Elf, watch it every holiday season. 7/10. A star off for it dragging in the middle but the first and third acts were about perfect
The Fencer (2015) 85% from critics on Rottentomatoes, 7.1 IMDB? Yikes. I am a “sports movies are my guilty pleasure” enthusiast, my favorite movies are quiet slice of life dramas. This movie seemed to want to be both and didn’t achieve either at all well for me. This post almost ended up in the “movies you didn’t finish” thread when, halfway through, their was a hamfisted attempt at adding romance to an already convoluted menu, which was even more awkward than the ill-advised scripting of a romance between Gene Hackman and Barbara Hershey in the otherwise well formulated Hoosiers. I read reviews of people that talked about weeping, and used words like rousing and triumphant, sublime even. Not for me in the least. 1/4
Raging Fire - 2021 - 6/10 AKA - Nou Fo // 怒火 Unoriginal, borrowing from dozens of films, yet this is an exciting Hong Kong actioner. Donnie Yen as headstrong, sometimes righteous, sometime not, cop. On the other side, Nicholas Tse, ex-cop, leading a gang on high stakes heists. One watches this for the violence, high powered shootouts, car chases through downtown Hong Kong. Not to mention the martial arts. Donnie Yen is older, and his style is brawling. Tse, I keep forgetting how good he can be, makes a formidable adversary. For Hong Kong diehards, yeah, someone can still make these gems.
What Waits Below - 1984 - 5/10 Wolfsen, gathering intel on Nicaraguan mercenaries, makes a hasty, gun-blazing exit. Why? Because a new cave network has been discovered in Belize. Archeologists and military ops squabble over site rights, until all descend. Low budget, fast moving adventure nonsense juggles politics, Navy submarines, romance, escapes, lost civilization. Hardly a great film, though I was amused throughout. I watched to see Lisa Blount, who never quite caught the breaks.
"Nope" 6/10 It's kind of a novel take involving a series of UFO encounters in a remote California valley, home to a horse ranch run by the son and (often gratingly obnoxious) daughter of the former owner who supplies trained horses to Hollywood studios for productions. Horses start disappearing and it soon becomes obvious "something" in the sky is grabbing them. The first half of the movie kind of moves a bit too slowly establishing the characters including a former child actor now adult who runs a local Wild Western themed park who was traumatized on the set of his sitcom when a trained chimp went nuts and killed the other cast members. The movie tries to juggle a lot of subplots and isn't quite successful in ultimately connecting the dots. A few things don't add up and the main character kind of has an odd, too subdued take during some crazy situations that doesn't work. Perhaps the nuttiest character in the movie is the movie cinematographer who becomes involved in trying to get "the photos/footage" of the UFO who is played by the great Michael Wincott, who also played the long haired main bad guy "Top Dollar" in The Crow. Worth a look, but the first half is a bit of a slog.
Grandma - 2016 - 7/10 Inventive road movie starring Lily Tomlin as no-nonsense elder, helping granddaughter. Narrative transpires in one day. as the pair drive from friends to family to rivals. From the sorry-ass boyfriend to Grandma's ex, the duo try to raise money for an abortion. Each encounter is a mini-short story. Shrewdly done to reveal grandma's history and character. Very much the small film, shot in 19 days, micro budget, yet a strong cast gives top performances. Funny, acid-tongued. The DVD has worthwhile “making of” doc and a Q&A bonus. Note - That is Lily Tomlin's actual car.
Father Stu...pretty good flick. I personally think Mark W. Is a very good actor. He nails every character he plays. 7.5/10
Female Trouble - 1974 - 6/10 Bad girl Dawn (Divine) wrecks her family’s home when Christmas proves disappointing. She runs away, bangs commando, burgles homes, becomes a hooker, seeks fame. In other words, a corruption of the American Dream. Or, for many, the American reality without the lipgloss. Biting satire by John Waters remains mercilessly funny. Most early fans rally round Pink Flamingos, but I’ve always thought this better constructed and a darker journey. Euro print (97”) recommended, especially with Waters’ commentary.
Troll on Netflix. A new Norwegian kaiju movie. I'd give it an 8/10 for the type of movie it is. Solid story, credible acting and well-done special effects. If you like old Godzilla/kaiju movies, you'll like this movie. Recommended if you have any interest in the genre.
Academy Award Nominated films with my rating (out of 5) My cutoff point for recommendation: **1/2 being marginal and recommended "barely" ** being marginal but a thumbs down ***1/2 satisfies me for the best picture nomination 2019 Academy Awards Green Book (Winner) *** Black Panther ** BlacKkKlansman ***1/2 Bohemian Rhapsody ***1/2 The Favourite **** Roma **** A Star Is Born *** Vice *** My pick for best film 2019: The Favourite 2020 Parasite (Winner) **** Ford v Ferrari ***1/2 The Irishman **1/2 Jojo Rabbit ***** Joker **** Little Women *** Marriage Story *** 1917 **** Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ***** My pick for best film 2020: Jojo Rabbit 2021 Nomadland (Winner) ** The Father **** Judas and the Black Messiah *** Mank **1/2 Minari **** Promising Young Woman *** Sound of Metal **** The Trial of the Chicago 7 *** My pick for best film 2021: Sound of Metal 2022 CODA (winner) **** Belfast *** Don't Look Up ** Drive My Car ***** Dune *1/2 King Richard *** Licorice Pizza **1/2 Nightmare Alley **1/2 The Power of the Dog ** West Side Story *** My pick for best film 2021: Drive My Car NOTE : Titane won the Palme d'Or and would have been my pick for the best film if it had been nominated. ***** The best five from all of the above 1) Jojo Rabbit 2) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 3) Drive my Car 4) The Favourite 5) Sound of Metal Last movie watched: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (a holiday favourite) ****
Just saw it and I give it a 3/10. Totally predictable, all the thrills are in the trailer. The special effects are nice, a few nods to Jaws and Jurassic Park. Try Troll Hunter for a much nicer and more original experience.
The Case Of The Bloody Iris - 1972 - 6/10 AKA - Perché quelle strane gocce di sangue sul corpo di Jennifer? The elevator is crowded, until it’s not. And by that time, the gloves are on and the blade flashes. She was blonde, heading towards and assignation when … well … victim #1. Brisk moving Giallo is packed with nudity, occasional sex, and loads of suspects. Confusing? Sure, they all are. Who cares! A mouth watering Edwige Fenech headlines a parade of stunning females. None have real jobs. Dancing, nude modeling, wrestling, or interviews. Highly entertaining plot gallops at a heady pace. Fashionistas? Edwige has a glamorous, seemingly bottomless wardrobe.
"The Keep" (1983) (Mann) (Criterion Streaming) 2 out of 5. A re-watch of this botched, strange film, looking like it was mastered off the laserdisc for streaming. Demons plus WW2-era Nazis should make for a lovely combo in the right hands, but whether the 3-hr original of Michael Mann's film is that combo is anyone's guess. What we have is 90 mins of incomprehensible, vaguely Lovecraftian doings, chopped to hell by the studio and left to rot in the vaults. The production design is fab, with a mix of 30s Universal gothic and Hammer-style village houses, all dominated by 'The Keep' (which everyone casually refers to by name without anyone ever as much as defining what the word means.) The opening is the best part of the film, although it also showcases some of the shortcomings. The German soldiers arrive to take control of the village, and it is both insulting and darkly funny to see Jurgen Prochnow as the squad leader. Here he has to perform in English, and the dialogue among the soldiers is at Hogan's Heroes-level. There is a local priest who warns (inevitably) that bad things will happen, and Sir Ian McKellan in what surely must be the worst performance he has ever given, as a sick Jewish professor. His line delivery screams: 'If you can't direct me any better, I'll just do this!" Anyway, the film makes less and less sense, with brutal desperation cuts across missing material, all papered over with Tangerine Dream's synth score. The 2 is for the attempt, for some would-be moments, and for everything that is missing. I would sit through a workprint of this just to see where it all went wrong, and/or if something decent actually survived in the long version. C.
@Claus: I've seen THE KEEP three times and Ian McKellen's performance as 'Professor Cuza' reminds me of William Hickey with his 'wizened old man' -- except I think Hickey would've done a better job in THE KEEP. I concur that the movie makes less and less sense the more in to the movie you get. Shame, really. I'd wager the longer version *had* to make more sense than what ended up on the screen. Scott Glenn's part as 'Glaeken' is not well-defined in the 90-minute mish-mash that was released theatrically.
"Only Game in Town", George Stevens debacle with Warren Beatty and Liz Taylor. Apparently it was quite a bomb, and its hard to see how a movie that is 60-70% filmed in a two room apartment could cost millions of dollars in 1970. Anyways, the first half is lethally dull, although Beatty and Taylor actually have some chemistry in this underplotted and overdialouged tale of a gambling addicted Las Vegas bar room pianist and soon-to-be-if-not-already-0ver-the-hill chorus girl. Things pick up in the 2nd half and Beatty actually pulls off some convincing acting in the final sequence. If they'd cut about 25 minutes from the first half, this movie might be slightly above average than sort of below. Between this and 'Kaleidoscope' and 'McCabe and Mrs Miller', Beatty seemed drawn to drawing cards.
The Brown Bunny So infamous! Maybe the Cannes cut was way worse, but I don't understand how it was so hated when it was shown there. It's really not that controversial. It's a surprisingly intimate and reflective film. Some may find it boring, but I wouldn't think boredom would be enough to earn it the ire it received. I personally thought the long driving scenes through the heartland to California were absorbing, especially with the soundtrack going. I saw a bunch of people on Letterboxd suggest that you have to be an awful person and an incel to enjoy this movie. That made me laugh. I really enjoyed it. Sorry, Letterboxd. 4/5 It's been said that Werner Herzog, Jean Luc Godard, and John Waters all really liked it too. I found that interesting. If I had to guess, I'd say the hate is mostly for the man who made it. The audiences allegedly booed every time Gallo's name appeared on screen when it was shown at Cannes. He's definitely an outspoken guy, and doesn't seem like the easiest person to get along with at all. He's at least an interesting figure. I'd like to see him make another feature if anyone will give him the money.
The Happy Ending - 1969 - 7/10 Surprisingly biting woman’s film follows stifled wife (Jean Simmons) of successful attorney (John Forsythe). Opportunities are opening for young females that were unavailable to her generation. Work is not an option. Shopping is, as is bitching at the salon or spa. And numbing house parties. Sixteen years into marriage, she drinks, pops pills, loses herself. Multiple timelines interweave flashbacks, present, future. Deliberately confusing to mirror the character. Great cast, especially in Nassau, includes Shirley Jones, Lloyd Bridges, Bobby Darin. Song “What Are You Doing With The Rest Of Your Life?" is evocative. Opening sequence of Simmons & Forsythe as 20 somethings was completely false. Simmons also looks older than Jones, though they were supposedly classmates. Despite this being a woman’s story, I know numerous souls like her. Most are retired or permanently unemployed. They have lost their bearings. Boredom or disappointment tempt them into affairs, or narcotics.
Nope (2022) - interesting and surprising, with top-notch cinematography. There are a few sections that drag. Keke Palmer’s character Emerald is delightful. Strong 8/10 I would say.
