Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[Groggy]

Equus - 8/10 - Peter Shaffer's very strange play makes for Sidney Lumet's very strange movie. Its main detriment is its staginess, Lumet engaging in overtly theatrical devices (Richard Burton's long monologues to the camera) that aren't very cinematic. For me at least though, the story and especially the acting are enough to overcome these faults, and the denouement is uniquely horrific.

[Groggy]

Flame and Chitron - 7/10 - Another tale of WWII Resistance, this one out of Denmark. This entry delves a bit more into its protagonists' private lives than, say, Black Book or Army of Crime, but the brutal killings, double-crosses and dubious wartime morality are still front and center. This appears to be based on a true story albeit not one I'm familiar with, so I'll give the film some leeway with credibility issues. Certainly it doesn't whitewash its protagonists like Army of Crime, a major plus.

[dave jenkins]

The Odessa File (1974) 7/10. Wow, this looks great on Blu. And it's only 10 bucks! Forsyth, Voight, Nazis, Hamburg's Elbe Tunnel: what's not to like? (Okay, so it's not as good as Day of the Jackal--but it's something to watch after Jackal is over and you're jonesing for more).

[Groggy]

The Odessa File (1974) 7/10. Wow, this looks great on Blu. And it's only 10 bucks! Forsyth, Voight, Nazis, Hamburg's Elbe Tunnel: what's not to like? (Okay, so it's not as good as Day of the Jackal--but it's something to watch after Jackal is over and you're jonesing for more).

The convoluted, meandering story? The poorly drawn characters? As someone who's read the novel there are a few changes that irked me, especially the addition of certain action scenes. That's not even mentioning the terrible score.

[dave jenkins]

What a grouch!

[drinkanddestroy]

Advise and Consent (1962) 8.5/10

Terrific political drama from Otto Preminger, about the confirmation battle of a nominee for Secretary of State.


The acting is great all around, (though it was kind of odd to see Henry Fonda in the role of the nominee, who is basically only in a few scenes). Two particularly spectacular performances are Walter Pidgeon as the Majority Leader, and Charles Laughton as Senator Cooley. (Though they are billed 4th and 5th respectively, they are probably the two main characters in the movie).  I loved the camerawork here: there are many times where long bits of dialogue are held in a single shot, the camera may move, but there is no cutting. I really like that, by holding those single shots for long dialogue sequences in the confirmation hearings and on the Senate floor, it really makes you feel like it's real, like you are actually watching a confirmation battle in the Senate. Using frequent cuts and other camera tricks would make it seem too much like a movie; Preminger wisely uses a more documentary-like style for some scenes, and it works very well.... And Preminger's famous disregard for the Production Code is evident as ever in this movie.

It seems like they had terrific access to the Senate floor in the making of this movie, and while I am sure that some other interiors were shot on soundstages, using at least the real Senate floor and possibly other real interiors (or at least building really good sets?!) gives you a real feel that you are right there in the Capitol.

There are a few minor political things that I noticed that I think they got wrong: firstly, though the Vice President is the President of the Senate, he rarely actually shows up there to conduct the proceedings; there is almost always a Senator there in his place; only when there is a vote that may be tied, requiring his tiebreaking vote, will he show up. So in the early scenes on the Senate floor, he wouldn't have been there.  Also, the debate scenes on the Senate floor are actually not very realistic; though the Senate likes to think of itself as the "world's greatest deliberative body," the truth is that except when they gather for an actual floor vote, you will rarely find many senators on the floor at a time, actually debating.  Watch C-Span, or actually visit the gallery, and yo will rarely see more than 3 or 4 Senators there at a time; usually, they are delivering speeches to a chamber that is just about empty. Anyway, that's how things are now; I don't know if it was different in 1962. Besides, these are things that most people, who really don't follow politics that closely, would notice. And the scenes on the Senate floor are pretty damn funny. So I don't really mind  


Good times  

[drinkanddestroy]

Rear Window (1954) 9/10

What a fun movie. Jimmy Stewart is great. Grace Kelley's is, well, Grace Kelly!

On the dvd's special features, there is a really good 55-minute documentary about this movie; the last 10 minutes or so discuss the movie's very difficult restoration, and the issue of film restoration in general. It is a very interesting piece. It seems that this, along with many other great Hitchcock films, were in just awful condition before being rescued and undergoing a very difficult and painstaking, but ultimately successful restoration (in this case, by the team at Universal). I am very thankful for dvd's and digital technology and the people who really care about film preservation/restoration. (Which reminds me, aren't there some scenes in some movie called Once Upon a Time in America that need to be restored?)

[dave jenkins]

Rear Window (1954) 9/10

What a fun movie.

Here's a fun Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/37120554

[Groggy]

Midnight Cowboy - 8/10 - A gay version of Breakfast at Tiffany's (the movie of course) without the stupid cutesy humor. There's plenty of pondering over the death of American masculinity ("Was John Wayne a fag?") for those inclined to dissect the movie. It's most interesting though for its striking imagery and Hugh A. Robertson's excellent montage work, with remarkable blends of flashback, fantasy and nightmares. Jon Voight's performance is excellent but Dustin Hoffman's schtick grows tiresome.

[dave jenkins]

Midnight Cowboy - 8/10 - A gay version of Breakfast at Tiffany's (the movie of course) without the stupid cutesy humor.

Plenty of cutesy irony, though (eg. the party scene with Brenda Vaccaro). Schlesinger no doubt thought himself a satirist (Billy Liar, Darling), but his social comments are always lacking in subtlety. He did better when he was playing things straight (Far From the Madding Crowd).

[Groggy]

I don't see Billy Liar as a "satire" of anything in particular; it's more of a comic character study.

[Groggy]

Zodiac - 9/10 - 2nd viewing. I'm willing to bump my rating up. I found the third act a bit slow going on my first viewing but was thoroughly absorbed this time around.

[dave jenkins]

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) 6/10. Standard Wes Anderson whimsy, this time about a pre-adolescent couple who run away from the world the grown ups have made so that they, the children, can act more like . . . grown ups. (The adults of course are the real children). It's Summer With Monika without the sex and with jokes--exceedingly precious ones--instead. A pleasant enough way to wile away two hours, though, in the end, none of it amounts to much. The patented Anderson visuals are laid on thickly.

[Groggy]

Go For Broke! - 7/10 - Van Johnson is a bigoted officer assigned to join the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a Japanese-American unit. Concerned parties gradually overcome their mutual distaste, bonding through heavy combat in Italy and France. Heavy on the cliches but worth watching for its interesting subject. Most of the Japanese-American actors are real veterans of the 442nd and their natural performances are very likeable without falling into cutesiness. Henry Nakamura of Westward the Women has a featured bit.

[dave jenkins]

The Mill and the Cross (2011) - 7/10. Pieter Bruegel, while planning his famous painting "The Way to Calvary", imagines it in 3D and walks around in it. Or something. Not much of a story here, but the visuals are impressive. According to director Lech Majewski, the compositing was intense: no image has fewer than 14 layers, and the most elaborate ones have over a hundred. Needless to say, this is a spectacle meant for HD, and it sure shines on Blu. With Rutger Hauer as the Hobo With a Shotgun, Michael York as the Queen of Flanders, and Charlotte Rampling as Arthouse Cred.