Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[dave jenkins]

The Human Jungle (1954) - 9/10. Best policier I've ever seen. That's because of the cast: Emile Meyer, Gary Merrill, Regis Toomey, Chuck Conners, Paula Raymond, and the amazing Jan Sterling (who adds a strip act--sorta--to her usual mouthy routine). But the standout performance here is the actor playing Mr. Big: Florenz Ames (WHO???). Fantastic final location climax at the Pabst Blue Ribbon bottling plant in LA.

[dave jenkins]

Nobody (2021) - 8/10. A History of Violence meets John Wick . . . and the laughs never stop. This is a film with a moral, too: "the family that slays together, stays together." Great to see those icons from the 80s back in action again, Christopher Lloyd and Michael Ironside. And Bob Odenkirk (OdenWick?) . . . an action star? Who knew? Somewhere Chekhov uttered the dictim: when you show a Claymore mine at the beginning of Act 3, it must go off by the end of the picture. Happily, this film follows that rule.

Another watch: LMAO.

[cigar joe]

OK, but what makes this noir? Isn't it just a meller with a killer ending? Yeah, Selby lists it, but I'm still skeptical.

The tip for me is the cinematography, Dark story and the Noir stylistic cinematography.

[cigar joe]

Stratos (2014) aka The Little Fish aka Το μικρό ψάρι -  Greek Noir 


This Greek Noir has a look that's a bit of a blend of California Noir / Mediterranean Spaghetti Western / and a storyline that will also loosely remind you of L?on: The Professional (1994) and Get Carter (1971) and maybe a dash of Sin City, Vol. 4: That Yellow Bastard.
Directed by Yannis Economides.

The film stars Vangelis Mourikis as Stratos Karamanis a baker by night a mob hit man by day. 8/10

[noodles_leone]

Taxi Driver (Martin something, 1976) - 9/10

Sibyl (Justine Triet, 2019) - 5/10
Justine Triet marathon because I felt stupid for not having seen anything before she got her 2023 Palme d'Or. Terrific first shot and then it never reaches that level again. Some funny moments though.

The battle of Solferino (Justine Triet, 2013) - 7.5/10
Much better although quite vain. The funny thing is that half of the movie was shot over the course of a single evening, in the crowd during election day. So it's like fiction with a documentary background. The last part of the movie is really, really good. Weirdly enough, I ate a pizza right next to the actor (Vincent Macaigne) in the park next to my appartment three days after seeing the movie.

Victoria (Justine Triet, 2016) - 8/10
My favorite one so far. I hope she goes back to that style and not the cerebral coldness of Sibyl in her Palme d'Or.

[dave jenkins]

Jack Reacher (2012) 9/10. 4K. A shooting spree that kills five people is blamed on an Iraqi War veteran, but a well-groomed drifter appears and begins investigating. Maybe the vet was set up? This is a film based on a book in a popular series featuring the Reacher character (which I have not read).  I was going to skip this (who wants to see another Tom Cruise film?), but when I heard that Werner Herzog was in it playing the Prince of Darkness, I had to go. Turns out this is a lot of fun. The plotting is good, the investigation unfolds rather well, Cruise isn't too annoying, and the cast includes Richard Jenkins (no relation) and Rosamund Pike (nice jugs). Robert Duval shows up as a folksy gun range operator named Gunny. Pittsburg, PA, is the featured location.

But, of course, the main interest is with Werner, brief though his appearance is. SPOILER BEGINS:His character is called the Zec, which, we are told, is Russian for prisoner. Apparently, before he became an American crime lord, the Zec spent time in the Gulag. He explains to an underling (an underling about to be disciplined) that in order to survive, the Zec once had to gnaw off the fingers on his hands. This is an object lesson for the underling; the Zec wants to demonstrate that he will do anything to survive. He shows the man his hands. Is the underling willing to show that he too will do anything to survive? The man, taking the hint, has one question.
Aren't you gonna give me a knife?
Did I have a knife in Siberia?
The guy sticks his thumb in his mouth and starts chewing, but he can't really go through with it, so he breaks down crying.
The scene ends with Werner intoning: I don't understand. Always the bullet.
END SPOILER

The big shootout climax occurs in a quarry, and, though clich?d, is actually exciting. Unfortunately, it was here that the automatic systems in the theater malfunctioned, first shutting off the sound, bringing the house lights up, and finally, just as Cruise was winning the hand-to-hand with Henchman #1, stopping the image. So I did not get to see what happened to Werner. I'd like to think that just as Cruise was about to apprehend him, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.  Any chance of a Jack Reacher 2?
 

A re-watch on blu provided an entertaining evening. I was able to see all the action.

And as I remember, they DID make a sequel, and it isn't very good.

[noodles_leone]

And as I remember, they DID make a sequel, and it isn't very good.

And as I remember, there is exactly ONE good scene. When he leaves the car in the middle of the street in the middle of a chase, calmly walks to the bus stop and a guy gives him a hat.

[cigar joe]

The Devil Thumbs A Ride (1947) Re watched this on a much better looking copy - Lawrence Tierney is in top sociopath form as usual. he's a real hoot. Ted North played a similar part in The Unsuspected, so
no surprises there either. Andrew Tombes and Betty Lawford are amusing, especially Lawford in her back
and forth with Tierney.

Besides the main story we also get the side story of Jack Kenny (Vernon) and Detective Owens (Shannon) and
some romantic comedy schmaltz between Ted North and Mariam Carr, and some nice car chase footage.
Quite a lot of entertainment squeezed into a 62 minute production, bravo. 7/10

[dave jenkins]

Life is Climbing (2023) - 9/10. Inspirational documentary about a blind Japanese climber who goes to Moab, Utah for some serious technical rock. Maybe the fact that he can't actually see the danger he's in helps? An entry for this film doesn't yet seem to be up on IMDb, but the trailer (in Japanese) is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saMERleOfhA

[noodles_leone]

Il Buco (Michelangelo Frammartino, 2021)- 8.5/10
If you're wondering what an adventure movie could look like in the 2020's, watch Il Buco. Terrific retelling of the story of young speleologists in Italy in 1961 expoloring what turned out to be the 3rd deepest cave in the world (at the time). The movie is strongly anarrative. Nobody breaks a leg, nobody gets stuck between two rocks while the water levels are raising. You just watch speleologists doing what they do. Exploring, climbing, mapping out. There is a strong documentary value to it, which deeply relates to the original cinematic experience. The fact that the movie was shot with a small crew in the real cave, almost in documentary conditions, increases the adventure feeling by a lot. As the movie critics clich? says: if you want to be scared by a shark on screen, you need to be little scared that the camera operator gets bitten. Well that's what happens here. Now this isn't for everyone (as is: this isn't for Drink). It's slow, it's almost silent (they rarely speak and when they do you cannot decipher what is being said. Think of Tati, but in italian) although the sound plays a huge role in it. Apart from an old sheperd whose face is shot like a landscape (does it ring a bell, Leone fans?), you rarely see faces in the movie. The group of speleologists is shot as a group: wide shots, no distinctions. The movie does what it can to NOT make them protagonists. It's also occasionally quite funny (i told you it wasn't for Drink). Politicaly speaking it is for everyone though: if you're left wing you'll see the movie as anticapitalist, if you're right wing you'll see a rejection of modernity, if you're religious you'll see it as filled with spirituality. And you'll be right in any of those scenarios. The gorgeous cinematography by Renato Berta finishes to sell the thing: it seems it was shot with only the "natural" lights available. It means that inside the cave, the light comes from the lights mounted on the speleologists' helmets. The rest is only darkness. It's funny because what could lead to some very "cinema verit?" style on the contrary makes real world look like incredible paintings... or aventure movies scenes. And it makes you, on the same time, want to lick the screen, want to go on an adventure, and intensely watch the screen to discover what the real world looks like.
Dont watch the trailer, which doesn't tell you much, but try this 50 seconds clip instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0-FDNwSKQQ

[dave jenkins]

Il Buco (Michelangelo Frammartino, 2021)- 8.5/10
If you're wondering what an adventure movie could look like in the 2020's, watch Il Buco. Terrific retelling of the story of young speleologists in Italy in 1961 expoloring what turned out to be the 3rd deepest cave in the world (at the time). The movie is strongly anarrative. Nobody breaks a leg, nobody gets stuck between two rocks while the water levels are raising. You just watch speleologists doing what they do. Exploring, climbing, mapping out. There is a strong documentary value to it, which deeply relates to the original cinematic experience. The fact that the movie was shot with a small crew in the real cave, almost in documentary conditions, increases the adventure feeling by a lot. As the movie critics clich? says: if you want to be scared by a shark on screen, you need to be little scared that the camera operator gets bitten. Well that's what happens here. Now this isn't for everyone (as is: this isn't for Drink). It's slow, it's almost silent (they rarely speak and when they do you cannot decipher what is being said. Think of Tati, but in italian) although the sound plays a huge role in it. Apart from an old sheperd whose face is shot like a landscape (does it ring a bell, Leone fans?), you rarely see faces in the movie. The group of speleologists is shot as a group: wide shots, no distinctions. The movie does what it can to NOT make them protagonists. It's also occasionally quite funny (i told you it wasn't for Drink). Politicaly speaking it is for everyone though: if you're left wing you'll see the movie as anticapitalist, if you're right wing you'll see a rejection of modernity, if you're religious you'll see it as filled with spirituality. And you'll be right in any of those scenarios. The gorgeous cinematography by Renato Berta finishes to sell the thing: it seems it was shot with only the "natural" lights available. It means that inside the cave, the light comes from the lights mounted on the speleologists' helmets. The rest is only darkness. It's funny because what could lead to some very "cinema verit?" style on the contrary makes real world look like incredible paintings... or aventure movies scenes. And it makes you, on the same time, want to lick the screen, want to go on an adventure, and intensely watch the screen to discover what the real world looks like.
Dont watch the trailer, which doesn't tell you much, but try this 50 seconds clip instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0-FDNwSKQQ

Well, I'm interested, but how do I see it?

[noodles_leone]

Well, I'm interested, but how do I see it?

Hard one. I missed it in theater but hopefully someone organized a screening + 1h talk about the movie the other day. Be ready for a Lincoln Center screening, it COULD happen. Frammartino isn't very famous but he isn't a nobody, festivals know him. Also while the movie is unavailable in VOD:

https://www.fnac.com/a17566195/Il-Buco-Blu-ray-Paolo-Cossi-Blu-ray
https://www.amazon.fr/Blu-Ray-Jacopo-Denise-Trombin-Paolo/dp/B0BPHXD4B4/ref=sr_1_2

EDIT: I can rent it on Prime. Maybe you can too.

[noodles_leone]

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - 12/10
Still the adventure flick for the whole family masterpiece. As everybody knows, and this is NOT open to discussion: 3>1>2>4

[dave jenkins]

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - 12/10
Still the adventure flick for the whole family masterpiece. As everybody knows, and this is NOT open to discussion: 3>1>2>4

Is "Last Crusade" the one with Sean Connery? I remember not liking it at the time, but since I will never return to any of these in the future, I'm willing to accept your verdict. Now, shall we talk about movies?

[noodles_leone]

Is "Last Crusade" the one with Sean Connery? I remember not liking it at the time, but since I will never return to any of these in the future, I'm willing to accept your verdict.

It is.

Now, shall we talk about movies?

Fair. Have you seen Dial of Destiny?