A man is accused of not being the person he claims to be (a wealthy industrialist) but rather a lowly crook wanted by the law. Fact is, he returned from World War One with amnesia and (if I understand correctly) was recognized as said industrialist by the latter's wife. He then assumed he really was this person. In the trial, a man testifies in his favor saying he knew the lowly criminal in question and that he saw him die.
A mediocre drama with, in my view, a plot hole: after a man testifies in court it is unlikely that he will blackmail someone because it would be hard for him to recant from his testimony. There are other implausible points in the film, but they are not worth mentioning. The story (by one Hans Kafka) was filmed at several occasions (one of which is Sommersby).
Rating: 32
Monday, July 30, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Based on the novel by Choderlos de Laclos (1st ed. 1782).
Two aristocrats, a man and a woman, wager with each other whether he can seduce a certain married woman. There is also another target for seducton, a virgin who is promised in marriage to one of the first woman's former lovers.
A great disappointment this was. With myself, mainly, for having liked it so much the first time I saw it. Although it is not exactly a bad movie, it has obvious script problems. The processes of seduction, and their effects on the seduced women, are not convincing. (Some say that is because of the leading actor's performance and persona, and they may be partly right.) I mistook it for a refined work of art and it is just an artificial moralizing drama which crosses the kitsch threshold for much of its duration. Viewed within these constraints, however, it is a lush and entertaining spectacle.
Rating: 62 (down from 86)
Two aristocrats, a man and a woman, wager with each other whether he can seduce a certain married woman. There is also another target for seducton, a virgin who is promised in marriage to one of the first woman's former lovers.
A great disappointment this was. With myself, mainly, for having liked it so much the first time I saw it. Although it is not exactly a bad movie, it has obvious script problems. The processes of seduction, and their effects on the seduced women, are not convincing. (Some say that is because of the leading actor's performance and persona, and they may be partly right.) I mistook it for a refined work of art and it is just an artificial moralizing drama which crosses the kitsch threshold for much of its duration. Viewed within these constraints, however, it is a lush and entertaining spectacle.
Rating: 62 (down from 86)
Friday, July 27, 2012
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (2011)
English title: A Separation
A couple separates and the husband needs to hire someone to look after his Alzheimer's-afflicted father. A serious incident involving the woman he hires leads to criminal charges set upon him.
Effective melodrama. However, as is often the case with this genre, some plot details are contrived and/or strained. For example, the couple's separation's relationship to the whole legal incident does not look as big as the film implies, and if it were, is the film implying that a woman's role is to nurse her husband's invalid father? Maybe I am missing something here. As for the legal aspect, I think that, once it has been established that a push could not send the woman down the stairs, the whole case crumbles. Maybe I am nitpicking or, again, missing some aspect of the drama. Anyway, as I implied in the beginning, overall a good, well-structured melodrama. And very well-acted.
Rating: 65
A couple separates and the husband needs to hire someone to look after his Alzheimer's-afflicted father. A serious incident involving the woman he hires leads to criminal charges set upon him.
Effective melodrama. However, as is often the case with this genre, some plot details are contrived and/or strained. For example, the couple's separation's relationship to the whole legal incident does not look as big as the film implies, and if it were, is the film implying that a woman's role is to nurse her husband's invalid father? Maybe I am missing something here. As for the legal aspect, I think that, once it has been established that a push could not send the woman down the stairs, the whole case crumbles. Maybe I am nitpicking or, again, missing some aspect of the drama. Anyway, as I implied in the beginning, overall a good, well-structured melodrama. And very well-acted.
Rating: 65
Monday, July 16, 2012
La lengua de las mariposas (1999)
Title's translation: The Butterfly's Tongue.
Spain, circa 1936, before the outbreak of the Civil War. Some episodes in the life of a young boy, centering on his entering school and his relationship with his elderly teacher.
Simplistic and cliché-ridden, predominantly badly acted, except for superb Fernán-Gómez.
Rating: 30
Spain, circa 1936, before the outbreak of the Civil War. Some episodes in the life of a young boy, centering on his entering school and his relationship with his elderly teacher.
Simplistic and cliché-ridden, predominantly badly acted, except for superb Fernán-Gómez.
Rating: 30
Conviction (2010/II)
Alternate title: Betty Anne Waters
Massachusetts, circa 1980. A guy is sentenced to life for muder. His sister believes in his innocence and fights to prove he was wrongly convicted.
Well made based-on-real-events drama with a really touching story. It is an eloquent eulogy of science. On another level, it has thematic affinities with Marco Bellocchio's similarly titled La condanna.
Rating: 60
Massachusetts, circa 1980. A guy is sentenced to life for muder. His sister believes in his innocence and fights to prove he was wrongly convicted.
Well made based-on-real-events drama with a really touching story. It is an eloquent eulogy of science. On another level, it has thematic affinities with Marco Bellocchio's similarly titled La condanna.
Rating: 60
The Big Store (1941)
Marx Brothers comedy. The trio gets involved with the heir of a department store and a plot to murder him.
Announced as a farewell, but they made more movies after it. This is my second viewing. The style is somewhat less aggressive than that of their previous movies. The musical numbers are generally of extremely good taste. The screenplay has a degree of cohesion that is not usually found in the Bros' movies. There is verbal as well as visual humor (like in Go West, their previous one). One of various sublime moments is particularly memorable for its mysterious character: a female singer sings a lullaby in a strange deadpan manner, as if she were in a trance.
Rating: 61 (up from 57)
Announced as a farewell, but they made more movies after it. This is my second viewing. The style is somewhat less aggressive than that of their previous movies. The musical numbers are generally of extremely good taste. The screenplay has a degree of cohesion that is not usually found in the Bros' movies. There is verbal as well as visual humor (like in Go West, their previous one). One of various sublime moments is particularly memorable for its mysterious character: a female singer sings a lullaby in a strange deadpan manner, as if she were in a trance.
Rating: 61 (up from 57)
Officer Pooch (1941)
Cartoon. A canine police officer gets into a lot of trouble while trying to help a small cat. Another extra in the DVD I mentioned in my recent postings.
A Pete Smith Specialty: Flicker Memories (1941)
Short. Parody of silent movies. Very funny. Extra to the DVD I mentioned in my previous postings.
The Milky Way (1940)
Cartoon. Three kittens are denied their milk meal in punishment for their having lost their mittens (people then would do anything for a rhyme). They travel to the Milky Way (don't ask) where milk is very abundant. Extra to the same DVD I mentioned in my previous postings.
James A. FitzPatrick's Traveltalks: Cavalcade of San Francisco (1940)
Documentary in Technicolor about the famous Californian city, with a lot of time devoted to the World Fair held there. It is an extra feature in the Marx Bros DVD mentioned in my previous posting.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
A Pete Smith Specialty: Quicker'n a Wink (1940)
Documentary about stroboscopic photography, very entertaining. It is included in the DVD of The Marx Brothers' "Go West" and "The Big Store".
Go West (1940)
The Marx Bros. get involved with a gold miner and some thieves who steal the mine's deed. Although there is no gold in the mine, the land is worth a lot of money because the railroad company wants to buy it.
Several brilliant sequences in this comedy. The style of Buster Keaton is present in some of them (IMDb says he co-wrote the film, uncredited). Not top-drawer Marx Bros., but apparently they never made a bad movie (I haven't seen them all).
Rating: 53
Several brilliant sequences in this comedy. The style of Buster Keaton is present in some of them (IMDb says he co-wrote the film, uncredited). Not top-drawer Marx Bros., but apparently they never made a bad movie (I haven't seen them all).
Rating: 53
Little Fish (2005)
Ex-addict who looks after her junkie stepfather reencounters ex-boyfriend, who tells her he is now a stockbroker. Actually, he is a drug dealer and her brother is his associate. She wants to raise money to buy a share of a computer game house.
Acceptable drama with reasonably interesting characters and a plot that evolves in a reasonably well concocted manner.
Rating: 51
Acceptable drama with reasonably interesting characters and a plot that evolves in a reasonably well concocted manner.
Rating: 51
Joan of Arc (1999) (TV)
Medieval teen fights for the unification of France against English invaders. She claims to be inspired by the apparition of saints.
Well made TV pic about the significance, power, importance, value, what have you, of a word, in this specific instance the word "France".
Rating: 50
Well made TV pic about the significance, power, importance, value, what have you, of a word, in this specific instance the word "France".
Rating: 50
The Bridge at Remagen (1969)
Near the end of World War II, the Germans face a dilemma of whether to destroy bridges which are necessary for the evacuation of their own civilians and soldiers, but also can be used by the allies.
Exciting war drama, very well made.
Rating: 60
Exciting war drama, very well made.
Rating: 60
La collina degli stivali (1969)
English title: Boot Hill
Some miners being swindled by a crook get the help of some circus artists.
The usual Italian Western absurdities, somewhat better directed than usual.
Rating: 31
Some miners being swindled by a crook get the help of some circus artists.
The usual Italian Western absurdities, somewhat better directed than usual.
Rating: 31
We Bought a Zoo (2011)
Widower with children buys zoo trying to get out of depression.
Formulaic dramedy, a few nice sequences.
Rating: 35
Formulaic dramedy, a few nice sequences.
Rating: 35
The City of Your Final Destination (2009)
Grad student flies to Uruguay to write biography of some dead writer. First he has to convince his heirs to authorize it.
Banal, has some interesting dialogue.
Rating: 31
Monday, July 02, 2012
La bataille du rail (1946)
English title: The Battle of the Rails.
During the Second World War, in occupied France, some of the railroad workers engaged in acts of sabotage on trains, as well as other acts of resistance connected with the railway.
A propaganda film made right after the war, allegedly based on the experience of real railway workers. It is very well made and makes for passable entertainment.
Rating: 55
During the Second World War, in occupied France, some of the railroad workers engaged in acts of sabotage on trains, as well as other acts of resistance connected with the railway.
A propaganda film made right after the war, allegedly based on the experience of real railway workers. It is very well made and makes for passable entertainment.
Rating: 55
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