Track the Films You Watch (2007) (3 Viewers)

[george kaplan]

The Simpsons Movie

Sort of an extended "pretty-good" episode of the Simpsons. Not the perfect Simpsons movie I would have dreamed of, but solid.

 

[PatW]

Yeah, I guess I would call myself a Cronenberg fan. History of Violence is my favourite to date. I've liked most everything that he has done except for perhaps Naked Lunch. Though there are certain aspects of that film that I admire it's even too "out there" for me. I'm hoping to see Eastern Promises tonight.


Bachelor Mother :star: :star: :star: :star:

A fluff piece but very entertaining. I always took David Niven to be more of a serious actor but here he does well. Ginger Rogers is also wonderful as the single women mistakenly taken to be the mother of an abandoned baby boy. Directed by Garson Kanin, this movie was great fun.

 

[42nd Street Freak]

"Rise of the Footsoldier" (2007)

Brutal Brit flick about real-life general thug and Gangland villain Carlton Leach and the changes in the English crime scene he experienced over 2 decades.

The first 3rd is rather choppy and jumps all over the place as far as 'years passing' goes, while the film covers his football hooligan period.
The middle 3rd covers his low rank entry into gangsterism via some violent as hell doorman work.
The final 3rd is the full crank into lethal Gangland territory as the astonishingly nasty 'Range Rover Murders' is covered as Carlton's best friend, and his two equally unhinged partners, go on an out of control rampage only to end up blown apart by shotguns...


Generally well directed, very well acted and only slightly hurt by the sometimes over the top 'Cockneyisms', "Rise of the Footsoldier" was wrongly ignored on it's theatrical release, hopefully this high profile DVD will improve things.

Battering and brutal in its language and gory violence (the 3 different views on what may have happened during the murders are all shockingly extreme in their shotgun shredding explicitness) the film is a pretty solid and engaging watch and very well made with it...the cinematography is superb (especially the snowy, moon glow shrouded reconstruction of the murders).

Strangely Carlton Leach, who was indeed the main focus of the film, almost vanishes visually (he narrates the film throughout though) as he was not directly involved with the 'range Rover Murders'. To help this he is even placed in scenes where in real life he was not present, but this does not stop a strangely lopsided feel to this otherwise extremely effective last 3rd as our lead character becomes a distant support player.

Craig Fairbrass does his best work ever as the psychotic Pat (the attack on the pizza parlour manager with a pizza cutter is truly scary stuff) and is far more effective than his dreadful support turn in "Cliffhanger" or his lead turn in the putrid "Proteus".
As Carlton Leach, Ricci Harnett ("28 Days Later") does a very good job at essaying a thug who eventually tired of the insanity he saw unfolding around him, while still retaining no regrets about any of it.

Overall a truly brutal, bloody and nasty slice of British Gangster film making that is only hurt by perhaps being too late down the line (now hip, but wrongful, contempt has crept into critical reception of Brit gangster flicks) and the lopsided nature of the final 3rd.
But these are small problems in what is overall a superbly made Brit flick that any general gangster movie fan, and especially Brit gangster movie fan, should check out.

 

[george kaplan]

Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade

Showed my son the final film in the trilogy (at least for now).

 

[george kaplan]

Lone Star

Complex and very well done film. Race is just part of what the film is about, but it's realistic, adept and meaningful handling of race and racism puts crap like Do the Right Thing to even more shame.

 

[PatW]

The Kingdom (2007) :star: :star: :star:

Adequate enough political thriller about a group of FBI agents lead by Jamie Foxx who travel to Saudi Arabia to ferret out the terrorists who are bombing American targets.

This is a well paced thriller with one major complaint. I wish they would do away with the hand-helded camera work. Though not as severe as in the Bourne movies it's still noticable to people who suffer from vertigo. That kind of photography doesn't help and ruined the movie for me.


Eastern Promises (2007) :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2

David Cronenberg delivers another home run in this tale of Russian gangsters that is set in London.

Viggo Mortensen gives an excellent performance as Nikolai a driver for a Russian mobster. He's downright cold and calculating until he meets Anna played by Naomi Watts and he starts to thaw. The one that is truly chilling in this movie is Semyon played my Armin Mueller-Stahl. At first he appears to be a loving father but it's not so long before we discover he is someone completely different. The cinematography is well done. There are scenes here that had me looking away and the fight scene was so well choreographed but had me cringing through-out. Please be warned though. This is a well-thought out tale with some very violent scenes that are not for the faint-hearted. This is an excellent follow-up to History of Violence for both Cronenberg and Mortensen.


Shattered (2007) :star: 1/2

Lame plot sinks this one dispite good acting from Brosnon, Butler and Bello. There seems too be alot of movies that employes the twist ending and it's getting tiresome.

 

[Mario Gauci]

My meticulously planned Christmas viewing schedule went straight down the shitter yesterday because my mum fell and broke her leg! So, now, I'm not only finding myself at her constant beck and call (understandably enough) but am being invaded by a constant flurry of relatives coming to vist her!! Yo-Ho-Fucking-Ho!!!

Anyway, I've just decided that, throughout 2008, I won't be making any ambitious plans of watching this and that other movie marathon but will just start going through my unwatched pile which is sorted alphabetically by director. That way I don't be forced to abort any painstakingly compiled schedules or some such crap!

 

[george kaplan]

Eyes Wide Shut

Finally bought this and rewatched it, after waiting years for the unrated version to become available.

 

[Michael Elliott]

EYES WIDE SHUT is my #2 movie of the 90s right behind GOODFELLAS. I think it's a perfect film that really hit home with me when I watched it back when it was released. I ended up watching it three times within a 28 hour period so that should tell you how much I loved it.

I've seen three different versions of it including the unrated one and I think had Warner kept their mouth shut then there might not have been so much controversy from fans. Had they not told critics upfront that they had "covered up" certain stuff I'm curious if they would have picked up on it or not. Kubrick was under contract to bring in a R-rated film so I think the studio did the right thing in just covering up the sex. Those figures to me are a lot better than them cutting scenes out of the film. Of course, I never understood why Warner couldn't have released the R-rated cut to mainstream theaters and release the NC-17 version to the art houses.

 

[PatW]

Saratoga Trunk (1945) :star: :star:

I wanted to love this movie but I found it overlong and boring despite the efforts of Ingrid Bergman and Gary Cooper.


The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941) :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

And stayed and stayed..... This is a delightful movie due largely in part to the efforts of Monty Woolley who is wonderful as author Sheridan Whiteside who falls on the ice in front of the home of a family he was going to have dinner with. He immediately takes over their household and some hilarious scenes result. Whiteside is rude, obnoxious and just a delight as he creates havoc in the Stanley household. I was surprised at Bette Davis's part. Usually her roles are showier but here, she is perfect as Whiteside's secetary the one person that seems to be able to handle him.
This one was a real delight, one that I'll be adding to my collection.

 

[george kaplan]

Re: Eyes Wide Shut - with me it's a matter of principle. I don't watch edited versions if I can help it, and I certainly don't pay money to buy them. When it comes to edited versions I never ask myself how bad it is - any censoring is verboten for me.

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?

The digs at television (this was during the whole widescreen as a way of trying to get the audiences back in the theater) are hilarious, but the rest of the film is only so-so.

 

[Michael Elliott]

It's always an interesting debate but Kubrick did have to deliver an R-rated film so I think Warner did it the right way, although Kubrick himself might have edited the film if he lived long enough. It's too bad that none of the original version (with Keitel and Jennifer Jason Leigh) was included as an extra.

I think the NC-17 rating for the film was dumb enough because it seems to me that the MPAA should try to keep kids out of films that kids would want to see. I really don't think that many kids or teenagers were interested in a 2 1/2 hour film like EYES WIDE SHUT. It seems the MPAA would go after a teen sex comedy like AMERICAN PIE and slap it with a NC-17 rating since teens are going to want to see something like it. Also, the MPAA attacking some art house flick that only 1% of the country wants to see is a waste. In my heart I honestly believe that Spielberg could do a hardcore porn film and it would still get a R-rating.

 

[Mario Gauci]

12/28/07:THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL(Brian Henson, 1992):star::star::star:

A likable version of the familiar story: a collaboration between Walt Disney Productions (who had already tackled the Charles Dickens classic in 1983; see my review of MICKEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL) and the Jim Henson company, with most of the characters ‘played’ by the latter’s popular Muppet figures (Kermit The Frog is Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy is Mrs. Cratchit, Fozzie Bear Mr. Fezziwig, etc.). interestingly, here we get two Marleys for the price of one – ‘played’ by Waldorf and Statler, the old guys in the balcony from TV’s THE MUPPET SHOW – but also The Great Gonzo as Dickens himself, who recounts the tale to a skeptical Rizzo The Rat! Defeating competition from the likes of David Hemmings, Ron Moody and David Warner, Scrooge, then, is played by Michael Caine, who does well enough as the reformed miser, though he doesn’t bring anything particularly novel to the role; indeed, the script seems to be drawing most on the definitive 1951 SCROOGE and the 1970 musical version of the same name – this too, in fact, has a number of songs (the work of Paul Williams, written in his typically upbeat and catchy style).

While the film does fall somewhat in the trap of not delivering enough of Scrooge or enough of The Muppets (Miss Piggy’s role, for instance, would be much bigger in a more typical effort), it’s generally enjoyable with a fair number of funny bits: the very opening scene with a number of aristocrats patting themselves on the back for a great supper thinking on what they should do next and one of them suggests they have lunch; Rizzo thanking Dickens/Gonzo for making him a part of the story (even if only to clean the outer window of Scrooge’s office!); Scrooge’s terrified employees transforming themselves instantly into sun-loving beach-goers when the former complains about their overconsumption of coal; the charity-seeking carol-singer in whose face Scrooge shuts his door is later shown freezing out in the street; etc. Ironically, from what I recall of the various versions of the story I’ve watched, this one provides the most satisfactory depiction of the Ghost Of Christmas Present {he’s even given the film’s best song!); incidentally, Caine does a unremarkable bit of singing himself. Furthermore, checking on the IMDB just now, I learned that the version I watched is missing a song!


P.S.As I had written in my review of the 1935 SCROOGE, I was supposed to watch a good seven adaptations of “A Christmas Carol” during this festive season – but, for various reasons, I could only make it up to four…


12/28/07:THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER(Albert Pyun, 1982):star::star:1/2

In his review of this film, Leslie Halliwell hoped that it would put an end to the then-popular “sword & sorcery” cycle; while he partly got it right because the proposed sequel proudly promised during the end credits which was to have been called "Tales Of The Ancient Empire" never materialized, I have to disagree with him because, not only am I a fan of that kind of movies, but THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER is actually one of its more tolerable examples. Incidentally, this is one of those films I recall being released theatrically back in my childhood days but which I eventually missed out on; ironically, one of my earliest movie-going memories is a previous film from the same genre, CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981).

THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER was the directorial debut of Albert Pyun who, over the years, seems to have garnered an unenviable reputation as a Grade Z hack but which, at least from the evidence on display here, seems unjustified; in fact, the film is quite an entertaining ride while it’s on and the bloodthirsty action highlights are not only competently staged but even rousing on occasion. Several of the lead actors featured in the cast were popular TV personalities of the time and I recall seeing them as their long-term personas in my childhood days, namely: Lee Horsely (MATT HOUSTON [1982]), Katherine Beller (DYNASTY [1982-84]), Simon MacCorkindale (MANIMAL [1983]) and Joe Regalbuto (STREET HAWK [1985]); also appearing in the film are George Maharis (as the deceitful Sorcerer of the title), Richard Lynch (as the villain of the piece), Nina Van Pallandt (as Horsely’s mother who is dispatched by Lynch early on), Jeff Corey (as a sympathetic but ill-fated inn-keeper) and, unrecognizably, Peter Breck, Jay Robinson and Corinne Calvet!

Maharis and Lynch come off best as, respectively, the reptilian Machelli (at least in human form - another actor, Richard Moll, was under the icky Sorcerer make-up at the beginning and final stages of the film) and the vicious usurper Titus Cromwell (surely a more original surname could have been dreamt up for the character, no?); on the other hand, the younger actors try hard but are defeated by the confusing script brimming with peripheral characters and warring factions. Consequently, we have to put up with some obnoxious, anachronistic minor characters like Regalbuto’s and his seemingly Jamaican partner/antagonist. Fortunately, Beller is easy on the eyes and, in fact, is involved – along with most of the other anonymous females in the film – in brief flashes of welcome nudity.


12/29/07:NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION(Jeremiah S. Chechik, 1989):star::star:1/2

Maybe it was because I wasn’t too much in the mood for this one (my mother had just broken a leg a couple of hours earlier) or perhaps because I was watching it in the wee hours of the morning, or else the fact that I found it too engrossed in the typical American working-man’s preoccupations…but, the point, is that this would-be modern Christmas comedy classic seemed to me to be little more than a mildly amusing affair. Having said that, this is only the second NATIONAL LAMPOON film I’ve watched – after the similarly overrated ANIMAL HOUSE (1978) – and the film itself is the third VACATION with Chevy Chase and Beverly D’ Angelo playing the Griswolds.

The film starts amiably enough with the amusing animated opening credits, the car chase and tree cutting sequences but slowly starts going downhill once the other members of the family come into the picture. Apart from the fact that it seemed exaggerated to me to have relatives calling at the house for the Christmas dinner from a couple of weeks earlier, Chevy’s “losing it completely” antics after not getting his all-important (why?) Christmas bonus were pretty over-the-top as well. The ultra-illuminated house gag also outstayed its welcome as did Randy Quaid’s rude Cousin Eddie…although the fried cat bit was funny, as were the perennially ill-fated neighbors. Even so, the supporting cast is surprisingly good: Juliette Lewis (as the Griswold’s daughter), John Randolph and Diane Ladd (as the elder Griswolds), Diane Ladd and E.G. Marshall (as D’ Angelo’s unimpressed father), William Hickey (as the cigar-smoking, toupee-wearing uncle) and Mae Questel (as the senile aunt).


12/29/07:BEYOND TOMORROW(A. Edward Sutherland, 1940):star::star:1/2

Apart from “essential” Christmas movie fare like adaptations of Charles Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol”, Frank Capra’s IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946), George Seaton’s original MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) and Bob Clark’s A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983), there is also an assortment of fairly obscure but equally pleasant films dealing with the Yuletide season and this review concerns one of them. Incidentally, the film has received various budget DVD incarnations over the years as a result of its public domain status but, ironically enough, the official DVD release from Fox mistreats the film threefold: most bafflingly it offers a cut version (when the budget disc I watched was complete), the film is also available in a redundant computer colorized version and, most ludicruously, retitled it as BEYOND CHRISTMAS!

Anyway, the plot is simple enough: three old, wealthy but lonely bachelors make a bet with one another that if they each throw their wallets, containing just one $10 note, out of the window into the streets, they will eventually be returned by whoever finds them. As it happens, only two of them come back and the men invite the persons in question to sit at their Christmas dinner. The bachelors are winningly played by cheery Charles Winninger, bemused C. Aubrey Smith and grumpy Harry Carey while the impoverished lucky diners are silver-voiced country hick Richard Carlson and demure nurse Jean Parker; the old gentlemen, then, are doted upon by their deposed Russian émigré housekeeper Maria Ouspenskaya. Romance soon blossoms between Carlson and Parker but, after the tragic death of the three old men in a mountaintop airplane crash, Carlson soon falls in with Helen Vinson, a man-hungry divorcee who also happens to be a radio star and soon sets Carlson on his way to become the current hit crooner of the airwaves…

Unfortunately, the second half of the film is an unconvincing, bland depiction of unexpected stardom going to one’s head but BEYOND TOMORROW is ultimately redeemed by the sensitive portrayals of the four veteran character actors and the uplifting fantasy elements so prevalent during wartime, given that the three old gentlemen return from their graves as ghosts to guide the straying Carlson back to ever-loyal Parker’s rightful path. Schmaltzy, yes but it was rather an unexpectedly perceptive touch to have the ghosts still preoccupied by their earthly demons – Smith re-uniting with his dead soldier son in the afterlife, Carey still being the loner tormented by “the darkness” and Winninger, of course, literally wanting more than anything else to reunite the two young lovers.


12/29/07: A CHRISTMAS WISH(Irving Pichel, 1950) :star::star:1/2

Like BEYOND TOMORROW (1940; see my comments above), this is another little-known Yuletide flick which has been saved from public domain, colorized and retitled on its Fox DVD; in fact, not only was this originally shot in black-and-white but was named THE GREAT RUPERT after the amiable puppet of a kilt-wearing dancing squirrel who helps to realize the impoverished protagonists’ recurring Christmas wish. In fact, Rupert proved to be the first creature animated for a feature-length film by famed sci-fi producer George Pal and is also notable as one of big-nosed multi-talented entertainer Jimmy Durante’s best film vehicles.

The story starts with down-and-out animal trainer Jimmy Conlin being evicted from his ramshackle apartment by miserly landlord Frank Orth but Conlin’s squirrel soon returns to Conlin’s old hide which is already occupied by the equally penniless acrobatic trio, the Amendolas played by Durante, Queenie Smith and Terry Moore. Predictably enough, Orth’s ne’r-do-well musician son Tom Drake falls for Moore but is soon driven to distraction by the unwarranted attention the latter is receiving from visiting Broadway agent Don Beddoe looking to re-engage Conlin for his act. Meanwhile, Rupert himself is getting annoyed with Mr. Orth’s storing his weekly stash of cash in his wooden house…

Although George Pal’s puppet effects are nicely enough done, “Schnozzle” Durante is practically the whole show here and, typically, he has a couple of numbers featuring his eccentric singing-and-piano-playing style. Actor/director Irving Pichel – who, apparently, also appears in the film as a “puzzled pedestrian” – hands the light material quite competently which makes this unassuming concoction a gently pleasing alternative to the usual Christmas fare.

 

[george kaplan]

Buck Privates Come Home

This sequel to their first film is one of their better ones. Enjoyed watching this with my son.

Period of Adjustment

This comes from a Tennessee Williams play, and is supposed to be a comedy. I haven't read the play, but if the play is supposed to be a comedy, it fails miserably. If the play is a drama, then attempting to add comedy to the film was a bad idea that didn't work. In any case, a not funny movie and, at least as it comes across here, a bad drama. Bad on all levels.

 

[PatW]

Red River (1948) :star: :star: :star: :star:

A good Western directed by Howard Hawkes. Both Montgomery Cliff and John Wayne give great performances though Cliff seemed too fragile for the part. John Wayne does well playing the tyrant but I don't like how it was so conveniently wrapped up at the end. Still a worth-while movie.

Ice Station Zebra (1968) :star: :star: 1/2

For a cold war thriller this one just isn't very exciting. The movie is over-long and some of the actors are miscasted. This should have been more interesting. The book is oh so much better.

A Woman in White (1948) :star: :star: :star: 1/2

An interesting gothic mystery with Gig Young as a painter who is hired to teach Laura Fairlie and encounters intrigue among the odd group of characters that inhabit the house.

Sidney Greenstreet plays Count Fosco a man that seems to be manipulating everything that's going on. He was magnificient in this role playing evil very well. Everytime he was on the screen he gave me chills.
The rest of the cast was good except for Gig Young who seemed out of place. A worthwhile watch.

 

[42nd Street Freak]

The end to "Red River" is dreadful.
It's a shocking misfire that turns the thing into a comic romp where it was once a very dark and brooding beast indeed.
laughable and disgraceful.



BIG fan of "Sword & the Sorcerer". The attitude of the lead character is actually far closer to that of the young Conan than anything in (the otherwise extremely good) "Conan the Barbarian".
His backstory (thief, pirate, mercenary) is also close to Conan's career.

Lots of good, gory,well made, fun.

The actor in the Sorcerer make-up is Richard Moll. He of the great voice, "Night Court" and "House" (where he was under some more great make-up as the dead vietnam GI).

 

[Adam_S]

to me the ending of Red River is what takes an average western and makes it into one of the all time great movies. It's perfect (and hilarious).

 

[Robert Crawford]

IMO, I love the released verison of the film, but I could see why others would think differently and I would probably love that film too. Furthermore, I can't understand how someone could call the ending laughable and disgraceful?




Crawdaddy

 

[42nd Street Freak]

Well It could be because it takes the deadly serious, dark, main portion of the film and turns into fucking "Donovan's Reef"!

Wayne went from a driven, obsessive, ruthless, wounded character who pushed his very being to the limit to carry out his deadly threat...into being a guy who suddenly shrugged everything off (including everything we had just fucking well sat through and invested our time, interest and emotions in!!) and fell into a laughing heap as if they had just shared the world's best dirty joke.

The joke was on us though.

Since when was any ending to the story we had followed meant to have been freakin 'hilarious'?

This film's ending is one of the worst cases of cinematic self-harm ever seen.

 

[Mario Gauci]

Re: THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER (1982)

Thanks for confirming who was under the Sorcerer's make-up...something which, had I checked the film's IMDB entry more thoroughly, I could have arrived at myself since Richard Moll is clearly denoted as playing Xusia! Also, I just remembered about the aborted sequel to this film and, therefore, my review has been duly updated on both counts.


Re: RED RIVER (1948)

As I've said in the past, for me this is not just one of Howard Hawks' finest achievements but also one of the three greatest Westerns ever made. One can't blame you for despising a frivolous ending to a mostly dark film but I think that the way the film resolves itself (at least in the general release version) is very much in the Hawksian fashion. Like Luis Bunuel, no matter how serious a subject Hawks would be treating in his films, the end result always has practically as much comedy in it as it does drama. This is a formula I happen to endorse wholeheartedly myself and it's small wonder, then, that these two film directors are my all-time favorites!