and adult language throughout.
Last Edit: Apr 6, 2020 22:13:24 GMT by cschultz2: Clarity
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