Last (x) movies you saw

Last seven, stalled for a few weeks. I no longer watch movies, just bootlegged TV shows.

Serpico (7.0)
Trust (5.5)
Suburbicon (6.0)
Red Sparrow (6.0)
Network (6.5)
Prince of the City (6.5)
Molly’s Game (6.0)

(I know that Red Sparrow is supposed to be irredeemable junk and the Lumet films are considered classics to one degree or another, but the Lumets fall short of their reputations--and I voted for him in the directors poll--while I think you'd have to have bizarrely high expectations for Red Sparrow to consider it a letdown, rather than mildly diverting junk.)

Which Trust did you watch: Hartley or Schwimmer? Given the rating, I'm hoping its the latter.

It was the David Schwimmer--should have clarified. Don't remember much a month later, other than I didn't find the girl very credible.

*Othello (Welles/1952 cut) 8/10
You Were Never Really Here 6/10
*Barry Lyndon 10/10
Man In The Shadows 6/10
*Touch Of Evil (Murch version) 8/10 - I'll say this again and stand by it: Heston is the weakest link. He seems completely lost. Saved by the beautifully orchestrated chaos and everyone acting their asses off around him.

"¡Dohn-day Ay-stah Mee Ay-Spoh-Sa!" indeed, Chuck.

Which one is the Murch version of Touch of Evil? I just watched the 'definitive cut' the other night (from 1998), totally lost me halfway through.

the blu ray I have has three cuts: 'definitive' put together in 1998 based on Orwell's notes to the studio, the theatrical version, and the preview version.

Yes, sorry - Definitive Cut ( which Murch put together ).

just stick with a 4:3 version.

Heston is alright, it's just not that interesting a role even if Ricardo Montalban had played it

A Story from Chikamatsu aka The Crucified Lovers (1954, Mizoguchi) 8/10
Ismael’s Ghosts (2017, Desplechin) 6/10
All the Cities of the North (2016, Komljen) 7/10
Salt of the Earth (1954, Biberman) 8/10
Notes on an Appearance (2018, d'Ambrose) 6/10
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017, Besson) 6/10
Personal Problems (1980, Gunn, TV) 8/10
Willy/Milly aka Something Special! (1986, Schneider) 5/10
*It Happens Every Spring (1949, Bacon) 6/10
Alex in Wonderland (1970, Mazursky) 5/10

The Yvonne Rainer season came to an end last night. Caught a couple more films from her.

KRISTINA TALKING PICTURES (1976)
MURDER AND MURDER (1996)

Both were really good on queer politics, HIV-era snapshots, on ageing and dying (of cancer and otherwise), public and private spaces and (of course, given her background in dance) choreography.

THE LITTLE FOXES (1941)... this movie is such a strange mess... but it has Teresa Wright in it... 7/10?

Lillian Hellman gonna getcha

A Story from Chikamatsu aka The Crucified Lovers (1954, Mizoguchi) 8/10

Baby Driver - 6/10
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - 4/10
Sing Street - 7/10
They Live By Night - 9/10

well he is kind of a buffoon! buffoons need love too.

no, it was a theatrical showing of recent 4k digitization.

xxxxp to RAG - I saw Vigil ages ago and I should rewatch it; remarkable, eerie film. I've seen The Navigator, and liked it, though I don't remember it as well. As I recall Ward was one of the numerous proposed directors for Alien 3, and his concept involved setting the story on a wooden planet populated by monks.

I hope a Navigator bluray will follow The Vigil (it comes in June)

Such is Life (Goulding, 1924)
Black Oxfords (Lord, 1924)
His Trysting Place (Chaplin, 1914)
The Waiters' Ball (Arbuckle, 1916)
*Taris (Vigo, 1931)
*Design for Living (Lubitsch, 1933)
Down by Law (Jarmusch, 1986)
Blazing Away (Taurog, 1928)
Bring Home the Turkey (McGowan, 1927)
The Wild Party (Arzner, 1929)
Underworld (von Sternberg, 1927)
*Hell's Angels (Goulding & Hughes, 1930)

Numbered ratings? https://letterboxd.com/PollyPrecoder/films/diary/

Revenge (Shinarbaev, 1989)
A Married Woman (Godard, 1964)
*Down by Law (Jarmusch, 1986)
Tabloid (Morris, 2010)
*A Zed and Two Noughts (Greenaway, 1985)
*Two-Lane Blacktop (Hellman, 1971)
Wind River (Sheridan, 2017)
*There Will Be Blood (Anderson, 2007)
24-Hour Comic (Erceg, 2017)
*Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Wright, 2010)
some Painlevé and Brakhage shorts

I have some thoughts on Vincent Ward, RAG. His early documentary, In Spring One Plants Alone, is worth seeking out, as is its part documentary, part drama follow up Rain of the Children. Both are beautiful, eerie, emotional and moving, and while the earlier one is characteristic of Ward's general style, the latter is a very personal part autobiography, where you get a truer sense of his vision, artistry and thematic concerns. I found it quite cathartic to watch, possibly one of the best films made in NZ, imho. I also have time for River Queen, despite all the problems they had making it and the sense of unfinishedness. Ward lost directorial control and they ran out of time so it's not really the film it could have been. I really rate him as a filmmaker, but he's like Terrence Malick in that while the visuals can be captivating, sometimes I think his artistic licence is a bit too loose and he loses his way with the storytelling. I wouldn't say he's pretentious though, he's just more of an impressionistic director, very instinctive.

Thankyou.

Just watched The Commuter. Well worth the $5 Amazon rental fee.

(You know it takes place on a MetroNorth train 'cause it rockets around curves at terrifying speed, instead of sitting motionless for 90 minutes like a NJ Transit train.)

The most fun stupid movie I've seen in a minute. Really just levels of crazy action followed by dunderheaded dialogue and Neeson just getting pummelled by people AND a train! Amazing. Then that last act. I will say no more. 10/10 for existing // 3/10 as cinema.

Little Old New York (Olcott, 1923)
Caliente Love (Marshall, 1933)
The Big Flash (Gillstrom, 1932)
Beirut (Anderson, 2018)
*From Hand to Mouth (Goulding & Roach, 1919)
*Haunted Spooks (Goulding & Roach, 1920)

YI YI - 10/10

*Touch of Evil (1958/1998, Welles) 10/10
*One False Move (1992, Franklin) 9/10
*Younger Brother aka Her Brother (1960, Ichikawa) 6/10
Conflagration (1958, Ichikawa) 8/10
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017, McDonagh) 4/10
Hitler’s Hollywood (2017, Suchsland) 6/10
Possessed (1947, Bernhardt) 7/10
One Deadly Summer (1983, Becker) 7/10
*You Only Live Twice (1967, Gilbert) 7/10
The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916, Weber, Smalley) 7/10
The Rickshaw Man (1943, Inagaki) 7/10

Memoirs of an invisible man directed by john carpenter is a boring, unfun slog for the most part. The only thing that made much of an impact is the actor who plays "richard" the guy who tries to put the moves on Daryl Hannah at the beach house & who speaks with the exact voice that uk comedian Matt berry has based his entire career on

I had a surprisingly positive reaction to it when I watched it again 10 or so years ago. I’ll take another look at it one day and probably come to my senses (I thought it was pretty meh when I saw it upon release, when I was 14) but at the very least, I,lol maintain the rain sequence is quite beautiful.

(I don’t know what the “,lol” is doing in there)

My Neighbors The Yamadas : 7/10
*Shattered Image : 7/10
*Three Lives And Only One Death : 8/10
The Scarlet Empress : 7/10 - First time viewing. Remarkable set design, costuming and mise en scene. Acting overheated and often grotesque. I dunno if Dietrich was actually a good actress -could never gauge her - but screen presence is undeniable here and in the few other things with her I've seen. I like her more "low key" like in that film she made with Gabin. Will watch more Von Sternberg'.

oh yeah do check out YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE if it's playing where you live. masterpiece imo, amazing use of sound and rhythmic editing.

I dunno if Dietrich was actually a good actress -could never gauge her - but screen presence is undeniable here and in the few other things with her I've seen

She's not an actress in the traditional sense, but neither were Gary Cooper or John Wayne.

she was awful in hitchcock's Stage Fright, which is sort of a lousy movie redeemed only by Jane Wyman (her North London accent isn't bad!)

You Were Never Really Here 3.5/5
The Running Man 2.5/5
Andre the Giant (2018) 3/5
Miami Vice (2006) 3.5/5
Goodbye, Dragon Inn 3/5
Night Moves (1975) 3.5/5
Women in Love 4.5/5
Wild Wild Country 3/5
Isle of Dogs 4/5

(MV and NM were rewatches)

Oh yeah - saw You Were Never Really Here. Gets a 6/10 from me. Certainly excellent cinematography, sound design, yadda yadda but dded up to an emotionally empty and tonally confused whole for me.

*added

Rewatched Vicki, the 1953 remake of I Wake Up Screaming. I had forgotten that the role of Harry, played by wide eyed Elisha Cook, Jr. in the original, was played by wide-eyed Aaron Spelling.

http://www.movieactors.com/photos-stars/elisha-cook-iwakeupscreaming-3.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f4/a3/a5/f4a3a5e8e899db4c3caf0e824ec39f5e.jpg

Bread, Love and Dreams (Comencini)
Bread, Love and Jealousy (Comencini)
Scandal in Sorrento (Risi)
The Great Beauty (Sorrentino)*
Youth (Sorrentino)*
I’m Not Scared (Salvatores)
Out of Sight (Soderbergh)
Frost/Nixon (Howard)
Noah (Aronofsky)
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (Schrader)
Auto Focus (Schrader)
Dances With Wolves (Costner)
Vicky Christina Barcelona (Allen)
Whatever Works (Allen)
Precious (Daniels)
Paddington (King)
Paddington 2 (King)
Guldregn (Kragh-Jacobsen)
The Boys from St Petri (Kragh-Jacobsen)
What No One Knows (Kragh-Jacobsen)
The Hour of the Lynx (Kragh-Jacobsen)
Head-On (Akin)
The Edge of Heaven (Akin)
Soul Kitchen (Akin)
In the Fade (Akin)
Places in Cities (Schanelec)
Passing Summer (Schanelec)
The Counterfeiters (Ruzowitzky)*
Lovely Rita (Hausner)
Hotel (Hausner)
One. Two. One (Akbari)
Nahid (Panahandeh)
Bending the Rules (Behzadi)

Rashomon - 10/10
Family Plot - 6/10
Gods of the Plague - 9/10
The Men - 7/10
The American Soldier - 7/10
The Seven Year Itch - 6/10
Atlantic City - 10/10
Certain Women - 10/10
Double Indemnity - 9/10
Touch of Evil - 8/10
The Red Shoes - 7/10
The Passion of Joan of Arc - 10/10
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog - 8/10
The Little Foxes - 6/10
Life is Sweet - 10/10
Masculin Féminin - 8/10
Stage Fright - 6/10
After Hours - 10/10
Mrs. Miniver - 7/10
Things to Come - 9/10
Miller’s Crossing - 5/10
Les Rendez-vous d’Anna - 10/10
Sweet Smell of Success - 8/10
Lacombe, Lucien - 9/10
Yi Yi - 10/10
La Jetée - 9/10
Sans Soleil - 9/10
Walkabout - 9/10
Casanova Brown - 1/10 <--------- this is one of the worst movies i've ever seen. +1 for teresa wright
I Heart Huckabees - 7/10
Something to Live For - 7/10
Beware of a Holy Whore - 8/10

*International House (Sutherland, 1933)
*Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (Cline, 1941)
Back Pay (Borzage, 1922)
The Half-Back of Notre Dame (Lord, 1924)
Throttle Pushers (White, 1933)
Pro Football (McCarey, 1934)
Mental Poise (Rowland, 1938)
You're Telling Me! (Kenton, 1934)

Isle of Dogs - 4/10
Blockers - 8/10
Claire’s Camera - 5/10
Mean Streets (1973) - 7/10
Flower - 9/10
Finding Your Feet - 6/10
Rampage - 6/10
You Were Never Really Here - 10/10
Port of Call (1948) - 9/10
I Feel Pretty - 6/10
Phantom Lady (1944) - 9/10

Blockers - 8/10
Mean Streets (1973) - 7/10
You Were Never Really Here - 10/10

who's your pharmacist?

https://ourmyyour.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/dr-nick.jpg

Night and the City (Dassin, 1950) 8/10
Le Samourai (Melville, 1967) 7/10
The Breadwinner (Twomey, 2017) 6/10
Paterson (Jarmusch, 2016) 8/10
Marjorie Prime (Almereyda, 2017) 7/10
The Heart is What Dies Last (Durand-Brault, 2017) 4/10
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (Apatow, 2018) 7/10
*The Lady From Shanghai (Welles, 1947) 9/10
Heartstone (Guomundsson, 2016) 7/10
The Shape of Water (del Toro, 2017) 7/10

The Touch (Bergman, 1971) 7/10
The Testament of Dr Mabuse (Lang, 1933) 8/10
Tabu (Murnau, 1931) 8/10
Isle of Dogs (Anderson, 2018) 8/10
BPM (Campillo, 2017) 8/10
Ghost Stories (Dyson/Nyman, 2017) 6/10
Nightmares in a Damaged Brain (Scavolini, 1981) 7/10
Cupid's Infirmary (Mike Kuchar, 1995) 5/10
The Pictures of Dorian Gay (Mike Kuchar, 1995) 6/10
Sins of the Fleshapoids (Mike Kuchar, 1965) 8/10
The Secret of Wendel Samson (Mike Kuchar, 1966) 6/10
The Craven Sluck (Mike Kuchar, 1967) 7/10
Sorcerer (Friedkin, 1977) 7/10
Billy Liar (Schlesinger, 1963) 6/10
A Gentle Creature (Loznitsa, 2017) 7/10
Avengers: Infinity War (Russo bros, 2018) 7/10

Iron Man - 7/10
Iron Man 2 - 6/10

I'm starting to watch these Marvel flicks. These were both pretty decent, I didn't see much difference in quality between the two. The acting elevates everything here, thinking Gwyneth Paltrow is somewhat underrated and her screen persona remains vv appealing even as her IRL persona grates on a lot of people.

Bridge of Spies - 7/10

This is extremely good, there were a few on-the-nose parts and it's sort of depressing to see an actor as phenomenal as Amy Ryan relegated to the role of a somewhat disapproving wife whose husband is lawyering around with key figures in a '60s drama (shades of Sissy Spacek's thankless role in JFK) but it looks amazing, and the Berlin parts are peak Spielberg. Hanks is great here!

Gun Crazy - 10/10

Peggy Cummins could have won an Oscar for her facial expressions alone, the ecstatic looks she gives when she turns around and sees no one is following after the first bank robbery are legit terrifying. I liked how they kinda subtly set up Bart's dull hometown life by pairing up his buddies in the most banal manner possible in every scene, just side by side, simply framed. You understand why he'd want to go out in a blaze of glory like that with Annie at his side instead of living a few decades more hanging out with those two.

Gwyneth Paltrow is somewhat underrated and her screen persona remains vv appealing even as her IRL persona grates on a lot of people.

yeah it's funny, in the films she's kind of the down to Earth foil to the manic Tony Stark. she has some really cool moments in 3 if you feel like continuing.