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Umberto D. directed by Vitorrio De Sica (1952).
This early example of Italian neo-realism was said to be De Sica's favourite and although it's a rather sentimental
Chaplinesque story about an old man whose only companions are his dog and a young girl who works as a maid
in the apartment house where he lives, it holds the attention by the amazing acting that De Sica coaxes out of
complete amateurs.
7/10
Hope Springs (2012) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535438/
Steve Carell is the shrink. Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones play the couple who need marriage counseling after 30 years of marriage of which the last five years are celibate.
This is a feel-good chick flick that could save you thousands of dollars in therapy if you see it with your partner since the solutions Carell offers are just plain obvious, but not to those caught as that couple was.
For the savings in therapy costs alone, I'd have to give this a 10/10.
Delicatessen (1991; Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro) - 8.5/10
Quirky in that inimitable Jeunet/Caro way, which looks like what would happen if you tossed surrealism, the circus, cartoons, comics, pop art, Carne, Leone, and many other influences into the mix. The two bed squeaking scenes set to music are worth the runtime.
I always feel like I should like Cocteau more than I do given my love for surrealism, but his Beauty and the Beast is the only film of his I truly love. Orpheus was quite interesting, though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
Awww, that's probably my favorite neo-realist film after Rome: Open City. I gave it a 9/10. I usually don't like sentimental schmaltz; that one still got to me. FWIW, that was late, rather than early, neo-realism, which had already been around for almost a decade.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
You are right, I was thinking of De Sica's long post-war career rather than concentrating on the movement as I should have done. Rome, Open City is one of the greatest films ever made and Anna Magnani's performance one of the greatest also.Quote:
Originally Posted by MorpheusSandman
This is one of those multi-national productions that is predominately French and is part of the repetitive spy story films that dogged the 1970s. In saying that, it is quite good of its type with a cast of top liners, including Henry Fonda, Yul Brynner, Dirk Bogarde and Philippe Noiret. The story concerns the defection of a Soviet Colonel to France and, under pressure from the USA, to America where he tells of a network of spies working at the highest level of German, French and English governmental activity. The spies start to mysteriously end up dead and the convoluted plot explains why.
Needless to say, the viper in the nest is the ultra-British intelligence agent whose upper-class pedigree masks a hooray Henry defection. 7/10
The American Soldier (1970; Rainer Werner Fassbinder) - 5.0/10
Fassbinder's art continues to elude me. I've yet to see anything of his that's appealing. This one has some nice noir stylings, but is so dry and dull that the atmosphere is about the only thing even remotely worthwhile.
Il marchese dell Grillo
In my opinion thisis alberto sordis finest work, pure comdic genius of theoldschool. A must watch for anyone who values plautuses and terences comedy.
9/10
Anna Karenina 10/10 This is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen. It is a ballet, it is an opera, it is a play. The settings are luscious and gorgeous. And believe it or not it is well-acted. I thought Kiera Knightly did a very good job; Jude Law was outstanding as the wronged husband. The actor who played Vronsky, Aaron Taylor Johnson (who also played the lead in 2010's "Kick ***"), was good, but he was six years younger than Ms. Knightly, and it shows. It was just noticeable.
I thought Knightly did a very good job of showing Anna as a complex character.The only other flaw for me was that Knightly played Anna as a trifle histrionic when her world was falling apart; I'm reading the book now, and I think her character's grief, while still profound, would be of a quieter and more intense nature. I think she really got it right in the scene just after she gave birth, and the scenes where she is falling in love she is quite transcendent.
Interestingly, I found this interview with her on her role on NPR, and she had this to say about playing anger:
"My dad gave me my probably one and only acting lesson before I did Pride and Prejudice, where he sat me down — I was 18, I think — and he sat me down and he went, 'Right. You've been doing really well on getting by on instinct alone but I think you actually need a couple of tools here.' So he basically talked me through a bit of Stanislavsky and gave me a very, very good note actually, which I've always said. He said, 'Beware of playing anger.' He said, 'Anger isn't very interesting. If you think you're going to go there, really think about it because maybe there's a more interesting route.' And I've actually always held to that because I think he's quite right."
The rest of the interview is here:
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/08/166066...-the-innocence
I have to admit I like Joe Wright. His movies are so painterly, and in this instance all the elements came together spectacularly. Tom Stoppard's screenplay is also well done.
It Rains On Our Love (1946; Ingmar Bergman) - 5/10
Bergman's second film with very little of the great, idiosyncratic genius to come.
Le Amiche (1955; Michaelangelo Antonioni) - 7/10
Early Antonioni is still quite interesting. One can definitely see how he's already experimenting with space and mise-en-scene populated with angst-ridden bourgeoisie. Unlike in his later masterpieces, though, he's not yet entirely reliant on visual metaphors and expressionism with a minimal of dialogue and downplaying of character-driven plot. There's a lot of characters here and the film is awash in dialogue. It does, however, have that characteristic detached, observational distance going on, so despite the wealth of characters we still get to play the role of objective observer.
Sudden Fear (1952)
Joan Crawford is the successful and rich playwrite who marries Jack Palance not knowing he is a confidence trickster after her money. Gloria Grahame is his girlfriend who joins him in a plan to kill the playwrite. Somewhat stagey and not very convincing thriller of the type that rolled off the Hollywood production line during the 40s and 50s. Looking at them now, mediocrity seems to be the hallmark of many of them but there were some very good ones although this isn't one of them. It's alright in patches so it gets 5/10.
http://youtu.be/xAYfP4D-BMI
Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080945/
Apparently not everything Jane Austen wrote is worth spending over $50,000 for including the play that forms the basis for this Merchant Ivory movie. Not knowing much about theater companies I found it difficult to see anyone behaving the way they did around Pierre, but amusing to watch.
Score 5/10
Do the Right Thing (1989; Spike Lee) - 9/10
Don't know why it took me so long to see this; it's an extraordinary film that avoids all of the pitfalls that most "racial commentary" films fall into (see: Crash). A great cast of characters and actors, colorful writing and direction, and a wonderful build-up to a devastating climax.
The Life of Pi (2013)
i had a lot pf expectations for this move based on what i had heard, yet ultimately it let me down. while there were some great scenes and a bit of a twist ending i still found it a bit boring and while the artistic style of it was good it failed to really hold my attention so i would not watch it a second time.
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by David Fincher - 7/10
Qimi, I had watched the trailer of Anna Karenina when it came out and didn’t really like it, to be honest, but after reading your post I’m planning to see this film. I’ve seen Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice and it was good.Quote:
Originally Posted by qimissung
The Fugitive Kind (1959; Sidney Lumet) - 8/10
I'm rather puzzled at the lukewarm reputation this film has; what's not to like? You have the greatest American actor ever in Marlon Brando paired with the greatest Italian actress ever in Anna Magnani together playing two lonely characters with the utmost subtlety and understatement; you have superb supporting performances by Joanne Woodward and Victor Jory, a superbly written screenplay by Tennessee Williams (based on Orpheus Descending), all concatenated by the intelligent, slow-burning, atmospheric direction of Lumet. Perhaps it's a trifle too theatrical, especially in terms of the unnatural, florid dialogue, but Lumet was always at home with such theatrical material, and that doesn't make it any less cinematic.