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A few reviews

Rogue-theX

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^ 2041? Is that why I can't find an imdb page for it? :p
 

Vultural

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Dear Murderer - 1947 - 5/10

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The opening was one of the longest “prepare to die” speeches I have ever seen.
Twenty minutes.
Suave, cuckolded Eric Portman, visits then subdues his rival. Next, he tells how he learned of the man’s bush brushing while he was overseas, and how he intends to kill him.
Afterward, he spends another five minutes doing the deed and scattering the false trail.
Then all the steam escapes, and the plot plods into police procedural.
Turns out, hot, cheating wife (Greta Gynt) has a history of running around. She’s already lined up her next man snack. Her husband needs roller skates to snuff everyone grazing her grass.
Nice lighting, lot of Noir touches, though this is very much in the British mystery vein.
Alright, at best. Dull and disappointing at worst.
 

Vultural

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Le Moine - 2011 - 7/10
AKA - The Monk

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French film, set in 17th century Madrid.
Foundling abandoned outside monastery is taken in by monks, subsequently raised as one of their own.
In time, the orphan grows into the monastery’s rock star (Vincent Cassel).
Devoted followers from near and far pack the chapel to listen to his sermons, give confession.
Enter the serpent, a new acolyte, clad in an expressive leather mask to conceal the ravages of disease.
Visuals are ravishing, with several remarkable set pieces.
Performances are subdued, troubled, including Déborah François in a supporting role.
An ominous undercurrent builds throughout, but there is nothing in the way of explosive action.
Story is not necessarily the most original, though handsomely presented.
Will prove excruciatingly slow for impatient viewers.
 

Vultural

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The Greatest Movie Ever Sold - 2011 - 6/10

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Watchable, though not particularly illuminating documentary on product placement.
Morgan Spurlock visits image consultants and product representatives, and pitches his notion of having them fund his documentary in exchange for gratuitous advertising throughout.
The consultants and executives are far more interesting than the concept.
At least one of the products I had no idea was still around - so this was a win for them.
Major companies who declined had me scratching my head.
The budget for this film was miniscule. $1.5 million. A major corporation’s investment would have been petty.
Decline. One pled that documentary viewers were too few to matter.
Perhaps. Spurlock remains a recognizable name, however, and documentary viewers are oft times intelligent.
Film was short, humorous, and I did sympathize with company honchos.
Notwithstanding, I do tune out their ads.
 

MusicEd921

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Hi! I didn't see any threads about just discussing a movie we have seen recently that doesn't quite require a full on thread.

With Halloween just passing I filled my DVR with a lot of movies that I had not seen or heard of before. One title stood out that I had heard before, but knew nothing about.....Eyes Without a Face.

Wow what a great movie. For a film from 1959 it sure captured some real creepy atmosphere and the little bit of "gore" they showed had me even cringe a little bit. I think what added to it was the fact that it was a French film so everything was subtitled. I was curious if others have seen it and want to share their thoughts.

There is a dubbed version out there under the very random title The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus (no one in the film is named Dr. Faustus). There is a beaten up copy on YouTube that I haven't had a chance to fully explore, but wonder how it would work with the English dub.

Any recommendations since I enjoyed this one so much?
 

TV's Frink

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musiced921 said:
I didn't see any threads about just discussing a movie we have seen recently that doesn't quite require a full on thread.
[MENTION=5719]musiced921[/MENTION] I merged your thread with this one.
 

Vultural

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Carrington - 1995 - 7/10

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Biopic of Edwardian painter Carrington and her platonic relationship with author Lytton Strachey.
Set mostly in pastoral England, during the Great War and afterward.
Strachey and Carrington entice and embrace various male companions, seemingly to vent their own frustrated passions.
Unlike almost every “creative artist" film I have ever watched, the angst and toil not shown at all.
Emma Thompson, as Dora Carrington, is quite good in this. Also, during the first half of the film, she manages the trick of resembling a twenty year old. Sense And Sensibility was released the same year; while she portrayed another twenty year old, there she looked like a matronly forty year old.
Jonathan Pryce as Strachey is brilliant.
 

Vultural

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Warm Bodies - 2014 - 6/10

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To paraphrase the oft moaned female lament,
“He couldn’t keep it up.”
Zombie film as told from a detached, wry, dryly humorous soul.
Hmm, do zombies even have souls?
Pointedly funny, satirical contrast of disconnected vs dead.
Thirty minutes on, love enters and the edge wilts.
Movie turns romantic, then preachy.
For zombie gourmands, very few unhappy meals in this one.
 

Vultural

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Screaming Mimi - 1958 - 3/10

Bad movie alert >>> “Starring Anita Ekberg.”
Despite mostly bad reviews, what the hey, I loaded this up.
Early on, voluptuous Ekberg emerges from the surf and hurries to take a shower outside the shack.
Nearby is a mental institution, along with a handy escapee clutching a big ole knife.
Two screams later, she’s in the nuthouse herself, traumatized outta her unnecessary mind.
Inside, she falls under the analytical spell of a possessive psychiatrist.
Next thing, they’re both gone, and she’s gyrating her assets, along with chains and ropes, as an exotic dancer.

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Anyway, murder and attempted murder bolster this trashy Noir.
Swear, I’m not making this up.
Still undecided? The Red Norvo combo is the nightclub band, Gypsy Rose Lee is the owner.
Oh yeah, Miss Ekberg has a vicious Great Dane watchdog, but anyone can get past him if they softly recite the Gettysburg Address.
 

Vultural

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Belle - 2013 - 7/10

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In the 1700‘s, naval officer / father drops off his half black daughter to high echelon parents. The small girl is to be raised as proper English lady.
Straight off, I asked the person who loaded this one if it was based on story, script or true life.
Apparently, this was based on real life.
Plot ticks off British involvement in slave trade, as well as varying suitors for the grown lady’s well funded hand.
Rich production values and good cast. Film also underplays most character reactions, a refreshing change from the current Americanizing of emotional behavior.
Couple of nice - if redundant - featurettes with the disc.
 

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Eaux Profondus - 1981 - 6/10
AKA: Deep Water

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Classic French arthouse mystery thriller for the wine n cheese crowd.
Young trophy bride (Huppert) flirts and attracts numerous young swains.
Husband warns each of possible consequences.
Those who heed, flee. Those who abide, however ...
Challenging in that the viewer never knows the relationship between husband and wife, or how much friends and neighbors (island of Jersey) turn a blind eye to.
Measured pace (for modern viewers, read slow) that delivers unexpected jolts.

Based on Patricia Highsmith (Ripley stories) novel.
 

Vultural

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The Man You Loved To Hate - 1979 - 6/10

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Dated, faded looking documentary on Erich Von Stroheim.
Fleshes out the legendary silent director - turned villainous movie actor - eventual emigree to France.
Usual clips from Foolish Wives, Greed, Grand Illusion, Sunset Blvd.
Also unexpected clippings from his childhood and apprenticeship to D W Griffith.
Youthful details are murky as Stroheim more or less reinvented his past once he came to America.
Feuds with studio execs, spiraling production costs, impossible film lengths, risqué material, all elaborated on.
Surprising, to me, how many French films he acted in before Sunset and after.
 

TV's Frink

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Evil Dead 2 (1987)

I saw Army of Darkness in the 90's on VHS, and I didn't even know it was a sequel. I finally caught up to the first Evil Dead on Netflix a few months back and have now seen the missing link. A lot of silly, goofy fun, and I absolutely loved the ending (especially that they went and messed with the continuity yet again for AoD). The only issue I had with this was the low budget, which was part of the charm when it came to the bad effects but just annoying when it came to the bad acting (non-Bruce category).

Six dumb hicks out of eight.
 

Gaith

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Vultural said:
Belle - 2013 - 7/10

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In the 1700‘s, naval officer / father drops off his half black daughter to high echelon parents. The small girl is to be raised as proper English lady.
Straight off, I asked the person who loaded this one if it was based on story, script or true life.
Apparently, this was based on real life.
It's very loosely inspired by this c1779 painting:

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Been meaning to check it out at some point myself...
 

Gaith

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We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks (available on NetFlix Instant)

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My first Alex Gibney doc. If you're going to watch both this and The Fifth Estate, I'd advise watching the latter first; I did. The doc is pretty good, with lots of flashy visual effects (more than the fictionalized movie, probably), but Gibney appears to go too easy on his subjects sometimes. Also, towards the end, there's a brief assertion that now-Chelsea Manning's massive data leak probably didn't do much actual damage, and then we're on to the next thing. Wait, what? Isn't that question a pretty major one for our understanding of the whole thing? Shouldn't we spend some real time on that?

So, a bit superficial, but not in an incoherent or duplicitous way. I'll give it a B.
 

TV's Frink

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Gaith said:
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks (available on NetFlix Instant)
[MENTION=6357]Gaith[/MENTION] that was a review, not a random thought, so....WOOOSH
 

ranger613

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Movember Movie Review: There will be Blood (2007)
Revisiting a classic
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First to get this out of the way-- Its been almost ten years since this came out, and I still feel now as I did about it when I first saw it in the cinema-- enough time has passed that this is definitely now considered a classic, one of the greatest movies of all time. PT Anderson is one of my favorite directors (and probably the best one working today), and this is his masterpiece.

The movie follows ruthless oilman Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis in his best performance) as he attempts to swindle precious oil land out of the hands of a rural American community, and hits a wall in the form of a twisted faith healer (Paul Dano). He encounters tragedy and doublecrosses along the way, but deals with it the only way how: like a true villain. The movie is strong all around, does an amazing job of being subtle and explicit in its emotional and physical violence. It is a character study of a great villain struggling to be human, who you simultaneously root for and are repelled by (much like Raging Bull). This is also one of the best Directed-- where Anderson chooses to leave the camera is Perfect, should be recommended viewing for anyone interested in filmmaking. The set pieces and lighting were fantastic also, creating a visually beautiful picture.

There are many moments of quiet reflection in the film, the opening scenes have no dialogue at all-- we see Plainview's determination and character unfold through his actions alone in the desert. The dialogue when present is super quotable (think Milkshakes). While this movie may not be for everyone, I'm a fan of the great American story, and nowhere if the theme of business vs. religion explored better.

The performances are another thing altogether. This clip alone is what convinced me to watch the movie way back, and I show it to anyone interested in watching a Great performance, and it sets the bar for everyone:

Here is QT on the topic:

Thematically rich and multilayered, this is a must-watch. If you haven't watched it, please do.
Score 5/5 (Masterpiece)
 

Neglify

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You don't need to do HTML code in the forum.
 

Neglify

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HTML code and I have our own private forums for that kind of stuff.
 
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