Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Tiffany the Doll (Felicia Rivers, 2022)

Yeah its about an army of evil sex dolls. For its budget range the performances are actually not bad and there's some fun moments throughout but i do wish there was more to the kills. Also the second tubi movie in a row that just ended out of nowhere lmao.

I enjoyed this one too. It's funny and the cast is great. It's definitely underrated.

1st Rewatch...Director Hector Babenco gets the lion's share of the credit for this meticulously crafted blend of political drama and romantic fantasy that I enjoyed more on this rewatch. Set in a South American prison, we meet two very different men who are sharing a cell. Luis (William Hurt) is a gay man who is in jail for sexual misconduct with a teenage male. Valentine (Raul Julia ) is a political prisoner who is being held because of certain information he is believed to have but won't disclose. We watch as the two men pass time in their cell with Luis telling Valentine about a favorite movie of his that he's actually making up. Despite their differences, the story gets a little cringy with a sexual tension that is developing between the two men despite the fact hat Valentine is straight, We also drawn into the full production of Luis' movie being created in front of us in gorgeous black and white with lavish production values shockingly contrasting with the bleakness of the jail cell, but as the film moves toward the halfway point, we learn there is so much more going on here than a possible affair between two male prisoners. Babenco's attention to the look of this film is unprecedented, as well as the two performances by Hurt and Julia in the starring roles. Hurt won the Oscar for Outstanding Lead Actor that year and Julia won the Golden Globe for Outstanding Actor in a Drama. An intense and moving drama that provides surprises along the way. Actually turned into a Broadway musical many years later, but I say, stick to the original.

2nd Rewatch...The Scorsese/De Niro team up again for this somewhat effective remake of the 1962 classic. De Niro plays Max Cady, an ex-con who is released from prison after 14 years and wastes no time in going after his attorney (Nick Nolte), who Cady believes dropped the ball on his case. Despite a bone-chilling performance from De Niro that earned him a sixth Oscar nomination, I have trouble getting behind this version of the film because, except for Max Cady, the rest of the characters in the movie are made to look like freaking idiots, not a brain anywhere in sight. That scene at the school with De Niro and Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis is still one of the cringiest movie scenes ever made.

I decided to get a jump on the holiday-themed fare, and Happiest Season seemed like the ideal place to start - a cynic might say this movie is just a lot like the typical Christmas-set movie, but, my goodness - what a cast!

A lot of my favorite actors are in the movie - Mackenzie Davis, Kristen Stewart, Aubrey Plaza, Mary Steenburgen, Alison Brie, Daniel Levy... and they even got Victor Garber to play the cranky old dad!

With a cast like that, and a rainbow-themed story, it's hard to find anything to dislike about Clea DuVall's second directing outing. Sure, it has the same weak spots as most holiday movies, and the characters here don't sound anything like real people. And it is a bit uneven when it comes to balancing the moments of broad comedy with the "serious" and dramatic ones.

Having said that, you could do a lot worse with the holiday fare that's out there. I'm very surprised this hasn't already become a season classic!

P.S. I am seriously thinking about importing the Australian blu-ray of this movie, which is supposed to have some deleted scenes and a gag reel!

I really liked Kiss of the Spiderwoman. I read the book recently but I think it works better as a film, because it's films he is describing and it's just better seeing those play out visually. There's also the figure of the Spiderwoman herself who is more of a presence in the film.

Just watched this a couple of hours ago and gave it the same rating you did.

The Sweet Smell of Success 8.25
It passed the time nicely, and was in places beautiful to look at.
To me it's more of a cult film though than a real great. It kept reminding me in some ways of Touch of Evil, but not quite as effective (wouldn't surprise me at all if someone important worked on both films?).
It seemed prime material for a spoof, and seemed to me to take itself a bit too seriously. I didn't think it strung together all that well at times. For the first half hour or more I didn't really know what was going on, or even what type of film it was trying to be. It also seemed to rely quite a bit on some contemporary gangster cliches and street words, which didn't really give it the sincere kind of realism I think it was striving for.
It was well into the movie before I realised the serious gangster character that Lancaster's part was supposed to be.
Decent entertainment though, and some lovely camerawork. Glad I watched it.
I think it's the first time I've seen Curtis in a completely straight role (except for the prison escape movie), and I thought he did a good job.

Only Angels Have Wings (1939, Howard Hawks) - A

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"A candy colored clown!"
Member since Fall 2002
Top 100 Films, clicky below

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Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964, Jacques Demy) - A+

Kiss the Girls - 5/10

By Temple Hill Entertainment / Paramount Pictures - IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77176410

Smile 2 - (2024)

I had to really grit my teeth before watching this, because I've been let down badly by sequels over the years (the last time only a few weeks ago when I went to see the second Joker movie - which was bad in almost every way it could be.) Fortunately, this is a "if you liked the first one" kind of movie - which I guess doesn't bode well for those who hated the first Smile, but I doubt they'd be rushing to see this anyway. It delivers what the first film did - only a little more so, and a little harder and faster. No surprise really - that's something you learn in Sequels 101 at college - more of everything. You'd have to have lived in a cave not to know that this time the smiley-suicide demon latches on to pop star Skye Riley (a fabulous Naomi Scott) - which allows for many unique and spectacular set-pieces. I had a great time watching this, but at the same time I felt a little empty when it ended - there's nothing new in this one, although it does end in a kind of apocalyptic fashion, and it relies very heavily on massive jump scares (which are effective nonetheless.) When Smile came along I kind of liked what a lot of people hated about it - the way it's a pastiche of all the successful horror trends in the past decade or two. It's a little bit of Drag Me to Hell, a bit of It Follows and a bit of Sinister and The Ring - along with many others. I think that's a little commercial and a tad cynical, but I also saw it in a theater full of screaming people which was a terrific blast. I had a blast watching part 2 as well, so although it may well be horror junk food, I ate it with relish regardless and now I just hope that the third chapter goes for broke like they seem to be promising at the end of this.

7.5/10

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I've watched Sweet Smell of Success a handful of times, and it gets better every time. I love the film to pieces. Now I want to watch it again... It's one of my favorites.

I watched Lady Beware this afternoon. It's really good. Ginger Rogers plays something of an heiress who is connected as a relative of victims of a murderous plot. I watched it on Tubi if you're interested. I'm in the middle of Kangaroo on Tubi right now. I need to get back to it.

I'm going to have to check out Smile 1 and 2. I keep reading positive things about them so I am succumbing to my curiosity. No one strong-armed me into watching them. I am just keen on my own.

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I destroyed the dastardly dairy dame! I made mad milk maid mulch!

Mad Dog and Glory (1993)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

Are they Bill Murray and Robert De Niro?

I'm going to watch some Kangaroo until I can't stay awake. It's an understated film that relies on its performers to carry the film, which in this instance is a good thing since the acting has been really good. I've dug it so far.

I did wonder actually if it's one that gets better with a repeat viewing. Will give it another try.

I first watched the film four or five years ago on Turner Classic Movies (I recorded it) (I know where I watched it so I have a general gist of a time frame) and then the next day I regretted deleting it, which was a habit, because I wanted to watch it again, so I bought the film, and kept digging it more and more with each subsequent viewing. I think I pick up on more nuances and subtleties every time I watch it, and catch more of the progression so I recognize more details.

The screenplay is snappy it's awesome. Sweet Smell of Success is definitely a 50s film, and I say that with as much admiration as possible. I used to like to write snappy dialogue too (now I don't write more than four or five lines at a time) so it's neat to see someone else write like that on the big screen.

Please don't feel like you twisted me into reluctantly feeling the urge to watch the film again. While I do have a few films I need to watch first, I won't mind watching Sweet Smell of Success this weekend.

Hooper, 1979





First off, let me just say that I saw this when it first came out back in 1979. I had just turned 8 years old, and for some reason, my mother, who was a big King fan, thought this would be a fun family film to take in together. When Danny Glick came floating up to the window in the mist, I was pretty much all done. I did try to stick it out, making it as far as the coffin scene with the gravedigger in the cemetery, at which point I beat feet to my bedroom to hide under the covers.

Needless to say, those scenes still to this day strike some deterministic nerve, creeping me out big time. The film on the whole holds up pretty well. It's well cast, well acted and the master vampire is pretty scary. The problem is that it was a two-part TV miniseries, so it is padded with quite a bit of filler content. I would love to see a stripped down 2.5 edit that removes some of that content.

Still, for a 1970s TV miniseries, Salem's Lot is pretty strong stuff. Has a great fall vibe to it, also.

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The above quote comes from Toy Story, in a climatic moment where Woody confronts their nemesis, Sid, who took joy in torturing and destroying toys. But that's more or less the spirit of this short from 1907. The Doll's Revenge follows two quarreling siblings (Bertie and Gertie Potter). When their father brings an animated doll to the girl, the brother decides to destroy it. What he doesn't know is that... toys can see everything!

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

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