The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)-Good Western. Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne star. @BelgianGuy Big Trouble in Little China is a guilty pleasure.
You should definitely check out his entire filmography from Assault on Precinct 13 to They Live. All of them good to great movies.
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel -- Season 3 Ugh. This show has completely come off the rails, and what is surprising is how just how quickly a formerly great show has turned to dress porn for women. The show "ought" to be about a how Midge Maisel, a woman bred to be a housewife in the 50s, forges a career as a woman in an emerging (soon to be dominated by males) career field. The relationship between Midge and her manager is captivating. But in the second season, the Emmy that Tony Shalhoub won must have gone to his head because the show became more of an ensemble piece. Except that no one in the ensemble is remotely as interesting as Mrs Maisel. By the third season, the writers have given up. There is an astounding amount of filler: 60 second establishing shots, 4 and 5 minute song and dance pieces, and montages that mean nothing. I watched the first three episodes the first three days the show came out. It's taken me three months and self quarantining to watch the last three.
Anne with an "E" Anne Shirley, of Anne of Green Gables, is one of the most irrepressible figures in literature and this show captures her wonderfully. There are 6 or 7 books in the series and Anne, like the March women of Little Women, grows up quickly. She has left the home and entered college by the end of the first book. It takes the show 3 seasons and 30 episodes to age Anne similarly. So the series needs a lot of new material and the writers have it out of the park with this depiction of the young Anne. They truly "get" Anne. Anne is an orphan who comes to live with an elderly brother and sister who thought they were adopting a boy to help them as they aged. It was doubly sweet for me, watching this with my god daughter, who for the third time, we are trying to gain custody/guardianship of. Nasia picked this show for us to watch without having been familiar with the source material. My wife and I had to show her just how much we want her to consider ours her "forever home." And this show was a perfect foil. We only watched in February and I'm already re-watching it.
My wife and I, sadly, agree with this. Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler The final episode may have turned us off the show for good, inasmuch as chose to subvert the characters of both Midge and Susie, choosing to turn them into idiots just to cobble together a cliff-hanger ending. Building off their naivety is one thing. Turning off the intelligence of both of them by writing them into completely off the wall pratfalls is entirely another. We didn't even finish the episode.
Road to Perdition (2002)-Tom Hanks, Paul Newman and Jude Law star. Good followup from Sam Mendes to American Beauty.
The Lovely Bones (dir: P Jackson) 2009 This is a strange movie from the standpoint that, while it deals pretty straightforwardly with Alice Debold's novel, and Saoirse Ronan is a good narrator, it doesn't translate particularly well to the silver screen, or, to the Sony TV. I a d o r e Ronan's acting chops, and she's quite accomplished at the age of 15, assuming that the movie was made in 2009. My problem w the film is that Jackson tried to dramatize the world that Suzie inhabited after she died in a way that neither gives the viewer a concrete sense of what life after death might be like nor helps drive the plot in a constructive way, at least most of the time, IMO. My take is supported, at least on some level, by RT's score of 32%.
Underwater (2020) Dir. William Eubank A hi-tech drilling facility at the bottom of the Mariana trench (how did they get this thing financed?) is faced with catastrophic system failures. A small group of survivors, who did not perish in the initial destruction of a good portion of the deep sea facility but who also did not manage to escape in the still accessible escape pods, decide to make a daring attempt to survive by walking several miles on the sea floor in special suits in the hope of reaching a hopefully still intact hub of the station. Whilst on their way there, they encounter strange, hostile creatures and they begin to suspect that the depressurizing of their facility was not an accident. This is an Alien clone set in the depths of the ocean (with some Lovecraftian undertones). I have always though that the deep makes for an incredibly rich environment to set a horror movie in, yet so few of them have effectively used it. This is no exception. The camera work does a better job at confusing than scaring. The cast is fine, though this must be the least charismatic performance Vincent Cassel has ever given. It's also been a long time since I saw a good Kristen Stewart performance (Adventureland?). I like Jessica Henwick a lot (she is a terrific Colleen Wing) but she isn't given much to do here other than being the protagonists scared BFF. This isn't terrible by any means but it's not great either. It's a middling sci-fi horror flick with a bit of an underwhelming ending to boot.
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOTQ5NDI3MTI4MF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNDQ4ODE5MDE@._V1_.jpg The Good The Bad and the Ugly Cat and mouse game drifts across southwest desert and collides with the ending of the Civil War in the search for $200,000. Every frame is beautiful. The score is so iconic.
Tuco arriving at Sad Hill and looking for Arch Stanton's grave whilst the ecstasy of gold erupts on the soundtrack is still one of my favorite cinematic moments of all time.
I haven't watched them yet, but they are on the DirecTV settop box, Alien and Aliens. Will watch tomorrow. My favorite line from Aliens: "I don't know if you've been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!" When the original came out in 1979, a buddy at work came in Monday and related that he and his wife had seen the film over the weekend and he wasn't able to get to sleep AT ALL on Saturday night for thinking that "They're out there".
The Tenant (1976) Dir. Roman Polanski Trelkovsky, a middle-aged bureaucrat and Polish immigrant to France follows up a lead to a potential vacant apartment. He is informed by the concierge of the building that the apartment might become available because the current tenant attempted suicide by jumping from her window into the courtyard below. It is not expected that she will recover. After negotiating with the landlord, Trelkovsky options the place, yet he cannot stop himself from satisfying his curiosity and visiting the former tenant in the hospital. The badly wounded woman seems to have a panic attack when a friend of hers also arrives to visit when Trelkovsky is there. After he has moved into his new place, he is increasingly more confused and then disturbed by the behavior of some of the other tenants, as well as some of the stuff he finds in his apartment which belonged to the previous occupant. This feeds into his paranoia. But is everything he is experiencing merely a delusion or does it hold a kernel of truth? I had never seen this Polanski cult favorite. I can't say this was bad, but it won't feature among my favorite of Polanski's work. There are definitely moments in there that work - all of them inside of the apartment complex which is a character in and of itself, like the Overlook Hotel is in "The Shining". By contrast, the scenes with the friends disjoint the experience and feel very much out of place. In general I thought that the same themes and atmosphere were done more adeptly and packing a stronger dramatic punch in José Ramón Larraz' "Symptoms". Polanski's lead performance eats up most of the screentime, with many scenes featuring just him. Isabel Adjani's supporting role is smaller than I thought it would be. Also features Shelley Winters as the concierge.
1984 (1984)-Good film version of the book. John Hurt and Richard Burton deliver good performances. Suzanna Hamilton stars as Julia.
If you're going to view all four of the pictures, make sure you see the extended versions of Aliens, Alien3, and Alien Resurrection. They are all better with the extra footage, but that is especially true of Alien3 -- the so-called Assembly Cut. It's a half-hour longer and improves the movie immeasurably.
I MIGHT watch Alien 3 if I were being paid a substantial number of macadamia nut chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk. otherwise... for the record, i hated Prometheus
I Saw the Devil (2010) Dir. Jee-woon Kim Soo-hyeon is a Korean secret agent whose girlfriend is murdered shortly after he has a phone conversation with her whilst she is stuck waiting for a tow truck by the side of the road. Her dismembered body is found rather quickly, but the police investigation doesn't yield any immediate results. Through his retired police chief father-in-law, he gets the police files of a quartet of men who have a background that suggests they might be capable of such a crime. During a leave of absence form his work, Soo-hyeon tracks down each of these men and finds out that one of them was indeed guilty of his girlfriend's murder. Instead of exacting immediate revenge, his intention is to slowly torment the man, but in doing so, he is greatly underestimating his foe, whilst overestimating his own capabilities. A riveting Korean action-thriller with a terrifying Min-sik Choi as the killer. Ultimately also about the limits of revenge, perhaps even the idea that it is a fallacy in its entirety. Very well made and worthy of its 140+ minute run time.
I dislike Prometheus as well. I saw it in the theater when it came out and gave it a second chance (on DVD) just before going to see Covenant when that was released. It still did nothing for me. I think it's sad Ridley Scott came back to the series only to bore us to tears. As far as Alien3 is concerned, I was so glad to have rediscovered it. The 'assembly cut' isn't just about inserting a scene or two, it's re-edited up to the level of respectability. There's far more on the religious angle and Charles Dutton as the spiritual leader of the prisoners. Increased screen time for Charles Dance. Minor characters get fleshed out and individualized. The discovery of Ripley and her craft at the start is handled differently and is more involved. The alien gestates in an ox, not a dog. There's a whole lengthy segment where the prisoners successfully entrap the alien -- which was entirely cut from the theatrical release! And the finale with Ripley and the furnace also has a change. David Fincher and friend.
We Summon the Darkness (2019) Dir. Marc Meyers Alexis, Val and Bev are three young women on their way to a heavy metal concert. The area they live in, as well as nearby counties, have been plagued by a spree of satanic murders. Like many in the heavy metal scene, they have a morbid fascination for the crimes themselves, but otherwise they are largely unworried about them. Before and during the concert, they fraternize with a trio of guys they met due to a small incident on the road. On a whim, Alexis and her two friends invite the guys over to her parents place for some drinks after the gig. Over the course of the night, it is revealed that not everyone is who he appears to be, with deadly results. Fun little horror comedy. Does a nice job at subverting expectations. Alexandra Daddario is her usual charming self but my favorite performance in this film is Maddie Hasson as Val, a role that has many antecedents in horror history (the bitchy smart-mouthed best friend), which she acquits herself of quite nicely.
Fantasy Island (2020) Dir. Jeff Wadlow A small group of people arrive on the titular island, each hoping to live their fantasies. Their desires are very different, yet on the surface it appears that the magic of the island is making all of their individual wishes come through. After a while, the fantasies themselves seem to slowly morph into something not quite what the guests desired, yet by that time it is too late to do anything about it. But is there some hidden underlying motive that ties all of their stories together? A horrorish take on the 1970s TV show that ultimately was a bit of a letdown. Not unlike many Blumhouse productions (even the subpar ones), it still made back its production budget several times over. Especially disheartening to see Portia Doubleday (a truly terrific actress) reduced to acting in this kind of fare.
Rounders (1998)-Good poker movie starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. Gretchen Mol stars as the love interest of Damon.
Emma (2020) Dir. Autumn de Wilde Emma Woodhouse is a young woman who takes delight in playing matchmaker, in spite of her father's objections and her friend George Knightley's suggestion that she might be doing more harm than she might realize with her little "games". Her latest prospect & project is a young woman of humble background and unknown parentage, Miss Harriet Smith, whom she befriends and wants to pair up with a young handsome vicar, Mr. Elton. She herself has her sights set upon Frank Churchill, a fact Knightley secretly resents. It is I, the person who cannot resist a good Jane Austen adaptation and whose favorite has always been Emma! I enjoyed this a great deal. The tone of this adaptation is very light and quirky. Anya Taylor Joy is a delight as the titular character. Mia Goth makes a very good Harriet Smith. Bill Nighy is hilarious as Henry Woodhouse. Warmly recommended if you at all enjoy this sort of thing.
High Fidelity (2000)-Good rom-com. John Cusack and Iben Hjelje star. Jack Black is a riot in his scenes.
Captain Marvel (2019) Kree Starforce soldier Vers' years of being personally trained by its leader Yon-Rogg have paid off, and Vers - with the gift of force projection beams emanating from her hands - is sent on her very first mission. She and the Starforce team must rescue a spy trapped behind enemy lines on a planet teeming with the Kree's mortal enemy, the shapeshifing Skrull. But not everything is as it appears. Duh - it's a planet of shapeshifters. It's typical for a Marvel Universe movie - it's all at full throttle so you don't question what's going on with fight scenes that are designed to overwhelm you. Credit to Brie Larson's breezy acting style which really makes the superhero stuff easy to swallow, much like my other Marvel movie favorite Thor or even Deadpool. I liked the chemistry with the Rambeau character, and that was also the first moment the film allowed the viewer to breath, even though it is very deep into the movie. My favorite scene was the total rejection of the common action movie cliché of confrontation with a defiant bad guy when the hero has some sort of massive advantage. I'm just not sure of Captain Marvel as a superhero. She seems so vastly overpowered. I get the whole "the challenge is not the enemy, but your own self doubts" thing, but Buffy did that, and did it better by making it first about the self doubts, then about the enemy.