What classics did you see last week ? (18 Mar - 24 Mar 2018)

Three Days of the Condor (1975) 6/10

The General's Daughter (1999) 7/10

The Lady from Shanghai (1947) 5/10

The Descent (2006) 8/10

Green Mansions (1959) 5/10

Ginger & Rosa (2012) 3/10

G.I. Jane (1997) 4/10

The Disaster Artist (2017) 8/10

The Anderson Tapes (1971) 5/10

50 First Dates (2004) 4/10

And several episodes of

Macao / Josef von Sternberg (1952). This troubled production from RKO came a year after Howard Hughes took control of the studio. Hughes hired Sternberg for the prestige factor but Sternberg ran his set like a tin pot dictator which turned the entire cast against him. Although Sternberg was credited as sole director, he was fired toward the end of the shoot and Nicholas Ray was brought in to finish and do re-shoots. It is still a matter controversy which parts belong to Sternberg and which to Ray. But is spite of all the backstage squabbling, the finished product is a satisfying but somewhat routine crime thriller. Robert Mitchum arrives in the then-Portuguese colony off the coast of China. On the boat with him is out of work and out of luck chanteuse Jane Russell and traveling salesman William Bendix. Mitchum and Russell gravitate to an American gangster (played by Brad Dexter) who owns most of the gambling establishments on Macao, Dexter suspects Mitchum of being a policeman from America sent to lure him over the three-mile limit out to sea to be arrested for crimes back home. But is Mitchum really a cop? Does Jane Russell have an agenda other than singing in Dexter’s club? And what about glad-handing salesman Bendix? All questions are eventually answered. BTW, the movie, shockingly, has ONE actor with a speaking role and credited who has an actual by-God Asian ancestry. Korean-American Philip Ahn plays Dexter’s main strong arm enforcer. Gloria Grahame is criminally underused as Dexter’s moll. However, a film released later this same year won Grahame a Best Supporting Actress Oscar (“The Bad and the Beautiful”). Also with Thomas Gomez as a local cop on Dexter’s payroll.

Bendix, Russell, Mitchum


Gloria Graham and Robert Mitchum


Hâdo Ribenji, Mirî (Hard Revenge, Milly) / Takanori Tsujimoto (2008). A current journey though revenge movies takes me to Japan and this live action but cartoon-ish film which takes place in a post-apocalyptic landscape à la Mad Max. The first of two films is barely a full-length feature according to the U.S. Academy rules: it is only 44 minutes long. Milly (Miki Mizuno) saw her family murdered and herself left for dead. But now she is back and looking for gang leader Jack, Jack’s brother and girlfriend, and henchman, the ones who murdered her husband and baby. She dispatches three in short order with ridiculous spurting blood that shoots, fountain-like, several feet into the air. This is not at all disturbing because of the silliness of it. Jack himself, however, is no pushover and the short film ends with an extended personal combat between the two. At the very end, we learn the shocking secret of how Milly survived the initial attack on her and her family.



Hâdo Ribenji, Mirî: Buraddi Batoru (Hard Revenge, Milly: Bloody Battle) / Takanori Tsujimoto (2009). The sequel to “Hard Revenge, Milly” runs about 70 minutes. Once Milly has taken her revenge on Jack, her life seems empty with no purpose. Then she meets Haru (Nao Nagasawa), another young woman with revenge on her mind. Her fiancé has been killed, but Haru has none of the fighting skills of Milly. Milly begins her training but is interrupted by some of Jack’s gang, themselves seeking revenge. Like the first film, it is a cartoon acted out by real people. Nothing seems real. Only the physicality of the fight choreography holds the interest.



The Party / Sally Potter (2017). This is a superb example of the couples-meet-for-dinner-and-murky-depths-are-revealed genre of film and play but it is also a brilliant satire of those kinds of shows as more and more outrageous revelations are made. It is shot in black & white with the great cast of Kristin Scott Thomas, Patricia Clarkson, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimore, Timothy Spall, Bruno Ganz, and Cillian Murphy. The film starts immediately with a door being opened to reveal Scott Thomas. She raises a pistol and points it at the camera. After the opening credits, we flashback to the start. of the evening party and then lead up to that opening shocker. Janet (Scott Thomas) has been promoted to a top job in the British government. She and husband Bill (Spall) are throwing an little do to celebrate. Their guests are Janet’s close friend April (Clarkson) and partner Gottfried (Ganz). April starts the party off by announcing at once that she and Gottfried are separating. Next are the May-December gay couple Martha and Jinny (Jones and Mortimore). Only one half of the final couple arrives, Tom (Murphy) who is in bad shape, sweating badly, looking on the verge of a breakdown. He immediately retreats to the bathroom to sniff coke. And this is just the beginning. Serious, even tragic, yet more often than not wildly funny. There is a WOW final line. One of the best of 2017.



…Continuing a watch straight through the 10 seasons of Doctor Who: New Series in anticipation of next year’s introduction of the 13th Doctor.

S. 10, Ep. 6, 7, 8 “Extremis” and “The Pyramid At The End Of The World” and “The Lie Of The Land” May 20, 27 June 3, 2017. Known in fandom as “The Monks Trilogy,” In the first episode, The Doctor is contacted by the Vatican – the Pope himself shows up – to urge him to examine an ancient document, just unearthed and translated, that causes anyone who reads it to commit suicide. He, Bill, and Nardole find themselves confronted by strange creatures in robes who have their sights on Earth. In chapter 2, the Monks foresee a catastrophe that threatens all life on Earth. They promise the stop it but only if the governments ask for their help and accept it with love. But there are strings attached. In the final story, The Monks have subjected all Earth to their rule and are sending psychic waves that make people believe they have always been here, helping humanity along. Only The Doctor is immune from the psychic propaganda so is the only hope.

The Doctor confronts the Monks

In which she did one of the worst Southern accents of all time