Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Part#: Some High Number +4

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Whoa. My heart skipped a beat. May I ask where you found it?

Delighted you liked it, and thanks for digging it up. And, no, I wasn't aware it was part of a trilogy. I do remember seeing Act of the Heart and absolutely hating it. There is a decent chance I saw Journey as well and just don't remember it. It was a long time ago in a different lifetime. Never put them together as a trilogy, though, although they all star Bujold, Almond's partner at the time if memory serves. She is in another one of my favourite Quebec films from roughly that period, Kamouraska, by Claude Jutra. Love that movie. Should have been on my list.

As said in the horror films poll, I'll gladly send it your way. I found another possibly better copy, let me check that and I'll get back to you.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966) - Really a lot of fun. Highly stylized with nice touches of humor (Tuco being unable to cross himself likely being my favorite or literally getting blasted by Man with No Name into Sad Hill Cemetery). It's not much of a wonder why the film has held up with such a legacy...Clint Eastwood is magnetic and no one oozed cinematic cool like he did in the 60s. Though I think Tuco and Angel Eyes were just as interesting characters and with a delivery that was just as worthy, which is probably why the movie never lags or has any sort of slower spots, since (I think?) Tuco probably has more screen time than Man with No Name. Honestly, while the peaks were never at an all-time worthy high for me, there are very little flaws...a couple of scenes during the bridge proceedings left me a little cold, such as the choice of music when Blondie is giving a wounded soldier a couple of drags off his cigar before passing away under the sun. The melodramatic music within (as opposed to the cool, eletronic-like music in the Sad Hill cemetery) seemed so contradictory with the rest of the film that I wondered if it wasn't an attempt at some odd humor by Leone. Either way, I thought it felt flat. Still, as has been discussed ad nauseam, the editing, close-ups or vast frames are a sight to behold although I wasn't particularly taken until their arrival in Sad Hill Cemetery, which is where I think the cinematography really steps up a serious notch and elevating the film to its peak, both in its narrative (although there are a couple of slight things that really require a suspension of disbelief), style and technical abilities. I won't dwell on them but the mexican standoff is certainly as fun and impressive as told. A solid film. And for all the fun that it is to watch...it must have one thousand times more fun to film it and be a part of it.

 

[ORRFForever]

Seven Samurai (1954) 9/10

This was my first Kurosawa film and I absolutely loved it. After playing Ghost of Tsushima on PS4 I have been reading more about Japanese culture and decided I would check out the King of Japanese cinema. I thought that this movie would be a little bit hard to "consume", given that I've never watched a traditional Japanese film, or many films from the 1950s. However I found that it was just as easy to watch as any contemporary movie, assuming that the viewer is comfortable with subtitles.

I found the story was pretty inspired, characters were mostly very relatable, and I just genuinely enjoyed pretty much every aspect of this movie. I thought that the romantic interactions between Shino and Katsushirō were a bit odd, but not exactly a major issue. Despite being about 3 and a half hours long, I found myself wanting it to keep going by the end. The ending was emotionally moving, but not predictable, and I imagine that it is fairly realistic to how many battles ended.

Very much looking forward to watching more Kurosawa films and am open to suggestions of which films of his are must-see.

I'll never forget the little old lady at the end coming to get her pound of flesh.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I'll never forget the little old lady at the end.

That was a pretty gratifying scene. I really wasn't expecting the ending scene at the final battle.

Spoiler: Ending of Seven Samurai

I was not expecting the movie to end by all but 3 of the Samurai to die. I audibly gasped when Kyuzo, and subsequently Kikuchiyo, were killed by the bandit leader hiding in the women's hut. I thought it was the women who were going to be the victims.

 

[ORRFForever]

That was a pretty gratifying scene. I really wasn't expecting the ending scene at the final battle.

Spoiler: Ending of Seven Samurai

I was not expecting the movie to end by all but 3 of the Samurai to die. I audibly gasped when Kyuzo, and subsequently Kikuchiyo, were killed by the bandit leader hiding in the women's hut. I thought it was the women who were going to be the victims.

It's an amazing movie - especially if you go in without expectations.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I couldn't agree more. Can't stop telling people I know about it!

 

[kihei]

As said in the horror films poll, I'll gladly send it your way. I found another possibly better copy, let me check that and I'll get back to you.

Okay (must have missed your initial post). PM me if you wish.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Okay (must have missed your initial post). PM me if you wish.

Check your inbox - sent you the link 2h ago.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Prince of Darkness (1987)
Dir. John Carpenter

It was eh.

Score: 4/10

 

[Osprey]

I couldn't agree more. Can't stop telling people I know about it!

If you haven't already seen it, you might like to watch The Magnificent Seven, which is the Hollywood "remake" of Seven Samurai transposed to the American West. The 1960 version is the classic and recommended version. It was directed by John Sturges (The Great Escape) and stars Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson. There's also a 2016 version with Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt that isn't bad, but not as good. The 1960 version also spawned a couple of sequels and a TV show and led to Three Amigos parodying it, so, interestingly, Seven Samurai's legacy is probably felt as much in the Western genre as in the Samurai genre.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

If you haven't already seen it, you might like to watch The Magnificent Seven, which is the Hollywood "remake" of Seven Samurai transposed to the American West. The 1960 version is the classic and recommended version. It was directed by John Sturges (The Great Escape) and stars Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson. There's also a 2016 version with Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt that isn't bad, but not as good. The 1960 version also spawned a couple of sequels and a TV show and led to Three Amigos parodying it, so, interestingly, Seven Samurai's legacy is probably felt as much in the Western genre as in the Samurai genre.

Very good western, nice recommend.

A more recent Samurai film I highly recommend is 13 Assassins. Not on the level of Seven Samurai, but easily one of my favorite action films (and perhaps films period) of the 2010s.

 

[Puck]

Lucky Grandma (2019) Directed by Sasie Sealy, 7.0
In the heart of Chinatown, New York, an ornery, chain-smoking, newly widowed 80-year-old grandma (Tsai Chin) is eager to live life as an independent woman, despite the worry of her family. When a local fortune teller (Wai Ching Ho ) predicts a most auspicious day in her future, Grandma decides to head to the casino and goes all in, only to land herself on the wrong side of luck-suddenly attracting the attention of some local gangsters. Desperate to protect herself, Grandma employs the services of a bodyguard (Corey Ha) from a rival gang and soon finds herself in the middle of a Chinatown gang war.

It's an Indie film, low budget. Pretty good anyway. The gangsters are a bit cartoonish and the fight scenes aren't great but it's a good story. (Amazon Prime)

 

[kihei]

Isabel (1968) Directed by Paul Almond 8A

Isabel (Genevieve Bujold) returns home to her rural Quebec birthplace when her mother becomes seriously ill. Unfortunately she does not get there in time, but she plans to stay on anyway for a couple of weeks. Dutifully she looks after her uncle, her closest surviving relative, but she wants to get back to Montreal despite pressures on her to stay even longer. Very gradually she begins to lose it just a little, the result of both obvious personal pressures as well as what may be some serious, unresolved family conflicts from her past. As a result of these various tensions, the old farmhouse she is staying in--its barn, its attic, its cellar--gets a little more ominous with each passing day. It is to director Paul Almond's credit and to his technical finesse that I sensed something wrong with Isabel before knowing exactly why I felt that way. She is a haunted young woman, but local old wives tales are only part of what contribute to her troubled mind. She has repressed feelings and unresolved experiences, emotional baggage that a strict Catholic upbringing and the guilt that it entails can only make worse. Almond masterfully builds up the suspense incrementally, Isabel's psyche slowly destabilizing in a world that should feel comfortable and familiar. Bujold deserves a lot of credit, too; she gives a wonderfully sympathetic performance. But Almond provides her with the gift of some pitch perfect scenes that are eerie and impeccably shot with everything working in concert--camera placement, movement and angle, editing, even his spare use of music and miscellaneous sounds--to provide an understated but spooky atmosphere. What I didn't notice the first time I saw Isabel decades ago is that the movie really is a brilliant riff on Gothic horror transposed to contemporary rural Quebec, only with the monsters that exist anything but supernatural. Isabel is every bit as good as I remember it.

Sidenoote: Again, thanks so much, VD--much appreciated. The print was perfect.

 

[nameless1]

As said in the horror films poll, I'll gladly send it your way. I found another possibly better copy, let me check that and I'll get back to you.

Could you send me the link too? I always like to expand my Canadian content. Thanks.

 

[ORRFForever]

Host (2020) :

Host takes place during the Covid 19 pandemic and just like everything else in 2020, it's different, it's unpleasant, and you just wish the damn thing would end.

So how is it "different"?

First, it's less than one hour. Second, it's done exclusively on "Zoom". Last, it's pretty well an all female cast.

As for the plot...

A bunch of friends have a séance and things go predictably wrong : they don't take it seriously, someone fakes a "visit", something bad happens which causes the participants to freak out, and finally people start to die. Making matters worse, just like the horror films about teenagers near the lake in the 1980's, the characters are interchangeable - I don't know the difference between Emma and Caroline, nor do I care.

Host is 100% on RT so I gave it a try. Unfortunately, other than the headache I got from how loud it is, I'll (hopefully) forget about this movie as soon as I finish writing my review.

2.5/10

 

[kihei]

Brand on the Brain! (2006) Directed by Guy Madden 7B

If sound had never been introduced to movie making, the silent films of today might look a lot like Brand on the Brain! Still, something about director Guy Madden would set them apart from the norm. Part Gothic romance, part Gothic horror, part deranged family saga, part Freudian wet dream, part science fiction, Brand on the Brain! Is impossible to pigeonhole. As with most of director Guy Madden’s films, words can not do it justice. There is a story here, one that involves a young boy named Guy, the older version of Guy, a lighthouse (speaking of which The Lighthouse owes this movie a huge debt), Guy's sister who runs around in a chemise, a bunch of orphans, a weird invention or two, a strange mother, a Dr. Frankenstein-type father, actual brands on the brain for the unfortunates, yucky ones at that, a voice over in English with intertitle frames in French (go figure), two coats of fresh paint, and a “wtf did I just see” payoff. The movie is alternately dreamy, repulsive, terrifying, sexy, awesome, and funny. The movie takes place in the lighthouse and surrounding shoreline. The black and white images look like outtakes from silent movies but are often edited at a feverish clip. There is no spoken dialogue, only the narration and intertitles. Though one can note some of his influences—silent movie directors, Ingmar Bergman’s cinematographer Sven Nyqvist, Chris Marker—Madden is a unique director. Good as Brand on the Brain! is, I think his movies actually get better after this one (My Winnipeg; Keyhole; The Forbidden Room). I still can’t get it through my head that this guy is from Winnipeg.

MUBI

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

La plage noire (Piccoli, 2001) - Piccoli's third and last film as director, C'est pas tout à fait la vie dont j'avais rêvée (what an amazing title: That's not exactly the life I dreamt of) was the only one I'd seen until last night. It was years ago and I don't remember much of it, but it was interesting and singular enough to make me want to see his first two (which are somewhat hard to find). La plage noire isn't as accessible, it's a carefuly crafted work, with beautiful photography and an hypnotical (slow) pace, but it's an austere and hermetic political tale that most people will find exceedingly boring (I switched off a few times myself). Fans of kafkaesque bureaucratic nonsense should get some satisfaction out of it. 5/10

 

[ORRFForever]

This Changes Everything (2019) :

"Nothing makes me madder than when someone treats my squeeze like a sex object." - Sam 'Mayday' Malone

Before I became a (male) feminist, I would have seen the documentary This Changes Everything as a bunch of rich women whining about how hard done by they are. But, as a truly woke progressive man, I cried with these women as they shared their pain.

2.5/10

 

[Puck]

This Changes Everything (2019) :

"Nothing makes me madder than when someone treats my squeeze like a sex object" - Sam Malone

Before I became a (male) feminist, I would have seen the documentary This Changes Everything as a bunch of rich women whining about how hard done by they are. But, as a truly woke progressive man, I cried with these women as they shared their pain.

2.5/10

I sense a modicum of reeking sarcasm in that post.

 

[ORRFForever]

I sense a modicum of reeking sarcasm in that post.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

The Firm (1993) - 6/10

Gotta love the 90s thriller aesthetic and enjoy the main actors (though the supporting cast felt budget imo). But it just felt tedious and tiring other than that. There's a line between a thriller being fun and it being stressful and I think it has to do with pacing which Pollack might not know how to do when it comes to thrillers.

As an interesting note, John Grisham had another book adapted into a movie of the same year called The Pelican Brief which also involves a young lawyer uncovering conspiracy lol (starring Julia Roberts).

 

[ORRFForever]

The Firm (1993) - 6/10

Gotta love the 90s thriller aesthetic and enjoy the main actors (though the supporting cast felt budget imo). But it just felt tedious and tiring other than that. There's a line between a thriller being fun and it being stressful and I think it has to do with pacing which Pollack might not know how to do when it comes to thrillers.

As an interesting note, John Grisham had another book adapted into a movie of the same year called The Pelican Brief which also involves a young lawyer uncovering conspiracy lol (starring Julia Roberts).

Does Tom Cruise run in this movie?

 

[nameless1]

Does Tom Cruise run in this movie?

He runs on the poster that I saw, so I will have to say in the affirmative.

 

[Langdon Alger]

Does Tom Cruise run in this movie?

Even worse, he gets everyone in the movie to convert to Scientology.

 

[YNWA14]

Hamilton (Disney Plus)

It was amazing. 5 out of 5. I'm not big into musicals but this was fantastic from start to finish. Educational, too.