What Movies Did You Watch Last Week? (22/05-28/05) CLOSED

You watched two films I like alot last week, the torturous home invasion thriller 'Unlawful Entry' and the franchise starter 'Bring It On'.

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Here's my viewings for the week ...

‘Murderlust’ (1985 – Donald Jones)

Sunday school teacher Steve Belmont (Eli Rich) sets out to “save” non-believers.

‘Murderlust’ is a dull character study about a Christian fundamentalist who conflates his own ego with the word of God. It has some nice shots of the Mojave Desert in California but not much else. The dischordant, disorganised synthesiser score composed by screenwriter James Lane is a real hatchet job on the state of his own writing.

‘Project Nightmare’ (1987 – Donald Jones)

Engineers Jon Redmond (Seth Foster) and Gus Wicker (Charles Miller) come up against an unstoppable force during a camping trip.

‘Project Nightmare’ is a boring science-fiction piece exploring the psychological effects brought on by isolation and artificial environments. Mind experiments are put down by rocky visuals and dismal digital graphics in this crude, choppy camping nightmare.

‘Rolling Stones : Stripped’ (1995, Documentary – Jim Gable)

The Rolling Stones discuss their rehearsal process while preparing for a recording session comprised of songs from their back catalogue and a tour with an accent on acoustics.

The Rolling Stones are capable of making music that touches your soul and they have a set list to rival any rock group in history. They’re in good form here performing a selection of old favourites in different venues just a couple of years on from bassist Bill Wyman’s departure. They do a rendition of ‘Jumpin Jack Flash’ for Jack Nicholson who can’t control himself.


‘The Legend Of The Palme D’Or’ (2015, Documentary, La légende de la palme d'or – Alexis Veller)

Past winners of the top prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival reminisce about the night their dreams became reality.

The minimalistic design for the beautiful Palme D’Or trophy was based on a drawing by Jean Cocteau. ‘The Legend Of The Palme D’Or’ shares clips of legendary filmmakers attending the Cannes Film Festival. The past winners interviewed are Jane Campion, Emir Kusturica, Nanni Moretti, Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Wim Wenders and the Dardenne Brothers.

‘Jane Austen : Behind Closed Doors’ (2017, Documentary – Rachel Jardine)

Historian Lucy Worsley embarks upon a trip to see some of the houses that novelist Jane Austen lived and worked in.

‘Jane Austen : Behind Closed Doors’ is a fine documentary for those with an interest in writing or architecture. It features some staged re-enactments in which Gwendolen Chatfield plays Jane Austen, a new fad I don’t like at all. I prefer a dry, scholarly approach that employs research documents and archive materials as modern re-enactments tend to appear silly.

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

A look at the pivotal role played by decorated political pundit Gloria Borger in relaying the latest news from the White House.

Award-winning reporter Gloria Borger is currently the chief political analyst at CNN where she works alongside veteran anchor Wolfman Blitzer. Having worked at CNBC and CBS, Borger brings a wealth of experience to her role which has proven invaluable to the news network.

’The State Of Things To Come 4’ (2017, Documentary – Charles Iverson)

CNN reporter Kate Bolduan determines the differences between working in live newsfeed and organised settings.

Kate Bolduan is one of America’s leading journalists. In the fourth part of Charles Iverson's 'State Of Things' profile series, Iverson analyses the complimentary components that have enabled Bolduan to become one of the best in the business.

Hot Saturday / William A. Seiter (1932). A nifty pre-code about a young woman, Ruth (Nancy Carroll), who supports her retired layabout father and demanding mother (Jane Darwell) by working as a bank teller. Every weekend all the young people in town drive out to the new night club on the lake – the only entertainment the town has to offer; that is, except for the entertaining gossip that the bitter wives spread among themselves. They have plenty to pick-a-little talk-a-little about when playboy Romer Sheffield (Cary Grant) moves into a summer house with his mistress. After sending the mistress packing, Sheffield makes some moves on Ruth, which she finds flattering but rebuffs. When she embarrasses her boyfriend Connie (Edward Woods) by going for a long walk with Sheffield, he strands her without a ride home then spreads a rumor about her spending the night with the playboy. Even though Grant gets top billing, Nancy Carroll is the lead role and is in virtually every shot. She expertly portrays Ruth’s growing panic knowing that the gossip will be impossible to stop. At first she is the victim but, unexpectedly for the time, her final act is one of defiance and it ends the film perfectly. I am not sure if Cary Grant had become “Cary Grant” by this time. I think maybe not. He is heavily made up (way too much eye liner) and seems to be attempting an American accent; he’s not sounding like himself. Randolph Scott also shows us as a former school boyfriend of Ruth’s. Pretty good little meller.

Bringing Up Baby / Howard Hawks (1938). One of the funniest and most intense, relentless comedies in history. Cary Grant is absent minded professor David who has just received a bone that will complete his reconstruction of a T-Rex. Katharine Hepburn is Susan, a scatterbrained but lovable flake who falls in love with David and preceeds to practically ruin his life in pursuit of him. (NOTE: Kate is perfect as a lovable, even adorable, ditz instead of being just annoying, which could have happened with any other actress.) Throw into the mix Susan’s house-cat like leopard (the eponymouse Baby), a bone stealing dog (played by the Asta of the first five Thin Man movies), a second but vicious leopard escapee, and a full cast of crazy character actors (Fritz Feld, Mae Robson, Charles Ruggles, Walter Catlett, and Barry Fitzgerald) and you have the perfect farce. I don’t think there was ever a movie quite like it either before or after it. Surely, neither Grant nor Hepburn ever played those same characters again. In fact, Cary Grant was on a comic roll having just come off “The Awful Truth” and, following “Baby,” he joined Kate Hepburn again for “Holiday.” In both of those films he created people different from David. The comedies were followed by a couple of revelatory dramatic roles in “Gunga Din” and “Only Angels Have Wings” (again with Howard Hawks). One other thing (among many) that I loved about “Bringing Up Baby” is that throughout the course of the film, David and Susan fall down a lot. In a vast majority of the cases, you can clearly see that it is actually these two big movie stars taking all their own pratfalls. There is much to love here.

The Return Of Doctor X / Vincent Sherman (1939). Surprisingly entertaining mad scientist flick which Humphrey Bogart, who plays a dead man walking, reportedly hated doing – but he is very good and, really, the only truly scary thing about this would-be horror film. Wayne Morris tops the cast as a fast talking reporter; you know, the kind who wears his fedora with the front brim turned up flat. He gets himself fired after he goes to interview a famous actress (Lya Lys). He finds her murdered body so phones in the story to the paper before calling the police. When the cops arrive, the body is gone. The next day, the actress shows up at the newspaper, alive and threatening a law suit. Morris ropes in a buddy who is a doctor (Dennis Morgan) and they both begin to investigate. This leads them to a blood expert, Dr. Flegg (John Litel) and his assistant, Quesne (pronounced “Caine) – Bogart. Quesne’s skin is completely white and he has a line of perfectly white hair running through his otherwise brunette mane. Hmm. No blood, maybe? Everything about “Doctor X” is, of course, nonsense but the movie hardly slows down enough for an audience to think about it until it is all over. Still, I thought it was quite enjoyable, especially seeing how Humphrey Bogart can elevate this kind of material. Seen on TCM. Excellent print.

La La Land / Damien Chazelle (2016). Writer/director Chazelle (“Whiplash”) follows up his drama set in a music conservatory with an actual new musical with original songs, just like in the old days. The songs are mostly catchy, not really a bad one in the lot. Two young people are looking to Make It Big in Los Angles; he a jazz pianist, she an actress. They meet. Hate each other at first sight. Slowly fall in love. Get together. He finds success. They split. She finds success. They can’t get back together. Highest kudos to the cinematography, production design, and set decoration. Emma Stone deserved her Best Actress Oscar. Bu-u-u-u-ut…for me, “La La Land” just didn’t have “It” – that special something that truly great movies have. In spite of the film’s pluses, it still left me feeling like there should be more. Oh, well. I’m probably the last person in the world who hadn’t seen it, so whatdah I know?

Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer / Joseph Cedar (2016). Richard Gere gives a bravura performance in this character study of a – well, the sub-title calls him a fixer – but he is really a kind of hustler. He likes to corner rich investors to pitch them a deal, promising to “put them together” with someone else who can make them both money. He claims that the “someone else” is a person he knows well. He tells at least two people that his daughter used to babysit for him and his wife. Trouble is, Norman doesn’t know that third person at all; he is spinning stories out of his head, hoping, I guess, create a spark that might get him some money, but mostly he just wants to be in the inner circle of something important. Then one day lightening strikes. He recognizes on the street a Deputy Minister of Trade for Israel. Norman approaches the man, they fall into conversation, and Norman does him a favor. Three years later this man, Micha Eshel (Lior Ashkenazi – the star of Joseph Cedar’s Oscar nominated “Footnote”), becomes Prime Minister of Israel…and he remembers Norman. Eshel appoints Norman a liaison with the Jews of New York City. Even though Eshel’s chief of staff cuts Norman out of the loop, denying him access, Norman starts making promises based on his connection with the Prime Minister, promises he can’t keep but which are going to come due. Gere is fabulous, as is Ashkenazi. Charlotte Gainsbourg enters late but makes a big impression as an Israeli embassy investigator who happens to run into Norman and who is immediately suspicious. “Norman” is a film that should please many of the contributors to the “What do you feel is missing in films today?” thread as it is character and dialog driven. The director makes himself almost invisible in the sense that the film flows naturally. “Norman” is in limited release.

Hey!

Actually only seen Green Room from yours, which I like a lot. Needs a rewatch actually, but it was brutal, intense, and just really good overall. 8/10