Li'l Duce's Reviews Palace

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Les diaboliques (1955) Excellenr thriller, with no pauses that keeps you intrigued till the very end. I don't like Signoret (how she was able to trap poor Montand still baffles me) but I suppose she was playing (jenkins would agree, I think) a butch dyke and so she was spot on. Meurisse does little but is wonderful as usual. And the others too. Vera Clouzot maybe was not such a good casting, but she was the director's wife and she was good looking (especially paired to SS). 8\10

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Le pacha (1968) Another good police story from France. It could have earned more than 7\10 if more room had been given to the parisian locales more space. Instead the look of the movie is a bit claustrophobic. Dany Carrel is quite palatable.

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Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) I read the novel and didn't like it so much. Then I saw the movie and wasn't enthused either. But this time, on a big screen and not dubbed, the movie is enjoyable, the 40's are well recreated and the story flows quite well. 7\10

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Belles of the NIneties (1934)  Great in the first part with lots of one-liners and great songs (well executed by MW and the Ellington orchestra); but the second part relies heavily on the weak plot and it's no fun. 6\10   

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The Heat's On (1943) The weakest and last (before the cameo in Myra Breckindridge) effort  of Mae West is notable only for some musical number, especially those courtesy of Hazel Scott. 6\10

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La chute de la maison Usher (1927) This is considered a classic, but I think it is sometime a bit too draggy. It has some great images and it must be viewed anyway by cinema fans. 7\10

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Little Miss Marker (1980) One of the best Matthau's comedies. 8\10

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Klondike Annie (1936) I expected more from Walsh and West. I give it 6\10 only for the songs (West is a fine singer with a voice full of bluesy shades) and some West lines. McLaglen is good but his performance is marred by the fact that I expect him any moment starting playing the buffon as in Ford's westerns.

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I'm No Angel (1933) West's masterpiece, good from start to end. A pity she doesn't look pretty (or prettier) though she makes up for it by panache. 9\10

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She Done Him Wrong (1933) Twin movie of the former and not half as good. Some famous line and little more. 6\10

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Point Break (1967) I had seen rhis before in a cinema in the early '70's and then on tv and never understood why it was so highly reputed. I can see it has some editing tricks, Marvin's presence and some spectacular scene like Vernon's dive, but the plot is not too imaginative and the single turns not quite elaborated (it's a mystery why Marvin needs Dickinson to go to bed with Vernon and how easily he gets inside the building where Vernon is). So I give it 7\10.

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The Time Bandits (1982) A good kids movie, which could have been very good if more room had been given to humor- or maybe they tried to but didn't succeed. The Connery episode is clearly a steal from Fellini's Satyricon and Pasolini's Flower of 1001 nights . 7\10

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Point Break (1967) I had seen rhis before in a cinema in the early '70's and then on tv and never understood why it was so highly reputed. I can see it has some editing tricks, Marvin's presence and some spectacular scene like Vernon's dive, but the plot is not too imaginative and the single turns not quite elaborated (it's a mystery why Marvin needs Dickinson to go to bed with Vernon and how easily he gets inside the building where Vernon is). So I give it 7\10.

Should be Point Blank, no?

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Should be Point Blank, no?

Yeah, of course.

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The Killer (1989) Overlong, overblown, over...you name it. I like the killer to be unromantic, I don't like him to make friends with policemen, though he may have a honour code. You have 3 mexican standoffs, 2000 dead men and yawning al the time. I give it 6\10 just out of generosity and because it may be interesting how these movies are or were made in China.