Bob Ross

Surrogates, with Bruce Willis -- eh, maybe 6/10.

I had two thoughts running through my head for the entire film:
- this whole movie is just a mashup of I, Robot and The Matrix and Avatar
- has Rosamund Pike ever done a role where she doesn't spend the entire film looking aghast? ...like, every single scene, did the director say "now, here I want you to look aghast. Yes, like that, perfect!"

I will say this: The very final scene made me think it was an excellent commentary on how society might behave post-COVID pandemic ...so I was surprised to see that the film was made in 2009.

I-Like-To-Bike

Two directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz:
5 Fingers (1952), WW2 spy movie based on real events. Starring James Mason. 8/10
The Quiet American (1958) set in Vietnam in turmoil in the early 50's, filmed in Saigon, starring Michael Redgrave and a surprisingly good Audie Murphy as the idealistic American "Aid" worker. 8.5/10. I liked it better than the very good remake with Michael Caine in the Michael Redgrave role. Both movies based on the Graham Greene novel are worth watching.

Welshboy

'The Woman In The Window' (2021) starring Amy Adams and Gary Oldman.

Amy Adams plays Anna Fox an acutely agoraphobic woman living alone and estranged from her husband and daughter. Drink and medications numb her and Anna begins spying on her new neighbours until she sees an argument develop and the glint of a kitchen knife used in anger. Has she witnessed a gruesome murder or has she dreamt it in her drowsy mind? Yes this does sound like 'Rear Window' and, indeed, it does have a playful nod to Hitchcock's 1954 thriller but it just lacks a bit of pace despite the relatively short run time of 100 minutes. Is it worth watching? Yes. Is it anywhere as good as Hitchcock's classic? No. 7/10.

Welshboy

'Jackie Brown' (1997) starring Pam Grier, Robert Forster, Samuel L Jackson, Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda and Michael Keaton.

Directed by Quentin Tarantino this is the second time I've seen this in the past year after being totally unaware of it's existence and, unless you're a fan, it does appear to be one of Tarantino's forgotten films. Pam Grier plays the eponymous Jackie Brown a street smart flight attendant on a budget airline who gets caught by the FBI for smuggling cash in from Mexico to LA. Jackie decides to become an informant against the violent arms dealer (played by Samuel L Jackson) she works for. Whilst trying to keep the FBI happy she must also stay alive and nurture help from the bail bondsman (Forster) who has fallen in love with her - well, who wouldn't? 8/10.

I-Like-To-Bike

I'm not big fan of QT, but most definitely a big fan of Elmore Leonard who wrote the book, Rum Punch, that this movie was based on. QT did do a very good job of adapting it to the screen. I would rate the movie as a 9+ and as QT's best film.

I-Like-To-Bike

Watched two more movies directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz on the Criterion Channel.

A Letter to Three Wives (1949) 8/10
All About Eve (1950) 10/10. One of the best, ever.

Juan Foote

What a sleeper (and not the good way) this one is to me. We read it was good and have tried to watch it twice. I find myself extreme disinterested or asleep within moments both times. Just nothing near my cup of tea I guess.

Welshboy

Yes, I had two of her films as Christmas presents and loved 'All About Eve'. I've yet to watch 'What ever happened to baby Jane?'

Bob Ross

Holmes & Watson - 6.75/10

I had no expectations going into this, other than fully expecting Ferrell and Reilly to plumb the depths of sophomoric puerile humor in as grotesque a fashion as possible. They did not disappoint. And I actually did find myself guffawing out loud a number of times. If nothing else, they looked like they had a pantload of fun making the movie.


Black Widow - 5/10

Every review I read of this recent entry into the Marvel Comics Universe said something about how it "gave viewers new insight into the motivations of her character"

They were wrong.

I-Like-To-Bike

Whatcha waiting for? What Ever Happened to Baby Jane is a very good movie, though entirely different than All About Eve.

I-Like-To-Bike

You might like the 1954 version of Black Widow much better. It starred the always beautiful Gene Tierney, and Ginger Rogers in a very different role than she used to have back in the 30's. I recently watched it on the Criterion Channel and would rate it as an 8/10. I think it can now be rented from the other major streaming platforms.

Bob Ross

Cold Pursuit - 7/10
Better than it ought to be from the description, mainly due to the whimsical way it treats drug gang murders. The device of keeping a running tally of deaths is kinda cute. Liam Neeson does an admirable job of not just phoning this one in. iow, better than Taken 3.

2 Guns - 7/10
Exactly what you would expect from a movie described as an "American buddy cop action comedy film" ...though possibly slightly more engaging than that might suggest.

tonnyhigh

The Father - blimey, old Anthony Hopkins is a fine actor! Really impressed with how the film depicts dementia. 4/5

msolar

The Tomorrow War, maybe 6 out of 10. Which is better than most these days.

Clyde1820

Chasing Perfect (2019) -- a biography of vehicle designer Frank Stephenson.

Quite interesting. A little meandering, at times, seemingly. But, then, his life has been such an incredible range of experiences ... all the necessary pieces for developing his sense of intuitive creativity, with inspirations from all aspects of nature, cultures, history. 7.5/10.


https://rileylondon.uk/people/frank-stephenson/

AlexEpsy92

My Best Friend Anne Frank, I'd give it a 6//10. Nice movie but quite low budget, and feel it missed the mark on several parts. It also showed Anne in quite an unflattering / obnoxious light, which didn't feel 'right'.

I-Like-To-Bike

Watched two gangster movies on the Criterion Channel:
Gomorrah (2008), an Italian organized crime outfit centered in Naples but with worldwide tentacles 7.5
The Harder They Fall (1973) Jamaican hoods with a reggae backbeat starring Jimmie Cliff, 8.5.

Both movies featured Tony Montanna wannabes, though the Jamaican movie predates Brian De Palma's Scarface by several years.

Jeff Neese

Nightmare Alley 7/10. Not a great movie but the performances/characters are worthwhile, and it's a very stylish film. The story doesn't go very deep though, and there are more than a few implausible events and situations.

Mad Max: Fury Road 1/10. Hard to believe this has such a high score on IMDB. Filter by review ratings and read all the 1/10 reviews - I agree with all of them. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It's just one long chase scene - that's literally the whole movie. No story whatsoever except the bare minimum needed to frame all the explosions. By the end you won't care who gets blown up and who doesn't.

caloso

Finch: 6/10. Tom Hanks is always enjoyable, but the robot was annoying, and the script really didn't make a lot of sense.

I-Like-To-Bike

Death on the Nile (1978) 8.5. Great actors, filmed in Egypt at photogenic sites. Needless to say a very good Agatha Christie mystery whodunit. Very enjoyable.

tonnyhigh

The Irishman.

This is the second time I've seen it and like the first, I enjoyed it quite a lot.

silverider

Jack Reacher. Watched on Hulu. Great plot. 9 only because very few movies are worthy of a 10.

Welshboy

'Deerskin' (2019) starring Jean Dujardin and Adèle Haenel

I've been a fan of Jean Dujardin since seeing him in 'The Artist' and catching up with his earlier film appearances such as 'Lucky Luke' and the OSS 117 spy capers. I so wanted to like this but whilst it is quirky it is a bit of a letdown and was a failed gamble for our family film night. Dujardin plays Georges a man clearly having a breakdown and we later learn that his wife has left him and that she has frozen their joint account. He pays a small fortune to buy an old deerskin jacket and heads off to a small almost desolate town in the French mountains. His deerskin jacket tells Georges that he wants to be the only jacket in the world and Georges tells his jacket and he wants to be the only jacket wearer in the world. Armed with a small camcorder he tells the locals that he is a film-maker and a few gullible locals give their jackets to him but ever so quickly he resorts to murdering them. IMDb list it as a comedy horror but it misses the mark on both genres. Mercifully short at 77 minutes I thought it was totally bonkers but there is a deep melancholy to Dujardin's portrayal of Georges that lift it away from a very low rating. 5/10.

Juan Foote

I agree fully with that assessment. There is a traditional story arc to movies in which we become invested in the character(s), find out who they are, what motivates them. This movie does none of that. If you weren't already familiar with the premise of Mad Max it could be any post-apocalyptic tale with wierdo characters of Aussie punk generation. It was an absolute disservice to the franchise in general. I have a hard time recollecting any other film which did so little with so much.

jack pot 

The Counselor 6/10 screen "play" by Cormac McCarthy and a great cast BUT a little too unconnected to rate an 8