Best Movie-Viewing Experiences 6/4/16 - 16/4/16
PREVIOUS MOVIE-VIEWING POSTS: LINK AT THE RIGHT-HAND CORNER, VERY BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
THE HEIRESS (1949)
A+ MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: William Wyler
CAST: Olivia de Havilland; Montgomery Clift; Ralph Richardson; Miriam Hopkins
> wonderful wonderful the-worm-that-turned story; Olivia is an "ugly duckling" who is suddenly courted by Monty because she is rich...too naive to recognise the brutal truth, her cold & disappointed-in-her father decides it's his job to point it out to her...result: heart broken, then hardened; lush 1800's costumes, sets and manners (it's based on a Henry James novel); spot-on acting with Olivia and Ralph having the best roles and giving the best performances; the classic final scene (and its slow build-up) manages to somehow be both satisfying and uncomfortably bitter; a fascinating tragedy
Award-Worthy Performances
Olivia de Havilland; Ralph Richardson
INHERENT VICE (2014)
A- FIRST VIEWING
d: Paul Thomas Anderson
CAST: Joaquin Phoenix; Josh Brolin; Owen Wilson; Reese Witherspoon; Benicio del Toro
> complicated Private Eye story (ref. Farewell My Lovely; Chinatown) with equal amounts of comedy, drama and weirdness; set in 1970 hippies 'n' drugs L.A. with Joaquin as the groovy and constantly-stoned investigator and Josh as his bad-cop nemesis; remains interesting throughout despite numerous meanderings and overdependence on Joaquin to hold the whole sprawl together (which he nearly does...it's a puppydog performance); side-characters should've been even more eccentric just to jazz up the fleeting meetings & conversations; and, at 149 minutes long, it insists upon too much attention, but it's worth the effort
Award-Worthy Performance
Joaquin Phoenix
FURY (1936)
A- RE-EVALUATION / ORIGINAL GRADE: A
d: Fritz Lang
CAST: Spencer Tracy; Sylvia Sidney; Bruce Cabot; Walter Brennan
> re-viewed this after reading terrific biography Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast by Patrick McGilligan; I'm picking up niggling little flaws in the film which I hadn't noticed / cared about in first two viewings: the crappy happy ending of course...the business with the peanuts & the memento / momentum hoke...the fact that the near-lynched victim "comes good" due to conscience rather than (Fritz's preferred) overwhelming sense of guilt...the early build-up scenes are a little sappy and ring false compared to what comes after; still a riveting film, but not as sensational as I once thought
Award-Worthy Performance
Spencer Tracy
GETTIN' SQUARE (2003)
A- SECOND VIEWING
d: Jonathan Teplitzky
CAST: Sam Worthington; David Wenham; Timothy Spall; Gary Sweet
> if Quentin Tarantino was an Aussie...; a great-fun crime comedy, quintessentially Australian but open to anyone with a pulse and an appreciation of enthusiastic film-making; many laughs in this, mostly character-driven with dialogue delivered straight and fast; David plays an absolutely hilarious classic-style bogan (def: Australianism; coarse person with a low IQ and dreadful taste in all things)...to watch him run in thongs & jocks is to bust a gut; clever script greatly served by all concerned; if something like Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch can be critically lauded, this should've conquered the world
Award-Worthy Performance
David Wenham
THE GETTING OF WISDOM (1978)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: Bruce Beresford
CAST: Susannah Fowle; Barry Humphries; John Waters; Patricia Kennedy
> gives you an idea of how teenage girls were still able to be bitchy and horrible before the advent of texting and Facebook; set in a late 1800's girls college in Melbourne, it follows the school career of an overly-dramatic country girl who tries to fit in with her peers...and, of course, doesn't; pleasant, small story told carefully which crosses over the same ground a couple of times before the kid finally graduates; I especially like the caricature of the suck-lemon-faced headmistress as played by Sir Robert's sister, Sheila Helpmann; Susannah does a nice job as the too-talented-for-her-own-good Laura, and Barry has a great scene as a damnation minister who is an advocate of humiliation as a teaching method
IN AMERICA (2003)
B+ SECOND VIEWING
d: Jim Sheridan
CAST: Samantha Morton; Paddy Considine; Djimon Hounsou
> small but affecting film about life for a young Irish family in a scummy Manhattan apartment building; all adults involved are angst-ridden (for good reason...Life can be a right bugger after all), but the two little girls are 100% charming without being sickeningly sweet; deals with the grief over a dead son, an AIDS-ravaged man, emotional fragility and a child who just wants to understand; acting all round is excellent, with the two sisters who play the girls the standouts; US health system proves to be the villain (How can the Yanks have not had a Public Health System?? A $30000 bill? Ridiculous. Give me your tired, your poor...)
Award-Worthy Performances
Sarah Bolger & Emma Bolger
HARRY POTTER & THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (2004)
B+ SECOND VIEWING
d: Alfonso Cuaron
CAST: Daniel Radcliffe; Emma Watson; Rupert Grint; Michael Gambon; Maggie Smith; Robbie Coltrane; Gary Oldman; Alan Rickman; David Thewlis; Julie Christie; Timothy Spall
> I'm not wild about Harry (I've never read any of the novels; I've fallen asleep during two of the movies); this is the film in the franchise which is usually regarded as the best and I guess I would agree (it is the only one I have watched twice); half a dozen terrific set pieces (with a nifty time-travel setup the major pleasure) with swirls of humour and scares thrown in; esteemed British actors are a major plus of course; too long again (why do they do that?), and I still don't entirely know what is going on, but this is an enjoyable fantasy film
A DANGEROUS METHOD (2011)
B+ RE-EVALUATION / ORIGINAL GRADE: A-
d: David Cronenberg
CAST: Michael Fassbender; Keira Knightley; Viggo Mortensen; Vincent Cassel
> interesting film about Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud and S&M; very light and crisply shot which encourages you to be accepting of the increasingly sordid and unstable relationships; Michael is very good as Carl and Viggo is great as Sigmund; unsure if Keira's performance is successful, brave or over-the-top; her Russian accent can't make up its mind either; the growing professional / personal rift between the two men is more engrossing than the rather rugged sexual liaison between Carl and his patient; another film which slyly highlights the "Physician: Heal Thyself" tenet
Award-Worthy Performance
Viggo Mortensen
CAUGHT (1949)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: Max Ophuls
CAST: James Mason; Barbara Bel Geddes; Robert Ryan; Curt Bois
> there is a lot of soap sloshing around in this film, but the acting, and the backstory, come to the rescue and lift the movie's overall impact; Robert plays a rich bastard = Howard Hughes type (the director Max had a very bitter professional experience with Howard and this film was his cold revenge); James, as always, is able to take cringing, melodramatic dialogue and make it sound emotionally valid; Robert specialised in complex human monsters, and he reaches fearful heights here; unpleasant taste in the mouth at the end when two nice people are so demonstrably happy about a miscarriage
Award-Worthy Performance
Robert Ryan
JINDABYNE (2006)
B+ SECOND VIEWING
d: Ray Lawrence
CAST: Laura Linney; Gabriel Byrne; Deborra-Lee Furness; Chris Haywood
> an unsettling film about the three biggies: sex, death & family; in the wilds of Snowy Mountains country New South Wales, four mates go fishing and discover the naked body of a young Aboriginal woman floating in the river; they decide to tether the corpse and continue to fish before reporting the murder; the film deals with the community outrage and retribution for such a seemingly cold response from the men; gorgeous landscape textures mingle with some confronting scenes and imagery; racism rears its ugly head of course; a haunting film which still feels a little empty in both resolution and point
Award-Worthy Performance
Laura Linney
Worst Movie-Viewing Experiences 6/4/16 - 16/4/16
MR SATURDAY NIGHT (1992)
B- FIRST VIEWING
d: Billy Crystal
CAST: Billy Crystal; David Paymer; Helen Hunt; Ron Silver
> far too soft and sentimental for a story about an angry "attack" comedian; need to be a fan of American Jewish humour...which I am, in small doses, but here it is relentless; Billy's purpose in life is to host the Oscars (he was the best ever), so branching out into directing and lead acting is an admirable but needless stretch; the old man makeup on him is ghastly, almost clownish; David is pretty good as the long-suffering brother / manager; to give the film a badly needed kick, the lead character should have been made even more reprehensible rather than just a grumpy asshole; too many of the running gags become grating; and Jerry Lewis turns up and does that jerk-voice thing of his
BANJO ON MY KNEE (1936)
B- FIRST VIEWING
d: John Cromwell
CAST: Barbara Stanwyck; Joel McCrea; Walter Brennan; Buddy Ebsen
> dozy old story about Mississippi River folk: simple, illiterate jug-swiggers who see the lighter side of drowning; all the bad guys are "land people" who live in nasty, sinful towns; Barb and Joel have an obvious chemistry - shame they never made a film of substance together; Walter Brennan acts with his teeth out again; musical interludes emphasise the overall sappiness; the story is more episodic than flowing, and the running gag (trying to get newlyweds into the marital bed so they can produce a grandchild for Walter) fails to stitch it all together; a barely-entertaining relic that should've been left in the time capsule
Got something you want to tell me?
Go right ahead.
Best Movie-Viewing Experiences 27/3/16 - 5/4/16
PREVIOUS MOVIE-VIEWING POSTS: LINK AT THE RIGHT-HAND CORNER, VERY BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
A+ MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: John Frankenheimer
CAST: Frank Sinatra; Laurence Harvey; Angela Lansbury; Janet Leigh
> I remember that golden moment when I first saw this movie - as mind-searing as my first listen to Blonde on Blonde; so rich, with so many different aspects all competing with each other for attention: impressively-clever Cold War spy saga / funny-as-a-fit characters and scenes / bloody scary corrupt political machinations / the most surreal dialogue used as pick-up lines / karate used for the first time in a film fight / a good performance from Laurence & a stunning one from Angela / incest & tomato sauce & brainwashing & solitaire; certainly the best film to come out of the Sixties and one of the greatest films ever made
Award-Worthy Performance
Angela Lansbury
MOON (2009)
A SECOND VIEWING
d: Duncan Jones
CAST: Sam Rockwell; Kevin Spacey
> an exceptional debut film for director Duncan; such a clever premise: sometime in the near future, the Moon is being used to create and supply the Earth's energy needs...the whole lunar enterprise is manned by a single engineer and a HAL-like computer; it doesn't take long for the set-up to turn strange then sinister - even way up there, multi-corporations are vile bastards; the film's limited budget is nowhere in sight - it looks great; beautifully filmed with a crisp 2001: a Space Odyssey feel; Sam is pretty much the entire show and he is terrific as an ordinary guy in a very extraordinary situation
Award-Worthy Performance
Sam Rockwell
EYE IN THE SKY (2015)
A FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Gavin Hood
CAST: Helen Mirren; Alan Rickman; Aaron Paul; Jeremy Northam
> real scary stuff; details how drone strikes in hostile territory work, and how the chain of command doesn't; no characterisation as such - these are decent, ordinary people attempting to carry out the most inhumane of duties and eventually make the most impossible of decisions; the tension takes hold of you within the first fifteen minutes then never lets go; a couple of cliches: the Brits dither while the Yanks are gung ho (except, of course, for the poor young soldiers who actually have to push the button); shows how politics & the military are an oil 'n' water mix; should be made compulsory viewing for all new recruits
SHADOWLANDS (1993)
A- MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Richard Attenborough
CAST: Anthony Hopkins; Debra Winger; Edward Hardwicke; Joseph Mazzello
> a totally charming film about an unlikely subject, told very gently; writer of Narnia books (CS Lewis) befriends / is befriended by an American writer and her son, persuading the stuffy scholar to become a participant in Life rather than just a member of the audience; slow pace, weighted by an at-times cloying soundtrack, is initially offputting, but the power of Anthony bolsters the experience, and his English gentleman persona plays well against the brash Yank Debra; so comforting to be placed in the company of good people who are neither tedious nor shallow; be steeled though: it transforms into an almighty weepie
Award-Worthy Performance
Anthony Hopkins
AFTER THE THIN MAN (1936)
A- THIRD VIEWING
d: W.S. Van Dyke
CAST: William Powell; Myrna Loy; James Stewart; Jessie Ralph
> second in the groundbreaking "Thin Man" film series; murders + gags + detective stuff + excessive drinking + funny little dog; love how Great Aunt Katherine calls Nick Charles "Nickel-Arse"; the jokes are pretty good and the murder-mystery isn't trivialised because of them; Jimmy Stewart in a what-will-soon-be out of character role is fun to see in a supporting performance; in many aspects, this template is still in use today on TV crime shows; the era setting with the jazziest jazz and the swingingest nightclubs and parties is neat; while this lacks the novelty of the first movie, I think it is still the best in the series
Award-Worthy Performances
William Powell & Myrna Loy
SUNSHINE CLEANING (2008)
B+ SECOND VIEWING
d: Christine Jeffs
CAST: Amy Adams; Emily Blunt; Alan Arkin
> an offbeat comedy-drama about a pair of struggling-with-Life sisters who start up a bio-hazard (read: crime scene) cleaning business; as they deal with the physical aftermath of suicides and assaults and lonely deaths, they deal with their own personal issues; yeah, I know...sounds pretty grim, but it is compassionately told, shows virtually zero blood 'n' guts, and seems to be occupied by unlikely but still real people; add an eccentric Dad, an eccentric little boy, and a sad family secret, and you've got a story you'll enjoy being involved with for 90 minutes
Award-Worthy Performances
Amy Adams & Emily Blunt
THE DARK MIRROR (1946)
B+ MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Robert Siodmak
CAST: Olivia de Havilland; Lew Ayres; Thomas Mitchell
> fun little crime psycho-melodrama that director Robert was just so brilliant at in his 1940's run (the most underrated great director of that era); it's the old identical twin gimmick again - one is a killer while the other is a doormat; treats a brutal murder (a suitor is stabbed right through the heart!) fairly lightly which drops the grade for me a bit, but to have one sister trying to drive the other insane picks things up; Olivia is brilliant at this kind of role of course with the blokes in adequate support; soundtrack music by Dimitri Tiomkin clobbers you over the head in peak scenes; the tricky resolution is a bit over-talked and hokey but satisfying
Award-Worthy Performance
Olivia de Havilland
FREUD aka FREUD: THE SECRET PASSION (1962)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: John Huston
CAST: Montgomery Clift; Susannah York; Eric Portman; Larry Parks
> I agree that this is a simplistic piece of psycho-history (The patient said "prostitute" when she meant "protestant"! Ta-da! Freudian Slip invented!), but it is still an intriguing look at a medical watershed moment; upfront about Freud's controversial theories about incestual desire and infantile sexuality; openness is pretty impressive for 1962; drama really isn't as mere-surface as it could've been - probably due to the backroom insistence of director John; performance of Monty as Sigmund is the film's Achilles Heel; his penultimate film role, it exposes the erosive toll his drink 'n' drugs lifestyle had taken, poor bastard; this story is more important than the title character though; underrated, but not by much
JIGSAW (1962)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: Val Guest
CAST: Jack Warner; Ronald Lewis; John Le Mesurier; Ray Barrett
> an early UK police-procedural, a great-grandparent of British TV classics such as Inspector Morse and A Touch of Frost; Jack is the Detective Inspector in charge of the investigation into a body-in-a-trunk murder; frugal kitchen-sink production values only assist in establishing the tawdry atmosphere; pre-forensic science razzle-dazzle (the most cutting-edge technology used is the teletype!), so wits, doggedness and luck are used as substitutes; effective use of flashbacks as storytelling device, so we are given the evidence bit-by-bit, reeling us in; Jack Warner so perfect in these kind of backbone-of-Britain roles; engrossing if a little thin overall - dowdy just isn't terribly exciting
OSCAR AND LUCINDA (1997)
B+ SECOND VIEWING
d: Gillian Armstrong
CAST: Ralph Fiennes; Cate Blanchett; Tom Wilkinson; Ciarin Hinds
> curious movie comes across as a mild-mannered version of Fitzcarraldo; Man of God meets Woman of Own Mind and both struggle with their addiction to gambling...as penance, a glass church is built and transported into the 19th Century wilds of New South Wales (!); gorgeous scenery initiates some striking imagery (the church drowning); while Ralph shines, Cate is mysteriously distant, which is unusual for her; similarly, the film never wholly involves us, as if it wants to be admired rather than embraced; romantic in all senses of the word
Award-Worthy Performance
Ralph Fiennes
Worst Movie-Viewing Experiences 27/3/16 - 5/4/16
TWO FOR THE SEESAW (1962)
B FIRST VIEWING
d: Robert Wise
CAST: Robert Mitchum; Shirley MacLaine
> not much more than a filmed stage play (talk, talk, talk) but opened up a bit with some outdoor scenes and a few added bits of business (good Arty party); two opposites who come together to fight off loneliness in the big cold city...yeah, another one of those; Robert out of his element here (nothing physical for him to do apart from offscreen sex); Shirley is charming as the softhearted Noo Yawk gurl; their relationship goes through the usual stormy waters and the resolution is very predictable; in the end, you care about the woman but not about the couple, which is a handicap in a romance flick
Award-Worthy Performance
Shirley MacLaine
LUCY (2014)
B- SECOND VIEWING
d: Luc Besson
CAST: Scarlett Johansson; Morgan Freeman
> kinda entertaining, but for a film that turns on the "we only use 10% of our brain; so imagine if..." myth, it's pretty stupid; innocent woman is forced to be a drug mule with an experimental brain-expanding chemical sewn into her abdomen - the bag bursts and she becomes superhuman; film takes itself far too seriously at times and these scenes don't gel with the action / hyper-violent ones (which are too fast, too focused on gunfire and lack any kind of thrill); some ridiculous premises are thrown at us (e.g. Lucy shoots patient on operating table, forces the surgeon at gunpoint to take out the belly-bag, then just strolls out of the hospital); should've / could've been more fun, but it's just too silly
Got something you want to tell me?
Go right ahead.
