Sunday 28 January 2018

2015 Page Added

Movie-Viewing Experiences  17/1/18 - 28/1/18    
A+ = Adored Masterwork   A = Excellent   A- = Very Good   B+ = Good   B = Nice Try   B- = Tolerable   
C = Significantly Flawed   D = Pretty Bad   E = Truly Dreadful: Looking Into the Void   F = Vile & Repugnant: The Void



THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980)
A   MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: David Lynch
CAST: Anthony Hopkins; John Hurt; John Gielgud; Wendy Hiller; Anne Bancroft; Freddie Jones
> the saddest monster movie ever made, because the monsters turn out to be the human beings who surround and exploit one of God's errors; the sheer beauty of the acting (both Anthony as the doctor / friend and John as our hero have scenes where a single tear drops, perfectly on cue, as they are overwhelmed by emotion) and the lushness of the B&W cinematography (grey has never looked so rich) take control, directing us to move from gawking to pity to affection; while I find a couple of scenes difficult to watch (I get overwhelmed too), it is one of the rare movie tragedies which I choose to regularly rewatch...I revel in its human touch
Award-Worthy Performances
Anthony Hopkins; John Hurt; John Gielgud



THE SHAPE OF WATER (2017)
A-   FIRST VIEWING   IN-CINEMA
d: Guillermo del Toro
CAST: Sally Hawkins; Michael Shannon; Richard Jenkins; Olivia Spencer; Michael Stuhlbarg
> basically a Beauty & the Beast tale, Director & Writer Guillermo has created something quite original and beautiful; young mute woman cleans in a secret government facility...a strange amphibious creature is brought in for military research and treated cruelly...the woman decides to set it free; a lush romance with appropriately fluid imagery, I kept recalling the child wonder of E.T. and the human kindness of Turtle Diary; loved all the drop-ins of 1940's musicals and the cameo of the 1960's civil rights momentum; a wonderful cinematic experience and an ideal date movie for all you young lovers out there
Award-Worthy Performances
Sally Hawkins; Richard Jenkins



THE BIG SHORT (2015)
A-   FIRST VIEWING
d: Adam McKay
CAST: Christian Bale; Steve Carell; Ryan Gosling; Brad Pitt
> now here's a neat trick: let's make a film about the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis, and let's make it a).comprehensible b).historically accurate c).dramatically effective and d).quite funny; I have been putting off watching this, mainly due to my sheer horror of economic jargon and pie graphs, but, I must admit, it has achieved all 4 listed aims; focusing on a handful of guys who foretold and actually made money from the GFC, the film explains as it goes (using entertaining asides), throwing in character eccentricities and rapid-fire one-liners to help hold our interest as we watch arrogant rich bastards still win anyway while the lives of ordinary people go down the gurgler; one of the most complete demolitions of the American Way ever put on celluloid and uncontrollably rage-fuelling



THE DEAD ZONE (1983)
A-   MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: David Cronenberg
CAST: Christopher Walken; Brooke Adams; Martin Sheen; Herbert Lom
> a classy psych-thriller where Director David proved for the first time that he was more than just a schlock'n'shock master; Christopher wakes from a 5 year coma and discovers that he has developed the ability to foresee (through touch) traumatic events in the lives of individual people; this is Christopher's most appealing performance (he keeps the idiosyncrasies to a minimum...although even when limping, he does it like nobody else); curiously, Martin overdoes the sinister politician (a West Wing irony!); the story unfolds at an almost leisurely pace, despite featuring a serial-killer, drowning kids, bloody suicides and world annihilation
Award-Worthy Performance
Christopher Walken



THE GUNFIGHTER (1950)
B+   RE-EVALUATION   Original Grade: A-
d: Henry King
CAST: Gregory Peck; Millard Mitchell; Karl Malden; Helen Westcott; Jean Peters
> this is regarded as a classic Western by many astute people, and must have been an influence of sorts on Unforgiven (which I infinitely prefer); Gregory is Jimmy Ringo, one of the last tough gunmen who pulls into town to catch up with his estranged wife and son...but there's always someone meaner who wants the reputation of shooting Ringo...; while I appreciate the film's "Legend" trimmings and the tick-tock of impending death, I have difficulty with 1) Gregory, who seems to me to be miscast and only twinkles when he is allowed to be nice 2) the final scenes, which are inappropriately noble and a little hokey and 3) the entire concept of a gunslinger being looked upon with awe... hey, Ned Kelly may be lauded by many in Australia, but to me, he was just a bloody cop-killer; yes, the movie is still captivating, but I keep it at arm's length



HOLY MATRIMONY (1943)
B+   FIRST VIEWING
d: John M. Stahl
CAST: Monty Woolley; Gracie Fields; Laird Cregar; Una O'Connor; Frank Pangborn
> I spent many months trying to track down a reasonably-priced copy of this well-regarded comedy...and fine it is, but an undeniable classic of its genre it is not; Monty is an English painter who wants a low-profile life...his valet dies and Monty swaps identities to escape the public...he then meets and marries his ideal soulmate...but the truth won't be held back for long; very gentle & urbane comedy with a typical curmudgeonly performance by Monty and a rather awkward one from Britain's music hall star Gracie (she never seems quite at ease); the supporting cast brims with wonderful character actors (Una O'Connor always gives me a little flutter of joy as soon as she speaks) and the script ties the threads up neatly, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed...I expected great and what I got was merely good



FRANK (2014)
B   FIRST VIEWING
d: Lenny Abrahamson
CAST: Domhnall Gleeson; Michael Fassbender; Maggie Gyllenhaal; Scoot McNairy
> impossible to review this film without using the word "quirky"...actually, only the first two-thirds are quirky...the final third is unexpected and sad, like finding out in the final chapter that Alice in Wonderland was dreamed by a little girl in a car-crash coma; young guy with musical ambitions gets roped in to play keyboards in a rather avant-garde band, led by a bloke wearing a large papier-mache head (which he never takes off)...the band does a Big Pink and lives together in a rustic hideaway, discovering their muse and recording an album...then, opportunity knocks; the film is intentionally never hilarious but it's not just another "dark comedy" either...the main characters change/grow so they are more than just bizarre clowns; too early to tell if the ending enriches or depletes what went before



THE BEGUILED (1971)
B-   SECOND VIEWING
d: Don Siegel
CAST: Clint Eastwood; Geraldine Page; Elizabeth Hartman; Jo Ann Harris; Darleen Carr
> 1971 was a stellar year for Our Man Clint (Dirty Harry + Play Misty For Me...his directorial debut...+ this, a Gothic sex-horror movie); a journey into the Quirk Zone for both star & director, this is a highly-regarded Art-y flick which bombed with the public but made the critics' hearts race...I'm with the common people on this one; not much different to groovy Sixties repressed-sex captive pics such as The Collector and Three in the Attic (and 1990's Misery), this tells the tale of a wounded Civil War Yankee holing up in a young ladies school in the Deep Spanish-Moss-Covered South...he stirs the women's loins (the youngest is 12!) and they like it...a lot; add incest, sexual jealousy and orgiastic fantasy and shake; while Clint's character is intriguingly horrid, the pace is sleepy, the acting is variable and the premise is artificial



MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN (1969)
C   SECOND VIEWING
d: James B. Clark
CAST: Teddy Eccles; Theodore Bikel; Tudi Wiggins
> when it comes to nature movies, I am a walking contradiction... I am a creeks 'n' rivers 'n' mountains 'n' native bushland admirer & hiker but films about wilderness bore me shitless; I saw this movie one Saturday TV matinee when my 11 year old self was keen with Scouting and the story thrilled me (kid goes out into the Canadian wild country by himself to live off the land and become one with Nature), but viewing it now as a grumpy 58 year old, I detect flaws: Teddy comes across as an arrogant little snot who may be adventurous but he sure is a drag + for an environmental guy, he hypocritically litters, steals baby birds, turns a raccoon into a cat and torches a tree + glistening water & snow and blue mountains whiskered with conifer soon become as dull as painted canvas; graded leniently for making a contribution to my childhood



ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL (2015)
C   FIRST VIEWING
d: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
CAST: Jeremy Dawson; Olivia Cooke; RJ Cyler; Molly Shannon
> a High School misfit (he compares himself to a groundhog) is persuaded by his mother to visit a terminally-ill schoolfriend... they don't fall in love, but he grows up while she dies...Death being a demanding taskmaster after all; while I recognise long, tortuous cancer death (here's to you, Barb), there is nothing else in this film which seems to be from Planet Earth...particularly not the characters, who are bizarre plastic fakery rather than anything resembling flesh; personality quirks are accessorised onto both lead and side roles, and the result is a collection of animated costume jewellery...sparkle & paste; the twist in the tale is an annoying cheat and the ending is too tidily wrapped up; best bits are the classic movie title parodies: Scabface + The Prunes of Wrath + The Turd Man + Anatomy of a Burger + Death in Tennis...like that



FATTY FINN (1980)
D   SECOND VIEWING
d: Maurice Murphy
CAST: Ben Oxenbould; Rebecca Rigg; Bert Newton; Noni Hazlehurst; Gerard Kennedy
> based on the 1930's Aussie comic strip of the same name, this is a fairly awful kids film, primarily due to the overripeness of the acting (the child actors are gratingly schoolplay-ish but the adult professionals should have known better...without exception, they stink); the colours are all dayglo pop which becomes nauseating after a while, the songs are rotten and the plot just seems to be a way to weave in some Keystone Kop slapstick and bum & nuddy jokes; however, I have found a redeeming feature: I am old enough to take some nostalgic pleasure from the appearance of crystal sets, smell-the-cheese punches, cursive & compositions, outside dunnies, lumpy morning porridge, lemon-squeezer Scout hats, backyard chooks, laundry mangles, shanghais and going barefoot at school...but it's nowhere near enough



FANTASTIC 4 (2015)
D   FIRST VIEWING
d: Josh Trank
CAST: Miles Teller; Kate Mara; Jamie Bell; Michael B. Jordan; Toby Kebbell
> while it's not entirely the infamous disaster that nerds & real people believe, it is indisputably subpar; I am a Fantastic Four (the greatest of all comicbook superhero creations... along with Batman, of course) fan and I can tell you right now that the characters in this film may have the names, but they are definitely not Reed, Sue, Ben, Johnny and Victor; void of the originals' joy + backslap humour + stunning inventiveness + love of adventure, this mob is solemn and emotionally washed out, the people you steer clear of at parties because they are such a bring-down; there are a couple of plusses (such as seamless SFX and an admirable attempt at explaining the blatantly impossible) but the fundamental flaw is obvious: why make a film about classic, beloved characters and then deliberately change them into other people?




Got something you want to tell me?
GO RIGHT AHEAD:  masted59@gmail.com




Tuesday 16 January 2018

Just Watched Movies Again...

Movie-Viewing Experiences  7/1/18 - 16/1/18    
A+ = Adored Masterwork   A = Excellent   A- = Very Good   B+ = Good   B = Nice Try   B- = Tolerable   
C = Significantly Flawed   D = Pretty Bad   E = Truly Dreadful: Looking Into the Void   F = Vile & Repugnant: The Void



YOU CAN COUNT ON ME (2000)
A   SECOND VIEWING
d: Kenneth Lonergan
CAST: Laura Linney; Mark Ruffalo; Matthew Broderick; Rory Culkin
> a superior drama about family, the ties that bind and, no matter how much you try to help, some people just cannot heal; as kids, a sister & brother lose their parents in a car crash...only the sister grows up and moves on with her life...the younger brother only grows up physically; the acting partnership between Laura & Mark is sublime: they look nothing alike, but there is the same blood running through their veins; the film is paced slowly, with little touches of humour and understatement to draw us in; Director Kenneth has only made three feature films in sixteen years...the other two are also superb...more Ken, more
Award-Worthy Performances
Laura Linney & Mark Ruffalo



BRONCO BILLY (1980)
A-   FIRST VIEWING
d: Clint Eastwood
CAST: Clint Eastwood; Sondra Locke; Scatman Crothers; Bill McKinney
> now here's something you don't see every day: a Clint Eastwood screwball comedy...and it's actually good (gasp); mixing in elements from It Happened One Night (!), this kicks off with a hick-sy travelling Wild West show (trick riding & sharpshooting under canvas) which crosses paths with a soon-to-be-rich heiress...all the obligatory convoluted / coincidental plotting & gradual character reveals & I-hate-you-but-I-really-love-you carry-on occur, with true love doing the right thing; while the film is a little flabby (it could lose 20 minutes) and a couple of story threads flap about without being tied down, the thing I appreciate is that it's a genuinely warming comedy without even a drop of cynicism (even all the kid stuff is sweet rather than corny); guns & the American Way still rule of course, but hey, it's a Clint movie



TWO SECONDS (1932)
A-   MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Mervyn LeRoy
CAST: Edward G. Robinson; Vivienne Osborne; Preston Foster; J. Carrol Naish; Guy Kibbee
> a Warner Bros downfall-of-a-good-man movie which is lifted by a wow Eddie G performance (which some critics have labelled exaggerated & hammy but I prefer unrestrained and large); a riveter with romantic dreams of self-improvement meets a gold digging hussey...it all slides downhill from there right into the electric chair (the 2 seconds are the time it takes to die once the switch is thrown); unusual borderline comedic touches at times mixed in with a tragic what-a-poor-sap story; love the time capsule stuff: bakelight radio + Dime-a-Dance joints + chubby floozies + roving bookies + teapot gin; just sit back and watch Eddie G do his stuff...great fun
Award-Worthy Performance
Edward G. Robinson



DARKEST HOUR (2017)
B+   FIRST VIEWING   IN-CINEMA
d: Joe Wright
CAST: Gary Oldman; Kristin Scott-Thomas; Lily James; Ben Mendelsohn
> I am a WWII History (European Theatre) buff of sorts, so this subject matter was going to instantly pique my interest; it focuses on the period between Winston Churchill taking power and his "Fight them on the beaches" speech to parliament; while the makeup achievement is impressive, I couldn't really see either Gary or Winnie...a new terrific character has been created, one who is obviously superhuman (alcohol + tobacco + depression + fatty food + stress + age), supremely eloquent and able to readjust his political persona when needed; clever cinematography effects add visual impact and the story is appropriately stirring 
Award-Worthy Performances
Gary Oldman; Ben Mendelsohn



THE POST (2017)
B+   FIRST VIEWING   IN-CINEMA
d: Steven Spielberg
CAST: Meryl Streep; Tom Hanks; Ben Odenkirk; Bruce Greenwood: Tracy Letts
> pretty much a prequel to 1976's All the President's Men...but just not as gripping; while the film is about the do-we / don't-we publishing of the explosive Pentagon Papers by the Washington Post in 1971, it is not really a political thriller, but is more a political lesson: interesting, informative & a little bit rote; the side-content held more curiosity value though: the feminism issues of the age & the influence of what we Aussies call "looking after your mates"... can journalists be close friends with politicians and still tell the public the truth?; Meryl is note-perfect as the owner of the Wash Post and Tom delivers a Jason Robards quality performance as Ben Bradlee...but neither pack an especial wallop; impossible to view this and not think about the World According to Trump and fake news / alternative facts



A WALK WITH LOVE AND DEATH (1969)
B+   FIRST VIEWING
d: John Huston
CAST: Anjelica Huston; Assaf Dayan; Anthony Higgins; John Huston
> strange to think that this romantic drama set during the Hundred Years War was released the same year as Easy RiderThe Wild Bunch and Midnight Cowboy; a teenage couple in love (aristocratic lass + Parisian student) try to escape the evils of war by fleeing through the French countryside to the sea; dialogue and music (lutes + recorders) frame the film as an olde folktale; Anjelica, in her film debut, is pale 'n' pretty and gives the medieval phrasings a good going over while Israeli actor Assaf manages to prevent his airy wanderer from drifting into hippiedom; while I can't watch films like this without thinking of Monty Python & the Holy Grail, there are no unintentional titters here; smartest decision was to keep it small-scale, avoiding the bombast of an "Epic"; recommended to the half-dozen fans of 1971's The Last Valley



COLD SOULS (2009)
B   FIRST VIEWING
d: Sophie Barthes
CAST: Paul Giamatti; Dina Korzun; David Strathairn; Emily Watson
> clever & creative but not as emotionally affecting as it could have been; Paul Giamatti plays Paul Giamatti, an actor going through a performance dry spell...he decides his problem is an overloaded soul, so he gets it clinically removed and stored, thus enabling him to play a character without getting in his own way...but, there are unexpected consequences; the fundamental flaw in the film is that it never completely decides exactly what it believes "The Soul" to be, sometimes muddling it with memory, wishes and fears...are we born with it (therefore inherited/innate) or does it evolve accidentally (therefore determined by Fate/Luck) or designed with purpose (therefore manmade/tailored); but just the fact that the film leads you to toss these questions around makes a viewing worthwhile



BREATHE (2017)
B   FIRST VIEWING   IN-CINEMA
d: Andy Serkis
CAST: Andrew Garfield; Claire Foy; Tom Hollander; Hugh Bonneville
> tearjerker about a good guy who is felled by polio...he wants to die but his wife says no...so, together, they give him something to live for; true story is well-structured, shot in some lovely countryside (supposedly England, Africa and Spain), and can't help but be "life-affirming" (why do I always slightly shudder when I hear that phrase?); the real hero of the story is the wife and the champions are the family friends who rally around and remain very stiff-upper-lip & jolly; the only (deliberately) jarring scene is in the 1970's German hospital where other polio victims are packed & stacked, a collection of faces sticking out of iron lungs; Andrew does well as a talking head, but his required lack of animation hands the impact-honours onto Claire...you can feel her love for the man; a nice story, but there's nothing revelatory about it



SUPERMAN RETURNS (2006)
B   SECOND VIEWING
d: Bryan Singer
CAST: Brandon Routh; Kate Bosworth; Kevin Spacey; James Marsden; Sam Huntington
> this is the Superman III that we should have had in 1983 rather than the blah one that we actually got...but this doesn't star Christopher, Margot and Gene and their replacements are acceptable but not equal (only Sam as Jimmy Olsen seems to be up to the mark), so there is something lacking; 23 years of technology have improved the SFX and the glossiness of it all, and the storyline is interesting (if too focussed on the Supes / Lois romance) but enough with Lex Luthor already...surely Brainiac or Bizarro would have been smarter choices, if only for the sake of freshness; the best Superman remains the graphic novels (Earth One + American Alien + Birthright + For All Seasons + Red Son + Peace on Earth + Secret Origin + Last Son of Krypton All Star Superman Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow)...okay?



CATCH A FIRE (2006)
B-   FIRST VIEWING
d: Phillip Noyce
CAST: Derek Luke; Tim Robbins; Bonnie Henna
> a true story about the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the 1980's that is not terribly engaging despite the best of filmmaking intentions; Derek is Patrick Chamusso, one of the real life heroes of the African National Congress (the man himself makes an appearance at the end, explaining his social philosophy) who is triggered into activism via an unjust arrest and subsequent assault & torture; while Derek is admirable in the key role, Tim as the bastard Afrikaner cop delivers yet another ineffective performance: he is all badness with no obvious power...he's more irritating than threatening; all the side characters are similarly thin and, despite some scenes brimming with terror, I was never entirely held; a political thriller which isn't actually thrilling; the best Apartheid film remains 1988's A World Apart



MY FRIEND FLICKA (1943)
B-   FIRST VIEWING
d: Harold D. Schuster
CAST: Roddy McDowell; Preston Foster; Rita Johnson; James Bell; Jeff Corey
> I am not a horsey person...I rode one once...as soon as I put my bum in the saddle, the old grey mare let out a snort and farted...I instantly knew who was in charge; unless you are a horsey person, the only reason to see this old-fashioned kids film (y'know...a love story between boy & beast, full of nice people who are all soft and warm inside, and lots of fresh air and oatmeal) is Roddy, one of the most appealing child actors of the Golden Era; the jaunty orchestral soundtrack is too much but there is edible Technicolor to compensate; ignore the cardboard adults and focus on the kid...and wonder if children were ever really like this
Award-Worthy Performance
Roddy McDowell



THE HAWK IS DYING (2006)
D   FIRST VIEWING
d: Julian Goldberg
CAST: Paul Giamatti; Michelle Williams; Michael Pitt; Rusty Schwimmer
> Art for Art's sake...a film which is stocked with peculiar characters who are more narrative constructs than people: Paul is a car upholsterer who is consumed by his obsession with Falconry + Michelle is a psychology student who is a drugged up / needy mess looking for Meaning + Michael is an autistic 20 year old who blows smoke rings and is fascinated by water + Rusty is the size of a fridge and reads pop junk mags instead of participating in Life... none of the actors can make them flesh; only the red-tailed hawk is real, tethered & flapping, just trying to get away from these tedious weirdos; ugly sex & symbolic visions & grief as illness & good ol' Jesus are stirred into the gruel to add texture; watch 1969's Kes instead if you are a birdy person who would like to spend time with some unpleasant people



Got something you want to tell me?
GO RIGHT AHEAD:  masted59@gmail.com