Last Movie Watched.... The Xenforo Edition

Matsumoto oversaw the creation of the Daft Punk Discovery music videos, so that would make sense.

 

The TV show it was based on has a strong connection to JPop. The reason the movie isn't well known in the US is that there were never-ending legal problems as to who owns it, and it never got a proper release in the US. If you want to watch it with English subtitles you can only see it illegally unless you buy the Ultra Blu Ray that was released in Japan only last year.

 

Free Fall (2014)

Jane Porter wanted to get a memento from her boss's desk, which was in the process of being cleaned out the day after he took a jump off the top of the skyscraper. Porter finds a flash drive that details some underhanded goings on at Gault Capital (don't make it too easy for us). Porter decides to bring (don't make it too easy for us) the drive to the SEC, but the Vice President learns about it and sends a guy to clean up the problem like he cleaned up her boss. Getting away, she ends up an an elevator. She can't escape, but the killer can't get in. The battle of elevator machinations begins.

Since movies have been a business, there have been movies made to a price in all sorts of categories as commerce and technology changes (serials, grindhouse, made-for-TV, direct-to-video, Roger Corman, Golan Globus...) and nothing exemplifies the cheap end of the direct-to-streaming era of the last 15ish years better than Free Fall. Everything about the production is competent - the script makes sense, the acting is professional, the directing confident, the sets are proper. There's never really an off moment (except the coda - I want my proper closure damnit). But there's never a great moment either. There are no memorable characters, there's no clever turn of phrase, there's no unique visual, there's nothing to signify thought or desire or meaning or art. This wasn't created to fulfill a vision - this was created to pad out the list of movies on a streaming site. Free Fall isn't boring, it's just.... content.

Clearly they thought about spicing things up because they brought in Malcolm McDowell. Usually a good idea, but I can't tell you a single thing he said, or even the subject of a topic he talked about. If I was directing this thing and I had Malcolm McDowell I would be all "Ok, you are the head of a financial corporation, you are really into sheep, and you talk like a pirate now ad-lib everything GO" and maybe hearing "Arrr the SEC be on me like a tick on a lamb's back side" in his perfect diction wouldn't make a lot of sense but by Jupiter you would at least remember it.

I would be a terrible director.

 

Nightmare (1956)
Dir. Maxwell Shane



In New Orleans, we meet professional musician Stan Grayson, who is in the middle of a very vivid dream. A nightmare, more accurately, in which he finds himself in a strange room full of mirrors, and where he ends up killing another man, witnessed by a woman he does not know or recognize. Waking up in his hotel room the next morning, he assumes it was nothing but a nightmare. Then he sees bruises on his neck in the mirror, consistent with the struggle he had with the murdered man in his dream. And some blood on his arm. Still dismissing these details as having injured himself due to the very lifelike dream, the next discovery is harder to explain: in his pocket are a coat button and a key. The button is similar to the ones the man he killed in his dream had on his coat. The key is very similar to the key he used in his dream to lock the storage space in which he hid the body. Now believing there is a chance he might actually have killed someone and forgotten all about it, he goes to the one man he believes can help him: his brother in law Rene Bressard, who also happens to be a New Orleans PD homicide detective. Only Rene does not put much credence in his wife's brother's story. Instead believing that the musician's hard-partying, hard living ways have caused him to have a very life-like dream he cannot cope with. Only Stan cannot let it go and eventually there are some clues that even Rene cannot ignore, which suggest Stan might indeed be guilty of murder...

Noirish crime mystery/thriller, with a good Edward G. Robinson. The opening dream sequence is nicely shot. There are some plot contrivances required to move Bressard's investigation along. Co-lead Kevin McCarthy was in a much more well known movie that same year, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The final screen performance of Connie Russell, whose singing career was much more extensive than her acting career, here playing Stan's love interest, night club chanteuse Gina. Russell actually provided the singing voice for the Daddy number in Tex Avery's famous Red Riding Hood cartoon.

 

I Am Not Your Negro ~ R. Peck

A documentary using the autobiographical writings of James Baldwin while interspersing civil rights era footage, contemporary footage of the early BLM protests, and black representation or lack thereof in film history. Its a moving combination of prose and imagery to highlight the on-going systemic racism in the US.

 

Undercover Brother ~ M. Lee

Undercover Brother is a 70's-style do-gooder who teams up with a secret organization, The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., to put an end to the Specter-like evil organization, The Man. A spoof of blaxploitation films with a bit of Austin Powers's time-out-of-place feeling. It hits some very broad jokes that are occasionally very funny, but rarely incisive enough for much more than a chuckle. It's meant to be a goofy good time, though, and other than Chris Kattan's unpleasant performance, it mostly succeeds.

 

The Racket (1951)
Dir. John Cromwell, Mel Ferrer and Tay Garnett



Nick Scanlon is a local crime boss whose organization has been absorbed by a national crime syndicate. The syndicate likes to do things slightly differently from Scanlon, whose first instinct is always violence. The man in charge of the syndicate, simply known as the Old Man, prefers to use bribes and blackmail instead of raw violence. Because of that, the syndicate already owns many cops, prosecutors and judges in the city. Which makes the job of Captain Thomas McQuigg hard, since he is the rare honest cop. Because of his incorruptible nature, he has been moved around the city and his career has been stalled, thanks to the influence of some superiors who are clearly on the take. McQuigg meets Bob Johnson, a young cop in the precinct he has just been assigned to who shares his values: honesty, fearlessness and a strong determination to bring the criminal element down a peg. Together they want to bring down Scanlon, which puts a bullseye on their heads, courtesy of Scanlon and his hoodlums.

Howard Hughes RKO production that is an adaptation of a stage play of the same name, which was adapted into a movie earlier, in 1928. This production went through something of a chaotic production history, which includes at least three directors helming part of it and likely a fourth having done some of the work in the form of Nicholas Ray(!). I think the many cooks aspect is most noticeable in the third act, which feels more than a bit disjointed. Robert Ryan is great as always as the slimy and utterly immoral villain, Mitchum more than adequate as the tough, fair cop who is his opposite. It's clear that the idea was for the scenes where the two men meet to be the highlights of the film, but they sort of fall a bit flat, especially those in the third act. Lizabeth Scott is the third lead as a night club chanteuse who becomes an unwitting and unenthusiastic witness against Scanlon. I have definitely seen films where she was given much more to do. Features two actors who would later go on to have roles on Perry Mason: William Talman as the aforementioned Bob Johnson and Ray Collins as a crooked D.A. with aspirations of being elected as judge.

 

I thought it would be okay as a mere Shane Black style action comedy, it's not a very good Parker adaptation. For many reasons, but primarily that Marky Mark is wrong for the role and only plays the same guy in every movie at this point.

 

Moonlight ~ B. Jenkins

Three chapters in the life of Chiron, starting as a child, then a teen, and finally as a man. He's bullied and abused but also has some positive influences pop into his life. I wish I had seen this a decade ago as its hard for it to live up to the expectations that built up. It is a very good film. Jenkins uses color to set the mood masterfully. The three leads are superb as well as the supporting cast. Jenkins lets shots linger. It's not rushed. It's probably me, but this made me more anxious then anything, worried about some other shoe dropping on this poor kid. In the end, it's not that kind of movie. There is misfortune, but there is also beauty and hope.

 

I took note when Belgian guy long ago said this was set in San Francisco. If I knew this was the 50's San Francisco movie, I'd have seen it sooner.



The Lineup (1958)

Mr. Dressler gets quite the San Francisco welcome after disembarking from his cruise ship onto the Embarcadero - his suitcase is stolen and chucked into a cab that speeds away. Right through a traffic cop and into some train logistics, killing the cabbie. Unbeknownst to Mr. Dressler, his Hong Kong curio contained a stash of the purest. Lt. Ben Guthrie is on the case, a cop as dedicated as he is stiff and boring. Fortunately the movie shifts to the rest of the smuggling crew. With the cabbie dead, a killer, his mentor, and a new driver are tasked to pick up hidden stashes of dope from other enjoyers of Asian vacations.

Drawn from a popular 50's TV show, the cop parts are dry, Dragnet type stuff, including a "look at this map while I reel off some statistics" scene which is probably the first thing film school teaches you not to do. But the dastardly dealings of the killers is tight, clever, and very unnerving, and fully captured my attention and emotions throughout. Top quality car chase scene at the end.

As someone who seeks films showcasing the city of San Francisco, they just don't get better than The Lineup. An incredible amount of the film was dedicated to showing the photogenic and the panoramic, from buildings that haven't changed (although their contexts certainly did) to near-forgotten memories from my childhood. The highlight has to be the extended visit to the Sutro skating rink (formerly the Sutro Baths) which burned down before my time.

 

Jeremiah Johnson, 1972

Platform: Tubi

Rating: 8/10

Summary: War veteran wishes to become a mountain man and his life during that time.

This movie was just wonderful. Wonderful in a way that if I saw this in theaters, I'd have walked out feeling excited, because it was such a good story. Robert Redford is great in this. Story hummed along, told so much with so little dialogue. And well shot.

When it comes to Westerns, I like the stuff from the 40s-50s. Just feels right for me, but this is one I had no problem watching on a weekend.

 

Fruitvale Station ~ R. Coogler

Oscar Grant was murdered by a police officer in 2009. The film starts with cell phone footage of this, so it's not a spoiler. This film is an account of his last day alive. That last day isn't momentous. The next day probably would have been much the same, except he gets in a scuffle on the BART and then is shot while being pinned down by a police officer. Coogler documents a life moving forward until crushed by an act of systemic violence. Oscar's a man trying to get his life together, so he can be a better boyfriend and father. He's not a saint and clearly fallible, but he's just trying to get by. Michael B. Jordan is very good in the role. Equal parts devastating and infuriating that this situation has happened again and again since.

 

Obligatory reaction gif:

 

28 years later: The Bone Temple (2026)
Dir. Nia DaCosta



After the events of the previous film, young Spike has ended up with the Jimmy's, a group of seven youngsters dressed vaguely like Jimmy Savile (blonde wig included), which are led by the enigmatic and charismatic Jimmy Crystal. A fate he is hardly embracing, as Jimmy is a sadistic madman who believes he is the devil's son, on a mission to terrorize the survivors in the countryside. Their cruel and torturous revelries referred to as 'charity'. As there is no way to leave the group unless by dying, Spike has no other option but to accept his fate for now. At the same time, Dr. Kelson has managed an unlikely fraternization with the local alpha Zombie whom he himself had dubbed Samson. So much so that he wonders if there is not still a man capable of sentience hiding underneath the behemoth brute. Unbeknownst to both men, Jimmy and Kelson are on a collision course for one final showdown at Kelson's 'bone temple'.

Follow up to the Danny Boyle legacy sequel, this time helmed by Nia DaCosta but still written by Alex Garland. DaCosta's directorial style is less frenetic than Boyle's and more focused on the creation of very beautiful but often times static tableaus. The style clash actually doesn't matter, this works just as well with Garland's writing as Boyle's more kinetic style did in the previous feature in the series. Some memorable shots include the murmurations above the Bone Temple and that fiery climax. I actually thought this was a smoother ride than the Boyle effort, mostly because Garland's script, which has a fairly basic structure, does a good job of getting us from point A to point B to point C... Very good performances by Ralph Fiennes as Kelson and Jack O'Connell as the completely insane Jimmy Crystal. Fiennes and O'Connell actually carry this film, whereas Dr. Kelson was more of a supporting character whom featured primarily in the third act of the previous movie. I also liked Erin Kellyman's work as one of the female Jimmy's (I mainly knew her from the one season Willow TV series prior to this). Great soundtrack with primarily lots of 1980s pop music. And that Iron Maiden sequence was just as good and fun as advertised. A shame that this did not perform as well at the box office as its predecessor. All things considered, I think it is slightly better.

 

Solum (2019)

Eight reality-show contestants compete to survive for many days on a large island until they get across it to get to the extraction point. They need to film themselves while doing so, and if they decide to give up they press a button on a radio and will be rescued. Except one guy throws away his camera and gear, and starts shooting arrows at the other people. The survival game has turned into a survival game. Except arrow guy knows what's really going on, and it's not a TV show. I wish he explained what it was to me.

There's been a lot of movies I've described as nonsensical, and I want to apologize to all of them because I've just seen Solum. This movie is violently against logical narrative, is horribly paced - for example maintaining the TV show contrivance far after we realize it is fiction - and plot holes are so massive I can't even try to explain what that fiction is. It has a political point about humanity destroying itself, and I am now in total agreement with applying that policy. The only good thing about the movie is that it was filmed in the Azores, and both the technique and the technology used to capture the beautiful locale were exceptional.

The guy trying to arrow everyone has a motive.. well, not really, but he's not doing it for sport so it's not in the Most Dangerous Game genre. I'm starting to get really annoyed at Tubi's one sentence synopsis of the films.

 

Stone Cold (1991)
Dir. Craig R. Baxley



Alabama police detective Joe Huff is suspended. He gets a chance at cutting his suspension short when he is approached by the F.B.I., who want to use his expertise when it comes to biker gangs to infiltrate a Mississippi-based white supremacist 1%er outfit who are suspected of various high profile murders, including most recently of a judge who had sentenced one of their members to a lengthy prison sentence for another murder. Huff reluctantly agrees to take on the assignment, being dubious about his chances of success. His experience with biker gangs tells him that such a violent outfit will be very reluctant to trust outside prospects. Eventually he does do enough to earn the attention if not the trust of the gang's leader, Chains Cooper. Chains' second in command Ice takes an immediate dislike and distrust to Joe, who is going undercover as Joe Stone. The promise of a big payday means that Chains takes the bait when Joe brings him the opportunity of a very lucrative drug deal, at the same time he is learning that the outfit is planning some big move, though the members of the biker gang in the know about its details aren't sharing any of them with Joe...

An over the top action thriller that is a very specific type of actioner. I would say this type of late 1980s, early 1990s action film started more or less with Arnie's Commando and had arguably ended by the time John Woo made his first American film. Bay, Woo and others made their own version of over the top action, but the flavor was already significantly different. This stars NFL player turned action star Brian Bosworth, who kind of looks and feels like a dollar store version of Dolph Lundgren. His lack of pure charisma doesn't really matter that much, since the actor who is really stealing this film is Lance Henriksen as Chains, in a villainous turn dialed to 11. William Forsythe is majorly chewing scenery too as Ice. The violent climax at the Mississippi State Capitol (actually filmed at the Arkansas State Capitol) is kind of weird to watch post J6.

 

I remember that moving crashing out of theaters immediately and being available from Blockbuster much faster than most theater releases back then. Bosworth was charismatic on the field, but he clearly couldn't act.

 

Woman Under The Influence. 1974

Platform: Criterion

8.5/10.

Two lovers are at a crossroads. The husband is worried about his wife's mental health.

This movie was intense. Knowing Peter Falk as Columbo was also a bit jarring but I was hooked. Although truth be told I feel a tad tired after seeing this.

 

This is one of those movies I really love for not because it's a good movie but because of the way it revels in its insanity. I found Bosworth's main failing to be a lack of action-star intensity during the high-pressure moments, but it's made up for by his exceptional mullet.

 

Prince of Darkness (1987)
Dir. John Carpenter



A secret order within the Catholic Church, the so-called Brotherhood of Sleep, has been guarding a strange artifact for centuries. A large cylinder that appears to contain a strange, animated green liquid, it radiates evil energy and is believed to be the prison of some malevolent entity. When its last caretaker dies, a priest is dispatched to investigate the cryptic message and key found among his possessions. The priest finds out that the key unlocks a basement level in an abandoned monastery in Los Angeles. There he finds the cylinder. Feeling its strong negative energy, he brings in a man of science to help: quantum physicist Dr. Howard Birack. Birack brings along his PhD candidates, as well as some experts in other fields like microbiology, radiology and ancient languages. As they lock themselves inside the abandoned monastery to study the artifact, strange occurrences become ever more blatant, eventually revealing that the small group of scientists and the priest are locked in the monastery with whatever evil entity is trying to escape the cylinder.

Prince of Darkness is generally not considered a John Carpenter Gran Cru. Thus I hadn't seen this one in over two decades, at least, in spite of being a Carpenter fan. This revisiting did not really elevate my estimation of where this finds itself within Carpenter's oeuvre, even though it's very much a Carpenter film, between the camera work, framing, music and suspense. In having a group of skilled yet over-matched individuals stuck in a single location whilst battling a force of evil, it is somewhat reminiscent of The Thing, without ever getting close to the classic Who Goes There adaptation. The writing itself, with its hokey pseudo-science actually reminded me most of some classic Hammer films, like for instance 'Quatermass and the Pit'. Donald Pleasance is easily the most recognizable member of the cast. Brooklyn 99 fans might recognize a young Hitchcock, as Dirk Blocker is also part of this ensemble. Female lead Lisa Blount is probably most well known for playing Lynette in An Officer and a Gentleman. Whilst Victor Wong will probably be far more remembered for his other Carpenter turn, Big Trouble in Little China, than for this film. Very much already feels like a film-maker who had already peaked, though I have a lot of time for some of the films Carpenter made after this, like They Live, Ghosts of Mars and Cigarette Burns.

 

Shaft (1971) ~ G. Parks

Shaft is a detective being squeezed by gangsters and the cops about something brewing in Harlem. He's cool as a cucumber, though, and solves the case in-between getting laid. There are a lot of parts of this film that are ridiculous and not very good, but Richard Roundtree looks and acts really f'n cool throughout and that's enough.