The Last Movie You Watched?

I have the soundtrack for “Commissioner”. I loved it.

Fingers has been on my watch list for a while now, I do like Keitel.

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (John Frankenheimer)

The original, and the best! Starring Frank Sinatra, Lawrence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, and James Gregory.

In the past few days, I’ve watched three bluray John Frankenheimers (‘Manchurian’; 'The Train; ‘Seconds’). I made a point of watching them with the Frankenheimer audio commentaries…

There are several Film Directors that I admire; and, I have to say that John Frankenheimer is one of my favourites…

Great film!!

I made an attempt at watching Bob Fosse’s ALL THAT JAZZ. I have been reading glorifying reviews about it for so many years now and even though musicals are definitely not my kind of thing , I thought I could give it a shot. I was also generally in a 70’s mood and with Roy Scheider in the lead, I had the impression that I could at least finish it easily.

Unfortunately, I had a real difficulty getting into the film from the very first minutes. It all looked so glamorous and well-made and executed and all that stuff, but I found little essence in them. Even at the points when the drama was starting to develop into something deeper or at least something more solid, a choreography was inserted and we were back to square one. After one hour I realized there wasn’t any kind of enjoyment in what I was watching, so I abandoned the whole thing and that postpones the viewing of CABARET to an unknown and surely very later date.

Vanishing on 7th Street (2010)-Brad Anderson
Meh!..Started fine and I kinda liked the idea, but it just went to crap about halfway through.

Cry Wilderness (1987) - Surprised this isn’t more popular as its so hilariously bad, now one of my most beloved DVDs (Vinegar Syndrome disc looks stunning)

SATURN 3

I watched it on the German Bluray, last night, having watched it on the BBC several years ago.
The BBC version, I enjoyed…

On Bluray, this is a whole New experience…I loved it…and then watched all the ‘extras’ on the disc.

It is interesting to note that the Harvey Keitel character is re-dubbed by Britain’s very own great Roy Dotrice (father of Karen Dotrice, who was ‘Betty’, in the BBC’s 'Some Mothers Do ‘Av Em’; and she was also the wife of the Superlative, Edward Woodward).
Even Roy Dotrice - who has enormous respect for both Harvey Keitel, and the Director, Stanley Donen - doesn’t know why!!
The action, in the film, is slow; but, when it comes, it is exciting and tense. The human relation-ships are the centre-point, and the focus.

For people brought up on expecting Special Effects every few seconds, give this a hop and a skip…

Toscano.

Adios,
Toscano

TO KILL A COP - 3h TV movie about a group of violent black revolutionaries who kill cops. Joe Don Baker is chief of the department. I have seen him performing better, just too one-dimensional in this one. On the other hand, Louis Gossett does a fine job as the leader of the revolutionaries. Mostly routine stuff with many unnecessary subplots and way too long for the story it tries to tell. Only for completists of 70s cop flicks.

THE HELLSTROM CHRONICLE - From imdb: A scientist explains how the savagery and efficiency of the insect world could result in their taking over the world. Fantastic shots with the use of microcameras that go to every place imaginable , from ant nests to the insides of meat-eating flowers. Some very interesting facts about the structure of the society of certain species are revealed. The apocalyptic, doom-laden tone of the documentary almost elevates it to the realm of horror. 9/10

THE TRACK (1975) - Mimsy Farmer is raped in the countryside and a whole bunch of spineless hunters are after her. The poor woman must have run a marathon through the woods to finish the damn film. Talking about LOTS of running. The scene in the pond must be among the most cold and merciless I’ve ever seen. This is a very grim flick and a quite watchable one as well.

APOCALYPSE NOW (theatrical cut) - Haven’t seen it in at least 15 years. Several images and thoughts are still spinning in my head. Great stuff.

TURKEY SHOOT (1982) - Ozploitation with a cult following. In a not too distant future (actually past by now), society’s “deviants” are taken to an island for “re-education”. It tries to be a little deeper than your usual exploitation film and partially succeeds. Some of the deaths are incredibly violent. Direction and acting are adequate. Sometimes the thing looks quite cheap, some others not. Good fun, if it’s not to be taken very seriously.

Apocalypse Now is one of my favourites. I think the theatrical cut is far superior to Redux. The added scenes made the film more comical. I also felt that the inclusion of sex scenes with the playboy bunnies and the French colonist lady altered its dark atmosphere. War is hell but it can’t be all that bad as long as you have playboy girls crashing in the middle of the jungle, can it? I think it’s a shame many more people are watching Redux before they’ve had the chance to see the theatrical cut.

SQUIRM - After a storm thousands of worms come to the surface and start to attack people because of some cut electric cables that conduct electricity to the ground. An absurd and dull film with an annoying leading actor and heavy southern accents that are supposed to add to the realism. Director Jeff Lieberman has made a personal favorite (Just Before Dawn), so I was kinda disappointed by this one.

Funny Bones - 1995 - Peter Chelsom

Never notice this film before, glad I’ve seen it, it’s a small gem of a film. A dark comedy done in a clever way, the mix of drama and comedy is perfectly balanced.
The plot is about a comedian (Pratt), the son of a successful comedian (Jerry Lewis) that is very unsuccessful at his job, so he goes back to England the place where he was born, to find the recepy for good jokes.
Well there are a few subplots, but one of the best comedies about life I’ve seen, not slapstick stuff, but not also the intelectual route that it’s not funny most of the times.
The acting is fantastic Pratt show he’s more than a simple character actor Lewis is the King, but Lee Evans is particularly fantastic a great comedian indeed, there’s even Oliver Reed in it

Really recommend this one, not the usual comedy of any type, a film that defines its own standarts very good.

LA ISLA MINIMA (2014, Alberto Rodriguez)

A stylish, very stylish thriller, set in Spain’s rural South, in 1980, that is: the immediate aftermath of Francoist Spain. In fact society is still dominated by memories of a period that is supposed to have ended, but is not yet history.

Two homocide inspectors are sent to Andalucia to investigate the dissappearance of two young peasant girls. It soon transpires that more girls have dissapeared in the recent past: they were all found dead after a couple of days, their bodies mutilated and dismembered. The main suspect is a local pimp and Casanova, the kind of guy all the girls fall for; is he a serial killer or is he only a small cog in a much larger operation? Unfortunately the locals aren’t willing to communicate with the detectives, the more so because the older of the two is recognized as a former Francoist by a local journalist and a woman who’s supposed to have second sight …

The movie won no less than ten Goyas (Spanish Oscars) and was received remarkably well abroad. It holds a 90% approval on Rotten tomatoes. But still … As said it is stylish, in fact it’s so stylish and good-looking that you’d almost forgive its flaws. Some things are hinted at but not explained, but that is not really the problem (in post-Franco Spain many things remained unsaid), but a subplot about drugs goes nowhere and the movie also tends to betray its own premise, creating false expectations. In the end it’s a sociopolitical study rather than a thriller, and the tension that was built up in the course of the movie, seems to evaporate during the ambiguous finale. However the coda, which offers a not completely unexpected, but still meaningful revelation, is both bitter and tragic (and makes you think).

7/10

Mystery Road (2013)-Ivan Sen- I had no idea what I was getting into with this crime/drama movie other than it takes place someplace in Australia. Anyhow, I really liked this movie despite it’s slow start, it’s a thoughtful thriller with solid performances and great visuals that somehow hooked me right to the very ending.

Memories of a Murder mixed with Secreto des sus Ojos mixed with True Detective etc.
To me it was OK, but offered not much new to the mix.

I thought of Memories of Murder as well. It’s an okay movie, but I didn’t see any true greatness in it (apart from the great cinematography). I don’t know True Detectives (yet), but I noticed it was referred to in some comments.

I liked it quite a bit myself, the ending is masterfully shot.

Las Isla Minima 2014 - Alberto Rodriguez

Well I also had this in my Watch list, and due to recent viewings from some of our distinguish forum members decided to take a look at it, the subject of the film it happens to be of my particular interest also.

Liked the film, not a particularly fantastic thriller, but a well-made one, with a good pace and good story development (more than character), but the crime here is not the main aspect, finding out the serial killer isn’t the main issue, the background or the surroundings of the all affair, the two different police officers, how cynical all the people were, the transition period (remember that the events just take place one year before de 23-F attempted coup d’état by some of the Spanish military and Guardia Civil), and the things left unanswered in the end, just to make you think.
Comparisons with was happening in Portugal at the same time are inevitable form my part, the main difference of the transition period in both Iberian countries, was that we had a revolution that almost escalated into civil war (one year before Franco’s dead), so In Portugal, contrary to Spain, for the political police officers of the old regime (PIDE), during the transition to democracy going into regular police was in most of the cases impossible, so the majority had to run from the country, or act the most discreet as possible.
Las Isla minima handles that part of the plot very well not giving satisfying answers or moral statements, things just were as they were.
The acting is very good from both the main actors (who work normally in comedies), and the settings are fantastic you really have that early 80’s feeling, the cars (not easy to distinguished a 2CV from a Diane) the towns and places (those old disco joints just look as I remember), the people. I guess the Doñana region still looks like that after even after all the EU funding.
On another note you have to give some credit to police investigators back in those days, especially in rural areas, with little equipment, (not even radio in the cars) little or no support, an inoperative local police, not easy to work, but the film show that perfectly, and how the investigations progresses using all they could.
Stunning photography work, with great aerial filming that was used in a photography book by the cinematography author (Alex Catalan).
A special note to the drug traffic subplot something that happened a lot in the coastal region (with almost no intervention from the police back then) heroin was a real plague I also remembre that well.

In the end a good film not for the usual reasons, but for what shows in a superficially way during a “normal” crime investigation, and the dilemmas people had to face, who is the worst criminal a serial killer or one that kills in name of the state, while trying to adapt to a new society.

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I already had the idea that the film would work better for people who are more familiar with the events it describes. I also think it’s a good movie, and had no real problems with the ‘open ending’ as such, but what bothered me was the false expectations that were created. The film played like a fullblooded thriller most of the time, and then, when you think it’ll reach its climax, it turns out to be something else, a study of the period rather than a thriller. It feels like changing the rules of the game at half-time (or even later on).