Movie-Viewing Experiences 20/6/17 - 14/7/17
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 & Repugnant: The Void
JUNO (2007)
A MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Jason Reitman
CAST: Ellen Page; Michael Cera; Jennifer Garner; Jason Bateman; J.K. Simmons; Allison Janney
> total charmer that, for once, deals with teenage sexuality and first steps into the adult world without resorting to crassness; 16 year old Ellen becomes pregnant by 16 year old boyfriend Michael and she decides to have and adopt out the baby...Jennifer and Jason are the chosen WASPy recipients; title character's dialogue is almost like stand-up, peppered with slangisms and quirky phrasings which are impressively fast 'n' funny; the subsequent events & behaviours are not entirely of this world but have grown from it, like a classic screwball comedy; feelgood and be prepared to smile and like people again...even teenagers
Award-Worthy Performances
Ellen Page; J.K. Simmons
HER (2013)
A MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Spike Jonze
CAST: Joaquin Phoenix; Scarlett Johansson; Amy Adams; Rooney Mara; Chris Pratt
> described by Wikipedia as a "romantic science-fiction drama", I think the phrase "gentle comedy" should have been added to the list; set in the not-too-distant future (10 years, tops), the film tells the story of a lonely man who has "woman problems" and subsequently buys the latest female-voiced operating system for his computer which boasts of having "intuitive and empathetic" capabilities...a love affair between man and artificial intelligence begins; told straightfaced, this is a story for our times (you will recognise these people and their worries) and is a wholly convincing and ultimately moving holding-up-a-mirror tale
Award-Worthy Performances
Joaquin Phoenix & Scarlett Johansson
IT COMES AT NIGHT (2017)
A- FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Trey Edward Shults
CAST: Joel Edgerton; Christopher Abbott; Carmen Ejogo; Kelvin Harrison Jr; Riley Keough
> a killer plague is upon the land and Mum, Dad & teenage son hole up in a backwoods hut, prepared to do anything to stay alive; a survivalist's "I-told-you-so" utopia, this tale jumps straight into the nightmare scenario (no time wasted on explanations or backstories) of putting your family above everybody else's...and the toll on your humanity that demands; apart from a couple of questionable scenes (a 17 year old's weird sex fantasy... really?) there is no let-up in this, so every second of the 91 minute running time is spent on making you feel very, very nervous; mostly shot in medium and tight close-up (which trebles the paranoia and claustrophobic atmosphere), this is my kinda horror movie: scary, plausible and very human
GREYFRIARS BOBBY (1961)
A- FIRST VIEWING
d: Don Chaffey
CAST: Laurence Naismith; Donald Crisp; Kay Walsh; Gordon Jackson; Alex Mackenzie
> I give up...everybody who knows me knows that I am a coldblooded bastard with a heart of stone but this Disney doggie movie warmed my cockles; a true-ish story about a terrier whose longtime master suddenly dies...the dog just won't leave the grave at night...I mean, gimme a break, willya?; and how did they turn that lovely but tiny sentiment into a 90 minute movie?; set in 19th Century wee-village Scotland, the film adds an ownership tug-of-war between two gruff old Scotsmen (with obligatory hearts of gold...surprise, surprise), a group of ragamuffins and a canny, bemused judge; one of the few 60's Disney flicks which goes for emotion rather than schmaltz or slapstick...hell, even the cute kids are bearable; go on, tenderise your heart
A QUIET PASSION (2016)
A- FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Terence Davies
CAST: Cynthia Nixon; Jennifer Ehle; Duncan Duff; Keith Carradine; Catherine Bailey
> absorbing study of the life of an "alone" person...in this case, poet Emily Dickinson; I have had ongoing difficulties with Terence's movies (usually, the most gorgeous-looking bleak films ever made), but while this one skirts with depression (taphophobics should avoid it), the fascinating characters and their views on life help compensate; Biggest Asset: the language/dialogue is appropriately lush and a joy to listen to, brimming with true wit and sharpness, the richest I've heard in a movie for a long time; wonderful performances all round with Cynthia (a revelation!) and Catherine (a real hoot!) being the stand-outs
Award-Worthy Performances
Cynthia Nixon; Catherine Bailey
BEDLAM (1946)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: Mark Robson
CAST: Boris Karloff; Anna Lee; Billy House; Richard Fraser
> talk about perfect casting...let's put Boris Karloff in charge of the Bedlam Mental Asylum circa 1761...and let's make him one cruel bastard; enjoyable and classy horror-lite film from producer Val Lewton (I Walked With a Zombie + Cat People + The Body Snatcher etc.); Boris has hatred in his heart for Anna and won't rest until she is locked up with the rest of his "loonies"; the lunatics eventually take over the asylum and Boris gets a lovely dose of "just desserts"; nobody can play a sinister abomination quite like Boris Karloff...he talks in oil
Award-Worthy Performance
Boris Karloff
THE VISIT (2015)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: M. Night Shyamalan
CAST: Olivia DeJonge; Ed Oxenbould; Deanna Dunagan; Peter McRobbie; Kathryn Hahn
> yay! another M Night film that's pretty good!; an engrossing scary comedy about a pair of siblings who go to stay for a week with their never-before-seen grandparents; the two kids are terrific with a special nod to 14 year old Aussie Ed who is a naturally-amusing performer; the two oldies go through the usual horror motions (and with grandpa, that has another meaning) with a few routine fright-jumps which still work; the obligatory twist is simple but effective, and a few mysteries are left unsolved to ponder over afterwards; not a great thriller, but certainly entertaining and admirably clever
Award-Worthy Performance
Ed Oxenbould
THE VERDICT (1946)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: Don Siegel
CAST: Sydney Greenstreet; Peter Lorre; Rosalind Ivan; George Coulouris
> ah...Sydney & Peter...two of my all time fave Golden Age character actors...put them in a foggy-olde-streets-of-London murder-mystery (circa 1890)...really, what more could you want?; Sydney is a disgraced police inspector and Peter is his loyal friend...a mutual acquaintance is killed in what seems to be the perfect locked-room murder...can they solve it before an innocent man is hanged?; the plot twists all over the place, especially in the last 15 minutes, but the final twist-to-end-all-twists is a ripper (although, when you look back, it's actually fairly obvious); add Rosalind doing her hysterical-harridan routine, an arrogant bumbler of a detective and a victim who deserves to be done in and you've got minor but enjoyable noir-lite
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017)
B+ FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Jon Watts
CAST: Tom Holland; Michael Keaton; Robert Downey Jr; Marisa Tomei; Jon Favreau
> here we go again...another reboot of Spidey...and it's not bad (better than the last reboot anyway); great that they have made him a teenager again and Tom is an ideal choice for the modern-day all-teched-up webslinger (he is clearly a nice kid with brains); lotsa jokes & lotsa action & a smattering of effective character development; Michael as The Vulture (a lesser member of Spidey's Rogue Gallery) doesn't overdo the menace and keeps the Keatonisms blessedly low key; Two Usual Gripes: #1 = 20 minutes too long & #2 = the camera is held too close-up and moved too rapidly during many of the action scenes so you can't always tell what is going on!!!; I had a good fun time but once it was over...hohum...another entry in the MCU
THE DARK CORNER (1946)
B FIRST VIEWING
d: Henry Hathaway
CAST: Lucille Ball; Mark Stevens; Clifton Webb; William Bendix; Cathy Downs
> a private eye / murder thriller which nearly tips over into self-parody due to its self-consciously noirish dialogue (y'know..."I'm clean as a peeled egg" and "one thing led to another and he led with his right"...like that), so it comes off as a poor man's Raymond Chandler; while Lucy doesn't belong here (at least she isn't called upon to be vampish), Mark Stevens gives a sharply physical performance (he's terrific in the fight scenes!), proving he was one of Hollywood's underrated actors and certainly better at this kinda thing than the mysteriously overrated Alan Ladd; the plot twist happens halfway through and changes everything for the better; effective but not entirely compelling
A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA (1946)
B- FIRST VIEWING
d: Archie Mayo
CAST: Groucho, Chico & Harpo Marx; Sig Ruman; Charles Drake
> penultimate Marx Brothers film which has its moments but still comes across as rather anaemic compared to their 1930's classics; biggest flaw is that Groucho's heart just doesn't seem to be in it...most of his wisecracks are tired...he is virtually a supporting player, leaving the comedy up to Harpo, who is more than happy about it (it's his best movie performance); some bizarre & brutal editing cuts (sometimes mid-sentence or action!) nobble the flow; yes, Chico tickles a piano & Harpo gets serious with a harp [optional toilet breaks, both]; there are some laughs to be had here, but clearly the great days of Marxist comic insanity were gone
Award-Worthy Performance
Harpo Marx
DUEL IN THE SUN (1946)
C SECOND VIEWING
d: King Vidor
CAST: Jennifer Jones; Gregory Peck; Joseph Cotten; Lionel Barrymore; Lillian Gish; Walter Huston; Charles Bickford; Herbert Marshall; Harry Carey; Otto Kruger
> a bloated, oh-brother Western where the only star on the range is the mixed-lolly Technicolor; every actor overdoes their performance, as if they're in an exaggeration contest with Dimitri Tiomkin's inflated music; Jennifer plays the Boys Erector Set and drives two brothers (one good, one bad, of course) savage with desire...no, Gregory Peck is the bad one...HA!; film fanatics Martin Scorcese and David Stratton both cite this as an early childhood favourite...and there is a childlike simplicity to the character motivation, like an Enid Blyton novel with bonus sex bits to interest Mum & Dad; retitled Lust in the Dust by wags, I'd add A Dope With a Rope in a Soap and The Good, The Bad & the Horny to the list of sobriquets
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GO RIGHT AHEAD: masted59@gmail.com
JUNO (2007)
d: Jason Reitman
CAST: Ellen Page; Michael Cera; Jennifer Garner; Jason Bateman; J.K. Simmons; Allison Janney
> total charmer that, for once, deals with teenage sexuality and first steps into the adult world without resorting to crassness; 16 year old Ellen becomes pregnant by 16 year old boyfriend Michael and she decides to have and adopt out the baby...Jennifer and Jason are the chosen WASPy recipients; title character's dialogue is almost like stand-up, peppered with slangisms and quirky phrasings which are impressively fast 'n' funny; the subsequent events & behaviours are not entirely of this world but have grown from it, like a classic screwball comedy; feelgood and be prepared to smile and like people again...even teenagers
Award-Worthy Performances
Ellen Page; J.K. Simmons
HER (2013)
d: Spike Jonze
CAST: Joaquin Phoenix; Scarlett Johansson; Amy Adams; Rooney Mara; Chris Pratt
> described by Wikipedia as a "romantic science-fiction drama", I think the phrase "gentle comedy" should have been added to the list; set in the not-too-distant future (10 years, tops), the film tells the story of a lonely man who has "woman problems" and subsequently buys the latest female-voiced operating system for his computer which boasts of having "intuitive and empathetic" capabilities...a love affair between man and artificial intelligence begins; told straightfaced, this is a story for our times (you will recognise these people and their worries) and is a wholly convincing and ultimately moving holding-up-a-mirror tale
Award-Worthy Performances
Joaquin Phoenix & Scarlett Johansson
IT COMES AT NIGHT (2017)
d: Trey Edward Shults
CAST: Joel Edgerton; Christopher Abbott; Carmen Ejogo; Kelvin Harrison Jr; Riley Keough
> a killer plague is upon the land and Mum, Dad & teenage son hole up in a backwoods hut, prepared to do anything to stay alive; a survivalist's "I-told-you-so" utopia, this tale jumps straight into the nightmare scenario (no time wasted on explanations or backstories) of putting your family above everybody else's...and the toll on your humanity that demands; apart from a couple of questionable scenes (a 17 year old's weird sex fantasy... really?) there is no let-up in this, so every second of the 91 minute running time is spent on making you feel very, very nervous; mostly shot in medium and tight close-up (which trebles the paranoia and claustrophobic atmosphere), this is my kinda horror movie: scary, plausible and very human
GREYFRIARS BOBBY (1961)
d: Don Chaffey
CAST: Laurence Naismith; Donald Crisp; Kay Walsh; Gordon Jackson; Alex Mackenzie
> I give up...everybody who knows me knows that I am a coldblooded bastard with a heart of stone but this Disney doggie movie warmed my cockles; a true-ish story about a terrier whose longtime master suddenly dies...the dog just won't leave the grave at night...I mean, gimme a break, willya?; and how did they turn that lovely but tiny sentiment into a 90 minute movie?; set in 19th Century wee-village Scotland, the film adds an ownership tug-of-war between two gruff old Scotsmen (with obligatory hearts of gold...surprise, surprise), a group of ragamuffins and a canny, bemused judge; one of the few 60's Disney flicks which goes for emotion rather than schmaltz or slapstick...hell, even the cute kids are bearable; go on, tenderise your heart
A QUIET PASSION (2016)
d: Terence Davies
CAST: Cynthia Nixon; Jennifer Ehle; Duncan Duff; Keith Carradine; Catherine Bailey
> absorbing study of the life of an "alone" person...in this case, poet Emily Dickinson; I have had ongoing difficulties with Terence's movies (usually, the most gorgeous-looking bleak films ever made), but while this one skirts with depression (taphophobics should avoid it), the fascinating characters and their views on life help compensate; Biggest Asset: the language/dialogue is appropriately lush and a joy to listen to, brimming with true wit and sharpness, the richest I've heard in a movie for a long time; wonderful performances all round with Cynthia (a revelation!) and Catherine (a real hoot!) being the stand-outs
Award-Worthy Performances
Cynthia Nixon; Catherine Bailey
BEDLAM (1946)
d: Mark Robson
CAST: Boris Karloff; Anna Lee; Billy House; Richard Fraser
> talk about perfect casting...let's put Boris Karloff in charge of the Bedlam Mental Asylum circa 1761...and let's make him one cruel bastard; enjoyable and classy horror-lite film from producer Val Lewton (I Walked With a Zombie + Cat People + The Body Snatcher etc.); Boris has hatred in his heart for Anna and won't rest until she is locked up with the rest of his "loonies"; the lunatics eventually take over the asylum and Boris gets a lovely dose of "just desserts"; nobody can play a sinister abomination quite like Boris Karloff...he talks in oil
Award-Worthy Performance
Boris Karloff
THE VISIT (2015)
d: M. Night Shyamalan
CAST: Olivia DeJonge; Ed Oxenbould; Deanna Dunagan; Peter McRobbie; Kathryn Hahn
> yay! another M Night film that's pretty good!; an engrossing scary comedy about a pair of siblings who go to stay for a week with their never-before-seen grandparents; the two kids are terrific with a special nod to 14 year old Aussie Ed who is a naturally-amusing performer; the two oldies go through the usual horror motions (and with grandpa, that has another meaning) with a few routine fright-jumps which still work; the obligatory twist is simple but effective, and a few mysteries are left unsolved to ponder over afterwards; not a great thriller, but certainly entertaining and admirably clever
Award-Worthy Performance
Ed Oxenbould
THE VERDICT (1946)
d: Don Siegel
CAST: Sydney Greenstreet; Peter Lorre; Rosalind Ivan; George Coulouris
> ah...Sydney & Peter...two of my all time fave Golden Age character actors...put them in a foggy-olde-streets-of-London murder-mystery (circa 1890)...really, what more could you want?; Sydney is a disgraced police inspector and Peter is his loyal friend...a mutual acquaintance is killed in what seems to be the perfect locked-room murder...can they solve it before an innocent man is hanged?; the plot twists all over the place, especially in the last 15 minutes, but the final twist-to-end-all-twists is a ripper (although, when you look back, it's actually fairly obvious); add Rosalind doing her hysterical-harridan routine, an arrogant bumbler of a detective and a victim who deserves to be done in and you've got minor but enjoyable noir-lite
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017)
d: Jon Watts
CAST: Tom Holland; Michael Keaton; Robert Downey Jr; Marisa Tomei; Jon Favreau
> here we go again...another reboot of Spidey...and it's not bad (better than the last reboot anyway); great that they have made him a teenager again and Tom is an ideal choice for the modern-day all-teched-up webslinger (he is clearly a nice kid with brains); lotsa jokes & lotsa action & a smattering of effective character development; Michael as The Vulture (a lesser member of Spidey's Rogue Gallery) doesn't overdo the menace and keeps the Keatonisms blessedly low key; Two Usual Gripes: #1 = 20 minutes too long & #2 = the camera is held too close-up and moved too rapidly during many of the action scenes so you can't always tell what is going on!!!; I had a good fun time but once it was over...hohum...another entry in the MCU
THE DARK CORNER (1946)
d: Henry Hathaway
CAST: Lucille Ball; Mark Stevens; Clifton Webb; William Bendix; Cathy Downs
> a private eye / murder thriller which nearly tips over into self-parody due to its self-consciously noirish dialogue (y'know..."I'm clean as a peeled egg" and "one thing led to another and he led with his right"...like that), so it comes off as a poor man's Raymond Chandler; while Lucy doesn't belong here (at least she isn't called upon to be vampish), Mark Stevens gives a sharply physical performance (he's terrific in the fight scenes!), proving he was one of Hollywood's underrated actors and certainly better at this kinda thing than the mysteriously overrated Alan Ladd; the plot twist happens halfway through and changes everything for the better; effective but not entirely compelling
A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA (1946)
d: Archie Mayo
CAST: Groucho, Chico & Harpo Marx; Sig Ruman; Charles Drake
> penultimate Marx Brothers film which has its moments but still comes across as rather anaemic compared to their 1930's classics; biggest flaw is that Groucho's heart just doesn't seem to be in it...most of his wisecracks are tired...he is virtually a supporting player, leaving the comedy up to Harpo, who is more than happy about it (it's his best movie performance); some bizarre & brutal editing cuts (sometimes mid-sentence or action!) nobble the flow; yes, Chico tickles a piano & Harpo gets serious with a harp [optional toilet breaks, both]; there are some laughs to be had here, but clearly the great days of Marxist comic insanity were gone
Award-Worthy Performance
Harpo Marx
DUEL IN THE SUN (1946)
d: King Vidor
CAST: Jennifer Jones; Gregory Peck; Joseph Cotten; Lionel Barrymore; Lillian Gish; Walter Huston; Charles Bickford; Herbert Marshall; Harry Carey; Otto Kruger
> a bloated, oh-brother Western where the only star on the range is the mixed-lolly Technicolor; every actor overdoes their performance, as if they're in an exaggeration contest with Dimitri Tiomkin's inflated music; Jennifer plays the Boys Erector Set and drives two brothers (one good, one bad, of course) savage with desire...no, Gregory Peck is the bad one...HA!; film fanatics Martin Scorcese and David Stratton both cite this as an early childhood favourite...and there is a childlike simplicity to the character motivation, like an Enid Blyton novel with bonus sex bits to interest Mum & Dad; retitled Lust in the Dust by wags, I'd add A Dope With a Rope in a Soap and The Good, The Bad & the Horny to the list of sobriquets
Go something you want to tell me?
GO RIGHT AHEAD: masted59@gmail.com
