What movies did you see last week? (4/25-5/1)

The Northman

I've been in a bit of a rut lately in regards to movies. Spending most of my free time either watching TV, or playing LEGO Star Wars.

The Shooting
Ride in the Whirlwind
Hud
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins
The Pope of Greenwich Village
Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
All That Heaven Allows
Top Gun
The Iron Giant

Annette - 9/10
Sergeant York - 8/10
Death on the Nile (2022) - 5/10

To Catch a Thief - REWATCH. Lots of fun. Not the greatest Hitchcock movie out there but still a beautiful-looking delight. And no, I'm not just talking about Grace Kelly. Holy mackerel

The Batman - Masterful filmmaking on all fronts. A great experience.

The Barefoot Contessa - Terrific writing by Mankiewicz, wonderful performances and the incredible allure of Ava Gardner - what more could one demand?

Hans Christian Andersen - A fairly typical musical of its time but charming nonetheless. Danny Kaye is just a very appealing screen presence.

Ambulance - The Bay is Back. Exhilirating.

Advise & Consent - Preminger does politics and once again touches upon some taboo subjects of the time. I can see people finding the film too slow or boring but I really liked it. There's always something to a juicy political drama. Especially with such a cool ensemble.

The Unsinkable Molly Brown - When this started I felt I was gonna hate it. The screeching of the shouty voices and the annoyingly rambunctious tone just got on my nerves. But then I kinda settled into it and by the end found myself caring for the two main characters. Nice proof that a bad start doesn't mean that the whole thing is gonna suck. I'm surprised by how little songs there were for a musical. Why not just ditch them altogether?

The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek - A masterclass in comedy. There're hardly any better ways to spend a laugh-out-loud funny 90 minutes.

The Mirror Crack’d - Agatha Christie movies are comfort food with a bit of blood in the meat. The movie is neither great nor special and yet it's a very pleasant and enjoyable entertainment for the evening. I could watch Liz Taylor and Kim Novak bitch at each other for hours.

Titanic - The 1953 one. A fine flick although the other two big Titanic movies are definitely better. I appreciate the attempts to mix the melodrama with some realism (especially the absence of score) but the melodrama itself just wasn't all that compelling. The movie does improve once the iceberg does its thing though.

That Touch of Mink - I'm just so surprised by all the negative reviews on Letterboxd and the generally unenthusiastic ratings on different movie sites. I thought it was just a joy. Very funny, very sly, very entertaining. These old romcoms are a special kind of pleasure.

The Great McGinty - Well, after the miracle of "The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek" I just couldn't wait to watch another Sturges joint, especially the one that he won his Oscar for. Unfortunately it was a bit of a disappointment - just a fairly standard 'crook tries to find dignity' type of a story with some humor, some interest and some dullness. It's fine but I like my Sturges talky and hilarious.

first watches, no ratings, but they're ranked.....

Time to Die (1966) probably my fav first-watch of the year so far. Arturo Ripstein's debut at 21y/o... the best of that age range since Citizen Kane? And how many are on this level since? Boyz N the Hood...? I love when debuts feel like they're from old pros and this Gabriel Garcia Marquez-scripted Western does.... he bests John Ford, I'd wager. It's interesting Ripstein became a riskier, cruder filmmaker as he got older (and he's still at it).

Cidade Ameaçada (1960) Brazil's Ashes and Diamonds? It's very well made but I watched a crummy version, c'mon Scorsese fund a restoration. Would work well with the director's Assault on the Pay Train - both on the immediate media and mythmaking of criminals.

The Hawks and the Sparrows (1966) Pasolini's Monty Python and the Holy Grail? I'm not a big fan of his movies outside of Mamma Roma and Teorema but I enjoyed and laughed with this. Toto and the son are a nice pair.

The Possessed (1965) a giallo Fire Within? Beguiling, evasive mystery that might really click on a second watch. Love the director's The Fifth Cord.

Aunt Alejandra (1980) shockingly violent especially as played off its matter of fact, tv-film aesthetic.... not very good but it's gotta sizzling ending and feels like perhaps a household classic of Mexico.... you can imagine a generation making a verb of the title.

Schizopolis (1996) Seen already, but watched it with the Commentary from three of Sod's crew/old buddies. They share funny little trivia and accurately refer to the movie as a Rubik's cube. Can't believe Universal funded this, even at the chump change of $250k.

Third Floor (2010) very obscure two-hander thriller outta Iran.... it's a really good set-up: a drunken girl fleeing a party busted by the cops accidentally ends up locked inside another lady's apartment who's hiding a secret of her own. But it loses interest, draws out, and the dynamic starts to feel very confused.

LA Takedown (1989) I always forget Heat is a remake. Mann's script wasn't ready yet, but he jumped the gun and so we have this lame NBC version of it. It's strange to watch. Most of the dialogue is word for word in Heat, and it's sometimes shot for shot, like the famous diner scene. It works best as an example after watching Heat - how the same scenes just don't work when they're crushed down and played by charmless actors.