The Movies I Watched in October

Anne of the Indies 1951  8/10 

The Apprentice 2024  7/10

Bastarden 2023  7/10

 Beetlejuice 1988  7/10

 

The Brothers Rico 1957  6/10

Crime in the Streets 1956  6/10 

Crime of Passion 1956  6/10

A Cry in the Night 1956  6/10

Cry Vengeance 1954  6/10 

Enchanted 2007  7/10

Furiosa. A Mad Max Saga 2024  8/10 

The Garment Jungle 1957  6/10

Getting Gilliam 2005  6/10 

The Harder They Fall 1856  7/10

Hell's Half Acre 1954  6/10

Highway Dragnet 1954  6/10

Holy Spider 2022  7/10

 

House of Bamboo 1955  6/10

The Houston Story 1956  6/10

I Died a Thousand Times 1955  6/10

Illegal 1955  7/10

In a Violent Nature 2024  6/10

The Killer is Loose 1956  6/10 

A Kiss Before Dying 1956  6/10

The Long Wait 1954  6/10

Mare of Easttown 2021  8/10

Master Gardener 2022  7/10

 

The Night Holds Terror 1955  6/10 

The Night Runner 1957  6/10

The Phenix City Story 1955  6/10

Private Hell 36 1954  6/10

Riot in Cell Block 11 1954  6/10 

Slightly Scarlet 1956  6/10

Smile 2022  6/10

Supernova 2020  6/10

Tideland 2005  7/10 

Tiger Bay 1959  7/10

 

Trap 2024  6/10

Violent Saturday 1955  6/10

Vuelven 2017  7/10

 

Wonder Wheel (2017)

 

On Coney Island in the 1950s, a lifeguard tells the story of a middle-aged carousel operator, his beleaguered wife, and the visitor who turns their lives upside-down. 

Despite some beautiful period cinematography by Vittorio Storraro and an especially vivid performance by Kate Winslet this melodrama is quite stage-bound and somehow misses the tone for its story, appears to be a satire rather than a tragedy.

 

Kate Winslet

The Mountain Between Us (2017)

Stranded after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must forge a connection to survive the extreme elements of a remote snow-covered mountain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across the wilderness.

Formulaic and predictable survival tale including a likewise corny romance has mainly some good beautiful landscape photography to go for it; no challenge for the two stars either. 

Kate Winslet

ph: Helmut Newton

All the King's Men (2006)

In the 50's, in Louisiana, a smart populist, manipulative and wolf hick is elected governor with the support of the lower social classes and erects his own corrupt regime.

Great direction, visuals and performances add up to a good movie that still can't surpass Robert Rossen's 1949 classic adaptation of the same novel.

On rewatching: still a good movie - that could have been better, but Penn's excessive performance seems true, now that we have a similar person as US president.

Maltin**: "Penn's histrionics never ring true, and his talented costars are wasted in this disappointing production...Zaillian wrote the ineffectual screenplay."

The movies I watched in December

The Arrival 1996  5

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 2016  6

Il compagno Don Camillo 1965  6

Contagion 2011  6

Don Camillo e l'on. Peppone 1955  6
Don Camillo monsignore... ma non troppo 1961  6

Dr. Cyclops 1940  7

 

The Fabulous Baker Boys 1989  6

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir 1947  6

Gone With the Wind 1939  8

 

The Ice Harvest 2005  6

Kong: Skull Island 2017  6

Lakeview Terrace 2008  6

Land of the Pharaohs 1955  6

The Last Sunset 1961  6

Monsters 2010  6

The Night the World Exploded 1957  4

Nightcrawler 2014  7

 

 

The Peanuts Movie 2015  6

The Princess Bride 1987  6

A Sound of Thunder 2005  4

Steve Jobs 2015  7

 

Twin Peaks 2017  9

 

War for the Planet of the Apes 2017  7

 

Woman Times Seven 1967  6

Steve Jobs (2015)

Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution, to paint a portrait of the man at its epicenter. The story unfolds backstage at three iconic product launches, ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac.

Energetic, breathless tour-de-force character study easily makes one forget that it mostly consists of talking heads; Winslet and Fassbender deliver amazing performances.

Contagion (2011)

Healthcare professionals, government officials and everyday people find themselves in the midst of a worldwide epidemic as the CDC works to find a cure.

Realistic, grand-scale and star-cast catastrophe movie manages to keep multiple stories and locations  seamlessly in line with the major plot; however, the matter-of-fact approach underplays the doom of a pandemic.

Maltin***: "Pulse-pounding account...Scott Z. Burns' screenplay is scary  because it's all so credible. Soderbergh handles the material in utterly straightforward fashion; there's no poetry here."

Divergent (2014)

In a post-apocalyptic closed-in Chicago divided by factions based on virtues, a young teenager learns she's Divergent and won't fit in.

Fairly well made sci-fi thriller for teens thrills only in parts and the paramilitary brouhaha is disturbing; Shailene Woodley does her job well, though, in the lead role.

Maltin**1/2: "Enfrossing-enough adaptation..., although these youth-empowerment stories set in a dystopian future, like THE HUNGER GAMES, are starting to blur."

Kate Winslet

ph: Peter Lindbergh

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a procedure to have each other erased from their memories, but it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.

Complex and intriguing love drama playing with our sense of time and memory; well worth watching, but at times a strain putting the parts together. 

Halliwell*: "Another film with a beginning, middle and end, though not necessarily in that order; indeed, the beginning is the end. It is too fussy in its writing and direction to maintain interest in its shifting narrative."

Maltin***: "Ingenious, Oscar-winning screenplay by Charlie Kaufman...is extremely well executed by director Gondry (and cinematographer Ellen Kuras), though the film tends to cleverly dance around the roots of emotional and romantic pain rather than fully engage them. Carrey has never been better; Winslet is (as always) exceptional."

Kate Winslet

Carnage (2011)

Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behavior throws the discussion into chaos.

A stagebound script is turned into a wildy entertaining (and even realistic) black comedy thanks to professional direction a cast all at the top of their art.

Maltin**1/2: "...elegantly filmed, with virtually no "opening up" of the action, but lacks the claustrophobic intensity one might expect from Polanski and that was crucial to the pieces's success onstage. Perforamnces, though entertaining, also start at a high pitch and - with the exception of Waltz's - never deepen."

Enigma (2001)

A young genius frantically races against time to crack an enemy code and solve the mystery surrounding the woman he loves.

Fairly interesting thriller with good set pieces and a complex plot, but not that exciting or suspsenseful.

Halliwell (no star): "Stolidly old-fashionedmovie, in the style of Second World War propaganda films, that segues into an even more old-fashioned spy yarn of derring-do."

Maltin**1/2: "Great material...and faultless re-creation of the period ought to make for a top-notch film, but this one peters out as it becomes unfocused and - yes - confusing."

Holy Smoke (1999)

While on a journey of discovery in exotic India, a young woman falls under the influence of a charismatic religious guru and her desperate parents a cult de-programmer who confronts the woman in a remote desert hideaway.

Despite all the talent involved and some wonderful photography this would-be satire turns silly very quickly.

Halliwell*: "A topical subject is explored in depth, with every approach to life equally questioned, but along the way, with its concentration on the relationship between Keitel and Winset, the impetus is lost and most of the questions raised remain unanswered."

Maltin**: "Naked performances - in every sense of the word - by the two leads and a layered script rife with quirky humor and sexual politics can't bring credibility to Keitel's character. This is supposed to be his 190th case; what were the other 189 like?"

Kate Winslet

All the King's Men (2006)

In the 50's, in Louisiana, a smart populist, manipulative and wolf hick is elected governor with the support of the lower social classes and erects his own corrupt regime.

Great direction, visuals and performances add up to a good movie that still can't surpass Robert Rossen's 1949 classic adaptation of the same novel.

Maltin **: "Penn's histrionics never ring true, and his talented costars are wasted in this disappointing production. Clarkson's role as Stark's savvy campaign strategist - and mistress - won Mercedes McCambridge an Oscar in the original film, but the character is barely sketched this time around. Zaillian wrote the ineffectual screenplay."