Sissy Spacek or Chloë Grace Moretz?
Sissy Spacek. I’d never seen it and haven’t seen any re-makes or sequels.
Gaslight, from 1944. I had seen it before, but long ago. I thought it was impressive how it showed the progression of Concerned Husband >> Man Taking Charge of Situation >> Abuse.
I watched Gaslight a couple days ago, realizing I had never seen the entire film. It was, of course, wonderfully performed and shot, but I strongly felt it was 20-30 minutes too long. Now, I am not saying any particular scene is superfluous, but the scenes establishing the…uhh…gaslighting just seem to drag. A 4-minute scene could have made the same point much more efficiently. I claim no authority, so probably the whole world disagrees with me, and that’s fine.
After reflecting on the plot over the ensuing couple of days, I have some bones to pick with the plot (without even getting into the silliness of an American as a senior investigator for Scotland Yard).
SPOILERS AHEAD.
Point 1: his entire effort at making her think she was going crazy was not only pointless, but worked against his goal. At first I thought maybe he wanted her committed so he could claim her house/money for himself, but no - he used it as some sort of distraction to mask his searching the attic. But why go through all the effort and planning to make her think she’s ill and keep her in the house, where she’s in the way? Instead, treat her normally, and encourage her to go out on the town with friends, or go shopping, or weekends away at friends’ homes? He made things much harder for himself.
Point 2: he was arrested at the end. For what? Murder? On what evidence? A letter possibly written by him that simply asked the victim to see him again, with absolutely no sentiment beyond admiration? That’s pretty damn flimsy evidence to hang a man with, and as far as I can tell that’s all they have to tie him to the victim (let alone the murder itself).
If not for murder, then what? As the beat cop said, breaking into one’s own house is hardly illegal. Trying to steal the jewels? I’m not an expert in 1890s English law, but I’d guess that at that time and place, a wife’s property is also the husband’s property as well. And he didn’t actually remove the jewels from where they were found, so you can hardly say he stole them anyhow.
At worst, a bigamy charge, assuming his other wife is still alive.
A very nice film, but those two plot points stick in my craw. I’d be happy to be talked out of my positions with reasonable arguments.
Nope, I think you’ve got a couple good points there! Anyway, still a good entertaining flick.
Frailty
Highly recommended.
This was terrific, a great and often overlooked movie. A father tells his sons that he received a vision from God to go and kill demons. They do so, but one is not convinced this is all legit.
A great thriller and well worth your time.
The first version (English) was better. I liked it much more. The “investigator” in the English version was an actual retired Scotland Yard detective. It was a tighter movie overall, and the acting was also better IMHO.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) (free on Amazon Prime). John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin. Directed by John Ford.
I’d never seen it, but heard much about it – it’s the one where John Wayne calls Jimmy Stewart “Pilgrim” (for unknown reasons), and concludes with the famous line: “This is the West, sir; when the legend becomes fact…print the legend.”
Much like Ford’s The Searchers, the sub-text is about the transition and civilization of the Wild West. Stewart plays a lawyer who comes to a small town in a western territory (he’s supposed to be fresh out of law school – Stewart was 54), and is appalled that lawlessness (characterized by Lee Marvin as bad, bad man who very much deserves shooting) is met with violence rather than law and order. John Wayne embodies the old ways. (And like The Searchers, we get a shot of Wayne on the wrong side of a door) Vera Miles is the love interest torn between the two.
Good supporting cast, including Edmond O’Brien. John Carradine in a brief role as a blowhard politician. Woody Strode plays a character named “Pompey” so we presume he was formerly enslaved by John Wayne, now his devoted servant - but he brings as much dignity as possible to the role.
Also with Andy Devine. Of whom, a little goes a very long way.
Just a tip for first timers: Don’t hold your breath waiting to hear the Burt Bacharach/Hal David/Gene Pitney theme song. It ain’t in the movie.
I actually enjoyed The French Dispatch on second viewing. Definitely not his best work though. Haven’t seen Asteroid City yet.
I feel like I would have enjoyed it more if I had understood any of the source material. I guess it’s based on writers from The New Yorker? Which is kinda funny. I liked the first vignette in the movie, about the prison artist. The second one really confused me - I guess it’s based off French cinema - and by the time I got to the third one I had already made up my mind not to like it.
Neither my husband nor my friend liked Asteroid City, but I liked it. I think it’s about grieving the end of a certain era, sort of like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. (In theme, not content.) I was very amused by the humor and so was the other Wes Anderson fan in the room. I thought Scarlett Johannsen was perfect. It’s a film I would watch twice just to see if I can make more sense out of it.
Decent enough war/political thriller.
Couple of additions to the “war movie” list:
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant. Actually pretty good for a Guy Ritchie film that doesn’t have Jason Statham and/or British gangsters. Not based on a true story AFAIK, but clearly shares DNA with Lone Survivor / real life story of Marcus Luttrell.
The Outpost I feel this true story kind of falls of people’s war movie radar even though it got a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score.
I enjoyed Renfield, but not as much as I feel I should have, given the cast.
Mel Brook’s Young Frankenstein ( proununced “Fronk-en-steen” ) was on the other night. Still stands up IMHO.
The Tank. A decent little creature feature. More practical effects than I expected, everyone does a good job with a thin but respectable plot, and the dog doesn’t die, which makes me happy (even though it really should have in that situation).
I’m not a huge Nicholas Cage fan, but I thought he was brilliant in Renfield, especially in the B&W flashbacks where he mimicked Lugosi’s 1931 performance.
We watched Hotel Transylvania for the first time yesterday. I thought it was great! A cute little love story.
Note that Wes Anderson lives at least part of the year in Paris. He apparently lives there with his girlfriend and their daughter. She’s of Lebanese descent though.
The Creator
My harsh nickel summary: A lot of very awesome special effects and very good acting went into incompetently telling this very mediocre story.
Love that song! My grandson, when he was 4 or 5 took a liking to it too. He was very impressed by the “gunshots” in the song. I must have played that song 1000 times for him in the car.
The Adjustment Bureau, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt. An entertaining film with some nice SF twists. Based on a story by Philip K. Dick. I liked it.
Have recently watched three 70s “disaster” films: Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake and The Cassandra Crossing. All wonderfully horrible. All horribly wonderful.