The Movies I Watched in March

Aftersun 2022 7/10

 

Bad Boys 1983  6/10

Beast From Huanted Cave 1959  4/10

Black Widow 2021  6/10

Cheers, The Complete Series 1982-1993  7/10

 

Chris Rock: Selective Outrage 2023  6/10

Le combat dans l'ile 1962  6/10

Cruella 2021  6/10

Daughters of the Dust 1991  8/10

 

Dear Wendy 2055 6/10

Dresden 2006  5/10

Enfant Terrible 2020  6/10

The Fabelmans 2022  8/10

 

First Cow 2019  7/10

The Greatest Show on Earth 1952  7/10

 

Happy End 2017  6/10

I've Lived Before 1956  5/10

Jigsaw 2017  6/10

Luther: The Fallen Sun 2023  6/10

MH370: The Plane That Disappeared 2023  5/10

Mission: Impossible 1996  7/10

 

Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal 2023  6/10

My Friend Dahmer 2017  6/10

Pickup on South Street 1953  8/10

 

Pieces of a Woman 2020  6/10

Promising Young Woman 2020  7/10

 

Soshite chichi ni naru 2013  7/10

 

Spectre 1977 5/10

Spiral 2021  6/10

Stolen Face 1952  6/10

The Strays 2023  6/10

The Swarm 2021  5/10

Tenebre 1982  6/10

The Terror of Tiny Town 1938  4/10

That Girl, The Complete Series 1966-1971  7/10

 

Transcendence 2014  6/10

You, Season 4 2023  6/10

Zeros and Ones 2021  6/10

The Movies I watched in June

À propos de Nice 1930  8

 

Assault on Precinct 13 1976  9

 L'Atalante 1934  10

 

Il caso Valdemar 1936  7 

City of Bad Men 1953  6

Dog Day Afternoon 1975  7

 

The Fantastic Four 1994  5 

Frank 2014  7

The Ice Storm 1997 8

Lausbubengeschichten 1964  6

A Matter of Life and Death 1946  9

Occhiali neri 2022  7

 The Odd Couple 1968  8

 

Orlacs Hände 1924  8

 

A Place in the Sun 1951  7

 

Siberia 2019  6

The Sopranos 1999-2007  7

Taris 1931  6

Der Verlorene 1951  7

 

Young at Heart 1954  6

Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège 1933  8

Phenomena (1985)

 

A young girl, with an amazing ability to communicate with insects, is transferred to an exclusive Swiss boarding school, where her unusual capability might help solve a string of murders.

A Dario Argento joint: wildly stylish, incoherent plot with a dreamlike atmosphere and lots of imaginative shock moments, and once again another incongruous soundtrack.

Halliwell (no star): "Daft and gruesome horror that lacks style and sense; it has a plethora of murderers, it is never fully explained who did what to whom, its intentions is to disgust rather than shock, and its heavy-metal soundtrack is a frequent distraction."

Maltin***: "Typically stylish, bizarre Argento horror opus whose premise...serves as a framework for some cleverly weird goings-on...Don't say you weren't warned!" 

 

 

Opera (1987)

 

A young opperata is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself. 

A typical Dario Argento gem that presents all the usual ingredients: wonderfully and imaginatively stylish, gory,  a rather illogical plot and an off-kilter soundtrack. 

 

The Movies I Watched in November

The Accountant of Auschwitz 2018  7 

 

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane 2006  5 

The Big Lebowski 1998  8

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 2020  5

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving  1973  7 

 

The Dead Zone 1983  8 

 

Double Cross 1941  5

The Duel 2016  6

The Four Feathers 1978  6

House of Seven Belles 1979  4

The Juniper Tree 1990  7

 

The Killer Shrews  1959  4

Man on the Moon 1999  6

The Mule 2018  6 

Music, Money, Madness... Jimi Hendrix In Maui (2020)  6

My Octopus Teacher 2020  8 

 

Opera 1987  7

Operation Petticoat 1959  6

The Queen's Gambit 2020 8 

 

Ride With the Devil 1999  6

Stridulum 1978  4

Unsolved Mysteries, Season 2 2020  7

 

Wadjda 2012 7 

 

Das Wolkenphänomen von Maloja 1924  7

 

Z For Zachariah 2015  6

Suspiria (2018)

A darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist.

Artful re-imagination of an already highly stylish horror classic has a lot going for it (style, great sets, cast, atmosphere and a great soundtrack), but far outstays its welcome, disappoints with an over-the-top ending and generally can't hold a candle to the original.

Profondo rosso (1975)

 

After witnessing the murder of a famous psychic, a musician teams up with a feisty reporter to find the killer while evading attempts on their lives by the unseen assailant bent on keeping a dark secret buried.

 

Creepy horror thriller in classic Argento style: dark atmosphere, bizarre murders and an irritating soundtrack; the original uncut Italian version is - in parts - bit too talkative.

 

Halliwell**: "Slick, stylish, decadent, suspenseful thriller, with a disquieting atmosphere that continually puts its audience, like its victims, off-balance. Hemmings's character owes much to his role in Antonioni's Blow Up." 

Maltin**1/2: "There's style to burn in senseless horror thriller...Flashy, bizarre murders set to pounding rock soundtrack."

4 mosche di velluto grigio (1971)

A musician is stalked by an unknown killer who's blackmailing him for an accidential killing of another stalker.

Early Dario Argento giallo that already reveals the director's trademarks:  atmosphere and style get preference over the logic of a convincing plot, imaginative set pieces, suspenseful and blood-curdling sequences, a pop soundtrack slightly off-kilter to the ongoings on screen - and everything highly entertaining.

Maltin**: "Unabsorbing psychological murder-mystery with performers who walk through their roles in a very disinterested fashion." 

New Stuff: Phenomena

An Argento movie I so far haven't seen yet, should be an uncut version.

From my vaults: Dario Argento

Bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Argento