ph: Greg Swales
Saturday, January 30, 2021
First Lines: Neil Gaiman - The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Nobody came to my seventh birthday party.
The Dead Zone (1983)
A man awakens from a coma to discover he has a psychic ability.
David
Cronenberg tones down his trademark gore excellent Stephen King
adaptation in favor of a more subdued and atmospheric interpretation of
the story - enhanced by Walken's sensitive performance.
Halliwell*: "Glum thriller with a fairly predictable outcome but some well-staged episodes."
Maltin***: "Absorbing Stephen King story...Walken's moving, heartfelt performance is the core of evolving, if sometimes meandering movie where (despite reputations of King and Cronenberg) the emphasis is not on blood-and-guts horror."
Friday, January 29, 2021
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Patterns (1956)
When Fred Staples is recruited onto the board of a high-powered New York corporation, he finds his ethics and ambition at odds.
Electrifying business drama based on an excellent Rod Serling play convinces with its intensity and high-class performances.
Halliwell***: "Tense little boardroom melodrama with domestics asides, one of the best of the filmed TV plays of the mid-fifties."
Maltin***1/2: "Trenchant, masterfully acted drama of greed and abuse of power in corporate America..."
Chloe (2009)
Suspecting her husband of infidelity, gynecologist Dr. Catherine Stewart hires an escort named Chloe in order to test his faithfulness. Soon, the relationships between all three intensify.
Disappointing remake of the French movie Nathalie...accentuates
the exploitative elements of the tale, and the result is some kind of a
threesome love drama - and this despite made by a famed director and a
star cast.
Maltin**: "...sexually provocative - with plenty of female nudity - but winds up being downright silly."
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
The Mist (2007)
A freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
A monster movie executed as a psychological drama with a simple message ("We've seen the enemy, and he is us"), but with an extraordinary and downbeat ending.
On rewatching: A great monster movie for our times; the social analysis is even more virulent nowadays.
Maltin***: "Suspenseful and graced with very good effects, this is a monster movie in the classic mode. It also has some social commentary...Controversial ending is changed from the story."
First Lines: Charles Stross - The Apocalypse Codex
.
A clear spring night over Bavaria, cloudless and chilly.
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
The Chase (1946)
Chuck Scott gets a job as chauffeur to tough guy Eddie Roman; but Chuck's involvement with Eddie's fearful wife becomes a nightmare.
Odd
Cornell Woolrich adaptation hold's our attention with good Noir
atmosphere, a capable cast and some suspense, but the disappoints with
an unnecessary twist ending.
Halliwell*: "Weird Cuban-set film noir with a strange cast and stranger atmosphere. A genuine bomb, but worth a look for its pretensions, its cast, and its trick ending."
Maltin**1/2: "Mildly diverting melodrama..."
Monday, January 25, 2021
Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1933)
When a series of crime events terrorize the city, the police suspect the involvement of Dr Mabuse, a notorious criminal. They are astonished as he has been captive in an asylum since a decade.
Top-notch
action thriller of its time with some madcap sequences revealing Fritz
Lang's obvious brilliance, but - despite some claims to the contrary -
it's less political warning and rather just simple entertainment.
Halliwell*: "Fast-moving penny dreadful, alleged by its director to be a denouncing of the doctrines of Hitler, but showing little evidence of being more than a very slick entertainment."
Maltin***1/2: "...less stylized but no less entertaining crime story - which even incorporates supernatural elements. Film was a subject of controversy during Nazi era."
