Jeanne Moreau in a theatrical production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, 1956
Friday 30 April 2021
The Vast of Night (2019)
One night in New Mexico, in the late 1950s, a switchboard operator and radio DJ discover a strange audio frequency which could change the future forever.
Superb sci-fi drama sets its story in a small 50s American town and gives it a David Lynch-like feeling of much more dimensions at play below the surface with intelligent direction, tense, dark and imaginative cinematography, creepy atmosphere and a perplexing ending.
I Am Mother (2019)
In the wake of humanity's extinction, a teenage girl is raised by a robot designed to repopulate the earth. But their unique bond is threatened when an inexplicable stranger arrives with alarming news.
Above-average, highly imaginative sci-fi post-apocalyptic drama slyly takes its time to reveal is mystery; suspenseful, tense, well directed with excellent special effects and good performances.
Thursday 29 April 2021
Rolling Thunder (1977)
A returning war veteran loses his family to a violent home invasion and decides to seek and retaliate against those responsible.
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)
Chicago, 1927. A recording session. Tensions rise between Ma Rainey, her ambitious horn player and the white management determined to control the uncontrollable "Mother of the Blues". Based on Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson's play.
Obviously stage-bound, this ace movie overcomes the boundaries of the play with stellar performances by Davis and Boseman , excellent period detail, good direction and genuine sense for the music.
Wednesday 28 April 2021
Mission Mars (1968)
Three American astronauts who land on Mars discover the body of a frozen Russian cosmonaut and a mysterious talking orb.
Tuesday 27 April 2021
It Happened One Night (1934)
A renegade reporter and a crazy young heiress meet on a bus heading for New York, and end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops.
Grand, highly entertaining romantic comedy remains a classic of its genre, full of wit, drama and good chemistry between Gable and Colbert, but maybe a bit old-fashioned for a contemporary audience.
Halliwell***: "Highly successful and influential romantic comedy, the first to use buses and motels as background and still come up sparkling; it remains superlative in patches, but overall has a faded, dated air."
Maltin****: "Legendary romantic comedy doesn't age a bit. Still enchanting as ever...Hitch-hiking travails, the Walls of Jericho, other memorable scenes remain fresh and delightful."
Night of the Creeps (1986)
Alien brain parasites, entering humans through the mouth, turn their host into a killing zombie. Some teenagers start to fight against them.
Monday 26 April 2021
T-Men (1947)
Two US Treasury agents hunt a successful counterfeiting ring.
Straightforward, realistic and unsentimental crime thriller successfully
conveys undercover police work with suspense and great on-location
cinematography.
Halliwell*: "Tough, well-made crime melodrama which still packs a punch in the traditional vein."
Maltin***: "Semidocumentary-style story...Vividly exciting; director Mann and camerman John Alton went out of their way to use unusual, effective lighting and compositions in this A-1 film."
Sunday 25 April 2021
Louis van Beethoven (2020)
Eight-year-old Louis van Beethoven grew up in the provincial Bonn and is considered a musical prodigy; the singer and actor Tobias Pfeiffer and the Bonn court organist Christian Gottlob Neefe take care of the young genius.
Well-produced, but very superficial and rather crude bio-pic flips around in the musician's life, but hardly gives an accurate impression of the man and his music.
Too Late for Tears (1949)
Through a fluke circumstance, a ruthless woman stumbles across a suitcase filled with $60,000, and is determined to hold onto it even if it means murder.
Above-average low-budget Noir thriller gives Lizabeth Scott all the room
to present her greedy, ruthless femme fatale character, and it helps
that all the guys, especially Dan Duryea's smalltime crook, are
weaklings and no match to her ambitions.
Halliwell (no star): "Silly melodrama, poorly cast."
Maltin**1/2: "Atmospheric but muddled drama...Duryea is at his best as a heavy."
Saturday 24 April 2021
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman
by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.
A sentimental fantasy tale is turned into a beloved masterpiece by
Capra's assured directorial expertise and a perfect cast; a Christmas
classic ever since.
On rewatching: I watch it every Christmas, and it's fully worth it.
Halliwell****: "Superbly assembled small-town comedy drama in a fantasy framework; arguably Capra's best and most typical work."
Maltin****: "Sentimental tale...Only Capra and this cast could pull it off so well; this film seems to improve with age."
Thursday 22 April 2021
The Midnight Sky (2020)
A lone scientist in the Arctic races to contact a crew of astronauts returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.
Beautifully produced and photographed sci-fi doomsday drama is good to watch, but never really explains what has been going on, rendering the plot almost silly, and the ending is quite predictable.
Wednesday 21 April 2021
Les glaneurs et la glaneuse... deux ans après (2002)
Agnes Varda returns to the people she met in her 2000 documentary on gleaning and meets some new people who were inspired by her first film.
More continuation and expansion of the excellent original documentary than just a sequel, it shows, once again Agnes Varda, at the top of her art.
Tuesday 20 April 2021
Les glaneurs et la glaneuse (2000)
Varda films and interviews gleaners in France in all forms, from those picking fields after the harvest to those scouring the dumpsters of Paris.
A remarkable documentary is fully realized in what one may call the Varda touch: an otherwise unnoticed aspect of everyday human life gets a full and very personal inspection and reveals so much more about those depicted, Varda herself and humanity.
Maltin***1/2: "Outstanding documentary...The filmmaker contrasts the gleaners of yesteryear with those of today...Highly personal film explores a host of themes, including aging and the quest for survival. This is the work of a filmmaker who is keenly aware of her surroundings, and in complete command of cinematic language."
Viva la muerte (1971)
At the end of the Spanish civil war, Fando, a boy of about ten, tries to make sense of war and his father's arrest.
Monday 19 April 2021
Il gattopardo (1963)
Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon at the premiere of Il Gattopardo at the Cannes Film Festival
You Better Watch Out (1980)
A toy factory worker, mentally scarred as a child upon learning Santa Claus is not real, suffers a nervous breakdown after being belittled at work, and embarks on a Yuletide killing spree.
Remarkable horror thriller is more a excellently played psychodrama than an exploitation flick; the ending is a bit over-the-top, though.
Maltin***: "Gripping, well-made thriller...with Maggart excellent as the psychopathic Kris Kringle. A sleeper with cult status possibilities."
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