Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate it | {Insert Appropriate Seasonal Greeting Here}

[Osprey]

Nightmare Alley (2021) - 5/10 (Didn't like or dislike it)

In the late Depression, a man with a mysterious past (Bradley Cooper) joins a traveling carnival and learns the tricks to hustling people. Guillermo del Toro's latest is a noir thriller that's visually gorgeous, with rich colors and terrific sets, and thematically dark, with hardly a character that isn't dishonest or sleazy in some way. Its strong cast also includes Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, David Strathairn, Toni Colette and Ron Perlman. I really liked the first hour in the carnival, with its thick atmosphere, bizarre sights and eccentric characters. It felt a little like a cross between The Greatest Show on Earth and Freaks. Unfortunately, the remaining hour and a half in fancier settings was a lot slower, more talkie and less engaging and had fewer interesting characters. Cooper isn't bad, but his lack of charisma and his character not being a very good person made it so that I ultimately didn't care what happened to him in the back half of the plot. The ending has a punch, but I saw it coming, so it fell flat. I really wanted to like this film, since it's gorgeously designed and shot, a period noir and just different from most of today's films, but it eventually tested my patience and then didn't reward it in the end. It's now available on HBO Max and Hulu.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I gotta admit I'm a little taken aback by the broadly tepid response to Nightmare Alley. No shots at anyone here in specific! I'm definitely in the minority. The general reaction since it has come out seems to be a collective shoulder shrug. From my reading it seems like the length and Cooper's performance are the most common complaints. I genuinely loved it. Great story. The first half is a lot of atmosphere and table setting before settling into more of a noir tale of players trying to play each other. Well cast and performed right down to the smallest roles. Blanchett is slinky and sexy as the femme fatale and I think Cooper's at his best when he's a guy who actually isn't as smart as he thinks he is as is the situation here (and like in American Hustle as well).

I thought it looked fantastic throughout as well. Might be its strongest attribute. Del Toro brought his eerie horror eye and sensibilities to a story that doesn't actually have much of a horror element to it. It FEELS spooky without actually ever being spooky for something that's closer in spirit to Jim Thompson's The Grifters than it is to any classic horror. That vibe really worked on me. Like an interesting, unexpected spice on a familiar dish.

I know this technically isn't an "original" movie since it is based on a decades-old novel and previously was adapted into a movie staring Tyrone Power BUT I'm going to go out on a limb and say most people watching it aren't super familiar with either of those sources. It's a remake, but it ain't exactly a remake like West Side Story is a remake, right? My point is that at a time where there is a frequent lament that it seems like all movies (at least U.S. movies) are just big IP blockbusters (MCU, Pixar stuff, Ghostbusters, Fast & Furious, etc.) and corporate vision has replaced individual vision/style, it's a bummer to see something like this that is psuedo-original, has big stars and at least in my opinion, is pretty entertaining, fall flat.

Not mad. We all like what we like. Just a little bummed that this seems to be a miss for more people than it is a hit.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Ravenous - 1999

I saw this 20 years ago when it first came out and loved it - so I was curious if my tastes (not for humans) have changed over the years.

I found myself still laughing and enjoying the only film that ever made cannibalism amusing.

Soon after being sent to a remote outpost for cowardice during the Mexican-American war, Captain Boyd and his garrison save the life of Colqhoun.

Colqhoun then recounts a tale of horror about the fate of his caravan during an unforgiving winter storm.

Your typical cannibal hilarity then ensues.

Carlyle steals the spotlight here as Colqhoun, but this is a really quirky film that isn’t for everyone.

It’s unique soundtrack is one of my favorite film scores of the 90s… it just creates this very peculiar, but calming atmosphere for what should be a really heavy subject.

Ultimately this is a film that you either get or you don’t, there really isn’t much of an in between.

 

[guinness]

The Mummy - (1932)

Meh.

Maybe part of it is that I've seen a handful of movies recently with David Manners as the lead, and find him to vary between dull and annoying, and Zita Johann wasn't wowing me either, but overall, I found it slow.

It also lacked the same gripping scenery as seen in Mad Love, also directed by Karl Freund, although to be fair, that's a latter film, so maybe he had a better feel for what he wanted to display. But that also had better leads.

Karloff's makeup was well done. 6/10.

 

[Sentinel]

The Invisble Guest (2017). In Spanish with subtitles. A young businessman wakes up in a locked hotel room next to his dead mistress. He hires a prestigious lawyer to defend him, and they are trying to solve this mystery. The biggest mystery here is how this movie ended up with an 86% audience approval on Rotten Tomatoes. It has it all: terrible acting, crappy story, the gray color palette, and every twist seen a mile away. As lame as they come. 4/10
=====

Trans-Siberian Express (1977). An old Soviet mystery film that is surprisingly good. In 1920s Manchuria a local club owner is blackmailed to take a secret (and a very long) train ride that involves a conspiracy to assassinate a Japanese businessman. Good acting, nice pacing, and lots of attention to details. Unavoidably, some Soviet cliches are present but they are kept to a minimum. Very enjoyable. 7/10
=====

Munich: The Edge of War (2021). A total disaster of a movie. The choppiest editing I have ever seen. Everybody is trying to make another Saving Private Ryan, and it’s extremely taxing on the eyes. British PM Neville Chamberlain is trying to appease Hitler by surrendering him the Sudetenland. Two young diplomats, one English and one German, are working to derail this process. Yes, this shameful historical event needed to be put on film but this particular execution is terrible. It has it all: bad acting, lots of plot holes, and two people playing amateur spies and openly discussing government secrets in pubs full of people in the city crawling with spies and counter-spies. This movie will give you a headache in more ways than one. The only redeeming thing is Jeremy Irons playing Chamberlain. This role fits him like a glove. 4/10

 

[Unholy Diver]

Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind 9/10

Made around Lightfoot's 80th birthday, he reflects on his life and long career. As a casual fan mostly familiar with his more popular hits, I was surprised to see how big he was not only in Canada, but the US and worldwide. Interesting story covering his ups and downs with his career and personal life and battle with alcohol. A good watch, even if you aren't necessarily a fan, it gives you a great appreciation of the man.

 

[Osprey]

Ice Cold In Alex-1958

Setting is North Africa 1942 and as the Brits are evacuating Tobruk, two nurses have been left behind. A Captain is tasked with getting them the ~600 miles to Alexandria. The journey in an ambulance is full of dangers and heat. The setting is WWII but it's not really a war film, just a small group coming together to try to survive and make it through. Vgood adventure/suspense film. The director J. Lee Thompson (Guns of Navarone) had worked with Alfred Hitchcock, must have learned a little bit about suspense.

Filmed on location in Libya, must have been grueling for the actors who have a lot of physical action. Top notch cast. Supposed to have been based on a real incident.

I just watched this and quite liked it. It reminded me of Sahara. Thanks for the recommendation. If anyone else is interested, it's free w/ ads on Tubi.

Did you notice that John Williams totally ripped off some of the soundtrack (especially the part at 1:30)?

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. Melvin Van Peebles' third and most famous film. The kickoff of what would become blaxploitation. A landmark in independent American movie making. If you're a film buff it's definitely something you want to check off your list but your mileage may vary on is merits. Van Peeble's first two films were more straightforward, more polished. This is radical, experimental, almost a collage at points. It truly does feel dangerous and borderline illegal in moments. One scene in particular really did have me thinking "how is this actually legal?" I thought it was perhaps too messy, but its anger and impact are undeniable.

Baadassssss. Mario Van Peeble's loving dramatization/faux-documentary of his father's famed masterpiece. Entertaining in that way most stories of ragtag underdogs teaming up to make a story are entertaining. Certainly a nice companion piece to the actual movie that fills in the blanks on some of the creative choices and practical compromises. Interesting to see the crowd reactions to the movie portrayed in this movie. By all accounts accurate, but didn't mirror my experience with the movie which I didn't feel was quite as lively and exciting as the crowds took it. This has merits on its own. Again, it's a fine, fun behind-the-scenes. But definitely works best paired with the actual movie.

 

[kihei]

I gotta admit I'm a little taken aback by the broadly tepid response to Nightmare Alley. No shots at anyone here in specific! I'm definitely in the minority. The general reaction since it has come out seems to be a collective shoulder shrug. From my reading it seems like the length and Cooper's performance are the most common complaints. I genuinely loved it. Great story. The first half is a lot of atmosphere and table setting before settling into more of a noir tale of players trying to play each other. Well cast and performed right down to the smallest roles. Blanchett is slinky and sexy as the femme fatale and I think Cooper's at his best when he's a guy who actually isn't as smart as he thinks he is as is the situation here (and like in American Hustle as well).

I thought it looked fantastic throughout as well. Might be its strongest attribute. Del Toro brought his eerie horror eye and sensibilities to a story that doesn't actually have much of a horror element to it. It FEELS spooky without actually ever being spooky for something that's closer in spirit to Jim Thompson's The Grifters than it is to any classic horror. That vibe really worked on me. Like an interesting, unexpected spice on a familiar dish.

I know this technically isn't an "original" movie since it is based on a decades-old novel and previously was adapted into a movie staring Tyrone Power BUT I'm going to go out on a limb and say most people watching it aren't super familiar with either of those sources. It's a remake, but it ain't exactly a remake like West Side Story is a remake, right? My point is that at a time where there is a frequent lament that it seems like all movies (at least U.S. movies) are just big IP blockbusters (MCU, Pixar stuff, Ghostbusters, Fast & Furious, etc.) and corporate vision has replaced individual vision/style, it's a bummer to see something like this that is psuedo-original, has big stars and at least in my opinion, is pretty entertaining, fall flat.

Not mad. We all like what we like. Just a little bummed that this seems to be a miss for more people than it is a hit.

I like your review way more than I liked the movie. With you on set design, though...at least the first half.

 

[Chili]

I just watched this and quite liked it. It reminded me of Sahara. Thanks for the recommendation. If anyone else is interested, it's free w/ ads on Tubi.

Did you notice that John Williams totally ripped off some of the soundtrack (especially the part at 1:30)?

I must have been really into the story because didn't really notice the soundtrack (rare for me). Interesting you mention the soundtrack, I watched The Boxer this week and was convinced I was listening to Bono's music. Turns out Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer are friends of his as is the director Jim Sheridan, they go way back and all worked together on In The Name of the Father. Daniel Day Lewis is very impressive as a boxer in that film, he trained for a couple of years.

I have seen Bogart's Sahara, I do see some similarities.

 

[kihei]

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021) Directed by Radu Jude 7B

Emilia, a middle-school teacher at a private school in Bucharest, is distressed to find that a very explicit sex tape made by her husband and her has somehow found its way to Porn Hub. This creates quite the cause celebre and there is a good chance she will be fired if the majority of the parents at her school have anything to say about it. The movie progresses in three distinctly different parts. The first rather slow part deals with her walking through the streets of Bucharest vaguely thinking about damage control. The second part involves a couple of dozen short vignettes that compile a brief look at a wide collectioon of hypocrisies and idiocies in general, The third part is an inquisition that takes place in the courtyard of her school, where a variety of parents verbally attack Emilia as she tries to defend herself.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn starts off with the explicit sex scene so nothing is left to our imagination about the source of the controversy. Romanina directors, almost to a person, are great at subtle, droll comedy, but Radu Jude takes a much more direct approach. Yes, the film is very funny, but it is people's intolerance, knee-jerk reactions, general loutishness, and overall hypocrisy that he is pounding on here in no uncertain terms. While sexual hypocrisy is at the forefront, Jude takes pithy detours that focus on Romanian attitudes towards authoritarianism, anti-Semitism and religion as well. Bad Luck Banging is an unorthodox satire of broad strokes but many of the points it makes go well beyond Romania's borders. You could say that this is a movie that speaks directly to our fractious times.

subtitles

TIFF. net

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I can never think about Breathless without thinking about Jean Seberg yelling "New York Herald Tribune, New York Herald Tribune!". For some reason it's ingrained in my mind

Same for me but I know exactly why. It's not because of the film but because of Bertolucci's The Dreamers. It's not that the Bertolucci/Green scene itself is so memorable, just that pointing out Seberg's yelling left me unable to not hear it forever.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

So I just quit Amazon Prime. Realized the payment to keep it going would go through on my Visa tomorrow and decided to can it.

1. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I actually used the delivery service, and for some reason Mrs. PC was unable to get the benefits herself.
2. They just took off most of Top Gear. Bastards. Now it's just seasons 14-22 or something left streaming...I liked the Grand Tour, but not enough to really want to rewatch them. They're only doing the specials now, and that's like once or twice a year tops, and we can just wait until the Xmas season to get the free preview for a month again to see them. I'm not bothering to pay Amazon if in order to watch classic Top Gear they're going to force me to walk five feet to the left of the couch to get the dvd set and plug them into the machine manually. Like some kind of caveman.
3. I never bothered to watch half the old shows from the 80's that wound up there.
4. Their interface sucks so hardcore. The response is so slow it's like playing chess by mail. Searching for titles is just insane. Half the time you forget what movie you wanted to see before the damn thing registers your choice.
5. I think Jeff Bezos has enough money by now.
6. Already watched Who is America, The Boys, The Grand Tour and the other Amazon originals I signed up to watch and I don't have much interest in seeing them again. And I got bored with The Man in the High Castle a couple of episodes into the second season and stopped caring.

Going to poke and prod Mrs. PC into getting Disney+ so we can check out the Mandalorian and Boba Fett shows. It's her turn.

Anyway, one last night on Prime.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fried Barry

with grungy, mostly stoned people.

We hit the mean streets of Cape Town to meet Barry, a leathery, scraggly, unshaven heroin addict who looks probably about twenty years older than he is. He awakes from chasing the dragon to shamble back to his hovel and get screamed at by his wife for neglecting their kid, then f***s off to the bar. And meets a guy to do more drugs with. Just another street skel at the bottom...until an alien ship sucks him up for a visit and some probing (!). Yup, aliens have dropped by South Africa again, apparently having failed to learn their lesson from District 9. Barry is very thoroughly probed, and his alien possessed body is turned loose back in Cape Town. He's now wandering around on a mission to stare vacantly at everything, and despite looking like Steve McQueen if he'd been left in a desert for a week after dying of an overdose, every woman in town now wants to jump his bones. Some of the men, too. Must be that alien mojo. Also, everyone wants to stuff him full of drugs. Let's see...heroin, X, meth, crack...that's just off the top of my head. Street dealers were never that generous back in my day...probably for the best in my case. Would have been very easy to drop dead...like Barry. Or not...?

A bit like the flip side horror story of that one movie ScarJo was in...what was it...Under the Skin. That's it. Imagine the mother ship hovering over Earth, and two alien secret agents step forward. One alien: "Ooh...you're a beautiful woman tasked with seducing men and bringing them back here to become mulch in our spaceship. Yay!" The other alien: "Okay...you're a drug addict in a slum with open sores who hasn't shaved or showered in a year and goes staggering around in a jean jacket to get fed every drug on the planet and occasionally beat up or arrested! Enjoy!" Talk about getting the short end of the stick.

Also, a note to any aliens out there: South Africa just isn't a good landing zone for you. Really. Don't go there.

The face that seduced more than one Earth girl. Really.

-------------------------------------------------------------

And with that, bye Prime.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Deliverance (1972) - 6/10

Exploitative cinema......turns out I don't care for it. After following an annoying group of four men around and taking a while to get going, it settles back into its exploitative routine and I'm just too old and tired for it and I don't need it to explain themes of toxic masculinity or whatever. Burt Reynolds is a friggin presence though for the parts he's in anyways.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. Melvin Van Peebles' third and most famous film. The kickoff of what would become blaxploitation. A landmark in independent American movie making. If you're a film buff it's definitely something you want to check off your list but your mileage may vary on is merits. Van Peeble's first two films were more straightforward, more polished. This is radical, experimental, almost a collage at points. It truly does feel dangerous and borderline illegal in moments. One scene in particular really did have me thinking "how is this actually legal?" I thought it was perhaps too messy, but its anger and impact are undeniable.

Baadassssss. Mario Van Peeble's loving dramatization/faux-documentary of his father's famed masterpiece. Entertaining in that way most stories of ragtag underdogs teaming up to make a story are entertaining. Certainly a nice companion piece to the actual movie that fills in the blanks on some of the creative choices and practical compromises. Interesting to see the crowd reactions to the movie portrayed in this movie. By all accounts accurate, but didn't mirror my experience with the movie which I didn't feel was quite as lively and exciting as the crowds took it. This has merits on its own. Again, it's a fine, fun behind-the-scenes. But definitely works best paired with the actual movie.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021) Directed by Radu Jude 7B

Emilia, a middle-school teacher at a private school in Bucharest, is distressed to find that a very explicit sex tape made by her husband and her has somehow found its way to Porn Hub. This creates quite the cause celebre and there is a good chance she will be fired if the majority of the parents at her school have anything to say about it. The movie progresses in three distinctly different parts. The first rather slow part deals with her walking through the streets of Bucharest vaguely thinking about damage control. The second part involves a couple of dozen short vignettes that compile a brief look at a wide collectioon of hypocrisies and idiocies in general, The third part is an inquisition that takes place in the courtyard of her school, where a variety of parents verbally attack Emilia as she tries to defend herself.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn starts off with the explicit sex scene so nothing is left to our imagination about the source of the controversy. Romanina directors, almost to a person, are great at subtle, droll comedy, but Radu Jude takes a much more direct approach. Yes, the film is very funny, but it is people's intolerance, knee-jerk reactions, general loutishness, and overall hypocrisy that he is pounding on here in no uncertain terms. While sexual hypocrisy is at the forefront, Jude takes pithy detours that focus on Romanian attitudes towards authoritarianism, anti-Semitism and religion as well. Bad Luck Banging is an unorthodox satire of broad strokes but many of the points it makes go well beyond Romania's borders. You could say that this is a movie that speaks directly to our fractious times.

subtitles

TIFF. net

It seems I've said some things I shouldn't have said in the trucker convoy threads, so I can't like these posts anymore, but know I wanted to!

Predestination (Spierig & Spierig, 2014) - On a theoretical level, I guess there's something to like about this film. It takes time travel paradox to its absurd limits, making for the most convoluted life story. Still, as complex as it tries to be, the whole thing is oh so very predictable, making for a pretty bad film. 3/10

 

[OzzyFan]

The Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
3.45 out of 4stars

"Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician."
An excellent non-stop, fast-talking dialogue heavy noir movie that's dark, dirty, full of wit, and noted by 2 powerful performances from Lancaster and Curtis. Also contains some excellent 1950's staged NY cinematography with a matching jazz score. Offers an interesting glimpse of the past and future power and possible corruption of people in the media at all levels and the domino effect it has on those impacted by such actions. The power dynamics and mostly parasitic symbiotic relationships going on here is a frantic trip to take in visually and mentally. I think even the style itself of the memorable fast talking sharp dialogue is a perfect example of how powerful words can be on a personal and widespread scale even if they are reckless, selfish, and only caring of immediacy, as is the power of the people putting them out in the world. Entertaining on many levels.

Rififi (1955) (subtitles)
3.35 out of 4stars

"Out of prison after a five-year stretch, jewel thief turns down a quick job his friend Jo offers him, until he discovers that his old girlfriend has become the lover of a local gangster. Expanding a minor smash-and-grab into a full-scale jewel heist in Paris, Tony and his crew appear to get away clean until one's missteps threaten everyone and everything they worked for."
An excellent French crime heist noir movie that's tight, tense, intelligent, and stylish. Apparently, for it's time period, this movie was transcending of it's genre and studio standards. There are moments of quick brutality, seriously sinister figures, a dark underground world, "an Ocean's 4 sort of crew gathering and planning", a thriller of an ending, and a tense 32minute dialogue-less heist scene that is arguably the greatest in film history. You can feel the impact and see so many films that were influenced by this movie as watch it. Last but not least, excellently acted and directed, especially the facial and physical acting imo.

I Married a Monster From Outer Space (1958)
2.40 out of 4stars

"Aliens arrive on Earth to possess the bodies of humans. One of their first victims is a young man, whose new wife soon realizes something is wrong with him."
A sci fi horror that tries to be a satire on male relationship/long-term commitment and an alien invasion tale, yet is hit and miss on both spectrums. Does a decent, but unenthusiastic job of showing how males, genetically/pre-historically dispositioned at least, use copulation as extending their direct gene pool and their species, not for life long mating, or romance, or emotional obsession with a/1 female mate. The aliens themselves "only meet with females for breeding", just to give you an idea on the differences brought about. As cold and overly awkward as the aliens are trying to be human husbands, their attempt at taking over earth is just as sloppy. They have some huge notable weaknesses that are kind of befuddling for coming to such a planet and they don't really hide their "motherships" too well either. Wasted potential on a fun premise that has been executed superiorly in other films.

Moonfall (2022)
1.85 out of 4stars

"A mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it."
As with the vast majority of Roland Emmerich's filmography, you can expect a gleefully silly mediocre script alongside big budget visuals that are usually on an apocalyptic scale, and this movie follows that formula. Was the idea and visuals profitable or worth it's $140million script? Nope, it usually isn't the vast majority of the time anyway though. The cast was for the most part game, with as good of a performance as one can expect from Bradley and Wilson (not sure how I feel about Berry's, but her role wasn't written as flashy or charismatic as previously 2 mentioned actors' were). Jokes were hit and miss. Altogether, intermittently satisfactory popcorn entertainment, a lot of it fell flat, missed, or was completely cliche. There was an "ancient aliens" twist over the last half hour in too, just for the record, albeit the initial premise is "ancient aliens" also, but the twist takes it up a notch.

 

[OzzyFan]

I gotta admit I'm a little taken aback by the broadly tepid response to Nightmare Alley. No shots at anyone here in specific! I'm definitely in the minority. The general reaction since it has come out seems to be a collective shoulder shrug. From my reading it seems like the length and Cooper's performance are the most common complaints. I genuinely loved it. Great story. The first half is a lot of atmosphere and table setting before settling into more of a noir tale of players trying to play each other. Well cast and performed right down to the smallest roles. Blanchett is slinky and sexy as the femme fatale and I think Cooper's at his best when he's a guy who actually isn't as smart as he thinks he is as is the situation here (and like in American Hustle as well).

I thought it looked fantastic throughout as well. Might be its strongest attribute. Del Toro brought his eerie horror eye and sensibilities to a story that doesn't actually have much of a horror element to it. It FEELS spooky without actually ever being spooky for something that's closer in spirit to Jim Thompson's The Grifters than it is to any classic horror. That vibe really worked on me. Like an interesting, unexpected spice on a familiar dish.

I know this technically isn't an "original" movie since it is based on a decades-old novel and previously was adapted into a movie staring Tyrone Power BUT I'm going to go out on a limb and say most people watching it aren't super familiar with either of those sources. It's a remake, but it ain't exactly a remake like West Side Story is a remake, right? My point is that at a time where there is a frequent lament that it seems like all movies (at least U.S. movies) are just big IP blockbusters (MCU, Pixar stuff, Ghostbusters, Fast & Furious, etc.) and corporate vision has replaced individual vision/style, it's a bummer to see something like this that is psuedo-original, has big stars and at least in my opinion, is pretty entertaining, fall flat.

Not mad. We all like what we like. Just a little bummed that this seems to be a miss for more people than it is a hit.

Agreed and excellent points made, especially about turning this noir into a horror-esque movie. I enjoyed Nightmare Alley a lot also, it was at minimum a breath of fresh air from a Hollywood standpoint to put out such a film. I thought Cooper was great in it, Blanchette obviously a scene stealer, and the first half of the movie to be around of 8-9/10 quality. Obviously there were some missteps and a drop in high standards set in the 2nd half, but it progressed the story to where it should have gone and had an excellent full circle ending. I wouldn't call it a failure though. I feel many here are harsher on the film than the general public and critic audiences are. It's gotten nominations and high regards from many respected circuits. It's only "true" downfall in this regard is it's attraction to a wide audience. I believe it's garnered attention from a mostly older and small sized group of people truly interested in these types of films. Imo, it's public's loss if they don't want to see a movie like this for multiple reasons, but Del Toro and studios should have know that being box office profitable was going to be an issue with making a film like this with such dark subject matter and overtones, even if looks stylish and curiosity peaking for viewers.

The Mummy - (1932)



Meh.

Maybe part of it is that I've seen a handful of movies recently with David Manners as the lead, and find him to vary between dull and annoying, and Zita Johann wasn't wowing me either, but overall, I found it slow.

It also lacked the same gripping scenery as seen in Mad Love, also directed by Karl Freund, although to be fair, that's a latter film, so maybe he had a better feel for what he wanted to display. But that also had better leads.

Karloff's makeup was well done. 6/10.

Agreed. I went through classic universal monster movies a little while back and was very underwhelmed by The Mummy comparatively. Karloff's good and a couple things are interesting, but altogether mostly ineffective.

 

[guinness]

I was watching one of my YT subs today and had no idea that Nightmare Alley was a remake of a previous movie, but that version is also available for free on YT. I've downloaded it (JIC) but haven't watched it yet.

Nightmare Alley (1947) - IMDb

It did not do well at the box office back, apparently partially because the audience was confused about Tyrone Power playing such a dark character and they didn't know what to make of the movie itself. But like the current Nightmare Alley, the visuals look really interesting. Coleen Gray appearing in it doesn't hurt the visuals either.

Edit: I didn't notice until after my post that Kailo already mentioned the previous film, I just thought it was honestly an original with neo-noir visuals. I still want to see it, and remakes in Hollywood are nothing new, but I can also be Mr. Oblivious sometimes - I think I just skimmed about the mixed reviews, but great visuals.

And nothing against del Toro either, he loves his noir and horror movies.

But if anyone is still interested, the 1947 version is available on YT.

 

[Pink Mist]

Wife of a Spy / スパイの妻 (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2020)

Satoko (Yu Aoi) is the wife of a wealthy Japanese businessman (Issey Takahashi) at the cusp of Japan’s involvement in WWII. When her husband returns from a business trip to Manchuria she gets suspicious of his actions and finds that he smuggled back footage of Japanese atrocities in Manchuria that he plans to release publicly and betray their country. Wife of a Spy is a mishmash of genres as it swings at times from romance to war-time spy thriller. The story is somewhat conventionally told but it features fantastic performances by Aoi and Takahashi as a couple engaged in deception against the state but also against each other. Some large questions are raised in this film concerning nationalism and loyalty to one’s country make the Wife of a Spy a very smart thriller and Kurosawa completes it with a very good ending full of unexpected and heartbreaking twists. A solid spy thriller that feels a little lacking at times but one worth checking out if wartime period pieces or spy thrillers in the vein of John le Carré are your thing.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Brief Encounter (1945) - Directed by David Lean 3.5/5

I'm trying to work through my watchlist of classic films (particularly David Lean's body of work) and had some extra time on Saturday to squeeze this one in.

A story of two married strangers who have a chance meeting in a local train station and proceed to have a series of "Brief Encounters". The story is told from the perspective of the woman, Laura Jesson (played by Celia Johnson) as she recounts the affair to her husband Fred. I found the dialogue hard to follow without subtitles, as they speak quickly and in the British English of the times. I thought the pacing of the story was good, not a ton of filler scenes. Obviously the romantic scenes are a bit over the top and it's somewhat jarring when you realize how quickly the events of the movie happened in the time frame the movie occurs.

Overall, it's your fairly typical 'forbidden love' story, but as usual David Lean hits it out of the park in terms of cinematic value. The 'inner monologues' from Laura really do a great job of describing a realistic emotional arc that one would experience in this type of romantic affair. The excitement, happiness, lust, love, fear, guilt, shame, sadness, and loss all blended together throughout various points.

After this I'm looking forward to seeing more of Lean's work. Dr. Zhivago is next on my list.

 

[Pink Mist]

Lover for a Day / L'Amant d'un jour (Philippe Garrel, 2017)

When Jeanne (Esther Garrel) breaks up with her boyfriend, she turns up at her father’s apartment in the middle of the night to crash on his couch until she can find a new place. To her surprise, her dad, a philosophy professor, has someone sharing the apartment (or rather, his bed): a 23-year-old student of his he has been secretly dating for the past three months. Being the same age as her dad’s new lover Arianne (Louise Chevillotte), Jeanne and Arianne strike up an unlikely friendship with each other, while Arianne struggles with the demands of fidelity with Jeanne’s father. A plot description that only a French film could have, Lover for a Day is an extremely French film that is reminiscent of the style of films from the French New Wave (unsurprisingly, director Philippe Garrel’s career started at the tail end of the French New Wave; his daughter Esther also plays the lead here). Not that there's anything wrong with a stereotypical French film; I happen to enjoy them. Lover for a Day is fantastic and mature meditation of the complexities and messiness of love. Shot in black and white and featuring a lot of stunning closeups (particularly some great close-ups of Chevillotte’s freckled face), the film is a well crafted and engaging with good realistic performances by the three leads. It also clocks in at a breezy 75 minutes and doesn’t contain an inch of fat in the script, knowing what it wants to say and then doesn’t overstay its welcome, which is a refreshing change.

 

[guinness]

Brief Encounter (1945) - Directed by David Lean 3.5/5

I'm trying to work through my watchlist of classic films (particularly David Lean's body of work) and had some extra time on Saturday to squeeze this one in.

A story of two married strangers who have a chance meeting in a local train station and proceed to have a series of "Brief Encounters". The story is told from the perspective of the woman, Laura Jesson (played by Celia Johnson) as she recounts the affair to her husband Fred. I found the dialogue hard to follow without subtitles, as they speak quickly and in the British English of the times. I thought the pacing of the story was good, not a ton of filler scenes. Obviously the romantic scenes are a bit over the top and it's somewhat jarring when you realize how quickly the events of the movie happened in the time frame the movie occurs.

Overall, it's your fairly typical 'forbidden love' story, but as usual David Lean hits it out of the park in terms of cinematic value. The 'inner monologues' from Laura really do a great job of describing a realistic emotional arc that one would experience in this type of romantic affair. The excitement, happiness, lust, love, fear, guilt, shame, sadness, and loss all blended together throughout various points.

After this I'm looking forward to seeing more of Lean's work. Dr. Zhivago is next on my list.

Have you seen This Happy Breed? It's also quite British, I caught maybe the last half hour of it on TCM but was impressed by what I saw of it.

I liked Celia Johnson, very British, but a different trope, compared to American actresses of the period. .

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Re-watching Sonatine and one thing I have to say is that credit to Kitano for being the anti-John Woo in gun fight matters. His characters just empty clips into each other from 2 feet away without dodging.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

The ABC Murders. Recent BBC adaptation of the classic Agatha Christie/Hercule Poirot mystery. Poirot is one of those characters like a Philip Marlowe or Sherlock Holmes or any number of Shakespearean choices who've been done so many times I respect the creative urge to do something different. Different can be interesting. In rare cases, maybe better. This is neither. Here our Poirot is a HAUNTED MAN WITH A PAST who is CONTEMPLATING HIS MORTALITY and the story is filtered through every serial killer movie/criminal mastermind cliche you can imagine from the dark gray pallor over everything to the twitchy/spastic performances right down to the killer's final speech about wanting to be an EVIL MIRROR of Poirot. I guarantee you someone in the pitch meeting mentioned the Nolan Batman movies or Daniel Craig's run on James Bond. Christie's clever plotting remains intact but who wants three hours with a dour and mopey Poirot? Not me.

I palate cleansed with the 1978 Death on the Nile for a more traditional presentation of Poirot. All-star cast (Angela Lansbury in particular is having a blast). Fun setting. A light touch. A properly fussy Poirot. Everyone gathers in the parlor for the last 20 minutes. It's like a nice, big, warm bubble bath. The impact dissipates almost the moment you step away, but while you're in it, it's pleasant and comforting.

 

[Pink Mist]

Diamantino (Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt, 2018)

A Portuguese soccer star, Diamantino (Carlota Cotta), promptly retires after losing in the World Cup final and adopts a refugee child in a search to find new meaning in life. While this may sound like the plot out of your next Oscar bait film, this film also includes 20-foot-tall fluffy puppies who play soccer, genetically engineered clones, evil twin sisters, far-right nationalists, adult lesbians pretending to be refugee children, drones, money laundering to Panama, and Sweden winning the World Cup. Diamantino is an absurdist comedy that has a lot on its mind and is one of the most out-of-left-field films I have seen recently. There’s a lot going on here – sometimes a little too much for its own good – but it really captures the zeitgeist of contemporary culture and politics of Southern Europe. The film looks and feels like a fever dream of the Western world today. The film is led by a fantastic performance by Cotta who plays a soccer star similar to Cristiano Ronaldo who is equal parts wholesome and idiotic. The definition of a loveable himbo – who also happens to grow a big pair of tits due to scientific experimentation. There’s a lot thrown at the wall, and most of it works to create one of the wildest movies I’ve seen in a long time. Highly recommend if you’re looking for something different.