Death Wish (1974) - A New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his wife is murdered by street punks in which he randomly goes out and kills would-be muggers on the mean streets after dark.
After watching a few episodes of The Deuce, I was craving some real 70s New York footage and this was very satisfying in that aspect. Looking back at it again now, it's a little crude admittedly, but there's still no denying the effective use of violence. 3/5
It started off promising, and for a bit it had me engaged. Then it's almost like they said; "Cut! Now make it a videogame movie!" And it turned to crap. The ending was confuding and weak. Jeremy Irons and Michael Fassbender deserved better than this.
By St. Boogar and all the saints at the backside door of Purgatory!
tokyo story - 5/5 aging couple travel to tokyo to visit their grown children. a very restrained, adult drama. to use a recent comparison, it reminded me of the way moonlight made most of its impact by restraint, by leaving things unsaid.
sunrise 5/5 there are some moments that might seem a bit quaint or melodramatic to some, but i thought this was truly great from beginning to end, a really lovely fable that starts with quite sinister elements, then winds through redemption & rekindled happiness & some slapstick elements.
tokyo story - 5/5 aging couple travel to tokyo to visit their grown children. a very restrained, adult drama. to use a recent comparison, it reminded me of the way moonlight made most of its impact by restraint, by leaving things unsaid.
In some french cinema web they listed this as The Greatest Film of All Time.
tokyo story - 5/5 aging couple travel to tokyo to visit their grown children. a very restrained, adult drama. to use a recent comparison, it reminded me of the way moonlight made most of its impact by restraint, by leaving things unsaid.
damosuzuki said:
sunrise 5/5 there are some moments that might seem a bit quaint or melodramatic to some, but i thought this was truly great from beginning to end, a really lovely fable that starts with quite sinister elements, then winds through redemption & rekindled happiness & some slapstick elements.
I completely agree with your ratings for both of these. Two incredible films.
rules of the game (1939) 5/5 hugely enjoyable farce, loaded with great visual flair & satire. i could definitely see this as being a film that would hold up to repeated watches, being full of twists & turns and occasionally great flourishes during the party scenes.
Blade Runner: The Final Cut (2007) - A blade runner must pursue and try to terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
I've seen both the theatrical and director's cuts, but this was my first time seeing the restored and enhanced Final Cut from a few years ago. I've always loved this movie, but seeing this version may make it my all-time favorite sci-fi film. 5/5
rules of the game (1939) 5/5 hugely enjoyable farce, loaded with great visual flair & satire. i could definitely see this as being a film that would hold up to repeated watches, being full of twists & turns and occasionally great flourishes during the party scenes.
This is one of those movies I initially bought as a kind of rental with the intent to sell later (Criterion discs always sell well secondhand), but I liked it so much, I kept it.
I got to complete my mission to watch "Hell or High Water"!
As you better recall, my son had started that movie one night, and my wife and I got home about 10 or 15 minutes into it. He refused to let me watch it from anywhere but the beginning, so he changed the channel to the Laura Linney star vehicle, "Primal Fear". This ended up in me writing the most incredible of all my incredible movie reviews. Not only was it emoji-driven, but in a nod to "Seinfeld" it was backwards. Here it is, reply #163: http://prince.org/msg/100...?&pg=6
Do you believe in conspiracies? I don't! Except, I could NOT find my ingenius "Primal Fear" review through any Prince.Org Google search. I tried "Primal Fear". I tried "Linney". I tried "Linney+cigarettes". I tried "Archbishop". NO LUCK. I think there's a conspiracy somewhere to stick my movie reviews in some CIA Black File, never to be seen again unless you have mad seach skillz.
Therefore, I recommend saving all my reviews to a hard copy Microsoft Word document. I do! I have 200 pages of them. Take that, MK Ultra and Jet Fuel That Can Melt Steel Beams and all you Rothschilds! Orgnote me if you want a copy of what is sure to be an award-winning collection - as soon as I find a publisher I can trust and don't believe is actually made up of Men in Black.
On to "Hell or High Water"!
What a letdown.
I would never disparage the cinematic tastes of my favorite son. After all, he is the one who has watched 864 documentaries on Netflix. (Have I mentioned lately how much I hate Netflix? I still hate Netflix.) But this movie did NOT live up to the hype.
Said hype began with "Hey Dad, I know you loved No Country For Old Men. As an old man yourself, you're REALLY going to like this movie!" But what I found was a poor man's imitation of "No Country For Old Men". Maybe they should have named this movie "A Moderately Rough Country For Younger Guys".
It centers around two loser brothers, one of whom is Chris Pine. He is clearly trying to re-create Josh Brolin's character in "No Country For Old Men". He spends most of the movie looking pensive. His brother is the real bad guy. Fresh out of 10 or 20 years in prison, he's ready to rob banks again. But he's not very good at it.
The movie opens with them showing up a little too early to rob their first bank. So they have to wait until the manager shows up, then they rob it. They drive to the next town, and rob that bank too. Then they drive to the third town and while eating lunch, bad brother Toby decides to rob the bank across the street all on his own. They have to flee, since Town #3 actually has people in it.
Point of parlimentary procedure: This movie is set in West Texas. Specifically, it takes place in a bunch of towns I drive though four times each year. The movie makes these towns look like poopholes but trust me - they are not. I was inflamed at the way they made these good ol' God-fearin' West Texas towns look.
The two brothers live on a poophole ranch in a poophole little town, where their poophole mom died while the poophole brother was in prison. Poophole mom left the ranch to pensive Chris Pine's sons, who live with their mom. The mom must have gotten tired of Chris Pine looking pensive all the time plus also never shaving, so she divorced him. They never tell us why pensive Chris Pine got divorced, so my reason is a good as any.
But there's a catch - poophole mom had taken a reverse mortgage on the ranch and it was due to be foreclosed on in three days, since no one had bothered to pay the taxes. I am not going to bother you with the technical specifications of reverse mortgages but let me tell you this: This movie screws up pretty much everything there is about reverse mortgages. They get everything, and I mean everything, so wrong that I actually thought Tom Selleck was going to come onscreen at some point and explain why poophole mom was smart to get a reverse mortgage. Sadly, Magnum P. I. never made an appearance.
But also sadly, Texas Ranger Jeff Bridges did.
Jeff Bridges plays the Grizzly Old Texas Ranger Who Is Six Months From Retirement character so badly that I cannot believe I wasn't actually watching Tommy Lee Jones. I eman, I know Tommy Lee Jones can be this bad, but I never figured a true stud like Jeff Bridges could be this bad. His character has no redeeming qualities whatsoever - and he is ostensibly the good guy.
Bridges and his Mexican/Indian partner take on the bank robbery cases. Bridges spends most of his time trying to speak from behind a walrus mustach painted gray. When he does speak, it's to hurl racist insults at his partner. "I'm only teasin'" says Bridges, which makes everything OK....right? No, not right. Most of Bridges's lines will make you cringe.
Now, to tackle the many other flaws in this movie. Let's start with the main motivation that pensive Chris Pine and his poophole brother have for robbing banks.
You see, Texas Midlands Bank is set to foreclose on the ranch because they paid the taxes as a courtesy, and also the reverse mortgage is due because the poophole mom died. NO! Banks NEVER pay taxes "as a courtesy". Unless oil is found on the mortgaged property, I guess. Because oil was found on the poophole mom's poophole ranch. Everyone's gonna be rich! Well....the Texas Midlands Bank is going to be rich after they foreclose on this poophole ranch. That ain't right!
This is why pensive Chris Pine and his poophole brother are robbing banks. Specifically, they're only robbing branches of Texas Midlands Bank. Their plan is to rob enough money from various Texas Midlands Bank branches to fund a trust that will pay off the mortgage and the taxes, thus saving the ranch for pensive Chris Pine's sons. They are assisted in this financially complex scheme by some lawyer with less morals than Saul from the law firm of Better Call Saul. All parties think it's just perfect that the Texas Midlands Bank will be paid back with their own money. Har dee har har!
That's just stupid, though. If you owned a ranch on which you had signed a lease with the Chevron Oil Company to produce working wells, you would have NO problem finding someone to lend you the $47,000 needed to pay off the reverse mortgage and the back taxes. The royalty check from one month's production would handle that, and then some. How do I know?
Because pensive Chris Pine says so! And yet, with a completely honest and imminently doable solution staring them right in the face, they decide instead to become bank robbers. Dude - WTF?!?
So these two sadsacks rob a few banks, launder money at Oklahoma casinos (yeah, like that's just so easy to do. I'm sure casinos have NO experience with crooks and money-laundering!), get in the obligatory fight with some random other loser, and end up getting kind of out-smarted by a racist and unlikeable Texas Ranger. Much better than the other way they could have gone!
Jeff Bridges studies his boots for a day or so before realizing the two sad sacks are only robbing Texas Midlands Bank branches, and there is only one branch left to rob. He and his partner show up just in time to miss the robbery, but they do join a heavily-armed posse of locals who are in hot pursuit. But the poophole brother pulls out his machine gun and shoots enough bullets at the posse that they get scared and leave.
They have another getaway car cleverly hidden in broad daylight on the wide-open shoulder of the only road out of town. Poophole brother lets pensive Chris Pine get in it, while he stays in the truck. Everyone knows the poophole brother is going to be a diversion and ultimately get shoot to rag dolls. You probably wouldn't think this possible, but pensive Chris Pine gets even more pensive at this point. He leaves and miraculously makes it through the police checkpoint set up specifically to catch him. He continues to an Oklahoma casino for some more money-laundering.
Meanwhile, poophole brother leads the posse up a hill and then jumps out of his truck and opens fire with his other rifle (not the machine gun). Remember when I told you Jeff Bridges was Six Months From Retirement? You know what happens, right?
Right - poophole brother blows Bridges's partner's head off. Bridges is left with his partner's official Texas Ranger hat, which is filled with brains. Although it's hard to tell because Bridges's walrus mustache is so big, Bridges is upset. He gets a local to help him go around the other side of the hill, where he has a clear shot at the poophole brother. Using his vigilante buddy's rifle, he returns the favor by shooting poophole brother through HIS head.
Six months later, Bridges is retired but bored. A man can only look at his boots so long. So he goes back to his old office, where one of his former Rangers tells him that pensive Chris Pine is not a suspect. Even though they know two guys did these robberies, they cannot figure out who the other guy was. The actual Texas Rangers figure it was some prison buddy of the poophole brother, but Bridges has other thoughts.
He shows up at the poophole ranch, which now looks better due to the fact that the Chevron Oil Company is paying the trust set up to own the poophole ranch $50,000 a month in royalties. Apparently pensive Chris Pine is getting some dough too, because he shaved. And got a new shirt. And a rifle. Which he grabs with Jeff Bridges shows up.
Bridges does his best Wilfred Brimley imitation. If you made it this far into this poophole of a review, I'm going to reward you with a great Wilfred Brimley snippet (jump to 1:16, it's worth it):
They dilly-dally around the issues of who did what and who is going to kill who, and Bridges promises to show up at pensive Chris Pine's actual house to settle the issue and "deliver peace to you" (pensive Chris Pine doesn't live at the poophole ranch; his former wife and his two sons do. He was just there at the particular time because he wanted to gaze pensively at the two oil wells the Chevron Oil Company had sunk).
So now I'm waiting for the final shoot-out. Should be good - a pensive bank robber vs. a racist Texas Ranger. Who will win?!?
You'll never know - the movie ended! What the actual #$%#$?!?!?!? Talk about a total let-down.
This movie is called "Hell or High Water" because the brothers have to deliver their stolen money to the evil bankers before the foreclosure and they have to do it "come hell or high water".
What a waste of a great title. What a waste of a movie, actually.
I rate this movie as 3.5 Buried Getaway Cars out of a possible 10 Buried Getaway Cars. Even though the brothers are too broke to shave, and the poophole ranch can't support any cattle, they have a $100,000 eearth-mover and they bury the cars they use in their bank robberies. Try not to figure that out.
Alphaville (1965) - A U.S. secret agent is sent to the distant space city of Alphaville where he must find a missing person and free the city from its tyrannical ruler.
After Blade Runner, I wanted to watch another sci-fi/film noir mash-up and this one is nearly as good. Jean-Luc Godard was on an incredible roll in the 60s. 4.5/5
Alphaville (1965) - A U.S. secret agent is sent to the distant space city of Alphaville where he must find a missing person and free the city from its tyrannical ruler.
After Blade Runner, I wanted to watch another sci-fi/film noir mash-up and this one is nearly as good. Jean-Luc Godard was on an incredible roll in the 60s. 4.5/5
nice. i watched breathless last night for the first time as part of my sight and sound long distance marathon, and i absolutely loved it. i haven't looked into what influenced godard in making that movie, but it felt very much like it might be a beat-influenced film to me with its jazz soundtrack and loose, casually irresponsible hero. and it felt like it might be one of the key touchstone films in influencing the feel of modern movies. an easy 5, i'd say.
le mepris aka contempt is up for tonight, and i can't wait to see more.
black narcissus 4.5/5 nuns try to set up a convent in the himalayas, but get waylaid by the annoyingly good-looking british agent who's there to help them along. a truly majestic looking movie, and one that really surprised me in its ending. perhaps i was a little too easy to fool with my preconceived notions of where a movie with a fairly sexy nun wrestling with temptation was going to lead me, but i was truly surprised where it went.
Alphaville (1965) - A U.S. secret agent is sent to the distant space city of Alphaville where he must find a missing person and free the city from its tyrannical ruler.
After Blade Runner, I wanted to watch another sci-fi/film noir mash-up and this one is nearly as good. Jean-Luc Godard was on an incredible roll in the 60s. 4.5/5
Really, really good. It's obviously visually amazing, the performances are very good and I think the story is interesting on its own and as a continuation of the first one. I loved it. 9/10.
Maimi Vice (2006) I preferred watching the classic tv 80s show......Jaime and Colin (and his Alexander hairstyle ) had no chemistry, and I found the plot, soundtrack etc to be quite forgettable. I give it a 1 out 5
le mepris/contempt (1963) 4/5 - i didn't quite fall for this as i did for godard's breathless, mostly because i just didn't find contempt's focus on a marriage's dissolution as interesting as the caddish behavior we got to see in breathless. it's still filled with great qualities, my favourites being brigitte bardot and the score, both of which we get to see/hear a lot.
Maimi Vice (2006) I preferred watching the classic tv 80s show......Jaime and Colin (and his Alexander hairstyle ) had no chemistry, and I found the plot, soundtrack etc to be quite forgettable. I give it a 1 out 5
not one of michael mann's best, but i like it a lot. when you consider the source material (style over substance), it seems less bad and more in tune with his intent, i think.
go back and watch the episode the movie is based on, 'smuggler's blues' (season one, episode 15).
umbrellas of cherbourg 4.5/5 a bit of a middleweight picture if you're looking for thematic gravitas, but it's loaded with continuously sweet songs & great sights & bright scenery & impossibly good looking people, including a 20 yr-old catherine deneuve. you'd have to be a bit of an inhuman monster not to love it at least a little.
nice. i watched breathless last night for the first time as part of my sight and sound long distance marathon, and i absolutely loved it. i haven't looked into what influenced godard in making that movie, but it felt very much like it might be a beat-influenced film to me with its jazz soundtrack and loose, casually irresponsible hero. and it felt like it might be one of the key touchstone films in influencing the feel of modern movies. an easy 5, i'd say.
le mepris aka contempt is up for tonight, and i can't wait to see more.
[Edited 10/7/17 10:57am]
Watching this movie a few times over the last ten years or so, it has become my all-time #1 film. I'll repeat my praise for it from the last favorite movie thread describing it as smart, concise, irreverent with some seriously madcap editing--it's a very "punk rock" movie. And Paris circa 1960--lovely! 5/5
black narcissus 4.5/5 nuns try to set up a convent in the himalayas, but get waylaid by the annoyingly good-looking british agent who's there to help them along. a truly majestic looking movie, and one that really surprised me in its ending. perhaps i was a little too easy to fool with my preconceived notions of where a movie with a fairly sexy nun wrestling with temptation was going to lead me, but i was truly surprised where it went.
[Edited 10/7/17 11:14am]
This is a movie I've actually liked less after repeated viewings. The story is still a winner and that startling shot of the newly habit-less nun in makeup has been considered one of the best in all of cinema. It's hard for me though to get past the white actors in brownface (common at the time, I know) and the inauthentic studio setting with painted backdrops--just my personal pet peeves.
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) had no chemistry, and I found the plot, soundtrack etc to be quite forgettable. I give it a 1 out 5 
