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09-09-2005, 09:12 AM
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#1561 of 2004 
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2000
Local Time: 10:55 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 12,549
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I Was a Zombie for the FBI (1984)
Viewed 9/5/2005 (first viewing)
Retro low-budgeter about two laconic FBI agents and their battle with alien invaders who want to zombify America. Silly fun, hampered by a lifeless soundtrack and the odd chintzy effect.
  out of
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
Viewed 9/5/2005
Third Inspector Clouseau outing for Peter Sellers is a bit flat compared to The Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark, but has enough laughs to make it worthwhile.
out of
3-Iron (2004)
Viewed 9/6/2005 (first viewing)
Dreamy tale of a drifter who habitually breaks into homes and instead of stealing, fixes broken appliances and does laundry! Then he falls for a neglected wife whose husband is prone to fits of violence...
out of
The Girl in the Cafe (2005)
Viewed 9/6/2005 (first viewing)
A lonely civil servant impulsively invites his new girlfriend to accompany him to a conference on world poverty, but her views on the subject may just derail their blossoming relationship! Good, low-key blend of romantic drama and social issues.
out of
Crash (2004)
Viewed 9/6/2005 (first viewing)
Slick drama about the intersecting lives of a multitude of L.A. residents. Explores race issues with a vengeance, but never rises above average. Still a compelling, well-acted film, but overrated.
out of
The Inheritance (2003)
Viewed 9/7/2005 (first viewing)
Haunting story of a man who begrudgingly takes over his late father's buisness and slowly loses his soul in the ruthless world of corporate survival.
out of
The Dock Brief (1962)
Viewed 9/7/2005 (first viewing)
Peter Sellers plays an aging London barrister who gets his big chance when he defends a man accused of killing his wife. A slight but enjoyable little comedy.
out of
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
Viewed 9/8/2005
Preston Sturges' classic comedy about a young woman who wakes up after a drunken binge and finds herself married and pregnant! But who and where is the father? A hilarious exercise in escalating madness.
out of
Blueprint (2004)
Viewed 9/8/2005 (first viewing)
Engrossing science fiction drama about a famous classical pianist who raises her clone as a daughter. Does the clone/daughter really have her own identity and does she have a place in the world? Franka Potente ( Run Lola Run) is very good in the dual role of mother and "daughter." Though the film ultimately has reservations concerning the repercussions of cloning, it thankfully never gets too preachy. (For once though, I'd like to see the topic broached in a more positive manner.)
out of
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09-10-2005, 07:14 PM
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#1562 of 2004
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Member
Location: Alexandria, VA
Join Date: Nov 2003
Local Time: 11:55 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 3,795
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Ninotchka (1939) 9/10
Witty and poignant Lubitsch comedy is at its best when Garbo is playing it straight as the Soviet apparatchick, a hilariously dead-pan character. It gets a bit mushy at times when the romance really kicks in, but there's still plenty of good stuff all throughout. The reminiscences about Paris between Ninotchka and the three bunglers, when they're all back in Moscow, are particularly good.
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944) 10/10
The laughs come at a mile a minute for me in this one, right up there with Some Like It Hot and The Lady Eve as my favorite classic comedies. Sturges strikes an amazing balance in this movie between all different kinds of humor: pratfalls, sarcasm, broadly wacky characters, etc. He pulled that off in The Lady Eve as well, but it's kind of a different breed, and both masterpieces.
The Hunger (1983) 4/10
Nicely photographed, and nicely appealing to us straight males when Deneuve and Sarandon get it on, but even that can't save this pointlessly non-plotted faux-vampire nonsense. There's no reason to care about anyone in it on any level, the vampire stuff makes no sense even on its own terms, and it doesn't even laugh at its own ridiculousness. Lame.
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09-12-2005, 11:49 AM
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#1564 of 2004
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Member
Location: Alexandria, VA
Join Date: Nov 2003
Local Time: 11:55 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 3,795
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2046 (2004) 9/10
Wong Kar-Wai's long-awaited follow-up to In the Mood for Love finally came to theaters in my area, and it was well worth the wait for me. It's even more moody and impressionistic than his previous similar movies, Days of Being Wild and In the Mood. WKW is kind of an acquired taste, and fans of those earlier two movies, like me, will probably enjoy this one as well, although anyone who's seen those movies and didn't like them probably won't get much out of this one. It's great to finally see Zhang Ziyi in one of these WKW period pieces, superb role for her. More of my thoughts here, many of which assume some familiarity with the earlier movies.
Elevator to the Gallows (1958) 8/10
Louis Malle's first feature-length directorial effort is getting a re-release by Rialto Pictures, which probably portends a Criterion disc in the near future. There's an interesting thriller structure, with what turns out to be parallel crimes being committed. It's largely quite moody and very French, with Jeanne Moreau travelling the streets of Paris in search of her lover whose post-crime getaway has been foiled by an elevator, but she's just so great that I loved every scene she was in. A parallel sub-plot with a pair of thrill-seeking teenagers starts off pretty amusingly, but unfortunately everything else with them dragged on rather uninterestingly for me, which just left me pining for more of Moreau. But it's very good overall, and most famous for its Miles Davis jazz score.
Also re-watched Walk On Water on its newly released DVD. I freaked out over in Software about what I thought was a serious subtitle problem, but it turns out to have been a completely false alarm. The disc looks and sounds just fine. Great character study (albeit with a less than great ending), I would recommend this as a rental to Brook and Bob.
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09-12-2005, 02:33 PM
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#1565 of 2004
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Local Time: 11:55 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 4,206
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George, I know at least three of us here want to hear your opinions of SON OF FRANKENSTEIN. 
09/10/05
Spaghetti West, The (2005)
IFC/Blue Underground produced documentary directed by David Gregory and produced by William Lustig takes a look at the Spaghetti Westerns of Italy. This features interviews with Leone, Eastwood, Franco Nero and various others but I’ll get back to them in a second. The documentary, like all of Gregory’s work, is wonderfully entertaining and helps newbies such as myself understand these types of films and want to check them out. Having seen hundreds of Italian horror films, the one thing that they struck me as were ripoff of American films yet the directors of these ripoffs would never admit that yet they’d insult the filmmakers they were ripping off. The same here because their attitudes towards Leone, the man these films were ripping, is pretty damn stupid. I haven’t seen many of the Italian westerns but the ones I have seen are no where near Leone’s talent.
09/11/05
Regeneration (1915)
First film directed by the legendary Raoul Walsh after working on The Birth of a Nation is probably best known for being one of the first “gangster” pictures as well as being one of the first films to actually shoot on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. Owen is orphaned at the age of ten and taken in by his abusive neighbors and by the time he’s an adult (Rockliffe Fellows) he’s a “gangster” living on the streets, not working and drinking too much but a social worker decides to try and changed his ways. The term gangster here isn’t like the gangster films we’re accustomed to but instead it means poor folks hanging out on the streets. The historical importance of this film can’t be argued and it clearly influenced some of Scorsese’s films as he talked about in A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese but at the end of the day there’s really very little going on in this thing. The use of real locations and real actors is a nice touch but the story drags along and the editing, which Walsh is clearly trying to copy Griffith, is a mess. The 70-minute running time feels a bit long as well. From a historic standpoint this is worth viewing once but I doubt I’d go back for a second viewing. The highlight of the film is one scene where people are partying on a boat, which catches fire and they must try to make an escape. This here is certainly one of the great scenes of the silent era.
Young Romance (1915)
Early romantic comedy directed by William C. DeMille and Cecil B. DeMille (even though the IMDB credits someone else). A poor girl (Edith Taliaferrpo) and poor boy (Florence Dagmar) work at the same department store but don’t know one another. They’ve both got a week’s vacation coming up and both decide to pretend to be rich in hopes of finding someone rich to marry them. They both end up at the same resort and eventually hook up with both thinking the other is rich. The biggest problem with this film is that, like most romantic comedies of today, the thing is just way too predictable but the star’s charm keeps things going. The best scene is when the two go on a date at an expensive restaurant and the waiter keeps order the most expensive stuff on the menu not knowing the guy is poor and won’t be able to pay for it.
Outside the Law (1920)
After her gangster father is framed and sent to jail, a young woman (Priscilla Dean) decides to take revenge and start stealing herself. This goes against the wise advice of Ah Woo, an Oriental wiseman and Black Mike Sylva (Lon Chaney) a gangster who framed her father. This Tod Browning directed gangster/moral tale has a brilliant start and finish but the big problem is the center section when the girl is hiding out with a man who she eventually falls in love with. During this middle section Ah Woo isn’t in the picture nor is Chaney’s Black Mike or Ah Wing, a second character he plays in the film. The moral section of the middle half lasts way too long and just isn’t very interesting. The shootout at the start and end of the film are highly entertaining and look terrific. Chaney is good as Black Mike, although he’s a tad bit better in The Penalty made a few years later.
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
After being slapped and laughed at by his friend, a scientist (Lon Chaney) decides to join the circus as a performing clown where getting slapped can get him laughs but soon the past starts to catch up with him. This is certainly one of the best Chaney vehicles and in my opinion one of the greatest and strongest films of the silent era. Norma Shearer and John Gilbert are very strong in their roles but there’s no denying that this is Chaney’s film all the way through. I’d also argue that he gives one of the greatest performances ever caught on film. He works brilliantly as the shamed scientist but once the clown makeup is on he takes the film and performance to another level. The clown routines are wonderfully performed and quite funny and the tragedy that follows is very touching and sad. The film works on every single level due to Chaney. This was the first film made by the then new MGM studio.
Mockery (1927)
Extremely disappointing effort between star Lon Chaney and director Benjamin Christensen (Haxan). Set during the Russian Revolution, a dimwitted peasant (Chaney) takes a woman (Barbara Bedford) through the dangerous forrest only to later learn that she is Countess who is blamed by other peasants for their bad living enviroment. The dimwitted peasant must then put his love for the Countess behind and fight for the peasants. This is a really bad film that doesn’t work on any level dealing with the actual story. The story is incredibly dull, confusing and most of the time it’s hard to care for either side of the fight. It seems Christensen had some sort of message but this never gets across. Even Chaney is rather dull here as he just lumbers around various scenes not doing much. Apparently he and the director had several battles over the director not “fixing” the story and this is apparent in his weak performance. The visuals of the film are quite good, especially the opening shot of dead bodies lying on the ground.
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000)
Terrific documentary takes a look at the life and career of Lon Chaney.
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09-12-2005, 04:52 PM
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#1566 of 2004
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2001
Local Time: 09:55 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 14,313
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First of all, I haven't been following the debate, cause it's about a bunch of films I haven't seen, and therefore spoiler-laden. So, without knowing what you guys have been saying, I'll say:
I thought Son of Frankenstein was quite good. This was a well-made, well-acted film, nearly as good as it's predecessors. I was actually quite surprised, though pleasantly so.
Of course, like Bride, this one is only a psuedo-sequel in the strict sense. Lots of inconsistencies with the previous films, though somehow Igor sounds right just because of popular culture, even though it's wrong. But this is one case where I just let those inconsistencies not bother me. I can't do that for all films, but I was able to do so here.
Of course, as someone who thinks Young Frankenstein is better than any of the 'real' Frankenstein movies, this was fascinating. I halfway expected the inspector's arm, or the dart game to elicit unintentional laughs from me, but they played quite well as serious scenes, which impressed me. I think if this had been a bad B movie, that wouldn't have been the case.
I can't say that this is my favorite Lugosi role or film (after all he was in Ninotchka and Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein), but this was the best I've seen him aside from those two.
I haven't seen it yet, so who knows, but I did watch the trailer for Ghost of Frankenstein, and I'm not exactly looking forward to that. It looks like the cheesy kind of bad movie that I was afraid Son of Frankenstein would be. And while anyone who has watched Bride and Son has already had to be tolerant of easy returns from what looked like certain death, somehow the idea of the monster returning from a 800 degree pit of sulfur had me rolling my eyes.
"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder
"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.
"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock
"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I am vastly superior to everyone else." - Ramrod Clerk
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09-12-2005, 05:38 PM
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#1567 of 2004
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Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Local Time: 10:55 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 4,608
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Of course, as someone who thinks Young Frankenstein is better than any of the 'real' Frankenstein movies, this was fascinating. I halfway expected the inspector's arm, or the dart game to elicit unintentional laughs from me, but they played quite well as serious scenes, which impressed me. I think if this had been a bad B movie, that wouldn't have been the case.
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I won't touch the comment that YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is better than the "real" Frankenstein films, but I am impressed that you didn't find the "spoof" material with the wooden arm, the dart game, or Ygor hard to enjoy as "straight" after the Brooks send-up. I'd imagine that might be hard to do if one is so tuned in to the comedy of YF.
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I can't say that this is my favorite Lugosi role or film (after all he was in Ninotchka and Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein), but this was the best I've seen him aside from those two.
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I haven't seen NINOTCHKA yet (though I have it here) but glad you could appreciate Lugosi's Ygor role.
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I haven't seen it yet, so who knows, but I did watch the trailer for Ghost of Frankenstein, and I'm not exactly looking forward to that. It looks like the cheesy kind of bad movie that I was afraid Son of Frankenstein would be. And while anyone who has watched Bride and Son has already had to be tolerant of easy returns from what looked like certain death, somehow the idea of the monster returning from a 800 degree pit of sulfur had me rolling my eyes.
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THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN is a noticeable drop from the first three films, as now we're talking "B" territory. Since I'm a big fan, I like GHOST quite a bit and there is much to enjoy in it if you're not expecting an "A" production. If you think the "sulphur revival" is hard to believe (though it's not for me when we're talking about Frankenstein's Monster) wait till you get a load of the climax! Either way, I hope you try it and let us know.
And from the other HTF thread, where we don't really comment on the opinions, I thought I'd take this one of yours for here:
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All of the slasher films since Psycho have gotten more graphic in the slashing, and less cinematic in the telling, and almost all of them are bad movies. Certainly none is the great movie that Psycho is.
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Sounds about accurate - but since you're not much of a horror enthusiast, how would you have seen enough on your own to really 'know'? |
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