Last Movie You Watched? Mark 9

Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil - enjoyably amusing horror-comedy that riffs on the 'college kids go on vacation to the backwoods and get offed by the locals' trope by making the hillbillies the good guys and the gory deaths happen due to unfortunate misunderstandings.

A Boultings double with Lucky Jim and Private's Progress

the latter bubbles to the top on the sheer presence of dear old Terry-Thomas with his utterances of 'shower' and 'bounders'. Indeed, the best moment might be his lines to the complaining German PoW:

"You act like a shower, you get treated like a shower!"

I'm Alright Jack was a kind of sequel.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Jack Wade wrote:

ZODIAC (2007)

Zodiac is the Fincher film for Guardianistas too afraid of Fight Club's subtext.

It's also a better film than Fight Club in nearly every quantifiable way.
I will concede that Fight Club captured the psyche of that period as good as any movie has done since then.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Double Jeopardy is utter crap. Fortunately, Ashley Judd got old quickly so society didn't have to suffer her FemiNazism for too long. In films, at any rate.

Judd's A-list career was rather brief.
Talent not being a huge factor in that town (hence Kristen Stewart being the new queen of Hollywood), I wonder what it was about her that cut her success so short.
Other women who got their break in the mid to late 90s are still around (e.g. Charlize Theron).
She did have a reputation of having a huge ego and not being easy to work with.

There is a truly wonderful piece out there (which I unfortunately cannot discover in a quick google search) in which a reporter described both her stupidity/ignorance and extreme arrogance during a trip in South Africa for one of her charities.

Elegy

I confess that Nick Meyer's name hereabouts was a draw and I've gone to other films on less but this...was lacking. God knows what, but it seemed the film was just there. It's not bad, it's not horrendous but I don't know. Ben Kingsley was good, better than recent roles but Dennis Hopper seemed out of place a little and Peter Saarsgard (sic) just didn't feel like Kingsley's son, more of a best buddy.

Funeral in Berlin

Thematically dour and with a decidedly quirky musical score, but this may be my favourite of the Palmer films . Caine is on great form in the lead, some great dialogue, a rich collection of supporting characters, Oscar Homolka, Guy Doleman, Hugh Burden, the gorgeous Eva Renzi all bring their A game while Guy Hamilton really milks the locations and offers a very different feel to GF.

8/10

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1996, directed by Brian De Palma). A plodding and hard-to-follow espionage outing that's neither quite serious enough nor quite silly enough, IMPOSSIBLE is saved largely by a potent combination of directorial flair and star charisma. Stir in a couple of terrific action sequences (which fortunately trade not just on action but also on suspense) and you're talking about some pretty decent entertainment, all things considered (not a bad score, either). It's hard to shake the feeling, though, that this MISSION could have been a lot more IMPRESSIVE had it had a rather better script - a criticism that could also be made of all three of its sequels, good fun though they all are.

Das Boot: Uncut Version

immense, powerful and all the rest. From the comical interplay between crew to the horrors of depthcharging to the triumph of surviving Gibraltar to the tragedy at the climax. Without going into detail I'm fond of Prochnow's performance here and that of the music (particularly "U-96" and "Ruckzug").
A scene for me is U-96's dash through Gibraltar under fire, the heavens ablaze with star-shell and cannon, the sub charging along and the music ten to the dozen.

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (2013, directed by John Moore). This critically-mauled fifth outing for John McClane plays rather better on home video than on the big screen, although the extended cut exclusive to Blu-ray and the original theatrical version are much of a muchness. The extended cut is less notable for adding anything than it is for - for some reason - removing Mary Elizabeth Winstead's role, and with her the movie's best joke (McClane's choice of ringtone music, which amusingly references the first DIE HARD, although since Winstead is no longer in this flick McClane consequently no longer receives a phone call from her). Marrying visual gloom, a downbeat air and shaky cam action scenes to a daft script and some musings on a changing Russia, A GOOD DAY comes across as less a DIE HARD series entry (let alone a DIE HARD series entry as good as the original) than a mashup of THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, THE EXPENDABLES and GOLDENEYE. It's fairly entertaining, though.

LAST CHANCE HARVEY (2008, directed by Joel Hopkins). A charming and poignant romcom that's a bit like Richard Curtis meeting LOST IN TRANSLATION. A trifle slow-starting, but otherwise captivating, and rarely as on-the-nose or cloying as it might have been. Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson give fine performances.

Tall in the Saddle

surprisingly entertaining film helped by John Wayne and Gabby Hayes. It moves apace and has its moments both comic and dramatic. Ella Raines' beauty is singular, striking and remarkable.

Fall of the House of Usher

A long time since I had seen this, and the steelbook blu ray was too tempting, sadly it has not aged well. Price is terrific but sadly a lone presence in a somewhat superficial film, the story better suited to an episode in a portmanteau perhaps. I confess the spooky atmosphere is still occasionally potent but unlike the Hammer's films of this era there seems very little else to really engage or entertain.

Picture and sound are pretty good, albeit some shots are somewhat out of focus.

5/10

The only House of Usher movie I've ever seen was Epstein's, in a Film History class. Fascinating and sort've kindred to VAMPYR and LA BELLE ET LA BETE but not as good as those, I think. It was a little all over the place and I had trouble staying awake during it.

Saw Cukor's A Star is Born for the first time last night on the sublime Warner blu-ray. I've always considered Cukor a very solid director, on a rung below masters like Borzage or Sternberg but always leaving traces of himself in his work. But this is an undeniable masterpiece and I'll be digging deeper into his filmography at some point - I might even go ahead with a proper watching regime over Christmas since it's been quite fruitful tackling the wider filmographies of Hawks and Ford this summer. Maine is the core of the picture for me, and I find it strange that Garland often attracts the most comment when I hear the film talked about. It's understandable in one sense, given the echoes in the film of her own personal life, but she seems so secondary in the picture itself. Maine is, hands down, one of the great characters of the cinema, not only because of its perfect dramatic construction but also because of its obvious relationship with the medium of the cinema itself. Mason plays it better than Cary Grant ever would have and it's shocking that he was only fifth choice, at the best, for the part.

The "restored" scenes comprised of recorded diologue over stills really should be optional though. Any help they give in fleshing out the central relationship is undone by the extent to which they take you out of the picture.

Also saw Lang's Man Hunt this morning. Harms (if you're still here), did you get to this one when you were going through Lang a few months back? It's been in my unwatched pile for a while now so I put it in and I was blown away. I've always had this in my mind as a minor Lang, but how wrong I was! The wordless opening in the woods is poetry. The rest of the film doesn't sustain that magic entirely, but it's extraordinary how well this thing is paced given the fact that it is basically just a 100 minue man hunt. Better in that regard than Ministry of Fear, if my memory serves me right.

The Bachelorette

It wasn't Bridesmaids.

That's a good thing, I hope. Brisdemaids was shite.

Elysium (in my first-ever IMAX screening) - Neill Blomkamp serves up more of the blend of sci-fi and social commentary that served him well in District 9. Rather enjoyed this, the special effects are impeccable and it was nice to see Jodie Foster play a heartless bitch.

Thieves' Highway

A brilliant little noir with themes that turn out to be quite a bit grander than they initially appear.

Largo's Shark wrote:

That's a good thing, I hope. Brisdemaids was shite.

OK then, worse than Bridesmaids. I didn't have an issue with Bridesmaids but I think you may have a little too much penis to really appreciate it. The Bachelorette was trying really hard to be Bridesmaids but was sadly short of a shitting in a wedding dress scene and puppies.

Salomé wrote:

Thieves' Highway

A brilliant little noir with themes that turn out to be quite a bit grander than they initially appear.

Dassin was on fire between Brute Force and Rififi. Thieves' Highway is probably the peak. Did Conte star in much other noir?

I found "Bridesmaids" to be surprisingly lowest common denominator in some of its comedic choices (especially the bit of toilet humor during the fitting... :shock: ).

HJackson wrote:

Salomé wrote:

Thieves' Highway

A brilliant little noir with themes that turn out to be quite a bit grander than they initially appear.

Dassin was on fire between Brute Force and Rififi. Thieves' Highway is probably the peak. Did Conte star in much other noir?

He must have for that face is instantly recognizable. :)

Thieves' Highway must be one of the final movies of Dassin's Hollywood career.
I believe his blacklisting occurred in the early 1950s?

Santa wrote:

sadly short of a shitting in a wedding dress scene.

This generation's Odessa Steps moment.

Salomé wrote:

I found "Bridesmaids" to be surprisingly lowest common denominator in some of its comedic choices (especially the bit of toilet humor during the fitting... :shock: ).

Yep. I have the sense of humour of a 12 year old boy.

HJackson wrote:

Also saw Lang's Man Hunt this morning. Harms (if you're still here), did you get to this one when you were going through Lang a few months back? It's been in my unwatched pile for a while now so I put it in and I was blown away. I've always had this in my mind as a minor Lang, but how wrong I was! The wordless opening in the woods is poetry. The rest of the film doesn't sustain that magic entirely, but it's extraordinary how well this thing is paced given the fact that it is basically just a 100 minue man hunt. Better in that regard than Ministry of Fear, if my memory serves me right.

Not yet. It's been a bit slow, since I'm trying to buy the films rather than simply rent them. Lang's FURY is next up on my to-see list, but I'll definitely add MAN HUNT.