What was the last film you watched?

[Willie Oleson]

Il Posto (1961)



An Italian kitchen-sink comedy drama about a young man who needs a job, and then not much happens. But it's brilliant, it really is. Sort of a slightly more romantic Bleak Moments.
It doesn't look like a typical comedy and that's why those funny moments happen unexpectedly.
Casting-wise Il Posto is a match made in heaven. Sandro Panseri plays main character Domenico, his debut role out of three film roles currently listed on IMDB, and I got the impression that he was discovered and then someone decided to build a film around his appearance.
Domenico is shy and looks criminally adorable, his big melancholic eyes speak louder than his voice.

There's an interesting segment that shows the background of a bunch of supporting characters. One of these characters dies off-screen and all we get is a few shots of his cleaned out workplace and flat, as if he had never existed at all.
This was quite a transfixing experience and I couldn't think of any reason why this film should end. But it does end, not in a satisfying way but in a way that's good for the film.

 

[Seaviewer]

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022)
Fairly conventional biopic - starts at a moment of triumph and flashes back - but comes across rather flat like a docudrama. The ending also confused me - I didn't realise at first that they had flashed back again.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Sorcerer(1977) - William Friedin's remake of 1950s French film The Wages of Fear (Although Friedkin doesn't consider it a remake). I really liked it. It was no barrel of laughs, but it was fascinating. I guess one could call it an existential thriller.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Ich Bin Dein Mensch (2021) (incorrectly translated into "I'm Your Man")



The story tackles the practical, emotional and moral issues of being loved by an humanoid A.I. robot. It's not groundbreaking because most of it seems self-explanatory (or at least it should) but sometimes it's nice to hear a person saying these things out loud.
The script effectively balances the emotional with the intellectual, and while the main character offers her verdict it's not necessarily the message of the film itself.
I find robots and clones endlessly fascinating and the film raises more questions than answers. Like, why would I notice French language spoken with an English accent but not German language spoken with an English accent? (as it was mentioned in the film).

It goes without saying that the Twilight Zone had already dunit and there's also a little bit of Stepford Wives in it.
One thing is for sure, if we can turn this sci-fi technology into reality, it will happen. It doesn't matter if we need it or not, humans always want to see if it's possible. And somehow we always forget that this process is irreversible.
Dreamboat Dan Stevens plays the German robot (doesn't he look like he could be Sam Neill's son?) and back in the old days he would have been dubbed or badly dubbed.
Not here, this is the real thing, albeit with an English accent. Allegedly.
One of the supporting roles is played by Sandra Hüller and since she's currently in all good films I'm going to call her the German answer to Cate Blanchett.
Without revealing too much I wonder if Ich Bin Dein Mensch has been an inspiration for Companion 2025. It even features an identical twist regarding...something.
Great movie.


Greystoke - The Legend Of Tarzan Lord Of The Apes (1984)



I hate it when IMDB inserts colons and commas that are not in the on-screen title.
I'm not sure if I've ever watched a Tarzan film in full, not even Disney's Tarzan or George Of The Jungle.
Direced by Hugh Hudson who had also directed Chariots Of Fire, and it shows. It's a bittersweet mix of British period drama and Jungle Book excitement.
The Tarzan & Jane romance also happens in this film but it's not really what the story is all about, and before he becomes John Clayton the new Earl of Greystoke he doesn't have a name at all.
Was it ever explained in the other films why he was called Tarzan? Anyway, this version of the classic turned out to be a good choice.

 

[Toni]

Ich Bin Dein Mensch (2021) (incorrectly translated into "I'm Your Man")

View attachment 59075

The story tackles the practical, emotional and moral issues of being loved by an humanoid A.I. robot. It's not groundbreaking because most of it seems self-explanatory (or at least it should) but sometimes it's nice to hear a person saying these things out loud.
The script effectively balances the emotional with the intellectual, and while the main character offers her verdict it's not necessarily the message of the film itself.
I find robots and clones endlessly fascinating and the film raises more questions than answers. Like, why would I notice French language spoken with an English accent but not German language spoken with an English accent? (as it was mentioned in the film).

It goes without saying that the Twilight Zone had already dunit and there's also a little bit of Stepford Wives in it.
One thing is for sure, if we can turn this sci-fi technology into reality, it will happen. It doesn't matter if we need it or not, humans always want to see if it's possible. And somehow we always forget that this process is irreversible.
Dreamboat Dan Stevens plays the German robot (doesn't he look like he could be Sam Neill's son?) and back in the old days he would have been dubbed or badly dubbed.
Not here, this is the real thing, albeit with an English accent. Allegedly.
One of the supporting roles is played by Sandra Hüller and since she's currently in all good films I'm going to call her the German answer to Cate Blanchett.
Without revealing too much I wonder if Ich Bin Dein Mensch has been an inspiration for Companion 2025. It even features an identical twist regarding...something.
Great movie.


Greystoke - The Legend Of Tarzan Lord Of The Apes (1984)

View attachment 59076

I hate it when IMDB inserts colons and commas that are not in the on-screen title.
I'm not sure if I've ever watched a Tarzan film in full, not even Disney's Tarzan or George Of The Jungle.
Direced by Hugh Hudson who had also directed Chariots Of Fire, and it shows. It's a bittersweet mix of British period drama and Jungle Book excitement.
The Tarzan & Jane romance also happens in this film but it's not really what the story is all about, and before he becomes John Clayton the new Earl of Greystoke he doesn't have a name at all.
Was it ever explained in the other films why he was called Tarzan? Anyway, this version of the classic turned out to be a good choice.

Did you notice the voice of Glenn Close coming out of Andie McDowell´s pretty mouth? Reportedly, she didn´t sound "British enough" and they decided to dub her...with a (great) American actress. Of course, in Spain we didn´t notice that at all!

 

[Willie Oleson]

Letter To Brezhnev (1985)

I wanted to rewatch Rita Sue And Bob Too but the upload wasn't there anymore. Via-via, as it goes on youtube, I was manipulated into the direction of this other British classic.
From the very beginning I noticed this was a film with a more realistic "street" speech therefore I decided to watch it with subtitles. Unfortunately, the automatically generated subtitles was the only option and it never works when you need it. It only complicates the experience.
I stopped watching and figured it would be better to let it pass. But...that gorgeous soundtrack, I couldn't forget it.
So, browse browse, click-buy.

And a blessing in disguise, really, because I'm going to keep it.

It is very funny, I love the fight between Elaine and her sister Josie and the mother who's having none of it. Elaine's friend is the raunchy and rascally Teresa who works in the Kirkby Spring Chicken factory. Naturally, this is a bit exaggerated for comical effect.
The blossoming romance between Elaine and Russian sailor Peter works because of its simplicity: that intense eye contact just never fails.
They dance in slow motion surrounded by DJ fog, the bar music replaced with that beautifully ethereal score.
I think every good film has a moment that makes you realise "I'm sold" or "this is going to be better than expected".

Elaine projects her romantic fantasy onto Peter but when he responds appropriately she instantly dismisses it, and even looks for reasons to argue.
This cynical too-good-to-be-true attitude is a staple of the kitchen-sink drama and precisely what made the finale of The Long Distance Runner so powerful, in a grim sort of way.
The whimsical fantasy aspect of their wholesome time together - "look at that star, it reminds me of home, now it reminds me of you" - juxtaposes the raunchy and gritty realism of Elaine's life in Liverpool. Just like Local Hero, Letter To Brezhnev does it confidently and unabashedly, and maybe that's the only way to get away with it.

Once Peter and his friend Sergei (an insatiable sex machine, according to Teresa, which is something I had never associated with Alfred Molina although the facial hair looks good on him) are on the ship back to Mother Russia, the story becomes the quest to reunite Elaine and Peter.
We never find out what that actually looks like but the point is that someone dares to make a life-changing decision rather than to succumb to the hopelessness that plagued so many young people in the 1980s, especially the working class.
A super-slimy reporter informs Elaine that living in Russia is not going to improve anything and I, the viewer, knows that this is possibly true but I still want her to ignore it because the information comes out of his nasty mouth.
Oh yes, she's IN the news. On the radio, and even the classic spinning newspapers with her approaching commie adventure smeared over the front page. It's so Kevin & Lynn Palmer.
In this film it's Liverpool that embodies the hopelessness but it could have been anywhere. And Liverpool has some very lovely sights, btw. I noticed a street that looks like a hodgepodge of various traditional European architectures, I had not expected to find it there.
It ends with Teresa making some sort of apology for not being convinced enough to make any drastic and positive changes in her life, but I don't think it was meant to make her look weak.

I've started watching the interview with Margi "Teresa" Clarke and it's full of interesting details but it's a bit long so I'll finish it later.

What a lucky find. Thank you, Rita & Sue (and Bob too) for being unavailable (I feel another purchase coming up).

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Letter To Brezhnev (1985)

I watched this for the first time last year and had a similarly satisfying experience.

The whimsical fantasy aspect of their wholesome time together - "look at that star, it reminds me of home, now it reminds me of you" - juxtaposes the raunchy and gritty realism of Elaine's life in Liverpool.

Snap...

It's this juxtaposition between romance and reality that makes this feels so very special. That scene captures the feeling of feeling happy and content, while still reflecting the sometimes mundane, sometimes harsh realities of the world continuing as it did before.

Glad you enjoyed it, Willie.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I was thinking about buying the soundtrack, Music To Buy Dual Format Editions By, but according to discogs it was never released on CD.
I also love the closing credits song "Lockets & Stars" sung by Margi Clarke herself.



Running On Empty (1988)



This was suggested to me when were discussing The Mosquito Coast, but with more titles added to the to-watch list Running On Empty was pushed to the bottom of that list. And that's not fair.
From River Phoenix's character's point of view the story's premise is rather similar to Mosquito: determined parents who have created a very alternative way of living for their two sons which, again, ties in with River's real-life eccentric upbringing.
It's almost like a sort of typecasting that spills over into fiction.

Movie parents Danny and Annie Pope are wanted by the FBI for an act of terrorism committed in the 1970s when they were still young and counterculture idealistic.
Changing residence, work, school, names and even hair colour, they've all accepted the situation because the most important thing is to stay together.
Until, of course, it is not acceptable anymore and this becomes the major conflict in this story.
I can't say that there are many surprises in the plot, the premise seems quite self-explanatory and I was already familiar with the situation because the conclusion is very similar to my all-time favourite ending of a certain TV series.
And this means I also need to watch Little Nikita - it looks like a River Phoenix Trilogy based on the same themes.

I don't count myself as a member of the Worship River Club but it doesn't take a lot of imagination that some people do feel that way about him.
He was an amazingly natural talent and he simply exuded a rare kind of wholesomeness, all this magnified by his tragic and untimely death. And that's when you get comments like "he was too good for this world". Maybe there's some truth in it, I don't know.
As for the rest of the Pope family, the parents come across as somewhat selfish which mercifully nips the potential schmaltz in the bud. Or at least as much as can be expected of a story like this.
Initially, I found the little brother played by Jonas Abry (another actor with a mini acting career) very irritating but after a while I changed my mind and I think he played it very well. Exactly what a hyper and irritating little brother looks like.
After Mosquito, River reunites on screen with his real-life girlfriend Martha Plimpton. They make for an interesting pairing therefore it seemed like a sensible thing to do. For those who still haven't seen Martha in Mass (2021), please do. It's such an extraordinary piece of acting art.

Shame on me for putting off watching RUNNING for so long.

 

[Seaviewer]

Dune (2021)
This was my first encounter with this universe but I felt in a way that I'd seen it all before. I found it rather overlong and tedious - and this is only part one. I fell asleep at one point and when I woke up they were still talking about the same things.

 

[Willie Oleson]

There is actually one hour of non-film in the middle of the Dune show because they expected viewers to fall asleep. I think that's very considerate of them.