Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[PowerRR]

American Sniper 6.5/10
Drink will be happy to know

Kansas City 7/10
So PowerRR is campaining for me

I win

Who Framed Roger Rabbit - 10/10

[dave jenkins]

I remember that you liked The Romantic English Woman. Are there other films by Losey you like?

Accident is his best film, but the one I go back to watch again and again is TREW. I remember liking The Trout but I need to re-watch it to make sure. I liked Eva the one time I saw it--hopefully today the new blu from Indicator will arrive, sporting 4 different versions, and I'll be able to make a definitive assessment on that.

Losey is an odd director--he has great pictures, middling ones, and some I hate (e.g. Figures in a Landscape). Maybe that's the case with most directors, but with him the wide swings in quality seem remarkable.

[dave jenkins]

They Won't Believe Me (1947) - 7/10. A kind of upmarket Detour, with a lot less ambiguity. The part that I won't believe is that Jane Greer and Susan Hayward are in the film and Robert Young gets them both. The flashback structure works well, and allows this to be a courtroom drama without having to spend much time in court. Apparently, it's difficult to see the uncut film. According to IMDb: "Reissue prints have been cut to 80 minutes. This is the version currently being shown on TCM. The uncut 95 minute original release is available on a long out-of-print laserdisc, released by Image Entertainment in 1990."
Interestingly, I just saw what may be the uncut version here: https://ok.ru/video/646297422576

They took the cut showing at OK.RU down! (The rights holder, or their legal representation, complained). Now there is nowhere to see the full cut. Perhaps a restoration and re-release is coming. I hope we all live long enough to see it.

[drinkanddestroy]

The Red Badge of Courage (1951) 7/10

there are some nice scenes here, and I really liked the cinematography on some.

I didn't like that they omitted  the scene where the main character comes upon the dead body whose face is eaten out by the birds.

I did not like the opening narration at all: informing the audience that this was a famous book by Stephen Crane (NO SHIT) and that the narration will be taken from the book etc. and some other shit. the narration is not very good here, and uses some guy without a particularly good voice. Apparently, director John Huston did not put the narration in there, that was done by the studio afterward against his wishes. Seems like there were lots of problems with this production, disagreements between Huston and the studio, subject of the book "Picture" by Lillian Ross

IMO Bill Mauldin, who has the most important supporting role, overshadows lead actor Audie Murphy. Murphy was never a good actor. Just a great soldier with a baby face. I wish they'd given the lead role to Mauldin instead!

just saw this again - because I just read the book PICTURE by Lillian Ross about the making of the movie

Not a particularly good movie - I think my 7/10 rating on previous viewing is too high

after reading the book, I should correct one point in my previous post: I had written that the narration was put in there against Huston's wishes. That's not necessarily true. Huston left California to head to Africa to make The African Queen, and then the studio made changes to the movie after preview audiences were not too enthusiastic about the film. It does not necessarily mean Huston would not have agreed with the narration (or other changes)


I still think the narration (voiced by James Whitmore, a terrific actor but not great narrator) is not good. The point of the narration is that the producer and studio were afraid that the theme wasn't getting across to the audience, since the movie is really about the Youth's thoughts. They were afraid this would not come across with just a regular movie, so narration was required. They also wanted to make sure everyone knew it was a great novel, so they made sure to mention that - and that the narration COMES FROM THE NOVEL - at the beginning.

I can't stand that bit at the beginning. And even the narration throughout is, in my opinion, probably unnecessary. Or at least they could've trimmed certain parts. I do think the one place the narration really does work well is at the end, the very final scene.

And Murphy was, as Ben Menckiewicz put it kindly, a better soldier than an actor. I still think they should have used Bill Mauldin in the lead. Anyway, I really doubt this could have been made into a good movie no matter what way it was cut, recut or uncut. A movie about a soldier's fear or state of mind, I just don't think it's very filmable. But it did lead to a good book by Lillian Ross

[noodles_leone]

BONE TOMAHAWK (2015) - 7.5+/10
Second viewing, this one is growing on me. Is it the best western of the 2010's or what?

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) - 5.5/10
There is a lot of talent here. A lot of bressonian inspiration too. A lot of Bergman too. And some of the best shots of the beautiful "Cote Sauvage". The blantant/open feminism of the movie works pretty well. But if you're gonna go full Bressonian, you've gotta add way more subtlety and deepness into your movie and make things way less obvious. So good try but it's a miss this time around.

[drinkanddestroy]

The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (TCM)

Documentarian Penelope Spheeris made this late 80?s look at the LA heavy metal scene. (Part 1, in 1981, focuses on punk; Part 3 focuses on teen homelessness; I did not watch those.)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Decline_of_Western_Civilization_Part_II:_The_Metal_Years

They have sections on the different aspects of heavy metal culture at the time, such as alcohol, drugs, sex/groupies, cross-dressing/makeup (and a few live performances).

I was actually not aware until I saw this how much cross dressing and makeup wearing there was in heavy metal at the time. None of the bands I listen to do that shit.

There some memorable moments: Ozzy Osbourne cooking breakfast and talking about (short lived) sobriety; Steven Tyler talking about having snorted ?half of Peru,?; a young band called Odin in a hot tub with groupies, the singer talking about considering suicide if the band doesn?t make it big; and most memorably, guitarist Chris Holmes downing bottles of vodka while floating in a swimming pool with his mom nearby.

The documentary has a nice mix of well-known bands (Aeoresmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, KISS, Motorhead, Megadeth) and young bands trying to make it.

[dave jenkins]

The Female Animal (1958) - 4/10. Hedy Lamarr is a Joan-Crawford-like star with a college-age adopted daughter (Jane Powell). One day on the set, hunky George Nader pushes Hedy out of the way of a swinging kleig light. Hedy is smitten, and moves George into her beach bungalow as her new "caretaker." Things are looking up for George, but he's unhappy. Damn it, the man has to be the breadwinner! (What is it with these 50s men and their reluctance to be kept by women? I've been looking for that gig all my life). Jan Sterling shows up with her patented line of snark. Jerry Paris lights up the two scenes he's in. Unhappily, there just isn't enough story for the running time, and the dialog is frequently ridiculous. Hedy looks really good, though.

Blu in da house! A 1080p transfer of a 2.35:1 b&w image. The film is no good--but it looks fab!

[dave jenkins]

Le rouge est mis (1957) - 7/10. Jean Gabin and Lino Ventura, together again for the first time! The boys run a successful garage by day; in their free time they rob couriers of huge wads of cash (huh, since those days, electronic bank transfers must have really put a dent in that business). Gabin has a brother (Marcel Bozzuffi, the assassin in The French Connection) who is no end of worry, especially for their ma. Then there's Annie Girardot, the most faithless hooker ever born, sporting a very chic short 'do. It will all end in tears, or it would have, if Lino hadn't taken such a liking to automatic weapons. Man, give some guys a machine gun! Michel Audiard supplied the pithy dialog; Gilles Grangier directed.

[noodles_leone]

Slow West (2015) 6/10
Nice little western movie. Deadman meets The End of the fucking World. The characters tend to make horrible decisions, and the movie keeps punishing them for their stupidity, but I guess in a good way (mostly).

The Legend of 1900 6/10
I really want to love this movie, but it's too clumsy and to on the verge of being cheesy for me (also, the CGI aged terribly). Ennio Morricone's recent death made it more emotional. I like the book.

The Irishman 10/10
Still absolutely incredible. I'm obsessed.

[dave jenkins]

Eva (1962) 8/10. Losey takes Stanley Baker and Jeanne Moreau to Venice and Rome. Baker plays a first-class shit who cheats on Virna Lisi (WTF?) so he can be with call girl Moreau. The great thing about this film is that Moreau treats Baker with contempt the whole time--and he can't get enough of it. Yeah, amour fou and all that. Perhaps it all goes on a little long. But just when things seem to be heading into a rut Moreau finds that Baker is able to plunge to an ever greater depth. Great preparation for Losey's Accident. Nice score by Michel Legrand.

Watching the completer-than-usual cut called "Eve" (now out on Blu) I noticed perhaps a flaw--the Stanley Baker character has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He's supposed to be a publishing success who treats everybody around him like shit, but at least he's a literary genius, right? SPOILER But then it turns out he's also a plagiarist! END SPOILER. If the guy is completely virtue-free, why should we care about what happens to him? He just gets his comeuppance, so what? Wouldn't it make a better movie if there were some laudatory or potentially laudatory quality in him and it is this very thing that convinces Moreau to destroy him? Just asking.

Wow, after this, Moreau went on to do Mademoiselle. Was her agent actually trying to get her typed as the ultimate ball breaker?

[dave jenkins]

L'assassinat du Pere Noel/ The Assassination of Santa Claus (1941) - 7/10. A Christmas picture. Ostensibly a vehicle for Harry Baur, the real stars are, according to IMDb, Argentiere, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, and Haute-Savoie, France. The first movie produced by Continental Films, it provided the lovely Renee Faure with her debut.

[noodles_leone]

L'assassinat du Pere Noel/ The Assassination of Santa Claus (1941) - 7/10. A Christmas picture. Ostensibly a vehicle for Harry Baur, the real stars are, according to IMDb, Argentiere, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, and Haute-Savoie, France. The first movie produced by Continental Films, it provided the lovely Renee Faure with her debut.

How does it look in black and white?
I was there a month ago in vacation.

[dave jenkins]

How does it look in black and white?

Under a blanket of snow. So, the whites are very white.

[noodles_leone]

Gone Girl (2014) 8/10
6th, 7th viewing? Not the best Fincher film, definitely the most fun since at least Panic Room (if not Fight Club).

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) 6.5/10
Brilliant dialogues, a lot of strong scenes. As it's now almost a clich? to say, Sorkin as a director lacks cinematic flair... but he's doing much better here than in his previous effort. What's more worrying, though, and is unlilely to be fixed in his future work, is some real taste issue: he has a tendency to gravitate toward 90's TV shows and theater play cheesiness, which deeply hurts key scenes of the movie. For instance: the soundtrack ranges from mediocre to terrible.