Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Part#: Some High Number +5

[Chili]

If you can find it, seek out The McKenzie Break (1970) with Brian Keith doing a lovely Irish accent as the commandant of a prison camp in Scotland with German soldiers as the POWs. He matches wits in a cat and mouse game with the German commander. It seems to be re-releasing on streaming channels for some reaon. It's got a low score on IMDb (6.2) probably because of the ending which I thought was absolutely perfect. It is not in the same class as The Great Escape but it is sort of the same situation the other way around. Keith is worth the price of admission alone.

Watched The McKenzie Break a while ago. I read a book on German U-boat ace Otto Kretschmer (The Golden Horseshoe-Terence Robertson) and much of the film is based on his time in Bowmanville Ontario prison camp. Good film. Another escape film I would recommend is The One That Got Away, pretty much mirrors the book of the same name by-James Leasor, an incredible tale.

 

[nameless1]

Fury (1936) - 7.5/10

If you wanna watch some of the most ridiculous over-the-top court proceedings you'll see on film then tune in here, it's fun. Spencer Tracy also becomes predictably over the top crazy as the film roles on. I actually wonder how well a modern re-make of this would work if they made it darker and grittier, could put a horror angle on it.

Also I've now seen 30 or 31 films from the 30s (with quite a few more I still want to watch) so here is a futile and half-assed attempt at ranking them, I'm fairly confident about the top 3 though. Also all of these are fairly watchable even the ones at the bottom of the list, none of them were bad, it's just that I wouldn't give any of them say an 8/10 or higher outside of the first three.

Oh and it doesn't include horror films cos I'm a p***y or silent films cos those are so 1920's.

1	M (1931)
2	Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
3	Trouble in Paradise (1932)
4	The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
5	The Lady Vanishes (1938)
6	The 39 Steps (1935)
7	My Man Godfrey (1936)
8	Port of Shadows (1938)
9	Captain Blood (1935)
10	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
11	I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
12	Dodsworth (1936)
13	The Roaring Twenties (1939)
14	The Rules of the Game (1939)
15	Fury (1936)
16	Ninotchka (1939)
17	One Way Passage (1932)
18	La Bête humaine (1938)
19	It Happened One Night (1934)
20	Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
21	Grand Illusion (1937)
22	The Thin Man (1934)
23	L'Atalante (1934)
24	The Awful Truth (1937)
25	Stagecoach (1939)
26	All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
27	Bringing Up Baby (1938)
28	The Only Son (1936)
29	Design for Living (1933)
30	Wuthering Heights (1939)

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

It is a shame what happened to Fritz Lang. It can be argued that he is a genius, but after he escaped from Germany, he became relegated to genre movies, with B-level budgets. Fury is probably his best work after his emigration, and it is but a glimpse of his talent.

 

[nameless1]

Stalag 17 (1953) - 8/10

It's not quite The Great Escape, and it has a couple of characters which make it unnecessarily tedious in parts, plus it probably should've been a 90 minute tightly paced film and Billy Wilder's direction is a bit too zany, but he manages to mix it quite well with a POW WW2 film.

Yeah, you are absolutely right about Wilder's direction. Personally, I never understood the love for this movie. Perhaps not all Germans are monsters in World War II, but if the prisoners are treated rather well, why would they escape? This never makes any sense to me. Frankly, the plot is better suited for a sitcom.

 

[nameless1]

Fists in the Pocket (1965) Directed by Marco Bellocchio 7A

Augusto is planning to get married, but he can't do so because he, as the elder son, is trapped in a family of misfits who are nonetheless totally dependent upon him, His aged mother is blind; his slightly younger brother Alessandro suffers from epilepsy and is greatly discontent with his life, virtually squirming in his own skin. There is a vain sister and a mentally challenged younger brother as well. Non are happy with their meager, though largely self-inflicted, lot in life. Alessandro decides to take pity on Augusto by driving himself and the other members of the family over a cliff. Turns out he can't do it. Full of self-loathing, he finds another solution: he pushes his blind mother off a cliff. The youngest brother, vulnerable as he is, may be next. While there were dysfunctional families in Italian cinema before this--Divorce, Italian Style and Rocco and His Brothers come to mind--Italy had never seen anything like Fists in the Pocket. If you had twisted the plot just a quarter of a turn, Fists in the Pocket could have been a comedy, but a young Marco Bellocchio plays the story absolutely straight. Somehow he manages to invest each of these characters with a distinctly watchable personality, and he gets a marvelous performance from Lou Cassel as the deeply warped Alessandro. As first movie goes, Fists in the Pocket made for an auspicious debut by a director with a gift for challenging the constraints of Italian cinema to this day.

subtitles

Criterion Channel

I have never understood the movie to be honest. I simply have no idea what the director wants to convey.

 

[Osprey]

Yeah, you are absolutely right about Wilder's direction. Personally, I never understood the love for this movie. Perhaps not all Germans are monsters in World War II, but if the prisoners are treated rather well, why would they escape? This never makes any sense to me. Frankly, the plot is better suited for a sitcom.

It was their duty to try to escape. Being captured wasn't a license to take a vacation from the war. Soldiers were encouraged and expected to try to escape or at least make things so difficult that the enemy had to allocate more of their own soldiers to guard and manage them, soldiers that could be fighting instead of babysitting. By being a pain in the butt to the enemy, POWs could still help their side in a small way. That said, most movies (and, especially, TV shows like Hogan's Heroes) probably exaggerated things for the sake of entertainment.

 

[kihei]

I have never understood the movie to be honest. I simply have no idea what the director wants to convey.

You could say the same about certain Michael Haneke, Sam Peckinpah and Lars von Trier movies. Perhaps, they are all misanthropes, and their disgust with their fellow humans is all they want to convey.

 

[ORRFForever]

The Comey Rule (2020 / Episode 1) :

November 8, 2016, the day Hillary Clinton lost, was a special day.

Spoiler

I enjoyed every minute of "that woman's" loss.

The Comey Rule (episode 1) examines the behind the scenes dealings at the FBI as they struggle to balance Hillary Clinton's emails, Donald Trump's Russian connection, and doing the right thing leading up to that amazing day.

Episode 1 is not perfect (a little too preachy, a little too melodramatic) but it never stops being interesting.
7.5/10

 

[ItsFineImFine]

L'Eclisse (1962) - 6.5/10

Everything sucks and is gonna fall apart, we already know Antonio. I might relate to the aimlessness of the lead but it doesn't mean I want to be bored by her for two hours. Still, the quiet is nice at times, it raises this above the more annoying L'Avventura but not as good as La Notte which had better dialogue and a more tangible conflict rather than just depressing emptiness.

Btw the stock market scene might be one of the worst things I've ever seen. It's like watching a horror film if you're a passive buy and hold long-term investor.

 

[nameless1]

It was their duty to try to escape. Being captured wasn't a license to take a vacation from the war. Soldiers were encouraged and expected to try to escape or at least make things so difficult that the enemy had to allocate more of their own soldiers to guard and manage them, soldiers that could be fighting instead of babysitting. By being a pain in the butt to the enemy, POWs could still help their side in a small way. That said, most movies (and, especially, TV shows like Hogan's Heroes) probably exaggerated things for the sake of entertainment.

That is fair. What I mean is that Stalag 17 just does not feel real to me. While I know there is a difference between concentration camps and POW camps, and the Germans do treat their POWs better than the Japanese, I honestly have a hard time to believe that there is a camp like Stalag 17 in real life. This is no longer World War I as portrayed in The Grand Illusion, when officers from opposite sides actually know each other, and will show mutual respect. It is a lot more cutthroat and cruel, especially when the German losses have piled up, and supplies have become scarce.

 

[Osprey]

F/X (1986) - 7/10 (Really liked it)

A movie special effects artist (Bryan Brown) is hired by the Feds to fake an assassination, but soon finds himself on the run and pursued by a rogue cop (Brian Dennehy). Brown is very likable as the victim who's caught up in something that he never wanted to be a part of and Dennehy doesn't play a slimeball for once. As a big fan of MacGyver, I've always liked this thriller because it's the same sort of thing: a man uses his ingenuity and talents to thwart the bad guys. Here, that includes disguises, props, explosives, super glue and other things. I remember that this movie was pretty cool in the late 80s and early 90s, back when movies relied on practical effects and smart heroes were the rage. Today, it's rather dated, tame and cheesy (like most 80s action movies, to be fair)... but it's buoyed by a good story and characters, lots of twists and great pacing. It's also a bit smarter than your average 80s action movie. Those things help it to stand out and make it easy to watch, even today. I re-visit it every 5-10 years and always enjoy it.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

F/X (1986) - 7/10 (Really liked it)

A movie special effects artist (Bryan Brown) is hired by the Justice Department to fake an assassination, but there's more going on than meets the eye and, soon, he's on the run and pursued by a rogue cop (Brian Dennehy). As a big fan of MacGyver, I've always liked this thriller because it's the same sort of thing: a man uses his ingenuity and his talents to thwart the bad guys. Here, that includes disguises, props, explosives, super glue and other things. Brown is very likable as the victim who's caught up in something that he never wanted to be a part of. It's very 80s and dated and sometimes feels more like a TV movie, but it has great pacing and lots of twists (though not all are believable). I've seen it about half a dozen times and enjoyed it every time.

After Cherry 2000, you're on a role of great cheesy old films! Liked that one quite a bit too (not as much as C2000 or Dead Heat, but still).

 

[ORRFForever]

The Comey Rule (2020 / Episode 1):

November 8, 2016, the day Hillary Clinton lost, was a special day.

Spoiler

I enjoyed every minute of "that woman's" loss.

The Comey Rule (episode 1) examines the behind the scenes dealings at the FBI as they struggle to balance Hillary Clinton's emails, Donald Trump's Russian connection, and doing the right thing leading up to that amazing day.

Episode 1 is not perfect (a little too preachy, a little too melodramatic) but it never stops being interesting.
7.5/10

The Comey Rule (2020 / Episode 2):

In episode 2, we are introduced to Donald Trump, played by Brendan Gleeson, and it's all down hill from there - Gleeson struggles with a character that seems more comic than convincing. If episode 1 is a little preachy, episode 2 is a firebrand sermon on the evils of Donald Trump and the goodness of Jim Comey. And, while I never lost interest during the well paced 2 hours, it's choppy and painfully slanted - you can tell Comey still feels a LOT of guilt from Trump being elected.

5/10




In summary : While no one will ever mistake The Comey Rule with All The Presidents Men, it's an entertaining 3.5 hours.

Overall Rating... 6.5/10

 

[Osprey]

After Cherry 2000, you're on a role of great cheesy old films! Liked that one quite a bit too (not as much as C2000 or Dead Heat, but still).

I haven't seen Cherry 2000 since it was still a futuristic-sounding title (cue Conan's "In the year 2000..."). I think that you're confusing me with another cheese lover (not that I mind) .

I remember not liking Cherry 2000, so I'm not sure that I want to re-visit it, but I don't think that I've seen Dead Heat, so I may check that out.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I haven't seen Cherry 2000 since the year 2000 was still a ways into the future (cue Conan's "In the year 2000..."). I think that you're confusing me with another cheese lover (not that I mind) .

I remember not liking Cherry 2000, so I'm not sure that I want to re-visit it, but I don't think that I've seen Dead Heat, so I may check that out.

That must have been Kallio then! Sorry!

edit: Blood Diner comes to mind too, I guess they're all easier to link together than with F/X though, but for some reason I'd put them in a bundle.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

The Invisible Man. (recent vintage). Finally got around to this one and it lived up to the hype. Really good performance from Elizabeth Moss in a clever modernization of a classic monster idea. The FX, both when invisible and especially when flashing in and out of visibility were impressive (I also very much dug the Predator like clicking sound effect that accompanied the invisibility, which had to be intentional). It predictably descends a bit into action world for a bit and that's fine, but it's my least favorite part of the movie. The whole backstory and evolution of this is interesting with it originally going to be part of a grand, expanded universe thing from Universal but they wound up stripping this down to something more straightforward and effective. Intrigued at where it might go from here ...

Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's The Island of Dr. Moreau. As far a autopsies on failed films go, this is a pretty good one. Production values are a little shoddy and it does somewhat lack from the absence of all the major stars involved (Brando, dead; Kilmer, didn't participate; and Thewlis, oddly, I don't even think is mentioned). But this really is Stanley's story. He's an interesting, odd, charming figure who only just now returned to feature directing with this year's The Color Out of Space. In excruciating detail, this lays out why he's been gone for 25 years. It's a business story and an artistic story and damn if there aren't a few fairly hilarious, entertaining anecdotes and revelations throughout.

Be Water. Recent ESPN documentary about Bruce Lee. Lee's story has been recounted many times, but this is an efficient and moving summation of it. Composed almost entirely of film clips and assorted archival footage with no breaks for talking heads. (Everything is voice over until a montage toward the end).

The Way of the Dragon. Lee's only credited directing effort though he did do segments of what became Game of Death before he died. My least favorite of his handful of movies. It's fine and the climactic fight with a young Chuck Norris stands out, but it's a tonal mess and never quite figures out how to properly balance its comedy and action.

The Crow. As a moody, movie-loving teen this was an important movie to me. I'd been eager to revisit it for years and only finally got around to it as I've been on this Bruce Lee kick. A little disappointed to say it doesn't hold up as well as I hoped. What felt very ADULT and SERIOUS to young me now plays a little silly and juvenile. Fairly classic angry comic revenge story — also feels like an artistic and tonal midpoint between Burton's Batman and Nolan's Batman funny enough. I think it's the Brandon Lee character's decision to lug around a guitar and moodily play on rooftops that really felt cheesy now. (Trust me it was very cool and sad in 1994). The FX really did not hold up well either. It's that early 1990s purgatory where CGI was still rough. All that said, I still liked it. The look and style of the whole shebang are broody and cool. I'm a sucker for most "I got a checklist of people to kill" stories. A lot of good character actor types peppered throughout, my favorite of which is Michael Wincott who's turned to 11 as the big bad. The script actually has some pretty good lines in it (mostly Wincott's). And finally, you can't separate it from the real life tragedy of Brandon Lee's death. You really do see all that charisma and ability and it's hard not to feel that loss. Oh, the soundtrack is still a banger too.

 

[kihei]

Tequila Sunrise (1988) Directed by Robert Towne 4A

Sometimes I know I am watching a bad movie, but I can’t help liking it anyway. The cheerfully amoral Tequila Sunrise is one of those films. Mel Gibson plays a drug dealer trying to go straight whose best friend Kurt Russell is a cop who is head of the LA narcotics division. They both fall head over heals for sexy, intelligent restauranteur Michelle Pfeiffer, and both are waiting, for different reasons, for Raul Julia as a Mexican drug lord to arrive. What a quartet of stars: Gibson, Russell, Pfeiffer, Julia, all in their very attractive primes. There are scenes between Russell and Pfeiffer, between Gibson and Pfeiffer, and between Gibson and Julia that sparkle with snappy dialogue and, where Pfeiffer is concerned, romantic chemistry (when I saw the movie upon its release, there is a scene where Gibson asks Pfeiffer out for the first time that made the women in the theatre audibly swoon). As well, the ever pompous J.T. Walsh makes the perfect foil as an arrogant FBI agent. The good stuff accounts for about half the movie. But then there is the other half which is poorly developed, limply directed, and lacks any semblance of suspense. In the end Pfeiffer’s dialogue goes from smart to embarrassingly cloying in a manner that makes the recent increase of female writers in the industry seem an absolute gift from the gods. As well, the climax just happens without any impact whatsoever as a brief but inept action sequence goes absolutely nowhere. If I ever see Tequila Sunrise again, I think I will just watch the fun bits and fast forward through the drudgery. Director Robert Towne usually wrote movies, not direct them. It shows.

 

[ORRFForever]

...when I saw the movie upon its release, there is a scene where Gibson asks Pfeiffer out for the first time that made the women in the theatre audibly swoon...

I remember that exact reaction - Gibson, looking beyond handsome, with his blue eyes shining in the well lit sun drenched room, modestly says to Pfeiffer (from memory decades ago), "...so if I asked you out, maybe you'd accept", and the women in the theater gasped for air.

Note : I tried that line on a girl I wanted to take out but she said "No!". I'm sure I wasn't the only guy who used that line going forward.

Anyway, I agree.... a very uneven film. For every line (from memory, decades ago) like :

Gibson : "Hey, I'm not, not here or anywhere else, and you couldn't catch me even if I was. Try the sand dabs."

or

Russel : "I don't grow weeds in my backyard so I can pull em!!!!"

...there are just as many scenes that don't work at all. I remember watching it in a theater with a girl named Lana and, feeling the movie was dragging, I worried Lana was bored - I can NOT remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, but I remember that movie date from 1988.

As for your rating... 4 is too low, K. I'd go 6.5 but that's based on a 1988 viewing.

 

[ORRFForever]

I remember that exact reaction - Gibson, looking beyond handsome, with his blue eyes shining in the well lit sun drenched room, modestly says to Pfeiffer (from memory decades ago), "so if I asked you out, maybe you'd accept", and the women in the theater gasped for air.

The "look" every guy who saw Tequila Sunrise tried to emulate back in 1988...

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Tequila Sunrise (1988) Directed by Robert Towne 4A

Sometimes I know I am watching a bad movie, but I can’t help liking it anyway. The cheerfully amoral Tequila Sunrise is one of those films. Mel Gibson plays a drug dealer trying to go straight whose best friend Kurt Russell is a cop who is head of the LA narcotics division. They both fall head over heals for sexy, intelligent restauranteur Michelle Pfeiffer, and both are waiting, for different reasons, for Raul Julia as a Mexican drug lord to arrive. What a quartet of stars: Gibson, Russell, Pfeiffer, Julia, all in their very attractive primes. There are scenes between Russell and Pfeiffer, between Gibson and Pfeiffer, and between Gibson and Julia that sparkle with snappy dialogue and, where Pfeiffer is concerned, romantic chemistry (when I saw the movie upon its release, there is a scene where Gibson asks Pfeiffer out for the first time that made the women in the theatre audibly swoon). As well, the ever pompous J.T. Walsh makes the perfect foil as an arrogant FBI agent. The good stuff accounts for about half the movie. But then there is the other half which is poorly developed, limply directed, and lacks any semblance of suspense. In the end Pfeiffer’s dialogue goes from smart to embarrassingly cloying in a manner that makes the recent increase of female writers in the industry seem an absolute gift from the gods. As well, the climax just happens without any impact whatsoever as a brief but inept action sequence goes absolutely nowhere. If I ever see Tequila Sunrise again, I think I will just watch the fun bits and fast forward through the drudgery. Director Robert Towne usually wrote movies, not direct them. It shows.

I ALMOST watched this yesterday (did The Invisible Man instead). Still at the top of my queue.

 

[Osprey]

I ALMOST watched this yesterday (did The Invisible Man instead). Still at the top of my queue.

I was about to say what a coincidence it is because I added it to my queue only just a few days ago, since I was reminded of it and haven't seen it in a long time. I remember it being disappointing, but that cast makes it watchable.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I've been watching a lot of 80s stuff too in the last few months.

The Big Chill (Kasdan, 1983) - Not really good or interesting, but it has a very special mood and some nice dynamics, even if superficial. 4.5/10

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Oh, and couldn't sleep last night.....

Moneyball (Miller, 2011) - Rewatch. Still has some charms. 5.5/10

 

[Langdon Alger]

Oh, and couldn't sleep last night.....

Moneyball (Miller, 2011) - Rewatch. Still has some charms. 5.5/10

I’d have to go back and watch this again, but I remember liking it. Why such a low score?

 

[kihei]

The "look" every guy who saw Tequila Sunrise tried to emulate back in 1988...

I came this close to using the top shot for the picture in my review, but already gave Gibson a dreamboat moment in the picture I used for my The Year of Living Dangerously review and I didn't want to repeat myself. Like it was a matter of artistic integrity of something.

 

[Langdon Alger]

Can I include movies I didn’t finish? I started Aloha and Into The Wild, but didn’t finish them. Aloha was garbage from what I saw, and I couldn’t really get interested in into the Wild.