Track the Films You Watch (2008) (1 Viewer)

[george kaplan]

Dog Shy

Charley Chase silent short has one funny scene near the end with everyone howling, but that doesn't work nearly as well as it would in a talkie. The rest is OK, but nothing special.

 

[Sandro]

As a teenager growing up in England during the Falklands War I'm very interested in seeing This is England.

Out of :star: :star: :star: :star:

Madman :star: :star:
Despite being a big horror movie fan I am not a great admirer of slasher films. So I have no idea why I watched this turkey for a the second time when it turned up on IFC this week. Just to confirm that it's still stupid and cheesy I suppose.

Django :star: :star: 1/2
Corbucci's and Nero's breakthrough spaghetti western is a little slow at the start but has some great ideas and scenes. The shootout in the street is super and I especially liked the way Corbucci staged and shot the bar fight – very exciting. I'm still not sure how Django managed to get off 6 shots in that last scene but never mind. Pretty poor dubbing.

M Hulot's Holiday :star: :star: :star:
Now that's how to play tennis.

Tell Them Willie Boy is Here :star: :star: 1/2
Exciting manhunt, good photography, pretentious and dull talk.

The Warriors (Original cut) :star: :star: :star:
Lean and exciting action flick. I would like to know more about the alleged gang incidents at cinemas when this first played. Were they real or was it just a moral panic?

 

[ZacharyTait]

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 3 1/2 stars

After the letdown that Temple of Doom was, Crusade is fun film to watch. Practically a retread of Raiders, its almost as good thanks to the horse car chase in the desert, the tank fight, the puzzles and the chemistry between Ford and Connery.

 

[PatW]

Scoop (2006) :star: :star: :star:

Not up to par with Woody Allen's other movies but still watchable.

Scarlett Johansson stars as Sondra Pransky a young journalism student in London who attends the magic show of magician Sidney Waterman. While participating in one of his tricks, deceased journalist Joe Strombel appears to her and tells her that British aristocrat Peter Lyman is really the Tarot Card killer. Sondra enlists the help of Sidney to find out about Lyman and if he is in fact the killer.

Johansson is pretty solid here but Allen's twitchy performance is getting to be annoying. I wish he would concentrate on writing which he has an enormous talent for. Hugh Jackman as Peter Lyman and Ian MacShane as the ghost were both fine in their respective parts. Entertaining enough movie to while away a deary afternoon.


The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) :star: :star: :star: :star:

John Wayne plays Sgt. Stryker a tough marine drill Sgt. who trains men to fight in the Pacific.
His men become resentful of his hard line command and one in particular, Peter Conway is very resentful having joined the Marines because it was expected of him.

John Wayne is excellent as Sgt. Stryker. I think this is the best acting I've seen from him in the movies that I've seen so far. The rest of the cast were uniformly good except for John Agar who's character just irritated me. I started watching Clint Eastwood's Flags of Iwo Jima but just couldn't get into the movie so ended up turning it off. Enjoying this movie makes me want to try watching Flags of Iwo Jima again. The classic scene at the end was very well done and brought a tear to my eye. I think what could have been a standard war movie was elevated by John Wayne's performance.

 

[Pete York]

1/5/08

Brighton Rock (1947) Dir: John Boulting

Terrific, mostly faithful adaptation of Graham Greene’s ‘entertainment’, by Greene himself and Terence Rattigan (The Winslow Boy, The Browning Version).

The story is about Pinkie Brown (Richard Attenborough), the 17-year-old leader of a small-time mob in the English resort town of Brighton. He also happens to be a cold-blooded psychotic with a paradoxical bent toward clean living (no drink, no smoke) and an unflinching Catholic faith and foreboding attachment to Hell (“These atheists don’t know nothing—course there’s a Hell, flames, damnation, torments”). Pinkie’s mob is falling apart around him. There’s a bigger mob (run by a man named Colleoni who fancies himself more of a ‘businessman’ than a thug) that actually runs Brighton, much to Pinkie’s humiliation. There’s also been a murder, and Pinkie needs to clean up some loose ends, even though the police have ruled the death was of natural causes. His own man, Spicer (Wylie Watson, who played Mr. Memory in The 39 Steps), has been sloppy, or “milky” as Pinkie calls him. Pinkie starts a relationship with Rose (Carol Marsh, Fan in 1951’s Scrooge, the Hammer Dracula), a mousy waitress at a local café who may be a witness, in order to keep her quiet. Then there’s Ida (Hermione Baddeley), a blowzy, big-hearted barfly, who had a chance meeting with the victim before he was killed and conducts her own investigation to prove her suspicion that he was forced into suicide/murdered by Pinkie and his mob. As the situation degrades for Pinkie, the heat turns on and Ida and the police close in, all leading to a thrilling end and a marvelous coda where we see that at least one character may go on with some hope.

This is a superb crime picture that stands with any of the other Greene-based works from the 40’s (This Gun for Hire, Ministry of Fear, The Fallen Idol), if not quite The Third Man. Attenborough is remarkable as Pinkie. He’s appropriately chilling, occupied with his ‘cat’s cradle’ but ready to go to Hell. While the film does a nice job of developing Pinkie and showing more depth than the average lunatic, its here in his characterization where there is a slight divergence with the book. There's a reason why Pinkie recoils and is repulsed by Rose's attempts to get closer to him, but it's just not explored here. The film shows us that he's revolted by marriage and devoid of all sentiment and emotion, but not why.

The rest of the cast is excellent, too. Baddeley is terrific. Carol Marsh, in the first role of an unfortunately modest career, is absolutely pitch-perfect as Rose. A lot of the film depends on her and she carries it all the way.

Another striking aspect of the production is the cinematography, credited to Harry Waxman. There’s some fantastic location shots of Brighton (a year before The Naked City no less), as well as a pivotal moment in a funhouse that is brilliant.

There’s also a goofy disclaimer at the beginning telling us that while these mobs thrived between the wars, well, that was a different Brighton than the one we have today. Good to know.

A minor classic from Boulting (I’m All Right, Jack) that I believe is greatly underrated on this side of the pond, and as such is criminally unavailable on R1 DVD (like another gem of ’47 British cinema, Odd Man Out).

Note: The title refers to a type of candy that was popular at the seaside resorts of Brighton.

:star: :star: :star: 1/2 out of 4

 

[george kaplan]

To Have & Have Not

Probably the most undervalued classic film here at HTF. At least among the group who'd gladly watch anything by Harmony Korine or Catherine Breillat, but wouldn't get caught dead watching anything by Hitchcock or Wilder. If you'd rather watch a 7 hour film of a naked man snoring than waste it watching Citizen Kane then avoid this by all means, but for anyone who appreciates classic film, and doesn't think subtitles automatically makes a film a work of art, or that being made in Hollywood automatically makes a film a piece of trash, then if you haven't seen this, by all means do.

 

[RafaelB]

Theatrical Films Watched in 2008:

January
1/4- Walk Hard: Dewey Cox Story :star: :star: 1/2
1/6- The Orphanage :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2
1/13- Atonement :star: :star: :star: 1/2
1/19- Sweeney Todd (2007- third time) :star: :star: :star: 1/2
1/20- 27 Dresses :star: :star:
1/25- Persepolis :star: :star: 1/2
February
2/2- Cloverfield :star: :star: :star:
2/3- Over Her Dead Body 0 :star:
2/3- In Bruges :star: :star: :star:
2/19- Be Kind Rewind :star: :star: :star: 1/2
2/22- The Savages :star: :star: :star: 1/2
2/23- Michael Clayton :star: :star: :star: :star:
2/23- There Will Be Blood :star: :star: :star: :star:
March
3/7- U23D (IMAX) :star: :star: :star: 1/2
3/15- Horton Hears A Who (2008) :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2
April
4/11- Leatherheads :star: :star: 1/2
4/13- Horton Hears A Who (2008- second time) :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2
4/19- Forgetting Sarah Marshall :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2
4/27- Baby Mama :star: :star: :star: 1/2
May
5/2- Iron Man (2008) :star: :star: :star:
5/3- Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay :star: :star:
5/10- Speed Racer :star: :star: :star:
5/20- Forgetting Sarah Marshall (second time) :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2
5/25- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian :star: :star: :star:
5/26- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull :star: :star: :star: 1/2
5/31- Sex and the City :star: :star: :star: :star:
June
6/6- Sex and the City (second time) :star: :star: :star: :star:
6/8- The Strangers :star: :star: 1/2
6/13- The Happening :star: :star:
6/18- Mamma Mia! (sneak preview) :star: :star::star: 1/2
6/20- Get Smart (2008) :star: :star:
6/28- Wall*E :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
6/29- Wanted :star: :star: :star:
6/30- Hancock (sneak preview) :star: :star: 1/2
July
7/13- Hellboy 2: The Golden Army :star: :star: :star: 1/2
7/13- Kung Fu Panda :star: :star: 1/2
7/14- Journey to the Center of the Earth (3D- 2008) :star: 1/2
7/18- Mamma Mia! (second time) :star: :star: 1/2
7/23- The Dark Knight (IMAX) :star: :star: :star: :star:
August
8/3- Brideshead Revisited (2008) :star: :star: 1/2
8/5- X-Files I Want to Believe :star: :star:
8/13- Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (second time) :star: :star: :star: 1/2
8/14- Tropic Thunder :star: :star: 1/2
8/15- Star Wars: The Clone Wars :star: :star: 1/2
8/17- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 :star: :star: :star:
8/30- Hamlet 2 :star: :star: :star:
8/31- Vicky Christina Barcelona :star: :star: :star: :star:
8/31- Elegy :star: :star:
September
9/7- The House Bunny :star: :star:
9/12- Burn After Reading :star: :star: :star: 1/2
9/28- Rent: Live on Broadway :star: :star: :star:
October
10/19- The Duchess :star: :star: 1/2
10/24- Eagle Eye :star: :star:
10/25- Religulous :star: :star: :star:
10/28- Rachel Getting Married :star: :star: :star: 1/2
November
11/3- Zack & Miri Make A Porno :star: :star: :star: :star:
11/6- Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist :star: :star: :star:
11/11- Happy-Go-Lucy :star: :star: :star:
11/15- Bolt :star: :star: :star:
11/27- High School Musical 3: Senior Year :star: :star:
11/27- Quantum of Solace :star: :star: :star: 1/2
11/28- Slumdog Millionaire :star: :star: :star: :star:
11/29- Australia :star: :star: :star: :star:
11/30- Twilight :star: :star: :star:
December
12/7- Milk :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
12/10- Doubt :star: :star: :star:
12/13- Role Models :star: :star: :star: 1/2
12/14- Four Christmases :star: :star:

 

[PatW]

Desire Me (1947) :star: 1/2

The only redeeming quality about this movie is Greer Garson. The plot of this soap-opera is hard to swallow. It seems to go on forever without much happening. The only other interesting thing was the cottage and village. Can't recommend this one.

 

[Mario Gauci]

I have no clue to whom "George Kaplan" is alluding in his comments above, or how he came to the conclusion reached in his first sentence, but I plead guilty to dismissing this one off as a second-rate CASABLANCA (1942) upon first viewing in the late 1980s; however, reading David Thomson's essay on Howard Hawks in his challenging tome "A Biographical Dictionary Of The Cinema" a couple of years later changed that original, uninformed opinion for all time. TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944) is a major Hawks film and one of Bogie's finest, period.

 

[PatW]

The Roaring Twenties (1939) :star: :star: :star: :star:

Apparently James Cagney was getting tired of being typecasted for mostly gangster rolls and this was the last picture of that type for ten years until he did White Heat in '49 according to Robert Osborne.

Three buddies get out of the service after WW1 and one becomes a lawyer while the other two become bootleggers. This movie mostly takes place in the '20's where prohibition was in full-force.

This is quite an involving little movie with a great story. James Cagney who plays Eddie Bartlett is of course perfect for the role. No-one can play this type of role like Cagney can. In this movie though, he has a heart as indicated by his intercession on behalf of his lawyer friend. There are two ladies in Eddie's life, Jean Sherman who is played by Priscilla Lane. Eddie is devastated when she choses someone else. The other is Gladys George who plays Panama the owner of a speakeasy who gets Eddie started as a bootlegger. Both these actress were great in their respective parts.
Humphrey Bogart as one of the buddies was adequate in his role but nowhere near a great as Cagney who owned this movie. This was a good movie and a worthwhile watch.

 

[Adam_S]

I think the chip on your shoulder got bigger, George.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I only saw it one time, but what still stays with me is Lauren Bacall's sex appeal (yummy). It was a good film. I wouldn't call it great.

 

[george kaplan]

Mario,

It wasn't you.

Adam,

Just blowing off some steam left over from that 'other' thread.

We're Rich Again

Early screwball comedy is so-so. The idea is good, but something falls flat, and there aren't that many laughs.

 

[Mario Gauci]

That's good to know, George.

 

[PatW]

Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) :star: :star: :star: 1/2

The first in a long line of Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films. Undoubtedly the best of the screen Tarzans, he had the physique and athletic ability to pull the role off. Though not much of an actor, this role was taylor made for him.

Based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, James Parker and his daughter Jane and Harry Holt are on a expedition in Africa to search for the fabled elephant burial grounds. Along the way she is kidnapped by Tarzan who she fears at first but then develops an affinity with.

I was a big fan of the books growing up. None of the Weissmuller movies have any resemblance to the books other than the names Tarzan and Jane. I don't think any of the Weissmuller Tarzan movies explained how he happened to be in the jungle. We know of course how that happened in the books but that whole scenerio would not be appropriate for this Tarzan so you have to judge this movie for what it is. This is a very entertaining adventure story dispite the limitations of the era that it was made. It's quite obvious that this was not shot in Africa but on some soundstage and some wooded area in the US. There are some glaring errors. For instance, I don't think there would be a race of dwarves in Africa. If they had said pygmies, that would have made better sense.

The acting of the leads was uniformly good. The stars of course are Weissmuller and O'Sullivan and they pull off the romance quite well.
Maureen O'Sullivan was already an established actress but this is the first movie for Johnny Weissmuller and as stated earlier he was more than adequate for the part. The rest of the cast was adequate in their roles.

Though not my favourite Tarzan movie, that being the next one in this series, this movie is still a worthy entry in this remarkable series of movies.

 

[Martin Teller]

Well, I know it wasn't me, because I have MANY Hitchcock titles and even some Wilder in my collection. So who was it, georgie porgie?

 

[Sparky753]

Movies Watched In the Theater = 8

January
I am Legend :star: :star: :star:
Juno :star: :star: :star: 1/2
Cloverfield :star: :star: :star: :star:

February
Fool's Gold :star: :star: 1/2

March
10,000 B.C. :star: :star: 1/2

April
21 :star: :star: :star:
88 Minutes :star: :star: :star:
Forgetting Sarah Marshall :star: :star: :star: 1/2

Legend
:star: :star: :star: :star: = Incredible
:star: :star: :star: = Definitely Worth It
:star: :star: = Should have watched Food Network instead
:star: = I can't believe I paid for that!
= Why? Why? Why?
Note = All Viewed in the Theater

 

[PatW]

History of Violence (2005) :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

This movie explores the philosophical question, can an cold-blooded killer change and turn himself into someone he wasn't born to be. David Cronenberg has directed a taut, extremely violent but thoughtful movie.
After watching the excellent Eastern Promises, I decided to revisit this movie again.

Tom Stall is a gentle family man, the owner of a small diner in a small Mid-western town in Indiana. He's a loving husband and father of two children, a teenage son and a young daughter. He's an upstanding citizen, a church going man who is well regarded by the community. One night two gangsters enter his place of business and threaten his customers and employees. Tom takes matters into his own hands and kills these men thus becoming the town hero with his picture all over the news. Philly gangster
Carl Fogarty comes to the diner and calls Tom by another name, Joey Cusack. Tom denies it but when Fogarty threatens his son events escalate.

David Cronenberg has a reputation of making very violent and somewhat bizarre movies. This movie plus Eastern Promises are probably more mainstream but still extremely violent. Alot of people dislike David Cronenberg but I'm a great admirer of his especially after I saw this movie. Plus he's a fellow Canadian.
I don't know what prompted Cronenberg to choose Viggo Mortensen for the lead role. Whether he saw something special in him from Hidalgo or The Lord of the Rings movies, I don't know. Before LOTR, if someone had mentioned him to me I wouldn't have known who he was. I would have though, reconized his face in some of his past works. LOTR changed all that. Even though I liked his character Aragorn in the LOTR's movies, I didn't realize how good of an actor he was till I saw History of Violence. What a superb acting job. He was completely believable as both the mild-mannered family man and as the ruthless killer that he once was. The scene that cemented his abilities for me was when his son shoots Fogarty and Tom aka Joey graps the rifle from his son, the look of sheer hatred and evil that came over his face and then changed to the old Tom that we knew was chilling and remarkable acting. The supporting cast was uniformly excellent. Maria Bello as Tom wife was excellent. She was able to convey to the audience, the mixed feelings that she had regarding her husband. The violent scene on the stairs conveyed that. The rest of the supporting cast was also excellent which included Ed Harris, William Hurt in almost a cameo-like role and especially Ashton Holmes who played Tom's son.

I can't begin to explain how much I love this movie. It's more than just a violent thriller. My husband can watch extreme horror films, yet thought this one was excessively violent. Go figure! Can a cold-blooded killer change? I believe this movie answered that question.

 

[george kaplan]

A Tale of Two Cities

This was the 1935 version, by far the best filming of this novel. A large part of that is due to Ronald Colman (looking kind of odd without his moustache), but it also had great direction and editing. It was interesting to note that Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur directed some of the revolution scenes.

 

[Pete York]

From your mouth to the DVD God's ears, Mario. But at this point if anything happens, it'll be in your neck of the woods. British cinema is way undervalued over here; out of the BFI Top 100 alone, there's probably 20 films not on DVD in R1. And likely another 20 either available only in a box set or in some budget release. On top of that you have major films from the Boultings, Carol Reed, even Powell & Pressburger, as well as the Kordas, Sidney Gilliat, Anthony Asquith, Thorold Dickinson, Victor Saville, the work from the GPO film unit, etc. that who knows if they will every see the light of day.

1/5/08

London Belongs to Me (1948) Dir: Sidney Gilliat

Meet the quirky residents of the boarding house at 10 Dulcimer Street, London. See how eccentric they are? I said SEE HOW ECCENTRIC THEY ARE??? If you don’t then it’s your own fault, as this film devotes nearly the whole meandering first hour to a series of vignettes battering you over the head with their wackiness. There’s the landlady of the house, amateur spiritualist Mrs. Vizzard. And Connie Coke, the old lady upstairs, who, when she isn’t sponging off the other boarders, works in the coat room at the club down the block (ah, so that’s why she goes “out with the cats and comes in with the milk”). Percy Boon (Richard Attenborough), the young mechanic, lives upstairs with his mum. Percy’s sweet on Doris (she’s a bit of a snob, thinks she’s too good for Perc), who lives with her family, the Jossers, downstairs. Finally, there’s the new guy, the charlatan-huckster Henry Squales (Alastair Sim), or as he’s referred to by proper company, a “common adventurer” (gasp!). I found this all presented with just a whiff of "aw, the little people"-type condescension rather than genuine affection, but I could've imagined it. My mind was drifting.

Finally, at about the 50 minute mark, there’s an accidental death that Percy is implicated in (for a ‘good boy’ I believe we’re supposed to sympathize with, he makes some awfully bad decisions), which gives the film some much needed narrative drive. Unfortunately, it also feels like another film. There’s a trial and the residents of 10 Dulcimer all get behind Percy and work in his defense. The whole thing’s kind of a British spin on a Frank Capra picture; think You Can’t Take It With You and Meet John Doe in a blender. Or something. Quirky characters? Check. Populist message? Check (there’s a big petition drive at the end, albeit with a cheeky twist). Possible injustice to overcome? Check. Problem is the humor is non-existent and the characters aren’t anywhere near as charming as they’re supposed to be. I give it credit for a slightly unconventional resolution to the main story.

Sim, as the huckster who seeks to worm his way into Mrs. Vizzard’s graces by presenting himself as a medium, is the best part of the film (Guinness is supposed to have based his performance in The Ladykillers on Sim’s role here). He sports a ludicrous hair piece that’s funny on its own. His moments when he’s ‘channeling’ are also at least mildly amusing. That’s all, though. The acting is fine, but if the script is supposed to be funny, it’s so dry that I missed nearly all of it. And after the desultory first half, there’s another hour to go, so on top of everything else, the film drags. There is maybe a fleeting moment or two of drama during the trial, but nothing sustained.

Skip this one. It's probably closer to a merely average film, but it just did not engage me at all.

:star: 1/2 out of 4