Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Cinema at the End of the World Edition
- Thread starter ProstheticConscience
- Start date
I find this one to be a mess to be honest. There are a couple of images that screams avant garde, and the plot tries to be mysterious, but it just makes the whole thing incredibly stupid. That said, as a part of a trilogy, it becomes manageable, because at the very least, it deals with the same theme as the other entries. Otherwise, this one can be skipped.
Yeah very messy. The first half was easy enough to understand but I could not make heads or tails of the second half of the movie and really struggled to follow the plot - good to know that it was just kind of stupid and it wasn't just a problem I had
Now you're just showing off. I'll learn to spell it once you learn to pronounce it. Deal?
Last edited:
Now you're just showing off. I'll learn to spell it once you learn to pronounce it. Deal?
Honestly, I always just call him that Thai director.
I speak the language, I grew up there, and I had no idea what went on. You are fine.
I'm conflicted about how I feel about this. On one hand, I'm a huge supporter of the theatre experience and I think this really will benefit art house and independent theatres - it provides a big week long event for them where they are the one exclusive place in the world where you can see the film that week. But, as someone who enjoys Apichatpong's films and currently doesn't live somewhere with an art house or independent theatre... I'm hoping that this "never-ending" theatrical run ends at some point and it becomes available to watch at home
Now you're just showing off. I'll learn to spell it once you learn to pronounce it. Deal?
Honestly, I always just call him that Thai director.
Perhaps thankfully, he's also okay with people calling him "Joe" instead of butchering his name
The Green Knight (2021) Directed by Dave Lowery 7B
Wanting to impress King Arthur and his Queen, Guenevere, Gawain volunteers to take on the mysterious Green Knight, who looks a little like a distant forebearer of Groot perhaps. Severing the Knight's head, Gawain easily triumphs, though this doesn't terribly bother the Knight who picks up his head and walks off into the distance. But Gawain has made a deal, and he must pay the piper a full year later when he is honour-bound to meet the Knight once again but this time on the strange apparition's home turf. There are not too many serious adaptations of 14th century, middle-English, Arthurian legend stories. I would give the movie lots of points for that alone. However, when one adds on a highly original existential approach that fits the timeworn material like a glove, that is really cause for some celebration. Atmosphere is everything in this medieval acid trip of a movie. Nearly the entire film seems to be shot in mist and shadow, the characters often appearing dream-like or in a drugged state. It is also the first non-animated movie since Antichrist to have a talking fox which should give you some idea of the psychological depths we are plumbing here.
As Gawain, Dev Patel proceeds not heroically but like someone not sure what he has gotten himself into but who is nonetheless compelled to keep moving forward anyway. It is a fine performance. A lot of people seem not to like Patel, but I'm not among the naysayers. I do find him something of a schizoid actor, though. He can be unberarably ingratiating in light material, but in serious films he transforms into an actor who is capable of exploring his characters' insecurities and inner thoughts with real insight. The Green Knight is visual cinema first and foremost and one of the most beautiful films to look at of the yerar.
Best of '21 so far
1, The Power of the Dog, Campion, US
2. The Cloud in Her Room, Zheng, China
3. Red Moon Tide, Patino, Spain
4. The Year of the Everlasting Storm, Panahi, et al, various countries
5. The Green Knight, Lowery, US
6. Undine, Penzold, Germany
7. Identifying Features, Valadez, Mexico
8. Manor House, Puiu, Romania
9. The Dig, Stone, UK
Little Cheung / 細路祥 (Fruit Chan, 1999)
The final film in Fruit Chan’s Handover Trilogy stands out as a bit different from the prior entries in the series. Whereas the first two entries were about disillusioned men adapting to life in the handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China with splashes of shock and genre, Little Cheung is a coming-of-age story of a nine-year-old boy who delivers food for his family restaurant in the Portland Street area. A really charming story with some great comedic moments; kind of a love letter to that part of Hong Kong full of eccentric street characters, gangsters, Filipino nannies, and extended family. While it is by far the most charming and happiest of the films in the series, the film does have a tinge of pathos as it is clear that this state of childhood is temporary – much like Hong Kong in the 90s. Although Made in Hong Kong gets the most attention in the trilogy, I think Little Cheung is the best film in the series.
The final film in Fruit Chan’s Handover Trilogy stands out as a bit different from the prior entries in the series. Whereas the first two entries were about disillusioned men adapting to life in the handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China with splashes of shock and genre, Little Cheung is a coming-of-age story of a nine-year-old boy who delivers food for his family restaurant in the Portland Street area. A really charming story with some great comedic moments; kind of a love letter to that part of Hong Kong full of eccentric street characters, gangsters, Filipino nannies, and extended family. While it is by far the most charming and happiest of the films in the series, the film does have a tinge of pathos as it is clear that this state of childhood is temporary – much like Hong Kong in the 90s. Although Made in Hong Kong gets the most attention in the trilogy, I think Little Cheung is the best film in the series.
KallioWeHardlyKnewYe
Hey! We won!
- May 30, 2003
- 15,772
- 3,808
Saint Maud. It's by sheer coincidence that I finally fired this up in such close proximity to Midnight Mass but there's a notable parallel in that the focus is on a devoutly religious person who genuinely and deeply believes their mission is to save others. Crazy perhaps, but compassionate in their own ways. Mass is a macro goal, Maud is very micro. Save just one person. Save yourself. It's an unsettling journey that stays grounded amid flights of the fantastic thanks to a stellar lead performance by Morfydd Clark. She's fragile and also utterly terrifying. The closing moments will stick with me. Creepy and confident filmmaking.
Demons 2. The first Demons is just an all-time blast (especially in a movie theater). The follow up has entertaining moments (Tony Rhodes is memorable in both) but it's just too much of a jumble to really gel. Really feels assembled on the fly from parts of other movies with a pretty blatant nod to Videodrome and a very odd sequence verging into Gremlins/Ghoulies/Critters realm. Definitely the second best in the series.
Apt Pupil. It's hard to disentangle the movie from some of the behind-the-scenes issues with director Bryan Singer both on this movie specifically and through his career in general. I thought both Brad Renfro (who died too young) and Ian McKellan are good here, especially as their relationship morphs into a Strangers on the Train-esque mutually assured destruction. The premise is a ripe one but ultimately this didn't add up for me. Can't decide if that's internal reasons with the movie or just external reasons with Singer.
Demons 2. The first Demons is just an all-time blast (especially in a movie theater). The follow up has entertaining moments (Tony Rhodes is memorable in both) but it's just too much of a jumble to really gel. Really feels assembled on the fly from parts of other movies with a pretty blatant nod to Videodrome and a very odd sequence verging into Gremlins/Ghoulies/Critters realm. Definitely the second best in the series.
Apt Pupil. It's hard to disentangle the movie from some of the behind-the-scenes issues with director Bryan Singer both on this movie specifically and through his career in general. I thought both Brad Renfro (who died too young) and Ian McKellan are good here, especially as their relationship morphs into a Strangers on the Train-esque mutually assured destruction. The premise is a ripe one but ultimately this didn't add up for me. Can't decide if that's internal reasons with the movie or just external reasons with Singer.
Chili
Time passes when you're not looking
- Jun 10, 2004
- 8,788
- 4,924
Side Street-1949
A man sees a chance to take an easy couple of hundred bucks to help pay his wife's hospital bill (expecting their child). He gets far more in cash and trouble though as he gets caught up in a hornet's nest of crime. Many great location shots of New York City. Impressive car chase. VGood mystery noir.
I am impressed by how much Chan improved in the span of just 3 films. He really tones it down, and he is able to get the pathos just right, as I feel an organic emotional connection with the film.
Both Made in Hong Kong and Little Cheung deal with the uncertainty with the 1997 Handover, both the reality and the perception, but whereas Made in Hong Kong hits the audience over the head with it, Little Cheung is a lot more subtle. Chan never says it outright, but everything he shows on the screen reflects everyday life in Hong Kong, and that allows the audience to form a better connection with the film.
I also really like the title, because the titular character is named after a rather famous Cantonese opera singer who is a cultural icon in Hong Kong, which reflects the sense of nostalgia for the past caused by the uncertainty of the future feel by both the people in the film and the people in real life. It is also the same name of a film released in 1950 that starred an 8 year old Bruce Lee, which is likely no coincidence, as Chan really wants to get that nostalgia aspect across.
The star of the film won a couple of awards for his role, but when people asked if he wanted to continue in the industry, he refused, because Chan was really tough on him.
He did appear in a cameo role in a Chan movie years later, but that is the extend of his movie career.
Last edited:
Old (2021) - 3/10 (Really disliked it)
A group of vacationing strangers visiting a secluded beach start to age at an accelerated rate and don't exactly have the time of their lives. M. Night Shyamalan's latest is a mystery that didn't have much mystery because I pretty much already knew what was happening, would happen and why. Most of it was spent waiting for the characters to put two and two together and realize it, themselves. Included in that is some early misdirection that felt a bit insulting. It was also often clear when a "surprise" was coming because Shyamalan delays showing the faces of people talking in order to build up suspense for the reveal, but I just found it annoying. He uses a lot of obvious tricks like that that were distracting because it constantly reminded me of who was directing the film. The fact that Shyamalan also gives himself a supporting role, larger than the usual cameo, didn't help. Speaking of characters, they mostly felt two dimensional and unrealistic. Attempts to give them some depth felt awkward and melodramatic, partly thanks to the dialogue, which has never been Shyamalan's strong suit. Like the other "surprises" in the film, there's a "twist" ending, but it was half what I expected and half not surprising. I was waiting for there to be something else, something that you might actually call a twist. I didn't find the film to be very mysterious, suspenseful or even interesting, mostly just predictable, goofy and clumsy. It produced some laughs, but unintentional ones because of how dramatic it tries to be. Overall, it was like watching a magician repeatedly hide and reveal things and waiting for one of the tricks to be impressive or surprising, but never getting it.
Last edited:
I am impressed by how much Chan improved in the span of just 3 films. He really tones it down, and he is able to get the pathos just right, as I feel an organic emotional connection with the film.
Both Made in Hong Kong and Little Cheung deal with the uncertainty with the 1997 Handover, both the reality and the perception, but whereas Made in Hong Kong hits the audience over the head with it, Little Cheung is a lot more subtle. Chan never says it outright, but everything he shows on the screen reflects everyday life in Hong Kong, and that allows the audience to form a better connection with the film.
I also really like the title, because the titular character is named after a rather famous Cantonese opera singer who is a cultural icon in Hong Kong, which reflects the sense of nostalgia for the past caused by the uncertainty of the future feel by both the people in the film and the people in real life. It is also the same name of a film released in 1950 that starred an 8 year old Bruce Lee, which is likely no coincidence, as Chan really wants to get that nostalgia aspect across.
The star of the film won a couple of awards for his role, but when people asked if he wanted to continue in the industry, he refused, because Chan was really tough on him.
He did appear in a cameo role in a Chan movie years later, but that is the extend of his movie career.
Thanks for the background, a lot of that regarding the background of Cheung is really interesting and was lost of me since I'm not a Hongkonger.
For Sama (Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts, 2019)
There’s been a lot of coverage regarding children and the Syrian Civil War. Arguably the two most iconic images of the Syrian Civil War involve children: the photo of toddler Alan Kurdi dead and washed upon the shores of Turkey, and the photo of Omran Daqneesh, a young child who was photographed dusty and bloody in an ambulance after his home was bombed in Aleppo. Using children (and women) is a powerful narrative device to show the civilian impact of warfare – they represent a loss of innocence and a generation lost to war - and that’s what brings power to this documentary, For Sama. For Sama is a video essay from a young mother (Waad Al-Kateab) to her child, Sama, born during the middle of the conflict. Told in the style of a future letter to her daughter, she tries to explain why she (a filmmaker and journalist) and her husband (a doctor who runs one of the remaining hospitals in Aleppo) made the difficult decision to abandon Syria to take refugee in the UK. With a mixture of home video and shots of bombings and hospital emergencies, For Sama shows the personal cost of war and the ultimate decision most people who live in warzones have to make – whether they should try to save the city they love from death and violence or should they try to make a better life for their young children, and is the latter a selfish decision? There are some harrowing images in this documentary, notably a lot a dead young children, - I’m a little desensitised to it because I did my graduate studies on this exact topic, the use of graphic videos by citizen journalists in the Syrian Civil War, but even I found some sections really hard to watch - but there are also moments of release and joy in this war documentary as people try to pursue normal life as much as possible despite the violence. 2019 saw two documentaries out of this conflict which highlighted the civilian impact of war in Syrian hospitals, the other film being The Cave. They’re both excellent films, For Sama is a little bit more editorialized since it is a video essay whereas The Cave is a lot more raw without narration or contextualization; both are also very effective documentaries bearing witness to a brutal conflict.
There’s been a lot of coverage regarding children and the Syrian Civil War. Arguably the two most iconic images of the Syrian Civil War involve children: the photo of toddler Alan Kurdi dead and washed upon the shores of Turkey, and the photo of Omran Daqneesh, a young child who was photographed dusty and bloody in an ambulance after his home was bombed in Aleppo. Using children (and women) is a powerful narrative device to show the civilian impact of warfare – they represent a loss of innocence and a generation lost to war - and that’s what brings power to this documentary, For Sama. For Sama is a video essay from a young mother (Waad Al-Kateab) to her child, Sama, born during the middle of the conflict. Told in the style of a future letter to her daughter, she tries to explain why she (a filmmaker and journalist) and her husband (a doctor who runs one of the remaining hospitals in Aleppo) made the difficult decision to abandon Syria to take refugee in the UK. With a mixture of home video and shots of bombings and hospital emergencies, For Sama shows the personal cost of war and the ultimate decision most people who live in warzones have to make – whether they should try to save the city they love from death and violence or should they try to make a better life for their young children, and is the latter a selfish decision? There are some harrowing images in this documentary, notably a lot a dead young children, - I’m a little desensitised to it because I did my graduate studies on this exact topic, the use of graphic videos by citizen journalists in the Syrian Civil War, but even I found some sections really hard to watch - but there are also moments of release and joy in this war documentary as people try to pursue normal life as much as possible despite the violence. 2019 saw two documentaries out of this conflict which highlighted the civilian impact of war in Syrian hospitals, the other film being The Cave. They’re both excellent films, For Sama is a little bit more editorialized since it is a video essay whereas The Cave is a lot more raw without narration or contextualization; both are also very effective documentaries bearing witness to a brutal conflict.
Excellent commentary on this film. I can recommend two additional documentaries about Aleppo: Last Men in Aleppo and The White Helmets. For Sama is quite the work, though, because of its first person point of view and its abillity to find hope out of desperation and fear. Hadn't seen For Sama before, but I had some time to kill before a baseball game.....so. After watching the film, it felt like an embarrassingly grotesque reason for doing so. For Sama is anything but an excuse to kill time. Might be a good film to watch on Thanksgiving, though.
I've seen both of those as well, great documentaries. Hah yeah may have been a bit of a buzzkill to watch before watching the game. As you said, the ability to find hope out of desperation and fear in such a desolate circumstance in this film is so admirable, they almost made me feel more emotional than witnessing the death and trauma. The scene that really illustrated that theme though was that emergency c-section where they had to start the newborn's heart and tragedy suddenly turned into a miracle - a transition I'm sure a lot of Syrians are hoping will happen to Aleppo and Syria.
It's a great work, I had heard of it when it won the Oscar for Best Documentary but I didn't watch it because I guess the premise of the film seemed a little emotionally manipulative and/or you really need to be in the right mood to watch its content. But I think aside from some occasional unnecessary musical cues it rightly earns its emotions and then some
Last edited:
Hi Mom, Directed by Jia Ling, 6.0
A Chinese film, I was curious about the hype. So far it is this year's world-wide top grossing film (perhaps later, Bond will surpass it?). I enjoyed it but would not give it the high ratings it gets in some film reviews. I had a hard time deciphering the small subtitles (2 subs, one Asian and English underneath) on my TV so I streamed it on my PC instead, with a 24 inch screen. Reading was better close-up but that might have hurt the overall viewing experience. Except for the characters of the Mother and daughter, I had some difficulty trying to figure out who was who in the past childhood sequences (1981) compared to those introduced from 2001 (modern day for the film); but that might be just me, I watched it at night when I might have been tired. I did find both actors that played the older Mother and young Mother quite good. A good twist at the end but a bit of a tear-jerker. The Director Jia Ling also stars in this and it is also a film loosely based about her family (although I gather the time travel part is fiction and just a play device to bring you back to earlier moments).
From Wikipedia: After her mother Li Huanying is fatally injured in a car accident in 2001, grief-stricken Jia Xiaoling finds herself transported back in time to the year 1981, where she becomes her mother's close friend. Jia Xiaoling feels that she has not been a good enough daughter in the present, so back in 1981, she does all she can to make Li Huanying happy, including setting her up with a factory manager's son, Shen Guanglin, in the hope of giving her mother a better husband, a better daughter, and a better life than she had the first time around.
The film is adapted from Jia Ling's 2016 comedy sketch of the same name, "Hello, Li Huanying", from season 1 of Comedy General Mobilization [zh]. It is also based on stories of Jia Ling's own mother, also named Li Huanying, who died in 2001 shortly after Jia started college. Jia made the film as a tribute to her mother.
The film's themes include familial love and filial piety.
Last edited:
Cairo Station / باب الحديد (Youssef Chahine, 1958)
For some reason Netflix (at least in Canada) has an oddly large selection of classic Egyptian films, mostly by Youssef Chahine who is consider Egypt’s greatest auteur. I say this is odd because Netflix lately has very few classic films in their library and even fewer classic foreign films. Obviously they must have secured some sort of distribution deal with an Egyptian distributor. Anyway, one of the films in their library is Cairo Station which many consider to be Egypt’s greatest film. Cairo Station takes place completely in a train yard and station, and tells the story of a creepy newspaper salesman at the station, Qinawi (played by director Youssef Chahine), who becomes infatuated to a murderous degree with a lemonade salesgirl, Hanuma (Hind Rostom), who rejects his advances. Cairo Station can be described as part Italian neo-realism with its working-class concerns, part film noir with its great use of shadows and dark imagery in the latter half of the film, and a precursor to Hitchcock’s Psycho. Seriously, I had to google if this film played at any major film festivals Hitchcock would have also attended and that Hitchcock didn’t plagiarize *ahem* I mean, wasn’t influenced by this film because the character of Qinawi is almost a prototype of Norman Bates. For an Egyptian film, this film was also much much much much much more sexual than I had expected, at least based on what I know about Egypt today and even compared to Hollywood films of the 50s it is a lot more sexual. Cairo Station is a good film, the first half of the film is nothing special though, kind of a light Italian neo-realist comedy in the style of early career Fellini, but the second half of the film is where it really shines as it becomes a thriller/horror film. Worth checking out, and at only 77 minutes it has a quick pace to the film.
Film can be watched here on YouTube but it is in better quality on Netflix
For some reason Netflix (at least in Canada) has an oddly large selection of classic Egyptian films, mostly by Youssef Chahine who is consider Egypt’s greatest auteur. I say this is odd because Netflix lately has very few classic films in their library and even fewer classic foreign films. Obviously they must have secured some sort of distribution deal with an Egyptian distributor. Anyway, one of the films in their library is Cairo Station which many consider to be Egypt’s greatest film. Cairo Station takes place completely in a train yard and station, and tells the story of a creepy newspaper salesman at the station, Qinawi (played by director Youssef Chahine), who becomes infatuated to a murderous degree with a lemonade salesgirl, Hanuma (Hind Rostom), who rejects his advances. Cairo Station can be described as part Italian neo-realism with its working-class concerns, part film noir with its great use of shadows and dark imagery in the latter half of the film, and a precursor to Hitchcock’s Psycho. Seriously, I had to google if this film played at any major film festivals Hitchcock would have also attended and that Hitchcock didn’t plagiarize *ahem* I mean, wasn’t influenced by this film because the character of Qinawi is almost a prototype of Norman Bates. For an Egyptian film, this film was also much much much much much more sexual than I had expected, at least based on what I know about Egypt today and even compared to Hollywood films of the 50s it is a lot more sexual. Cairo Station is a good film, the first half of the film is nothing special though, kind of a light Italian neo-realist comedy in the style of early career Fellini, but the second half of the film is where it really shines as it becomes a thriller/horror film. Worth checking out, and at only 77 minutes it has a quick pace to the film.
Film can be watched here on YouTube but it is in better quality on Netflix
ProstheticConscience
Check dein Limit
Free Fire
with Sharlto Copley, Cilian Murphy, Arnie Hammer, and other people.
Late 70's or early 80's somewhere in Massachusetts. IRA guys are buying guns from a swishy and annoying South African gun dealer. The meet's in an abandoned factory, and everyone's brought their attitude, from the looming American dick head of security down to the movers. The wrong guns are delivered, the principles are both annoyed, and there's all kinds of tension afoot. The deal ends up going down, but the local early 80's henchman Uber service lets everyone down big time, and once the bullets start to fly, all bets are off. Especially when new shooters come to join the party. Who's really on whose side after all the various levels of cross and double cross? Watch if you can maintain interest.
Basically a crime procedural until about the half-hour mark, then everyone's shot and crawling around on the ground, trying to find/maintain cover with various people with terrible aim shooting everywhere. If you're only shot twice, you're barely in this movie. Getting shot is really no big deal here; barely an inconvenience. But there's still the money just sitting there in the middle of the floor...surely someone's going to get it in the end? Yeah, you'll see it coming a mile away. Not a terrible trip to get there. Meh. Goes for achingly cool but just lands just barely above competent.
On Netflix.
It's totally not free, though.
with Sharlto Copley, Cilian Murphy, Arnie Hammer, and other people.
Late 70's or early 80's somewhere in Massachusetts. IRA guys are buying guns from a swishy and annoying South African gun dealer. The meet's in an abandoned factory, and everyone's brought their attitude, from the looming American dick head of security down to the movers. The wrong guns are delivered, the principles are both annoyed, and there's all kinds of tension afoot. The deal ends up going down, but the local early 80's henchman Uber service lets everyone down big time, and once the bullets start to fly, all bets are off. Especially when new shooters come to join the party. Who's really on whose side after all the various levels of cross and double cross? Watch if you can maintain interest.
Basically a crime procedural until about the half-hour mark, then everyone's shot and crawling around on the ground, trying to find/maintain cover with various people with terrible aim shooting everywhere. If you're only shot twice, you're barely in this movie. Getting shot is really no big deal here; barely an inconvenience. But there's still the money just sitting there in the middle of the floor...surely someone's going to get it in the end? Yeah, you'll see it coming a mile away. Not a terrible trip to get there. Meh. Goes for achingly cool but just lands just barely above competent.
On Netflix.
It's totally not free, though.
The Last Voyage (1960) - 7/10 (Really liked it)
After a boiler explosion on a cruise ship, a passenger (Robert Stack) must save his wife and child before the ship sinks. An early disaster film, it doesn't waste any time getting to the drama, as it opens with the captain being discretely informed that there's a fire in the engine room. I really liked that and the fact that the rest is 90 minutes of everything going from bad to worse. It's an actual ship going down, too. The producers rented an old cruise ship that was headed for the scrapyard and sank her with the cast and crew on board. It's not always as dramatic as that sounds, but it's impressive if you know that the ship and the seawater are real and that the actors sometimes had only one take to get it right. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, but lost, I imagine because so much was real instead of being effects, ironically. The drama is also realistic. There are no antagonists, contrived storylines or extraordinary circumstances like in, say, Titanic or The Poseidon Adventure. There isn't even much story or character development. It's just a ship going down and passengers and crew scrambling to save themselves. It maybe would've been even more interesting if it had more story drama or followed several other passengers or crew, as well, like later disaster epics, but it was also made over 10 years earlier, so it's maybe not fair to judge it by a much later standard. I still enjoyed it because I'm a sucker for disaster flicks and it's a neat early one that's lean and never boring. It's on DirecTV and for rent for a few bucks on other services, like Amazon and YouTube.
Last edited:
Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 1939)
Garbo Laughs!
A cold Soviet agent, Ninotchka (Greta Garbo), goes to capitalist Paris to settle a dispute over the former Russian Grand Duchess’ jewels. While in Paris she slowly warms and has a good time after meeting the suave Count Léon d'Algout (Melvyn Douglas) and falls in love and finds out capitalism isn’t all that terrible. If not obvious by the above description this is an American/capitalist propaganda film about the Soviet system, in fact it was one of the first of its kind, but it is undeniably a sharp political satire and still works today as a solid romantic comedy and is by no means a relic of the Cold War. Garbo and Douglas are both great and have a strong chemistry together, balancing Garbo’s mirthlessness and Douglas’ charm splendidly. The second half of the movie does drag a bit when they are separated but the first half has an excellent pace and some big laughs. With jokes about Soviet Gulags, forced famines, and mass trials it must have been pretty awkward when the Americans allied with the Soviets shortly after this film came out though.
Garbo Laughs!
A cold Soviet agent, Ninotchka (Greta Garbo), goes to capitalist Paris to settle a dispute over the former Russian Grand Duchess’ jewels. While in Paris she slowly warms and has a good time after meeting the suave Count Léon d'Algout (Melvyn Douglas) and falls in love and finds out capitalism isn’t all that terrible. If not obvious by the above description this is an American/capitalist propaganda film about the Soviet system, in fact it was one of the first of its kind, but it is undeniably a sharp political satire and still works today as a solid romantic comedy and is by no means a relic of the Cold War. Garbo and Douglas are both great and have a strong chemistry together, balancing Garbo’s mirthlessness and Douglas’ charm splendidly. The second half of the movie does drag a bit when they are separated but the first half has an excellent pace and some big laughs. With jokes about Soviet Gulags, forced famines, and mass trials it must have been pretty awkward when the Americans allied with the Soviets shortly after this film came out though.
The Legend of Hell House (1973)
2.90 out of 4stars
"A physicist, his wife and two mediums are hired to investigate the Belasco House, where 27 guests had inexplicably died in 1927, along with most of a team of paranormal investigators that was sent in the early 1950s."
A quality haunted house tale for the adult minded audience. Does a good job of mixing plenty of scare tactics, storytelling events, attempts at rationalizing supernatural occurrences, all while going well past the cliches of this subgenre and bringing a steady uneasy mood to the table. I've read that the book is more of the hard R variety versus the "PG" version we get here from Matheson's screenplay, and if you watch the movie or apparently read the book I'm sure you'll understand where and how those things could differ. Some people apparently have a problem with the ending, but I found it suitable and satisfying but definitely a touch below the level of material that came before it.
Mad Love (1935)
2.75 out of 4stars
"In Paris, a demented surgeon's obsession with a British actress leads him to secretly replace her concert pianist husband's mangled hands with those of a guillotined murderer with a gift for knife-throwing."
A creepy "urban legend"/"old wives tale" style horror movie, headed by an excellent Peter Lorre turn that defines the film alongside it's great visible touches. Now I could be wrong on this, but I just feel that this story is lacking a little more substance/material to make it a great movie. I say this because I can explain the whole movie to someone in 3 to 4 sentences and not miss 1 important occurrence in it. Again, minor nitpick.
The Watcher in the Woods (1980)
2.60 out of 4stars
"When a family moves to a country home, the young girls experience strange happenings that have a link to a girl's disappearance 30years earlier."
A solid "kid-aimed" and "kid-level" spooky tale from Disney that never stops being suspenseful. It includes some mildly intense sequences and a touch of adult-level subject matter, albeit nothing close to as traumatic as some of the events from earlier animated Disney classics (murdering of parent(s), drunk animal(s), puppy murdering villain(s), a couple Pinocchio scenes, etc). This is another movie that has an ending that mixes or dissatisfies audiences, and this time I agree but with accept and understand the choice made. Oddly, this feels like a forced "happier" ending, especially compared to the elements changed in the book compared to in the movie. Kind of wish they'd taken it to another level or brought some more intrigue to this ending, the chose the safest path given the target audience, which makes sense in the big picture.
No Time to Die (2021)
2.85 out of 4stars
"James Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology."
It's not the best Craig Bond, but it's definitely not the worst Craig Bond. It's a fitting swan song for Craig that brings almost everything we except out of a good bond film: excellent action, style, a serious thriller storyline, multi-terrain, beautifully shot, and advanced/near futuristic materials. I have a couple nitpicks, but it's definitely better than Spectre.
Might as well add, since we talked about Flanagan a bit over the last week and a half or so, I also just finished the Hauting of Hill House (2018) Netflix mini-series. Another excellent horror/drama whose depth and subject commentary, alongside it's character building, go above and beyond what's expected altogether with it's chilling moments. This time it's about trauma, mental illness, personal demons/conflicts/skeletons, and family responsibility/roles/dynamics.
2.90 out of 4stars
"A physicist, his wife and two mediums are hired to investigate the Belasco House, where 27 guests had inexplicably died in 1927, along with most of a team of paranormal investigators that was sent in the early 1950s."
A quality haunted house tale for the adult minded audience. Does a good job of mixing plenty of scare tactics, storytelling events, attempts at rationalizing supernatural occurrences, all while going well past the cliches of this subgenre and bringing a steady uneasy mood to the table. I've read that the book is more of the hard R variety versus the "PG" version we get here from Matheson's screenplay, and if you watch the movie or apparently read the book I'm sure you'll understand where and how those things could differ. Some people apparently have a problem with the ending, but I found it suitable and satisfying but definitely a touch below the level of material that came before it.
Mad Love (1935)
2.75 out of 4stars
"In Paris, a demented surgeon's obsession with a British actress leads him to secretly replace her concert pianist husband's mangled hands with those of a guillotined murderer with a gift for knife-throwing."
A creepy "urban legend"/"old wives tale" style horror movie, headed by an excellent Peter Lorre turn that defines the film alongside it's great visible touches. Now I could be wrong on this, but I just feel that this story is lacking a little more substance/material to make it a great movie. I say this because I can explain the whole movie to someone in 3 to 4 sentences and not miss 1 important occurrence in it. Again, minor nitpick.
The Watcher in the Woods (1980)
2.60 out of 4stars
"When a family moves to a country home, the young girls experience strange happenings that have a link to a girl's disappearance 30years earlier."
A solid "kid-aimed" and "kid-level" spooky tale from Disney that never stops being suspenseful. It includes some mildly intense sequences and a touch of adult-level subject matter, albeit nothing close to as traumatic as some of the events from earlier animated Disney classics (murdering of parent(s), drunk animal(s), puppy murdering villain(s), a couple Pinocchio scenes, etc). This is another movie that has an ending that mixes or dissatisfies audiences, and this time I agree but with accept and understand the choice made. Oddly, this feels like a forced "happier" ending, especially compared to the elements changed in the book compared to in the movie. Kind of wish they'd taken it to another level or brought some more intrigue to this ending, the chose the safest path given the target audience, which makes sense in the big picture.
No Time to Die (2021)
2.85 out of 4stars
"James Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology."
It's not the best Craig Bond, but it's definitely not the worst Craig Bond. It's a fitting swan song for Craig that brings almost everything we except out of a good bond film: excellent action, style, a serious thriller storyline, multi-terrain, beautifully shot, and advanced/near futuristic materials. I have a couple nitpicks, but it's definitely better than Spectre.
Might as well add, since we talked about Flanagan a bit over the last week and a half or so, I also just finished the Hauting of Hill House (2018) Netflix mini-series. Another excellent horror/drama whose depth and subject commentary, alongside it's character building, go above and beyond what's expected altogether with it's chilling moments. This time it's about trauma, mental illness, personal demons/conflicts/skeletons, and family responsibility/roles/dynamics.
Last edited:
