Last Movie You Watched? the 8th

Stroker Ace ... now there's a title tailor-made for a porno. Or possibly for someone who watches a lot of 'em.

MAN OF STEEL (2013, dir. Zack Snyder)

The first blockbuster in ages to actually deliver overwhelming, awe-inspiring spectacle, even if you'll feel somewhat bludgeoned by it when the end of the film arrives.

It's by no means a complete success. Goyer's script is overwhelmed by exposition and technobabble, and doesn't give the cast enough to work with. At least there's the hint of life in Kevin Costner and Diane Lane's performances as Pa and Ma Kent (even if the film, sadly, diminishes the influence of these characters on Superman's moral development), and the few moments of levity seem almost out-of-place in this serious film.

But it is grand, and it is beautiful.

Much better than expected, then?

Loomis wrote:

Much better than expected, then?

Yes and no.

It has most of the problems I anticipated that it would. But the film is nevertheless very impressive.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Anyone else not able to quote a post?  I can't write outside the yellow box.

I had that problem but the last button on the format bar is 'Switch editor mode' and that reverts to the old style editor with the html code.

The Wrong Arm of the Law

bloody blast, just the tonic after one of those weeks. Peter Sellers on some form (during filming he supposedly told Bryan Forbes he wanted to marry Nanette Newman but was laughed off) as Pearly Gates and Lionel Jeffries the perfect foil as idiot Nosey Parker (of the Yard). Credit due to Bernard Cribbins' Nervous O'Toole.

Sellers on form was amazing. His personal demons have tended to overshadow his talent in recent years, which is a great shame. Hitchcock is beginning to suffer from the same prurient interest. People should concentrate on the work.

You could say the same for BEHIND THE CANDELABRA. Whoever started the trend should be shot.

CARNAL KNOWLEDGE (1971, directed by Mike Nichols). A stagey, confusing and tedious affair that presents little more than the dull doings of uninteresting folk and is horrendously dated to boot. This is the sort of flick that was doubtless once daring and the voice of its age but now comes across as a museum piece. Jack Nicholson's spirited performance is just about the sole saving grace.

Beside WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? I'm no fan of Mike Nichols.

Harms rates WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? extremely highly, as I recall - if memory serves, he considers it one of the best films ever made.

As for me, I haven't seen all that much Nichols but I adore PRIMARY COLORS.

I like VIRGINIA WOOLF too, though not quite as much as Harms.

Finally looked at my Blu-ray of ROSEMARY'S BABY.  I do sorta wish Robert Redford had played the husband.  Cassavetes looks like a son of a bitch from the first frame.  Redford could have matched Farrow for the cute young couple dynamic, and it would have made his betrayal a lot stronger.  Plus, Cassavetes looks like a guy (no pun intended) who would need more than a coven to be some hotshot movie star.

Man of Steel.

Loved it in general although I had a couple minor quibbles.

8.5/10

The Way Ahead

it is of course a propaganda piece (plucky Brits and all that goes with it) but a very decent film. A group of civilians called up from different walks of life and eventually moulded into a trained, efficient fighting unit. Niven took time from his own army life to do this, though if I recall from Graham Lord's Niv it was with some reservation (much like his character here, he'd rather have been with his unit). Niv's character is a kind, almost fatherly figure (though younger than the likes of Raymond Huntley, Stanley Holloway and even William Hartnell, for example) and likeable. Not one of these stiff-upper chaps so lampooned. No nonsense, but fair.
William Hartnell (credited as Billy) shaping his sergeant role here and excellent when faced with a sloshed stiff-necked Jimmy Hanley at Crewe Station.
I couldn't help but chuckle a little at the travel agents mention of how nice a place Benghazi was early in the film. Times change and all that.
The films main set piece is the torpedoing and evacuating of the troopship. At first all has gone to pieces then Niven appears and with a snapped command has his men walk to boat stations. Tension excebrated by the men having to dislodge some of the armoured carriers whilst Trevor Howard looks on anxiously.
It all ends somewhat heroically as our chaps march into the smoke bayonets fixed (borrowed for Dad's Army's end credits, John Laurie recreates his poses from the Way Ahead) with the March playing over it.
The film ends with the two Chelsea pensioners reading of their old units success (one imagines) and the legend 'The Beginning" over the screen.

To have the likes of Stanley Holloway, Huntley, Hanley, Donald, Niven, Hartnell and Ustinov in this film and to think that now if this was done we'd likely have a straight to DVD sequel with some pseudo-hardman image on the cover and recommendations by Nuts, Zoo etc.

12 Angry Men

It's a good film, though I feel it is a bit overrated (or perhaps dated - it's been homaged and echoed to death). It still does an exceptionally good job realising different and distinct characters in a pretty short time frame, and manages to be engaging despite consisting of 12 men standing around a table talking for ninety minutes.

300

Enjoyable pulp. It's an entertaining ninety minutes and I don't really think it tries to be more.

(500) Days of Summer

Overrated. Like the concept. The script has some interesting insights but it really doesn't do anything beyond amounting to an above average rom-com. It feels like it has nothing to say. Hate the narration.

Man Of Steel - the eye-popping spectacle is present and correct, and performances are fine if unremarkable. But ... I sorely missed the 'lightness of touch' of the first 2 Chris Reeve Supes flicks, and Zimmer's score just washed over me; I can't recall a single note of it, unlike Williams' superb Superman theme.

Found myself pondering (after seemingly most of Metropolis has been reduced to rubble by Zod and Supes duking it out) exactly how much worse it would have been if Zod had just went unchallenged, which surely wasn't the intention  .

Bullet to the Head

Conan and Rocky fight with axes.  Nuff said

This Happy Breed

Here be a story of when Britain was Britain. As some might say. At times funny, at times sad. One moment of the latter comes with the death of the Gibbons' son, the grief etched on Robert Newton and Celia Johnson's faces as they walk juxtaposed with a jaunty piece of music on the wireless. The funny tends to be epitomised by Stanley Holloway as expected. The film is rich in its colour, showing off London locales such as Hyde Park Corner though Speaker's Corner seems much the same (albeit now lacking the lunatic Blackshirt).
It might not be everyone's cuppa but it's Lean and I find that is good enough whatever.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

The first film was BREAK POINT with cars. The second one was MIAMI VICE with cars. This is REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE... with more cars. To be honest, I kinda liked this one better than the last two, despite Lucas Black somehow beating Paul Walker as the least charismatic actor in a starring role. What I mainly like is the direction by Lin. The focus on police undercover stories is dropped in favor of the street racing culture and its connections to the mob. Was actually delighted to see Sonny Chiba appear, I must have missed his name during the opening credits. Purely as a movie about car action, I think it succeeds better than the first two. There's a goofy quality to it that kinda helps one go along with things. Best to sum that up is Lucas Black smiling like a dork with blood on his teeth, living for the thrill. That's probably what this film series needed, and less soap opera/undercover drama. Consider me surprised.

Fast & Furious (2009)

Well, I didn't really care for this one. Now it's LICENCE TO KILL with cars. Some of the action is good but beyond that I wasn't very swayed by this installment.


Fast Speedometer:
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT
2 FAST 2 FURIOUS
FAST & FURIOUS
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS

Skyfall

Holds up well for the third time, comfortably in my Bond top 10 but just outside the top 5 for me.

The plot remains a tad too contrived for my liking, Silva's capture and escape in particularly break the flow/immersion imo. I could also do without the short and unnecessary 'Bond feeling sorry for himself for 3 months' which seems overly immature and indulgent for what would be an experienced agent. However, overall, the emotive stuff is handled much more effectively and with much less wallowing self indulgence than the previous 2 films. The cinematography is to die for, the performances all top notch, the action nice and varied and, with the possible exception of the final act, it doesn't outstay its welcome. The crowning glory is the hint and perhaps no more than my hope that the next film will take a break from the current vogue for obsessive naval gazing and launch a grand old Bond adventure.

8/10 (They left on a a high but nevertheless thank goodness P&W are gone).

SABOTEUR (1942, directed by Alfred Hitchcock). A solidly entertaining bit of Hitchcock, rather slow-moving in places and not always performed convincingly, but with witty dialogue (some of which was perhaps penned by co-screenwriter Dorothy Parker) and some memorable, almost hauntingly dreamlike scenes (the encounters with the kindly old blind man and the circus performers chief among them) alongside a couple of action setpieces (a pursuit in a cinema and a finale on the Statue of Liberty) that still hold up surprisingly well.

THE WRONG MAN (1956, dir. by Sir Alfred Hitchcock)

Fine, overlooked Hitch drama. Wish he'd use Fonda more often. Also boasts of one Benny's starkest scores.

THE GREAT GATSBY (1974, directed by Jack Clayton). Atmospheric and good to look at but not especially involving.

strangelove - take a look at your PMs.