Rate The Last Movie You Saw

OMG, I LOVED this movie.

4th Rewatch...One of the best romantic comedies of the 1970's. Seven years after becoming a movie star in Deliverance, Burt Reynolds proved he was more than a good ol' boy action hero in this intelligent and witty romantic comedy that should have earned Reynolds his first Oscar nomination. He plays a divorced writer who begins a relationship with a slightly neurotic teacher (Jill Clayburgh) and then realizes he still has feelings for his ex (Candice Bergen). Reynolds delivers a performance of real substance here and ironically, both of his leading ladies received Oscar nominations and he was overlooked. The film is really anchored by a deft screenplay by Dan Wakefield and James L Brooks and polished direction by veteran Alan J Pakula. That Thanksgiving Dinner scene works because of Pakula. And don't forget those delicious scenes with the divorced men's workshop featuring Austin Pendleton, Wallace Shawn, Alfie Wise, and Jay O Sanders among others Love this movie.

His reverse game is pretty sweet.

13. The Invisible Man Appears (1949/Blu Ray)



This is a Japanese film about a man who is coerced into taking an invisibility potion and using this power to steal a priceless diamond necklace.

As a big fan of Universal's Invisible Man series, I think that this is a decent spin on the concept. It starts out with the obvious set-up of a villain coveting a rare piece of jewelry and then learning of an invisibility formula. From there, it gets more complicated as there is a love triangle, false identities, multiple theft attempts, and the central mystery of who the invisible man really is. The invisible man first shows up without any explanation, which made me think I missed something, but there are flashbacks later that clear up the details.

I ended up liking how the invisible man's backstory plays out. An ambitious man is forced into a life of crime in exchange for the antidote to his invisible state. Like in the 1933 Universal film, the formula has the side effect of making its subject increasingly violent. There's a great scene toward the end where a rival scientist has to subtly turn down a woman's advances because the invisible man loves her and is in the room.

The special effects of The Invisible Man Appears don't quite live up to the Universal films despite releasing over a decade later. The filmmakers here used some of the same effects, but they aren't as seamless. They do the floating cigarette, the chair seat being pressed down, and the head unwrapping, but they are all choppier and have some weird distortions.

Overall, I think fans of the Universal series would enjoy this.

14. The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly (1957/Blu Ray)



Police are baffled by a string of murders with no evidence. After one victim hears a buzzing noise and another points to something flying away, someone theorizes that maybe the killer is a fly-sized assassin. The idea is laughed off until the bodies start stacking up.

This film doesn't have any story connections to Appears and is a much campier affair. The murder scenes are a bit creepy at first, but become laughable once the human fly is revealed. I was expecting some human/fly combination, but it's actually a tiny person swimming through the air.

Human invisibility comes into play because the human fly wants the machine that can turn things invisible, while the police are using it to try to apprehend him. That being said, this isn't the monster battle that some might expect based on the title. It's a crime drama with some cheesy sci-fi elements. It's amusing, but not spectacular.

1st Rewatch...This is an uncompromising and totally riveting look at the end of a marriage that was even a richer experience the second time I watched it. This time around, I did find a deeper understanding to the title...even though this story is about a very ugly divorce, this very ugly divorce is happening between two people who still really love each other, despite the often ugly things that they say to each other and what happen in the courtroom. If the truth be known, Adam Driver's extraordinary performance as Charlie Barber is worth the price of admission alone.

1st Rewatch...As I rewatched this film for the first time in over a decade, I realize I might have been a little hard on it. Yes, the screenplay is still a little on the rambling side, but I also realized there was a plot twist or two that I missed the first time that brought a couple of extra layers to the story that I hadn't seen before. Film editor Lee Haxall also deserves a shout out. The terrific ensemble cast is so good though that it's pretty easy to forgive the story imperfections. Steve Carrell and Julianne Moore are wonderful anchors to the story and Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone displayed their onscreen chemistry here long before La La Land. I'm upping my original rating slightly.

1st Rewatch...This lavishly produced miniseries, originally broadcast on NBC is the fact-based story of a sociopathic con man named Joe Hunt who organizes an elaborate scam to con millions of dollars out of wealthy executives and employees families that eventually goes sour to the point where Hunt has to commit two murders to keep his business afloat. The scripting is slightly overly complex and continuity freaks will notice a lot conveniently lazy police procedures going on , but this is a riveting three hours thanks to the bone-chilling performance by Judd Nelson as Joe Hunt, that earned him a Golden Globe nomination and earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Miniseries.

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Coma - (1978)

I'm old enough to be vaguely aware of when Coma was released, or at least shown on television, but I'd never seen it before. It's actually pretty similar to a film I just watched a few days ago - Extreme Measures. A medical thriller, with all of the elements we're familiar with today. Good lord though - main character Dr. Susan Wheeler (Geneviève Bujold) makes some terrible decisions, such as confiding in a person that's obviously a villain. It all starts when the doctor, working at Boston Memorial Hospital, notices that seemingly healthy people are falling into irreversible comas (one of whom is a young Tom Selleck). When she tries to find out way, she's met with stubborn resistance all the way. Soon there's somebody trying to kill her, and she has to find out why before she meets with a terrible "accident", like the last person who found out. Some great acting talent backs Bujold up - Michael Douglas as her surgeon partner, Richard Widmark as the chief of surgery and Rip Torn. In much smaller, "before they were really famous" cameo roles we can spot Ed Harris, Lois Chiles and Philip Baker Hall. A really top-notch mystery kind of deal. Michael Crichton directed, following up his good work on Westworld. The genre became trashy after the formula was repeated ad nauseum, but here it feels fresh and everything is given a straight-faced, "this could really happen!" vibe. It couldn't though. It's a little bit silly. But I enjoyed it.

7.5/10


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Snow Falling on Cedars - (1999)

Here's another film which has it's heart in the right place, but can't help constantly telling us straight-up that "racism is bad" in a heavy-handed kind of way, instead of using a light touch. The time is shortly after WWII. Kabuo Miyamoto (Rick Yune) is on trial for the murder of a local fisherman. His wife, Hatsue (Youki Kudoh) begs the local reporter (and former lover) Ishmael Chambers (Ethan Hawke) to profess his obvious innocence. Trouble is, San Piedro Island is extraordinarily anti-Japanese, and has been ever since Pearl Harbor - and Ishmael, whose father was ruined because of his pro-Japanese stance, is filled with hate after being spurned by his former lover. We experience some of what the Japanese themselves experienced when war broke out - sent into internment camps, humiliated, robbed of their precious belonging - they were the subject of vile taunts and abuse. Max von Sydow is really great here, as defense attorney Nels Gudmundsson. There are many scenes that will remind you of Terrence Malick - so much that it can't be a coincidence. The cinematography is handled by 3-time Oscar winner Robert Richardson, who was nominated for this film. A slow snowy non-linear day-dream of a movie.

6/10


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Captain Fantastic - (2016)

Rewatch. Captain Fantastic is fantastic. Viggo Mortensen really inhabits his role as unconventional father Ben Cash, raising his six children as survivalists with a bristling knowledge of philosophy, history and literature. When his wife, and their mother, dies, they have to travel into the modern world where they all stick out as exceedingly different - to confront his in-laws (played by a memorable Frank Langella and Ann Dowd). This is the kind of movie that asks a lot of questions - about how kids are raised these days, society and our "keep us safe!" protective, entitled and chubby world. I don't know where on the spectrum the answers are though - that's a very tough matter to resolve for ourselves, never mind find a consensus on.

7/10


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BlacKkKlansman - (2018)

Rewatch. That retelling of the lynching of Jesse Washington gets me every time. Shocking, brutally cruel, and beyond belief. Something of a reminder what we're really delving into during this lighter look at Ron Stallworth's memoir. Uncompromising, and on target.

8/10

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Sputnik



SF = Z


[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it

It lives up to its title, and although I happen to prefer violent movies, as I get older I'm not as into violence played for fun and laughs. This was better than I had expected and should become a Christmas movie staple for many. The cast does well and it's full of action and humor. There are numerous references to both Die Hard and Die Hard 2, and I also noticed a little bit of Home Alone in there. Beverly D' Angelo (Christmas Vacation) is one of its stars. Solid mindless entertainment.

The Whale (2022)

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Lean on Me - (1989)

There's not much restraint when it comes to anything with Lean on Me. When Eastside High School descends into 1980s chaos, drug dealers openly sell their wares, there are stabbings in every corridor, people are ripping the tops and bras off hysterical female students and teachers are needing paramedics to rush them to hospital. When Joe Louis Clark (Morgan Freeman) is done with the place, all of the angelic students move and talk as one, as if they're now in some kind of cult. That's just the language of movies I guess - points must be made and there's never much time to do anything but blast out that message. That message here seems to be "let our educators get tough" - on more than just the students. I have no idea about any of it. As long as I don't have to watch stabbings and kids overdosing, and can watch cheerful kids graduating and high-fiving their teacher instead. Lean on Me does that - but I expect the real story was more layered and complex. So the movie makes me feel good, but I don't take much away from it - it's too simplistic and paints with broad strokes.

6/10


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The Crime is Mine - (2023)

A light comedy here from François Ozon, and it may have been me, but I was pretty much fighting to stay awake during this film's final act. I should know better - I struggled with See How They Run, which has that same kind of genre-specific, staid and dry comedy. Madeleine Verdier (Nadia Tereszkiewicz) voluntarily takes the blame for a murder she didn't commit to improve her career - until one day the real murderer arrives on the scene demanding credit for her handiwork. There are a few really funny moments, but a lot didn't translate for me. Everything is kept very just-so and nothing is being stretched or tested - it's a very polite kind of comedy and I just grew weary of it. A movie has to pick me up and shake me if I'm not to just drift off somewhere else...

5/10

Us (2019)


Tis the season for scary movies...a rewatch and my opinion is the same on this one. Good suspense building, and the plot is intriguing. Something just feels empty about the film overall though.

loved him on MCU and gran turismo

Frankenstein follows Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) as he embarks on the risky quest to create life. The above is his exuberant claim when he apparently succeeds at it. The result, however, seems to be far from a human and closer to a monster, which is how he is called. The Monster (Boris Karloff) is a towering and menacing figure, which goes against his seemingly innocent mind and behavior. Nonetheless, his existence is seen as a threat to the people around them.

Karloff nicely fits the role of the Monster in terms of movement, posture, and overall stature, but Clive is also pretty good as Henry; especially during the first act when you see him truly unhinged and obsessed with this creation. Unfortunately, the rest of the supporting cast isn't as strong. Mae Clarke doesn't really shine as Elizabeth, Henry's fiancée, and the introduction of Victor (John Boles) as Henry's friend who also seems to be in love with Elizabeth, is clumsy at best.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

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The One I Love (2014)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

The Devil's Rejects came out 2 years later, following up on the Firefly family as their three main members: Baby, Otis, and Captain Spaulding (Sheri Moon Zombie, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig), are on the run from the law. Right on their heels is Sheriff John Wydell (William Forsythe) who is obsessed and determined to capture them since the family is responsible for his brother's death in the previous film.

So it's worth highlighting that what you're getting from this film is pretty much along the lines of what you got from the first film. I do think this film is somewhat tamer, but it still relishes in the gore and the torturing of its characters in both sides of the law. The fact that it pretty much follows the antagonists' point of view is an interesting twist, and is clear that the three main actors are having fun with it, especially Haig and Mosely who are wicked good in it.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

Black Christmas
9/10
Much better than those Halloween movies. A true masterpiece really.