What was the last film you watched?

[Willie Oleson]

Scarface (1983)



There is nothing special about the rise and fall of drug lords, criminal activities have a habit to backfire - if it's not the law then it's because of other criminals.
Luckily it doesn't always take a great or novel story to make a great film, and the Scarface team proves it with this absolute powerhouse of a gangster giallo, an assault on the senses in the most entertaining way possible.
The eye-popping set of Tony Montana's mansion is worth the admission alone, it kinda looks like a pornish replica of the Vatican.

Tony Montana is a bad-tempered sociopath and you could sarcastically ask yourself "what could possibly go wrong?", but this time I was intrigued by his racist resentment of white capitalism and the hypocrisy that goes with it, while simultaneously kicking against the Cuban communist system.
It comes across as a war within himself, a battle that cannot be won even if he takes everything away from the WASP whores (to use one of his many infamous quotes).
Tony doesn't have a serious plan, he just wants to move forwards and upwards with an unstoppable force only to imprison himself in an empire that needs to be protected from the dangerous ambitions of other Tony Montanas.
The paranoia (though not entirely unjustified) needs to be snorted away, the coke increases his aggressive behaviour which alienates the few people who care about him, the lack of support that proves that nobody can be trusted etc etc.

The most Palma-esque cinematography can be seen in the club shootout, it's quite similar to the prom massacre in Carrie.
There's the thing with the lights and mirrors, the teasing, the unease about the expected-unexpected, the explosive violence, people running and screaming.
Yes, he sure knows how to wank his audience.
Speaking of which, the theme of incest (even if it's only implied) never fails to outrage entertainingly. It's that one fascinating taboo that always adds a sordid but also gothic vibe to a story.

The magnificent finale is the icing on the cake and it's always great knowing that it's coming. The combination of violence and colours conjures up images of Dante's Inferno and there's even a quasi-supernatural moment when Tony takes the bullets laughing and screaming. This, also, kinda harks back to Margaret White's crucifixion, arms spread just like Tony before he plunges into the decorative pond.
Michelle Pfeiffer adds a new layer to the description of "ice queen" and her bitchy scenes with husband Tony are quite humorous.
I wonder what it's like to watch this film in a theatre filled with diehard Scarface fans.

 

[Seaviewer]

Suicide Squad (2016)
I'm not familiar with most of these characters, mainly just Harley and Joker, and since they are a pack of villains, it's hard to know who I should care about. Batman plays a small part.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Casino Royale (2006)



In hindsight, the film poster is a dead giveway. The loose bow tie, the actor who would have played the strong and hateable henchman in the classic Bond era is now our 007: this film wants to be called a reboot and story-wise that's what it is.
I still think that Dalton's Bond was the most significant revamp especially because it happened somewhere in the middle of the series, only for Brosnan's Bond to return to the more familiar character.

Casino Royale opens with an action-packed chase scene which shows that NuBond is equally yet differently fantastical.
Whereas many of the classic Bond stunts looked a bit laughable because it was impossible to buy into that physical strength and balance, Craig's Bond actually seems to have that kind of super-power as we watch him and his target effortlessly jumping up to/down from buildings and high construction equipment. "Shades of Spider-Man" seems to be a legitimate observation here.

Daniel Craig has his most Bondy scene during his briefing with Vesper Lynd played by the enigmatic and always entertaining Eva Green. She's sort of the new Charlotte Rampling.
This scene sizzles and crackles from start to finish and is possibly one of the best interactions between Bond and his Girls.
Mads Mikkelsen is perfectly cast as the scarfaced Eurotrash villain even though he refrains from grandstanding moments.
The big pokergame part is a funny one. I kinda assumed that he wanted Le Chiffre to win so he could lead Bond to the terrorists who benefited from Le Chiffre's creative banking skills.
Surprisingly, James is genuinely upset that he lost the game courtesy of Le Chiffre's nervous "tic" which looked like an obvious trap to me.
I had expected James to read between the lines and surprise us, the audience, not himself.
Naturally this only served the purpose of the vengeful rematch which unfolds in a predictable but nevertheless exciting way.

The last-minute twist takes us to the breathtaking grand finale with amazing set pieces, with a minor critical note that it plays out with previously unknown villains.
The only significant Bond gadget is a self-reanimation device and there's no traditional henchman/woman. Well, there's the bomber for hire, maybe that qualifies.
It's a well-written and well-executed film, and despite its two and half hours running time there isn't a single moment in it that makes it sag or drag.
On the other hand, Casino Royale often looks more Mission:Impossible than James Bond, and this makes the ranking a bit tricky.

Incidentally, this was my last rewatch. Apart from the first 15 minutes of Quantum Of Solace everything post-Casino Royale is new to me.
Since I know what's going to happen in No Time To Die (it's impossible not to know) I'm feeling quite hesitant about watching it.

I continued with Quantum Of Solace (2008) and it took me only two minutes to figure out why I hadn't seen more than those first 15 minutes.
This time I finished it for the sake of completism and that's the only and also the very last thing I'm going to say about this film.
Roll on, Skyfall.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Skyfall (2012)



Definitely a big step up from the previous one, but not as much fun as Casino Royale.
While Daniel Craig's Bond was established as a reboot from the beginning, Skyfall is the first film that actually looks like a prequel/origin story.
It's just that I'm not a fan of tampering with a fictional character's origins that never needed to be known in the first place.
I feel the same when Doctor Who focuses too much on the Gallifrey stuff. He's an alien who travels in a police telephone box and that's all I need to know.
This probing into a character's background (and this goes for both James Bond and "M") also has the tendency to become overly dramatic and that kinda sucks the fun out of it.
Luckily it's not all that bad in Skyfall but it does pave the way for a more extreme version like No Time To Die.
I've decided not to watch that film and Spectre will be my last one until James Bond returns with a new face.
Sean Connery made the on-screen James Bond iconic and I won't allow Daniel Craig to destroy him.
How very "Annie Wilkes" of me.

The theme of questioning MI6' relevance in modern-day national security is interesting, and M comes up with a satisfying answer.
But there's an underlying meta-theme of questioning Bond's relevance in modern-day cinema and I find it a bit cynical and depressing.
It's almost like saying "the series hasn't aged well" or "that kind of fun is not acceptable anymore".
NuQ - now played by the obligatory skinny nerd - even jokes about exploding pens being outdated (the one that killed Fatima Blush, but you probably don't remember that you stupid skinny nerd). But at least there's a joke on top of it when Bond is armed with an intentionally unimaginative little radio signal transmitter that is going to save the day.
NuBond is a prequel and a sequel and a remake so I guess that requires a bit of self-awareness to get the film and the audience on the same wavelength.

The main plot is actually a remake of GoldenEye: a 00villain who has an axe to grind with the institution that made him.
Sean Bean's villain character wanted to destroy the entire UK but it's the same idea, really.
Javier Bardem plays it both camp and understated, like a soft-spoken The Joker. I honestly couldn't picture him as a Secret Service agent and I've seen too much of that computer hocus-pocus in other films, but he was good when it mattered.
That gay moment certainly didn't go unnoticed.
I had never made the connection between "M" and "Mother" and her first name is Emma (M.A.). Very funny.
So, while I was watching this back-to-the-moors story (the Skyfall in the title) I found myself becoming increasingly annoyed with the glaring oversight of Ms. Moneypenny. Why is she not introduced in this Bond reboot saga?
And that was the biggest surprise in this film, they didn't forget it. I saw it coming only split-second before it happened and it kinda feels as if it happened just because I wished her into existence.
And this means that Sean Connery didn't remember that Moneypenny was black, that she almost killed him and that he had slept with her.

Roll on, Spectre. Is it about Blofeld? Oh my god.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Spectre (2015)



This homage Bond perfectly bookends the Daniel Craig era as we see James and his future partner ride off into the drab sunset of London.
The brothers reveal is a bit cliché but since it's a reboot they can do whatever they want.
It's not the most beautiful-looking Bond film but the story is very tense because the Big Thread unfolds on two different levels.
There's the physical, explosive stuff with Blofeld but also the troubling politics between M and C.
Andrew Scott is very good at playing hateable characters
If Skyfall questioned the relevance of MI6, Spectre has the MI6 team race against the clock to save the Bond series.
Ralph Fiennes (M) and Ben Whishaw (Q) play a terrific duo act assuring that every minute of this lengthy feature is filled with urgency, intrigue and humour.
Jesper Christensen gets his best moments as Mr. White and Spectre also sees the return of the classic henchman.
The last act in the former MI6 building reminded me of Scaramanga's deadly funhouse and also David Fincher's The Game.

The theme song is good but I'm not a fan of Sam's falsetto voice. The opening credits sequence featuring images of previous Bond characters was also used in On Her Majesty's Secret Service but it looks better in Spectre.
The only disappointment is that they didn't use the classic gun barrel theme to score some of the scenes.
Spectre is a lot of fun and avoids the schmaltz of Skyfall but I think Casino Royale remains the most rewatchable of Craig's Bond films.

Here's the list from best to worst


There are many online lists and youtube videos showing a different ranking, but they are all wrong.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Coming To America (1988)



My reason to watch this film for the first time was based on a gif of the three hairdressers.

Well, they're funny, they are exactly the funniest part of Coming To America.
This Christmassy fairy tale movie is simply too nice for a comedian like Eddie Murphy, and he's not very good at playing straight.
It's like the kind of movie spun off from a much better TV sitcom. Somehow they always disappoint. Too produced, too expensive, too stilted, too aware.
Lots of jokey scenes are badly edited, it's that strange lingering effect that makes it unintentionally awkward, like comedy for very slow people. But at least that explains the film's exaggerated running time.

The gaudy eighties excess does make it visually pleasing and it has a dance sequence that wouldn't go amiss in a musical.
Murphy & Hall are very good in their alternative roles and the supporting cast is serviceable. I'm pretty sure I spotted Donna Summer in a cameo but the internet has buried that secret information, or so it seems.
Samuel Jackson is also in this film and his small role of schizo robber really pops. It also illustrates the reason why it doesn't work for me in an intentionally schizo film like Pulp Fiction.
Sexual Chocolate performs The Greatest Love Of All, I like that, but I prefer my imaginary piano cover version by Carly Simon.
The rest of the soundtrack is the most mediocre 80s pop fluff except for the "traditional" Afro themes, that sounds rather nice.
Eddie Murphy's interpretation of To Be Loved is insufferable and it's meant to sound insufferable but only in a fictional way.

Eriq La Salle plays the antagonist "spoilt heir" version of Prince Akeem. He's got very eighties hair and initially I thought it was Rockwell from Somebody's Watching Me fame (I just rewatched that video and it looks much gayer than I remembered).
Darryl Jenks' father is the founder of Soul Glo, some kind of hair-gloss spray that's being advertised in a surprisingly creepy commercial.
It establishes Darryl's evil roots in a Batman-esque way, I think.
l love the King's over-the-top lion drapery or stole (or whatever you would call it) and overall I found the royal pomposity rather effective.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Rude Boy (1980)



Fifteen minutes into the film I understood this wasn't a very disciplined production and I had no desire to watch the 2+ hours version of it, but somehow I couldn't find the right moment to stop watching. Not sure if I've had that experience before.
Story-wise, Rude Boy is underwhelming, to put it charitably. It's a semi-rockumentary meaning that there is at least one fictional character in it but there isn't much about him that looks dramatised or personal.
Oddly enough that may actually be the story's saving grace - they couldn't misinterpret anything.

On the other hand, it's a film with incredible snapshot value, it's what the year 1980 looked like in the news although the film itself was shot in 1978/79.
This means that I didn't watch the news before 1980 or that the Dutch angry youth counter-culture was a few years behind the UK.
This social reaction to the softness of the 1970s counter-culture ("they're soapy !") made me realise how tricky political preferences can be because there's often a lot of overlapping. The left is anti-fascism and the extreme right is anti-establishment.
The enormous unemployment issue of that time affected both sides and I'm sure this built-in anger increased the oppostion on both sides.
And then we also got the possibility of the Big Nuke hanging over our heads. So much for happy, simple times (a recurring reaction to TopPop videos).

Anyway, the fictional character played by co-writer Ray Gange is bored out of his mind and has no prospects to speak of. He becomes a roadie for punk/rock band The Clash and in any other film this would be an elaborate or funny goal to achieve but here it's "are you free next week?"
The Clash, The Cure, The Cult - that's a nice guessing game for me.
I was a little surprised that I enjoyed the music - "they good!" as they would say in Coming To America - and since it's unlikely that I'll watch or listen to The Clash again I figured I might as well consider this a once in a lifetime opportunity. Probably one of the reasons why I kept watching.
There's a lot of cacophony and fighting going on, and also lots of problems with the police but I have no idea why (for what it's worth, neither did they).

Margaret Thatcher gives her pro-police speech allegedly out of concern for the safety of senior Brits but to me it looks like she was recruiting the national police force as her personal army of henchmen in order to secure her diabolical schemes!
Making the best of a bad situation, she was a true politician.
Meanwhile, Ray Gange's character stops doing what wasn't very much to begin with and starts drinking heavily. Like I said before, the lack of dramatisation prevents it from becoming a "thing", it all looks very random.
He has issues with the political messages in the songs performed by The Clash and I can understand how that could temper one's enthusiasm. But was that conversation significant in the grand scheme of things? I have no idea. He just leaves (oops, spoiler).

 

[Willie Oleson]

Today I was in the mood for something cosy and not too challenging, and I'm using my last Netflix days to watch euro stuff presented by the StudioCanal.

Stolen Assignment (1955)



I'm afraid it's not going to be remembered for a long time but it did exactly what I needed this afternoon. The style is elegant, humorous, vibrant (one actor being a little too vibrant) and it's all just enough to keep the lightweight murder mystery going. Nevertheless, a mystery is a mystery and you want to know.
Apparently, the newspaper writer/detective duo had done it before in Final Appointment from 1954.


Please Turn Over (1959)



Pour l'amour de Mike! It's Carry On Peyton Place. The short description did suggest a PP knockoff, obviously the reason why I watched it, but not the style - and the thumbnail is just a black and white image of two actors. I honestly didn't suspect anything (perhaps I should have paid closer attention to the title, the exclamation mark is often a red flag).
Some aspects of the film look old-fashionedly stagy but when it's funny it's very funny.
The revealing novel written by the story's young heroine Jo Halliday is mostly about versions of her parents rather than the town's folk, and I think there's something obscene about a girl viewing her own parents in this particularly raunchy way. The film itself doesn't seem to be aware of it and I'm sure it's better that way.

There's one physical comedy scene (or two, because it's repeated) that looks very pre-Naked Gun.
It's a parody of the distressed heroine running hysterically into the forest, her clothes torn, face scruffy, her hair a (semi-)mess.
Actress Jean Kent has her best moment when she becomes Simone Signoret. Lying on the couch she huskily tells her lover that she wants a cigarette.
It ends in a traditionally romantic fashion with one more joke saved for the very last moment. It's a "laugh or I'll shoot" joke, but, oh well.

Edit: something went wrong with the images. Speaking of which, that cover art of the Network DVD is extremely spoilery.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Please Turn Over (1959)

Well I had to look when I'd watched this in recent years. From scrolling through this thread and the Carry On one, it seems I watched in 2017 and again (this time on Blu-ray) in 2022. So I suppose I'm due a revisit next year.

It feels I've watched it more recently, but I don't know if I've watched it again and (inexplicably) not posted about it or if time really has gone that quickly these last four years.

It's Carry On Peyton Place.

Yes indeed...

If this were part of the canon I could imagine it being called Carry On Up Peyton Place. Not that the Carry Ons would have been likely to so blatantly acknowledge their source material at this point. But there's no getting away from the fact that the plot of the film is remarkably similar to aspects of Peyton Place, (the plot is especially similar to Return To Peyton Place though it's worth noting that Metallious's sequel only came out shortly before Please Turn Over was released and the film version would be a year or two away). The central character, a teenage writer whose book is based on those in her small town is pure Allison MacKenzie, and her omniscient narration very similar to that in the 1957 film.

Or perhaps Carry On Being Capricorn Crude.

I was going to write this before I realise I'd be repeating myself:

I really love the way the film shifts between quirky reality and the even quirkier fantasy. It's like two Carry Ons in one and gives an opportunity for the actors to have fun playing their character and a hugely distorted version of the same character. Character actresses Joan Sims and Dilys Laye in particular shine here. Sims plays the "reality" of her moaning char lady with a fag hanging permanently from her mouth and the fictionalised version of the same character as a glamorous French maid. Laye starts out as a mousy secretary then portrays the "book" version of the same character as a gold-digging vamp.

Some aspects of the film look old-fashionedly stagy

Yes - all part of the charm after over 65 years.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Il Posto (1961)



An Italian kitchen-sink comedy drama about a young man who needs a job, and then not much happens. But it's brilliant, it really is. Sort of a slightly more romantic Bleak Moments.
It doesn't look like a typical comedy and that's why those funny moments happen unexpectedly.
Casting-wise Il Posto is a match made in heaven. Sandro Panseri plays main character Domenico, his debut role out of three film roles currently listed on IMDB, and I got the impression that he was discovered and then someone decided to build a film around his appearance.
Domenico is shy and looks criminally adorable, his big melancholic eyes speak louder than his voice.

There's an interesting segment that shows the background of a bunch of supporting characters. One of these characters dies off-screen and all we get is a few shots of his cleaned out workplace and flat, as if he had never existed at all.
This was quite a transfixing experience and I couldn't think of any reason why this film should end. But it does end, not in a satisfying way but in a way that's good for the film.

 

[Seaviewer]

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022)
Fairly conventional biopic - starts at a moment of triumph and flashes back - but comes across rather flat like a docudrama. The ending also confused me - I didn't realise at first that they had flashed back again.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Sorcerer(1977) - William Friedin's remake of 1950s French film The Wages of Fear (Although Friedkin doesn't consider it a remake). I really liked it. It was no barrel of laughs, but it was fascinating. I guess one could call it an existential thriller.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Ich Bin Dein Mensch (2021) (incorrectly translated into "I'm Your Man")



The story tackles the practical, emotional and moral issues of being loved by an humanoid A.I. robot. It's not groundbreaking because most of it seems self-explanatory (or at least it should) but sometimes it's nice to hear a person saying these things out loud.
The script effectively balances the emotional with the intellectual, and while the main character offers her verdict it's not necessarily the message of the film itself.
I find robots and clones endlessly fascinating and the film raises more questions than answers. Like, why would I notice French language spoken with an English accent but not German language spoken with an English accent? (as it was mentioned in the film).

It goes without saying that the Twilight Zone had already dunit and there's also a little bit of Stepford Wives in it.
One thing is for sure, if we can turn this sci-fi technology into reality, it will happen. It doesn't matter if we need it or not, humans always want to see if it's possible. And somehow we always forget that this process is irreversible.
Dreamboat Dan Stevens plays the German robot (doesn't he look like he could be Sam Neill's son?) and back in the old days he would have been dubbed or badly dubbed.
Not here, this is the real thing, albeit with an English accent. Allegedly.
One of the supporting roles is played by Sandra Hüller and since she's currently in all good films I'm going to call her the German answer to Cate Blanchett.
Without revealing too much I wonder if Ich Bin Dein Mensch has been an inspiration for Companion 2025. It even features an identical twist regarding...something.
Great movie.


Greystoke - The Legend Of Tarzan Lord Of The Apes (1984)



I hate it when IMDB inserts colons and commas that are not in the on-screen title.
I'm not sure if I've ever watched a Tarzan film in full, not even Disney's Tarzan or George Of The Jungle.
Direced by Hugh Hudson who had also directed Chariots Of Fire, and it shows. It's a bittersweet mix of British period drama and Jungle Book excitement.
The Tarzan & Jane romance also happens in this film but it's not really what the story is all about, and before he becomes John Clayton the new Earl of Greystoke he doesn't have a name at all.
Was it ever explained in the other films why he was called Tarzan? Anyway, this version of the classic turned out to be a good choice.

 

[Toni]

Ich Bin Dein Mensch (2021) (incorrectly translated into "I'm Your Man")

View attachment 59075

The story tackles the practical, emotional and moral issues of being loved by an humanoid A.I. robot. It's not groundbreaking because most of it seems self-explanatory (or at least it should) but sometimes it's nice to hear a person saying these things out loud.
The script effectively balances the emotional with the intellectual, and while the main character offers her verdict it's not necessarily the message of the film itself.
I find robots and clones endlessly fascinating and the film raises more questions than answers. Like, why would I notice French language spoken with an English accent but not German language spoken with an English accent? (as it was mentioned in the film).

It goes without saying that the Twilight Zone had already dunit and there's also a little bit of Stepford Wives in it.
One thing is for sure, if we can turn this sci-fi technology into reality, it will happen. It doesn't matter if we need it or not, humans always want to see if it's possible. And somehow we always forget that this process is irreversible.
Dreamboat Dan Stevens plays the German robot (doesn't he look like he could be Sam Neill's son?) and back in the old days he would have been dubbed or badly dubbed.
Not here, this is the real thing, albeit with an English accent. Allegedly.
One of the supporting roles is played by Sandra Hüller and since she's currently in all good films I'm going to call her the German answer to Cate Blanchett.
Without revealing too much I wonder if Ich Bin Dein Mensch has been an inspiration for Companion 2025. It even features an identical twist regarding...something.
Great movie.


Greystoke - The Legend Of Tarzan Lord Of The Apes (1984)

View attachment 59076

I hate it when IMDB inserts colons and commas that are not in the on-screen title.
I'm not sure if I've ever watched a Tarzan film in full, not even Disney's Tarzan or George Of The Jungle.
Direced by Hugh Hudson who had also directed Chariots Of Fire, and it shows. It's a bittersweet mix of British period drama and Jungle Book excitement.
The Tarzan & Jane romance also happens in this film but it's not really what the story is all about, and before he becomes John Clayton the new Earl of Greystoke he doesn't have a name at all.
Was it ever explained in the other films why he was called Tarzan? Anyway, this version of the classic turned out to be a good choice.

Did you notice the voice of Glenn Close coming out of Andie McDowell´s pretty mouth? Reportedly, she didn´t sound "British enough" and they decided to dub her...with a (great) American actress. Of course, in Spain we didn´t notice that at all!

 

[Willie Oleson]

Letter To Brezhnev (1985)

I wanted to rewatch Rita Sue And Bob Too but the upload wasn't there anymore. Via-via, as it goes on youtube, I was manipulated into the direction of this other British classic.
From the very beginning I noticed this was a film with a more realistic "street" speech therefore I decided to watch it with subtitles. Unfortunately, the automatically generated subtitles was the only option and it never works when you need it. It only complicates the experience.
I stopped watching and figured it would be better to let it pass. But...that gorgeous soundtrack, I couldn't forget it.
So, browse browse, click-buy.

And a blessing in disguise, really, because I'm going to keep it.

It is very funny, I love the fight between Elaine and her sister Josie and the mother who's having none of it. Elaine's friend is the raunchy and rascally Teresa who works in the Kirkby Spring Chicken factory. Naturally, this is a bit exaggerated for comical effect.
The blossoming romance between Elaine and Russian sailor Peter works because of its simplicity: that intense eye contact just never fails.
They dance in slow motion surrounded by DJ fog, the bar music replaced with that beautifully ethereal score.
I think every good film has a moment that makes you realise "I'm sold" or "this is going to be better than expected".

Elaine projects her romantic fantasy onto Peter but when he responds appropriately she instantly dismisses it, and even looks for reasons to argue.
This cynical too-good-to-be-true attitude is a staple of the kitchen-sink drama and precisely what made the finale of The Long Distance Runner so powerful, in a grim sort of way.
The whimsical fantasy aspect of their wholesome time together - "look at that star, it reminds me of home, now it reminds me of you" - juxtaposes the raunchy and gritty realism of Elaine's life in Liverpool. Just like Local Hero, Letter To Brezhnev does it confidently and unabashedly, and maybe that's the only way to get away with it.

Once Peter and his friend Sergei (an insatiable sex machine, according to Teresa, which is something I had never associated with Alfred Molina although the facial hair looks good on him) are on the ship back to Mother Russia, the story becomes the quest to reunite Elaine and Peter.
We never find out what that actually looks like but the point is that someone dares to make a life-changing decision rather than to succumb to the hopelessness that plagued so many young people in the 1980s, especially the working class.
A super-slimy reporter informs Elaine that living in Russia is not going to improve anything and I, the viewer, knows that this is possibly true but I still want her to ignore it because the information comes out of his nasty mouth.
Oh yes, she's IN the news. On the radio, and even the classic spinning newspapers with her approaching commie adventure smeared over the front page. It's so Kevin & Lynn Palmer.
In this film it's Liverpool that embodies the hopelessness but it could have been anywhere. And Liverpool has some very lovely sights, btw. I noticed a street that looks like a hodgepodge of various traditional European architectures, I had not expected to find it there.
It ends with Teresa making some sort of apology for not being convinced enough to make any drastic and positive changes in her life, but I don't think it was meant to make her look weak.

I've started watching the interview with Margi "Teresa" Clarke and it's full of interesting details but it's a bit long so I'll finish it later.

What a lucky find. Thank you, Rita & Sue (and Bob too) for being unavailable (I feel another purchase coming up).

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Letter To Brezhnev (1985)

I watched this for the first time last year and had a similarly satisfying experience.

The whimsical fantasy aspect of their wholesome time together - "look at that star, it reminds me of home, now it reminds me of you" - juxtaposes the raunchy and gritty realism of Elaine's life in Liverpool.

Snap...

It's this juxtaposition between romance and reality that makes this feels so very special. That scene captures the feeling of feeling happy and content, while still reflecting the sometimes mundane, sometimes harsh realities of the world continuing as it did before.

Glad you enjoyed it, Willie.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I was thinking about buying the soundtrack, Music To Buy Dual Format Editions By, but according to discogs it was never released on CD.
I also love the closing credits song "Lockets & Stars" sung by Margi Clarke herself.



Running On Empty (1988)



This was suggested to me when were discussing The Mosquito Coast, but with more titles added to the to-watch list Running On Empty was pushed to the bottom of that list. And that's not fair.
From River Phoenix's character's point of view the story's premise is rather similar to Mosquito: determined parents who have created a very alternative way of living for their two sons which, again, ties in with River's real-life eccentric upbringing.
It's almost like a sort of typecasting that spills over into fiction.

Movie parents Danny and Annie Pope are wanted by the FBI for an act of terrorism committed in the 1970s when they were still young and counterculture idealistic.
Changing residence, work, school, names and even hair colour, they've all accepted the situation because the most important thing is to stay together.
Until, of course, it is not acceptable anymore and this becomes the major conflict in this story.
I can't say that there are many surprises in the plot, the premise seems quite self-explanatory and I was already familiar with the situation because the conclusion is very similar to my all-time favourite ending of a certain TV series.
And this means I also need to watch Little Nikita - it looks like a River Phoenix Trilogy based on the same themes.

I don't count myself as a member of the Worship River Club but it doesn't take a lot of imagination that some people do feel that way about him.
He was an amazingly natural talent and he simply exuded a rare kind of wholesomeness, all this magnified by his tragic and untimely death. And that's when you get comments like "he was too good for this world". Maybe there's some truth in it, I don't know.
As for the rest of the Pope family, the parents come across as somewhat selfish which mercifully nips the potential schmaltz in the bud. Or at least as much as can be expected of a story like this.
Initially, I found the little brother played by Jonas Abry (another actor with a mini acting career) very irritating but after a while I changed my mind and I think he played it very well. Exactly what a hyper and irritating little brother looks like.
After Mosquito, River reunites on screen with his real-life girlfriend Martha Plimpton. They make for an interesting pairing therefore it seemed like a sensible thing to do. For those who still haven't seen Martha in Mass (2021), please do. It's such an extraordinary piece of acting art.

Shame on me for putting off watching RUNNING for so long.

 

[Seaviewer]

Dune (2021)
This was my first encounter with this universe but I felt in a way that I'd seen it all before. I found it rather overlong and tedious - and this is only part one. I fell asleep at one point and when I woke up they were still talking about the same things.

 

[Willie Oleson]

There is actually one hour of non-film in the middle of the Dune show because they expected viewers to fall asleep. I think that's very considerate of them.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Martin (1977)



One of the most bizarre films I've ever seen, and that's saying something.
The story deals with vampirism in two different ways: a horny young virgin who may be suffering from iron deficiency (though the sex and blood appear to be connected), and the gothic-romantic version of Nosferatu.
Additionally, the setup is ambiguous: where does Martin come from, to what extent does he consider his condition to be problematic, is it connected with the alleged crazy family history?
This is happening in a place that is about to become a ghost town, and there's also a little bit of "diary of a mad housewife" in it.

Honestly I found it impossible to connect the dots, but the film has a very alluring cinematography despite being made on a super-low budget.
It's extremely "new wave" (was that still "new" in 1977?) and the unglamorous non-actors add a documentary feel to the production. I was often reminded of Todd Haynes' Poison (1991) while I was watching Martin.
The more action-packed sequences suffer the most from the limited budget and there's a lot of image-by-image editing to obscure it. Nevertheless, this seemingly unpolished technique makes it look excitingly raw and/or clumsily funny.
The film's highlight is Martin's attack on an adulterous couple. The woman was supposed to be in bed alone which, at least, justifies the messy and improvisational proceedings.

I prefer to take everything at face value, it's not my job to be informed, and if something allegorical bubbles to the surface, fine. Wonderful. It can also occur at a later time or because of someone else's interpretation, but I'm not desperately looking for answers let alone while I'm watching the story.
And sometimes it's better not to know. I remember feeling disappointed after reading the perfect explanation of the religious symbolism in Mother!
I really loved my uninformed, mind-boggling, exhaustingly frustrating experience, thinking it was all happening "just because".
Martin is a must-watch for 1970s completists or anyone with a penchant for cult films.
Oh yes, the word "penchant" is all over the place right now, I suspect it's yet another discovery by the hipsters.
But I do like the word and I hope to describe something or someone as "a penchant for luncheon appointments" in the foreseeable future.

Lastly, while I was watching MARTIN it dawned on me that I was already familiar with the story of a young man believing to be a vampire, and I don't mean Nicolas Cage's Vampire's Kiss from 1988.
Somehow I kept thinking of the name PATRICK therefore I looked it up to see if a film with that name exists and to find out if there's some connection.
Well, it's real and it turns out to be an Australian horror film from 1978 but I don't think it has anything to do with vampires.
Yootjoop has it, image presented in wrong aspect ratio. Should I.....?