Last Movie Watched.... The Xenforo Edition

Castle in the Sky ~ Miyazaki H.

A Miyazaki film I hadn't seen, which is a shame, because it's quite good. It runs full-throttle as an adventure movie with a lot of dynamic action scenes. A lot of familiar themes from his other films, but in a beautifully rendered fantasy world that like all Miyazaki feels lived in and complex.

 

I imagine it involves robots and murder?

 

I hadn't expected it to have a moment as moving as that last scene between Skarsgard and Dastmalchian.

 

Witness to Murder (1954)
Dir. Roy Rowland



Cheryl Draper wakes up in the middle of the night and happens to watch out of her bedroom window, only to witness what appears to be a murder in the apartment across the street from hers. She calls the police, who after a search of the apartment in question, a home that belongs to German émigré Albert Richter, report back to Cheryl that she must have dreamed the whole thing as there was no body nor signs of of a struggle in Richter's place. Cheryl refuses to believe she merely imagined the murderous scene. Richter in fact got away with murder by quickly hiding the body somewhere the police did not bother to check. His one remaining problem is Cheryl, who refuses to let what she witnesses go. Richter inserts himself into her life, with the intention of making her appear like an unreliable witness, a clearly psychotic woman whose delusions have latched onto him. Police Lieutenant Lawrence Matthews is sympathetic towards Cheryl, helped by his attraction to her, but even he does not believe Richter is truly guilty of murder.

Something of a Rear Window avant la lettre, released a month before the Hitchcock classic, though not to similar box office success. Enjoyable yet somewhat predictable plot-wise. Elevated by a good Stanwyck in the lead performance. I would say the mostly dialogue-less opening five or six minutes is the best section of the film, nice bit of suspense film-making. A youngish Claude Akins has a tiny and early role - which featured as a nice surprise - as a police officer set to watch a murder victim's apartment.

 

Perfect Blue ~ Kon S.

A pop idol looks to transform her career towards acting, but that may be a turn into a much darker world. It's a well-made psychological thriller that doubles as a critique of the Japanese film industry in contrast to Millennium Actress that had a more celebratory view of it.

 

A Game in the Woods (2025)

Life is a big party for Ash, and her serious girlfriend Sam is starting to get tired of her frivolity. Their road trip to Texas to rob her recently deceased grandfather's house before the rest of the family does the same would go a lot faster if she didn't keep stopping to buy things they couldn't afford. Soon after arriving at the sprawling property they find it isn't empty. Turns out grandpa had a long-term tenant who ran a hunt where rich white men could kill people imported from outside the country (mostly Mexico). And if they wanted to prolong the death with whatever torture they could imagine, hey you paid your $50,000, you can go primal. Ash and Sam have seen too much, and now the hunters have some exotic new targets.

This is a very low-budget horror movie, with all that implies. Mostly that 95% of the budget went to gore special effects. Aficionados of the genre actually consider this one of the best examples in the last few years. I liked that this was filmed in Texas to show that distinctive terrain and light, and I liked the character setup at the start. I hated everything else. Actually, hated is too weak a word. If beforehand I had read that review on IMDB that described a particularly disturbing scene, I would have known enough to skip this. Just as a movie all narrative, character, drama, theme, and intelligence are dropped as soon as the killing starts never to be seen again. I'm a moron for watching this just before going to bed.

 

@taosjohn, bring some tissues:

 

Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space ~ t.o.l

An avant-garde animation/music project about a young female cat partying on another planet while a secret cult/conglomerate spreads its influence. It's weird. The 2D animation is fun, but the 3D CGI is very 2002. Luckily, that's a relatively minor part. It's pretty bare bones through the beginning. A lot of it is seeing a cute cat curse and party. In the latter half, a character just goes on a 10 minute exposition rant. The other character in the scene falls asleep which I thought was hilarious. I first heard of this film when a local theater was screening it as a late night cult film, and that's probably the right experience for watching this.

 

The Mystery of Chess Boxing ~ J. Kuo

The Ghost Faced Killer is out for revenge against the kung-fu masters who imprisoned him 10, 15, or many years ago. Ah Pao's father is one of his victims, so he seeks to learn kung-fu for his own revenge. Hilarity and highly-choreographed kung-fu ensue complete with bad dubbing, bad subtitles, and sound-effects that are a beat off. In other words, a great time! Took my son to see this at the campus int'l film series tonight, and he says this is the best action movie yet.

 

I do owe a debt to A Game in the Woods for indirectly leading me to a MDG movie I would have missed otherwise.



Avenging Force (1986)

Ranch life seems to fit former Special Service agent Michael Dudikoff just fine. But it's a New Orleans city visit that has him and his very much younger sister excited. They get to visit his old Army buddy, Steve James. James is in a Mardi Gras float as part of his campaign for Senator, and he wanted his good fiend to join him. Friend turns bodyguard when gunmen attack, spraying bullets everywhere, killing dozens of beaded spectators and James' oldest son. They are from an organization called The Pentangle, a far-right wing conspiracy headed by businessmen and politicians. They are strong believers in their own superiority, and certainly don't want a black man winning the election against one of theirs. They attack again, and this time kidnapping Dudikoff's sister. They need bait, because they want Dudikoff for a little game in the woods. They like to prove their dominance by hunting men, and he's going to be the most delicious target yet.

I enjoyed seeing the reunion of Michael Dudikoff and Steve James from American Ninja, particularly as Michael Dudikoff learned to act in the meantime and this script isn't complete crap. It's actually a step above the standard 80's mid-tier action movie, with some really emotional moments. Kind of shocking that the political views of what were considered cartoon villains at the time are almost mainstream today. But the writers really had their number, and the superiority of the Pentangle leadership extends beyond race and politics to even those beneath them in the same organization. A severe knock on Avenging Force is the fight choreography, which was mostly professional wrestling style and very unimmersive. Dudikoff clearly had more physical ability than the director demanded of him.

One of the points of the Pentangle was Marc Alaimo, demonstrating his flair for portraying characters simultaneously cultured and vile.

 

Tampopo ~ Itami J.

Widowed mother, Tampopo, is trying to run a ramen shop, but her ramen isn't good. A truck driving, ramen afficionado decides to help her learn to cook great ramen with the help of a ramshackle crew. A love letter to food told through a goofy romcom with a tendency to meander into various other stories along the way. It's mostly quite fun, though I feel like a bit shorter and more committed to either the rom or the com would have helped the second half.

 

Prey for the Hunter (1992)

This hasn't been a good week for Simon Rush. Rush is a reporter on assignment covering a proxy civil war in an unnamed African country until the avenging force of Soviet-backed rebels rush him from the capital with little more than the clothes on his back. Spending days hiking or hitchhiking along dirt roads, he eventually comes to a tiny village. He finds he accidentally crossed into another country without papers, but fortunately there are some British executives on a big game hunt who offer him a stay and trip home when the safari is over. As killing dumb creatures has gotten boring, they ask Simon to be prey in a hunt using paintball guns. Simon finds this great fun. Until the leader of the executives switches to real bullets.

One of those weird low-budget movies everyone hates except me. Slow, but slow because this was on Africa time and not American time, and you constantly get that anticipatory feel of the hunt. Filmed on location in South Africa, giving it an eyecatching look. I also liked how there was some doubt as to who the real evil killer was. Slightly unusual in that the main psychological aspect wasn't about a hunter turned killer, but about how friends and family felt when they thought the lead executive had totally gone of the deep end, and I thought Prey insightfully captured that human desire for inaction to the point of self-destruction. The ending was a callback to the original Most Dangerous Game movie, and we closed with a hackneyed coda, but the kind of hackneyed coda I find comforting because it's so of the time.

 

Frankenstein (2025)
Dir. Guillermo del Toro



After an unhappy childhood in which he grows up with a mother he adores but whom died young and a cold and distant father he grew to hate, Victor Frankenstein becomes a man obsessed with using science to restore life to the dead. He finds an unlikely mecenas in Henrich Harlander, a wealthy arms manufacturer who is willing to fund Victor's research. Harlander is also guardian to Elizabeth Harlander, who is engaged to be married to William Frankenstein, Victor's younger brother. With Harlander's funding and support, Victor achieves unlikely success, only the creature he reanimates proves a disappointment. After he destroys his research, including he believes the one specimen he created, he is not aware of his creation's survival, or its growing resentment towards its creator.

A loose adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel, that follows the broad strokes structure of the book but takes a lot of liberties with the narrative and especially the characters. Not unlike his remake of Nightmare Alley, I found this an uneven experience from Guillermo del Toro. There are sequences that work and are quite enjoyable, others I found more than a bit underwhelming. And whilst I like Oscar Isaac as an actor, the longer the story went on, the more I became convinced he was a bit miscast as Victor Frankenstein. Jacob Elordi by contrast was a good creature. Some online critiques made me believe this would be a bad-looking film, but that is exaggerated. There are sequences where the digital imagery looks less than great but others that are quite beautiful. I felt similarly about the production design, with a few sets so stylized they were borderline immersion breaking, others that were very well done. Mia Goth does Mia Goth stuff and had less screentime than I thought she would. There are good supporting turns by Lars Mikkelsen and David Bradley (whom I initially did not recognize).

 

Mystery Junction (1951)
Dir. Michael McCarthy



Crime novelist Larry Gordon finds himself on a train. Shortly after a fan recognizes him, him and said fan - with whom he shares a train compartment - the pair of them hear a scream. Larry investigates and finds proof that one of the train car doors recently opened, even though they haven't stopped at a station in the last few hours. He realizes that what he heard was likely a murder or foul play after he also finds the conductor knocked out with his coat and keys missing. It is revealed the train is transporting a notorious criminal, Steve Harding. The missing man was a police officer by the name of Blake. The other cop accompanying Harding, Peterson, assumes that Blake was killed by an accomplice of Harding's, who does not want the criminal to reach his destination. Peterson disembarks the occupants of the train car at the next station, which is snowed in, making police reinforcements or evacuation impossible. It is left to Larry to try and find out who among the passengers might be Harding's accomplice and thus culpable of murder. The man or woman in question would have motive for more violence, since his or her attempt to free Harding has so far failed.

British B-movie crime mystery. Essentially a sort of locked room mystery, only one that never quite gets going. The premise is more interesting than the execution and the detective aspect of the story is limited to such a degree that it almost becomes an entirely passive procedural. Apart from one key moment, the entire story would likely unfold more or less the same without the detective's intervention. Which might be interesting if it was the writer's intent, only I don't think it was the case here. Most memorable cast member is Martin Benson as the criminal Steve Harding. Most familiar face among the cast is a pre-Hollywood Patricia Owens, who would later star in Island in the Sun and The Fly (the 1950s original). She portrays one half of a pair of showgirl train passengers here.

 

All You Need is Kill ~ Akimoto K.

A giant alien plant starts spewing monsters that kill everyone in their path. Was that a dream? Nope, Rita is in a Groundhog's Day time loop, reliving the last day on earth over and over again. This anime movie is based on the same light novel/manga that Edge of Tomorrow was based on. I haven't seen that one, but this was pretty good. It has a bright neon pastel palette along with strong animation and sound design.

 

That Night's Wife ~ Ozu Y.

A man commits an armed robbery and flees the police in the dead of night. At home, his daughter is near death asking when he'll return. A silent Ozu film from 1930, it starts as a noir and turns into more of a tense drama enclosed within the home. There's brilliant lighting and shots throughout. Unlike the more fixed camera of Ozu's later work, there are some terrific tracking shots that demonstrate his skill before creating a signature style. The acting is really good by the cast of five or so. Only complaint is that it drags out a bit at the end, probably unnecessarily.

 

A Perfect Plan (2020)

The first thing the safe-cracker, cat burglar, break-in specialist, and mastermind wonder is why they were drugged and brought in from around the world to be locked in this basement with three strangers. The second is why is the place stocked with the tools of the trade. But no luck getting out - their jailer has other plans. The basement contains a perfect copy of an uncrackable safe inside an impregnable structure inside an unbeatable security system. He wants to see how these people defeat the system, and is going to copy their moves with his own team. If the prisoners don't succeed in time, they get blown up. If they do succeed, well, they are probably going to get blown up anyway.

I love the concept of one-room movies, but they so frequently disappoint me. Particularly when they leave the room half way through and it turns into a regular movie. I love heist movies too, but the heist has to be well conceived. A Perfect Plan had the heist mechanics from a 80's TV show. There is some cleverness in the plot, but it's nothing that would have worked in real life and there wasn't enough fantasy in the movie to make us accept it as a more light-hearted affair. The imprisoner's plan could legitimately be used on something like Leverage, but the characters and writing in this movie certainly isn't Leverage. The only thing really saving this was William Forsythe - man, that cat has charisma. He must really be desperate for money.

 

Zootopia (2016)

There's never been a rabbit on the cosmopolitan Zootopia city police force, but Judy Hopps has three big advantages - supreme agility, quick thinking, and a never-say-die attitude. Graduating at the top of her academy class, and with a little help from the mayor's request to increase diversity on the force, Judy becomes their latest recruit. But Chief Bogo, who isn't impressed by anything, is even less impressed by a rabbit on the force, and has Judy on parking ticket duty. You might think even the most positive outlook would be ground down by such lack of support and degrading work, but Judy is always looking for a chance. With the help of low-level hustler Nick, she finally get an in on the biggest case in Zootopia: 14 animals are missing without a trace. Judy is close to finding a major threat to the city, but the danger may be closer to her than she knows.

Zootopia had over a dozen writers, and you can tell how carefully this was engineered because every phrase, every word was spot on. The entire movie was a joy to see and listen to, bright and detailed and chock full of movement while never being overwhelming or exhausting. I enjoyed the personal stories as well as the overall theme against societal division. Haven't felt this happy at the close of a movie in a long time.

 

I'm not really shy in giving out full 5 star reviews on Letterboxd. Almost 10% of my movies get them. But before today I haven't given one to a first watch in over a year.

 

Agatha Christie's Seven Dials



England, 1925. Lady Caterham is hosting a party at her country house, the assortment of guests, which include both nouveau rich industrialists and foreign office policy wonks not exactly her usual crowd. But needs must and Lady Caterham desperately needs the money she gets renting out her abode for such events. Her daughter Lady Eileen is far more welcoming to the revelries, especially since it gives her a chance to socialize with Gerry Wade, her deceased brother's best friend (both men served together in the Great War) and someone she herself has strong feelings for.
Gerry works at the foreign office and is meant to be baby-sitting Lady Maria Coote, wife of steel magnate Sir Oswald Coote during the party. Though before he assumes his responsibilities, he makes a date to see Eileen the next week, strongly suggesting he is about to propose marriage to her. The next morning, a prank involving eight hidden alarm clocks in Gerry's room reveals that Gerry has died during the night. A bottle of choral on the nightstand suggesting it might be an accidental overdose. Eileen suspects foul play from the start, and starts investigating the death, getting the reluctant help of some of her male acquaintances, some of which also work for the foreign office. More violence follows, though also the vague outlines of a plot, one that involves a secret and mysterious society only known as the Seven Dials.

I checked out this Agatha Christie adaptation, which is a three episode mini-series on Netflix, because it seemed to be getting some good reviews. Perhaps these expectations are the primary reason that I felt underwhelmed by it all. It's not that it's bad, just very... mediocre. Apart from the good production design and decent cinematography, I can't really say anything stands out enough about this (loose) adaptation of the Christie novel, other than a good lead performance by Mia McKenna-Bruce (who is very charming as Lady Eileen 'Bundle' Brent). It just feels very middle of the road and its choices are all safe and conventional. Kenneth Branagh's most recent Poirot adaptation had its flaws too, but I will remember it years from now for how buckwild he went in his shot creation with wild Dutch angles, fish eye lenses, ...

 

Maborosi ~ Kore-eda H.

A woman's husband dies shortly after their son is born. She later remarries and moves to a rural coastal village. Ponderous to a fault. The photography here is excellent (see the terrific composition above), but there's a tendency to hold long shots for reasons that don't seem to add context or meaning. There's a compelling theme of grief never really going away and that pain welling up at times, but the middle third of the film drags.

 

Godzilla (1954) ~ Honda I.

Out of the sea rises an ancient monster born of the nuclear age, Gojira! The kaiju destruction scenes are all pretty cool for their time, but the heart of the story is how humanity reacts to an existential threat, and it's mostly irrational and panicky.