Amph What was the last movie you saw? (Ver. 2)

'Taxi Driver'

It's lost none of its effect. De Niro is still frightening. Maybe the timing of the rewatch wasn't great with the capital raids though.

 

What Dreams May Come.
It's always been a bit strange/sad for me watching Robin Williams movies since his passing. This movie has amazing art direction and effects, but is not quite as good as you hope it will be. Still interesting. Williams dies and must watch as his wife kills herself (the 2 kids die in a car crash) and must go through the layers of hell to bring her back. Dark stuff, and a bit long, but still a great premise. Based on a story by Richard Matheson; could be ripe for a remake.

 

The Jungle Book (1967)

 

It's the same for me, even riproaring comedies like Mrs. Doubtfire. I don't feel that way about other folks such as River Phoenix, but Williams and John Belushi make me go, "Awwwwdang" in between laughing at their output. Is it because they are basically comedians? Dunno.

 

Children of a Lesser God. A romance that is also an issue film, it stars William Hurt as a teacher at a school for the deaf who gets interested in sullen, withdrawn, much younger deaf janitor Marlee Matlin and wants to fix her, because he thinks she’s hot and men are simple that way. As you can see, this is a messy relationship, but the film’s strongest asset is that acknowledges it, as Matlin pushes back against being patronized, being “fixed,” and Hurt succeeds in overcoming her hostility but not necessarily in “changing” her. It’s not a perfect film, but it gets a lot of mileage out of being about two flawed people finding each other and negotiating this complicated conflict in a complex way.

 

Green Fire. When a miner finds a legendary lost emerald mine, he has to ruthlessly work to reopen it, clashing with bandits and with hostile plantation owner Grace Kelly, wasted in a movie in which she’s the only recognizable name. It throws in cave-ins, landslides, and jaguar attacks, but it’s not a particularly interesting adventure film, with little in the way of personality and a dull script. It’s functional, but doesn’t offer enough to be worth the time.

 

Split Second I vaguely remember seeing a film years ago on a late night cinema showing starring Rutger Hauer about a serial killer murdering people in futuristic London. I've never seen it since on TV or satellite, so imagine my delight when shopping in Tesco and seeing it for the bargain price of £5 on DVD released on a Cult Classic label.

Its a simple cheap b-movie sci-fi affair. London in 2008 is starting to flood due to global warming, constant rain and the Thames rising. Hauer plays Stone, a cop who's partner was murdered years previously by a serial killer that also left Stone badly wounded too. The story jumps right into as we find that the killer is back and Stone is obsessed with catching him. He's paired with a strait-laced by the book partner, the wonderfully named Dick Durkin, who is tasked with keeping an eye on the increasingly unhinged Stone. As the bodies pile up with hearts being ripped out its becoming evident that its personal, the killer even mails Stone a heart with a bite out of it at his police station and also leaves one in his home fridge! Stone is not a popular figure amongst his peers because of his bad attitude and the fact that his girlfriend is his dead partners widow Michelle (played by Kim Cattrall). She ends up being taken hostage by the killer leading to a showdown in a disused London underground station.

Overall its one of those so-bad-its-good films, plenty of one liners, violence, swearing and the occasional boob (courtesy of Kim Cattrall). Logic takes a back seat all the way through it. We get a telepathic link between Stone and the killer, is he killing on the lunar cycle or influenced by the zodiac or is he satan himself? When the killer is revealed you end up wondering how it managed to package up a heart and post it to the right address, how it also leave notes in blood at crime scenes and even more so how he stayed concealed in nightclubs when you get the killers pov shots. Its ridiculous. We get a crazy change in character for Durkin halfway through when he suddenly becomes a badass. The showdown ending in the tube station also sees a change in character for Cattrall, and in the end credits it says that ending was directed by another director, so maybe that's why? Also the killer reveal is a bit underwhelming to say the least, not much money was spent there.

Its shot mainly at night, its closely shot which leads to a lack of scope and expanse and screams low budget too. Hauer is so over the top its untrue. But hidden away in here is a really good idea for a film, I love the disused tube sets, back alleys, drab buildings and whats beneath London that all gives it some character. Given a bigger budget and better script this could have made a great film, I even read that Harrison Ford was considered for this.

 

Harriet (2019)
I hadn't gotten around to seeing this movie so I figured today would be as good as any day. A slave in the mid 1800s escapes on her own, only to return and free dozens through the Underground Railroad. Most are familiar with the story of Harriet Tubman, but this movie serves to fill in more of the story than most know. I thought it was pretty well done; somewhat dramatic in dialogue at times, but given the theme that's expected.

 

My brother Bri and I had am ongoing disagreement. He said Roddy Piper vs. Keith David in "They Live" was the greatest fistfight in movie history. I respected his choice, but disagreed, saying it was Sean Connery vs. Robert Shaw in "From Russia with Love".

 

I wasn't crazy about the trailers for this. Looked like Oscar bait. But audience reception was amazing, I'll be checking it out soon

 

Heat (1995)
Directed by: Michael Mann

"You know, we are sitting here, you and I, like a couple of regular fellas. You do what you do, and I do what I gotta do. And now that we've been face to face, if I'm there and I gotta put you away, I won't like it. But I tell you, if it's between you and some poor bastard whose wife you're gonna turn into a widow, brother, you are going down."

People don't tend to view Mann as a romance guy, but that scene with Robert De Niro and Amy Brenneman on the balcony overlooking LA is achingly romantic.

 

The Innocents

1961 adaptation of The Turn of the Screw, cowritten by Truman Capote, directed by Jack Clayton, and starring Deborah Kerr.

This was a blind buy aside from watching the trailer and one brief scene and it was a smart move adding it to my Criterion Collection, as I really enjoyed it.

Mrs. Kerr is subtle and sensitive as a caring and emotionally fragile governess who is basically tasked with raising two intelligent and somehow troubling children who were sent off by their uncaring uncle to live at a glorious country estate far outside of London.

All is not well at the gorgeous manor house location, however.

I highly recommend this movie for it's beautiful cinematography, haunting score, top notch sound fx, solid suspenseful story, and terrific acting performances. The camera work in particular is unbelievabley cool.

The movie has supernatural elements and the last third of the film had scenes that were genuinely frightening in a psychological way.

This is not a gory gothic horror it being made in 1961, but rather a beautifully shot, atmospheric and supernatural thriller.

Edit: there are some neat special features on the disc that will be fun to watch.

 

WW84 (2020)
Like with most divisive movies, I didn't think it was as great as the gushers claim, nor was it as bad as the bashers claim. Definitely did not need to be 150 minutes, and didn't hold a candle to the first one.

 

Heat is epic.

 

The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974)

So Robert Shaw leads a quartet in hijacking the title NYC subway train with 18 hostages ransom for a million dollars. Dealing with the hijackers demands is Transit Authority Lt. Detective Zachary a.k.a. Z (Walter Matthau). Shaw’s crew demands NYC pay them 1 million dollars in less than an hour lest they start shooting hostages. Shaw has something else up his sleeve, as one of his crew -Mr. Green (played by Martin Balsam)- is a dishonored NYC subway motor man. This involves sending the hostages on the runaway Pelham train to their doom after the hijackers escape it with the ransom money. Nice try.

We learn doesn’t pay even in the dangerous streets that were 1970s NY.

Okay, this movie is very much of its era and environment liberally peppered with racial and sexist slurs. That dialog made me more uncomfortable than anything else.

That aside, the cast were solid and the pacing was excellent. This film gets down to the hijacking in under ten minutes and keeps going.

Pelham not very suspenseful, though it tries. As personal inspiration, I am sure the hostage undercover cop who looked like a hippie inspired my 70s undercover cop who also looks like a hippie. And once again, last night, I wanted to know more about this cop than anyone else.

This is a very good movie but the dialog in the first half kind of kicked me out of the film.

 

Batman Ninja (2018)
So finally got around to watching this fiasco. From what I gather, this was made in Japan as a sort of love letter for fans of samurai films as well as Gundamn anime. It was just beyond stupid. I don't get Batman's sidekicks; seems like half a dozen Robins but no Batgirl? And Harley is reverted back to being a dunce; incapable of really thinking independently of The Joker. This is really a forgettable movie any way you see it.

 

Well, that Pelham review line was supposed to read

“We learn that crime doesn’t pay”

Anyway, I think the pacing of ...Pelham 123 was very refreshing. It’s been a while since I’ve watched a movie that dives right into it’s story and keeps you engaged for most of its precise running time.

 

Comes back from crime spree, then reads edited post.

 

The Breaking Point. This is an adaptation of Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not, which is not one of his strongest books but which is based on two of my favorite short stories from him. Of course, it’s almost impossible for a 1950 picture like this to capture Hemingway’s atmosphere on film, but it’s a pretty good picture nonetheless. It follows John Garfield as a fishing boat captain who, in financial straits, turns to crime. It does a good job capturing his domestic situation, with a wife and children to support but struggling with a life of financial instability, unlike the typical noir loner. It could stand to have some more atmosphere, but it definitely works as a gritty, bleak, social-problem noir.

 

Having lived through the 70s, when NYC was considered one half-step away from utter collapse, I didn't mind the atmosphere and script, slurs included. I can look at it with a sense of perspective and distance. And David Shire's musical score is supremely evocative of both the time & place.

Oh, and avoid the Travolta remake.

 

This movie is in a way responible for my existence. My parents met on a blind date set up by my dads childhood friend and his girlfriend who was my mom's friend as a double date and this is what they saw.

 

Chain Lightning. The business of flying as a test pilot is a great subject for drama, and it’s no surprise that in 1950, with Yeager just having broke the sound barrier and astronauts not yet having usurped the test pilots’ stats, we’d get a movie starring Humphrey Bogart as a daring test pilot. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty forgettable effort. Bogart is testing a new jet supersonic jet with a risky escape system, but the film is lumbered with an unwieldy flashback structure in which almost all of the film is a flashback recounting his life story, from flying World War II bombers to test piloting, and his romance with the obligatory love interest. There’s just not much drama worth investing in, and the movie is utterly forgettable, a barely-functional B-grade movie that wastes Bogart’s talents.

 

I lived through the 70s myself. While not in NYC proper, I knew about how awful and dangerous things were there. Always cringed through those slurs and still do. Yes this movie is -sadly- authentic of the time. I understand they were trying to show just how bad things were, and how such situations can bring out the worst or best in you.

I never bothered with the remake. There is no need.