Rate The Last Movie You Saw

North Dallas Forty (1979)

__________________

[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

Boat People (1982) - Ann Hui's devastating drama following a Japenese photojournalist who learns about the inhumane conditions in communist Vietnam working "zones". Formally simple (compared to other Hong Kong classics I've seen) and pretty straightforward about its intentions - which continues to anger the most left-leaning among us - but it's a harrowing experience nevertheless; and sadly familiar to any citizen who has seen poverty, goverment cover-ups and gunning down of a population. 8.5/10

1st Rewatch....The Cohen Brothers put themselves on the map with this stylish nail biter whose beauty lies in its simplicity and the fact that the only ones who are privy to everything that happens here are the viewers.

5th Rewatch...The bloom has worn of this cinematic rose a bit since, as I was watching it, it occurred to me that people don't hitchhike anymore, but this is still a cautionary tale for picking up anybody on the side of the road with their thumb out. Rutger Hauer is bone-chilling.

Savage Streets -

You may already know that '80s cinema has plenty of cheese, but did you know it has lots of sleaze as well? Some movies combine the two, with this prime example of the teen vigilante subgenre doing just that. I'm a fan of movies that also function as time capsules, and this one achieves this in front of and behind the camera. Getting to see Hollywood Boulevard from this era in all its glory is a treat, as is the soundtrack with exactly the kind of AOR bangers I hoped it would have from start to finish. While Linda Blair was famously trashed for her performance as lead Satin and revenger Brenda, I think her work dovetails with the tone Steinman and company were trying to achieve. As for her target, Jake, Robert Dryer (R.I.P.) might as well have been born to play the role because he makes him out to be as terrifying as he looks. John Vernon also deserves credit for riding a fine line of being dignified and making his X-rated dialogue get under your skin. Speaking of, I confess to watching an edit that heavily chops up the material that besides Blair's performance made the movie an object of derision amongst critics. If you're interested in the 90-minute edit and come up empty in your search, I would not feel bad because with this one’s dialogue and violence, especially in a scene at a bridge, it cuts plenty deep as it is.

This movie does a pretty good job at putting that Margaret Atwood quote about men being afraid of women laughing at them and women being afraid of men killing them - or worse - into motion. It may be foolish to complain about things like taste, subtlety and nuance in movies like this one, but it could use more. Class of 1984 is equally exploitative, but since it has more of these things and where it matters, it is superior. If you're in the mood for something like this and you haven't seen Class of 1984, watch it first. If you have, this one will still check your boxes, but do not expect any extra credit (pardon the pun since they're in high school). It is also just as likely to make you want to take a shower afterwards.

1st Rewatch... Nancy Meyers, the creative force behind films like Private Benjamin, Baby Boom, and the Steve Martin Father of the Bride movies, helms this charming romantic comedy that stars Oscar winner Meryl Streep as Jane Adler, a divorced businesswoman who reunites with her ex-husband, Jake (Alec Baldwin) at her son's graduation ceremony in New York and actually has sex with him, despite the fact that he is remarried to an ice queen with a son who is pressuring him into a having a baby. Jane returns and begins a relationship with Adam (Steve Martin), the contractor remodeling her house, but Jake has decided he wants Jane back. I've mentioned before that I love whenever Meryl gets to lighten up and she seems to really be enjoying herself here, creating viable chemistry with both of her leading men.

Umpteenth Rewatch...Regular followers of my thread know that this film features my favorite Nicole Kidman performance Aided by meticulous direction from Gus Van Sant and a razor sharp screenplay by Buck Henry, this sizzling black comedy is a re-imagining of the Pamela Smart story finds Kidman playing a budding Barbara Walters who feels her dullard husband (Matt Dillon) is getting in the way of her career ambitions so she manipulates a couple of dumb ass high school students into murdering the guy. This is Van Sant, Henry, and especially Kidman at the top of their respective games, not to mention a couple of future Oscar winners named Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck.

1st Rewatch...I have to say it, Cate Blanchett should have won her third Oscar for her extraordinary performance in this pretentious and long-winded look at the life of a female composer and orchestra conductor who is preparing for the release of a book she has written and becoming the first woman to conduct the German Philharmonic orchestra when some moves in her personal life begin to derail everything. Blanchett does make this film worth a look, despite its severe overlength, which really hurts it. And I hate to say it, I have nothing against Michelle Yeoh and understand her Oscar win, but was she really better than Blanchett?

1st Rewatch...Chris Rock really missed the boat here with his remake of the 1978 Warren Beatty film Heaven Can Wait which finds Rock playing a standup comic who gets hit by a truck and sent to heaven where he is told he was prematurely taken and is given the option to occupy the body of a recently murdered millionaire. It's not so much that the remake is a bad idea, but the fact that Rock and his character are black and the dead millionaire is white makes the story racist, offensive, and non-sensical.

Set in 1950s New York City, The Hudsucker Proxy follows Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins), a young and naďve business school graduate from Indiana. When the president of Hudsucker Industries unexpectedly commits suicide, board member Sidney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman) decides to install Norville as a "puppet president" in order to "inspire panic in the stockholder" to devaluate stocks.

There is a certain playfulness to how things unfold on The Hudsucker Proxy, where even something as serious as a suicide is played lightly without feeling disrespectful. There is also a certain simplicity to its story of a man seen as a "jerk" or "imbecile" rising to the top and still succeeding against all odds. This simplicity extends to Norville's plan. Seeing him walk around showing this crumpled piece of paper with a circle drawn in it – "you know, for the kids!" – was enough to make me laugh.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

__________________

Set in 1938, The Rocketeer follows Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell), a stunt pilot that stumbles upon a prototype jet pack that was stolen from Howard Hughes (Terry O'Quinn). In search for it are the FBI, a local crime gang, and a group of Nazi sympathizers. With the help of his mechanic friend (Alan Arkin), Secord assumes the identity of the Rocketeer to protect the jet pack. Meanwhile, he also struggles to keep his relationship with aspiring actress Jenny (Jennifer Connelly) afloat, as she is wooed by movie star Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton).

The first time I saw The Rocketeer was probably 20 or so years ago, but I've always held it close to my heart. What it lacks in star-power and budget, it makes up for in fun and charm. The film doesn't feel as pretentious or overtly serious as some recent comic films, but instead, is enjoyable, adventurous, and breezy. Campbell manages to strike a perfect balance between heroic will and charming naivete, while Dalton is perfect as the hammy Sinclair. Finally, Connelly makes the most of a somewhat underwritten role, while Arkin is solid as Secord's friend.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

Agree with everything you said about Phantom

Cheyenne Autumn (John Ford / 1964)
Bone Tomahawk (S. Craig Zahler / 2015)
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (Kevin Costner / 2024)

Three Westerns... but extremely different in tone and style. Interestingly enough, the connecting thread here is none other than Wyatt Earp. Cheyenne Autumn features what amounts to a special guest-star appearance from James Stewart as the famous marshal (with Arthur Kennedy playing Doc Holliday), and the other two movies star actors who have played him.

Cheyenne Autumn has the distinction of being John Ford's final Western (and next-to-last feature film overall), and it's quite the elegiac, melancholy farewell to the genre. It's the tale of the last surviving members of the Cheyenne tribe, who decide to make a 1,500-mile journey from their reservation to their former homeland after being ignored by the U.S. government. It stars Richard Widmark as a sympathetic Union cavalry captain named Thomas Archer, who is charged with the unpleasant task of preventing the Cheyenne's return; Carroll Baker as Deborah, a Quaker woman who is engaged to Archer but nonetheless feels compelled to accompany the Cheyenne and provide aid; Karl Malden as the hidebound, by-the-book Fort Robinson commander Henry W. Wessells Jr., whose inflexibility ultimately leads to tragedy; Ricardo Montalban and Gilbert Roland as Cheyenne tribal leaders Little Wolf and Dull Knife, respectively; Sal Mineo and Patrick Wayne as the two young trigger-happy hotheads on either side of the conflict; Edward G. Robinson as the Secretary of the Interior; and Dolores del Río as the Mineo character's mother (mysteriously not given any other name other than "Spanish Woman" ) Interestingly enough, the screenplay was written by James R. Webb, who also wrote the screenplay for How the West Was Won two years earlier (and whose Civil War segment was directed by Ford). That film was basically a celebration of the American pioneer spirit, almost an apologia for the ideal of Manifest Destiny (albeit a sometimes critically barbed one), but Cheyenne Autumn almost feels like the necessary counter-balance to the earlier film, dealing as it does with the Native Americans who have been killed, abused and displaced as a result of U.S. government policy. I think both films would make for a very interesting double bill, and they both complement each other nicely. Not only do both films share the same writer, but four of the same actors: Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, James Stewart and Karl Malden. I don't necessarily think the movie ranks among Ford's all-time best, and in particular I think the whole Dodge City sequence (with the aforementioned performances by Stewart and Kennedy) is really out of place (although I understand the purpose it serves as a kind of satirical interjection to lighten the mood a little). But I still think it's a worthwhile film, and I would still recommend it for anyone interested in Westerns or just in the overall cinematic oeuvre of John Ford.

I had read really good things about Bone Tomahawk over the years, but I've only just seen it now. And I have to say I'm extremely impressed. Perhaps the ultimate horror / Western hybrid film, dealing as it does with a fearsome tribe of inbred Native Troglodytes who kidnapped the town doctor Samantha O'Dwyer (Lili Simmons) and a sheriff's deputy named Nick. Sheriff Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell) leads a group of men, including Samantha's injured husband Arthur (Patrick Wilson), on a rescue mission to find them. I suppose that, broadly speaking, you could say that this movie is a cross between John Ford and George A. Romero, but I think perhaps "Howard Hawks meets Wes Craven" might be a better descriptive. I'm very much reminded of Hawks' approach to the Western genre, with its well-rounded, well-written supporting characters and dialogue, as well its ensemble approach, and I'm also very much reminded of something like Craven's original The Hills Have Eyes (1977), with its tale of a family's desperate struggle for survival against a tribe of cannibals living in the mountains of Nevada.

And just this week, the first chapter of Kevin Costner's Horizon saga came out on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD. I actually got the special 4K + Blu-ray combo pack in a steelbook package sold by Walmart. Alas, it doesn't have any bonus features (), but I'm just very happy to own the movie, bare bones and all. I've actually seen Chapter 1 twice in its theatrical run, and I'm keen to support Costner's gradually unfolding dream project in any way I can. I was incredibly disappointed in its lackluster reception at the box office (although at my local theater it attracted a pretty big crowd, even at the second showing I caught), and I sincerely hope that Costner can actually complete his saga and find some effective way of promoting the later chapters better and bringing it to those who would be interested in seeing it. One thing's for sure, whenever the next chapters of Horizon come out, I'll be at the theater on opening day. (Fingers crossed...)

__________________
"Well, it's what people know about themselves inside that makes 'em afraid" - Clint Eastwood as The Stranger, High Plains Drifter (1973)

"I'll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours" - Bob Dylan, Talkin' World War III Blues (1963)

Speak No Evil (2024) This is a significant improvement over the original 2022 film. It's more entertaining, more satisfying, and more believable. James McAvoy is wonderfully menacing here and Mackenzie Davis is quite good too. Alix West Lefler and Dan Hough provide strong supporting performances. For me, this is director James Watkins's best film.

That's interesting. I thought that the trailer made it look almost comically terrible, and McAvoy's performance in particularly looked very scenery-chewing.

I didn't like the trailers for it, but the end result was entertaining and effective. McAvoy does a good job walking the line between villainous and scenery chewing and it worked for me.

I generally don't have a very high opinion of most American remakes of films from other countries; most of them aren't necessary and they seldom capture what made the original so special in the first place.
Having come in with lowered expectations, I did find James Watkins's version of Speak No Evil to be thoroughly watchable, with better-than-average turns from James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis - they're both great in almost everything, so it would be hard not to enjoy a film in which they both crank it up and go to town with it.
I'm not going to compare this to Gćsterne as that would be unfair; the majority of people watching the remake probably have never even heard of the Danish movie on which it is based.
One thing to keep in mind is that this is definitely very much a slow-burn movie for most of its running time, so if you're expecting things to start going sideways fairly soon, you might be a bit disappointed.
With that in mind, I think the film earns its running time, as ultimately it feels like you've really spent some time in an environment that you can see would almost be a place you feel you could relax in... but with something you can't quite name maybe causing you to stop and wonder.

Now that you mention Hawks, I find Richard Jenkins' turn here very much like what a Walter Brennan would've given today.

__________________
HEI guys.

Here's an honest statement: I can't recall the last time I saw a "comedy" as completely unfunny as El Candidato Honesto, a Mexican movie now being shown in some US theaters.
Why this was released to theaters at all, here or in Mexico, is a deeply puzzling question that perhaps nobody could ever accurately answer. With presidential elections this year in both countries, perhaps it was seen as an easy cash grab?
According to the end credits, this is a remake of the Brazilian movie O Candidato Honesto, which to the best of my knowledge never played in the US and does not appear to be streaming anywhere.
That film, apparently, was loosely inspired by Liar Liar. So, if you watch that movie, you'll probably see something far funnier than this uninspired mess, which somehow not only looks consistently ugly, it also manages to make Mexico City look like a thoroughly uninteresting place - which it definitely is not.

Merchant Ivory is an absolute knockout, and an absolute must-see for anyone who has ever enjoyed the Merchant Ivory films.
Were it not for the fact that Made in England was released around the same time, this would easily have been the best documentary about legendary filmmaking teams released in 2024.
But both documentaries are great in their own unique way; and this one benefits from the incredible amount of interviews (both new and archival) with the protagonists and most of the people who worked with them over the years.
I knew next to nothing about Merchant and Ivory for most of the time when I was enjoying their films; the fact that they were a couple for most of their careers simply wasn't something most moviegoers talked about.
Other things that I absolutely didn't know about their filmmaking team include the fact that James Ivory grew up on the West Coast (and went to college in Oregon) and that their frequent collaborator Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was a German-born émigré.
The documentary is just filled with even more astounding information about the couple and their film company, and makes it easy to see why this really has to be considered one of the most formidable filmmaking teams of all time.