Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[cigar joe]

The Manchurian Candidate - 8/10 - saw it also on TCM 

[Groggy]

The Manchurian Candidate - 8/10 - saw it also on TCM 

In lieu of anything better to do I might stick around for The Parallax View and Boys From Brazil.

[Dust Devil]

Fanalysis (2002) - 7.5/10

Great.

[Groggy]

The Parallax View - 6/10 - Some well-directed scenes, but for the most part, pretty much a been-there, done-that post-Watergate government/corporate assassination conspiracy thriller with the virtuous journalist saving the day for Truth, Justice and the American Way (or trying to, anyway). Yeah, sure.

[Groggy]

The Boys From Brazil - 7/10 - A really dumb plot that makes little sense, with lots of cheesiness and eyeroll-inducing scenes, but still manages to be an entertaining and well-crafted film, if not in the same league as Marathon Man in the "Escaped Nazi War Criminals" thriller subgenre. Laurence Olivier is pretty good despite a dodgy Jewish accent, although James Mason is given a useless role as an ODESSA officer. Lots of great character actors (Groggy favorite Walter Gotell, Denholm Elliot, Michael Gough, Wolf Kahler, Wolfgang Priess, and Steve Guttenberg before his 15 seconds of fame) in roles of neglible import. And attentive viewers will note one Bruno Ganz far down the cast list (I believe he's the scientist who explains the cloning process to Olivier). This movie further proves the Guns of Navarone maxim that Gregory Peck is not a badass, and he shouldn't even try - listening him snarl "Shut up, you ugly BITCH!" in a hideous pseudo-German accent is Mr. Freeze-worthy. Certainly it was fun seeing him get torn to shreds by Dobermanns - I can't think of another film where that happens. Nice Jerry Goldsmith score, and however silly the plot is, those kids are damned creepy. It was also cool to see lots of Lancaster County scenery, having spent a lot of time in that vicinity.

[dave jenkins]

The Parallax View - 6/10 - Some well-directed scenes, but for the most part, pretty much a been-there, done-that post-Watergate government/corporate assassination conspiracy thriller with the virtuous journalist saving the day for Truth, Justice and the American Way (or trying to, anyway). Yeah, sure.

I don't disagree with you, but there is one thing this film does really well. Given the idea that there's some kind of nutty right-wing conspiracy at back of everything, the film doesn't blow it by explaining it all; it doesn't even identify all the players. The conspiracy is so pervasive that all you can do is detect it, you can never get to the bottom of it (it sees what you're up to and takes you off before long). The film is rich with a sense of immanence, which is just what a paranoia junkie needs to wallow in before sitting down to post to the Daily Kos.

[dave jenkins]

Akai Satsui/Intentions of Murder (1964) – 10/10. A dim-witted woman in an abusive marriage is further victimized when a rapist comes to call. When the rapist returns and continues to harass her, the woman finally decides to terminate the abuse—with extreme prejudice. The Japanese aren't known for their sly satires, but this is certainly an example of one. Fab cinematography (in b&w 'scope) in and around Sendai is augmented with clever sound design and an excellent East-meets-West score. The central performance by Masumi Harukawa is a wonder to behold. Not a great beauty, Harukawa in fact resembles nothing so much as a sack of potatoes (John Waters missed a bet by not remaking this with Divine in the lead). But she can act, and she really sells you on Sadako's animal cunning. It is this cunning that ultimately triumphs over all the other, more “intellectual,” characters, producing the film's entirely earned happy ending. If you've never seen a film by Shohei Imamura, see this one first, before The Insect Woman or A Man Vanishes or even the excellent Vengeance is Mine.

[Groggy]

Juarez - 8/10 - I remember seeing (and liking) this film at least twice as a kid, but I kind of assumed it was the young history buff in me that liked the movie. Well, TCM re-ran it this evening, and much to my surprise, it holds up very well. The script (co-written by John Huston, among others) is very smart and cynical in its portrayal of imperialism and geopolitics; it may not be historically accurate but the portrayal of Maximillian as a naive pawn in a game of imperial strategy (with Napoleon III as an obvious stand-in for Adolf Hitler) is intelligently done and very believable in light of the 70 intervening years since the films release. The only major flaw is that the movie is more about Maximillian and his wife (Bette Davis at her most ravishing) than the title character; Juarez as played by Paul Muni is pretty much a platitude-spouting figurehead, though he does get a great scene facing down a treacherous lieutenant. The direction is nice, with great old-school art direction and some inventive cinematography, and the score by Korngold is appropriately rousing. Muni is a bit stiff as mentioned, but Brian Aherne, Bette Davis and Claude Rains are all superb. A surprisingly great film, and I'm almost surprised it isn't better known.

[moviesceleton]

Barry Lyndon (1975) - 8/10
Only Lolita and Spartacus left and I've seen all of Kubrick's features.

A Foreign Affair (1948) - 9/10
I still can't understand why this doesn't get the same appreciation as Some Like It Hot or The Apartment.

[Dust Devil]

Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (1981) - 7.5/10

Man, talk about wall-to-wall depression and apathy. The book is frightening, especially if you read it while you're still a teenager, the movie is less subtle but good.

[dave jenkins]

Only Lolita and Spartacus left and I've seen all of Kubrick's features.

Spartacus is a Kirk Douglas film.

[Groggy]

Spartacus is a Kirk Douglas film.

You big dummy.

[dave jenkins]

Brick (2005) - 7/10. A clever re-imagining of noir conventions, and an excellent way to make use of Lukas Haas, but not exactly a film with great re-watchability.

[Kurug3n]

Brick (2005) - 7/10. A clever re-imagining of noir conventions, and an excellent way to make use of Lukas Haas, but not exactly a film with great re-watchability.

i would give it the same score now but disagree with it about not being rewatchable. I could and had.

[dave jenkins]

Part of the problem is that even the first time through I felt like I was watching the film for the second time. The Chandlerisms are fun to a point, but they are also constraining. After a while, the plot arc felt like it was just conforming to a template. The last third of the film was entirely predictable.