Murder on the Orient Express (2017). Kenneth Branagh is a fine actor, but the sight of Hercule Poirot shouting at the top of his lungs at the assembled murder suspects was risible. Story loses steam long before it reaches the station. 4/10
BULLET TRAIN (2/5) Stylized thriller that goes on way too long. PALE BLUE EYE (3/5) Odd detective story set at 19th century West Point -- with Edgar Allen Poe as a cadet -- that's a little too clever.
The Haunting of Sharon Tate. I seem to remember this being released around the same time as Tarantino's film and that it didn't do well. It just didn't hold my attention either. Since we know what happened, there was no tension at all in the forewarnings. i turned it off. D. Galaxy Quest. it still made me laugh several times. Great concept. B.
Last night I saw This Is Where I Leave You. Good flick but considering all the star power it should've been better.
The Three Musketeers (1948) 8/10 The more I think about it, the more I want to rate it higher. The Three-strip Technicolor photography is amazing, where several moments my jaw literally dropped. Gene Kelly was a god at this time. No song 'n' dance, but Kelly choreographed the sword fights. Lana Turner kind of has a big head, but she's still fine. Vincent Price takes full advantage of his screen time, and so does Lansbury. Poor June Allyson. Some old skool Hollywood cheese and camp, but executed so well. I'm not sure if I've ever seen better swordfights. There's a lot! A stone-cold classic.
I've just watched Lumet's The Hill. A great film with exceptional performances - perhaps even career best for most of them, including Connery. Terrific use of tight close-ups too
I thought that was one of the attractions of the movie- I mean film- and it was important thematically. It's intended to give us an idea of exactly how rare the air is up there, in the stratosphere of Ultra-High Functioning Superstardom. And how the people being venerated as superhuman still harbor flaws- even fatal flaws- even if they're self-made hyperachievers with peerless command of their art, conversant as historians of their own discipline, fluent in three languages, with impeccable grooming and manners, etc., etc. And the way those flows show up as the shadow side of that carefully crafted image of achievement - the insularity of Empyrean privilege, however well merited, that works to turn its beneficiaries toward rejecting mortality, aging, and the common folk, and declining to offer any genuine compassion for their struggles. The denial that the "common folk" are all of us, not some lesser category of being; and that struggles with suffering and mortality are not theirs alone, but a part of the existence of all of us. The filmmakers could have made The Ryan Adams Story (the basic plot line is uncannily similar) but that wouldn't have provided the Olympian Prestige aspect that maximized the contrast of Lydia Tar's downfall into ignominious obscurity. I give Tar an 8/10. Kate Blanchett's performance is excellent. Even if, for better or worse, it occurred to me while watching that it's a little too easy to find still frames of Blanchett's Tar performance that would be easily meme-able with the caption "I Wish I Was Meryl Streep." (A cheap shot, I know. One of the things that memes do best.) And the ending really is a bit anticlimactic. There are a lot of loose ends. Enough to provide the grist for a sequel of some sort.
Rewatched Barry Levinson's Toys, as it is available again to stream on STARZ. The production design on this film is absolutely stellar and eye-popping in a way that seeing it on VHS or even DVD doesn't do justice: There's no Blu-ray release AFAIK, so streaming is the only way to see this film in HD. All that said, the movie suffers from some weak story points, bizarre performances (LL Cool J and Michael Gambon are the highlights by far), and a pervasive uneasiness that the massive sets bring to almost every scene. It's not hard to see why this film was a massive flop back in 1992. But as a curio in film history, I was happy to revisit it. There are some chillingly prescient moments in the film that portend the proliferation of drone warfare in the intervening 30+ years since this movie was released that don't help in making it any less creepy. The Thomas Dolby/Robin Williams MTV/Talking Heads pastiche may be the best thing to come out of the film: I'll give it 6/10 because there were more than enough fun moments to keep me interested enough to slog through the more nauseating bits.
Laura (1944) One of the best ever film noirs, starring some of my all-time favourite actors. From Otto Preminger's taut production & direction, to David Raskin's magnificent musical score, a superb adaptation of Vera Caspary's novel, and actors (mostly) firing on all cylinders, Laura is a marvellous murder mystery thrill-ride. Judith Anderson & Vincent Price are fabulously sympatico. Gene Tierney's performance seems a tad cardboard-cutout at times, but she just about pulls it off. Dana Andrews is wonderful as the brooding detective. And Clifton Webb steals the show with his superb effete waspishness. 10/10
All That Jazz - on DVD yesterday, last saw it in a theatre back in the day, and I'd forgotten almost all the story. Pretty sad, and in parts hard to watch - open heart surgery is not my thing. And as a movie in a movie, with flashbacks and with NDE I guess when Gideon is talking to the angel? pretty hard to take in. Will be rewatching, but its the Criterion set with lots of supplementary material so I hope it grows on me. .
Strangers On A Train (1951) - TCM 10/10 Happened to catch this on TCM today while preparing dinner. Robert Walker's Bruno Antony sure is a creepy character. The carousel scene at the end is awesome. One of my favorite Hitchcock films
Haven't seen this for years but there's a scene in it that's annoyed me since the first time I saw it. One if the characters drops something ( can't remember what) down a sewer cover. He has to get it back and puts his arm down the sewer where he struggles and struggles to grab it. After much effort he manages to get it but it slides out of his grip and falls even farther down the sewer. He struggles again and just manages to pick it up with his fingertips. Why didn't he just make the initial effort a bit more and secure it?
It's Guy's lighter. Bruno hopes to pin the murder on him by planting it on the island where the murder of Miriam took place. I guess the scene is supposed to add suspense as Guy races to catch him after the tennis match. Didn't bother me.
Heat (1995) - 4K UHD 8.5/10 Excellent crime film with major star power starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro with Val Kilmer and the late Tom Sizemore (RIP). Yes this 4K UHD is dim. Michael Mann must like it this way as he did the exact same thing with his Last of the Mohicans Blu-ray.
Wakanda Forever (2022) - VUDU HD Rental 6/10 Another long MCU movie that was just okay. Chadwick Boseman was sorely missed.
Being John Malkovich- 7.5 out of 10 I havent seen this film in years and I think it holds up very well.
I saw this movie for the first time a couple of days ago with my movie group. I’m going to go against the grain here, but I did not like it. I thought the first hour was fine, but when they brought the 4th guy (Cody) in, it just seemed to go downhill for me, devolving into a lot of good guys vs. bad guys stuff. I admit if I wasn’t watching with a group, I would have turned it off, that’s how bored I got. I think the acting was excellent, as was the scenery, but ultimately I guess I just didn’t like the story. Yes, I know I have the wrong opinion, but I write enough about movies on this forum that I thought I should write my opinion anyway. 5/10
In all fairness to the "4th guy", he's only in it for a short while. He runs into Tim Holt's character when he's getting supplies and then shows up at their camp where he tries to convince them to let him join them. They decide to kill him but before they do the bandits appear and he is killed in the gunfire.
