1938 Page Added

Movie-Viewing Experiences  2/3/17 - 20/3/17     

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

LOGAN (2017)

A   FIRST & SECOND VIEWING   IN-CINEMA
d: James Mangold
CAST: Hugh Jackman; Patrick Stewart; Dafne Keen; Stephen Merchant; Richard E. Grant
> instantly sits alongside The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 2 as one of the greatest of all superhero films...far superior to any of the previous Wolverine / X-Men movies (including X2); I am a fan of the original Stan & Jack X-Men and Mark Millar's Old Man Logan graphic novel...but this movie has little to do with either; wholly original, creatively staged, perfect use of camera during fight scenes (aka not shaky), primally-emotional in parts, beautifully acted by Hugh & Patrick and ultra ultra violent (you have been warned); final scene is a fanboy's heartbreak-image; DC...pay attention...this is how you do dark
Award-Worthy Performances
Hugh Jackman; Patrick Stewart; Dafne Keen



THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER (1962)

A-   SECOND VIEWING
d: Tony Richardson
CAST: Tom Courtenay; Michael Redgrave; Avis Bunnage; James Bolam
> another one of those British bleak "kitchen-sinkers" which were so beloved by the Arty counterculture, but not a drag at all... mainly due to Tom's career-making performance as a teenage petty crim who footraces for the prestige of his juvenile prison; his prior life is told through the usual series of flashbacks featuring an unsurprising assortment of influences (ghastly mother & angry father & girlfriend of simple needs); the only emotional uplift is delivered through the lad's refusal to completely knuckle under, but you do leave with a feeling that this guy is going to make something positive of himself...very John Lennon
Award-Worthy Performance
Tom Courtenay



MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)

A-   RE-EVALUATION   Original Grade: B+
d: Vincente Minnelli
CAST: Judy Garland; Margaret O'Brien; Mary Astor; Tom Drake; Leon Ames; Harry Davenport
> anyone who is a regular reader of this blog knows that I am not an admirer of sticky schmaltz & people-suddenly-bursting-into-song musicals...but this schmaltzy musical has undeniable charm (in an Andy Hardy / Pollyanna kinda way); the film contains three pop classics (hear 'em once...you know 'em forever) and the performances of these are the highlights; Judy looks gorgeous and she is in fine fine voice; little Margaret is a cutesy-pie without being unbearable; the couple of draggy spots (romance pap & kiddie antics) are easily forgiven; a slice of faux-innocent Americana that only the saddest of cynics could ridicule
Award-Worthy Performances
Judy Garland; Margaret O'Brien


MUD (2012)

A-   FIRST VIEWING
d: Jeff Nichols
CAST: Matthew McConaughey; Tye Sheridan; Reese Witherspoon; Sam Shepard
> absorbing film about two 14 year old boys who discover a stranger on a river island who needs their help; story gradually opens up and encompasses dark secrets, the trials of growing up, honesty & morality and the meaning of love...but miraculously never becomes preachy or sappy about it; nice shots along the Mississippi and you get a real feel for river life; the climactic big shootout which you just know is gonna happen is too much and breaks out in the wrong location; strong portrayals of the title character and the lead kid; sneaks up...cleverly maintains tension right throughout without being too overtly manipulative  
Award-Worthy Performances
Matthew McConaughey; Tye Sheridan



BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY (1973)

A-   FIRST VIEWING
d: John Hancock
CAST: Michael Moriarty; Robert De Niro; Vincent Gardenia
> this one caught me by surprise...often cited as the best baseball film ever made, I was logically expecting a film about baseball...but while it is set in the world of baseball, it is actually about, what we Aussies call, Mateship; I am not a team sports fan (apart from wine-tasting) but, once I got used to the film's initially-offputting oblique humour and rat-a-tat baseball vernacular, its emotionality took hold; Robert is dying from Hodgkins while his teammate and best friend Michael helps him through his last season; nothing cornball...just a moving story about one of Life's shitful unfairnesses
Award-Worthy Performance
Michael Moriarty



LITTLE FISH (2005)

B+   SECOND VIEWING
d: Rowan Woods
CAST: Cate Blanchett; Hugo Weaving; Sam Neill; Noni Hazlehurst; Martin Henderson
> a prime example of showcase acting lifting up an otherwise real downer of a story...yep, you guessed it, it's a "slice of life" film, about an ex-druggie who fights desperately against sliding back into addiction & crime, despite friends and family seemingly pushing her into it; Cate is the young Sydneysider trying to better herself and Hugo is her ex-stepfather who was once a football star but is now on the downward drug spiral...both actors seemed to have been scooped up off the streets and just told to be, so real are their performances; still, it is yet another "junkie hell" film, therefore depressing, frustrating and predictably doomed
Award-Worthy Performances
Cate Blanchett; Hugo Weaving



ALONE IN BERLIN (2016)

B+   FIRST VIEWING   IN-CINEMA
d: Vincent Perez
CAST: Brendan Gleeson; Emma Thompson; Daniel Bruhl
> I watched this movie when I was halfway through Germany 1945: From War to Peace, written by historian Richard Bessel (a good layman's book BTW...easy to read and fascinating) so I was already intrigued by the subject matter; a true story about small acts of courage and defiance, the film tells how a middle-aged German couple, after the war-death of their only son, write cards denouncing Hitler and leave them on doorsteps all over Berlin; very slow in the telling, so when the inevitable bursts of violence occur they throw your head back a bit; both Brendan and Emma perform well if a little too one-note (very restrained & buttoned-up, which is, let's face it, a little dull); highlights the truth that not all ordinary Germans were Nazi bastards (which is what Bessel's 2009 book does too)



THE SHOPWORN ANGEL (1938)

B-   FIRST VIEWING
d: H.C. Potter
CAST: Margaret Sullavan; James Stewart; Walter Pidgeon; Hattie McDaniels
> pretty corny & stupid pro-self-sacrifice-to-feed-the-WWI-effort story; Jimmy is a country bumpkin soldier who falls in love with falling in love...the object of his infatuation is Margaret, an it's-all-about-me playgirl-stage-singer...she does the sweet guy a favour (in case he gets shot over there) and flirts with and marries him...and discovers that she really does have a soft centre after all (told you it was stupid); lifted up by an apparently "how-did-she-do-that" heartfelt performance from Margaret (along with Jean Arthur and Barbara Stanwyck, my fave golden era actress) to the waist-height of tolerable twaddle
Award-Worthy Performance
Margaret Sullavan



JASPER JONES (2017)

B-   FIRST VIEWING   IN-CINEMA
d: Rachel Perkins
CAST: Levi Miller; Toni Collette; Aaron L. McGrath; Angourie Rice; Hugo Weaving
> the obvious touchstone for this movie is To Kill a Mockingbird (childhood + racism + secrets + murder + innocence lost)...both great stories...but only the 1962 classic is a great film; while the middle section is well-constructed and quite effective, the beginning and end of Jasper Jones are decidedly iffy: Beginning = jumps just too damned quickly into the shock-image and focal-tragedy, way before any characterisation has been established & Ending = too tidy, too lightweight and just unsatisfying; Hugo gives a masterclass in impact-acting and Toni creates sympathy where none is due, but young Levi only looks the part (I found him to be eye-wideningly & mouth-gapingly unconvincing); read the novel instead



LADY IN CEMENT (1968)

B-   SECOND VIEWING
d: George Douglas
CAST: Frank Sinatra; Raquel Welch; Dan Blocker; Richard Conte; Lainie Kazan
> run-of-the-mill groovy Sixties private eye murder/comedy with Frankie doing his patented cool Rat Pack routine; sequel to earlier Tony Rome movie; usual features: blonde jokes & gay jokes & cross-dressing jokes & fat jokes & corpse jokes & a car chase & hipster lingo & wisecracks...endless wisecracks & lotsa guns & a surprise-but-not-particularly-interesting ending; incessant pop-jazzy soundtrack plays even when the killings and beatings take place(!); Dan is amusing as big tough guy...very similar to Moose character in Farewell My Lovely; not much more you can really say about this mediocre nothing...apart from its most striking image being the one the movie is named after; there wasn't a third in the series



SUEZ (1938)

C   FIRST VIEWING
d: Allan Dwan
CAST: Tyrone Power; Loretta Young; Annabella; Joseph Schildkraut; Leon Ames
> supposedly about the construction of the Suez Canal but is actually about bullshit; not for anyone who cares about history, the ethics of imperialism or Middle Eastern politics; not much acting going on by any of the cast (Tyrone and Loretta were never much more than pretty, even at the best of times); film mixes romance, betrayal and big-picture politics in with man's noble attempt to conquer nature; as usual with these kinda things, the hero has to jump through many hoops of self-sacrifice, disappointment and personal tragedy before finally achieving his goal...in this case, the digging of a very large ditch; film's single redeeming feature is the epic sandstorm which unfortunately only occurs at the very end



FELICIA'S JOURNEY (1999)

C   RE-EVALUATION   Original Grade: B+
d: Atom Egoyan
CAST: Bob Hoskins; Elaine Cassidy
> universally hailed as a psychological thriller of award-winning merit, on second viewing I found it lacking...peculiar and unpleasant don't equate to significant artistic depth; while it is about escaping the emotional brutality of one's upbringing (a great theme), nothing shown adequately explains Bob-the-serial-killer's motives for betraying the trust of vulnerable girls then doing them in...so therefore the guy is just a ghastly nutter who you feel absolutely no Norman-Bates pity for; Bob plays the murderer as if he is constrained by a tight-fit suit and his intended victim (Elaine) is no more animated than he is (when the only memorable character is a Jehovah's Witness, you know something has gone awry); the soundtrack is spotted with oddball music which is more annoying than unnerving; a thriller with no thrills


   
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1970's Pages Updated

Movie-Viewing Experiences  15/2/17 - 1/3/17     

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

THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940)

A   MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Raoul Walsh
CAST: George Raft; Ann Sheridan; Ida Lupino; Humphrey Bogart; Alan Hale; Roscoe Karns
> gotta be the best example of a golden-age Warner Bros movie: a bromance right up front (George & Humphrey make a terrific couple) & macho-action mixing in with woman-romance & tragedy mixing in with light comedy & an underlying social message ("...it's gettin' so an honest guy can't make a buck...") & told at breakneck speed & a smattering of great character faces and vocals; Ida gives one of the most hysterical (and unintentionally amusing) performances in 40's films but this is balanced out by an intentionally amusing tough-n-tender dame performance by Ann; all about truckies trying to keep ahead of creditors and chiselers and it's an absolute entertainment from beginning to end...how'd they do that?



BRIGHTON ROCK (1947)

A   FIRST VIEWING
d: John Boulting
CAST: Richard Attenborough; Hermione Baddeley; Carol Marsh; William Hartnell
> took me a fair while to track down a copy of this, but it was worth the wait; this UK Kiss of Death / Little Caesar style gangster flick succeeds in being far more than merely brutal and graphic; there's real tension as a young thug (17!) tries to establish his gang (made up of crims twice & thrice his age) as a force to be reckoned with in the seaside resort of Brighton; Richard is marvellous as the babyfaced creep and his sense of self-preservation knows no bounds...his killings all mix business with pleasure; the copy I watched had the original dark ending and it is a chilling coda to one of the best crime films to ever come out of Britain
Award-Worthy Performance
Richard Attenborough



LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (2007)

A-   RE-EVALUATION   ORIGINAL GRADE: B-
d: Craig Gillespie
CAST: Ryan Gosling; Emily Mortimer; Paul Schneider; Patricia Clarkson; Kelli Garner
> first time I saw this was 10 years ago when it first came out...I must have had IBS or something...this movie is far far better than I first thought; a pathologically-shy guy buys himself a "love-doll" as a substitute for a human relationship; somehow manages to be sad & funny, pathetic & sweet without even a hint of sleaze / pervert humour; ends up saying more about mental illness & loneliness & affection-deprivation than any film (or other work of art) in recent memory; just love how his family and the townsfolk rally around the man in his time of need...very It's a Wonderful Life; a future Movie Jukebox inductee
Award-Worthy Performance
Ryan Gosling



FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1974)

B+   FIRST VIEWING
d: Terence Fisher
CAST: Peter Cushing; Shane Briant; Madeline Smith; David Prowse; John Stratton
> one of the tailenders of the Hammer Horror series, the last in their Frankenstein series and the final film directed by Terence Fisher; I've always found the Hammer Horror stuff more unsettling & tragic than scary and this is no exception; nice twisty touches of humour (Dr Frankenstein has kidneys for breakfast!) and the setting of the Victorian-era madhouse adds an extra shiver or two; some rather graphic scenes (the opening up of a head to get to the soon-to-be transplanted brain) add the obligatory 1970's gore; the monster looks like a cross between a neckless yeti and a franciscan monk but is serviceable; as usual, the story dawdles a bit in the telling but has more emotional substance than your standard horror offering



THE OPTIMISTS OF NINE ELMS aka THE OPTIMISTS (1973)

B+   FIRST VIEWING
d: Anthony Simmons
CAST: Peter Sellers; Donna Mullane; John Chaffey; David Daker; Marjorie Yates
> a self-consciously sentimental little movie about an old Music Hall performer, his cute dog and two working class kids...yeah, it's one of those...but it improves as it goes along; you just know from the outset that either the old guy or the dog is gonna die; set in the far-less picturesque Battersea area of London where everybody (especially family) treats each other shabbily; Peter is the reason why the movie works...his incessant rambling is a mix of song lyrics, joke one-liners and old-man sayings; the kids are refreshingly schmaltz-free and while there is a pall of sadness over all the characters, the film title is not cynical  
Award-Worthy Performance
Peter Sellers



THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1960)

B+   MORE-THAN-THIRD VIEWING
d: Michael Curtiz
CAST: Eddie Hodges; Archie Moore; Tony Randall; Neville Brand; Andy Devine; Mickey Shaughnessy; Buster Keaton; Finlay Currie; John Carradine; Sterling Holloway
> my love of rafts began with this film...made three...all sank; a regularly-watched Channel 7 movie on wet Saturdays back when I was 10; my sentimental fave of all the Tom Sawyer / Huck Finn movies, this is too Disneyesque to satisfy my adult taste...it cries out for a bit of true grit (at least the kid smokes a pipe I guess); Eddie is okay as Huck but he looks like he was pressganged from the Mickey Mouse Club; biggest asset is the marvellous supporting cast straight out of Character Actor Heaven; episodic lightweight fun for old-fashioned kids
Award-Worthy Performance
Tony Randall



THE PRINCESS COMES ACROSS (1936)

B   SECOND VIEWING
d: William K. Howard
CAST: Carole Lombard; Fred MacMurray; Alison Skipworth; William Frawley
> a peculiar little movie which seems to be suffering from an identity crisis; starts off as a fluffy rom-com...hints that it's going to be a confidence trickster farce...ends up becoming a murder-mystery with a trick denouement; all this takes place aboard an ocean liner (sorta used like the train in The Lady Vanishes); Carole does a terrific Greta Garbo send-up and Fred pre-empts his Double Indemnity turn (although he is expected to also be a concertina-playing band leader who sings...fast forward); good collection of classic character actors add spice; really lags a bit though and there isn't anywhere near enough humour which is actually funny
Award-Worthy Performance
Carole Lombard



SILENCE (2016)

B   FIRST VIEWING   IN-CINEMA
d: Martin Scorcese
CAST: Andrew Garfield; Adam Driver; Shinya Tsukamoto; Issey Ogata; Liam Neeson
> I have a problem with religious suffering...to willingly endure torture and slaughter for a faith which you believe to be better than the other bloke's faith...I just don't get it; I also have problems with the convenience of absolution and the deification of objects; this movie is about all that (and the 17th Century persecution of Christians in Japan) and as such, I found it to be a little tedious (and very long)...without even a music soundtrack to soften the surroundings; some positives though (mainly in the craftsmanship): cinematography, editing and acting in a couple of the supporting roles; quite heavy-going but rewarding at times...sort of
Award-Worthy Performances
Issey Ogata; Shinya Tsukamoto



MR FORBUSH AND THE PENGUINS aka CRY OF THE PENGUINS (1971)

B-   FIRST VIEWING
d: Arne Sucksdorff; Al Viola; Roy Boulting
CAST: John Hurt; Hayley Mills; Tony Britton; Dudley Sutton
> a rich and gifted biology student from swingin' London is wasting his life on booze 'n' birds (er, women)...until he is persuaded by a college professor to embark on a field trip to Antarctica to study penguins; things pick up as soon as the penguins arrive (the human stuff back in London is a bore); I never fully believe that John is in Antarctica (he seems under-dressed for a start) and the wildlife shots are awkwardly slipped in...still, the penguins are mighty birds and their travails and charisma rope you in; overall though, I suggest watching 1983's similarly-themed Never Cry Wolf instead...it's just more entertaining
PS go make a coffee during the attacks on the penguin chicks by bastard birds of prey



KANGAROO (1987)

B-   FIRST VIEWING
d: Tim Burstall
CAST: Colin Friels; Judy Davis; John Walton; Hugh Keays-Byrne
> a little-known and little-seen film based on D.H. Lawrence's life in Australia (and his semi-autobiographical novel of the same name); set in post-WWI Sydney, it focusses on the social insecurity of the era, with the rise of the political extremes of Fascism and Communism...and the belief by idealists that a young country like Australia could set an example to the turbulent between-wars world; interesting (if you're an Aussie history buff like I am) but it is unfortunately not told in a particularly engaging way...quite dull in spots, in fact; Colin & Judy perform well together and the brightly-lit landscapes are always a plus, but ultimately the film is not much more than a BTW-footnote in a rather-dry textbook



THE AMAZING DR. CLITTERHOUSE (1938)

C   FIRST VIEWING
d: Anatole Litvak
CAST: Edward G. Robinson; Claire Trevor; Humphrey Bogart; Donald Crisp; Allen Jenkins
> the pretty stupid premise - high society doctor becomes a jewel thief so he can study the physiological and psychological aberrations of career criminals - nearly sinks the whole movie; Edward G is required to remain subdued and monotonal throughout the movie...not a good fit for an actor who excels in vocal attack; Humphrey plays yet another bad guy who is waiting around for Sam Spade to rescue him; the story takes a turn for the chilling when the Doctor resorts to murder (nicely handled) but then fritters it away with a dumb is-he-sane-or-insane courtroom farce; Donald & Allen and other great Hollywood character actors are there but aren't really given much to do; quite a disappointment really



NICKELODEON (1976)

D   FIRST VIEWING
d: Peter Bogdanovich
CAST: Ryan O'Neal; Burt Reynolds; Brian Keith; Tatum O'Neal; Stella Stevens; John Ritter
> it's not that this is a bad movie (it's not interesting enough to be that notable), it's just that it's a total nothing...a zero charisma...it's a mole hill that was turned into a mole hill; I find it difficult to believe that a director as skilled and historically-knowledgeable as Peter and a cast as stellar as this one could produce such a 2-hour waste of time; supposedly about the pioneering one-&-two-reeler days, this comedy doesn't even try to be funny...it just lays there like an old dog that occasionally thinks about getting up to eat; two flickers of light: Brian's rapidfire stogie-chewing entrepreneur and the scene where Ryan's pants fall down during a fistfight; why can't movie-makers make good movies about movie-making?




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