Movie-Viewing Experiences 13/2/19 - 2/3/19
A+ = Adored Masterwork A = Excellent A- = Very Good B+ = Good B = Nice Try B- = Scrapes Through
C = Significantly Flawed D = Pretty Bad E = Truly Dreadful: Looking Into the Void F = Absolutely Vile: The Void
THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR (1947)
A MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
CAST: Gene Tierney; Rex Harrison; George Sanders; Edna Best; Natalie Wood; Anna Lee
> along with 1945's The Enchanted Cottage, this is my favourite romantic-fantasy...and, as anybody who knows me would attest, I am hardly the romantic-fantasy type...so why this?: perfection in casting (Rex at his roguish best + Gene at her ethereal best + George at his caddish best) & a lush, inevitably haunting soundtrack (possibly Bernard Herrmann's best) & a warm, companionable script incorporating relationship-drama and unexpected humour & an early 1900's English seaside setting, based around a wonderful old house on a cliff (how charming can you get?) & an idealised, two-hearts finish that satisfies with a minimum of mush...aw gee
Award-Worthy Performance
Rex Harrison
CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY (1951)
A- FIRST VIEWING
d: Zoltan Korda
CAST: Canada Lee; Charles Carson; Sidney Poitier; Geoffrey Keen; Joyce Carey
> I watched (and appreciated) the 1995 remake before I saw this original film...it's nice to be able to report that they are on a par in quality; a couple of my previous comments apply here: the stilted, formal dialogue somehow works (once you get used to it) and the lead acting (this time by Canada in his final film performance and Charles in the initially-less sympathetic role) is exceptional; very interesting (and heartwrenching) to see the black social/living conditions of 1950's Apartheid South Africa; A Side Note: Director Zoltan had to declare that Canada and Sidney were his indentured slaves before the South African government would let them in...
Award-Worthy Performances
Canada Lee; Charles Carson
LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS (1970)
A- FIRST VIEWING
d: Cy Howard
CAST: Bea Arthur; Bonnie Bedelia; Michael Brandon; Richard S. Castellano; Gig Young
> a romantic-comedy where a quartet of stories sprouts out of the wedding of a young couple; admittedly, very Love, American Style / The Love Boat in nature, where this succeeds is in maintaining the comic quality throughout...all stories deliver their fair share of titters; nice inserts of seriousness & sadness here & there add depth without sliding into cornball sentiment; a collection of effective acting partnerships, there are some actors who still manage to give memorable solo moments (nods to Richard S. Castellano and Anne Jackson); this is a fun watch whilst quietly acknowledging that the hardest thing in life is other people
Award-Worthy Performances
The ensemble cast
IRON MAN 3 (2013)
B+ THIRD VIEWING
d: Shane Black
CAST: Robert Downey Jr; Gwyneth Paltrow; Guy Pearce; Don Cheadle; Ben Kingsley
> the usual MCU mix of action and humour, this adds something fresh and risky, courtesy of Sir Ben...his performance as nasty mastermind The Mandarin (which I can't elaborate on, just in case you haven't seen this movie, but trust me...he's different); unfortunately, it was also its most disliked feature, mainly by purist nerds with moontans...me, I love the blasphemy; also admirable is how the sequence with the fatherless boy totally avoids turning saccharine...thank you...and the aerial daisy-chain is one of the more striking stunt scenes in all of Marveldom; sure, it's got its cringy spots, but for a three-quel, this is as good as The Dark Knight Rises
Award-Worthy Performance
Ben Kingsley
BEN IS BACK (2018)
B+ FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Peter Hedges
CAST: Julia Roberts; Lucas Hedges; Courtney B. Vance; Kathryn Newton; Rachel Bay Jones
> another teenage junkie-hell story with the larger hell inhabited by the addict's parent...so a companion piece (of sorts) to 2018's Beautiful Boy, and equally effective and miserable; in-rehab Lucas unexpectedly comes home for Xmas and for family (Mum & Step-Dad & sister & two half-siblings & a beloved dog) but he is unable to leave his drug baggage behind him; this is, of course, no popcorn-entertainment, but it does contain the usual feature of addiction films: it's an actors' showcase; Julia gives a strong performance as Mum and young Lucas has inner-torment nailed; harrowing by necessity, so be prepared to admire rather than enjoy this
Award-Worthy Performances
Julia Roberts; Lucas Hedges
COLD PURSUIT (2019)
B+ FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Hans Petter Moland
CAST: Liam Neeson; Tom Bateman; Tom Jackson; Emmy Rossum; Laura Dern
> a quest-for-vengeance actioner which succeeds in doing things a little differently; Liam is a snowplow driver in the Rockies...his son is executed by druglords...Liam wants to pay them back, man by man; I was initially worried this was going to be another American gunfest (which it is), but what lifts the entertainment value is the marbling of dark humour throughout (and when I say dark...), providing laughs during some bleak moments (well, I laughed anyway...the only other bloke in the cinema stayed stum); spectacular snowfields scenery adds that Nordic Noir shiver; not much acting going on (Liam is an unappealing sadsack and why Laura would take on such a nothing role is a mystery...wait, let me guess...); despite a high splatter count being linked with a dubious version of fatherhood, this is better than you think it's gonna be
THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER (1963)
B SECOND VIEWING
d: John Huston
CAST: George C. Scott; Kirk Douglas; Dana Wynter; Jacques Roux; Clive Brook
> a murder-mystery that is more entertaining curio than thrilling story; George is ex-MI5 who is given a list of names to track down by a friend...the names are all dead, the friend also dies and others soon join him...what is the common denominator and who is next?; the British setting (London and the gentry's countryside) and the crisp B&W cinematography aren't entirely enough to give the plodding narrative a needed boost; we know from the outset who the culprit is, and this prior knowledge makes George's sherlocking-about seem rather dimwitted; the film's gimmick made it popular: it features four major movie stars in heavily-disguised cameos...can you spot them?...but yet again, we are told at the start who is guest-starring, so our fun is dampened; still, it's an enjoyable, lightweight novelty
THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER (1982)
B- FIRST VIEWING
d: George T. Miller
CAST: Tom Burlinson; Sigrid Thornton; Kirk Douglas; Jack Thompson; Lorraine Bayly
> a certified Australian popular classic which I have been putting off watching (I've owned a copy of the DVD for 3 years), not because I knew it was going to be crud, but because I assumed it would be pretty and dull; turns out I was spot-on, but the prettiness outweighs the dullness; an Aussie Western of sorts, set in the Victorian/NSW High Country (the main source of the prettiness), this tells the tale of wild horses, a wild woman who is in wild love with a mountain man, and estranged brothers who loved the same woman...yeah, better to focus on the scenery; dunno why superstar Kirk is here apart from being a sweetener for the Yank audience but he doesn't mess things up; fine performances from the Aussie actors (Tom & Sigrid have a fire going on) and some exciting horse-riding nearly make up for a (yep) dull script
SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN (1941)
B- SECOND VIEWING
d: W.S. Van Dyke II
CAST: William Powell; Myrna Loy; Barry Nelson; Henry O'Neill; Donna Reed; Stella Adler
> #4 out of 6 in the series and a certain amount of middle-age spread has set in...the chemistry still works (William & Myrna remain an appealing double-act) but the formula is worn out (the murder plot is complicated but not terribly gripping + the comic asides lack freshness + the support cast seems to dither about wearily, just killing time until Nick 'n' Nora do their stuff + Asta is clearly only in it for the money); the main debilitation though is the kid...a toddler with too much to say...some people just shouldn't have children..the domestic cuteness siphons off the screwball charm; a few features keep it away from complete dudness: the sporting backdrop (racetrack & wrestling & turtle-sprints) adds an amusing 1940's commonfolk grit, the mass punch-up in the restaurant is a beauty and the whodunnit solution is enjoyably tricky
BITTER SPRINGS (1950)
B- FIRST VIEWING
d: Ralph Smart
CAST: Chips Rafferty; Tommy Trinder; Gordon Jackson; Jean Blue; Charles Tingwell
> this is the 3rd in a series of 5 movies made in Australia by Ealing Studios (the best, by far, was 1957's The Shiralee)...all, appropriately, had young-nation themes...in this case, race relations; set in the early 1900's and filmed in the Flinders Ranges, this tells the tale of the King family setting up home & sheep next to a waterhole (in Outback Australia, a resource more vital than food)...the traditional owners want them to bugger off...and so the inevitable happens; there aren't too many cringing racist comments made which is a blessing (in fact, the film is reasonably evenminded...the whites aren't entirely wrong but the blacks are right); however, there are many cringes caused by Pommy Tommy trying to be music-hall funny; a watchable but hardly riveting tale of determined settlers and First People who fight back
AT ETERNITY'S GATE (2018)
C FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Julian Schnabel
CAST: Willem Dafoe; Oscar Isaac; Rupert Friend; Mads Mikkelsen; Emmanuelle Seigner
> a film about Vincent van Gogh, this biography is more about Art than The Artist; appropriately filmed in glorious colours, this became a painful experience for me to watch due to the near-constant handheld camerawork...which would be nauseating enough in itself (particularly if you're sitting in Row B)...but then most shots are closeups & even extreme closeups...a blink becomes a quake and a nod becomes a blur...and what was lovely becomes ugly; while everyone has raved about Willem's performance (and he has some moving scenes), I found it too subdued...where are the alcoholic rages?; so reverential, it's as if a whole film has been made from "the world was never meant for one as beautiful as you"; much better to watch the animated Loving Vincent, Robert Altman's Vincent & Theo or Kirk Douglas in Lust for Life
MANDINGO (1975)
F JUST BARELY GOT THROUGH IT...THREW THE DVD INTO THE RECYCLING BIN
d: Richard Fleischer
CAST: James Mason; Perry King; Susan George; Ken Norton; Richard Ward; Brenda Sykes
> stupefyingly-ugly cinema which is excused by a handful of critics as being misunderstood...so let me make it clear...this sex-obsessed exploitation of The American Holocaust is cultural filth; apart from the horrors of slavery and the every-chance-you-get-show'em-naked plot-priority, the film is laced with inappropriate music (sometimes quite jovial!), spicy story-extras (incest + mutilation + rectum-inspecting + man-boiling etc) and truly appalling performances (Susan George wisely went on to breed horses), cherry-topped by the normally-wonderful James Mason...when he opens his mouth to attempt a Deep South accent, you don't know whether to weep or laugh...Laurence Olivier did The Betsy, John Gielgud did Caligula and James Mason did this piece of shit...great British actors obviously need a better superannuation plan
Got something you want to tell me?
GO RIGHT AHEAD: masted59@gmail.com
THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR (1947)
d: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
CAST: Gene Tierney; Rex Harrison; George Sanders; Edna Best; Natalie Wood; Anna Lee
> along with 1945's The Enchanted Cottage, this is my favourite romantic-fantasy...and, as anybody who knows me would attest, I am hardly the romantic-fantasy type...so why this?: perfection in casting (Rex at his roguish best + Gene at her ethereal best + George at his caddish best) & a lush, inevitably haunting soundtrack (possibly Bernard Herrmann's best) & a warm, companionable script incorporating relationship-drama and unexpected humour & an early 1900's English seaside setting, based around a wonderful old house on a cliff (how charming can you get?) & an idealised, two-hearts finish that satisfies with a minimum of mush...aw gee
Award-Worthy Performance
Rex Harrison
CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY (1951)
d: Zoltan Korda
CAST: Canada Lee; Charles Carson; Sidney Poitier; Geoffrey Keen; Joyce Carey
> I watched (and appreciated) the 1995 remake before I saw this original film...it's nice to be able to report that they are on a par in quality; a couple of my previous comments apply here: the stilted, formal dialogue somehow works (once you get used to it) and the lead acting (this time by Canada in his final film performance and Charles in the initially-less sympathetic role) is exceptional; very interesting (and heartwrenching) to see the black social/living conditions of 1950's Apartheid South Africa; A Side Note: Director Zoltan had to declare that Canada and Sidney were his indentured slaves before the South African government would let them in...
Award-Worthy Performances
Canada Lee; Charles Carson
LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS (1970)
d: Cy Howard
CAST: Bea Arthur; Bonnie Bedelia; Michael Brandon; Richard S. Castellano; Gig Young
> a romantic-comedy where a quartet of stories sprouts out of the wedding of a young couple; admittedly, very Love, American Style / The Love Boat in nature, where this succeeds is in maintaining the comic quality throughout...all stories deliver their fair share of titters; nice inserts of seriousness & sadness here & there add depth without sliding into cornball sentiment; a collection of effective acting partnerships, there are some actors who still manage to give memorable solo moments (nods to Richard S. Castellano and Anne Jackson); this is a fun watch whilst quietly acknowledging that the hardest thing in life is other people
Award-Worthy Performances
The ensemble cast
IRON MAN 3 (2013)
d: Shane Black
CAST: Robert Downey Jr; Gwyneth Paltrow; Guy Pearce; Don Cheadle; Ben Kingsley
> the usual MCU mix of action and humour, this adds something fresh and risky, courtesy of Sir Ben...his performance as nasty mastermind The Mandarin (which I can't elaborate on, just in case you haven't seen this movie, but trust me...he's different); unfortunately, it was also its most disliked feature, mainly by purist nerds with moontans...me, I love the blasphemy; also admirable is how the sequence with the fatherless boy totally avoids turning saccharine...thank you...and the aerial daisy-chain is one of the more striking stunt scenes in all of Marveldom; sure, it's got its cringy spots, but for a three-quel, this is as good as The Dark Knight Rises
Award-Worthy Performance
Ben Kingsley
BEN IS BACK (2018)
d: Peter Hedges
CAST: Julia Roberts; Lucas Hedges; Courtney B. Vance; Kathryn Newton; Rachel Bay Jones
> another teenage junkie-hell story with the larger hell inhabited by the addict's parent...so a companion piece (of sorts) to 2018's Beautiful Boy, and equally effective and miserable; in-rehab Lucas unexpectedly comes home for Xmas and for family (Mum & Step-Dad & sister & two half-siblings & a beloved dog) but he is unable to leave his drug baggage behind him; this is, of course, no popcorn-entertainment, but it does contain the usual feature of addiction films: it's an actors' showcase; Julia gives a strong performance as Mum and young Lucas has inner-torment nailed; harrowing by necessity, so be prepared to admire rather than enjoy this
Award-Worthy Performances
Julia Roberts; Lucas Hedges
COLD PURSUIT (2019)
d: Hans Petter Moland
CAST: Liam Neeson; Tom Bateman; Tom Jackson; Emmy Rossum; Laura Dern
> a quest-for-vengeance actioner which succeeds in doing things a little differently; Liam is a snowplow driver in the Rockies...his son is executed by druglords...Liam wants to pay them back, man by man; I was initially worried this was going to be another American gunfest (which it is), but what lifts the entertainment value is the marbling of dark humour throughout (and when I say dark...), providing laughs during some bleak moments (well, I laughed anyway...the only other bloke in the cinema stayed stum); spectacular snowfields scenery adds that Nordic Noir shiver; not much acting going on (Liam is an unappealing sadsack and why Laura would take on such a nothing role is a mystery...wait, let me guess...); despite a high splatter count being linked with a dubious version of fatherhood, this is better than you think it's gonna be
THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER (1963)
d: John Huston
CAST: George C. Scott; Kirk Douglas; Dana Wynter; Jacques Roux; Clive Brook
> a murder-mystery that is more entertaining curio than thrilling story; George is ex-MI5 who is given a list of names to track down by a friend...the names are all dead, the friend also dies and others soon join him...what is the common denominator and who is next?; the British setting (London and the gentry's countryside) and the crisp B&W cinematography aren't entirely enough to give the plodding narrative a needed boost; we know from the outset who the culprit is, and this prior knowledge makes George's sherlocking-about seem rather dimwitted; the film's gimmick made it popular: it features four major movie stars in heavily-disguised cameos...can you spot them?...but yet again, we are told at the start who is guest-starring, so our fun is dampened; still, it's an enjoyable, lightweight novelty
THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER (1982)
d: George T. Miller
CAST: Tom Burlinson; Sigrid Thornton; Kirk Douglas; Jack Thompson; Lorraine Bayly
> a certified Australian popular classic which I have been putting off watching (I've owned a copy of the DVD for 3 years), not because I knew it was going to be crud, but because I assumed it would be pretty and dull; turns out I was spot-on, but the prettiness outweighs the dullness; an Aussie Western of sorts, set in the Victorian/NSW High Country (the main source of the prettiness), this tells the tale of wild horses, a wild woman who is in wild love with a mountain man, and estranged brothers who loved the same woman...yeah, better to focus on the scenery; dunno why superstar Kirk is here apart from being a sweetener for the Yank audience but he doesn't mess things up; fine performances from the Aussie actors (Tom & Sigrid have a fire going on) and some exciting horse-riding nearly make up for a (yep) dull script
SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN (1941)
d: W.S. Van Dyke II
CAST: William Powell; Myrna Loy; Barry Nelson; Henry O'Neill; Donna Reed; Stella Adler
> #4 out of 6 in the series and a certain amount of middle-age spread has set in...the chemistry still works (William & Myrna remain an appealing double-act) but the formula is worn out (the murder plot is complicated but not terribly gripping + the comic asides lack freshness + the support cast seems to dither about wearily, just killing time until Nick 'n' Nora do their stuff + Asta is clearly only in it for the money); the main debilitation though is the kid...a toddler with too much to say...some people just shouldn't have children..the domestic cuteness siphons off the screwball charm; a few features keep it away from complete dudness: the sporting backdrop (racetrack & wrestling & turtle-sprints) adds an amusing 1940's commonfolk grit, the mass punch-up in the restaurant is a beauty and the whodunnit solution is enjoyably tricky
BITTER SPRINGS (1950)
d: Ralph Smart
CAST: Chips Rafferty; Tommy Trinder; Gordon Jackson; Jean Blue; Charles Tingwell
> this is the 3rd in a series of 5 movies made in Australia by Ealing Studios (the best, by far, was 1957's The Shiralee)...all, appropriately, had young-nation themes...in this case, race relations; set in the early 1900's and filmed in the Flinders Ranges, this tells the tale of the King family setting up home & sheep next to a waterhole (in Outback Australia, a resource more vital than food)...the traditional owners want them to bugger off...and so the inevitable happens; there aren't too many cringing racist comments made which is a blessing (in fact, the film is reasonably evenminded...the whites aren't entirely wrong but the blacks are right); however, there are many cringes caused by Pommy Tommy trying to be music-hall funny; a watchable but hardly riveting tale of determined settlers and First People who fight back
AT ETERNITY'S GATE (2018)
d: Julian Schnabel
CAST: Willem Dafoe; Oscar Isaac; Rupert Friend; Mads Mikkelsen; Emmanuelle Seigner
> a film about Vincent van Gogh, this biography is more about Art than The Artist; appropriately filmed in glorious colours, this became a painful experience for me to watch due to the near-constant handheld camerawork...which would be nauseating enough in itself (particularly if you're sitting in Row B)...but then most shots are closeups & even extreme closeups...a blink becomes a quake and a nod becomes a blur...and what was lovely becomes ugly; while everyone has raved about Willem's performance (and he has some moving scenes), I found it too subdued...where are the alcoholic rages?; so reverential, it's as if a whole film has been made from "the world was never meant for one as beautiful as you"; much better to watch the animated Loving Vincent, Robert Altman's Vincent & Theo or Kirk Douglas in Lust for Life
MANDINGO (1975)
d: Richard Fleischer
CAST: James Mason; Perry King; Susan George; Ken Norton; Richard Ward; Brenda Sykes
> stupefyingly-ugly cinema which is excused by a handful of critics as being misunderstood...so let me make it clear...this sex-obsessed exploitation of The American Holocaust is cultural filth; apart from the horrors of slavery and the every-chance-you-get-show'em-naked plot-priority, the film is laced with inappropriate music (sometimes quite jovial!), spicy story-extras (incest + mutilation + rectum-inspecting + man-boiling etc) and truly appalling performances (Susan George wisely went on to breed horses), cherry-topped by the normally-wonderful James Mason...when he opens his mouth to attempt a Deep South accent, you don't know whether to weep or laugh...Laurence Olivier did The Betsy, John Gielgud did Caligula and James Mason did this piece of shit...great British actors obviously need a better superannuation plan
Got something you want to tell me?
GO RIGHT AHEAD: masted59@gmail.com
