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Posted: |
Mar 26, 2018 - 12:58 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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THE MAD GENIUS (1931) - 6/10
John Barrymore stars as a crippled ballet impresario, who is obsessed with turning an abused boy into a ballet star (Donald Cook) so he can vicariously live the artistic triumphs that he was denied because of his disability. To do this, he decides he must thwart the young man's love life (with girlfriend Marion Marsh) so that there will be no distractions between the man and his art.
Barrymore made this film, his last for Warner Bros., shortly after he appeared in SVENGALI, and the characters have much in common. Art director Anton Grot created a look similar to that of German Expressionist films, by creating rooms, even in supposedly small apartments, with sweeping arches. He used muslin ceilings on the sets, in contrast to the more usual practice of open ceilings to allow for easier lighting. Muslin ceilings were so uncommon that cinematographer Gregg Toland was applauded for their use 10 years later, in 1941's CITIZEN KANE.
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A Little Chaos - 7.5/10 Kate Winslet stars and is very good as a gardener for King Louis XIV in this pleasant film directed by Alan Rickman. Not sure i'd rate it so highly another day but i was in the right mood for something like this.
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I didn't find Crimson Peak scary either, but I LOVE the music. I bought that film score immediately.
I enjoyed Crimson Peak, but I don't think it was supposed to be "scary"; it was more like an over the top Daphne du Maurier gothic ghost story. Are those ever scary?
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PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION
7/10
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I didn't find Crimson Peak scary either, but I LOVE the music. I bought that film score immediately.
I enjoyed Crimson Peak, but I don't think it was supposed to be "scary"; it was more like an over the top Daphne du Maurier gothic ghost story. Are those ever scary?
Well, it did have at least three "jump scares" and all sorts of screaming deformed blood-red ghosts plodding slowly towards people, which i'm sure were intended to be scary.
But tonally comparing to a DuMaurier is very good and works for me, i hadn't thought of that. The little i've read of hers are sort of full of dread as opposed to scary.
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WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
8/10
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Godless 8.5/10. A great 7 part series.
My only problem was just a bit of a stupid gunfight in the last episode that looks good on screen but is tactically daft, and there's some stupid character moments, bulletproof horses and a gut shot character who is totally fine a day or so later. Actually bullet injuries that don't kill don't seem too bothersome in this.
But despite that it's really good with some memorable characters and great acting. Scoot McNairy is particularly good.
I'd just like to have seen more development in some of the female characters outside the main ones. The German lass got a bit right at the end.
The music was great and really worked well, I just heard what I thought was some temp tracking in a couple of spots but couldn't place it. I thought maybe Unforgiven and a Horner? It's still nice stuff though.
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Frances Ha 4/10 It feels like this film was made specifically for millennial hipsters or hipster types living in a small area in a certain city in America and if you're not from there then they'd resent you even knowing it existed. It had some nice moments and dialogue, and the acting is good, too.
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I didn't find Crimson Peak scary either, but I LOVE the music. I bought that film score immediately.
I enjoyed Crimson Peak, but I don't think it was supposed to be "scary"; it was more like an over the top Daphne du Maurier gothic ghost story. Are those ever scary?
That's the entire point of the movie...Mia Wasikowska even specifically tells the audience at the beginning what they're in for ("It's not a ghost story, it's a story with a ghost in it"). Anyone expecting a non-stop terror ride from the film was mislead by the awful trailers. It's a total throwback to those kind of swoony romantic thrillers Hitchcock was making for David O. Selznick in the 40's (Rebecca, Notorious, Spellbound), crossed with something akin to The Innocents. I think it's a brilliant, grossly underrated film, but it's not supposed to be "scary" (even if it does have a handful of eerie moments).
Yes, I think it's a good movie too. In fact, I mentioned it earlier in this thread an rated it rather positively. :-)
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WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
8/10
No we dont, McGann gets enough chit chat as it is!! 
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KLOVN FOREVER
8/10
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Silent Hill 4.25/10 I think i disliked it more a previous time years ago. It wasn't too bad. Not scary though it could have been (the game was scarier and had more atmosphere) but Laurie Holden and Radha Mitchell are very watchable in it and there's some nice sets and designs.
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Jackie 6/10 Natalie Portman's performance is good but it took me a while to buy into it. It seems to waver at times, though, or maybe i'm just not used to the accent she's using. It must have been tough to act sad for an entire film.
Billy Crudup is fine in a supporting role as an interviewer. Very watchable with what little he has to do (mostly sitting down and asking a few questions while isolated in his own shot in camera).
I liked a lot of the camerawork and direction in it, some nice shots.
I'm a huge fan of Mica Levi's score for Under the Skin. I enjoyed her music here too. It really dictates the pace and sombre mood.
Both Withnail and Danny the Drug Dealer are in the film. Richard E Grant has a couple of scenes,which was nice to see, but Ralph Brown is only just in the background of one scene. So i wondered if he just had a couple of lines that got cut because he was a non-glorified extra in the finished film.
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You watch too many films up at ice station zebra, xebec.
Havent you got any weather to monitor or alien ships to mark out in the ice??!
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BLACKHAT
4/10
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