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Movie Talk / Re: Random Movie Thoughts and Questions

« Last post by Teproc on Today at 05:05:46 AM »

Yesterday I went to the movies and I saw a French film about a bunch of rich people going to a country house and being kinda despicable in ways that are meant to be revealing of French society but also funny and tragic and at times farcical. Then I saw a Japanese film about a murder which people are trying to understand, with multiple versions of events being offered and the very nature of both truth and justice constantly being put in question.

Which made me think about the constant hand-wringing about there not being original movies. Because both of those (Jaoui's Place Publique and Koreeda's The Third Murder) would qualify as original movies by normal standards (and really the Koreeda is not that similar to Rashomon on a plot level), despite certainly not feeling that way. Which is perfectly fine, btw, it just amused me.

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Movie Talk / Re: Respond to the last movie you watched

« Last post by karlwinslow on Today at 03:55:15 AM »

10 min into Good Time...already love it

Um, wow

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Movie Games / Re: I Know That Character

« Last post by jswysin on Today at 01:38:58 AM »

Edward Walker

Lucius Hunt
Noah Percy

Ivy Walker
Alice Hunt

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Movie Talk / Re: What Movie Is Playing Right Now

« Last post by karlwinslow on Today at 12:55:22 AM »

10 min into Good Time...already love it

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Marathons / Re: Star Trek

« Last post by smirnoff on Today at 12:55:18 AM »

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (William Shatner, 1989)        2/10

"Be one with the horse"

You wouldn't be blamed for having to report to sick bay upon hearing that line. For myself I'll add it to the ever growing heap of one-liners that fail spectacularly. The joke is a call back to something Spock says earlier in the film. It's hard to take these lines when they come along. Particularly when the movie is already a boring mess. Where are the good moments in this film? My scanners aren't picking up anything. I like the script's ambition, but not it's methods. What a dull journey finding god turned out to be. The whole thing was just stale.

After this movie I'm ready for this crew to officially retire. They feel retired anyways. They probably would be but outside circumstances keep pulling them back onto the bridge of the Enterprise. The film starts with Bones, Spock and Kirk all out camping together. It makes you wonder if that's realistic. I can see these characters spending time together in off-hours aboard the confines of a ship, but would they really spend vacation time together too? The film touches ever so slightly on the effects that existence aboard a starship has on one's social life, and how the crew becomes like family. But I don't know... aren't they sick of each other? I'm kind of sick of them.

I really don't have a favourite character at this point, or even a character I strongly like. I'm just indifferent really. And that's unusual in my experience when you have so many personalities to chose from. But really, who stands out? Who makes me smile every time they speak? Nobody. I'm starting to turn against them all for being so boring. My favourite character is now the guy from the previous film with the foo-man-chu. At least he didn't say anything annoying.

I like when Sybok jumped into the god bubble and went away. I only wish he'd done it sooner in the film. It made me think of the part in A Few Good Men when Demi Moore is giving Cruise a hard time because he puts up a fuss about having to ride on a boat, despite being a Navy officer. And he responds to the driver who is chuckling, "nobody likes her very much". That's how I felt about Sybok.

Jerry Goldsmith makes a return to the series, and not a bad one at that. His theme for the Klingon's in this movie is one of the only notworthy bits of scoring I can think of outside of the title sequence. I can't really find a great snippet of it, but it's used well in the film.

All in all this crew is ready to be put out to pasture. Be one with the horse indeed.

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Directors / Re: Curtiz, Michael

« Last post by 1SO on Yesterday at 11:00:46 PM »

Updated Rankings

Daughters Courageous (1939)
★ ★ ★ – Okay
Sharing much of the key cast and crew from Four Daughters, with actors playing slightly different versions of the same characters they played in Daughters. Aiming deeper, this film doesn’t quite capture the sentimental magic of 4D, though Claude Rains and Priscilla Lane are as charming as ever. John Garfield’s bad boy act has never felt more phony.


Four Wives (1939)
★ ★ ★ – Good
The actual sequel to Four Daughters, and a much better movie in every way, even though Julius and Philip Epstein (Casablanca) worked on both films. This continuation does a great job of using the foundation of the 90 minutes spent with the first film to go deeper into the character’s drama. It doesn’t have as much delight as 4D, but the two films go hand in hand to create an epic family portrait. The ensemble play off each other like a Mike Leigh film, with Curtiz camera often darting around the room to keep up with all the great conversation. There isn’t a weak performance, but I still gravitate to Claude Rains hilarious crusty father and Priscilla Lane as the most fragile of the four sisters.


This is the Army (1943)
★ ★ ½
This is like a DVD Bonus they left off Yankee Doodle Dandy. A military propaganda musical that completely abandons all plot halfway through for an endless parade of variety acts. With songs by Irving Berlin, I thought this would be more than occasionally entertaining. There are a couple of exceptionally directed scenes – Kate Smith’s performance of “God Bless America” and a montage as soldiers are relieved from duty to be in the show – but also another appearance of blackface in your face, which takes away from the black dance group that comes up later in what is easily the best dancing of the entire film.


The Breaking Point (1950)
★ ★ ★ – Good
Original Review
Still trying to solve my reluctance with John Garfield. I don’t mind Bogart’s mannerisms, but with Garfield putting one foot in classic Hollywood and one in method acting, his tough guy act never comes off genuine. Curtiz does a more successful split, bringing his classic Crime instincts into Noir’s dark alley, creating a film that’s equally gritty and classy. Still love the expertly staged climax and I still hate the merciless final image.


The Scarlet Hour (1956)
★ ★ ½
I’d love to know if it was a deliberate choice by Curtiz to leave behind all his polish and typical name cast for this low budget blend of Double Indemnity and a heist gone wrong. A couple of the actors aren’t as bad as their obscurity would make you believe, but this is sorely missing star wattage and a more electric script. Not bad Curtiz, but the most unlikely film to bear his credit.

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Movie Games / Re: The Movie Frame Game

« Last post by Antares on Yesterday at 09:28:43 PM »

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Movie Clubs / Re: Top 100 Club: Sandy

« Last post by 1SO on Yesterday at 09:03:30 PM »

3 films left in my Curtiz Marathon. After that, I have BOTH Penelope and Becoming Jane, which I will review like the Bracket Tournaments, recommending the best one to everyone else. After that, I plan to flow into Music of May with a continuation of our conversation about The Greatest Showman.

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Marathons / Re: Hold On To Your Butts: Junior Watches All the Things

« Last post by Junior on Yesterday at 08:35:23 PM »

I'm very loose in my definition of a remake. We'll see soon enough.

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Marathons / Re: Hold On To Your Butts: Junior Watches All the Things

« Last post by MartinTeller on Yesterday at 07:08:18 PM »

Blow Out isn't a remake... at most it's a riff on a similar plot.