Li'l Duce's Reviews Palace

[Groggy]

La grande illusion (1937) First time I saw this on tv didn't like it at all. Now, on a big screen and in the original mish-mash of languages (and probably uncut) I liked it better, but still can't see no masterpiece. The idyll final part is boring and didascalic. Fresnay is excellent, Stroheim's english accent french is risible. 7\10

I like the plot with Fresnay and Stroheim. The stuff with the goofy subalterns I can do without.

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Varieté (1925) I don't know why this movie is so critically esteemed. The plot is as hackneyed as can be, the actors nothing special (Jannings playing as usual the murderous cuckold). What makes it remarkable - and in line with the movies produced in Germany between 1919 and 1933 is the photography, the angles and the editing. In my opinion those two elements are not enough to grant it more than 7\10 but the movie is fascinating in parts, especially those of music hall scenes. 

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The Navigators (2001) A run of the mill Loach flick, good but not memorable. You wonder what it makes it worth watching instead of reading an article on the same subject. 7\10

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Carla's Song (1996)  Zero degree of inventiveness, I am embarassed as to picking the worst feature in it. Maybe it's the song itself heard toward the end. 1\10.

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I'd never rate a movie 1/10; cuz if I was watching a movie that was that bad, I'd have shut it off after a few minutes (and I only rate movies I have watched fully)

Well, I think I gave even a 0\10 in the past. The fact is that having bought a 5 dvd box-set by Loach and having watched the other 4 movies which were not so bad, I thought that I had to be fair and tortured myself to the end. Wrong procedure? Well, debatable. In the beginning the movie's action played in Glasgow and I was interested to see what's the city like, as I plan to get there.

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Lone Star (1996) The detection part is just an excuse for a study of characters which could have been profitably shortened. But the stories are interesting and some dialogues (the one between the colonel and the girl soldier) are brilliant. 7\10

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The Twelve Chairs (1970) This is a comedy which didn't make me laugh once. Still it is viewable once because of the rhythm and Moody's performance. The ending is among the saddest I ever saw in a comedy. Odd that it was produced a year after 12+1. Having seen the Tate's movie before I was inclined to think this was the same movie.  6\10

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High Anxiety (1977) An hommage to Hitchcock which just doesn't click except, maybe, for the shower scene. The Zucker bros. were more disinhibited than Brooks and I prefer their style of spoof. 5\10

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Silent Movie (1976) This is one of the best Brooks, with a good rhythm and a good OST. Fans of old slapstick might appreciate it though better than newbies. And it doesn't make you rofl anyway. 7\10

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Mel Brooks' History of the World: Part I (1981) Same as High Anxiety: not funny enough to justify the vision, if you're looking for comedy. Had it been all on the level of the Inquisition musical part it might have worked, but the prehistoric, Roman times and French Revolution parts didn't make me laugh and are quite uninventive. 5\10

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War and Peace (1964) This is the Kolossal to beat all kolossals and it's worth watching even if you don't want to sit the almost 7 hours of the complete edition. Unfortunately the restoration of the original negatives wasn't enough to grant the spectacular colours the movie must have had originally and the night and indoors scenes suffer from this. But the battles (with thousands and thousands of Red Army soldiers engaged for the task) , the parties and the fire of Moscow sequence cannot but grant it a 8\10.

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Goldeneye (1995) The first Brosnan Bond is worth watching only for the title song and the tank chase in St. Petersburg, the rest you've seen it all (and better) before. 6\10

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Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) This is one of the best Bond ever in the central part, with great action scenes. The car chase in the german garage is one of the best sequences ever in the series. Unfortunately it is marred by you've-seen-it-all-before beginning and too stretched out ending, with the title song one of the worst ever. 7\10

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To Be Or Not To Be (1983) I saw the original Lubitsch movie too long ago (and dubbed and on the small screen) to be able to make comparisons but the story works here too, the mechanism being perfect. Brooks for once is convincing as an actor, Bancroft is past Mrs Robinson's prime but adequate, Durning miscast, the other ones good. 7\10

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Life Stinks (1991) And this flick too. No well, it isn't that bad, the first scenes with Brooks bumming being quite interesting and funny. But with Lesley Ann Warren entering the scene it falls into you've-seen-it-all-before and it's not quite funny to grant a vision. 5\10