Movie-Viewing Experiences 22/1/17 - 14/2/17
A+ = Adored Masterwork A = Excellent A- = Very Good B+ = Good B = Nice Try B- = Tolerable
C = Seriously Flawed D = Pretty Awful E = Truly Dreadful: Looking Into the Void F = Vile & Offensive: The Void
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (2016)
d: Kenneth Lonergan
CAST: Casey Affleck; Lucas Hedges; Michelle Williams; Kyle Chandler
> I am just glad to see Casey finally appear in another movie...the actor has the unique ability to be utterly believable...a very rare gift; although slow in build and quite narrow in focus, MBtS is an astonishingly powerful movie about family, guilt and obligation...redemption is sought but isn't achieved and the subsequent ache / self-torture is something we can all recognise; interesting (and somewhat brave) choice of soundtrack music which would reduce a lesser production to the level of schmaltz; I saw this in a large theatre with about twenty people present...there wasn't a dry eye in the house; a great one
Award-Worthy Performance
Casey Affleck
MINORITY REPORT (2002)
d: Steven Spielberg
CAST: Tom Cruise; Colin Farrell; Samantha Morton; Max von Sydow; Lois Smith
> this movie has everything a good sci-fi flick should have - a clever premise & believable characters & action sequences which actually move & an ethical undercurrent & a future which has clearly grown from our present & droplets of humour & a lack of starfighters and adorable aliens; set in 2054, murders are prevented because the perpetrators are "seen" by precognitive beings and caught before they carry out the deed: Pre-Crime; it's pretty obvious from the get-go who the mysterious bad guy is (let's face it...there aren't that many to choose from); looks wonderful (a dull metallic sheen to everything) and the 145 minutes just sprint along; ignore the typical Spielbergian "happy ending"...it doesn't last long
TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS (1940)
d: Robert Stevenson
CAST: Jimmy Lydon; Cedric Hardwicke; Freddie Bartholomew; Billy Halop
> pretty good film version of the classic English Private School novel which, while not as sentimental and tearful as Goodbye, Mr Chips, remains a little soft in the centre; the brutality of Flashman has been reduced and he is almost a figure of fun...and disappears from the story too abruptly...his villainy is missed in the latter half; Cedric does his talking-statue routine as the headmaster (wish he'd leave his lapels alone); young Jimmy as the title character is appealing (although they forget to age him five years) and his pluck is rousing; period detail is good and the eccentric side characters make enough of an impression to veer them towards delightful; Amusing Education Motto: "Feed one end and beat the other."
LION (2016)
d: Garth Davis
CAST: Dev Patel; Rooney Mara; Nicole Kidman; David Wenham; Sunny Pawar
> a film of three parts: #1 little Indian boy becomes separated from his family and wanders the streets of Calcutta + #2 little boy is adopted by an Australian family and grows up in Tasmania + #3 grown young man returns to India to find his birth family; it is inevitable that the first part is the more emotionally affecting (and the portrayal of the little boy is heart-wrenching); the section in Australia is too drawn out...too much time is spent with Dev tearing himself apart with childhood flashbacks and visions; the final section is unnecessarily rushed; hits the primal nerve though...you'd have to be a robot not to be moved
Award-Worthy Performance
Sunny Pawar
MOONLIGHT (2016)
d: Barry Jenkins
CAST: Trevante Rhodes; Ashton Sanders; Naomie Harris; Andre Holland; Marhershala Ali
> yeah...it's certainly emotionally affecting and the acting is superb (with the stand-out being Ashton as the teenage version of the protagonist) but the enormous critical praise has been largely OTT; look...the movie boils down to these three platitudes - #1: "drugs are bad", #2: "bullying is bad", #3: "everybody needs to feel loved"...really, are there any of those universal words of wisdom which you didn't already know?; the handheld camera is overworked and sometimes distracts; the gay sideplot is certainly unique in an (African) American Experience story and should be applauded
Award-Worthy Performance
Ashton Sanders
28 DAYS LATER (2002)
d: Danny Boyle
CAST: Cillian Murphy; Naomie Harris; Brendan Gleeson; Christopher Eccleston
> undeniably effective zombie-style / plague apocalypse horror movie which relies on suspense rather than revulsion for its impact; individual scenes pack quite the wallop (with a couple being true jump-starters) but character development is stunted (none of the leads made any real impression on me apart from the superficial stuff...tough / resourceful etc) so I didn't really care if they lived or succumbed; the grimness is not counteracted enough by the occasional slow, soft-spoken moments...in fact, the quiet times are more a drag than a relief; the latter half in the fortified mansion begins well but deteriorates into testosterone-fuelled hysterics; the many alternative endings (available on DVD) highlight the director's ongoing second-guessing; the finally-chosen upbeat ending suits me just fine
THE BACHELOR FATHER (1931)
d: Robert Z. Leonard
CAST: Marion Davies; C. Aubrey Smith; Ray Milland; Ralph Forbes
> sexually mischievous old English duke decides to gather up all three of his illegitimate children and have them live with him (yes...this is very much a Pre-Code Hollywood movie); he has a favourite of course...; sweet but creaky movie that is lit up by the performances of Marion (she was a lovely Betty Boopish comedienne...although she flounders a bit when things turn sad) and C Aubrey (playing his usual grumpy old soft-hearted soul); some good one-liners and character quirks inject some light humour into the proceedings and only the unfortunately-inevitable melodramatics deflate them; pleasant but definitely bound in its era
Award-Worthy Performances
Marion Davies; C. Aubrey Smith
SPLIT (2016)
d: M. Night Shyamalan
CAST: James McAvoy; Anya Taylor-Joy; Betty Buckley
> yet another M Night movie which is nearly good; the whole multiple personality ploy has never really worked on film; while it may be an actor's dream role, it has never been done convincingly (not Joanne Woodward; not Sally Field; not Edward Norton)...and James is no exception; Betty comes off best as the obligatory psychiatrist...she is believable in a largely explanatory-backstory role; more frustrating than suspenseful, the story is based around the kidnapping of three teenage girls + child abuse + coping with trauma; the story holds your interest purely because you really do want to find out how it could possibly be resolved
Award-Worthy Performance
Betty Buckley
THE MAN ON THE EIFFEL TOWER (1949)
d: Burgess Meredith
CAST: Charles Laughton; Franchot Tone; Burgess Meredith
> a cat & mouse manhunt movie set in Paris with Charles as the Inspector trying to corner Franchot as the nutcase murderer; difficult to find a good print of this Public Domain movie...the one I saw was washed out (a shame for a 1940's colour movie) and cut to pieces in some sections; not a bad directorial debut effort but too many show-offy camera stunts (lotsa zooms and pans and unusual placement) and the editing is VERY fast-paced...little time to breathe; the music never shuts up and ruins a few scenes; Franchot is an impressive sleazebag mastermind; wonderful wonderful chase finale on the Eiffel Tower!
Award-Worthy Performance
Franchot Tone
24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE (2002)
d: Michael Winterbottom
CAST: Steve Coogan; Paddy Considine; Shirley Henderson; Sean Harris
> something unique: a docu-comedy (some call it a drama, but I couldn't spot anything in it which would warrant that label) all about the short-lived wholly-UK musical movement known as Manchester / Factory Records of the 80's; apart from Joy Division / New Order, nothing of lasting quality came out of it (I always thought The Happy Mondays were crap); the depiction of Ian Curtis' suicide is just tasteless; the film hits various satiric bullseyes, but overall it's muddy in tone and throws too much silliness into the mix; no-talent dickheads disappearing up their own drug-addled sphincters is not my idea of a party; I suggest that you watch 2007's Control instead if you want to get to the truth
THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES (2002)
d: Mark Pellington
CAST: Richard Gere; Laura Linney; Will Patton; Alan Bates; Debra Messing
> a wasted premise: the Dead alert the handpicked-Living that something real bad is gonna happen; supposedly based on true unexplained events (HA!), this wannabe psychological thriller is unfortunately based around a fairly crappy script and staggering-all-over-the-place plot and is nearly sunk because of it; the film's saving grace is the terrific craftsmanship on show...director Mark (whatever happened to him?) has done a marvellous job of still roping us in via beautiful staging and striking effects...it is a good-looking movie; Richard is not a great choice for these sort of tension pieces (he can brood well, but he can't do frantic) and Laura, as usual, is under-utilized (she's gotta be the most ill-served film actress of all time); passable and that's all and that's a shame
THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1973)
d: Gordon Hessler
CAST: John Phillip Law; Tom Baker; Caroline Munro; Martin Shaw
> typically far-too-slow Ray Harryhausen fantasy epic; takes an interminable 38 minutes until the first wonderful claymation scene occurs...then is followed by a mere two others; however, all four monsters depicted are terrific with the swordfight against the six-armed Kali being the highlight (although not the most impressive special effect...that honour goes to Caroline's blouse...how does it not pop its single button, unleashing her very ample bosom?); as with all the Harryhausen feature films, the dialogue, acting and music are lame, and the only reason to endure all of that is to see the man's claymation artistry...which is truly something to behold; someone needs to put together Harryhausen's Greatest Hits...hey!...someone has!
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