What films did you see Last Week (15/4 - 21/4) CLOSED

Red Sun (1971, Terence Young)
For some reason I just couldn't get into this one. Might give it another try in the future though.

Koyaanisqatsi (1983) - 6/10
Perfect Days (2023) - 8/10
Phoenix (2014) - 8.5/10
Alice in the Cities (1974) - 8.5/10

Phoenix is on my watchlist 

Thanks for hosting dsbeadle

From your list...

Red Sun (1971, Terence Young) glad to see a positive review of this movie, since I thought it was a very entertaing mix of genres. 7/10

Illegal (1955, Lewis Allen) Anything with Edwatd G is interesting, so it stays on to-watch list.

Here are my latest...

21 Bridges 2019 directed by Brian Kirk.

Starring Chadwick Boseman, Sienna Miller, J.K. Simmons.
Nypd manhunt on a drug deal that went wrong and cops were killed, was there an inside job...?
A rather standard action movie that had potential and wished it was better since this was Chadwick Boseman's last acting job. 6,5/10.

Raw Deal 1986 directed by John Irvin.
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kathryn Harrison, Sam Wanamaker, Ed Lauter.
A nearly forgotten Big Arnold movie that feels like an overblowed B-Movie.
Former FBI agent poses as a small town Sheriff to infiltrafe Chicago Mob.
Very violent and very boring. 5/10.

Se ying diu sau aka Snake in the Eagle's Shadow 1978 directed by Woo-Ping Yuen.
Knowing very well that Jackie Chan is a big star but where do one begin, so this was just a fluke that just happened to be his star-making role, and he actually replaced another actor.
It's something about a war between different martial arts styles.
The nearly ballet like movements in the fight's are the star, unfortuantly it's also filled with lousy comedy and slap-stick and one lousy wig.
Still interesting to have seen. Martial Arts fans might rate it higher than me. 6/10.

Kelly's Heroes 1970 directed by Brian G. Hutton.
Starring Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Carroll O'Connor, Donald Sutherland.
A hybrid WWII movie about a troup going for 16 million US dollars of gold bricks behind enemy lines.
A strange mix of parody, satire and real war movie, and sometimes it's really funny.
When I was young this was the tough guys movie, puny guys step aside... I adjusted that remark later in life, Just kidding. 6,5/10.

The Gorgon 1964 directed by Terence Fisher.
Starring Peter Cushing, Barbara Shelley, Christopher Lee.
Classic British Hammer Horror but, according to Christopher Lee the trouble with The Gorgon was The Gorgon, the rubber hair snakes never worked.
Seeing Christopher Lee who seems to be in a good mood, and Peter Cushing acting together is a joy, as is the beauty that was Barbara Shelley in a nearly straight role.
At times boring but with great sets and with some good color cinematography.
This one wasn't scary thanks to the rubbery snakes, but fun to have seen anyway. 6/10.

Hellzapoopin' 1941 directed by H.C. Potter and based on a Broadway stage show the played for over 1.400 performances.
Starring Olsen and Johnson, Martha Raye, Mischa Auer
A nearly plotless mayhem of a movie that breaks the 4th wall.
Either you buy it as the crazy movie it is, or you just stare and wonder what the H....
It did have an impact on future parody movies, but unfortunatly Olsen and Johnson became a cinematic one-hit wonder.
A comedian I can't stand, Hugh Herbert, is nearly acceptable here. 6,5/10.

Hi 

21 Bridges
Solid but a little unremarkable 
6/10

Raw Deal 
has some moments but overall it’s not really up to Arnie standards production wise 
5/10

Kellys Heroes
Not seen this one since I was a kid 

Haven't seen any of yours.

First Time Viewings:

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023, James Wan) – 6.5/10

Repeat Viewings:

None

Hello again!

Only one of yours this week, and I'll cover it below as I watched it as well.

Mine:

The Girl I Loved (Keisuke Kinoshita, 1946)

This film is absolutely beautiful and I wish it had a full restoration just so we could see all the wonderful shots of the Japanese countryside clearer. That said, I can't say I really cared for it from a story standpoint. 5/10

Cat People (Paul Schrader, 1982)

My fourth week (and thus fourth entry) in my look at the films of Paul Schrader. I'm glad that I watched this next to his Exorcist film, as I think both suffer from a similar problem... Paul Schrader doesn't really "get" horror. Neither film is particularly frightening and both feel like they would alienate some fans of the genre with their expectations for what they're getting from a plot description vs. what they actually get. Of the two, I think this is the better film. The transformation sequence in this is pretty good, it's much more entertaining all around and I found it significantly better paced. That said, of the Schrader films I've seen this feel the least like his work. It's missing the alienated angry feel I've come to expect from him. There's hints of it here, but it's very much like he's trying to make a more mainstream film... which is a bit of a shame as horror really feels like if he would embrace the genre a bit more, a good area for his pet themes to run amok and really disturb people. Still, it's a pretty entertaining movie and I could see myself revisiting it at some point. 7/10

The Phantom of the Convent (Fernando de Fuentes, 1934)

A charming classic 30s ghost story from Mexico involving a haunted convent, an adulterous pair and a book with some very bad ideas. It's a fun atmospheric watch with some very impressive camera work for the 1930s, and great horror atmosphere. A very pleasant surprise and a highly under seen gem of a film. 7/10

Everything Goes Wrong (Seijun Suzuki, 1960)

Many interconnecting lives where everything does indeed go wrong. This is easily one of the bleakest films (if not the bleakest) directed by Suzuki. He plays with editing a bit, but this is a very restrained film from him without his fun camera tricks, as he shows the downward spiral of several lives. I usually say there's a sense of fun to all of his films. Even if the subject matter is serious, he at least seems to be delighting in the chaos his characters go through. Not so much here. Instead he seems to be showing you how close everything is, with paths crossing and no one, no matter if they try or not, can improve anyone's situation. It's a good film, but not exactly the most enjoyable from the director. 7/10

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (Pedro Almodóvar, 1989)

Almodóvar makes an Alfred Hitchcock thriller (down to the score) done up as a comedy. I probably shouldn’t have liked this, especially as any way you describe the plot it comes off creepy and uncomfortable (and indeed it is!) but I found myself laughing and enjoying it far too much. 9/10

5 Centimeters per Second (Makoto Shinkai, 2007)

My third animated film by Makoto Shinkai. I really enjoyed both Your Name and Suzume, but I couldn’t fully get into this. The animation is beautiful (as to be expected) and I liked the first of the three segments a lot. The second one was alright. The third and shortest segment annoyed me. This is an hour of a guy who can’t get over a crush he had pre-high school and how he continues to sabotage his life because of it at different ages. I just found him insufferable after a point and lost a lot of my enjoyment. It’s getting as high of a rating as it is simply because of the animation and the fact that the first segment at least worked as a short film. 5/10

The Ipcress File (Sidney J. Furie, 1965)

A wonderful British spy film that's more noir than Bond. This isn't an action movie, but a more cerebral spy film, where one pays attention to words and how people act rather than who will throw the first punch. In many ways it reminded me of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but in a positive way. Interesting, when the first "fight" scene actually happens, it's filmed as if you're an observer hiding behind something. Peeking around the corner to see what happened, but to in no way be involved and to keep yourself at a distance. I loved this touch and the entire feel of the film. 8/10

Singapore Sling (Nikos Nikolaidis, 1990)

I fully get any rating this movie receives. 1 star? Yep, I get it. All the stars? Sure, sounds right to me. Singapore Sling is what happens when you take noir, horror, and the darkest of dark comedies, throw them in a blender and force feed the contents to the audience. This is boundary pushing cinema filled with scenes that burn into your eyeballs (incest, cannibalism, vomiting, mummification... all presented in an erotic way) and it’s enough to turn one’s stomach. It’s also beautifully shot in black and white. It’s crafted by an artist who may be trying to shock, but is also trying to create something beautiful. This is a good art house film meeting a bad horror movie and it’s fascinating. 9/10

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (John Hughes, 1986)

Ferris Bueller is a sociopathic parasite who doesn't care how many people's lives he ruins in order to have a day off. He's a monster and one of cinema's villains. The movie's pretty amusing though. 6/10

Late Night with the Devil (Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes, 2023)

Without a doubt the most impressive horror movie I’ve seen made in the 2020s thus far. This is the type of horror I want to see. Creative, different, fun and with a few good scares. Reminds me of the WNUF Halloween Special, but honestly executed better (though I love both movies). This is one I checked out on Shudder, but I hope will get a physical release sometime soon. It will likely join my October horror rotation from this point on. 9/10

Blood for Dracula (Paul Morrissey, 1974)

What a fascinating deconstruction of the Dracula story. From the opening scene, the count is portrayed as a sickly victim of his condition. He's shown applying makeup and dying his hair to look even remotely like a living person. He's confined to a wheelchair most of the movie, and instead of being the suave seducer, he's desperate to find anyone. Without spoilers, the final scene may be the most fascinating ending as it's so different from the usual final confrontation. It's also a dark comedy with a lot of camp. This may distract some people from the very interesting points its trying to make, but honestly without those touches of humor this one would practically be unbearable as it's so melancholy. All in all, this is a very interesting take on Dracula. I wasn't a big fan of Flesh for Frankenstein when I watched it, but this one I really enjoyed. 8/10

The Fort of Death (Eiichi Kudô, 1969)

Sequel to Killer’s Mission (which I watched last month) is honestly a more enjoyable movie. The action scenes are better, the plot’s better and all around it’s just a more enjoyable experience. 8/10