Rate The Last Movie You Saw

5th Rewatch...The late Robin Williams had one of the biggest hits of his career with this slightly syrupy comedy about an unemployed actor whose wife (Sally Field) has divorced him, resulting in a custody arrangement where he only gets to see them on Saturdays. That isn't enough for him, so he disguises himself as a woman and gets his ex-wife to unknowingly hire him as her new housekeeper/babysitter. Williams is pretty much the show here and it should be known that almost all of his scenes are improvised. Research revealed that there is a vault somewhere filled with thousands of hours of film of Williams that didn't make it into the movie. It's still a little weird seeing Sally Field play the villain of the piece, the only time she has ever done that if memory serves, though there are attempts to inject sympathy into the character, but it doesn't matter because everyone takes a back seat to Williams here, who won a Golden Globe for his performance.

1st Rewatch...MGM stepped a little out of their comfort zone here with a surprisingly effective blend of musical comedy and melodrama that is so much more entertaining than expected. This is the story of three very different women (Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr) who get hired as Ziegfeld Girls and the varied effects it has on the three girls' lives. Garland's role here is thankless, though she does get to stop the show with "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" and "Minnie From Trinidad". But for me, the best thing about this movie is the sparkling performance from Lana Turner as Sheila, the elevator operator from Flatbush who lets the glitz and glamor of being a Ziegfeld girl almost destroy her. James Stewart also scores as Lana's truck driving boyfriend as does Charles Winninger as Garland's father and former vaudeville partner and we even get Tony Martin's velvet pipes which shine on "You Stepped Out of a Dream". And because it's about the follies, naturally the lavish musical numbers are staged by Busby Berkley. It loses points for being filmed in black and white, but if you're looking for something more than a rehash of Singin in the Rain, give this a shot.

The Menu follows the visit of Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), a young food enthusiast, and his date Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) to the exclusive restaurant of eccentric celebrity chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). They are joined in the secluded place by an assorted group of diners – a food critic, her editor, a wealthy couple, a fading movie star, among others – all of which will receive a series of shocking surprises through the duration of the meal.

The Menu manages to put in front of us a full course of good direction, expert editing, solid performances, and a clever and witty script that manages to be both terrifying and fun. Although I thought the buildup was masterful, I still felt the payoff was less than I desired and there are certain things in the last act that wrap up perhaps too conveniently, but in a way, I still think the film was more than I deserved.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

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The Young Master - (1980)



Drunken Master - (1978)


Double feature with some friends on Saturday night. I've seen both these films (and a lot more of JC movies) many times, especially Drunken Master. I'd rate them 7/10 and 8/10, respectivelly.

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There has been an awekening.... have you felt it?

Halloween! Trick 'r Treat! We've all done it, right? So we've all probably heard some of the above "guidelines", something that either our parents or teachers constantly remembered us during that night. Trick 'r Treat is an anthology film that presents some stories of people that probably didn't stay on sidewalks, went to a strangers house, or went out alone, and how did things turn out for them.

As is usual in all anthology films, some stories work better than others. The first one with Dylan Baker as a school principal handing out candies to kids was probably my favorite. There are a couple of wicked reveals on it that I thought worked great. The second one about a group of kids recounting the "Halloween School Bus Massacre" was good, but felt too distant. Ironically, Sam's actual story, which is the last one, is the one where I feel the director most needed to rein himself a bit in terms of what to show and what not to.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

Ghost Story follows four elderly businessmen (Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, John Houseman), founders of the Chowder Society in the small town of Milburn in New England. Every week, the four gentlemen get together to share tales of horror and ghost stories. But what happens when the lines between story and real life get blurred, and ghosts from the past bring the above statement?

Generally speaking, I agree with most of Wooley's assessment. The film is a bit too long, the pace is a bit off, and the film drags a bit after the halfway mark. However, it does succeed in creating an eerie ambience and a general intrigue about what is happening. The few actual jump scares it has do feel like jump scares, if you get what I mean, but the special effects and makeup are effective, and they do the job.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

Since I've always been a fan of large-format theatrical presentations, I absolutely had to go back to catch this one once again, as the first showing I went to was not an IMAX 70mm presentation.

Sadly, the IMAX 70mm presentation doesn't really do much to improve what is wrong with the movie in the same place; if anything, it actually magnifies the lack of imagination that went into the visual design of the movie.

The IMAX website claims that their 70mm version of the movie "features 54-minutes of IMAX’s exclusive Expanded Aspect Ratio (EAR). IMAX will be proudly presented at 11 global IMAX 70mm film locations."

When IMAX 70mm was used a year ago or so in the release of Oppenheimer, it actually made a pretty big difference, because Christopher Norton had actually used 65mm cameras for at least some of the movie.

With Joker 2, Todd Phillips either didn't actually use 65mm cameras or didn't quite figure out how to get the maximum resolution from them; the parts of the movie in the EAR don't have a lot of additional resolution or sharpness compared to the rest of the movie. In fact, I would say the use of 70mm film for this release is practically unnoticeable.

There's also not anything in the movie that could substantially benefit from a 70mm projection; most of the movie takes place indoors and there are noticeably less establishing shots of the Gotham metropolitan area compared to the first movie.

This is particularly annoying because the IMAX 70mm showings come with a couple of pretty big caveats; theaters showing these prints of the movie are unable to show previews before the movie (which for some people, might actually be preferable) and they also cannot use the theater's closed-captioning system.

Despite being a big enthusiast for special large-screen formats like IMAX 70mm, I am deeply saddened to see it being wasted on movies that don't know how to make the best use of it, when it they could instead have used it to re-release a classic movie like Lawrence of Arabia which would actually benefit from the format.

Even more unfortunate is the fact that, unlike Oppenheimer, the colossal bomb that is Joker 2 might dissuade theater owners from committing to more IMAX 70mm releases, instead of more of them.

Surprisingly, one of the best late-summer movies came into theaters without much publicity or without making headlines as one of the lowest-rated movies ever made.

In its own unassuming way, the movie should provide plenty of laughs and some mildly spooky moments to family audiences for some time to come (I am assuming the home streaming release might be timed to coincide with Halloween).

The premise is simple: a bunch of young kids living in Martha’s Vineyard in the late 90s have to face off against what may or may not be a scary witch.

Still, the film makes the most of its simple premise, and gets maximum milage from two old-timers in the cast: Mel Gibson as a retired former police detective and Lorraine Bracco as a mysterious elderly lady who may or may not be who she appears to be.

This isn't really a horror film, the "spooky" stuff is really aimed at younger viewers although it is still fairly effective in terms of the movie's narrative, and the young kids in the cast are pretty appealing performers.

If you're looking for a fun family film that is ideal for this time of year, then Monster Summer might be your best bet.

Set in Merrill, Wisconsin, the film follows the attack of giant spiders that hatch from a meteor that crashes on a farm. For perspective, the film wasn't that well received back in the day, but regained notoriety when it was featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. The film is also ranked as one of "the 100 most enjoyable bad movies ever made", and I think I have to agree with that.

The Giant Spider Invasion has some bad performances, worst dialogue, poorly conceived characters, weird direction, and campy special effects. Plus, it takes about 30 minutes until we see *a spider* and about 30 more minutes until we see a full giant spider. For a film called "The Giant Spider Invasion", that's not very good, but the film more than makes up for it on that last act.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

Some movies clearly mean well but have absolutely no business trying to do so by means of a motion picture.

What's mostly disappointing about White Bird is that, despite the good intentions of the core message it's trying to sell (be kind to strangers, and don't be intolerant), it really amounts to nothing more than a rural remake of The Diary of Anne Frank; as such it's hard to feel all that much for a clearly fictional story when its real-life counterpart continues to inspire us to this day.

The movie does feature Helen Mirren and Gillian Anderson in small supporting roles, but decidedly doesn't give them nearly enough to do and as a result, their participation in the movie seems like a wasted opportunity.

Saoirse Ronan is undoubtedly a gifted actor, which makes it all the more sad that her talent is wasted in the superficial, hackneyed The Outrun, a movie version of Amy Liptrot's memoir.

I have no doubt that Liptrot's memoir must be a compelling read; however I didn't get a chance to read it before watching the movie, and it's frustrating that the film, which has been fictionalized, doesn't offer anything new in the long-running obsession filmmakers have with alcoholics.

Ronan's performance here is technically proficient, but what she's been given to work with doesn't go beyond a totally two-dimensional characterization of a young lady confronting her alcoholism in one of the most picturesque locations of the UK (the movie was actually filmed in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland).

The authentic locations are gorgeous and definitely make me wish I could take a quick trip to Orkney; it definitely feels like a great place to get away from the rest of the world. However the movie doesn't really have much to offer beyond beautiful, picture-perfect exotic locations.

The film's non-linear structure also doesn't help make the narrative more compelling; if anything, it makes it easier for the viewer to distance oneself from the protagonist.

When the film was over, I had an unexpected urge to revisit Ray Milland's performance in Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend.

SF = Z

Viewed: Netflix



[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

Frenzy (1972)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

By http://www.impawards.com/2024/joker_...deux_ver2.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76516046

Joker: Folie à Deux - (2024)

Wrecked it.



Wait a minute. Before I rate this film on pure reflex, let me reflect on it a little. I mean, up until two-thirds of the way through I thought I was going to buck the trend and really like this film. Maybe, just maybe, judged alone and out of context, this is a good movie. But nothing can take away from the fact that I left a cinema feeling absolutely gutted. Disappointed beyond all measure, and wanting to forget that Joker: Folie à Deux ever existed. I can dig not getting what I wanted, if what I get instead is still something good - but when I'm hoping for a banana milkshake and instead get sprayed with mace right in the face that's a little much. I didn't mind the musical interludes - I didn't think they all worked, but around half worked for me. But the screenplay as a whole felt like it was written to spite the first film. I'm so sick and tired of being chided for getting kicks out of these grotesqueries - it doesn't mean I'm celebrating murder or mayhem. There might come a day when I change my mind completely about this film, and see it in a different light - but at the moment I'm hurting.

4/10


By Max Corbeau - IMDb, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44155329

Gigot - (1962)

I was lurking around a local arthouse cinema which had a room designed with a kind of 'film library' motif, and had various film books laying about the place. One such tome was open at a page where a big picture of a disheveled Jackie Gleason beaming at me beckoned. I read a description of the picture, and it informed me about the film Gigot, directed by Gene Kelly. Gigot is a big mute bear of a simple man who lives in a filthy basement in Paris - kindly, happy and friendly, despite his poverty and the bottom rung on the social ladder he occupies. I knew I'd never get over that image until I saw the actual film, and I did that last night. Kelly was furious at how the film was cut, and disowned it. "So drastically cut and reedited that it had little to do with my version" he said. It was cute here and there, and I thought Gleason made the experience to be much more than it would have been without him. Grasping for another Oscar nomination after his one for Supporting Actor in The Hustler the year before - but it didn't work out this time. If you're not a complete cynic, this might warm your heart a little.

6/10

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Too late I saw it - but, you're welcome to send those thoughts. I'd like to hear a variety of thought on this big release and I'm interested in what you have to say.

Roe, 2014





Watched this to fill the in the 2014 requirement in the Halloween challenge. I had seen this around the time of release, and it's one of those films I ended up conflating with several others of its ilk. I read up a bit about the film this time around, and this was originally a straight doc to be released in 2011 about various haunts around the country, couldn't get proper distro, and was retooled into its current state for a 2014 release. I believe the original cut is kicking around out there somewhere, but I haven't seen it.

It's fine for what it is, but a bit boring on the whole. It has a few tense scenes, but offers very little in the way of surprises, mostly due to the silly decision to attach a piece of the final scene to the start of the film, revealing where it is all headed right away.

Is it a total dud? No. One of the weaker films I have watched this season? For sure.

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Autumn and the Black Jaguar (2024) I thought Lumi Pollack was quite charming and wonderful in the film. The story is just alright. This is a pleasant enough family film. Worth a watch. Currently streaming on Crave (the Canadian equivalent to HBO/Max).

Ellis in Freedomland (1952) Recommended to me by Citizen Rules. I watched this on Youtube. This is like an all star, feature length commercial. It's kind of fun to hear big name stars of that time playing appliances. There is some amusing dialogue. A really unusual film unlike anything I have ever seen. Worth checking out for the unusualness of it all.

It is also available from the Internet Archive!

https://archive.org/details/ellis-in-freedomland-1952

Any movie with Lucille Ball voicing a laundromat can't be all bad!

Mask - 6/10

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