Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Part#: Some High Number +3

[Jevo]

Greed (1924) By Erich von Stroheim 8A

There's a four hour cut available, which I believe covers a lot of what was originally cut from the film before release, by using surviving stills to show the parts that were cut, and intertitles to explain what is happening in those scenes. I don't think it works great as a film. Still pictures and intertitles are not very cinematic. And the sequences with stills tend to ruin the flow of the film. But I think it is interesting as a way to see what we are missing from not having the complete film. There are whole characters and sub-plots which have been cut, which in some cases might not be a bad thing. There's some backstory on McTeague and his wife and their relationship which has been cut, which I think would be good for the film. Overall I think that version works best as a companion piece to the theatrical release, moreso than a standalone movie.

 

[kihei]

Man with a Movie Camera (1929) Directed by Dziga Vertov 9A

Man with a Camera is one of the most influential experimental films ever made. Director Dziga Vertov took an avant garde, non-fiction approach to the medium. He wished to record a day in the life of urban cities (Moscow, Odessa, Kiev) in the Soviet Union without using intertitles or a conventional narrative to help the audience along. The movie he made is a collection of footage from all aspects of city life, from work to leisure to birth to death—some of it is shot in documentary style, some of it employs camera tricks and visual gimmicks, much of it employs montage, predominantly rhythmic montage. The end result is something like those “Day in the Life of…” documentaries that were popular a while back. Except in Vertov’s case, he is taking a much more artsy and stylized approach. If you have curiosity about this sort of thing, Man with a Camera is fascinating to watch unfold with some of the faster-paced sections having a similar feel to jazz solos. Periodically a man with a tripod and a cumbersome camera makes an appearance, sometimes in the damndest places, like on top of a tall chimney stack or in front of a speeding train. The images that he has chosen to include are seldom less than engaging. Vertov’s work underscored that film was first and foremost a visual medium, one that required neither the spoken word nor a written text to communicate as an art form. Man with a Movie Camera not only advanced techniques of montage and collage, it opened up new possibilities for the directors that would follow. In its modest way, it expanded the notion of what cinema was capable of doing.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Delicatessen
The two early Jeunet/Caro movies were some of the first "art house" movies I saw in theaters. Formative in a lot of ways. Weird, visually striking. Foreign! I grew up a fan of Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton so their fun house/grotesque connected with me. I felt cool ... when I was 16.

Years since I saw this and I am a little disappointed with how much this didn't resonate with 41 year old me. It's inventive and manic and visually clever, but I was kinda repulsed by it. Not entertained. Almost all the cast members are ugly and exaggerated and Jeunet/Caro shoves the camera right up their nose as they yell or scream. I was just kinda grossed out and annoyed.

 

[Osprey]

The Ten Commandments (1923) - 6/10 (Liked it)

Moses leads his people out of Egypt and writes down God's commandments so that two brothers can fight over them thousands of years later. Cecil B. DeMille's first crack at this subject is two films in one. The first 50 minutes are everything that you'd expect from him and the title. The sets are grand, the extras number in the hundreds and the special effects (especially the parting of the Red Sea) are very impressive. Another 30-60 minutes of that and he might've had one of the seminal works of the silent era. Instead, just after Moses destroys the tablets, the film jumps forward to the present to tell the story of two grown brothers. One obeys the commandments but loses the girl and doesn't advance far in his job while the other gets the girl and becomes wealthy by ignoring the commandments. As it's a morality tale, you can roughly guess how it ends. It's not a bad story, though it's preachy like a Sunday School lesson, as you might expect. It's watchable and even somewhat interesting, though also a little long. It's just that it's disappointing compared to the epic first part. To DeMille's credit, he must've realized his mistake because he dropped the modern part and significantly beefed up Moses' backstory when he made the remake 33 years later. It's safe to say that it's one case where the remake is clearly better than the original. That said, there's enough to like about this original, especially if you keep the year that it was made in mind and treat it like two separate films, but it's still hard to not be disappointed that all of it isn't like the first part.

 

[kihei]

Haxan (1929) Directed by Benjamin Christensen 7A

Haxan is a one-of-a-kind experience. The film purports to be a history of witchcraft through the ages, focusing primarily on the Inquisition. Initially the tone is almost scholarly as the movie traces witchcraft through the Dark Ages using drawings, engravings and woodcuts. But though there is an attempt to retain the scholarly focus, as the movie progresses we are introduced to ever more graphic presentations of witchcraft, devil worship and the extremes that the Church went to during and after the Spanish Inquisition to torture confessions out of helpless women, be they old crones or young maidens. Some of the scenes of the devil tormenting people are unintentionally comic, but many others are creepy as hell, the stuff of childhood nightmares. Haxan consists of a total of seven chapters, though the focus among subject matter often continues from one chapter to the next. However, there is a certain logic to the progression. For instance, the depictions of forced confessions and torture are followed by a demonstration of medieval implements whose purpose was to create excruciating pain. By the end of the film, Haxan tries to link then contemporary hysteria to the superstitions from the past from which both society and individuals suffered. Religion obviously comes out the worst for wear in this quasi-documentary, but modern psychology is hardly seen as a viable answer, either. Haxan is both informative and the work of someone with a very vivid and detailed imagination. There has never been a movie quite like it, and I doubt there ever will be again.

intertitles

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Highlander

with awesome albeit utterly miscast people

1985 New York. Ah, big cars, wrestling at MSG, immortal swordsmen chopping each others' heads off...uh, what? Yup. Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, born centuries earlier, is one of a shadowy race of immortals who can only die if someone cuts off their head, and in doing so, takes their power called Quickening. It involves lots of lightning and broken windows (which you'd think more people would've noticed over the years...), and now there's only a few left. Last one alive gets The Prize, and everyone loves the catchphrase: There can be only one!! The Big Bad Guy (and he's very big and bad) is The Kurgan, who tried and failed to kill MacLeod centuries earlier. We get lots of flashbacks to Connor's early training by Ramirez, the most Scottish Spaniard in film history, Connor's ill-fated first marriage to the bonny lass Heather, then the action settles back to NYC where Kurgan snatches Connor's latest damsel in distress, setting up the final battle between Good and Evil in the immortal world. Guess who wins. No, go on, guess.

One of my childhood favourites, it really hasn't held up all that well. The French Christopher Lambert cast as the Scottish clansman is almost as ridiculous as Sean Connery cast as the Spaniard Ramirez (who is really apparently Egyptian, though it doesn't come up much), but both are dwarfed by Clancy Brown's Kurgan, who remains one of cinema's all-time great Bad Guys. It's also funny to see how a film made with a closed story became a hit, made money, and spawned one of the worst sequels ever made. And another sequel that wasn't all that bad, but certainly not very good. And a couple of tv series.

Legendary cult hit, now on Prime. And the Prime version has some weird formerly deleted scenes that I hadn't seen before...and I know why they were deleted in the first place.

Spot the Scottish guy. And you're wrong.

 

[kihei]

The Last Command (1928) Directed by Josef von Sternberg 7A

Dolgorucki (Emil Jannings), a former Russian general in the Czar’s army, ends up after the revolution finding his way to Hollywood where he spends his final days playing a Russian general in a movie, a movie directed by one of the former revolutionaries who he sent to prison. Mixed up in this melodrama is a love story involving the General and yet another revolutionary, a beautiful woman who wanted to kill him but eventually saved his life. Dolgorucki fully deserves the humiliation that will be eventually forthcoming, but Jannings finds a way to make us care anyway. He was one of the greatest actors of the silent era; making him perfect to watch during the Easter season, he was also one of the era’s biggest hams, too. But he is unquestionably great here, finding a measure of dignity in his character's downfall that is quite impressive. In terms of technique and presentation, the movie looks terrific and feels like a streamlined ‘30s movie…minus the “talk,” of course. Indeed, von Sternberg’s career became even more distinguished once sound arrived on the scene and he directed such entertaining films as The Blue Angel, Morocco and The Scarlett Empress. Like such directors as Bernardo Bertolucci, Park Chan-wook and Zhang Yimou, von Sternberg just always seemed like one of those guys born to make beautiful movies to watch. While The Last Command is pure Hollywood hokum, it is nonetheless still highly entertaining.

intertitles

 

[Osprey]

The Last Command (1928) Directed by Josef von Sternberg 7A

Dolgorucki (Emil Jannings), a former Russian general in the Czar’s army, ends up after the revolution finding his way to Hollywood where he spends his final days playing a Russian general in a movie, a movie directed by one of the former revolutionaries who he sent to prison. Mixed up in this melodrama is a love story involving the General and yet another revolutionary, a beautiful woman who wanted to kill him but eventually saved his life. Dolgorucki fully deserves the humiliation that will be eventually forthcoming, but Jannings finds a way to make us care anyway. He was one of the greatest actors of the silent era; making him perfect to watch during the Easter season, he was also one of the era’s biggest hams, too. But he is unquestionably great here, finding a measure of dignity in his character's downfall that is quite impressive. In terms of technique and presentation, the movie looks terrific and feels like a streamlined ‘30s movie…minus the “talk,” of course. Indeed, von Sternberg’s career became even more distinguished once sound arrived on the scene and he directed such entertaining films as The Blue Angel, Morocco and The Scarlett Empress. Like such directors as Bernardo Bertolucci, Park Chan-wook and Zhang Yimou, von Sternberg just always seemed like one of those guys born to make beautiful movies to watch. While The Last Command is pure Hollywood hokum, it is nonetheless still highly entertaining.

intertitles

I watched that after a few of Jannings' German films last week. I was curious to see him in a Hollywood film and because he won the very first Best Actor Oscar for it (and another film, since it was the only year that multiple roles were considered). It struck me as a Hollywood attempt to capitalize on the success of the The Last Laugh by having the same actor play another proud but disgraced man and the titles being similar. That thought might've hurt it a bit for me, but it was also hard to get over the absurdity of the premise, I got a little bored during the middle flashback section (which wasn't as interesting to me as the modern sections) and I didn't think that Jannings' performance was as good as in The Last Laugh. It was definitely OK, had its moments and had a nice ending. I might've given it a 6/10 if I'd felt more motivated to review it.

BTW, for anyone interested, I see that The Last Command and The Last Laugh are both on YouTube.

 

[Osprey]

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) - 7/10 (Really liked it)

A deformed bell ringer (Lon Chaney) in Notre Dame Cathedral helps a gypsy girl who has been sentenced to death. This big-budgeted Universal production was one of the most successful of the silent era. The set is very impressive, both in size and authenticity. It reasonably looks like the plaza outside of the cathedral and is big enough to fit a thousand extras, which is an impressive sight. Chaney's transformation into the hunchback is amazing and it's easy to see why this role made him a star. Apparently, he wore a 40lb weight on his back to create the hump, yet was still able to dance around lightly and do acrobatic stunts, like jumping on the cathedral's bell and around its outer structure. He even manages to make the hunchback a sympathetic character despite the fact that he kills and injures dozens of people. Sure, he's dropping large stones and molten lead on the people below, but he's getting such a kick out of it, jumping up and down and clapping his hands, that it's OK. If he's happy, we're happy. He's so captivating that all of the scenes without him (and there are a lot) aren't nearly as interesting. I would've liked 30 minutes of those to have been cut, because the film feels a little long. The new soundtrack is really lively, though, which helps. Also, the finale is so good that it makes getting to it worth it. Overall, it largely lives up to the silent era blockbuster that it was.

Above is the full movie on YouTube.

Edit: The guy in the snapshot above, who plays the villain, sure looks like Judd Hirsch, doesn't he?

 

[kihei]

BTW, for anyone interested, I see that The Last Command and The Last Laugh are both on YouTube.

Good points.

By the way, I, too, should mention that with the exception of Greed, everything that I watched is available on YouTube.

 

[kihei]

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1927) Directed by Carl Theodore Dreiser 10A

In my opinion, The Passion of Joan of Arc is the greatest silent film ever made and one of a handful of unquestioned masterpieces in the history of film. Based on actual histoorical records of Joan’s trial and eventual condemnation, the film is shot on a single set, a modernistic version of a 15th century court proceeding. Joan is played by a theatre actress, Renee Jeannine Falconetti, whose superb performance is greatly assisted by Danish director Carl Theodore Dreyer’s stark staging. He employs extreme close-ups, odd camera angles and a unique approach to lighting, where he uses high contrast lighting on the faces of Joan’s accusers but softer focused lighting on Joan. The result is a work that is both theatrical in that it is shot on a single set that resembles a stage and cinematic in that it relies so heavily on lighting, cinematography and editing to tell a story that is both thematically rich and as powerful as it is tragic. Seldom in film has style and content united so flawlessly.

intertitles

 

[kihei]

The '20s films that I have reviewed (in order of preference in each category):

Silent Film Scorecard

10 (among the best movies ever)

The Passion of Joan of Arc
Sunrise
Battleship Potemkin
Intolerance
Metropolis
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

9 (among the best films of the decade)

Nosferatu
Earth
The Phantom Carriage (reviewed in the current "movie of the week" thread, volume 3, p 23, #560}
Man with a Movie Camera
Sherlock Jr.

8 (among the best movies of their respective year)

The Marriage Circle
Greed
The Gold Rush
The End of St. Petersburg

7 (very good movies)

The Lodger
Haxan
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (early animation--reviewd in the current "movie of the week" thread, volume 3, p. 17, #416)
The Last Command

 

[RickyI66]

Has anybody watched Birds of Prey? The visual effects are popping, the scenes are hilarious, the soundtracks are my fave now. It seems a bit Deadpool stylish, I wish these guys had a collaboration tho.

 

[nameless1]

Has anybody watched Birds of Prey? The visual effects are popping, the scenes are hilarious, the soundtracks are my fave now. It seems a bit Deadpool stylish, I wish these guys had a collaboration tho.

I hated it. Like The Suicide Squad before it, it is a complete mess. The villain never seems to be a credible threat, there is no explanation on that mask he wears, and the story really does not go anywhere. Frankly, I have no idea why the director is being celebrated. She pretty much throws everything on the wall, in the hope that something sticks, and unfortunately, in this case, nothing does. I was bored after 20 minutes, and I wished the movie will end.

I understand the Deadpool comparison, but the difference is that Deadpool, in his insanity, actually knows he is a comic book character, so it actually feels natural that he, at times, will directly address the audience. Harley Quinn has never done that in any medium, and her craziness is more obsession-based. She is completely in love with The Joker, and she will do anything for him. Thus, there is no good reason to make her break the fourth wall, and there are better ways to show off her craziness.

If you want a good Harley Quinn adaptation, I will go with the new animated series. Kite Man, hell yeah!

 

[nameless1]

The Last Command (1928) Directed by Josef von Sternberg 7A

Dolgorucki (Emil Jannings), a former Russian general in the Czar’s army, ends up after the revolution finding his way to Hollywood where he spends his final days playing a Russian general in a movie, a movie directed by one of the former revolutionaries who he sent to prison. Mixed up in this melodrama is a love story involving the General and yet another revolutionary, a beautiful woman who wanted to kill him but eventually saved his life. Dolgorucki fully deserves the humiliation that will be eventually forthcoming, but Jannings finds a way to make us care anyway. He was one of the greatest actors of the silent era; making him perfect to watch during the Easter season, he was also one of the era’s biggest hams, too. But he is unquestionably great here, finding a measure of dignity in his character's downfall that is quite impressive. In terms of technique and presentation, the movie looks terrific and feels like a streamlined ‘30s movie…minus the “talk,” of course. Indeed, von Sternberg’s career became even more distinguished once sound arrived on the scene and he directed such entertaining films as The Blue Angel, Morocco and The Scarlett Empress. Like such directors as Bernardo Bertolucci, Park Chan-wook and Zhang Yimou, von Sternberg just always seemed like one of those guys born to make beautiful movies to watch. While The Last Command is pure Hollywood hokum, it is nonetheless still highly entertaining.

intertitles

I actually like this one a lot, mainly on the strength of Jannings' acting. He does ham it up at times, but the way he effortlessly switch from a confident general, to a broken man, and then back again, is indeed very impressive. This performance, along with his role in Disraeli, helped him to win the first Best Oscar Actor award ever rewarded, and I feel it is very well-deserved.

The movie is also ahead of its times in the way it demonstrates PTSD. It took years before PTSD is officially clinically diagnosed, as it was better known as shell-shocked during this time, but this is as accurate of a portrayal as it can be. While I agree it is quite melodramatic, it also can be seen as ahead of its time too. von Sternberg is definitely one of the most interesting and skilled director in film history, and there is a reason why he is respected even today.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

I hated it. Like The Suicide Squad before it, it is a complete mess. The villain never seems to be a credible threat, there is no explanation on that mask he wears, and the story really does not go anywhere. Frankly, I have no idea why the director is being celebrated. She pretty much throws everything on the wall, in the hope that something sticks, and unfortunately, in this case, nothing does. I was bored after 20 minutes, and I wish the movie will end.

I understand the Deadpool comparison, but the difference is that Deadpool, in his insanity, actually knows he is a comic book character, so it actually feels natural that he, at times, will directly address the audience. Harley Quinn has never done that in any medium, and her craziness is more obsession-based. She is completely in love with The Joker, and she will do anything for him. Thus, there is no good reason to make her break the fourth wall, and there are better ways to show off her craziness.

If you want a good Harley Quinn adaptation, I will go with the new animated series. Kite Man, hell yeah!

I thought Birds of Prey was better than Suicide Squad, much like drinking turpentine is better than drinking bleach. Sometimes wonder if it's my minor allergy to modern comic book films (with exceptions here and there), but I just couldn't care less for the current iteration of Quinn. A waste of Margot Robbie.

 

[nameless1]

Absolutely. Robbie's joy is infectious, but the entire production around her is an anchor that drags everything down. She is pretty much the lone superstar who has to carry a bad team night after night, and that weariness transcends the screen.

The weird thing about Marvel and DC is that Marvel movies are fun, while the television shows are dreadful. DC, on the other hand, is the reverse. I have hated almost everything from the DC extended universe other than Wonder Woman and Shazam, but the television series, especially the animated series, are great. I have really enjoyed the animated version of Harley Quinn in particular. Now that is just some unadulterated fun.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Absolutely. Robbie's joy is infectious, but the entire production around her is an anchor that drags everything down. She is pretty much the lone superstar who has to carry a bad team night after night, and that weariness transcends the screen.

The weird thing about Marvel and DC is that Marvel movies are fun, while the television shows are dreadful. DC, on the other hand, is the reverse. I have hated almost everything from the DC extended universe other than Wonder Woman and Shazam, but the television series, especially the animated series, are great. I have really enjoyed the animated version of Harley Quinn in particular. Now that is just some unadulterated fun.

I'm really not that into any of the superhero stuff from either camp, but my wife has always been a certified Bat-freak and obsessively watches everything that comes out from that particular vein. She enjoys the new Harley Quinn show, but as soon as I realized the chick from Big Bang Theory did her voice I lost any ability to sustain disbelief and buy into the character. I keep waiting for her to run off to romance a computer nerd with an annoying autistic friend.

 

[nameless1]

I'm really not that into any of the superhero stuff from either camp, but my wife has always been a certified Bat-freak and obsessively watches everything that comes out from that particular vein. She enjoys the new Harley Quinn show, but as soon as I realized the chick from Big Bang Theory did her voice I lost any ability to sustain disbelief and buy into the character. I keep waiting for her to run off to romance a computer nerd with an annoying autistic friend.

That is fair.


I thought she plays Harley Quinn quite well, and her inflections are on point. People who have went to live tapings of The Big Bang Theory are often surprised and impressed by her memory. She rarely messes up her scenes.

 

[member 51464]

Haxan (1929) Directed by Benjamin Christensen 7A

Haxan is a one-of-a-kind experience. The film purports to be a history of witchcraft through the ages, focusing primarily on the Inquisition. Initially the tone is almost scholarly as the movie traces witchcraft through the Dark Ages using drawings, engravings and woodcuts. But though there is an attempt to retain the scholarly focus, as the movie progresses we are introduced to ever more graphic presentations of witchcraft, devil worship and the extremes that the Church went to during and after the Spanish Inquisition to torture confessions out of helpless women, be they old crones or young maidens. Some of the scenes of the devil tormenting people are unintentionally comic, but many others are creepy as hell, the stuff of childhood nightmares. Haxan consists of a total of seven chapters, though the focus among subject matter often continues from one chapter to the next. However, there is a certain logic to the progression. For instance, the depictions of forced confessions and torture are followed by a demonstration of medieval implements whose purpose was to create excruciating pain. By the end of the film, Haxan tries to link then contemporary hysteria to the superstitions from the past from which both society and individuals suffered. Religion obviously comes out the worst for wear in this quasi-documentary, but modern psychology is hardly seen as a viable answer, either. Haxan is both informative and the work of someone with a very vivid and detailed imagination. There has never been a movie quite like it, and I doubt there ever will be again.

intertitles

This may be one of the most interesting sounding movies ever. Thank you so much for the review. I'm unsure I would've known it existed otherwise.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

That is fair.


I thought she plays Harley Quinn quite well, and her inflections are on point. People who have went to live tapings of The Big Bang Theory are often surprised and impressed by her memory. She rarely messes up her scenes.

I have nothing against Kaley Cuoco as an actress, I'm sure she's entirely professional. She's just in my head as Penny. And like I said, just not all that big a super/antisuperhero fan generally.

 

[Osprey]

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1927) Directed by Carl Theodore Dreiser 10A

In my opinion, The Passion of Joan of Arc is the greatest silent film ever made and one of a handful of unquestioned masterpieces in the history of film. Based on actual histoorical records of Joan’s trial and eventual condemnation, the film is shot on a single set, a modernistic version of a 15th century court proceeding. Joan is played by a theatre actress, Renee Jeannine Falconetti, whose superb performance is greatly assisted by Danish director Carl Theodore Dreyer’s stark staging. He employs extreme close-ups, odd camera angles and a unique approach to lighting, where he uses high contrast lighting on the faces of Joan’s accusers but softer focused lighting on Joan. The result is a work that is both theatrical in that it is shot on a single set that resembles a stage and cinematic in that it relies so heavily on lighting, cinematography and editing to tell a story that is both thematically rich and as powerful as it is tragic. Seldom in film has style and content united so flawlessly.

intertitles

Thanks for the recommendation for tonight's viewing. I just finished it.

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) - 9/10 (Really loved it)

I wouldn't have thought that you could make a good courtroom drama as a silent film, but, evidently, you can. I really liked that it's based on the actual, recorded questions and answers from Joan's trial, which helps ground it in authenticity and avoid cinematic exaggeration. The title comes from the meaning of "passion" as "suffering" and the film is very much like dramatizations of the trial of Jesus, such as Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, and even makes some clear allusions to it. The dialogue is quite religious (since Joan was on trial for being a heretic), but I don't think that you need to be religious to understand it well enough. What really blew my mind and elevated the film was the performance of Renee Jeanne Falconetti as Joan. Hers is easily the best performance in a silent film that I've seen and probably one of the best performances ever (and, yet, it was her only real film role, since she preferred the stage). It's no exaggeration to say that she spends almost the whole film with tears either on her cheek or welling up in her eyes. Combined with the lack of make-up (thanks to the director's insistence and the new type of film that no longer required it), it's an incredibly raw performance. That and the different lighting used really give the film a look unlike most silent films. If I were to criticize one thing, it's that the sets are unimpressive and stage-like. The interiors have bare white walls that scream "set," even the supposed "torture chamber" (which paled compared to the one that I saw last night in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, made 5 years earlier), and the exteriors weren't much better. It takes some suspension of disbelief, like you would have watching a stage play. The other aspects of the production are more important, though, and it's a powerful adaptation. To me, it looked and felt like a film ahead of its time, as if it belonged in the mid 30s, not the late 20s. I can see why it's considered a masterpiece.

If anyone else cares to watch it:

Spoiler: YouTube links

It's on YouTube, but without any soundtrack. There is, though, a separate soundtrack performance that you can start in another tab and let play in the background while you watch the film on the first tab. It'll take a little bit of work to sync them up, but the soundtrack performance has the film projected on a screen behind it, so it's not hard and it's not like it needs to be precise.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Rocketman

with British people discovering their lives and sexuality.

Following on the heels of Queen's biopic Bohemian Rhapsody comes Elton John's biopic. We start with him crashing an AA meeting in full concert regalia, then we follow his life, starting off with poor, downtrodden Reginald Dwight being ignored by his parents in Somewhereshire, England. His talent as a pianist is clear to all however, and his various conflicts and big growing moments are all animated by revues set to classic Elton John songs. We see him meeting his lyricist Bernie Taupin, realizing he's gay, being taken in by his awful, manipulative manager, his descent into drug use and alcoholism, continuing to hate his family, and all the various attendant horrors of fame and fortune. Lots of costume changes happen as well.

When I look at this one and compare it to Bohemian Rhapsody (both ended up being directed by the same guy) I have a bit of an conundrum. On one hand, Rocketman is by far the better movie. On the other, I had tears in my eyes during the entire Live Aid sequence during BH, and there really wasn't any comparable moment in RM. I like Queen a lot more than Elton John so the soundtrack was better for BH...but the presentation of Elton John's songs as part of the biographical tale blew BH out of the water. A lot to like in both, but Rocketman is clearly the later, more developed work.

On Prime. And probably other outlets.

I shall slip away into the night, unnoticed and unseen...

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

A roundup of some recent streaming adventures.

Thank God It's Friday. A moderately amusing low-stakes night-at-the-disco multi-character curio. Could have been better, but definitely could have been much worse. Nothing worth rushing out to see, but I kinda liked it, at least as a time capsule more than anything. Of note, young Jeff Goldblum is the sleazy disco owner. And trivia: Donna Summer (who is in the movie) won the Oscar for best song for Last Dance in this. Leonard Maltin declared it the worst movie to ever win an Oscar.

The Getaway. (1970s version). Didn't like it as much as I wanted to given the Jim Thompson source novel and Sam Peckinpah behind the camera. Ali McGraw was a problem for me. And for a movie that's essentially a prolonged chase ... it felt oddly slow and stilted in moments. But McQueen is cool and the supporting cast is a nice collection of malevolent dudes with beat-up faces, namely Ben Johnson and Al Lettieri. A few nice set pieces (con game at the train station, climactic shootout).

Portrait of a Lady on Fire. I wish I had some great insight to bring to it, but I don't. It was every bit as good as I was led to believe. I'm still thinking about it days later.

Samurai Trilogy. Just a nice bit of classic storytelling and film making that builds across the three movies and develops/evolves its characters well. Hard not to draw parallels to some of the great Westerns both in tone and execution.

Humanoids from the Deep. Do you like humanoids? What if they were from the deep? It's too dull in the downtimes to even endorse as a good-bad watch, but the few minutes where the humanoids pop up to wreak havoc are something to see. Maybe there's a YouTube highlight reel? Watch that instead.

The Eyes of Laura Mars. As a big John Carpenter fan, I'd long wanted to see this since it's his script. Blah. An interesting cast (Faye Dunaway, a YOUNG Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, Rene Auberjonois, Raul Julia) is wasted in a dull, dumb, predictable serial killer mystery.

Things. I enjoy a good-bad movie. A friend touted this one to me as if it were some Holy Grail of niche. I only learned that there is such a thing as being too bad. But, if you've ever asked yourself the question, "What if I had a camera and a budget of about $35 and really, really liked Aliens and the Evil Dead" this is probably your answer.

Turkey Shoot. Now this is a proper good-bad movie. 1980s Aussie flick about rich people hunting prisoners. Sturdy concept, enjoyably ridiculous execution.

 

[kihei]

Rocketman

with British people discovering their lives and sexuality.

Following on the heels of Queen's biopic Bohemian Rhapsody comes Elton John's biopic. We start with him crashing an AA meeting in full concert regalia, then we follow his life, starting off with poor, downtrodden Reginald Dwight being ignored by his parents in Somewhereshire, England. His talent as a pianist is clear to all however, and his various conflicts and big growing moments are all animated by revues set to classic Elton John songs. We see him meeting his lyricist Bernie Taupin, realizing he's gay, being taken in by his awful, manipulative manager, his descent into drug use and alcoholism, continuing to hate his family, and all the various attendant horrors of fame and fortune. Lots of costume changes happen as well.

When I look at this one and compare it to Bohemian Rhapsody (both ended up being directed by the same guy) I have a bit of an conundrum. On one hand, Rocketman is by far the better movie. On the other, I had tears in my eyes during the entire Live Aid sequence during BH, and there really wasn't any comparable moment in RM. I like Queen a lot more than Elton John so the soundtrack was better for BH...but the presentation of Elton John's songs as part of the biographical tale blew BH out of the water. A lot to like in both, but Rocketman is clearly the later, more developed work.

On Prime. And probably other outlets.

I shall slip away into the night, unnoticed and unseen...

I think I am getting addicted to your postscripts.