Change Your Image
Superhanz
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againTheir highlights where to listen to them are given in the notes.
Recent Check-Ins
Reviews
A Woman Commands (1932)
Disguised Hidden Jewel Waiting to be Found Out by Early Talkies' Fans
Though I was put off the by the rather rushed-in "Deus Ex Machina" of its ending and even a tad confused whether I was watching a comedy or a drama, the witty writing (the "Get me the colonel with the scrambled alphabet for a name on the phone!" springs to mind), I was pleasantly surprised at how at ease most of the cast seemed to be with the plot - makes me wonder if ad libs were prevalent in it - be it Roland Young as relaxed as he would be several years later opposite Cary Grant in "Topper", or even this unknown (to me, at least, but I'm sure to compensate that by chasing more titles with her in it) May Boley, whose clever and cheeky dialogues made up for a very subtle (though tongue-in-cheek) comedy relief. Both these two aforementioned performances would make me rate it 3 stars already.
But Pola Negri's dominant presence, alongside her vocal talent and even voice talent, as defied by her royal consort ("This holier-than-thou attitude is becoming more annoying than amusing") is what really makes this a joy to watch!
Anyway, without incurring into spoilers; to be perfectly honest, the shameless plot device described at the beginning of this review, is preferable, and even fits the surprises hidden in this production better than a "Mary of Scotland" sort of ending - as the same RKO studios would produce a couple of years later - and much more becoming to the latter, it must be said.
Behind the Door (1919)
A great, overlooked thriller. That's what it is!
One cannot say there weren't any flaws in either the plot or production - among them, the blatant fact the Bosworth is way too old for his leading role, to be too convincing (he was in between 51 and 52, when this was shot!) - the first time you realize how wrinkly both his face and hands are, I'm sure you'll agree with me! Not that being old is a fault on its own right, it's just that we end up feeling the rather heroic role cries out for a younger thespian, no doubt about it.
Also, as I seasoned photographer, I feel the "restored" print (a restoration apparently endorsed by The Library of Congress) could have been, well, more properly restored: on some scenes where the celluloid stuck for many consecutive frames and decay is quite obvious, I feel they missed on the opportunity to simply pick the best frames where some still scenery was not affected by it and simply clone it, just like we photographers do to photographs where there are good and bad ones in a series! When I have the time, I'm going to open some of these frames on Photoshop and intend to prove this theory of mine! But back to the film itself, I found it a touch of genius of how, only in the end we come across the reason for the title (I was starting to wonder if it would ever show up) - very clever indeed - and scary too! Hence my dutifully adding "Thriller" to its genre which, by the time I wrote this, was absent from this IMDb entry.
Jagten (2012)
A punch on today's society's PC-correct vigilante attitude
As much as I love the old-and-tried Hollywood production standards, it's when I witness the rest of the world's boldness and down-to-earth approach to filming usually avoided subjects, that I am reminded why most successful 'foreign' productions throughout the decades end up being qualified as 'cult': they simply dare go knee-deep in subjects your typical Hollywood writer wouldn't have the balls to take to the greedy studio manager's desk in the first place!
As this review's title states, this one in particular kicks our current society's "naive hypocrisy", as I call it, in the nuts by denouncing that, at this day and age of vigilante permissiveness, innocent people (even those belonging to unfortunately stereotyped gender and age groups, as it is the case with our lonely, quiet, divorced protagonist here) do get seriously hurt (usually with dire and life-lasting consequences) now and then by our overwatchfulness - sigh! - even more so when our status quo or business reputation is at risk!
As for the filming per se, though some quirk execution shows up now and then (a fairly happy but but, fortunately, full-of-doubt ending plus the seasoned teacher not reporting the innitial 'peck incident' at the day care centre do spring to mind) it's a bold statement of the current state of affairs of how people give in to stereotypes and willingly proceed to a modern-day witch hunt at the blink of an eye.
Well done indeed! From both the film making and social criticism point of views.
Pequenas Histórias (2007)
Unusual portmanteau short with 4 Brazilian folklore-inspired tales
Having a farmland artisan (Severo) in the framing story as the narrator, this anthology, consisting of four tales (rather unusual for modern Brazilian standards), starts out with a tragicomedy of sorts depicting the meeting of a down-to-his-luck backwater fisherman with Brazilian mythological figure Iara, the Mother Water (Pillar) which turns out to change his luck. As this is the story in the whole film that makes use of CGI the most, you can tell that, though a nice effort, the digital flooding, for instance, is not that convincingly real, to say the least. Also, though still of a beautiful complexion, Pillar seems rather old to play the role of Iara.
The second instance (the best in my opinion) mixes up comedy with Gothic horror when telling the story of a boy who, as a budding acolyte at the town's church, has the living daylights scared out of him, after hearing of the 'Procession of the Souls' as he comes to know it - a mythical night procession conducted by the dead people! I would dare saying the episode was somehow spoiled by the bad acting of some of its cast: At the same rate that the young actor playing the boy (de Tugny) has made a fairly good job of it, the same cannot be said of other actors, such as the rather stiff performance by the actress playing his mother.
As for the third installment, it presents us with a fairly predictable plot - but adds up some realism into the mixture, with a Xmas tale dealing with the harsh reality of the notorious social gap in Brazil between the middle and rich classes and the poor, introducing us to a failed aged actor, who, about to lose this only roof over his head, decides to embrace the season's spirit in full, by helping homeless people who are in a even direr situation than his.
The last one is more a collection of short anecdotes centered on Zé Burraldo, a gullible Northeastern peasant who decides to follow his father's last wish to the letter and "know the world - but not be his usual foolish and let people con him" - as the dying patriarch puts it well.
He more or less succeeds in the earlier (if we take managing to get to the neighboring town as 'knowing the world') but obviously fail in the latter.
Surmising this review, I'd say this is a rather entertaining (Brazilian) comic short which somehow manages to provide us with 83 minutes of enjoyment and some memorable 'what's next?' moments.
The Women (1939)
If I wanted to see a play...
If there is something I wasn't entirely pleased with in this title is the actual lengths director George Cukor went to to avoid showing any male figure whatsoever during its whole plus-two hour long duration. I'm pretty certain that was due to him perhaps striving to be compliant with the play's own take in the story but, if anything, this decision of his has only contributed to the "staged stage" feeling (let's call it that) there is to it. Thanks to that decision, which in my humble opinion, doesn't do the acetate media it is on any favors, I, a proud cinema lover, was left with many questions which only detracted from the whole film watching experience per se, such as: Is it a comedy or a drama? Are we supposed to laugh or to be compassionate about Mary's roller-coaster-like plight she unfortunately goes through? When are the heinous false friends' masks finally going to fall and will they ever get what they deserve? Therefore, my rating it with 3 and half stars.
But in the end, some of the excellent performances given by the likes of Russell, Shearer and why not, the young Weidler (who plays Little Mary), kinda saved the day - even more so when one thinks about how NOT so awfully bad the title has aged. Though the lush technicolor sequence, as gorgeous as it was, didn't help it in that department, (not due to he wardrobe, mind you, but actually the sheer amount of time it was dedicated to it).
Murder by Decree (1979)
Tiresome to watch. Even more so for hard core Sherlockians.
Not being sure whether this was based on a book or not, the similarities between this plot and that of "From Hell"'s are too many to be neglected to realize the latter's director was much happier in choosing, to start with, to utterly and completely kill the character of the clairvoyant or "medium", if you like: That character just doesn't belong whatsoever to any Sherlock Holmes story (either by Conan Doyle himself or not) taking itself seriously. Utterly and completely unnecessary to its development! Then we have the acting: great actors but mostly, seeming completely out of place.
The great James Mason has his TNT-like potential confined to a tired, old fart (too old actually) of a Watson.
Not to mention the unfortunate decision to turn his notoriously witty and clever character into some sort of comedy relief - take the pea scene, for instance: he was told to dither and procrastinates too much for a true Watson! From Nigel Bruce to Jude Law and Martin Freeman, I'm still to see such a demeaning portrayal of the good doctor.
Then we have Holmes. Unlike the original character, the director quite possibly prompted by the producers, have managed, in their quite apparent failed attempt to make him more human, to almost make him cry like a five year old, scaredy girl. Oh my, where to start? He's lost that truly Sherlockian "certainty". Sherlock Holmes shouldn't just ASK so many questions: he DEDUCES, pure and simply! Specially, as I mentioned earlier, bow to a bloody medium in trying to solve his case!! He's just not sure of his surroundings: at the funeral, why has he suddenly lost his powers to deduce the bad guys are still following him and are therefore certain to track Mary Kelly down via him carelessly taking them to her? For this review's size sake, I won't even delve into other flimsy character portrayals but believe me: it is really mostly other appalling portrayals to watch! But there are still positive point nonetheless. The scenery, props (sometimes a bit overdone, skulls with blinking lights longing at Sherlock's studio and so on and finally, the great Victorian London atmosphere they still managed to pull out regardless. Hence my rating it a point above a weak 5.
Sergeant York (1941)
Jack of All Trades, Master of None
Of course behind the blatant war propaganda and shameless just-converted preacher's talk, in the end, what the producers wanted was making money.
Hence the hodge-podge of other things they throw into their concoction: romance, a strong-minded matriarch (but not even close to Ma Joad from "The Grapes of Wrath") rivalry, et al - which made them end up with a movie which might as well have been two or three different ones (talk about bad editing!)and, as I mentioned on the title, it ends up not achieving one of them skillfully enough to be taken seriously.
After all, I dare even the most hard-core fan/advocate of this movie not to admit even they were wondering by the end of its second third, whether they were watching the right movie or not or when the war bit was actually going to start and how! The question "When is the sergeant finally taking over?" was constantly at the back of my mind by then.
To mention a few flaws, and as much as I am a huge fan of, say Screwball comedy and the odd romance threw in, and still a great admirer of Hawks's, I fail to understand how on earth it could amass so many academy awards in spite of the gigantic competition that year (Citizen Kane et al).
Maybe Gary Cooper, as usual, deserved his statuette in the end, as the truly convincing redneck simpleton who always goes about life with a naive look on his face (Mr. Deeds, anyone?).
Also (and this is still the huge Howard Hawks fan speaking) the director/writers were just trying to be faithful to the book. As I can't vouch for it simply because I didn't read it, I'll have to quote someone else's review when they say this was a blatant case of an autobiography in which the author seemed to give more emphasis to promoting his deeds and achievements than actually worrying about whether his book would be a pleasant read or not. I very much doubt that Rambo-like scene actually happened that way! As far as my weak war tactics knowledge go, they threw it all through the window in that particular scene!
But the film editing award!? Come on! Does the war effort really put people so out of their minds!? Do they suddenly start awarding people for simply saying what they want the population to hear and ignoring the great minds who don't comply to all that brain washing!?
Finally, making war look like a turkey shooting (and fun!) wasn't IMHO a wise move.
After watching this faux-pas I'm in desperate need of watching more sober films such as "Citizen Kane"; "All Quiet in The Western Front" for what a real WWI movie should look like, or even Hawks's sublime Screwball masterpiece "Bringing Up Baby" for laughs only, not an all-in- one concoction of a movie!
PS: For Christ's sake, sharpshooters are meant to do just that in the trenches, not just chatting about between ducking here and there!
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
Creepiness and black humor - isn't that what good horror is all about after all?
Not-so-sought-after qualities such as "creepy" or "eerie" would have a derogatory sense if applied to most things in life: a person, a house... Fortunately for us horror fans, this is actually the opposite to the good old Horror genre.
After all, be it a short story, a novel or a film, having these qualities, more or less guarantee the reader/viewer is going to quite probably find what he or she is after: being scared and definitely entertained!
The Abominable Dr. Phibes achieves that quite well: you are evolved in this tense atmosphere throughout - creepy characters and scenarios make sure of that and now and then, you're reminded of its rather quirk and surreal plot during the frequent occasions when it shamelessly mocks itself.
The plot doesn't unwillingly fall prey of the obvious clichés, such as making use of a single comic relief character or scaring constantly: The said relief here is provided by grotesque scenes such as cops trying to, as silently as possible, unscrew a corpse from the wall after just being, well, impaled - at his posh social club in the heart of London!
At the end, you're not sure if those grotesque deaths are more down to Scotland Yard's lack of competence - as pointed out by Trout's superior, or actually due to Phibes's cleverness who, for being so focused on his macabre plan, is - thankfully to our own enjoyment - always a step ahead.
Add up to that equation unique performances and clear attempts of not being taken so seriously, and you are, for a good hour and a half, transported to a rather art deco 1920's where not many a proeminent doctor are safe until Phibes is either caught or, at what it seems, finally concludes his tasks in a grandeur typical of the silent movies of the era, with righteous final confrontation, enigmatic ending and everything after.
Dead of Night (1945)
For truly horror fans
Firstly a piece of advice: if you call yourself a horror fan and what really ticks your boxes in the genre are gore and blood - FORGET IT:
Either we can say the film is no match for your dubious taste or your mind is not of the kind which likes to "work out" a bit - GET BACK TO YOUR GRATUITOUS excuse of a horror film whatever it might be!
On the other hand if you're someone whose favorite genre is REAL horror - and it doesn't matter if it's either movies or short stories in a book - you should definitely bow to the geniuses behind the making of this precious little gem.
The plot is powerful and evolving. The atmosphere (and what an atmosphere!)is creepy and eerie and that creeps up even further supported by the astonishing photography, acting and technical skills of its crew and cast as the plot develops.
Had I seen it when a kid - just like other commentators did - I'm sure it'd have stuck in my mind deeply. I didn't but the dejavu and feeling of this or that scene being familiar reminds us of the umpteen homages and copies that came afterwards - some even went as far as plagiarizing it, I'd say. And since copying is sometimes another way of flattering, one can realize that along with filmmakers they're not alone on thinking this is a staple in the world of horror art.
And just to emphasize the very definition of horror: it's not the characters' pain or bloodshed which scares the hell out of a true fan of the genre: it's their very own fear which makes up for most of the things he or she, as viewer, cannot see.
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Sharing Carey's emotions
Despite I was born in the 70's, every time I watch this movie I feel like I'm a comtemporary living person of those speculative, deep-thinking 50's.
You realize you've got involved into this Sci-Fi masterpiece when you find yourself sharing Scott Carey's worries about our everyday uncertain future!
A transcendental Sci-Fi!