What was the last film you watched?

[Seaviewer]

Speak Easily (1932)
Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante with Thelma Todd in a fairly minor role.
Keaton plays a staid college professor who is erroneously told that he has inherited a lot of money and somehow ends up investing in a Broadway show.
I don't think I've seen Buster Keaton in a full movie before, and I've only ever seen Durante as an old man. 1932 is also the year Todd was romanced by Groucho Marx as another college professor in Horsefeathers, so this was interesting for a number of reasons.

 

[Willie Oleson]

THE HUNGER (1983)



In preparation for the upcoming 1980s decade in the Movie Top 10 I decided to do one last search for possibly overlooked gems. And I hit the jackpot with The Hunger, based on a novel by Whitley Strieber and directed by Ridley Scott's brother Tony.
The film reminds me of (or at least the memory I have of) CAT PEOPLE from 1982, but The Hunger is more avant-garde or perhaps it was meant to be sort of French New Wave.
The result is absolutely fantastic, it's like Total Eclipse Of The Heart meets American Psycho told as a vampire story. It's so eighties it almost hurts, but in the best way possible.
With the insanely beautiful and photogenic Catherine Deneuve as the queen bee vampire I could also see a reference to the female "bitch" empowerment that started in the early 1980s.
Susan Sarandon shows her promise as one of the most talented American actresses or our time, although this could be one of her most bold performances ever.
Stunt-cast David Bowie checks out rather early and we only get 4 seconds of Willem Dafoe (but the fact that he's in it makes me love it even more).

It's quite leisurely paced, especially the first half, which makes the second part seem a little rushed. Nevertheless, the eerie and haunting and tragic ending is very satisfying and beautifully shot.
The score - a combination of classical and electronic - and sound effects are also terrific.

Apparently not a critical or commercial success upon release, Tony Scott would continue his career with the more action-packed crowd-pleasers.
It's a little sad to think what "could have been" but at least we got THE HUNGER.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Castaway (2000)

After having not watched this in many years I wondered how I would feel about it now. It’s always been one of my favorite films although it does have its flaws.

As a little side note before I continue, at the time it premiered I was working at the same company Mr. Hanks represents in the film and would you know I had no interest in seeing it? I just looked at it like “a movie about the company I work for? Now who in their right mind would want to see that? I have enough of that place in my life,” so it was many years before I actually got around to watching the film itself. Of course I immediately regretted that decision.

I know a lot of people get bored with the Island scenes and feel that entire sequence goes on way too long. Yes, watching someone talk to a volleyball can get a little old after awhile. The ending of the film has always been much maligned as well. I won’t get into that in case you haven’t seen it and are planning to but I’ll just say that the ending of this film was never really a huge hit with me either.

Having not seen it for many years though I’m noticing I feel much differently about that ending now. I’ll even call it brilliant the way it was done. What I’ve learned to appreciate is the hidden symbolism at the end. Perhaps you need to look for it a little to find it and most people don’t like that particular kind of ending with a film. I like things more cut and dry myself but I came away from it this time having a newfound appreciation for what they tried to do.

All in all, I enjoyed seeing it again. This movie holds up well in my opinion and I definitely love it more now than I did back then. Of course here it is 24 years after the film premiered and I’m still working for that same little company Mr. Hanks represented so maybe I’m a little biased.

 

[Willie Oleson]

DANGEROUS LIAISONS (1988)



In preparation for....etc, this warranted a re-watch because I didn't remember how I felt about it all those years ago. It certainly looks like something I would have enjoyed.
Well, this time I kinda struggled with the plot - the scheme itself - because it went from this person to that person and then it became all about Michelle Pfeiffer's character and I wasn't sure why.
At the end of the story, Marquise de Merteuil reveals that that had been her intention all along, to make Valmont fall in love with Madame de Tourvel and then persuade him to destroy the love.
But there was nothing in their first conversations that suggested that Tourvel should become part of their plan, therefore it kinda looks like making things up as they go along which gives the film a slightly meandering aftertaste.

Glenn Close and John Malkovich seem to revel in their respective roles of cynical scoundrels, but it's Michelle Pfeiffer who has to do all the hard work and sell the story's urgency, and she does it very well (I believe she played a similar role in The Age Of Innocence, but that was five years later).
Also starring Uma Thurman and the young Doctor Who.

It's only the peculiar casting choice of actress Swoosie Kurtz that makes me realise that this is a French story played by Americans, and it's those moments that takes me out of the period drama.
However, since her character appears to be somewhat bourgeois I wonder if this was a creative/abstract/metaphorical/something decision.

Overall, it's an engaging film to look at but it's not consistently interesting enough to feel emotionally invested (partially hindered by the obvious satire), except for the last part when we witness the downfall of the Marquise.
And for a story about love and lots of sex I think it should have looked a bit more sexier, more Keanuploitation.

 

[Seaviewer]

Four Holidays (2008) aka Four Christmases
Gross-out Christmas rom-com - there's a phrase I never expected to use.

 

[Willie Oleson]

EIGHTH GRADE (2018)



A brilliant character study about being socially awkward during a time in life when being socially accepted means everything, and how that works for young people in the age of social media.
Of course, "misfits" stories have been told many times before but it's usually in the comedy or thriller genre, or the victory of the underdog who transforms into the most desirable person.

The first thing to notice is the surprisingly mundane display of social media and cellphones. One gets the idea that these young people don't use it because they love it, but simply because they know it.
Main character Kayla has her own youtube channel with the purpose to help other people to overcome the obstacles in growing up "successfully" but it looks more like a sounding board to herself.
Objectively, her videos suck big time. There's a lot of "like...like...like" and "whatever" in it - specifically those things that sound so irritatingly modern, and yet somehow it doesn't reflect badly on her character. If anything, I think there's something endearing about it.

In the world of puberty, parents are usually the antagonists, but here's it emphasized by the father who isn't part of her social media life.
Kayla's father is a great guy who gives her all the space she needs but that still doesn't get him off the hook.
There's a funny scene in which he drives her to (something, I don't remember) and he's acting "weird" but only from her difficult, pubertal point of view.
He has to look like "this" but not too obviously, he has to be quiet but not freakishly quiet, and this goes on and on.

While some comedy of the misfit/wannabe is inherent, Elsie Fisher's phenomenal performance also makes it a very stressful experience, and I'm sure that's what it was meant to be.
She never overdoes it but she makes it very easy to see what she thinks and feels.
Not all of us have been this person, but I think many of us have at least experienced what it feels like to be lonely in the company of people.
When the hope to connect fades away there's the urgency to make sure that nobody notices, which, paradoxically, is even more difficult when you're being ignored.
Basically, it requires you to be visible and invisible simultaneously, and while the hysteria inside is building up you find yourself laughing a little bit too loudly when someone cracks a lame joke.

I also loved actor Jake Ryan in the role of Gabe, sort of a mini-Dustin Hoffman.
While I'm not a big fan of emotional sledgehammer pop-song-over-montage-scenes, I was simply blown away by the gorgeous Orinoco Flow.
I've always loved the song but sometimes I need to hear it in a very unexpected context to appreciate it even more.

Eventually she does get a bit stronger but certainly not in a victorious or glamorous way.
Apart from being a beautifully difficult film I think it's also a great reference point to "being young in the first decades of the 21st century". Well, assuming things will change.


PRIDE (2014)



"God, I missed disco" says Dominic West, and that basically sums up the whole film.
Queer As Folk meets Mamma Mia! in this prefabricated, glossy crowd-pleaser that leaves no stone or cliché unturned.
But I'm sure it was nice to leave the cinema with the warm feeling of a pat on the back.

I feel like rewatching THE SQUARE because Dominic West needs to be punished for what he did in this lazy, cookie-cutter piece of British cinema.

 

[James from London]

EIGHTH GRADE (2018)

I saw that! Cos this told me to:

Gucci!

PRIDE (2014)

I saw that! And loved it!

 

[Angela Channing]

But I'm sure it was nice to leave the cinema with the warm feeling of a pat on the back.

I left the cinema fighting back the tears. I've seen Pride 4 times now and cried every time.

 

[Crimson]

And for a story about love and lots of sex I think it should have looked a bit more sexier

Although I prefer DANGEROUS LIAISONS, VALMONT -- released the same year -- plays the story as a sexy romp.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Cos this told me to

Great review, and insightful comment on the universal feeling of "this (any) film is about me".

I saw that! And loved it!

I left the cinema fighting back the tears

You both make me seem like a hateful person, please change your opinion about Pride.

Although I prefer DANGEROUS LIAISONS, VALMONT -- released the same year

How bizarre that someone would decide to do a second Dangerous Liaisons film, and so soon after the first one.

 

[James from London]

please change your opinion about Pride.

On paper, I should have hated it. I fully expected to. But somehow ... it just ... worked.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I was merely intrigued by the story itself, but somehow they made it look like fiction.

THE REMAINS OF THE DAY (1993)



I have no idea how it compares to HOWARDS END (what? no apostrophe?) but I plan to find out.
REMAINS has all the hallmarks of a beautiful Merchant Ivory production, and while I understand that "frustration" and the clash between duty and feelings are central to the story, I found the experience of watching the film a little bit frustrating. And for more than one reason.
The role played by Anthony Hopkins is the epitome of tradition and mild-mannerism, and it goes without saying that he plays it wonderfully.
But with emotions suppressed to the extreme there's no opportunity to create a character that can be loved or hated or admired or appreciated - or any feeling that would qualify when watching films - and I don't know if the end was supposed to be a comeuppance or something else....or nothing at all.
Not that I expected big melodrama in style of Downton Abbey, but when it comes to the poignancy of missed opportunities I think 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD was much more loveable and effective. Even if the reasons for that missed opportunity were quite ordinary compared to REMAINS.

Secondly, there's a very juicy and ominous story playing in the background, starring James Fox, no less.
With the supposedly well-meaning Nazis as the proverbial fox in the henhouse, and James Fox' gullible reaction to that, there's a weirdly strange connection between Lord Darlington and James Fox' Tony in THE SERVANT.
I've seen many stories about WWII but it's never looked so sneaky and menacing and Hitchcockian as it does in REMAINS.
So, yeah, more of that and less of the anxious Darlington servants would have been very nice.
Oh...oh, and thirdly, we never get to see the wife of the new owner played by Christopher Reeve. What if she's a fabulous bitch who would make a TV series sequel necessary? Talk about missed opportunities.

 

[DallasFanForever]

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

This one admittedly never gets old for me. Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei were great together. It’s always worth seeing just for the laughs alone.

 

[Willie Oleson]

WITHNAIL & I (1987)

Here, hare. Here.

I've had a strange day today. Awake for an hour, then going back to bed for two hours - and this repeated itself until I decided at 7 o'clock in the evening that enough was enough. It was time to do something.
No idea why I picked this one, it was one of the first titles that popped up on Prime and perhaps I made the nonsensical and totally useless connection with Clifford T. Ward's "Wherewithall".
The first scenes in the flat of the two unemployed and disillusioned actors look pretty disgusting, and since I was already feeling weird I wondered if it was a bad decision to watch this film today.
But the witty script and frightfully enthusiastic performances by the ten-years-away-from-the-Tardis Paul McGann and Richard Grant as his sociopath friend informed me that I needed to watch it.
Basically, they're playing characters who would love to be in a film like this.

I find it more entertaining than laugh-out-loud funny, although I did make me laugh uncontrollably a few times, and I loved the story's bittersweet ending.
Overall, I think it looks like a grislier version of Absolutely Fabulous. But it needs to be re-watched at least once.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Black Water: Abyss (2020)

Thinking I was being clever, I delayed delivery of my Personal Services DVD until yesterday so I could dive into it last night. But, of course, Amazon deliver up to 10pm, and this didn't arrive until well into the evening, by which time I'd decided to save it for another evening and watch a different film instead.

On a whim this sequel became last night's film. I was aware of it, but had pushed it to the back of my mind, fearing it wouldn't live up to the first Black Water film, which is up there as one of the best examples of its kind.

I did feel a little hope on seeing Andrew Traucki's name as director, since he'd also directed the original, as well as The Reef (AKA the-best-killer-shark-film-that-isn't-Jaws). Likewise, Michael Robertson was a producer here as on the earlier two projects.

The good news is that (with admittedly low expectations) this was a much better film than anticipated. All the same, many of its strengths come with a flip side.

The film does create a sense of claustrophobic doom with its setting and the situations (swimming through dark, flooded, labyrinthine tunnels with no idea if there is even air to be found at the other end is my idea of hell). But most of the action taking place in underwater caverns means this is a very dark-looking film, losing much of the beautiful scenery which makes it difficult to see what's even happening

As with Black Water and The Reef, we have a small ensemble of characters who are tied through friendships and romance (this one lacks the familial layer from in the earlier films). Both those films had a bit of romantic tension, but that element is taken to the Nth degree here, to the point of feeling indulgent and inappropriate in these circumstances. Who was it, I wonder who thought a story where characters faced the choice between drowning or being eaten alive could be improved by introducing an emerging love quadrangle and resultant pregnancy drama.

Another element that comes across as I watch these films is that the women as resourceful survivors is pushed a little hard, while the men are either gung-ho or in need of protection. It's not hugely problematic, but I wouldn't object to a change to this formula. The fact that we first meet this film's heroine scrolling through her boyfriend's phone without his knowledge or consent (and lying to him when he asks for her help finding said phone) speaks volumes.

It's difficult to say much about the ending without spoilers, but suffice to say I preferred the one it seemed we had before the one we actually got was tacked on.

Still, the bottom line is that this is a croc-attack film so it's probably best enjoyed on its own merit without overthinking. On that basis it certainly works. There were a few jump scares that got me and some chilling moments. The croc scenes were well-done and nicely restrained, and no tacky CGI was to be found anywhere. And it's probably just forgettable enough that it would comfortably stand up to a second viewing in a few years' time.​

 

[Willie Oleson]

D.A.R.Y.L. (1985)



Sort of a more dramatic version of Disney's THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES (1969) and it doesn't always play out like a typical kids movie, maybe that's one of the reasons why it failed to impress.
Even though it looks like a decent production there are also parts in it that makes it look like made-for-TV.
in this case I appreciate the bells and whistles-lite approach because it allowed me to ponder the problems and possibilities of robots, clones or any kind of AI life form getting integrated with human life.
To be fair, the story does cheat a little bit by making D.A.R.Y.L. as human as possible, which makes it much easier to love him.
The various action scenes are sufficiently exciting, some of it over-the-top but not totally unbelievable in the context of the fantastical story.
What I certainly did not expect was a jump scare that made me fall out of my chair.

All in all, I found it very wholesome and entertaining and it's got a lovely soundtrack by Marvin Hamlish.

 

[Seaviewer]

Miracle on 34th Street (1959)
With Christmas falling in the summer in the southern hemisphere, the concept of "Christmas in July" has become quite popular here in recent years because it allows the enjoyment of traditional Christmas (read "winter") fare such as roast turkey and pudding in a more pleasant environment.
In keeping with this sentiment, I thought I watch this alternative version of Miracle, made for television in 1959.
Ed Wynn stars as Kris, with some of his Uncle Albert mannerisms, but he's also somewhat underrated as a dramatic actor (see The Diary of Anne Frank made the same year) so does well in the more serious moments as well.
The story has been extensively rewritten to fit a one-hour timeslot. Paradoxically, this includes a number of additional scenes to make more explicit themes that develop more slowly in the original. Less forgivable is the shoehorning in of jokes which give it the feel of a fifties sitcom. I kept waiting for the laughtrack to kick in. But at least they kept the scene between the post office employees rather than make it the idea of one of the participants as they do in the other remakes I've seen, thus removing the whole concept of the miracle.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Personal Services (1987)

A disclaimer at the beginning and the end of the film goes to great lengths to let the viewer know that while the author was inspired by the story of Cynthia "House Of Cyn" Payne, this isn't her biography. I assume this was either to prevent legal action or an outcome of the same.

It's one of several films that came out of the Eighties Top Ten round and while I'm clearly too late to throw this one in there, it's still good to have good reason to finally watch it. I can see why it passed me by the first time, since I was still at school and quite naïve (not that this had stopped me enjoying stuff like the Confessions films and the film Julie Walters made before this one, 1986 sex comedy Car Trouble).

I've not read or watched the Fifty Shades series (though I'm consistently told that the films are rather twee considering their reputation), but I can't imagine there's much there that wasn't covered in Personal Services. Two key considerations with this film, though, are that it's as tasteful as can be in the circumstances, and it has tongue firmly in cheek.

Despite its subject matter and all the inherent sex references coming from that, this is ultimately a film that shows sex work as prosaic and and almost dreary, while showing sex workers as possessing grace, humour and bundles of humanity.

Julie Walters' accessibility helps greatly. I loved her getting the giggles and making awkward conversation when her first client arrived, before gagging when she realised he wanted oral sex (as did all her clients at first since she'd copied the phrase "French Polishing" for her advertisement, not realising exactly what it meant). Her reactions to the role playing, too, kept it human. Giggling at the sight of Shirley Stelfox punishing a middle aged man dressed as a schoolboy, or showing visible boredom when pretending to be a lesbian schoolgirl. The comedy is very real and her timing spot-on. There are so many little looks that are timed to perfection, such as the sharp head turn she does as Shirley briefly leaves the room during a session (evidently afraid that she's being left to finish the job on her own). The moment that made me laugh the hardest was where she finds a tiny pair of fur-lined panties lying round and picks them up to inspect them as though she's handling an explosive, face grimaced in borderline confusion. She puts her hand inside and the very second it emerges from front (revealing them to be crotchless) the door buzzer goes sharply and she jolts. It's a silly, almost throwaway moment, but it's pure Julie Walters.

But it's in the balance between this life and her personal one where she shines. This is especially evident in scenes with her father, and the ups and downs of her relationship with him are what makes this film. Arguably the film's strongest dramatic moment comes in their confrontation in the park on the day of her sister's wedding, where ugly truths are spoken, almost to the point of catharsis.

Terry Jones's direction helps set the tone. He (understandably) shows far more restraint than he did in the Python films, but there's an undercurrent of the requisite quirk.

The already-mentioned Shirley Stelfox is one of the best things here, gamely throwing herself into each new scenario with great vigour. She dominates as if to the manner born, she jets off to please a sheik, then she returns and goes to the greasy spoon where she orders a steak, sparks up a fag and has a giggle over the various sizes and shapes of her clients' bits. And on top of this she pays her rent on time. I'm currently watching 1986 Brookside where her character - mousy Madge - hasn't been seen for some time. Presumably because Shirley was filming this. The two are worlds apart, and I can imagine what great fun she had switching hats and getting stuck into this Shirley.

Their clients include Yes, Minister's Sir Frank Gordon, Blakey from On The Buses and Ever Decreasing Circles' Howard. And the cast is filled with very faces very familiar to anyone who knows the British entertainment world. There are thespians and character actors alike, most of them as you've never seen them elsewhere.

This is a film that knows what it's about, and it's really about poking fun at British sensibilities (and hypocrisies) when it comes to sex. It dusts off what goes on behind closed doors, gives it a good airing and doesn't apologise for it. Rather like Christine/Cynthia herself.

(Needless to say, low-key spoilers and mild sex references within):

 

[Willie Oleson]

THE LAST OF SHEILA (1973)



When discussing classic whodunits it's usually about the Agatha Christie adaptations, but this film is written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins (!) and it's a fantastic mystery that keeps evolving.
I had no idea where and how it would end, the only indication was the remaining play time (which, come to think of it, is kinda spoiler-y).
Like the other, more familiar theatrical releases, SHEILA is gloriously convoluted and contrived, but that doesn't change the fact that someone has to cook it up first.
Holy Norman Bates, Batman!

It's definitely the most vibrant whodunit I've ever seen. The actors have a great script to work with and it shows. I could almost believe that half of it was played ad lib (especially Dyan Cannon) but of course that wouldn't work with such a complex mystery.
Raquel Welch smoulders like a gorgeous European Bond girl but according to wiki there was a big problem between her and the director (and also James Mason, who despised her work attitude).

The characters have to play a game, courtesy of movie tycoon Clinton Greene played by James Coburn, and I found this part a little confusing.
Something about the proof of the sin and who has the card - but all that stuff makes more sense when the real detective work begins.
I got it on DVD, well that's what I thought because it's one of those made-on-demand DVD-Rs by the Warner Archive (*grumbles*).
But the disc plays fine and the picture quality is great so I'm going to keep it.
Great stuff!

 

[DallasFanForever]

TWISTERS (2024)

I was majorly disappointed with this one. It just felt like it never got going. It’s not often I see a movie and can’t find something positive but I’m afraid this is one of those times. I didn’t have high expectations going in so I figured it couldn’t be that bad but, well, apparently that didn’t help matters.