Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Josef von Sternberg's silent classic may not be the first gangster movie ever made, but it is certainly credited as being the one that made moviegoers fall in love with the genre.

The movie also marked the beginning of a long and fruitful 8-year period of Sternberg at Paramount, where he would go on to make a few other classics, including some memorable films with Marlene Dietrich.

Underworld's staggering success made it the first movie in the US to have round-the-clock showings; people in the late 20s couldn't get enough of this new, raw gangster action!

The film's success also extended to screenwriter Ben Hecht, who won the first-ever Oscar for best original screenplay when the Academy held its first awards ceremony in 1929.

I almost fell asleep watching the trailer for this. It's a sad state of affairs when you can't manage to string together enough interesting moments to make your movie at least appear palatable.

Umpteenth Rewatch...One of my favorite Carrey comedies that I never get tired of re-watching. Carrey plays a divorced workaholic attorney who has neglected his son so much that, at his fifth birthday party, the child makes a birthday wish that his father can't tell a lie for a whole day and the wish actually cmoes true. The guy can't tell a lie for 24 hours which, of course, complicates his life and career to no end. This movie is funny as hell, features a terrific cast supporting Carrey and still gets my vote for the funniest outtakes shown during the closing credits.

5th Rewatch...Robbed of the Best Picture Oscar of 1994, this sweeping and emotionally charged epic just seems to grow richer with each viewing. It's the story of a young banker named Andy Dufrane who goes to jail for the murder of his wife and his lover, even though he didn't do it. We thjen watch Andy go through the typical "fresh meat" routine we always see in prison movis, but we watch Andy not only learn how to survival prison but how to improve the conditions and eventually overcome them. Based on a novel by Stephen King, director Frank Darabont, who also brought another Stephe King story to the screen The Green Mile, employs sp[ectacular production values and a sensitive directorial eye to this story that makes you wait for a happy ending, but the journey is well worth it. Tim Robbins offIcially became a movie star with his performance as Andy and Morgan Freeman earned a Best Actor nomination for his performance as Andy's best friend, Red. Still scratching my head as to how Forrest Gump won Best Picture over this.

1st Rewatch...A superb ensemble cast is the main selling point of this sparkling 1952 comedy about a dotty justice of the peace who marries five couples before his license was actually valid and no one noticed for two years, so the five couples are informed by letter that they are no longer legally married. Funny thing is, this news is only a bad thing for one of the five couples. My favorites of the five stories are Fred Allen and Ginger Rogers as the stars of a radio show whose show is contractually dependent on their marriage; Marilyn Monroe and David Wayne as a couple who think they have to re-think their lives because Marilyn can no longer enter beautiy contests for married women; and Louis Calhern as a wealthy businessman who is about to be taken to the cleaners by his gold digging wife (Zsa Zsa Gabor). Victor Moore is a riot as the justic of the peace at the center of the nuttiness and yes, that's Oscar winner Jane Darwell playiing his wife. This one is a lot of fun.

1st Rewatch...This is a slightly sanitized , fact-based story of a wealthy sociality named Lee Ann Tuoy who takes a young black homeless man into her home named Michael Ohr, who would eventually becme the 2009 number one draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens. This is a true story about real people but it has this feeling of being "cleaned up" for the silver screwen. I also felt the relationship between Michael and Lee ann" son, CJ was a lot more interesting than the relationship with Michael and Lee Ann. Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for Best Actress, but personally, I can think of at least four other performances of hers that were better, though I think she looked great as a blonde.

5th Rewatch...People are very quick to rag on this version of the Jule Styne Stephen Sondheim musical that originally premiered on Broadway in 1959 starring Ethel Merman. Bette Midler starred in this version, originally broadcast on CBS, playing what is, arguably , the greatest female role in musical theater, Mama Rose Hovick, the narcissistic show biz mom from hell who made her daughters' lives miserable by making them into vaudeville stars as a way of living out her own show biz aspirations. Midler really sinks her teeth into ths role, giving the performance just a taste of crazy, which fits the character perfectly. Cynthia Gibb is a little one-note as the tomboy-ish Louise in the first half ot the show, but she really shines when Louise becomes Gypsy Rose Lee. Also gotta love Chrstine Ebersole as Tessie Tura. And Midler nails "Rose's Turn."

Umpteenth Rewatch...This instant classic still brings the funny it did 40 years ago, thanks to a masterfull comic turn by the late Dudley Moore as a millionaire drunk playboy who has to marry a woman he doesn't love to inherit $750,000,000 but instead sets his sight on a poor waitress from Queens (Liza Minnelli). The Oscar-nominated screenplay is filled with zingers and Moore and John Geilgud. as his acid-tongued butler, Hobson, know exactly how to handle them. Moore receved a Best Actor nomination for his performance and Gielgud won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his perfect performance as Hobson. The song "Arthur's Theme" also won an Oscar. If you've never seen it please treat yourself. The film inspired a terrible sequel and an even worse remake, but this film is gold.

Cutter's Way (1981)

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The People vs Larry Flynt - (1996)

It had been such a long time since I first saw this that it was pretty much like seeing it for the first time. I'd never felt a really great urge to rewatch it, to tell you the truth. Obviously, I didn't really become inspired by the man this is a biography is about - not as much as I did Andy Kaufman in Miloš Forman's Man on the Moon (which he made right after this.) Free speech is important, but we're not talking about someone who was fighting for his right to do anything but keep his business making profits. I don't think he should ever have been thrown in jail however, and it saddens me that he was shot (the film never explains, but the assassin, Joseph Paul Franklin, tried to kill him because he'd featured interracial couples having sex in his magazine. He was a white supremacist.) The movie keeps things light, despite all the drug addiction, pornography and court cases scattered throughout - and Harrelson makes Flynt seem like someone who was a little mentally unstable, and apt to adopt crazy beliefs and display bizarre behaviour. This led to the actor's first Oscar nomination. I'd forgotten that Courtney Love was in this (she's also in Man on the Moon I think), along with Edward Norton, Crispin Glover and James Cromwell. The flashy, gaudy, money-tainted side of America gets a good airing in The People vs Larry Flynt - with Flynt's many lawsuits making up the bulk of the movie.

I wonder if Larry Flynt's speech patterns radically altered as he got older, because Woody Harrelson suddenly pivots around 2/3rds of the way into this film into giving Flynt a pronounced drawl.

6/10


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The Longest Day - (1962)

I went through a Cornelius Ryan reading phase - things get pretty technical, but I like the fact that painstaking research has been done, and you get a real feel for the brutal realities of war. This film is remarkable when it comes to production values, and stays true to many of the anecdotes that come from the novel - the sheer level of talent on display makes up for what's missing compared to what we'd see today - a real depiction of horror. Still - on a movie-making level this film is a staggering achievement - I'm awestruck just watching it sometimes, knowing full well how much effort went into making this the foremost film that depicted the events of D-Day. Who gave me the most pleasure just watching them? Richard Burton I think.

8/10

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Umpteenth Rewatch...Love this cheesy but entertaining disaster flick about a fire breaking out in a San Francisco high rise, complete with a once in a life time all-star cast, most of them in pretty thankless roles, but the movie remains watchable since 1974. Believe it or not Fred Astaire received the only Oscar nomination of his long and distinguished career for his work in this film.

Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)

I watched 3 documentaries over the weekend, and this is by far and away the very best of them. This is absolutely wonderful, and if there is any justice, it should be nominated for an Oscar.

Will & Harper is, in most ways, a very old-fashioned road movie, with Will Ferrell traveling across the country with his newly-transitioned friend of many years, Harper Steele (a former head writer for Saturday Night Live).

Now, I know what you're going to ask. Yes, we do get to see a pretty substantial number of other famous SNL members, especially those who were there around the same time as Will and Harper.

But that's really not what makes this a great documentary. When we have seen one documentary released this weekend openly embracing thinly-veiled prejudice and contempt for others, this is the complete opposite - it is a documentary that embraces open-mindedness, human camaraderie, and sticking with people when they're going through tough or challenging times.

It is, in short, about all of the wonderful things that make people be better and help society become more embracing and more caring for everyone.

That's a very discreet and tactful way of putting it. I salute you.

The Unearthing (2015) watched on Tubi. Written, directed and produced by Tristan James Jensen, who was only 16 at the time he shot the film. The film is about three teen friends who meet a ghost. I thought this was pretty good, especially for a young first time director/writer. I especially enjoyed the performances of Riley Yeary and Angelina Masciopinto. It could have been a little longer and developed the story a bit more, but I liked it overall.

Somewhere Quiet, 2023

Meg (Jennifer Kim) is recovering from the harrowing experience of having been held hostage by a kidnapper. Her husband, Scott (Kentucker Audley) decides that his family’s cabin in the woods is the perfect place for them to regroup. But Scott’s intrusive cousin Madelin (Marin Ireland) and strange visions in the woods begin to make Meg question Scott’s dedication to her and her own sanity.

Overstuffed yet underdeveloped, this thriller never quite nails its horror or its drama elements.



FULL REVIEW

Fighting with My Family (2019) - Really wanted to pass this with a 6, but should wait for a re-match (ha!). It's an underdog story so it already had me on its side. Many of the funny bits landed and Vaughn, Frost, The Rock and Lowden did some nice work; the last one especially since he's given the least likeable character and interestingly, his best moments are where he's alone & acting "by himself"...

Pugh plays the confused and insecure part of her character well, but she's less believable in her athletic part. Many crucial moments don't click (how was she never mentally prepared for a common thing in WWE like trash-talk? / the family members are more like friends than family) and feel like wasted opportunities (there's a "move" that she learns from her brother to pull off in the final show-down? why not film it in a more memorable way then?)... the heart is in the right place, but could've used a better approach (look at CODA from a year later). 5/10.

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Speak No Evil - (2024)

2022 Danish film Speak No Evil was one of my personal top 10 films of that year - nobody else really grabbed onto it, but it got my attention. Now, I knew this American remake would probably do a few things I didn't like, but the reason I decided to see it was because I can't pass up a good James McAvoy performance, and I knew he'd have a role here that he could chew on with gusto. That he did, and he was mesmerising as far as I was concerned. Now - can I tell you why I absolutely hated this film without giving anything away? Maybe not if I just say that the changes that have been made, to satisfy the audience, have completely robbed this movie of it's power - and it's also subverted what certain characters represent, which goes a long way to completely erasing any meaning it might have had. This 2024 version of Speak No Evil has been given plastic surgery so it can look more like everything else, and not disturb anyone enough to leave a bad word on a test-screening questionnaire. This movie is much less upsetting, and way more pointless. It's cheap escapism that starts to say something and then changes it's mind and says nothing. Sad thing is, with some more changes it could have had things both ways - but I know that would have been more risky, and we have to consider the bottom line more than artistic integrity. I have to be vague, because the spoilers are massive - but I'm all for the Danish version, and think this '24 version will soon be forgotten. James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis can hold their head up high though - way high. The movie's okay - if you're not like me and can't let go of the fact it's a butchered version of something else much greater.

3/10


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Daniel - (1983)

At it's core this was a really sad story that traces childhood trauma, and it was that which moved me more than the McCarthy era politics being reexamined and flaws in the American justice system probed. Full review here, in my watchlist thread.

7/10


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...And Justice For All - (1979)

Very gritty movie this - with a lot going on adding substance to the main storyline featuring the judge up for rape and assault, and Kirkland's defense of this cruel and capricious man who deems those he sees as beneath him all deserving of the worst abuses the prison system can dish out. Best of all is the passion unleashed from the red hot Al Pacino - possibly the best in the business at the time. "You're out of order! You're out of order! The whole trial is out of order! They're out of order!" Full review here, in my watchlist thread.

8/10

Where Is the Friend's House? (1987)

Se7en (1995)


I probably would have rated this higher if I had seen it 20 years ago, as it does show its age a little. The intelligence behind the story and script is pretty commendable here though.

I'll note that I've heard other people question whether Brad Pitt is a good actor, or just a good-looking actor. He didn't seem to carry himself well in this one, at least not standing next to Morgan Freeman.