Fantastic Voyage (1966)

Second viewing.

A team is miniaturized and injected into the body of an important scientist in order to perform the removal of a blood clot in his brain.

Entertaining fiction which blends true and fake science. The mystery in the plot is structured with a red herring and a consistent set of clues to the real culprit. There is an opposition between the "spiritual" and the "cynical" or "materialistic" scientists. Guess who the bad guy is.

Rating: 56 (unchanged)

White Material (2009)

A white woman strives to remain on her farm during a civil war in Africa, even at the risk of death for her and her family.

Not an altogether bad film, it has a strong leading performance, and interesting aspects of Africa are approached. On the other hand, it seems like it was not done with the proper care, as it seems patchy and vague at times and some plot details are bizarre or incomprehensible.

Rating: 44

Last Days (2005)

A musician is depressed and tries to avoid social contact. He spends his days in a secluded house, also used by a number of his friends. His relatives try to locate him but he hides from them.

Not very interesting, is what I can say about this movie. The depiction of numb youths and their silly thoughts is kind of funny sometimes, but the film makes every effort to remain on the surface of things.

Rating: 33

The Vikings (1958)

Second viewing.

The vikings raid the English coast and kill a king, who is replaced by his tyrannical cousin. The widow of the deceased king, who was raped by the viking leader, has a son of the latter. Later, the boy is taken to viking country where he becomes a slave and has a fight with the viking leader's son.

Fun kitsch from the author of Benjamin Blake. Well-filmed.

Rating: 58 (down from 66)

Cloak and Dagger (1946)

Second viewing.

During World War II, a scientist travels to Switzerland as an operative for the American secret service. His mission is to obtain information about the German atomic research, and possibly persuade a scientist working for the Nazis to change sides.

Unremarkable espionage thriller, with large doses of implausibilities, but with several well-made set-pieces, the best of which is probably a body fight between the hero and a fascist agent.

Rating: 40 (up from 38)

Detective Story (1951)

Second viewing.

A day at a police precinct, with the various characters -- policemen, criminals and newspapermen -- who usually are found in such a place. The central plot line concerns a police detective who is investigating a crooked doctor, unaware that his wife has a connection with him.

An engaging movie, albeit a problematic one. One of the problems stems from the bowdlerization to which the film writers submitted the source play. In the play, the doctor is an abortionist, as is obvious that he should be, for the story to make sense. In the movie, he is an obstetrician, and his crimes are a little vague: he is responsible for several deaths, but we do not know whether he does not have a license, or is just plain incompetent. Even imagining the original set-up, the film's central dramatic situation comes off as a little dated. Once the viewer makes concessions for those problems, the film has enough qualities of text and direction to make for a pleasant experience.

Rating: 57 (up from 40)

Criss Cross (1949)

Second viewing.

A man is still in love with his ex-wife, but when he comes back to his hometown hoping to find her, she is hooked up with a criminal.

Very good criminal drama, which I didn't value enough on my first viewing, due in part to having seen it in a lousy, dubbed copy. A complex film, a veritable study on duplicity. Lancaster gives an impressive performance as the sucker.

Rating: 73 (up from 49)

Father's Little Dividend (1951)

A middle aged man expects to enjoy life finally, when he receives news that his daughter is pregnant.

An interesting analysis of a familial situation, operated in rather typical terms.

Rating: 51

The Lady Gambles (1949)

A journalist and his wife are in Las Vegas, where he is to do a story on a dam. She tries the casinos and soon becomes addicted to gambling.

Not a satisfactory film on the gambling addiction; the explanation for her behavior is very unconvincing. The film seems to seek to entertain us with the sordid life she leads, and to a small extent succeeds.

Rating: 34

The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)

In the 1920s, an American officer clashes against his peers for demanding more investment in Air equipment and personnel.

Military drama loosely based on real events. The basic core of the plot is mildly interesting for showing a typical situation of a man who sees farther than his superiors. Some of the dramatic aspects are rather unconvincing, though.

Rating: 39

The Sun Shines Bright (1953)

Based on short stories ("The Sun Shines Bright", "The Mob from Massac", "The Lord Provides") by Irvin S. Cobb.

A judge running for re-election faces a series of city problems in a Southern town in the late 19th century (or early 20th). The doctor's adoptive daughter is said to be a local general's granddaughter; a black boy is unjustly accused of rape and is threatened with lynching; a dying prostitute asks for a pompous funeral service.

Mythifying, sentimental view of the American South. Mostly it is a mildly entertaining film, on occasion it gets oversentimental or downright ridiculous.

Rating: 53

Prince of Players (1955)

The life of Edwin Booth, an American actor of the nineteenth century, son of another famous actor and brother of Lincoln's assassin.

Mediocre, occasionally ridiculous biopic, with extensive Shakespeare recitation.

Rating: 38

Your Friends & Neighbors (1998)

Second viewing.

Two couples plus a guy and a girl. Couple one: the guy speaks during sex which annoys his girlfriend. Couple two: the wife is frigid and the guy's favorite sex act is masturbation. The other guy is a misogynist and a psychopath. The other girl is a lesbian who works at an art gallery as a secretary.

It is practically a stage play, and reminded me of Carnal Knowledge. It deserves some respect for being an examination of modern sex life as experienced by different types of persons, but was way too overrated by me in my previous viewing.

Rating: 50 (down from 81)

Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942)

An orphan is enslaved by his uncle; the latter has furthermore usurped the former's title and properties. One day the young man runs away and embarks to the South Seas, where he intends to amass a fortune, so that he can come back and restore his rights.

Derivative and unexciting adventure, with good production values (but in black and white).

Rating: 31

Between Heaven and Hell (1956)

A rich landowner is called to serve in World War II in an island on the Pacific (possibly Guadalcanal). He changes his perception of the world due to his wartime experience.

An entertaining film, with interesting action sequences as well as dramatic ones, but the actual process of social conscience development by the protagonist is poorly shown. Anyway, it carries the somewhat unusual message that war is a potentially humanizing experience.

Rating: 51

Lexx: I Worship His Shadow (1997) (TV)

First episode of a TV series. Very grotesque and juvenile, where the latter word must be taken in a late-90s context. It is like Star Wars on speed. Not my cup of tea.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)

Second viewing.

The unfaithful husband, his frigid wife, her promiscuous sister. And the pervert who gets off watching home video.

This is a romantic comedy in disguise, or perhaps a satire (of romantic comedies) in disguise. I was fooled on my first viewing, even though what the film stands for (at the closing of the eighties of all times) is now clear as water. Many others were fooled as well (see the awards it has received), and while that is no excuse, it is a consolation of sorts. But I refuse to consider it as a bad film. The sheer boldness of its concept should absolve it. I guess.

Rating: 51 (down from 71)

Le cheval d'orgueil (1980)

English title: The Horse of Pride.

Based on the memoir by Pierre-Jakez Hélias.

Chronicle of Breton peasant life in the beginning of the twentieth century.

Well-made, realistic, little seen, interesting.

Rating: 65

Pasazerka (1963)

English title: The Passenger

A woman who had been a supervisor at Auschwitz meets, while aboard a cruise ship, another woman who had been an inmate in that camp. She tells the story of the two of them to her husband, in two versions.

The director died before completing the film, other persons edited the material inserting stills for the parts not finished. The result is interesting, although I cannot glimpse a great film coming of it had the original filmmaker lived to complete it. I cannot say I understood everything in it, and am not sure it is possible to understand everything. Liza's motivations are hard to fathom, and the same could be said for her feelings.

Rating: 56

O Céu de Suely (2006)

English titles: Love for Sale; Suely in the Sky.
Correctly translated title: Suely's Heaven.

A woman returns to her hometown with her baby, leaving her husband in the big city. She soon loses all contact with him. She devises a way to raise the money she needs to go away to a bigger city and start life anew.

Overrated drama which doesn't come up with a sufficiently interesting story, or sufficiently interesting characters. On a scene by scene basis, however, it is not hard to watch and is reasonably well filmed and well acted.

Rating: 44

Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946)

Andy Hardy is a young man returning home from Army service. While he was away he met a girl named Kay and fell in love with her. Now all he can think of is asking her to marry him. His parents are worried with this situation. Andy and Kay are both studying at the same college.

Weak comedy, with a few funny situations, but overall pretty trivial and bland. One thing I did not quite get is: Where did Andy meet Kay if he was in the army? Anyway, pretty forgettable stuff. Particularly cringeworthy is the stereotyped Latin American young woman who has a crush on Andy.

Rating: 31

Sem Essa, Aranha (1970)

A non-narrative succession of long takes featuring the same three or four actors (plus some musical celebrities who appear on some scenes, and assorted extras) who more or less play, respectively, a billionaire, his wife, a destitute woman, and another woman who is possibly the billionaire's lover. The only rule of the film seems to be chaos, there is a lot of screaming, the lines are repeated ad nauseam, the scenes are apparently to a large degree improvised, an atmosphere of doom pervades all scenes. There is a review (in Portuguese) of this film on the film site Contracampo, at this link:

http://www.contracampo.com.br/58/semessaaranha.htm

That review describes a scene (a self-rape with a bottle) which I do not recall seeing in the movie. Either I was not paying enough attention or the copy I saw was cut.

Rating: 16

O Homem do Sputnik (1959)

A simple chicken farmer becomes famous after an object falls in his back yard, killing some of his chickens. The object is speculated to be the Soviet satellite Sputnik, and members of several foreign governments come to Brazil aiming to get it for them.

A modest comedy of customs, with touches of political satire, reasonably well-made and, on the whole, watchable.

Rating: 40

Blind Fury (1989)

Nick is blinded in combat in Vietnam. He is rescued by some Vietnamese and trained as a swordsman. Twenty years later, back in America, Nick's war buddy Frank is being forced to make designer drugs to a mobster. Nick witnesses Frank's wife be killed by the mobster's henchmen who want to take Frank's son as a hostage.

Interesting, well-made action thriller, with a good performance by Hauer. Based on Zatoichi Challenged (1967).

Rating: 59

The House of Mirth (2000)

Based on the novel by Edith Wharton (1st ed. 1905).

A beautiful young woman is in love with a young lawyer but would rather find a rich man to marry. She falls out of favor of society by several imprudent actions, and her unwillingness to compromise her principles.

A truly well-made film with an intelligent text behind it (I say this even without having read the novel). All the performances are very adequate and profissional. Perhaps, in this short and clearly insufficient notes, it would be nice to point out that the author seems to have eschewed strict realism (in the sense of an "average" situation) in favor of a study of a worst-case scenario. In a discussion on the Internet Movie Database, a fellow identified as rdconger  points out  some similarities between Madame Bovary and The House of Mirth . An antagonist, one  theninthgate , points out some differences between Lily and Emma. I think it is fair to read The House of Mirth as a critique or updating of Madame Bovary.

Rating: 74

Vivement le cinéma (2011)

Lovely documentary about the forerunners of cinema. It has a fictive narration by E.G. Robertson, who was a "magic lantern" operator. He was followed by Plateau, Horner, Muybridge, Marey, Demenÿ, Reynaud, Edison, and finally Lumière, not to mention several minor characters like Leprince, Skladanowski, and others.

Vale dos Esquecidos (2010)

Instructive documentary about land conflicts in Northeastern Mato Grosso, a state of Brazil. Xavante Indians, squatters, farmers, whatnot. I gave the IMDB year (2010) which is when it was finalized, but apparently it was released in 2011 in Festivals (and a news emission of 2011 was added at the end of the movie), and based on its web page I assume it will premiere in cinemas in April (unless this refers to last year but I think not).

Screamers (1995)

Allegedly based on the short story "Second Variety", by Philip K. Dick, first published in 1953.

In the future, Earth establishes mining colonies on other planets. A radiation problem comes up and causes a war between mining corporations on one side and workers and scientists on the other. The latter develop killing machines to fight their enemy, but these machines are too intelligent and begin to evolve. An outpost on a distant planet receives a message about the end of the war. Their commander decides to check it out for himself and, with a new recruit, walks up to the planet's government facilities.

A poor film, with a plot which fails to really engage the viewer. Scientifically it is full of holes, and dramatically it is dull.

Rating: 33

Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)

Second viewing.

Mr. Bean takes a trip to Cannes, filming everything with his camcorder. He is responsible for the separation of father and son at the train station. He tries to reunite them, and meets a film actress on the way. They all meet at the Cannes Festival, where an ego-obsessed actor-director is having his premiere.

Entertaining and occasionally creative comedy. I was a little too harsh on it on first viewing, upon which I wrote:

"Synopsis: Bean wins a trip to the South of France, along with a video camera. He asks a man in the station to film him and this causes that man to miss the train, which his kid has already boarded. Bean accompanies the kid down to Cannes, where the latter's father will be a Festival juror.

Appraisal: A little disappointing. It's a nice film, but not very funny or brilliant."

Rating: 55 (up from 48)

Men in Black (1997)

Second viewing.

The Men in Black are field operatives of a secret organization in charge of dealing with extraterrestrials on (or otherwise posing a problem to) Earth. In the case in question here, a small object which works as an energy source is the object of dispute between two races of aliens, the Arquilians and the Insects. A member of the latter comes to Earth in search of said object. The Arquilians threaten to destroy the Earth in order to prevent the Insect from leaving with the energy source. Jay and Kay, a team of MIB, must kill the Insect and recover the energy source before that happens.

Entertaining and occasionally funny sci-fi comedy.

Rating: 68 (unchanged)

El Mariachi (1992)

Second viewing.

A mariachi (Mexican singer and guitar player) is mistaken with a drug dealer who has vowed to kill a drug lord unless a monetary debt between them is settled.

The smart screenplay conveys a modern tragedy, the style is quite charming.  Despite obvious technical limitations it is filmed with care.

Rating: 60 (unchanged)