She was absolutely brilliant in her first film Tiger Bay, filmed when she was only twelve-years-old. The whole cast were exceptional but John Mills (her actual father) despite his magnificent performance, was acted off the screen by his daughter who gave one of the greatest child performances in screen history.Originally Posted by qimissung
http://youtu.be/oyio8ZtlVys
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
The horrorthon continues.
The Abandoned: An adopted woman inherits her birth family's old abandoned farmhouse, and strange occurrences occur. Very good haunt movie with some time-bendy sauce on top, though not nearly to the extent Takashi Shimizu uses in his movies. 8.5/10
Gravedancers: Three yuppies dance on some graves while drunk and strange happenings happen. A classic case of a low-budget movie trying to look big-budget with its little money. Result: Bad CGI and obvious rubber masks. Also, bland script and cypher characters. Next time try to do a few things well and buy a writer with what's left. 5/10
Scarecrows: Haven't seen this since on VHS back in the day, and have always wanted to see it again. Another low-budget (almost certainly much lower than Gravedancers) C-movie, but doesn't try to do more than it can. Not much in the way of characters or acting, but gets points for good look-and-feel, the occasional bit of truly oddball humor, and not feeling the need to give more than a bare-bones, throwaway explanation for the scarecrows. 6/10 if you don't like this kind of thing, 8/10 if you do.
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
The Frightened City (1961) a tedious film about protection racketeering in London starring Sean Connery before he became a big noise playing James Bond.
Although I usually find something about these old British black and white films to hold my interest, in this instance I did not.
0/10
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
You know, I'm not sure I've seen Tiger Bay, Emil. I'll have to give that a look. I saw her in Pollyanna, a movie that affected me quite deeply at the time.
I have seen Abandoned, Calidore, and it gave me the chills.
DayNightDayNight. This came out in 2007. I saw it on my cable channel. I really, really liked it. It's about a young girl who agrees to be a suicide bomber. The title refers to the 48 hours leading up to the event. 8/10
Vivre Sa Vie. What can I say? It's Jean Luc Godard and the French New Wave. 10/10
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its' own reason for existing." ~ Albert Einstein
"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Bonzai "Some people say I done alright for a girl." Melanie Safka
I've nearly finished watching this film and it has been most enjoyable.
Please check it out it's absolutely stunning but you will probably need to keep the Kleenex to hand for the ending.
QUOTE=Neely;1171248]I've nearly finished watching this film and it has been most enjoyable.[/QUOTE]
I'm glad that you have enjoyed this film, because it epitomises rural French upper middle class life perfectly. The feeling that appearances must at all costs be maintained even when attempted murder is revealed in the family.
The uncanny thing about it is that the ending at the Café de la Paix in Paris is exactly as described to the last detail in the novel; it's almost as though the scene leapt out of the book and transplanted itself to the screen.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Yesterday I watched The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit. Made in 1956 it was taken from a best selling novel and had the hallmark production values of a Darryl F Zanuck film and starred Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones in the lead roles.
Basically it's a story of the advertising business in Madison Avenue but there is a supplementary story told in flashback about how, returning from the war, Peck is unable to settle into his married life because, among other things, he had an affair in Rome that resulted in the woman having a child.
The performances were good with a special one from Frederic March as the head of an advertising agency whose own marriage has failed because of his pursuit of success. It is a long film lasting over 2.5 hours but it kept me interested to the end. The one thing that didn't convince were the children who, even by American standards, were too precocious to be believable.
7/10
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Volver, directed by Pedro Almodovar and starring Penelope Cruz, who was fabulous and gorgeous.
The plot revolves around a woman who covers up a crime to protect her daughter, and her mother, whose ghost returns to comfort her. There's much more to it than this, of course. The movie takes its time revealing the core conflict and developing the relationships among the women. I really appreciate Almodovar for making a movie that does more than relegate women to the roles of girlfriends, wives, mothers. They are these things, of course, and in the course of their relationships with each other, so much more.
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its' own reason for existing." ~ Albert Einstein
"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Bonzai "Some people say I done alright for a girl." Melanie Safka
I went out on a limb and watched a western called Last Train From Gun Hill (1969). With Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn it should have been better but they can only work with what they are given and this was a cliché ridden film with Marshall K.Douglas trying to arrest the son of an old friend for the murder of Douglas's wife. Anthony Quinn played the friend who was the local Mr Big who with an army of sidekicks was trying to save his son.
Stock characters and situations ( was there ever a western that didn't have a saloon ?) made for what was pretty much a waste of time.
There was some good scenic photography at the start so it gets 4/10.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
The Rum Diary - 4/10...I don't know what went wrong, but it was so boring it almost hurt.
Sunset Boulevard - 8/10...It's a tried and true classic. I love how bizarre, creepy, and cheesy these older movies were.
As it rained for most of the day, I decided I was in need of a bit of sunshine and watched Boy on a Dolphin. Directed by Jean Negulesco it had the hallmarks of his direction, i.e. a glamorous and colourful location and an easy story.
Set in Greece, there are some really beautiful shots of the Peloponnese islands and some exceptional photography of Athens. The story concerns the discovery by a peasant woman ( Sophia Loren ) of an ancient Greek statue on the sea bed when she is diving for sponges. She contacts an American archaeologist ( Alan Ladd ), who is working in Athens, and convinces him of the importance of her find. However, having scented that something's afoot, there arrives a collector of ancient artifacts who sells them on to the highest bidder rather than returning them to their natural place of origin which is Ladd's priority.
Played by Clifton Webb at his most urbane, the collector, who has become extremely rich, intercedes and gets the woman to lead the archaeologist away from the spot where the statue is located. Needless to say, all's well that ends well and the statue is eventually returned to the Greek people.
Sophia Loren doesn't convince in her role but she is a very decorative addition to the scenery for those who like women that seperate the men from the boys ( see video comments below ), and though Alan Ladd doesn't exactly strain himself in his part, Clifton Webb is exceptional and makes a likable villain.
7/10
http://youtu.be/d4nc5GXC0Is
Last edited by Emil Miller; 09-24-2012 at 07:41 AM.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Scouting around for a film worth watching I came across an absolute gem called The Man Who Cheated Himself. Made in 1950 it stars Lee J. Cobb in the lead role and he gives a great performance as a San Francisco detective who tries to cover up his girlfriend's murder of her husband. Cobb is assigned to the case with a a junior officer who carefully unpicks Cobb's cover up. But here's the rub: the junior detective is Cobb's own brother who gradually begins to think the unthinkable, that his own brother is involved in the killing.
The ending at the San Francisco bridge is superb film making of a kind rarely seen in films of this genre. Tautly scripted and running at less than 1.5 hours, every scene fits perfectly into a scenario that's totally believable.
http://youtu.be/dUWnbAYXD0c
10/10
Last edited by Emil Miller; 09-26-2012 at 09:13 AM.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Sounds good. I watched Razor's Edge the other day that was good, great acting and script (made me pick up and start reading Cakes and Ale which got lost amongst my bookcase somehow). There's a great amount of older films available on Youtube which comes in handy.
Despite frequent reference in the media to the film of The Razor's Edge over the years, I was very wary about the ability of Hollywood to film the book minus the usual hype attached to American films and, being aware that the author was indifferent to what happened to the filming of his work once he had been paid, I put off seeing it until recently. There have been many films of famous novels that have fallen flat or been mediocre in their handling of a story but, in this case, the end result was spot on.
Cakes and Ale was reputed to be Maugham's favourite of his novels and it's a good example of his own experience in the literary field.
I agree that the number of films on Youtube is good but it's necessary to be choosy unless you want to spend a couple of hours watching something bland and unsatisfying.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
I just went to my brother in laws for a Kung Fu/Alcohol afternoon and watched Drunken Master. It was pretty good 7/10
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