Sunday, April 14, 2013

Adam's Rib - 1949 *****


I'm ashamed to say I've never seen 'Adam's Rib' the whole way through, something kept putting me off. Probably Katherine Hepburn who grows more annoying with each film that I see her in. Sometimes I've even had to turn a film off because she is taking up too much screen time. Never fear, she was hilarious in this and complimented Spencer Tracey so very well. 'Adam's Rib' is one of a number of films Tracey and Hepburn did together and you can tell by now how comfortable they are together. Their screen chemistry is perfect, rivaling another of my favourite couples - William Powell and Myrna Loy.
Both act as rival lawyers, defending and prosecuting Judy Holliday who tried to shoot her husband after discovering him with another woman. Tracey believes her guilty of attempted murder full stop, whereas Hepburn takes the sympathetic side of a hen-pecked wife who discovers her husband is an adulterer.
Initially able to separate work from home, the two start off well, but as time goes on, they both become frustrated with each other at court, each believing the other will jeopardize their chances of winning the case which then spills into their home life. The film is fast-paced, intelligent screwball at it's strongest.

Conflict - 1945 ****


A hidden gem. Critics said that this was a strange film for Bogart to be in. Totally unlike his Sam Spade personalities. I think it was brilliant, and I found the storyline to be immensely exciting. Bogart plays an unhappily married man who is in love with his wife Katherine's sister Evelyn. He decides to murder Katherine in the hopes of starting a relationship with Evelyn but things go horribly wrong when he starts to believe he is seeing traces of Katherine everywhere. Of course he cannot go to the police to tell them his fears because they are hoping she will be found alive and so he begins to live a nightmare which threatens to send him mad.
Excellent movie. Overlooked and understated.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Body of Lies - 2008 ****


Didn't know what to expect with this film, but I actually enjoyed it. It had an interesting story, and Leo Di Caprio was better than I hoped. I felt he might be a bit past it after his celebrity status of the 1990s, but actually he still gives a fine performance. Russell Crowe takes a backseat to Di Caprio as his boss who couldn't care less about trying to forge relationships with the Middle East and makes the rules up as he goes along. I was in the mood for an action film and this was just the ticket. I do find films based around current affairs to be quite gripping, and as most of this was filmed in Jordan, Iran, Syria and Dubai it was riveting to watch. I can imagine it must of been quite nerve-wracking to film in those places as well given the strict moral codes they all enforce. Ridley Scott is a pretty good director so really it was a given that this would be exciting. Watch please.

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

(NOIR) Angel Face - 1952 *

I was so disappointed with this noir which has been on my list of must sees for a long time. Jean Simmons was awful, and the plot was even worse. I felt no empathy for any of the characters, and Robert Mitchum acted like he was doped up. I didn't enjoy this, and I fear it may have put me off film noirs for a while.

Stevie - 2008 **


'Stevie' is an awfully bad film. It's badly made, badly shot and badly acted. The young girl playing the victim looks like she's been asked to act in the most wooden way possible and doesn't seem to react to anything, good or bad.
I know you can't always expect much from 'made for tv' films but this was scraping the barrel to the extreme. 'Children's evil imaginary friends' films can be terrifying if done correctly, but this was neither scary, nor entertaining in the slightest.  

(HORROR) American Mary - 2012 **


One of those films I had been looking forward to seeing for ages, a bit like 'Excision', but it was just a complete disappointment. The lead actress was pretty good, but the story didn't make much sense, and I found some of the characters really disturbing (I think it was due to their awful acting more than anything else). Mary Mason plays a lunatic student who begins specializing in extreme body modification (such as tongue slitting, piercing genitals etc) after feeling disillusioned by the medical world which results in her seeking out thrills in more terrifying was each time.
I wouldn't say the film constitutes 'stylish, artful and darkly funny' at all. Disappointment.

Monday, April 08, 2013

Same Time, Next Year - 1978 ****


Surprisingly witty, tender and actually a very amusing plot, 'Same Time, Next Year' manages to glorify infidelity in a way that can't make you angry with the 2 leading stars.
Burstyn and Alda meet by chance after each having a meal alone in a lovely inn, and decide to spend the night together in Alda's holiday home. The next morning, although superficially full of regret, they both decide that they must see each other again, but not in such a regular way as a normal affair. Their rendezvous will take place at the same place and the same date each year (when Alda is away from his family in his holiday home working) and will last for one weekend only.
The basic premise of the film takes us through year after year after decade, as the couple become older, wiser, yet still totally devoted to each other. Their weekends are spent talking about their feelings, and the good and bad in their wives and husbands. It's bizarre, because you come away from the film, almost believing that they aren't doing anything wrong, when in reality they are having an affair which spans 25 years, however little time they actually spend together.
I enjoyed it, found it funny, and wasn't offended by it's carefree view of cheating (although I am usually the first to diss films where this takes place). I thought Burstyn and Alda made a terrific couple, more so because they are both so different and unlike each other.

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Tucker & Dale VS Evil - 2010 ****1/2

Another surprisingly good film. I found this hilarious and completely unique. Tucker and Dale are 2 slightly odd but very well-meaning guys who go to their vacation home for a restful break but are caught up in the hysteric mania of a group of college friends who believe that they are axe-wielding murderers after they witness the 2 friends rescuing one of their group from a freezing cold lake and taking her back to their cabin. It really is very funny and I laughed out loud a number of times. The acting is great, and over the top in a good way with some very smart one-liners. Watch.

(HORROR) Insidious - 2011 **** 1/2


This genuinely frightened me. I'm almost immune to horror now after watching so much of it but I was scared by this. It's in the same vein as 'Sinister' in that there is a terrifying presence surrounding a family. This time, a couple's young son appears to fall into a coma, when in fact he has the ability to astral project in his sleep and has entered a horrifying limbo-like world called 'The Further' where tortured souls of the dead are kept forever. His lifeless body is all that is left and as a result, the couple call in a paranormal investigator, hoping to save their son's spirit before it is too late. I really enjoyed this, and despite the very cheesy sequences involving 'The Further' I thought it was well fleshed out and creepy. It reminded me a lot of another film called 'The Dark', where a young girl is taken to a limbo-like world which her family have to save her from. Worth a watch with the lights off.

(HORROR) End Call - 2008 *


Okay, this was a really badly done horror. I know it's practically ripped off every phone related film from Japan and America but I was still sort of hoping that it might deliver on some parts. It really doesn't, and you would do much better to watch one of the earlier movies of the same type of genre (such as 'Missed Call' or 'Phone'). I guess there are only so many times that you can watch a film about a haunted phone.
I'm becoming more and more disheartened by Asian horror.

Bad Company - 2002 ****


I shouldn't really have enjoyed this film so much. Notably because Roger Ebert thought it was totally unoriginal and too jam-packed. I agree that it does have similarities to films like 'Rush Hour' about interracial partners that hate each other and then grow to like each other, but I still enjoyed it. And as for having a lot going on, that was what made it so thrilling in my opinion. It's all about the CIA, special undercover missions, and Chris Rock being hilarious, showing himself up painfully next to Anthony Hopkins and his intellectual persona. I liked it, a lot more than I was expecting to, but then that's usually the way with these sorts of films.

(NOIR) The Suspect - 1944 ****


Robert Siodmak is one of my favourite directors. Here he takes a different turn away from his usual  noirs into early 20th century London, where an unhappily married accountant named Philip (played brilliantly by Charles Laughton) meets a beautiful young secretary named Mary, after she comes to him looking for work. Although Philip finds himself falling in love with Mary, he decides to keep the relationship platonic, until his horrible wife Cora starts to suspect what is going on and threatens him with a scandal. Quite soon after this, she falls down the stairs to her death. An accident? Or a deliberate act on Philip's part? The build-up  of tension is brilliant here, and I loved the shift of time period Siodmak has used. Added to which, Laughton is a superb actor.