Life with Father (1947)

 Second viewing; previously viewed on October 11, 1990.

A wealthy family in late 19th century U.S. -- banker father, stay-at-home mother, four sons --  and their troubles from house servants, visitor relatives, father's unbaptized condition, etc.

Very amusing chronicle which is practically a sociological treatise, with the advantage of being also funny. The casting was expertly done. Incidentally, it actually has two directors, but few people will notice this, because one of them is listed among the technical crew as "dialogue director"; he is obviously very competent, and the proof is not only this film, but also his solid later career in television.

Rating: 71 (unchanged)

Demolition Man (1993)

Second viewing; previously viewed on December 27, 1996.

In 2032, a totalitarian U.S. has eliminated crime, and the only unsubmissive people are living underground. A criminal who had been cryogenically frozen decades ago escapes, and a convicted cop is de-frozen so as to help catch him.

Action sci-fi comedy whose social commentary has become somewhat dated but is still mildly enjoyable. It is mostly well-filmed, except one scene which has the cop addressing successively the chief of police and the resistance leader, with a different recommendation for each of them.

Rating: 53 (up from 49)

True Lies (1994)

 Second viewing; previously viewed on August 3, 1996.

A spy hides his profession from his family, who think he is a salesman. His wife starts seeing a man who is salesman who pretends to be a spy. Her husband suspects she is having an affair. Husband and wife are kidnapped by terrorists.

Very entertaining action-comedy which is actually a reductio ad absurdum demonstration of the thesis that people who have adventurous professions cannot be married.

Rating: 64 (unchanged)

The Enforcer (1951)

 Third viewing yesterday; previously viewed on February 11, 1989, and January 20, 1997.

After the death of a witness against the head of a murder-for-hire organization, a district attorney goes over the entire history of the related criminal case in the attempt to find another way to convict him.

Pulpy police procedural which is structured in multiple flashbacks. Somewhat intriguinly, my evaluation of it has decreased continuously since my first viewing, from very good to just competently done (except for one scene -- a murder attempt against the initial witness -- which was subpar). The black-and-white cinematography is stunning.

Rating: 57 (down from 67 in my 2nd viewing)

La règle du jeu (1939)

 Second viewing (at least); previouly viewed on December 15, 1988.

English title: The Rules of the Game

A man is throwing a hunting party and a costume party at his country estate. He invites his friends, amongst whom his own mistress and his wife's suitor; amid the servants there is also a case of infidelity.

Superior farce with a cleverly devised script and very good mise-en-scène. Perhaps not as brilliant or profound as I took it to be upon my previous viewing, but still a remarkable film.

Rating: 83 (down from 100)

Bonequinha de seda (1936)

 Woman pretends to be from a higher social class than she is in order to help her father who risks being evicted.

The first twenty minutes or so of this film are passable; there are two well-written sequences, viz. the one with Madame Gouveia in João's office and the conversation between Madame Valle and her granddaughter in their car. The rest of the movie, however, is very dull and often atrocious.

I'm not sure anyone will be interested (or should be, for that matter), but this film can be watched on the internet:

Rating: 22

Hung fan kui (Rumble in the Bronx) (1995)

First viewing of the Hong Kong version; U.S. version viewed, dubbed in Portuguese, on January 16, 2002.

IMDB short synopsis: "A young man visiting and helping his uncle in New York City finds himself forced to fight a street gang and the mob with his martial art skills."

Quite entertaining and imaginative action movie; perhaps certain parts of the narrative could be better presented, e.g., there is no scene depicting the actual "diamond deal gone wrong", which we must surmise based on what came before and after that event. But overall it's a satisfying film. I don't remember much about the other version I saw more than two decades ago, so I can't compare the two.

Rating: 58 (up from 57)

La noire de... (1966)

 English title: Black Girl

A Senegalese woman travels to France to work for a French couple for whom she had already worked while they were living in Senegal.

This is one of the most absurd movies I have ever seen, and, while its short duration might be partly responsible for a poor development of the filmmaker's ideas, I suspect that the thing was doomed from its inception. The initial reception seemed to reflect that reality, but later reappraisal differed considerably, to nobody's surprise. All that being said, I will give it a somewhat higher rating than its mere dramatic merits justify, because of its stunning cinematography.

Rating: 30

Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966)

 Second viewing; previously viewed on July 2, 1998.

English title: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The narrative, set during the American Civil War, follows three characters -- a paid assassin, a Mexican bandit, and a dishonest bounty hunter -- whose paths cross in their search of some hidden money in coins stolen from the Confederacy. They go through several adventures during that quest.

Entertaining albeit somewhat overlong picaresque Western. The plot is somewhat repetitive, but has some clever ideas, like the location of the gold being next to a bridge of military importance. It's very well filmed, featuring a wealth of great shots.

I've watched the 2h41 version, dubbed in English.

Rating: 63 (down from 78)

Les amants de Brasmort (1951)

 English title: The Lovers of Bras-Mort

Jean is a bargeman whose wooden barge is impounded due to safety risks. He suspects that the inspectors are in cahoots with a greedy bargeman who owns a metal barge. The latter's daughter falls in love with Jean, but her father wants her to marry a rich guy.

Mildly entertaining drama about coal transportation. The narrative is framed as bad rich guys versus good poor ones. It' a clearly artificial construction, since in reality what's at play here is simply the laws of capitalism. The poor guys, though made to appear more sympathetic, do not represent a political alternative or imply social progress. Their side is indeed characterized by unsafe navigation and archaic technology.

Rating: 51

Carnival of Souls (1962)

 Second viewing; previously viewed on December 14, 2005.

After being in a car accident in which everybody else in the car died, a young woman moves to another town and starts having what appears to be strange hallucinations.

This interesting film is said to be based on An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Wikipedia lists several fantastic works with a similar premise, but not all of them share what I see as the main aspect common to both Bierce's story and this film, and which is also present in a non-fantastic story whose title makes that aspect explicit: La torture par l'espérance, by Villiers de l'Isle-Adam. In Carnival of Souls there is interference from "reality" all through the "dream". It's as if a disturbance in the universal mechanism caused two timelines to briefly interact. To use a quantum physics parallel, it's as if a fly (cf. The Fly) had entered Schrödinger's box and caused his cat to be both dead and alive after it is retrieved.

Rating: 57 (down from 63)

Bizalom (1980)

 English title: Confidence

During the Nazi invasion of Hungary, the wife of a Resistance member must go into hiding and live with another man, while posing as his wife.

Incompetent wartime drama with political and erotic ramifications. Apart from the poor dramatic construction, I couldn't for the life of me understand its premise. Why couldn't she join her husband? If her assigned "husband" was also a Resistance member, what would be the difference if she lived with her real husband?

Rating: 28

Monsieur La Souris (1942)

 English title: Midnight in Paris

A tramp finds a dead man inside a car. The car subsequently takes off. The tramp finds a wallet on the ground. The police investigates the disappearance of a banker. His dead body is found. The tramp discovers that the deceased led a double life.

Moderately interesting crime drama with comical touches; its plot features an improbable chance encounter, upon which much of the film is built on; according to the Wikipedia summary for the source novel, the screenwriter departed considerably from it. The main actor is excellent. (I suppose that the protagonist's nickname - Mr. Mouse -- stems from his main -- or sole -- diet item: a camembert cheese which he carries in his coat pocket.)

Apparently this film may be watched for free on the Web:

Monsieur La Souris - Full movie free streaming | TV5MONDE+

Rating: 53