Friday, August 5, 2016
The Movies I Watched in July
Abraham Lincoln 1930 7
Automata 2014 7
Blood Ties 2013 6
Cape Fear 1962 7
Dangerous Afternoon 1961 6
Dishonored Lady 1947 6
Evariste Galois 1965 6
Eve of Destruction 1991 5
Extreme Measures 1996 6
Ghostbusters 1984 6
Head 1968 7
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse 1991 7
High-Rise 2015 6
Independence Day 1996 7
The Day of the Triffids 1962 5
Knight of Cups 2015 6
Mission to Mars 2000 5
Parallels 2015 5
Pasolini 2014 6
Playing God 1997 5
Red Planet 2000 6
Screamers: The Hunting 2009 5
Smart Woman 1931 6
Snatch 2000 5
Stalags 2008 7
Surrogates 2009 6
The Brain Eaters 1958 3
The Cars That Eat People 1974 6
The Deep 2012 6
The Fall of the House of Usher 1928 8
Toast 2010 6
Trapped 1949 6
Yesterday's Children 2000 6
Automata 2014 7
Blood Ties 2013 6
Cape Fear 1962 7
Dangerous Afternoon 1961 6
Dishonored Lady 1947 6
Evariste Galois 1965 6
Eve of Destruction 1991 5
Extreme Measures 1996 6
Ghostbusters 1984 6
Head 1968 7
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse 1991 7
High-Rise 2015 6
Independence Day 1996 7
The Day of the Triffids 1962 5
Knight of Cups 2015 6
Mission to Mars 2000 5
Parallels 2015 5
Pasolini 2014 6
Playing God 1997 5
Red Planet 2000 6
Screamers: The Hunting 2009 5
Smart Woman 1931 6
Snatch 2000 5
Stalags 2008 7
Surrogates 2009 6
The Brain Eaters 1958 3
The Cars That Eat People 1974 6
The Deep 2012 6
The Fall of the House of Usher 1928 8
Toast 2010 6
Trapped 1949 6
Yesterday's Children 2000 6
Head (1968)
Hey, hey, it’s the Monkees . . . being catapulted through a surreal sixties odyssey.
Deliberately plotless, harmless psychedelic romp; mainly silly, but also funny and entertaining, and a genuine document of its time.
Halliwell*: "A psychedelic trip of a movie which does for the Monkess what A Hard Day's Night and Yellow Submarine did for the Beatles, and what Monty Python did for us all. Sometimes funny, slick and clever; often just plain silly."
Maltin***: "Far-out film debut for TV rock group...this overlooked item is a delightful explosion of crazy ideas with no coherent plot, many old film clips, some good songs, and such unlikely guests as Sonny Liston and Victore Mature...Well worth seeing."
Thursday, August 4, 2016
First Lines: Ishmael Beah - A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
My high school friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life.
Abraham Lincoln (1930)
An episodic biography of the 16th President of the United States.
A
bit slow and undramatic, this biopic does offer some brilliant
cinematographic sequences; and Walter Huston is superb in the title
role.
Haliwell**:
"Rather boring even at the time, this straightforward biopic has the
virtues of sincerity and comparative fidelity to the facts."
Mission to Mars (2000)
When the first manned mission to Mars meets with a catastrophic and mysterious disaster after reporting a unidentified structure, a rescue mission is launched to investigate the tragedy and bring back any survivors.
Well-produced sci-fi adventure with some nice visuals, but the star cast is wasted and the 'metaphysical' ending quite disappointing.
Halliwell (no star): "Grandiose attempt at science fiction with a spiritual message; it never achieves lift-off."
Maltin**: "Stupefyingly dull drama...Film takes a matter-of-fact approach to space travel that soon becomes deadening, with a spell-it-all-out climax for those who still don't get 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY."
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
The Day of the Triffids (1962)
After an unusual meteor shower leaves most of the human population blind, a merchant navy officer must find a way to conquer tall, aggressive plants which are feeding on people and animals.
This isn't really a good movie - the plot itself is hilariously silly - but it has an (unintended) dreamlike, surreal quality to ist scenes and situations, so I'll have to admit it's one of my guilty pleasures since my childhood.
Halliwell*: "Rough and ready adaptation of a famous sci-fi novel, sometimes blunderingly effective and with moments of good trick work."
Maltin**1/2: "Variable special effects."
First Lines: Julia Child - My Life in France
At five-forty-five in the morning, Paul and I rousted ourselves from our warm bunk and peered out of the small porthole in our cabin aboard the SS America.
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
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