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All fair points mitch.
I watched thru to the end, at least. Yes it was nonsense, but it reminded me of the Thriller series from back then, altho it was worse. Francesca annis got a point.
Maybe 4.5 is fairer. It was better than 2.
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Posted: |
Jan 28, 2021 - 10:31 AM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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All fair points mitch.
I watched thru to the end, at least. Yes it was nonsense, but it reminded me of the Thriller series from back then, altho it was worse. Francesca annis got a point.
Maybe 4.5 is fairer. It was better than 2.
We'll agree to differ ... and, anyhow, the presence of the lovely Ms. Francesca Annis may have earned one of the two points I awarded!  And, if you're taken with her (wonderful in the second series of Between the Lines (1993)) ... have you heard her sing?
John Barry & Trevor Peacock's Passion Flower Hotel (1965) in which, as Melissa, she sings the big romantic number How Much of the Dream Comes True* plus one of the fun numbers A Great Big Nothing
*Ms. Annis may not be of the same calibre as Barbra Streisand who sang this on her album My Name is Barbra, Two ... but at least she can pronounce shan't which Ms. Streisand completely fluffs!
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Lol.
No i never knew she could sing.
Same as ingrid n linda, i saw her in that Thriller episode (Sign It Death) where she went after married men then bumped them off n hoovered up afterwards (!) and fell in lust with her.
Probably macbeth too.
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"Ludwig!!!!! Tea!!!!!!!"
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Posted: |
Jan 28, 2021 - 12:14 PM
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jackfu
(Member)
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A twofer, actually FWIW.
The Karate Kid (1984) 6/10
The Karate Kid Part 2 (1986) 3/10
I rewatched these the other night and my opinion of them has not really improved. I know they inspired many thousands of young folks to respect Asian culture and learn martial arts and those are certainly very good things.
Some things stick in my craw about both these such as that irritating halting English with which Mr. Miyagi and practically all the other Asians speak. I guess they are both films of their time and I'm sure it wasn't mocking.
I've known and been and am friends with many folks of Asian descent most of my adult life and almost none of them speak that way. Perhaps some that had only moved here recently from Asian countries, and tourists, yes. I don't mean by this that I take offense on behalf of my friends, I'm really just annoyed by it. And that's not thru the filter of today's sensibilities, either. I didn't like it back then and still don't.
The bad guys in these films, with a few exceptions are just comic book stereotypes.
Also, Macchio's skills are so feeble that it ruins the effect for me. I get it that Morita only learned enough Goju Ryu to fake the scenes that required him to do the moves and that's not all that irritating. The worst for me was when Daniel sees Miyagi doing the technique atop the post and asks about it. Mr. Miyagi replies to the effect, "Crane technique. If done right, no defense." I wish they wouldn't spout sh*t like that in films. Anyone who has ever studied martial arts knows there's no such thing as unstoppable techniques.
It's just laughable that Macchio could take on any of the guys that had real skill the way he does in the films. Again, did these help some scrawny kids get into martial arts to learn to defend themselves and actually go beyond that to become better people? Most certainly. I understand that the writer had done so himself when he was a youth and that was the basis for the films.
Entertaining, yes. Realistic, no.
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Posted: |
Jan 28, 2021 - 1:54 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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It's just laughable that Macchio could take on any of the guys that had real skill the way he does in the films. Again, did these help some scrawny kids get into martial arts to learn to defend themselves and actually go beyond that to become better people? Most certainly. I understand that the writer had done so himself when he was a youth and that was the basis for the films.
Entertaining, yes. Realistic, no.
So they're not documentaries, then? Noted.
OK, I understand. Even with all the skills the filmmakers could muster, you couldn't suspend disbelief, which greatly lessened your enjoyment of the films. That's a legitimate, but apparently minority, view.
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Posted: |
Jan 29, 2021 - 12:41 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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NEVER A DULL MOMENT (1950) – 6/10
This mild romantic comedy-drama finds Fred MacMurray as rodeo cowboy/ranch owner “Chris” who meets Broadway songwriter/singer “Kay” (Irene Dunne) when the rodeo appears at a charity benefit in New York. After a whirlwind courtship and romance, the couple repairs to Chris’ broken-down Wyoming ranch, where the former widower has two young daughters (Natalie Wood and Gigi Perreau), a Native American housekeeper (Margaret Gibson), and ranch hand Andy Devine.
The film is all about city girl Kay trying to learn how to be a rancher’s wife and partner. There are the expected scenes of her baling hay, riding and roping horses, cooking on a wood stove, etc. Dunne is remarkably good-natured about all of this, and the film avoids some cliches, like having the girls dislike her or play tricks on her. They actually take to her from the start. So do all of Chris’ friends and neighbors, even the woman Chris was dating before he met Kay (Ann Devon), who becomes Kay’s best friend. All except one, that is—the rancher next door (William Demarest) who controls Chris’ water rights. Dealing with Demarest leads to the one big blow-up between the couple, but as you might expect, things work out in the (rather hasty) end. Dunne is spunky, humorous, and energetic. The film is pleasant, but nothing more.
The film was based on Kay Swift's 1943 novel “Who Could Ask for Anything More,” which was inspired by her real-life marriage to rodeo star Kaye Hubbard. Swift met Hubbard at the 1939 New York World's Fair when he was performing in the rodeo and she was in charge of "light music." The couple, who lived on a ranch in Oregon as newlyweds, divorced in early January 1946. Maybe that’s the story we should have been given rather than this predictable piffle. In a perfect jibe, the Harvard Lampoon gave NEVER A DULL MOMENT its "Dullest Movie" Award.
Kay Swift composed the three songs that Irene Dunne sings in the film. Fifteen years later, co-stars Fred MacMurray and William Demarest would be reunited on the long-running TV series “My Three Sons.”
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Posted: |
Jan 29, 2021 - 11:29 AM
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By: |
jackfu
(Member)
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So they're not documentaries, then? Noted.
OK, I understand. Even with all the skills the filmmakers could muster, you couldn't suspend disbelief, which greatly lessened your enjoyment of the films. That's a legitimate, but apparently minority, view.
Yes not a documentary; didn’t want one.
Perhaps I need a new pair of disbelief suspenders, mine might be getting jaded and worn out.
Had the protagonists possessed the skills of their successors in the 2010 reboot, it would definitely have made it more enjoyable for me.
It’s the same for me when actors without the physical skills are cast as pro football players, etc., (Mac Davis, Kris Kristofferson, Keanu Reeves, etc.) - it pulls me out of the movie.
Just a pet peeve, I guess.
I’m fine with being in the minority. The KK films were entertaining, but lost me by not having a very good (IMO) representation of the Karate that’s an integral part of the story.
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Narco soldiers
2020
Nice concept about 3 Domenican Republic crims who work for a drug lord but scheme their way up, creating a turf war with the cartels. But the actors are shocking and the dialogue false, so a good idea made cheaply for 15 year olds on their first movie date was wasted. Made more slickly with a bit more money and a couple decent stars, could've been ok.
5.1 out of 10
Theres even a terrible Godfather3 howl over a dead body. Oh my lord, it was cringeable.
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Posted: |
Jan 29, 2021 - 2:27 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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A Simple Favor
4.5/10
Not funny enough to be a comedy, not thrilling enough to be a thriller, but it does have an okay mystery. It has no real sense of suspense and is very flatly directed and looks more tv episode than cinema. Anna Kendrick is good in the lead, but if feels like the show needed Kaley Cuoco and the production team and tone of The Flight Attendant, as opposed to Paul Fieg.
I liked it a lot more than you did, but then I LOVE Anna Kendrick. I agree that those with a good sense for these things will probably suss out the film's twists ahead of time, but the movie's pleasures lie in watching Kendrick's character, a natural overachiever despite her awkwardness, bore into the mystery. The film is also laced with considerable humor, as well as with a well-developed relationship between the two female leads. I don't think it needs to be either a straight comedy or a straight thriller. It's enough of both to score 8/10 for me.
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THE LACEMAKER (La Dentellière) (1977)
This is an example of a small, nuanced, quiet film about a nice, sweet, but otherwise unexceptional young woman (played by Isabelle Huppert) done right. There are many attempts at modest, quiet, small movies that too often become hammy and self-conscious in their hushed dramatic/cinematic composition. That's not the case here in this film by Claude Goretta from a novel by Pascal Lainé. Huppert splendidly plays Beatrice (nicknamed "Pomme"), an 18 year old beauty parlor worker (no, she's not a lacemaker; the meaning of this film's title only becomes clear at the very end) who lives with her mother, has an older, experienced co-worker as a best friend (a counterpoint to Beatrice's story is that of this friend, Marylene, a woman who is just beginning to realize she is aging and isn't the free-spirit youth she thinks of herself as anymore), and has never known physical love.
This changes when Beatrice meets a young man, Francois, at a seaside resort and they begin a romance with each other. Beatrice experiences love for the first time in her life, while Francois, an intellectual student whose circle of friends include others of his kind, adores the kind and innocent Beatrice, but begins to feel uneasy at her naivete and lack of similar intellectual curiosity.
I like movies that are full of big gestures, but I also certainly appreciate a film like this which is subtle, yet profoundly moving. There is a written epigram after this melancholy tale has been told which not only explains the title, but left me in tears as the "bigger picture" of what Beatrice represents is brought into focus.
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The Cobweb - 1.5/10
To the point!
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