What movies have you seen recently?

Post Reply New Topic

I'm going through a box set (9 items) of American 'Film Noir'. Don't know very much at all about this genre, so we'll see where it takes us....

First up was Crossfire, a 1947 effort from director Edward Dmytryk. A Jewish businessman is found murdered in his apartment, and the plot, and the motive for the killing, revolve around antisemitism. It's pretty dull stuff really, very talky and lacking pace. The identity of the guilty party (played by one Robert Ryan) is fairly obvious for most of the film, Robert Mitchum plays a role in getting him nailed, and Gloria Grahame is a not very fatale femme fatale.

The film seems to be generally quite well regarded, but as you may have gathered, I couldn't really get into it.

5.5/10

A good flick from the late 1980s:

And next up is Out Of The Past

Also from 1947, and also starring Mitchum, this is considerably better. Mitchum is a former private investigator, who moves to a new town to start again and forget his previous life, but finds himself dragged back into the fray by his old nemesis Whit Stirling (Kirk Douglas) and his girlfriend Kathy (Jane Greer). The latter is a femme très fatale, as Mitchum's character finds to his cost.

I found it very hard to follow the plot a lot of the time, although I suppose that's part of the deal with these sorts of films, but it mostly made sense in the end.

7.5/10

After watching zombies on a train I opted to go with the theme and watch:

Flight of the Living Dead [2007]
-=-"Fly the deadly skies..."



Yep. Zombies on an airplane.

If you are watching this expecting a fine film, you are deluded. If you are watching for a fun film, you get at least partial credit.

Good Will Hunting
ok.

Real Steel
meh

Last night we watched:

Robot & Frank [2012]
-=-"Friendship doesn't have an off switch."



I've been aware of it for a decade and finally got around to viewing it. It's not a blockbuster but it is a good, mainstream film. The comedy is gentle, it is more of a human interest drama.

Maltin gave it three stars.

X men

Candyman.

2021 film that's - believe it or not - a sequel to the original. An African American artist, learning the story of the grad student, Hellen, who allegedly went insane after researching the Candyman urban myth and committed mass murder before burning to death while "trying to kill and infant," gains inspiration to make art of it. To his surprise, it earns him fame in the art world. More surprising, he learns that the Candyman myth goes beyond just the ill-fated Hellen, to include more than one black man murdered by white supremacy. And then the unthinkable happens, with gruesome murders inflicted on anyone daring to say Candyman's name five times. Everyone comes to doubt the artist's sanity when he reveals who the murderer is. Big surprise is the artist's true identity.
Maybe not as good or creepy as the original, but a very good sequel.

Birds of prey.
Very fun.

Last night we watched:

The World's End [2013]
-=-"One Night. Six Friends. Twelve Pubs. Total Annihilation. "



Nothing profound, just fun.