Narrow Margin (1990) ridiculous remake of the classic film noir starring Gene Hackman and Anne Archer with spectacular wastes of J.T. Walsh and M. Emmet Walsh, and implausible and predictable train action sequences too boot, that adds roughly, about a half hour of runtime. Give me a break. 5/10
Arrival (2016) - 8/10It was that close to become the Eternal Sunshine of aliens movies. For one time, Villeneuve nailed the ending... but kind of screwed other things beforehand. The whole "how do Aliens talk?" thing is unfortunately stupidly handled: anybody on Earth would have done better in 2 meetings than they do in their first 5 or so (we would all start with some kind of "I Jane, you Tarzan" and then try to draw stuff).Apart from that, it's terrific. Definitely the most facinating and stimulating film of the year. It's very difficult to talk about what's great in it without spoiling anything, so I'll just shut up.
The Hunter (1980) - 5/10A lame try all-around that, despite some good action scenes with cars (or that combine harvester vs. car, in a corn field) misuses every bit of potential, including the actors. Last McQueen's role; he did seem a bit tired.
The Innocents (1961) pretty creepy story 9/10 on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktvn-UFNJkM
I can't imagine anybody but Kerr in the role, and the direction is impeccable. But the spectacular color pictures in the extra of the dvd made me wonder whether the b&w choice was the right one.
You are right about Kerr, but she was too old for the part. Hence the necessity for b&w. The high contrast lighting helps hide her age.I love Frayling's video appreciation of this film. He really gets what's special about it.
Straight Time (1978) Two time loser Dustin Hoffman tries to go straight but a douce parole officer brings him to a tipping point and he breaks bad. 7/10
You ever read the book its based off? Good stuff but the movie plays off the diamond heist way better than how the book sets it up.