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

Wendy and Lucy (2008)

  

Over the summer, a series of unfortunate happening triggers a financial crisis for a young woman and she soon finds her life falling apart.

Intense and gripping drama of isolation and loneliness amidst smalltown American settings is very well observed, and Michelle Williams' performance is extraordinary.

 

The Movies I Watched in July

Akasen chitai 1956  6

Ana y los lobos 1973  7

 

Angst 1983  7 

The Beach House 2019  6 

Bedrag, Season 1 2016  7

Bedrag, Season 2 2016  7

Bedrag, Season 3 2019  7

 

The Big Short 2015 8 

 

 

Cría cuervos 1976  8

 

 

Detective 1985  6

 

Drôle de drame 1937  7

 

 

Gespenster 2005  7

 

 

Gion bayashi 1953  7

 

 

Ils 2006  6

 

Die innere Sicherheit 2000  7

 

Irreversible 2002  6

Isle of Dogs 2018  7

 

Lucy 2014  6 

Nippon konchûki 1963  7

 

Old Joy 2006  7

 

Oyû-sama 1951  6

Peppermint Frappé 1967  7

 

 Sommarnattens leende 1955  8

 

Sophie: A Murder in West Cork 2021  7

 

Terra Formars 2016  6

The Tomorrow War 2021  6

Undine 2020  6

Wendy and Lucy 2008  7

 

Yella 2005  7

 

Yôkihi 1955  6

The Greatest Showman (2017)

Celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.

Top-notch production, excellent cast and good songs all combined for - a musical glorification of a historically dubious character; just like in the heyday of the Hollywood musical, no more, no less.

Suite Française (2014)

During the early years of Nazi occupation of France in World War II, romance blooms between Lucile Angellier, a French villager, and Bruno von Falk, a German soldier.

Well-made period melodrama with a good cast is more successful depicting a French community under Nazi occupation than with its romance, but does so with some suspense.

Mammoth (2009)

While on a trip to Thailand, a successful American businessman tries to radically change his life. Back in New York, his wife and daughter find their relationship with their live-in Filipino maid changing around them. At the same time, in the Philippines, the maid's family struggles to deal with her absence.

Ambitious, beautifully made and well cast, but not quite successful attempt to say something about globalization and what it means for individual human beings.

Maltin**1/2: "Complex, ambitious, but flawed account...Overlong, meandering film still offers astute commentary on how all children are not created equal."

All the Money in the World (2017)

The story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom.

A well-made movie with little suspense, since the actual events are so well-known; Christopher Plummer is excellent as the miserly and heartless billionaire.

Blue Valentine (2010)

The relationship of a contemporary married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods.

A feast for the stars who deliver extraordinary performances, but there's not much coherence in the development of the relationship, and it certainly doesn't help by constantly switching time levels.

Maltin***: "Compelling look at the beginning and end of a relationship...Film seamlessly hops back and forth in time...Sparked by striking, emotionally raw performances from its stars in a Cassavetes vein. Longish but well done."

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

A depressed uncle is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies.

Meticuluosly performed and produced slice-of-life drama, at times heart-wrenching, but also a bit drab, espacially as the plot keeps piling up the blows of fate.

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

A frustrated circus magician from Kansas is transported to a magical land called Oz, where he will have to fulfill a prophecy to become the king, and release the land from the Wicked Witches using his great (but fake) powers.

Likable and entertaining fantasy offers some nice moments, but doesn't have the magic one would expect considering all the credentials, and it's a bit too long.

Maltin**1/2: "Elaborate, eye-filling production...can't be compared to the 1939 THE WIZARD OF OZ, aside from some winks in its direction. Fairly entertaining on its own terms but overlong and, frankly unmemorable. Braff provides consistent laughs as a talking monkey."

Michelle Williams

ph: Yelena Yemchuk

Deception (2008)

An accountant is introduced to a mysterious sex club known as The List by his lawyer friend, but in this new world, he soon becomes the prime suspect in a woman's disappearance and a multi-million dollar heist.

Atmospheric and fairly suspenseful thriller with an utterly predictable twist.

Maltin**: "A suspense movie made by people who've apparently never seen a suspense movie; painfully obvious from the word go."