Film distinguished by being shown in 'Chapters' and featuring a highly eccentric score by Erik Friedlander. Good black comedy begins to resemble The Shining as it goes on, has a nice twist.
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| It's your average night in for teens these days |
Saturday, 29 December 2018
Thoroughbreds (2017 Cory Finley & scr)
Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy are rather good as murderous couple; I didn't recognise Anton Yelchin again - the film is dedicated to him.
Film distinguished by being shown in 'Chapters' and featuring a highly eccentric score by Erik Friedlander. Good black comedy begins to resemble The Shining as it goes on, has a nice twist.
Film distinguished by being shown in 'Chapters' and featuring a highly eccentric score by Erik Friedlander. Good black comedy begins to resemble The Shining as it goes on, has a nice twist.
Leave No Trace (2018 Debra Granik & co-scr)
She also made Winter's Bone, which shares a vision of the underbelly of America. Neglected Vietnam vet Ben Foster is living in the wild with his daughter Thomasin McKenzie; he can't settle down but she feels the tugs of normality. The ending is heart-breaking when you consider the inter-dependency of the couple; as Foster fades into the forest you also get a big feeling this ex-servicemen hasn't been looked after (what's the enigmatic newspaper headline, something like 'Suicide Follows Army Batallion'?) Funnily enough, El Camino Christmas also had a Vietnam sub-plot.
Thomasin is really great. Co-written by Anne Rosellini from the novel 'My Abandonment' by Peter Rock, written from the point of view of the girl and with a quite different storyline I think.
Thomasin is really great. Co-written by Anne Rosellini from the novel 'My Abandonment' by Peter Rock, written from the point of view of the girl and with a quite different storyline I think.
El Camino Christmas (2017 David E Talbert)
Clever writing by Christopher Wehner and Theodore Melfi has innocent Luke Grimes holed up in a convenience store with corrupt cop Vincent D'Onofrio, Michelle Mylet and her mute son, a drunk - Tim Allen - and the store owner Emilio Rivera. Outside, cops Dax Shepard and Kurtwood Smith and journalists Jessica Alba and Jimmy O. Yang.
You kinda know some of the things that are going to happen but not the main plot twist.
You kinda know some of the things that are going to happen but not the main plot twist.
The Clouded Yellow (1951 Ralph Thomas)
An original screenplay by Janet Green. We don't think Jean Simmons is nuts; nor does Trevor Howard. Before long they're on the run from the police and the secret service (in the shape of nice Kenneth More) to Newcastle, the Lake District and Liverpool. Good on location stuff shot by Geoffrey Unsworth (operated by Ernest Steward). Good music too by Benjamin Frankel (including the piano pieces). Nightmarish ending.
Sonia Dresdel, Barry Jones, Geoffrey Keen, André Morell, Maxwell Reed, Richard Wattis.
It seems Eureka have improved their last release, which had bits of scenes missing.. but the quality of the new one isn't great either.
Sonia Dresdel, Barry Jones, Geoffrey Keen, André Morell, Maxwell Reed, Richard Wattis.
It seems Eureka have improved their last release, which had bits of scenes missing.. but the quality of the new one isn't great either.
Rear Window (1954 Alfred Hitchcock)
Why is Rear Window so good - the best AH?
It's perhaps his most ambitious film, choosing not just to film entirely in one location (and 98% shot from the viewpoint of the protagonist) but also to eschew a musical score - though in fact there's tons of naturally occurring music throughout.
It's so layered - the story is really much more about the relationship between Stewart and Kelly and between other people that it actually is more important than the thriller aspect - and as I've said before, it's one of Hitch's least gruesome films - we don't even see the murder.
This screen shot shows how skilfully the stories are interwoven - we are following Miss Loneyhearts' rendezvous (in background) as Thorwald walks back into the plot:
The sound design is wonderfully clever.
Have been trying to find out what the art is in Stewart's flat - thinking maybe one of the Master's. Couldn't.
It's perhaps his most ambitious film, choosing not just to film entirely in one location (and 98% shot from the viewpoint of the protagonist) but also to eschew a musical score - though in fact there's tons of naturally occurring music throughout.
It's so layered - the story is really much more about the relationship between Stewart and Kelly and between other people that it actually is more important than the thriller aspect - and as I've said before, it's one of Hitch's least gruesome films - we don't even see the murder.
This screen shot shows how skilfully the stories are interwoven - we are following Miss Loneyhearts' rendezvous (in background) as Thorwald walks back into the plot:
The sound design is wonderfully clever.
Have been trying to find out what the art is in Stewart's flat - thinking maybe one of the Master's. Couldn't.
Friday, 28 December 2018
Hidden Figures (2016 Theodore Melfi & co-scr)
This came out before Going In Style - tut tut to us.
I am very pleased that Taraji Henson finally had a good, leading role after years in support and on TV (notably Person of Interest). I've always thought she was good and here she is.
Octavia Spencer needs no introduction, but singer Janelle Monáe was new to us, having appeared in only a few features (Moonlight). These three are great as is the script by Melfi and Allison Schroeder, adapted from a very laudable non-fiction book by Margot Lee Shetterly, which she sold whilst still writing. Loved the way the proposal scene is handled, and the John Glenn sub-plot which is so important. (He also has the best line - "That's one helluva speeding ticket.")
Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, Glen Powell (John Glenn), Aldis Hodge. Fittingly, shot by a woman, Mandy Walker (Tracks, Australia) in Panavision. Thought the music was Thomas Newman but it wasn't - need to give up that game. Hans Zimmer, Pharell (contributing I thought unsuitable new music) Williams.
Segregation stuff is absolutely insane.
I am very pleased that Taraji Henson finally had a good, leading role after years in support and on TV (notably Person of Interest). I've always thought she was good and here she is.
Octavia Spencer needs no introduction, but singer Janelle Monáe was new to us, having appeared in only a few features (Moonlight). These three are great as is the script by Melfi and Allison Schroeder, adapted from a very laudable non-fiction book by Margot Lee Shetterly, which she sold whilst still writing. Loved the way the proposal scene is handled, and the John Glenn sub-plot which is so important. (He also has the best line - "That's one helluva speeding ticket.")
Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, Glen Powell (John Glenn), Aldis Hodge. Fittingly, shot by a woman, Mandy Walker (Tracks, Australia) in Panavision. Thought the music was Thomas Newman but it wasn't - need to give up that game. Hans Zimmer, Pharell (contributing I thought unsuitable new music) Williams.
Segregation stuff is absolutely insane.
Thursday, 27 December 2018
For Richer, For Poorer / Father, Son and Mistress (1992 Jay Sandrich)
Weirdly difficult to acquire TV movie which we saw on a DVD from the Czech Republic under the alternative title - a shame, as the film is terrific and very funny, worthy of a much wider audience. (Actually it was called Otec, syn a milenka, to be strictly accurate.)
Writer Stan Daniels has a long career writing and developing TV shows from 1959 on (Taxi, for example).
Jack Lemmon (67 playing 59) despairs at his son Jonathan Silverman's lack of work ethic so junks his multi-million dollar business to force him to find a job - it doesn't turn out so well. Talia Shire is his wife and Joanna Gleason the mistress. All cast good, including Madeline Kahn as a drifter. Silverman familiar to us from Brighton Beach Memoirs, 12:01.
Lemmon kept reminding us of different people like Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad, Paul Whitehouse and even at one point (in disguise) Walter Matthau.
Writer Stan Daniels has a long career writing and developing TV shows from 1959 on (Taxi, for example).
Jack Lemmon (67 playing 59) despairs at his son Jonathan Silverman's lack of work ethic so junks his multi-million dollar business to force him to find a job - it doesn't turn out so well. Talia Shire is his wife and Joanna Gleason the mistress. All cast good, including Madeline Kahn as a drifter. Silverman familiar to us from Brighton Beach Memoirs, 12:01.
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| Pop gives them the bad news |
Phantom Thread (2017 Paul Thomas Anderson & scr)
Well, I thoroughly enjoyed this rather bizarre take on male-female relationships, in which Vicky Krieps eventually becomes dominant over cold, exacting dress designer Daniel Day-Lewis (in supposedly his last performance); Lesley Manville isn't taking any prisoners either. Like Magnolia it has a terrific momentum supported by Jonny Greenwood's great score which makes it hard to stop watching even for a moment. I think my only observation would be Anderson has taken over camera duties too (though there's no DoP credit - he claims the gaffer, grip and operator were all as responsible as he) and the result is a little diffused and not entirely as pin sharp as you'd get from Elswit (who was busy) or other collaborators. (It is shot on celluloid still.)
Like all PTA's films, it's also very funny.
You'd hope the costume design would win an Oscar, and it did (Mark Bridges). Day-Lewis and Manville (and Greenwood) were all Oscar and BAFTA nominated. Dylan Tichenor edited.
Day-Lewis worked on the screenplay with Anderson and came up with the name Reynolds Woodcock, which the director found hilarious. The car is a Bristol 405. Day-Lewis kept making me think of John Le Mesurier.
The film's dedicated to Anderson's mentor Jonathan Demme, who died the day the film was completed.
Like all PTA's films, it's also very funny.
You'd hope the costume design would win an Oscar, and it did (Mark Bridges). Day-Lewis and Manville (and Greenwood) were all Oscar and BAFTA nominated. Dylan Tichenor edited.
Day-Lewis worked on the screenplay with Anderson and came up with the name Reynolds Woodcock, which the director found hilarious. The car is a Bristol 405. Day-Lewis kept making me think of John Le Mesurier.
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| Something about these driving scenes makes me think of Clockwork Orange |
The film's dedicated to Anderson's mentor Jonathan Demme, who died the day the film was completed.
Torvill & Dean (2018 Gilles MacKinnon)
A fairly straightforward biopic, written by William Ivory (Made in Dagenham), features some lovely editing in montage scenes by Anne Sopel. Poppy Lee Friar and Will Tudor play the skating couple, with Stephen Tomkinson, Jaime Winstone, Dean Andrews, Anita Dobson, Christine Bottomley. Shot by Damien Elliott.
It's surprisingly watchable.
Would like to have known how much they were earning, and what happened after they won the gold. But the decision to use the real Bolero footage was quite right.
It's surprisingly watchable.
Would like to have known how much they were earning, and what happened after they won the gold. But the decision to use the real Bolero footage was quite right.
Wednesday, 26 December 2018
Book Club (2018 Bill Holderman & co-scr)
There's really only one reason for watching this: the cast. Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, Candice Bergen, Richard Dreyfuss; plus Craig T Nelson, Andy Garcia and Don Johnson.
Four ladies' romantic lives change because they read the 'Fifty Shades' books. Yeah, right.
The opening photos have been badly Photoshopped, and that's indicative of a lack of care right from the off.
Particularly annoying are Keaton's two daughters who keep making out she's going to have a stroke any minute where she seems as hale and hearty as all the others. In making out it's celebrating romance in an older age it's actually pretty ageist. And I mean wasting Dreyfuss like that...
It was shot by Andrew Dunn, if anyone's interested.
Four ladies' romantic lives change because they read the 'Fifty Shades' books. Yeah, right.
The opening photos have been badly Photoshopped, and that's indicative of a lack of care right from the off.
Particularly annoying are Keaton's two daughters who keep making out she's going to have a stroke any minute where she seems as hale and hearty as all the others. In making out it's celebrating romance in an older age it's actually pretty ageist. And I mean wasting Dreyfuss like that...
It was shot by Andrew Dunn, if anyone's interested.
Peeper (1975 Peter Hyams)
Michael Caine is an English private eye in 1947 Los Angeles, hired by Michael Constantine to find his daughter, who may be either Natalie Wood or Kitty Winn. Liam Dunn is an annoying man who keeps turning up. We enjoyed it.
W.D. Richter (Nickelodeon) adapted 'Deadfall' by Keith Laumer, giving some quick snappy dialogue in the old style. We get some nice period detail and a sort of Chinatownish score by Richard Clements, widescreen photography by Earl Rath. The MS Starward wasn't in fact built until 1968 - I thought it looked quite suitably period. Hal Needham directs some particularly scrappy looking fights.
W.D. Richter (Nickelodeon) adapted 'Deadfall' by Keith Laumer, giving some quick snappy dialogue in the old style. We get some nice period detail and a sort of Chinatownish score by Richard Clements, widescreen photography by Earl Rath. The MS Starward wasn't in fact built until 1968 - I thought it looked quite suitably period. Hal Needham directs some particularly scrappy looking fights.
Monday, 24 December 2018
Dutch (1991 Peter Faiman)
It's a cross between Planes Trains and Uncle Buck, even sharing that film's climactic reunion scene.
Ed O'Neill, Ethan Embry, JoBeth Williams (The Big Chill).
Ed O'Neill, Ethan Embry, JoBeth Williams (The Big Chill).
Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018 Terry Loane)
Original script from Tom Dalton explains what happens when the writer temporarily disappeared in 1926 - she was helping to solve the murder of a nurse in a country house setting. Ruth Bradley (Humans, The Fall) is the writer. With Dean Andrews, Pippa Haywood, Tim McInnerny, Bebe Cave, Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners), Luke Pierre, Joshua Silver, Samantha Spiro.
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| "I'd like to design a golf course!" |
Sunday, 23 December 2018
It's a Wonderful Life (1946, released 1947 Frank Capra)
I like the record player connected to the spit. And hadn't noticed in initial scene between George and Clarence, there's a clothes line that perfectly separates the two characters from each other. It looks everso sparkly on Blu-Ray. Cried in all the usual places.
Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett were commissioned by Capra to write the screenplay from Philip Van Doren Stern's short story 'The Greatest Gift' (First Edition $8800) - it certainly seems to be 'A Christmas Carol' to me. Then they found out to their great annoyance that Capra and Jo Swerling were also working on it, and the last nail was when Capra called Frances 'My good woman ' - which you didn't do to Frances. They quit the project. Later Michael Wilson also worked on it ('a polish') and Dorothy Parker ('a dialogue polish').
Karolyn Grimes (Zu Zu) is 78. Here she is in interview.
Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett were commissioned by Capra to write the screenplay from Philip Van Doren Stern's short story 'The Greatest Gift' (First Edition $8800) - it certainly seems to be 'A Christmas Carol' to me. Then they found out to their great annoyance that Capra and Jo Swerling were also working on it, and the last nail was when Capra called Frances 'My good woman ' - which you didn't do to Frances. They quit the project. Later Michael Wilson also worked on it ('a polish') and Dorothy Parker ('a dialogue polish').
Karolyn Grimes (Zu Zu) is 78. Here she is in interview.
The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017 Bharat Nalluri)
Les Standiford's non-fiction book provides the source material but Susan Coyne has worked it in to a most engaging diversion, which imagines how characters Dickens meets might have provided the inspiration for his tale, as well as plunging back into his own unhappy childhood. We thoroughly enjoyed it.
Dan Stevens. Morfydd Clark (his wife), Justin Edwards (his ?agent / friend), Anna Murphy (maid), Christopher Plummer, Ian McNeice, Miles Jupp, Jonathan Pryce, Simon Callow.
Shot by Ben Smithard (& operated), music by Mychael Danna, production design Paki Smith. It was shot in Ireland.
A First 1843 Edition, signed by Dickens, is on Abebooks at $35,000.
Dan Stevens. Morfydd Clark (his wife), Justin Edwards (his ?agent / friend), Anna Murphy (maid), Christopher Plummer, Ian McNeice, Miles Jupp, Jonathan Pryce, Simon Callow.
Shot by Ben Smithard (& operated), music by Mychael Danna, production design Paki Smith. It was shot in Ireland.
A First 1843 Edition, signed by Dickens, is on Abebooks at $35,000.
Saturday, 22 December 2018
Tropic Thunder (2008 Ben Stiller)
We thought it 'rather disappointing' ten years ago - maybe we were sober? (For the record, it was a Saturday.) But from the faked ads, trailers and chat shows on, we found it this time hilarious. Black Downey made us howl with laughter, fat suit Cruise though maybe steals the film.
With Stiller are Jack Black, Brandon T Jackson (Get a Job) and Jay Baruchel. Danny McBride and Nick Nolte are in pursuit. Bill Hader is Cruise's No. 2 and Steve Coogan exits early. And Matthew McConaughey. Also loved Brandon Soo Hoo as triad gang boss - thought he must have had fun. Though guffawed at much of it, think the performance of Simple Joe to tribe was the highlight.
Written by Stiller, Justin Theroux (also co-wrote Iron Man 2, acted in Maniac, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire) and Etan Cohen, and references Vietnam films, Forrest Gump etc with much glee. The comment about Black's character not being insurable after latest bust-up surely is a veiled reference (not so veiled) to Downey.
Shot by John Toll in Panavision.
With Stiller are Jack Black, Brandon T Jackson (Get a Job) and Jay Baruchel. Danny McBride and Nick Nolte are in pursuit. Bill Hader is Cruise's No. 2 and Steve Coogan exits early. And Matthew McConaughey. Also loved Brandon Soo Hoo as triad gang boss - thought he must have had fun. Though guffawed at much of it, think the performance of Simple Joe to tribe was the highlight.
Written by Stiller, Justin Theroux (also co-wrote Iron Man 2, acted in Maniac, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire) and Etan Cohen, and references Vietnam films, Forrest Gump etc with much glee. The comment about Black's character not being insurable after latest bust-up surely is a veiled reference (not so veiled) to Downey.
Shot by John Toll in Panavision.
Holiday Affair (1949 Don Hartman & prod)
Can't find any source info on John Weaver's 'Christmas Gift' to see whether the whole story is in there, but in any event, Isobel Lennart's screenplay is beautifully done - Janet Leigh's mother remains self-deluded throughout whole film. Robert Mitchum, Wendell Corey and Gordon Gebert are the men in her life. They're all good. Use of model trains at beginning and end inspired as train set is major plot point, as is gaudy tie. I'm beginning to get it.
Harry Morgan is a sarcastic cop. It's shot by Milton Krasner and scored by Roy Webb (not that there is much music), for RKO.
Harry Morgan is a sarcastic cop. It's shot by Milton Krasner and scored by Roy Webb (not that there is much music), for RKO.
Friday, 21 December 2018
Lethal Weapon (1987 Richard Donner)
Best screenplay of Shane Black is humane, mixes humour and drama brilliantly and has a Vietnam resonanced story. But director's cut DVD is in weird shape, like slightly squeezed, I'm telling you.
Will buy Blu-Ray to be sure.
"There's no more heroes left in the world" (just before Riggs bursts in to save the day). Classic.
Will buy Blu-Ray to be sure.
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| "Shoot me!" |
Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason (2004 Beeban Kidron)
Could actually repeat last review in its entirety and would still be same. Am delighted Q still does not remember JB twist. Film is funny - has enough writers so should be. Four. Andrew Davies, Helen Fielding, Richard Curtis, Adam Brooks. Usual fuckwits on CGI. Way too many songs. Adrian Biddle on camera. Still love the three of them.
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