What classics did you watch this week? (1/23-1/29)
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zetes — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 01:53 PM)
The Childhood of a Leader
(Brady Corbet, 2015) - Impressive directorial debut from actor Brady Corbet. A period piece set in the 1910s, near the end of WWI, the film is about a young boy (Tom Sweet) who is fond of throwing tantrums. His parents (Liam Cunningham and Berenice Bejo) mostly ignore him, leaving him to the care of maids and his tutor (Stacy Martin). Robert Pattinson is also around. I don't think the film is particularly clear, and I don't think it's particularly insightful, either. So a fictional fascist leader grew up as kind of a brat? So what? It is, however, a stylish and beautiful film. Maybe it's meant just to be a mood piece. The cinematography in particular is just gorgeous. Corbet definitely deserves a sophomore film.
7/10. yes.
A Man Called Ove
(Hannes Holm, 2015) - A nice little Swedish film. It's the kind of thing some people will fall head-over-heals in love with. It kind of borders too much on saccharine and cutesy for me to love it, but, then, it never really crosses the line into being annoyingly so. Rolf Lassgård stars as a stubborn, grouchy old man who patrols his neighborhood daily, fiercely enforcing the rules. We find out, as the film progresses, that his ornery nature mostly comes from his being a recent widower. The love of his life (played by the gorgeous Ida Engvoll) passed away six months earlier. Ove is so distraught over the loss of his wife that he's suicidal, and he might accomplish his goal if it weren't for the nuisance of his new neighbors, particularly Iranian immigrant Bahar Pars. It's all pretty clear where it's going from here. Ove is very sympathetic once you get to know him, but I don't quite buy that anyone in real life would bother. He's really too much of a jerk, even if he does have some good reasons to be. Even in the flashbacks, I had to wonder why his wife bothered with him. The audience is let in to the fact that he's a good man, but he's so stand-offish there's not much reason for the woman to be so into him in the first place. Well, it has its flaws, but it's a likable film, anyway.
7/10. yes.
Don't Think Twice
(Mike Birbiglia, 2016) - Pretty good dramedy about an improv troupe in NYC. Mike Birbiglia directs and stars as the founder of The Commune whose members also include Gillian Jacobs, Keegan-Michael Key, Kate Micucci, Tami Sagher and Chris Gethard. They work crappy jobs during the week, but live for their weekly show, hoping that someone in the audience will be some sort of talent scout. The biggest dream is to make it on Weekend Live, the film's thinly-veiled SNL stand-in. The troupe is already starting to collapse, having lost its home theater, when Key lands his dream job. He also makes it in over Jacobs, whom he is dating. There aren't many surprises here, but it's all very nice, enjoyable, and, when it wants to be, gently touching. Jacobs is probably best-in-show, but everyone is good here.
7/10. yes.
Gold
(Stephen Gaghan, 2016) - One of this season's also-rans, with Matthew McConaughey once again going for the gold man, playing a guy going after actual gold in the ground. He plays Kenny Wells, a down-on-his-luck mining prospector in the 1980s who joins with Edgar Ramirez to look for gold in Indonesia. They strike it big but stuff soon goes awry. It's your classic rags to riches to rags story, nothing particularly original but entertaining enough. McConaughey is quite good, but the film probably wasn't interesting enough to attract much attention (the film did get one Golden Globe nom, for Best Song). Bryce Dallas Howard co-stars in the thankless female lead role. It's not the worst thankless female lead role of the year, but she seems miscast. Someone more age-appropriate and slightly less attractive would have been better. McConaughey does one of those uglifying-type things, he shouldn't be dating a model.
7/10. yes.
O.J. Simpson: Made in America
(Ezra Edelman, 2016) - The sprawling, epic story of O.J. Simpson. This is certainly one of America's most fascinating tales, and Ezra Edelman tells it perfectly. At 8 hours long, you might guess it would be too much, but it's addictive. This has to be the single longest Oscar nominee ever, right?
9/10. YES.
Split
(M. Night Shyamalan, 2017) - Pretty good, though I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a return to form for Shyamalan. I like it a bit more than his previous film, The Visit, but quite a bit less than his post-Sixth Sense run, and a lot less than The Sixth Sense itself. This is really dumb stuff, but it's fun-dumb. Multiple personalities is a film subject that should have been permanently killed off with Adaptation. James McAvoy plays a man with 24 personalities who kidnaps three teen girls (The Witch's Anya Taylor-Joy, The Bronze's Haley Lu Richardson, and Jessica Sula), who are meant for some ritual having to do with a mysterious "beast" he frequently mentions. The other major character is a psychiatrist played by Betty Buckley. She's the biggest problem with the movie: much like the p -
jesusofjonesboro — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 02:13 PM)
The Furies (1950)
Anthony Mann 9/10 -
Yes
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)
Michael Moore 9/10
Yes
Elle (2016)
Paul Verhoeven - 8/10
Yes
Fences (2016)
Denzel Washington 8/10
Yes
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Douglas Sirk 7/10
Yes
Money Monster (2016)
Jodie Foster 5/10
No
jj -
jesusofjonesboro — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 07:15 AM)
First viewing.
SPOILERS below
I can't say that I'm a big Anthony Mann fan but this searing, uncompromising portrait of greed, conspiracy, and ruthlessness may have made me one. TC Jeffords may be the most realistic portrayal of a western cattle baron ever written.
Virtually every main character in the story is richly drawn and - with the obvious exception of Juan - completely lacking in redeeming values. Vance Jeffords is a wonderful character, far more complex than Phyllis Dietrichson.
Every performance is completely assured, from Walter Huston's tragic old fool to Judith Anderson's conniving golddigger to Wendell Corey's superslick charlatan.
The scene in which Corey's character pockets the bribe and turns his back on Vance had me applauding.
The script is not completely unconventional - the subplot with the Herreras is a bit predictable - but has plenty of clever turns and twists. At first, I thought that Corey had been miscaste, the perennial second-banana milquetoast playing a shrewd manipulator. By his third or fourth scene, however, he had me convinced.
The final sequence is satisfying without being cloying.
It can easily be argued that I scored this film too high and on subsequent viewings I might re-evaluate. But, from a first viewing, it perfectly suits my cynical nature.
jj -
Spikeopath — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 10:19 AM)
Why could it be argued you scored too high, I think you are on the money. I do hope you get to become a
Mann
fan, hopefully there are still some more of his to see.
Here's my review, I have actually edited the credits out for you since it's a big review, but I honestly wont be offended if you skim through it. I think you will find we have an accord on this smart film.
The Furies: Monsters of classical mythology, charged with keeping order by punishing the guilty in the Underworld.
"This is a story of the 1870's. . .in the New Mexico territory. . .when men created kingdoms out of land and cattle. . .and ruled their empires like feudal lords. Such a man was T.C. Jeffords. . .who wrote this flaming page in the history of the great Southwest."
Anthony Mann was a fascinating and talented director, his career in direction of films can be broken into three sections. The 40s where he progressed from "B" movies to film noir, the 50s where he can be credited as a main player in taking the Western to a new and more adult level, and finally the 60s where he would helm two enormous historical epics. In short he was versatile and one of the most significant American directors during that 30 year period. 1950 was a prolific year for him, a year that saw him direct four movies, three westerns and Side Street, a crime procedural with noirish leanings. Of the three Westerns, it's Winchester '73 that has the big reputation and the distinction of being the first of the five westerns made with James Stewart that are rightly held in high regard in Western movie circles. Yet the other two, seemingly under seen or forgotten about, are at least worthy of the same praise. With Devil's Doorway, in this writers' opinion, actually a better movie than Winchester '73.
The Furies serves as the perfect bridging movie between Mann's film noirs and his Westerns because it blends the two courtesy of the Western setting and the story, taking both and cloaking it neatly with noirish atmospherics. To which it is underpinned by two very strong and passionate father and daughter characters played by Huston and Stanwyck. She is wealth obsessed and single mindedly driven, yet still having shades of vulnerability, whilst he is a crude land and cattle baron who has a kink for Napoleon! It's their relationship, as murky and stand offish as it is, that is at the core of The Furies. However, there are a number of plot off shoots also dwelling in the narrative, making this a complex story, one that pulses with psychological smarts and psycho-sexual undercurrents, with part of the latter appearing to be an incestuous arc between father and daughter. While it's not a Western for those after the more "traditional" gun play trappings of the genre, it does have some smart set pieces and moments of adrenaline raising. Including a shocking scene that wouldn't be out of place in a Hitchcock thriller. But ultimately this above all else is about the story and the flawed characters within.
This was to be Huston's last film appearance, he would sadly pass away shortly after filming of The Furies had wrapped. Nice to report that he signed off from the mortal coil with a top performance, attacking the role of T. C. Jeffords with gusto and relish - with the ending of the film proving to be rather poignant. Stanwyck is excellent as Vance Jeffords, an actress capable of putting many layers to any character she was asked to play, here she two folds it by being utterly unlikable with ease, yet in a blink of an eye garnering our sympathy by way of child like vulnerability. In support Corey is fine as card sharp Rip Darrow, the man who Vance deeply courts, and someone who has a serious agenda with T. C. Jeffords. Yet it's Judith Anderson who takes the acting honours in the support ranks. Charged with the task of playing a character who threatens to take Vance's place in her fathers world, Anderson nicely combines subtle underplaying with emotive driven thesping. With Mann going for heavy atmosphere, Milner's photography is deep in focus and suitably evocative, and Waxman provides a robust - storm-a-brewing, musical score.
Prime Mann offering that's deserving of more exposure and more appreciative praise. 8.5/10
The
SpikeopathHospital Number
217 -
OldAussie — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 02:24 PM)
Extended editions -
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
(2001) 8.5/10
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(2002) 8/10
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
(2003) 8/10
The Comancheros
(1961) 6/10
Beau Geste
(1939) 9/10
The Fall of the Roman Empire
(1964) 8.5/10
Independence Day: Resurgence
(2016) 1/10
Network
(1976) 9/10
Trick 'r Treat
(2007) 3/10
Léon: The Professional
(1994) 8/10 Subject matter which could easily have veered toward the offensive is handled darn well. Very good performances.
"He was a poet, a scholar and a mighty warrior." -
sol- — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 02:26 AM)
Subject matter which could easily have veered toward the offensive is handled darn well. Very good performances.
In total agreement with that. I would wager that anyone who finds the film in bad taste would have done so no matter how the budding friendship between the characters was portrayed. I have heard some quite disparaging comments from those who believe that the scene where Portman dresses up as Madonna and Marilyn Monroe sexualises her, but anyone hung up over such issues is clearly missing out on how genuinely funny the scene is.
Most people think I'm mad. At least I know I'm mad. -
OldAussie — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 10:50 PM)
I actually had a bigger problem with a 12 year old being trained as a "cleaner" than any harmless "sexualising" of her character. That the movie works so well with regard to the Leon/Mathilda relationship is a tribute to the 2 actors as well as the director/writer.
"He was a poet, a scholar and a mighty warrior." -
redskydown-1 — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 02:25 PM)
-THE HARDER THEY FALL 1956 7.8
Bogart, Rod Steiger, Jan Sterling
-SILENT DUST UK 1949 7.5
Sally Gray, Nigal Patrick
-THE BIG TOWN 1987 6.5
Matt Dillon, Diane Lane
-PUSHOVER 1954 7.1
Fred MacMurray, Kim Novak
-DUEL IN THE SUN 1946 7.2
Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones
-Documentary
-THE PILGRIMS 2015 8.5
-PBS American Experience
Every man's death diminishes mebecause I am involved in mankind -
Perception_de_Ambiguity — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 02:41 PM)
Su Friedrich:
Gently Down the Stream
(1981) 5/10
[avant-garde short]
But No One
(1982) 3+/10
[avant-garde short]
Hide and Seek
(1997) 7/10
[experimental-narrative lesbian childhood nostalgia porn, B&W fiction/documentary hybrid]
Vladimir Tarasov AKA Valdimir Tarassov AKA ладими ли Таасов:
екало вемени / A Mirror of Time
(1976) (no subtitles) don't know/10
Садион ивоо-наввоо / Stadion shivorot-navyvorot
(1976) 6/10
Ти / Tir / Shooting Range
(1979) 6/10
Prega il morto e ammazza il vivo / Mörder des Klans / Shoot the Living and Pray for the Dead / Renegade Gun / Pray to Kill and Return Alive
(Giuseppe Vari, 1971) 5+/10
[spaghetti western mystery]
Dark Country 3D
(Thomas Jane, 2009) 2+/10
[Z-grade noir thriller built on cliched "Twilight Zone" twist ending, vanity project, green screen schlockin abysmal 3D]
Afterschool
(Antonio Campos, 2008) 7/10
[teenage alienation drama somewhere between Haneke and Antonioni]
Christine
(Antonio Campos, 2016) 9/10
[empathetic alienation/depression/suicidal drama, news media world critique, period piece]
Nocturama
(Bertrand Bonello 2016) 6/10
[teen terrorism arthouse]
Fear Itself
(Charlie Lyne, 2015) 6/10
[horror essay film/horror movie clip show]
The Monster
(Bryan Bertino, 2016) 2+/10
[annoyingly blunt family values allegory packaged as annoyingly sappy inadequate monster horror]
Whiplash
(Damien Chazelle, 2014) 5+/10
[all-boys music club sports movie]
The French Connection
(William Friedkin, 1971) (2nd viewing) 7/10
Sjunde inseglet / Det sjunde inseglet / The Seventh Seal
(Ingmar Bergman, 1957) (3rd viewing) 7/10 (from 5)
[allegorical existential comedy, "silence of God" Bergman period piece]
RiffTrax Live: Reefer Madness
(2010) 6/10
At Your Fingertips: Grasses
(1970) 2/10
Frozen Frolics
(1930) 5/10
Tell Your Children / Reefer Madness
(Louis J. Gasnier, 1936) 1/10
Mystery Science Theater 3000: "Indestructible Man"
(1992) 4+/10
Indestructible Man
(Jack Pollexfen, 1956) 1+/10
Shorts:
Sailing with Bushnell Keeler
(David Lynch, c.1967) 6/10
[David Lynch debut film, surreal home movie]
Whiplash
(Damien Chazelle, 2014) 5/10
Sudden Fear
(Starving Weirdos, 2008) 1/10
[poor man's found footage avant-garde short made in one hour resulting in half an hour of slowed-down footage]
Girls Night Out
(Joanna Quinn, 1988) 7-/10
Zweigroschenzauber
(Hans Richter, 1929) 6/10
M Is for Mammary
(Jamie Greco, 2013) 2/10
Shapes We Live With
(1970) 1/10
Scribbler
(David Firth, 2004) 6/10
Hennessy X.O
(NicWinRef (Nicolas Winding Refn), music by Cliff Martinez, 2016) (3rd viewing)
Hennessy X.O
(NicWinRef (Nicolas Winding Refn), music by Cliff Martinez, 2016) (4th viewing)
Hennessy X.O
(NicWinRef (Nicolas Winding Refn), music by Cliff Martinez, 2016) (5th viewing)
Hennessy X.O
(NicWinRef (Nicolas Winding Refn), music by Cliff Martinez, 2016) (6th viewing)
Hennessy X.O
(NicWinRef (Nicolas Winding Refn), music by Cliff Martinez, 2016) (7th viewing)
Hennessy X.O
(NicWinRef (Nicolas Winding Refn), music by Cliff Martinez, 2016) (8th viewing)
Hennessy X.O
(NicWinRef (Nicolas Winding Refn), music by Cliff Martinez, 2016) (9th viewing)
Hennessy X.O
(NicWinRef (Nicolas Winding Refn), music by Cliff Martinez, 2016) (10th viewing)
Hennessy X.O
(NicWinRef (Nicolas Winding Refn), music by Cliff Martinez, 2016) (11th viewing)
Hennessy X.O
(NicWinRef (Nicolas Winding Refn), music by Cliff Martinez, 2016) (12th viewing) c.7/10
For the Birds 3D
(Ralph Eggleston, 2000) (3rd+ viewing) 7/10
Tool: Salival
(Adam Jones, 2000) (umpteenth viewing) 8/10
[music video compilation, stop motion animation shorts]
Фабика / Fabrika / Factory
(Sergey Loznitsa, 2004) 8/10
assembly-line work exploration, industrial sights and sounds photoplay, visually striking and colorful heavy metal movie, wordless documentary short
Other:
Destination Dune
(Paul Sammon, 1984) 6/10
[behind-the-scenes promotional film]
Nu, pogodi!: "Pervyy vypusk"
(1969) 5/10
Nu, pogodi!: "Tretiy vypusk"
(1971) 4/10
Nu, pogodi!: "17-y vypusk"
(Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin & Vladimir Tarasov, 1993) 6/10
Nu, pogodi!: "18-y vypusk"
(Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin & Vladimir Tarasov, 1993) 4/10
Bill Burr - Emotionally Unavailable
(audio) - thumbs up
Notable Online Media:
[top 3:]
The Matrix - Renegade Cut
Dredd - Renegade Cut
The Master: How Scientology Works
[rest:]
AFTERSCHOOL @ NYFF - director Antonio Campos Q&A [parts 1&2]
Director Antonio Campos-Afterschool
Meet the Artist '16: Antonio Campos
The Seventh Seal - Renegade Cut
Persona - Renegade Cut (Revised Version)
The History of the Mockbuster
WHY IS CINEMA: MOVIES AND RACISM! UH-OH!!
Louis C.K - not that kind of funny
Bill Burr on New Comedy Special & Podcast - Full Interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
JOE DANTE / JOHN CARPENTER - WTF Podcast with Marc Maron #720 [audio only]
Discussion with Filmmaker William Friedkin at New York Film Academy [audio only]
William Friedkin at 2013 Dallas International Film Festival [audio only]
Discussion with Oscar Winning Actor Al Pacino at New York Film Academy [audio only]
Kaoma - Lambada (Official -
sol- — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 02:44 PM)
Part 1: All first time viewings this week (no revisions)
Mr. Majestyk
(1974). Having betrayed the trust of a contract killer who he fled a transportation vehicle with, a hardened melon farmer reluctantly agrees to act as a 'bait' for the police who believe that the killer will take revenge in this Charles Bronson action vehicle. Made in the same year as
Death Wish
, Bronson is in equally as fine form here, and while the film does not offer anywhere near as touching a portrait of a man forced into violence, there is a lot to be said for the genuine passion that Bronson shows for his crops and his sympathy for the migrant workers he employs. The action sequences are expectedly good too, though the script could have done with a bit more work. It is hard to believe that Bronson just expects the contract killer's girlfriend to drive the two of them to prison without any arguments at a key point. The plot also relies heavily on the hitman being impulsive and unpredictable, which does not quite gel with the notion of him being so successful in both his profession and ability to evade the law. A half-baked romance between Bronson and one of his workers adds little to the film too. Most filmgoers will, however, come here for the action and with four wheel drive chases across the desert, tense shoot-outs and a grisly scene in which a policeman is killed while on the toilet, it is all highly memorable stuff. The novelty value of Bronson as a farmer is worth mentioning too. It seems odd that the filmmakers could not come up with a more inventive title than its main character's name, but working under open skies in the fresh air, maybe his profession really is majestic.
#55
(of 82)
for 1974
, between
From Beyond the Grave
and
Blazing Saddles
.
Ace Up My Sleeve
(1976). Sometimes known as
Crime and Punishment
, this Ivan Passer thriller stars Omar Sharif as man in financial strife who encourages his mistress to marry an elderly millionaire with the hopes of a lucrative divorce settlement, but the upper hand that the lovers think they have is not as it seems. The first fifteen minutes or so of the movie are quite enticing with Sharif and lead actress Karen Black getting into intimate plotting while their target, unbeknownst to them, watches on hidden cameras from afar. Starting with a bizarre, borderline comical patisserie scene, however, in which Black gluttonously overeats (to make herself more attractive to the old man who likes full-bodied women), the plot soon derails and manages to inject relatively little sense of danger and paranoia in the air later on even after Black discovers that the old man has killed every ex-wife who left him and as Sharif finds attempts on his own life. The role that Joseph Bottoms has in the film is also downright weird, becoming a third love interest for Black in a subplot that only seems to exist to suggest that Black is less honorable than Sharif first thought. Even if the story does not quite add up, Passer films the material so thoughtfully that it is a hard movie to overlook. One of the best touches is how Sharif's face is totally obscured by shadows as he watches the bride and groom cut the cake; there are also some remarkable shots that literally slide down a ski slope. Vangelis additionally provides yet another memorable composition that appropriately adds much tension at several key points.
#64
(of 83)
for 1976
, between
I Will I Will For Now
and
The Bad News Bears
.
Class
(1983). Hooking up with a much older woman has unforeseen consequences for a shy prep school student in this comedy featuring Jacqueline Bisset as the older woman in question. The film is well known nowadays for a twist regarding Bisset's identity, but curiously enough, this twist does not come about until nearly an hour into the movie. The film actually works better before the twist is revealed with the focus instead on the very real bond that develops between roommates Andrew McCarthy and Rob Lowe who connect over a mutual love for practical gags and dislike of authority figures. Their first two pranks are in fact arguably the film's biggest highlights (a meeting gone awry at a sister school aside). Getting back to the twist, the key disappointment is that it is not milked for very many laughs, an awkward dinner table conversation aside. The tone of the film in fact shifts in a jolting manner from comedy to drama. Also, Bisset's motives and in particular, her persistence to carry on with McCarthy, do not quite ring true. That said, it is otherwise a solid late career performance for the Golden Globe winning actress. McCarthy and especially a charismatic and charming young Lowe steal the show though, and even with the plot twist, the overall film is about them coming to accept their faults and differences on the pathway to getting an education in life, and while abrupt, the ending perfectly captures just how genuine their friendship is. It is also interesting to see John Cusack and Alan Ruck younger than ever -
rcocean3 — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 04:58 PM)
Mr. Majestyk (1974).
A well done action movie that's always enjoyable. Al Lettieri is damn good as the evil mob boss. Of course, Bronson plays one of those unbelievable characters like Bogart's character in
To have and Have not
. Like Harry Morgan he's just an average joe doing an average job but can somehow out-shoot, out-think, out-drive, and out-fight, everybody and look cool doing it. -
sol- — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 02:29 AM)
I recall reading somewhere that Bronson's melon farmer is apparently meant to be a Vietnam War veteran, which would explain how he can "out-shoot, out-think, out-drive, and out-fight" everyone, but personally speaking, I like the scarce background detail. Like a mother who gains super strength when her baby is in danger, Bronson becomes a top gun when his precious melons are placed in jeopardy (!). Al Lettieri was a bit over-the-top for my tastes, but I enjoyed his interactions with Bronson a lot - especially their first meeting in prison in which Lettieri simply cannot believe how disrespectfully Bronson is prepared to act towards him.
Most people think I'm mad. At least I know I'm mad. -
sol- — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 02:45 PM)
Part 2: All first time viewings this week (no revisions)
AUSTRALIA DAY 2017 Special Viewings
Out on the patio we sit;
And the humidity we breathe;
We watch lightning crack over cane fields;
Laugh and think, THIS IS AUSTRALIA
We of the Never Never
(1982). Agreeing to live with her cattle rancher husband in the Australian outback circa 1900, a young woman finds her preconceptions and views on the world at large changed in this iconic drama, based on actual events. Having never lived outside the suburbs and finding herself with no Caucasian female company at all,
We of the Never Never
at first seems predictable with lead actress Angela Punch McGregor undergoing many trials and tribulations adjusting to her new life. The plot soon thickens though as she befriends the local Indigenous Australians and finds herself at odds with her Caucasian companions (including her husband), who treat the Aborigines as second class citizens. Particularly compelling are the maternal instincts that swell up inside her as she bonds with a young Indigenous girl without strong parental figures in her life. The question then arises of whether she actually has the girl's best interests at heart by taking her away from her family and basically trying to adopt her. Further questions of inference arise with an Indigenous man who she tries to force to take medicine, and it is all endlessly engaging as we witness a character with more moral fibre than those around her wrestling with whether or not her generosity is in fact beneficial. The less said about the strained relationship with her husband and Arthur Dignam's hardly remarkable performance the better, but this is Punch McGregor's film all the way with a special mention to the breathtaking majestic landscape photography that makes the outback seem more alluring than ever.
#24
(of 116)
for 1982
, between
The Year of Living Dangerously
and
Beyond Reasonable Doubt
.
Future Schlock
(1984). Set in the near future after the "middle class revolution of 1990", two nightclub performers from a working class ghetto spend their days tricking the gullible middle class suburbanites in this offbeat Australian comedy. Some of the duo's pranks are just plain silly (putting lobsters in toilet bowls) but the majority of pranks sharply poke fun at how unquestionably compliant the post-revolutionary suburbanites have become, with couples fleeing their homes after being told on television that every brick ever made is faulty. The nightclub duo also trick suburbanites into burying cars and painting children green (!). In addition to this delightful satirical edge, the film is a magnificent feat of art direction with a crazy sideways house in which the duo reside: light fixtures and tiles on opposite walls and a doorway on the side. The film would have been better though without a side plot involving two middle class police officers tracking down the pranksters. One of them talks with a poorly dubbed squeaky voice akin to nails on the chalkboard while the other is obsessed with height - neither of which makes for particularly funny running gags. A more interesting supporting character comes in the form of a suburbanite who briefly joins the duo after enjoying their sense of humour at a party that they crash, but truth be told, leads Mike Bishop and Mary-Anne Fahey are charismatic enough on their own to carry the film, balancing bizarre cabaret routines with memorable scenes in which they stick it to the conformist suburbanites who have grown afraid to think for themselves.
#41
(of 118)
for 1984
, between
Cloak & Dagger
and
Revenge of the Nerds
.
Dead-End Drive-In
(1986). After their tires are stolen while making out at a drive-in theatre, two Sydney youths find themselves trapped in the drive-in theatre, unable to phone for help, along with several social misfits in this absurdist thriller from
Turkey Shoot
director Brian Trenchard-Smith. The film is quite slow to warm up (it takes 25 plus minutes for them to reach the drive-in) but once it gets going, the film rarely lets up, milking the outrageousness of the offbeat premise for all that it is worth. Initially there is much mystery as to why they have been trapped; with food coupons and many amenities, the drive-in has clearly been designed for long-term living. Even more interesting is how many residents prefer living in the drive-in to the outside world; "I was four years out of work, nowhere to go" states one happy resident. As the protagonist's girlfriend quickly grows to like the place too, the film offers a satire of relationship commitment as he soon finds himself forced to live with a woman who he saw as no more than a 'squeeze' day-in, day-out. The film loses some edge in the final half-hour as immigrants are shipped into the drive-in, with the film adopting a tiresome racial tolerance stance as it becomes obvious that the drive-in is a government sanctioned facility for 'undesirables'. Even with a weak final third though,
Dead-End Drive-In
is po -
TrevorAclea — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 04:17 PM)
Glad to see someone else discovering this: it's one of those film's from the Australian New Wave that's pretty much fallen under the radar in the intervening decades. It was a real surprise for me: sounding like one of a thousand other woman-making-her-way-on-the-frontier movies, albeit set in the Australian outback, it actually turns out to be a terrific piece of old-style epic filmmaking on a grand scale. The unexpected casting pays dividends: Angela Punch McGregor conveys just the right strength of character for someone simultaneously trying to fit in where she's not wanted and who is still open to what those around her have to offer, white or Aborigine, while unlike you I thought Arthur Dignam's very unlikeliness as a cattle station manager works in his favour (in the documentary on the Australian Bluray and DVD he recalls his own amazement at being cast). Gary Hansen's scope photography is truly breathtaking, and director Igor Auzin's mastery of the frame without losing sight of his characters is so impressive that you wonder why he only made one more feature (though going wildly overbudget to the point of having to leave part of the script unfilmed may account for it). The 2.35:1 ratio is not just window dressing either: not only does it stress both the vastness and hard beauty of the place, but it also serves to highlight the marginalization of the various characters by class, gender or race. Pretty terrific, it's a shame it's not better known thesedays.
"Security - release the badgers." -
sol- — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 02:33 AM)
Curious to hear that
We of the Never Never
has fallen under the radar overseas (though the film's mere 269 votes on this site is telling). The film is very well known down here; one of those iconic Australian films that I had always intended to one day see and Australia Day this year proved the perfect opportunity.
I suppose you have a good point about the casting of Arthur Dignam; certainly he is a bit of an outsider himself when he comes to the cattle ranch, though he seemed to adapt to the lifestyle much quicker and with far less conflict than Punch McGregor. I have the Blu-ray Disc, so I will give that documentary a whirl at some point. I did like Dignam quite a bit in
Dead Kids
(aka
Strange Behaviour
), so I certainly have nothing against him as an actor.
Most people think I'm mad. At least I know I'm mad. -
TrevorAclea — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 09:43 PM)
It is curious, but one thing I've noticed working in different countries is that each of them tends to have a different cannon of revered 'foreign' films. There are always a few major titles that you'll find everywhere like The 400 Blows or La Grande Illusion, but also plenty of anomalies that strike a chord in one particular territory (like King of Hearts in the US or Norman Wisdom films in Albania) but are out of circulation and barely known elsewhere. With Australian cinema there's the Peter Weir film everyone remembers (Hanging Rock - Gallipoli's reputation overseas also seems to have faded with time), the odd title people know even if they haven't seen it (My Brilliant Career), a couple of British films made in Oz that get lumped in (Walkabout, The Overlanders) and a lot of films that only get mentioned when talking about an Aussie director who moved to Hollywood and made it big as a sort of prelude to his 'real' career.
I think in part it's because virtually none of the New Wave films were studio pictures. They were picked up cheap by indie distributors, many of whom went bust before the video revolution. Add to that the fact that so many films made before the 90s in Australia just weren't properly stored or preserved because the companies that made them went under and there wasn't the money to restore them, which just kept them out of circulation. Look at the huge problems even finding a print of Wake in Fright to restore.
Still, I'm glad that it still has an audience in its home territory.
"Security - release the badgers." -
kijii — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 03:03 PM)
The Founder (2016)
This is a movie I wanted to see because of my own interest in the story. My first job, for which I received my first pay check, was at my local McDonald's in 1959 when I was 16 years old. As a high school student, I received 80 cents/hour. The McDonald's then was just like the one shown in the movie and I wanted to see how accurate the
portrayal in the movie was. As it turns out, it was pretty accurate with buns, burgers. fries, a barrel from which the coke/root bear came, orange drink, and shakes. (The only difference I could find is that we wrapped the burgers in front of the customers and placed them in a warming bin until sold. There was no slide though from the grill to the warming bin as shown in the movie.)
At the time only young boys and men could work there. (That was just the rule back then.) Our uniforms consisted of a paper hat with "Speedy hamburger" logo on the side, a white shirt with the McDonald's logo on the pocket and sleeve and an apron (all of which we could get at work without any cost to us).
Most of us were familiar with the fact that Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) discovered the idea of fast food from the original McDonald's brothers, Nick (Dick Offerman) and his brother Mac (John Carroll Lynch). What I was not familiar with was who Ray Kroc was, what his background was, and the overall story of how he finally "bought out the brothers."
The split was one that didn't happen overnight since Kroc and the McDonald brothers did try to work together for a while. The problem came with the idea of franchising the company all over the country, arguments of how to keep quality control over all the franchises and keeping the drive in the same as the McDonald's originally conceived of it.
All three men were innovative and contributed to the idea, but Ray Kroc was the one who wanted the companywith its Golden Arches an American icon symbol of America: Why shouldn't the Golden Arches be as popular as the crosses on churches and the American flags on local community buildings? Kroc had been a town-to-town salesman of all sorts of things (from paper cups to multi-spindle milk shake machines) for years before he discovered McDonald's. But, he was a dreamer too. Though he lived he Illinois with his wife, Ethel (Laura Dern), he often spent more time on the road than he did at home.
This is not a essential movie by any means, but it is an interesting biopic about a man from the 1950s who was revolutionary in fast food franchising. He had to learn that franchising dealt not only with the industry itself but also real estate dealing too. -
ebossert — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 03:52 PM)
I started posting videos of my DVD collection recently. Here's the playlist:
Here are the films I saw the last few weeks.
Highly Recommended
Early Summer (1951) (Japanese Drama) (repeat viewing) Director Yasujiro Ozu contributes this great story about a young woman who is being pressured to marry by her family members. The most entertaining moments come by way of the various discussions and debates over marriage, which are frequently humorous. Setsuko Hara carries this movie with her fresh, playful, and wise demeanor. Her interactions with the various family members are very good.
Operation Mekong (2016) (Chinese Action) The Chinese government sends a band of elite narcotics officers (led by Hanyu Zhang and Eddie Peng) to the Golden Triangle to uncover the truth behind the murders associated with a huge methamphetamine recovery. The action design is mostly gritty and diverse, with an emphasis on urban apprehensions and special ops strikes that involve gunplay and hand-to-hand combat. This creates a sense of thrill and suspense even though it does get unrealistic (especially in terms of how much damage a few characters can take). This is neat stuff, incorporating some creative equipment and technology, as well as one of the coolest dogs in recent memory. There's plenty of bloody violence too, with a few intense scenes involving children and oppressed villagers. There are some gorgeous natural environments, as well as some great overhead shots of various country locales. Plot and character development are thin (they basically move from place to place for infiltrations or strikes), but this is frenetically paced and well-acted. International conflict and cast are nicely crafted together. No nonsense crowd-pleasing action from Dante Lam.
All About Eve (1950) (American Drama/Romance) (repeat viewing) A fan insinuates herself into the company of an established but aging stage actress and her circle of theater friends. The interesting element here is that for much of the film one is unsure if Eve is a well-meaning fan or a manipulative wench. Also, despite the constant complaining of the aging actress, one can understand her frustrations and paranoia. Performances are very good by everyone and the script is well-written. There are a few genuinely funny scenes peppered in as well. The restaurant sequence near the end is awesome. Heck, the entire final 40 minutes are awesome.
XXX: The Return of Xander Cage (2017) (American Action) Extreme athlete turned government operative Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) comes out of self-imposed exile, thought to be long dead, and is set on a collision course with an international team of renegades in a race to recover a sinister and seemingly unstoppable weapon known as Pandora's Box.
This is easily the best paced and purely entertaining big budget Hollywood action film in a while, and it's certainly more entertaining than every single superhero movie from 2016.
Don't get me wrong, because it is an incredibly stupid film, but it's also damn entertaining from start to finish. For example, Donnie Yen is finally allowed to do what he does best in a Hollywood movie. It's not rocket science let the guy kick some rear-end. The action is completely ridiculous, but it's certainly plentiful enough and has good enough quality to be satisfying. The cast really seemed to have fun while making this. The big negative that popped out to me was the awkward sexual innuendos near the beginning, which felt very out of place and cringeworthy. Other than that, this is fantastic action trash that everyone should support.
Recommended
XXX (2002) (American Action) (repeat viewing) A notorious underground rush-seeker (Vin Diesel) deemed untouchable by the law is coerced by the NSA to cooperate with the government and infiltrate a Russian crime ring. People who dump on this movie must have conveniently forgotten some of the awesome, practical stuntwork that was performed using wide camera shots. And even some of the CGI stuff is fun (e.g., the avalanche). There is some conventional spy stuff mixed in (e.g., gadgets and a final disarmament sequence), but it's still sufficiently entertaining. Sure, the story is generic and contrived, but I liked the actors and the plot keeps moving along nicely. Asia Argento is hot in this too.
Harmony (2015) (Japanese Anime Sci Fi Drama/Horror) In a future period called the Maelstrom, nuclear war and disease have plagued and destroyed the world, including the United States. To prevent new horrors, the world was divided into several smaller states. Each state is defined as an ethical, solidarity and futuristic society which is controlled by facilities where nanotechnology is used for medical purposes, to allow better living. A young officer begins an investigation to discover the truths and threats behind the perfect world. The protagonist's complete distain for this society drives the film. The script focuses heavily on narration and dialo