Track the Films You Watch (2006) - Page 41

Ted Lee · 07-24-2006, 02:22 AM

title: travellers & magicians
rating: c
comments: not sure where i heard about this, but it was okay. the sub story was predictable, but the actors likeable. not one i would probably rewatch though.

SteveGon · 07-24-2006, 10:40 PM

71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994)

Viewed 6/17/2006 (first viewing)

The final installment in Michael Haneke's "Glaciation" trilogy once again explores alienation amongst the masses, this time interspersing news broadcasts of wars and other human disasters between its dramatic segments. A not so subtle indictment of our obsession with violence and celebrity and the consequential numbing of social consciousness.

out of

Subject Two (2005)

Viewed 6/18/2006 (first viewing)

Nifty take on the Frankenstein mythos finds a disenchanted medial student agreeing to aid a mysterious scientist high in the Colorado Rockies. But little does he know what's in store for him... Well-made for its low budget, with some neat twists. Actor Dean Stapleton's resemblance to a young Jack Nicholson is uncanny.

out of

The Mummy (1932)

Viewed 6/18/2006

Revisited Universal's monster classic.

out of

On Dangerous Ground (1952)

Viewed 6/19/2006 (first viewing)

One from Warner's latest film noir collection. Robert Ryan is a burnt-out cop heading a manhunt for a killer. Can a budding relationship with a blind woman - who may be connected to the killer - save him from himself? Briskly directed by Nicolas Ray, with a fine score by Bernard Hermann, though with that ending I'm not so sure I'd call it noir.

out of

San Quentin (1937)

Viewed 6/19/2006 (first viewing)

And one from Warner's Tough Guys Collection. Can new yard captain Pat O'Brien reform prisoner Humphrey Bogart before it's too late?

out of

Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story (2005)

Viewed 6/19/2006 (first viewing)

"Adaptation" of the "unfilmable" novel soon discards any pretense of being a true adaptation and instead follows the cast and crew around, detailing their efforts to keep the film on track. A bit dodgy, but fairly engrossing.

out of

Tsotsi (2005)

Viewed 6/20/2006 (first viewing)

Compelling account of a young South African hoodlum and his quest for redemption after he steals a car, unwittingly kidnapping the baby inside. Nothing new here, but assured and well-played.

out of

Pioneers in Ingolstadt (1970)

Viewed 6/20/2006 (first viewing)

Early feature from Rainer Werner Fassbinder follows several women as they woo a squad of army engineers who've come to their town to construct a bridge. Typical Fassbinder drama will mainly appeal to fans of the director.

out of

Zombiegeddon (2003)

Viewed 6/21/2006 (first viewing)

Troma does Buffy the Vampire Slayer with zombies and a corrupt cop as the chosen one. Tromaphiles should enjoy it, others beware. Not as much zombie action as you'd think given the title though.

out of

Days of Being Wild (1991)

Viewed 6/21/2006 (first viewing)

Sumptuously-filmed drama from Wong Kar-Wai details the search for love among various Hong Kong residents. A striking, moving piece of cinema, though it goes on a bit too long.

out of

Go Tell the Spartans (1978)

Viewed 6/22/2006 (first viewing)

Vietnam War drama stars Burt Lancaster as an advisory group commander whose doubts about the war are realized when his men are assigned to a remote village to guard against Vietcong infiltration.

out of

Sex With Love (2003)

Viewed 6/22/2006 (first viewing)

Slick, affable Chilean comedy about, well, sex and love.

out of

Los Olvidados (1950)

Viewed 6/23/2006

Revisited Luis Bunuel's classic about the cruel lives of Mexican slum children.

out of

george kaplan · 07-24-2006, 11:07 PM

Branded To Kill

A B movie is a B movie, and just cause it's Japanese and on Criterion, doesn't change the fact that it's a B movie. Cheesy and a big mess. Very disappointing.

Michael Elliott · 07-25-2006, 12:35 AM

George, I'm not sure I've ever asked but what's wrong with "B" movies? Also, what exactly do you consider a "B" movie? Is it simply a low budget film or are there other things that have to be involved?

07/22/06

Convent of Sinners (1986)

Nunsploitation flick from director Joe D'Amato is actually very tame for the genre and instead of nothing but sex, the film goes for drama and protest against the Catholic Church. After being raped by her father, a young girl (Eva Grimaldi) is sent to a convent where she becomes very close with the head nun. Soon the other nuns get jealous and decide to tell the higher ups that the girl is possessed by the Devil. Running just under 90-minutes, the film does drag in spots but D'Amato's message against the Church is loud and very clear. Most of these nunsploitation films are nothing but lesbian sex but that too is rather small in this film as it's clear the director is going for something deeper. The camerawork (also by D'Amato) is very good and the leads do a nice job as well.

Naughty Nineties, The (1945)

Abbott and Costello working on a riverboat when a group of gamblers try and take it over. There's very little story here but instead there are countless skits including Who's On First. I'm really not sure why this gets so many negative ratings in various movie books because I think this is one of the duo's best films. There are non-stop gags and for the most part all of them are wonderful. Costello fighting the bear is a highlight as is the terrific cat scene. Nothing else needs to be said about the Who's On First gag, which I think is their best performance of this classic. The crowd I viewed this with also really seemed to love it as the film was getting the biggest laughs and most applause.

Time of Their Lives, The (1946)

Costello and another woman are killed and labeled traitors but 200 years later their ghosts have a chance to clear their name. I think this is a very good turning point in the A&C filmography since the two aren't working as a duo here. The film has a lot of laughs but it's also got the best storyline of any A&C film up to this point. The supporting players are very good and A&C are great as well. It's also a lot of fun seeing Costello getting to pick at Abbott since that's not something we're use to seeing. When "The End" came up on the film I just had to smile because it meant I was seven days away from Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Yes, I'm a dork.

Clerks 2 (2006)

You can read my full comments in the film thread but I really loved this film. The comedy was great and the drama was raw and real. Smith is the greatest thing going in Hollywood.

07/23/06

Green River Killer (2005)

Director Ulli Lommel (The Boogeyman) tried making a comeback with three serial killer films with this one here being the third. This is the true story of the man who killed forty-eight prostitutes but I'm really not sure how close the film stays to the real story. This film has gotten horrid reviews all over the place but I didn't find it too bad. The film is certainly disappointing because it really doesn't do anything except show a few of the women get killed. We don't learn anything about the real man nor do we learn anything about what finally got him caught. On that level the film is very lazy but considering the zero budget, the director does manage to make a few nice moves.

BTK Killer (2005)

Another film in director Ulli Lommel's "serial killer trilogy"; this time Dennis Rader is the main target. The film takes place during the 70's and 2004 but it really doesn't matter because this film is bad from start to finish. Nothing in the film really connects to the real killer and during the commentary track the director is asked how closely the murders were to the real life cases and he replies that he didn't know. It seems as if the director simply read the bottom line on CNN about BTK and then filmed this thing. The only reason I don't give this a BOMB is due to the two men who play BTK. They don't deliver great performances but they are better than what we usually see in a no-budget film like this. What was really wacky was the pig/cow slaughter house footage, which runs throughout the film. Seeing these animals slaughtered over and over again really doesn't add anything.

07/24/06

A Virgin in Hollywood (1948)

Silly exploitation film about a female news reporter who travels to Hollywood so she can get the scoop on what really happens in the dirty town. The film starts off with a few good laughs and I was expecting things to get even better once we hit Hollywood but that's where the film fell apart. Even by 1948 standards this exploitation flick is rather dull and tame without too much going for it. There are a couple scenes where women almost drop their towels or bathing suites to expose some nudity but that's about it. The "secrets" behind Hollywood are also rather lame. Oh well.

Protect Your Daughter (1933)

Listen up all you mothers. Did you know that if your daughter was a virgin yet you suspected her of being a whore and told her about it, the virgin daughter would "put the game in the name" and become a whore. This is a tragic, hard hitting and emotionally devastating drama that packs a punch like no other film from this era. Nah, I'm just bullshitting but this is a decent exploitation film that actually has a decent story. There aren't any over the top laughs but it's still watchable.

Brook K · 07-25-2006, 02:51 AM

Blonde Venus (1932)
Marlene Dietrich stars as former singer now married to an American chemist (Herbert Marshall). The chemist has become poisoned during his experiments; his only hope an expensive treatment in Europe. To raise money, Dietrich returns to the stage as Blonde Venus. She instantly charms the crowd, including a wealthy politician (Cary Grant) who she prostitutes herself to in order to get the money right away. With her husband in Europe, the affair continues, with Dietrich and her son moving from their dingy apartment to Grant's penthouse. When the husband returns cured and discovers the affair, he kicks her out of their home. Dietrich flees with her son trying to stay one step ahead of the police and private eyes. Eventually she will be forced to choose between her own well being and that of her son's.

Marlene Dietrich again shines in a demanding role, heartbreaking as a mother trying to care for her son despite the terrible consequences of her actions, and sensual as Blonde Venus, who even makes a gorilla suit look sexy. Cary Grant's suave is a much better fit onscreen than Gary Cooper was in Morocco. He plays the role of charming cad well, as he would many times over his career. Director Josef Von Sternberg's talent for lighting and set design is in evidence, he makes grand nightclubs and fleabit hotel rooms look equally exotic. Beyond this, Blonde Venus is a provocative film examining the life of a woman in contemporary society forced to choose between domesticity and self-fulfillment. - B+

The Devil is a Woman (1935)
The last of Josef Von Sternberg's films starring Marlene Dietrich and based on the same novel that Luis Bunuel would later adapt for his masterpiece, That Obscure Object of Desire, The Devil is a Woman is the story of a man obsessed with a woman who refuses to be possessed. Told mostly in flashback, with the obsessed man (Lionel Atwill, supposedly playing a Spanish captain!) telling the story of his experiences with this woman to a younger man (Cesar Romero) who wants to seek her out.

Another charming performance by Dietrich in a role that was a good deal more comic than I expected, the film explores the eternal male frustrations of relationships in which women hold all of the cards while portraying strong women unwilling to subordinate themselves in a male dominated society. Alison Skipworth is hilarious in a supporting role as Dietrich's mother, a grifter more than willing to extort cash from the men her daughter brings home. Sternberg, though, never allows the comedy to overwhelm the thematic material, as he brings the story to a dramatic conclusion in which Dietrich may finally realize the emotional costs of her lifestyle. - B+

Cinemania (2002)
Documentary follows the lives of several cinema-obsessed NYC moviegoers, most of whom center their entire lives around watching films. Whether balancing complicated schedules that involve tens of theaters and bus schedules that allow them to maximize their daily movie-going, adjusting diet to avoid biological viewing interruptions or obsessing over aspect ratios, running times, and projection quality, some of their attributes may hit uncomfortably close to home. But going outside the theater and looking into the shabby apartments and lonely lives of these "characters", proves more maudlin than enlightening. There are occasional laughs (I have to give props to anyone that moved to NYC just for a Fassbinder retrospective), but this is hardly entertainment. - C+

The Matador (2005)
Starring Pierce Brosnan as a hitman with a crisis of confidence after experiencing remorse for his life and Greg Kinnear as the everyday joe who befriends him after being fascinated by Brosnan's "war stories". A buddy comedy that is never that funny, it simply moves from one situtation to the next without much energy or drama. The film gets by on the charms of its two stars and has some solid supporting work from Hope Davis and Phillip Baker Hall, there just isn't a lot to sink one's teeth into here. - C+

The Flame of New Orleans (1941)
Charming comedy stars Marlene Dietrich as a con artist Countess who charms both a wealthy banker (Roland Young) and an earthy sea captain (Bruce Cabot). She loves the captain, but the banker has the loot. Getting the money and the love will require a spiralling romp of deceptions and misunderstandings.

Directed by Rene Clair, this Hollywood film has all the breezy fun and romance of his 30's French triumphs (Le Million, A Nous La Liberte). Dietrich is at her vampy, comedic best as her deceptions eventually cause her to take on a dual role as her own trampy "sister". Roland Young provides fine support as the eternally befuddled banker. Cabot is also fine as the earnest captain, trying to impress this woman he is afraid might be out of his league. The film also offers a terrific supporting cast including Andy Devine, Preston Sturges fav Franklin Pangborn and two African-American actors, Theresa Harris and Clarence Muse, who are given intelligent, respectful roles and their own charming subplot. To top off this delicious treat, is one of those perfect feeling Hollywood Golden Age comic endings, with a little sex in it. - B+

Date Movie (2006)
SUCKS. It can never decide if it wants to be a straight romantic comedy or a cheezy parody film, thus it fails at both. Despite Alyson Hannigan's game performance in one idiotic situation after another, the film is terribly unfunny and just plain terrible. - F

Superman II (1980)
Revisit to show my son for the first time. This had been my favorite with Terrence Stamp's memorable performance as General Zod providing a much more impressive foil for Superman than Gene Hackman's bumbling Lex Luthor. I found it hasn't aged well. It takes a LONG time to get going and the effects are noticeably worse than the original. Still, it has Christopher Reeves still authoritative as Superman and emotional as Clark Kent, particularly after he sacrifices his power for Lois and gets his ass kicked by a mean bully. - B

Nightwatch (2004)
I'll step aside and let Roger Ebert speak for me as I agreed with this comment and found it laugh-out-loud funny: I confess to a flagging interest in the struggle between the forces of Light and Darkness. It's like Super Sunday in a sport I do not follow, like tetherball.

So there's Others and some are bad and some are good and they are locked in an eternal struggle yadda, yadda, there's vampires and flashlight weapons and special powers and of course a "chosen one" ultra-powerful Other, and sometime within the first 15-20 minutes I just stopped caring. It's slickly done, my wife really enjoyed it and is ready for the sequel...I couldn't be more meh. - C

Joe Karlosi · 07-25-2006, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Elliott

Naughty Nineties, The (1945)

There's very little story here but instead there are countless skits including Who's On First. I'm really not sure why this gets so many negative ratings in various movie books because I think this is one of the duo's best films. There are non-stop gags and for the most part all of them are wonderful. Costello fighting the bear is a highlight as is the terrific cat scene. Nothing else needs to be said about the Who's On First gag, which I think is their best performance of this classic. The crowd I viewed this with also really seemed to love it as the film was getting the biggest laughs and most applause.

Michael, I couldn't agree more because I always name THE NAUGHTY NINETIES as one of my favorite Abbott & Costello films of all. But I am absolutely shocked (though pleasantly so) that you've now rated this movie so high! I know for a fact that in the past you didn't like this movie much at all, so it's quite a turnaround. Maybe seeing these films as intended - in a theater with an appreciative audience on a big screen - helped you appreciate it more. Here's what you originally said about this film:

Not much fun, 4 August 2004
The first real dud from Abbott and Costello features a few good jokes but overall the film is flat and not really too much fun. We get a fairly flat story about A&C working for a nice show boat, which eventually gets taken over by some bad guys wanted to turn it into a boat for gambling. The songs are pretty bad even for A&C standards and the supporting cast really doesn't add too much. "Who's On First" is shown complete here, which is nice to see but the biggest gag is a scene involving cats. This here ranks as one of the best A&C moments but the rest of the film has the boys a bit tired and slow. The ending seems ripped out of a Chaplin film and really doesn't work too well.

**/****

george kaplan · 07-25-2006, 06:14 AM

Michael,

What's wrong with them (for me), is that they're cheap and cheesy and I don't like em. As far as a definition, it's basically a low budget, poorly acted film, though based on this article I think many of the films I've been calling B movies, maybe should actually be C or even Z movies.

It's certainly not enough for a film to be an A movie for me to like it (there are lots of very well made films I hate), but with very few exceptions, being a B movie pretty much ruins it for me. Very, very, very few of the well over 1000 films in my collection are B movies, and even those I probably would classify more as A- films (on a production scale).