What Films did You Watch Last Week (30/01 - 05/02) CLOSED

Hello again! Hope you're having a good vacation. I haven't seen Lockwood & Co.

Mine:

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (David Soren, 2017)

Watched it with my daughter. Not great by any means, but far better than anything called “Captain Underpants” has any right to be. 6/10

Murder, He Says (George Marshall, 1945)

Comedy in which a pollster stumbles upon a family of criminals looking for lost treasure. He’s held hostage after the grandmother gives him a clue to where it’s at. Very silly. Some very funny moments, but a lot of it drags as some of the same jokes keep getting reused. 6/10

The Great Yokai War (Yoshiyuki Kuroda, 1968)

Also titled “Spook Warfare” on the blu-ray. This one is a lot sillier and child friendly than the last (100 Monsters) coming off more of a fantasy adventure with some spooky moments. It’s alright, but not as enjoyable as the last one. 5/10

Il Bidone (Federico Fellini, 1955)

he least Fellini-like Fellini movie the director ever made. Even his earliest films have more of his quirks and traits than this one does. Here Fellini is making a crime film about a group that swindles poor people (frequently disguising themselves as members of the catholic church or representatives building homes in order to get down-payments). It feels much more in line with the Italian neo-realisim movement and it's honestly a deeply depressing film trying to hide its nature under some fairly comedic moments. It makes you think it's going one direction only to subvert it in the most brutal of fashions. While it may not fit with the rest of his filmography, it's an interesting change of pace from Fellini and a movie that I quite enjoyed. 8/10

Along with Ghosts (Yoshiyuki Kuroda and Kimiyoshi Yasuda, 1969)

Third and final in the Yokai monsters' series. Interesting the first was directed by Yasuda, the second Kuroda and here they co-direct the final. This one is the most flatout horror of the three which have all had almost kidfriendly moments mixed with the horror (interestingly, this is also the only one with a child main character thus adding to the overall oddness of the series). It’s fun, though much slower paced. I’d rank it about even with the first. 6/10

Dressed to Kill (Brian De Palma, 1980)

I confess I have not seen a lot of De Palma’s films (Phantom of Paradise, Carrie, Scarface, The Untouchables and Mission to Mars) but of the one’s I’ve seen this is easily my favorite. It’s an obvious homage to Hitchcock’s Psycho following a character for the first portion of the film who is murdered and then we follow the investigation from people outside the police. It’s well done and Cain is always enjoyable to watch. 8/10

The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion, 2021)

Man, this is a movie I wished I liked a lot more. It’s beautifully shot, performances are all solid to great... it just doesn’t have quite the impact that I feel like it should. It’s a movie that I liked, but I feel like with a few changes it could have been a masterpiece. 7/10

MINE

Orpheus (1950 Jean Cocteau) - 7.5/10

The Old Way (2023 Brett Donowho) - 5.5/10

The Spiral Staircase (1946 Robert Siodmak) - 6.5/10

The Mudlark (1950 Jean Negulesco) - 6.5/10

Meet Wally Sparks (1997 Peter Baldwin) - 3.5/10

The Naked Island (1960 Kaneto Shindô) - 5/10

Babylon (2022 Damien Chazelle) - 8.5/10

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022 Ryan Coogler) - 6.5/10

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004 Raja Gosnell) - 5.5/10

Mile 22 (2018 Peter Berg) - 3.5/10


Television

DuckTales: Season 2 (1988-1989) - 7.5/10














Film Awards

BEST PICTURE



BEST ACTOR 


Diego Calva (Babylon)

BEST ACTRESS


Margot Robbie (Babylon)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR


Alec Guinness (The Mudlark)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS


Irene Dunne (The Mudlark)

BEST DIRECTOR


Damien Chazelle (Babylon)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY



The Naked Island

BEST SCORE

First Time Viewings:

Top Gun: Maverick (2022, Joseph Kosinski) – On Demand
8/10

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022, Ryan Coogler) – Disney+
8/10

The Bad Guys (2022, Pierre Perifel) – TV
7/10

Repeat Viewings:

Top Gun (1986, Tony Scott) – Netflix
7/10

First Time Viewing

My Dear Killer (1972; Tonino Valerii) - Unusual more plot-centric giallo which ends up being too convoluted and emotionally distant to really rise above average.
6/10

TV

Sherlock Holmes (1968) - Only a handful of episodes of the second season of this series featuring Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes have survived and sadly judged by these few this doesn't feel like a great loss since the show is very stagy and rather dull. Cushing was reportedly unhappy with his performance and I would say this is strictly one for Sherlockian completists.
5/10

Repeat Viewing

Edge Of Tomorrow (2014; Doug Liman) - One of my favourite Tom Cruise movies, like any good time-loop movie this is endlessly rewatchable.
8/10

First Time Viewings:



Underworld (2003, Len Wiseman) - 5.5/10


A River Runs Through It (1992, Robert Redford) - 7/10


Babylon (2022, Damien Chazelle) - 9/10


Gross Misconduct (1993, George Miller) - 6/10


Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022, Alejandro G. Iñárritu) - 7/10


Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022, Ryan Coogler) - 6.5/10


What Just Happened (2008, Barry Levinson) - 7/10


Never Take Candy from A Stranger (1960, Cyril Frankel) - 7/10




Repeat Viewings:



Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979, Robert Wise) - 7.5/10


Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, Nicholas Meyer) - 8/10


Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984, Leonard Nimoy) - 7.5/10


Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986, Leonard Nimoy) - 8.5/10


Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989, William Shatner) - 6/10


Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991, Nicholas Meyer) - 7.5/10


Black Panther (2018, Ryan Coogler) - 6.5/10


Sleepers (1996, Barry Levinson) - 8/10


Noah (2014, Darren Aronofsky) - 7/10



Movie Awards:



BEST FILM: Babylon
BEST ACTOR: Diego Calva - Babylon
BEST ACTRESS: Margot Robbie - Babylon
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Ricardo Montalbán - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jennifer Connelly - Noah
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Darius Khondji - Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
BEST SCORE: Jerry Goldsmith - Star Trek: The Motion Picture
BEST SCRIPT: Damien Chazelle - Babylon
BEST DIRECTOR: Damien Chazelle - Babylon

First Time Viewings:

Underworld (2003, Len Wiseman) - 5.5/10

A River Runs Through It (1992, Robert Redford) - 7/10

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022, Ryan Coogler) - 6.5/10

What Just Happened (2008, Barry Levinson) - 7/10 5/10



Repeat Viewings:

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979, Robert Wise) - 7.5/10

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, Nicholas Meyer) - 8/10 7/10

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984, Leonard Nimoy) - 7.5/10 6.5/10

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986, Leonard Nimoy) - 8.5/10 7/10

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989, William Shatner) - 6/10 4.5/10

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991, Nicholas Meyer) - 7.5/10 6.5/10

Black Panther (2018, Ryan Coogler) - 6.5/10 7/10

Sleepers (1996, Barry Levinson) - 8/10

Noah (2014, Darren Aronofsky) - 7/10 7.5/10



Movie Awards:



BEST FILM: Babylon
BEST ACTOR: Diego Calva - Babylon Russell Crowe (Noah)
BEST ACTRESS: Margot Robbie - Babylon
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Ricardo Montalbán - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Kevin Bacon (Sleepers)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jennifer Connelly - Noah
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Darius Khondji - Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
BEST SCORE: Jerry Goldsmith - Star Trek: The Motion Picture
BEST SCRIPT: Damien Chazelle - Babylon
BEST DIRECTOR: Damien Chazelle - Babylon

Have you seen any of the Star Trek movies?