A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019): Tom Hanks is arguably the best choice for the role, and Matthew Rhys (which I was not familiar with before this) is a great choice as the brooding journalist. Plus, we get Chris Cooper as the dick dad, and that's always a treat. It's a good and touching movie. That scene in the dad's home... I think I have something in my eyes...
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007): This movie is funny. Though, I don't recommend watching the Extended Cut if you haven't seen the Theatrical Cut before. Not that it's bad, but a lot of scenes don't add anything and feels way longer.
My Old Ass (2024): With a title like that, you'd expect some kind of raunchy comedy, but it's not that. What you get is a classic, sweet coming-of-age-girl-meet-boy story about a teenager looking for answers. Honestly, you almost don't need the Aubrey Plaza part, and most of the movie is without her, so it appears the writer knew it. I guess her presence help selling the movie, especially with the Marvel show she did.
The Wolverine (2013): Still great, if a bit imperfect. I'm sure everybody forgot this existed in favor of Logan (which is a far better movie). But The Wolverine ran (Origin walked first, but we don't that about that one) so Logan could sprint to the finish, just to have its legacy diluted with Deadpool & Wolverine. But that's another conversation.
The large number of watches this week was motivated by the imminent replacement of the DVR box. (Maybe I need some distraction from the news, too.) I went through as many recordings on there as I could. Fortunately, there are many films on the DVR that fit the Noirvember theme. I also recorded a few more noir things during the week. Niagara was the only watch not recorded. Deprisa, Deprisa is the only watch outside of Noirvember.
I WALK ALONE (1947, dir. Byron Haskin) – Despite a notable film noir cast, there was something about the story that did not click with me. Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster are former bootleggers whose lives have taken different directions. Lancaster has spent many years in prison on account of their activities and believes he is owed something for it. Douglas, who has created a thriving New York City night club, is not in agreement with that. Trouble is bound to happen.
VICKI (1953, dir. Harry Horner) – This remake of a 1941 film, I Wake Up Screaming, is a watchable film noir, nothing more. With so much of the plot revolving around a dull lead actor, the energy of the film gets sluggish a little too often.
NIAGARA (1953, dir. Henry Hathaway) – A very entertaining thriller. Marilyn Monroe, in a breakthrough role, and Joseph Cotton are an unhappy couple vacationing at Niagara Falls. The visit ends in murder. Though shot in bright Technicolor, the noir cinematography of high contrast lighting and shadows is present throughout the film.
THE HOUSE ON 92nd STREET (1945, dir. Henry Hathaway) – An American working as a double agent exposes German espionage in the United States during WWII. At times a propaganda film to glorify the F.B.I., the didactic storyline drains the entertainment value of the film. The assertion at the conclusion that no wartime secrets were stolen by enemy agents was proven false with the Soviet espionage that took place within the Manhattan Project.
INSOMNIA (1997) – A Norwegian neo-noir about a policeman investigating a murder during summer above the Arctic Circle. Skellen Skarsgard is terrific as the Swedish-born cop sent north. Having to deal with the 24-hour daylight drives him crazy at bed time, or it may just be the bad things he has done that keep him awake. Insomnia is a bleak and subtle film that had me going back to scenes to figure out details.
CRY OF THE CITY (1948, dir. Robert Siodmak) – A film noir that I watched part of many years ago now. Seeing it all the way through reinforces my appreciation of this gritty crime drama. Richard Conte is great in the role of a hoodlum who has just killed a policeman and is recovering from several bullet wounds in his leg. It definitely is not an ideal predicament for a man trying to hide out in New York City.
DEPRISA, DEPRISA (1981, dir. Carlos Saura) – A neo-realist style crime drama about a youthful gang of robbers operating around Madrid. When a young woman becomes the girlfriend of one of the gang members, she gets drawn into their increasingly violent crimes. The charm of the film is that it follows the characters in their own worlds. Coming from nothing, they are hardened by their experiences and see crime as a way to have a better life. There is no judgment in their portrayals. It is very Spanish, with frequent references to the culture and history of the country.
Lets say you take Chainsaw and Dave from Summer School and tell them to hook up with Dead Alive era Peter Jackson, partner up with GWAR, seek inspiration from Riki-Oh:The Story of Riky, and together make a wierd and gory movie. Whatever they came up with would likely be 25% as wierd/gory as this flick is. This flick is BONKERS. Its almost more a collection of "how can we get more twisted and off putting" scenes. Only for fans of ultra-gore but if you are, i guarantee you've never seen a single movie like it.
Attempting to making the family feel better this weekend by watching not one but TWO F This Movie Fest marathons!
Today’s Line-Up: 2014’s Marathon - The Movies of 1985 - Noon: Pee Wee’s Big Adventure - 2:00: Commando - 4:00: Explorers - 6:15: Goonies - 8:30 Back to the Future
Adding a Bonus Late-Night Horror Double - 11:00: A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge - 12:30: Friday the 13th Part 5: A New Beginning
Hey everyone! Just a quick note that I — and by the looks of it, a lot of folks — have moved my social media presence over to BlueSky. You’re all welcome to join me for Anna Kendrick-related rants at robdicristino.bluesky.social.
I noticed that my former Twitter handle has already been reappropriated by a bot, so please disregard anything you see from that account.
INSIDE OUT 2 (2024) I don't know. This has nice visuals and some good laughs, but a lot of it feels like, "Here's everything from the first movie... again!" A real case of sequel-itis.
STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (1999) Meesa don't hate it.
PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (1974) Just astonishing that this movie got made, not to mention how hugely entertaining it is. Beef forever!
THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987) "Oh, you mean this gate key."
I rewatched all the Purge movies prior to the election because I was already feeling a bit fatalistic. Plus, the franchise is still kinda horror (and exploitation-like violence) so it worked like a post-Halloween nicotine patch. I still really like those movies I was streaming them to some friends through Discord (we do some movie nights every now and again) and one of them hadn't seen any of them, so that made for some fun commentary throughout.
Went into this very blind...a rare thing these days...expected it to be a disguise changing hit man a-la The Saint but with humor. Turned out to be a very different premise and a genre i dont typically gravitate towards...romantic comedy. In the end i had a lot of fun with it...it could maybe be trimmed down a smidge but its a fun breezy flick with some enjoyable (albiet predictable) pivots in the 3rd act. Worth a visit.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019): Tom Hanks is arguably the best choice for the role, and Matthew Rhys (which I was not familiar with before this) is a great choice as the brooding journalist. Plus, we get Chris Cooper as the dick dad, and that's always a treat. It's a good and touching movie. That scene in the dad's home... I think I have something in my eyes...
ReplyDeleteWalk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007): This movie is funny. Though, I don't recommend watching the Extended Cut if you haven't seen the Theatrical Cut before. Not that it's bad, but a lot of scenes don't add anything and feels way longer.
My Old Ass (2024): With a title like that, you'd expect some kind of raunchy comedy, but it's not that. What you get is a classic, sweet coming-of-age-girl-meet-boy story about a teenager looking for answers. Honestly, you almost don't need the Aubrey Plaza part, and most of the movie is without her, so it appears the writer knew it. I guess her presence help selling the movie, especially with the Marvel show she did.
The Wolverine (2013): Still great, if a bit imperfect. I'm sure everybody forgot this existed in favor of Logan (which is a far better movie). But The Wolverine ran (Origin walked first, but we don't that about that one) so Logan could sprint to the finish, just to have its legacy diluted with Deadpool & Wolverine. But that's another conversation.
Good weekend to everyone.
ReplyDeleteThe large number of watches this week was motivated by the imminent replacement of the DVR box. (Maybe I need some distraction from the news, too.) I went through as many recordings on there as I could. Fortunately, there are many films on the DVR that fit the Noirvember theme. I also recorded a few more noir things during the week. Niagara was the only watch not recorded. Deprisa, Deprisa is the only watch outside of Noirvember.
I WALK ALONE (1947, dir. Byron Haskin) – Despite a notable film noir cast, there was something about the story that did not click with me. Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster are former bootleggers whose lives have taken different directions. Lancaster has spent many years in prison on account of their activities and believes he is owed something for it. Douglas, who has created a thriving New York City night club, is not in agreement with that. Trouble is bound to happen.
VICKI (1953, dir. Harry Horner) – This remake of a 1941 film, I Wake Up Screaming, is a watchable film noir, nothing more. With so much of the plot revolving around a dull lead actor, the energy of the film gets sluggish a little too often.
NIAGARA (1953, dir. Henry Hathaway) – A very entertaining thriller. Marilyn Monroe, in a breakthrough role, and Joseph Cotton are an unhappy couple vacationing at Niagara Falls. The visit ends in murder. Though shot in bright Technicolor, the noir cinematography of high contrast lighting and shadows is present throughout the film.
THE HOUSE ON 92nd STREET (1945, dir. Henry Hathaway) – An American working as a double agent exposes German espionage in the United States during WWII. At times a propaganda film to glorify the F.B.I., the didactic storyline drains the entertainment value of the film. The assertion at the conclusion that no wartime secrets were stolen by enemy agents was proven false with the Soviet espionage that took place within the Manhattan Project.
INSOMNIA (1997) – A Norwegian neo-noir about a policeman investigating a murder during summer above the Arctic Circle. Skellen Skarsgard is terrific as the Swedish-born cop sent north. Having to deal with the 24-hour daylight drives him crazy at bed time, or it may just be the bad things he has done that keep him awake. Insomnia is a bleak and subtle film that had me going back to scenes to figure out details.
CRY OF THE CITY (1948, dir. Robert Siodmak) – A film noir that I watched part of many years ago now. Seeing it all the way through reinforces my appreciation of this gritty crime drama. Richard Conte is great in the role of a hoodlum who has just killed a policeman and is recovering from several bullet wounds in his leg. It definitely is not an ideal predicament for a man trying to hide out in New York City.
DEPRISA, DEPRISA (1981, dir. Carlos Saura) – A neo-realist style crime drama about a youthful gang of robbers operating around Madrid. When a young woman becomes the girlfriend of one of the gang members, she gets drawn into their increasingly violent crimes. The charm of the film is that it follows the characters in their own worlds. Coming from nothing, they are hardened by their experiences and see crime as a way to have a better life. There is no judgment in their portrayals. It is very Spanish, with frequent references to the culture and history of the country.
Howdy Y'all!
ReplyDeleteTokyo Gore Police (2008 shudder)
Lets say you take Chainsaw and Dave from Summer School and tell them to hook up with Dead Alive era Peter Jackson, partner up with GWAR, seek inspiration from Riki-Oh:The Story of Riky, and together make a wierd and gory movie. Whatever they came up with would likely be 25% as wierd/gory as this flick is. This flick is BONKERS. Its almost more a collection of "how can we get more twisted and off putting" scenes. Only for fans of ultra-gore but if you are, i guarantee you've never seen a single movie like it.
You had me at bonkers
DeleteAttempting to making the family feel better this weekend by watching not one but TWO F This Movie Fest marathons!
ReplyDeleteToday’s Line-Up:
2014’s Marathon - The Movies of 1985
- Noon: Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
- 2:00: Commando
- 4:00: Explorers
- 6:15: Goonies
- 8:30 Back to the Future
Adding a Bonus Late-Night Horror Double
- 11:00: A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
- 12:30: Friday the 13th Part 5: A New Beginning
wonderful idea....comfort movie food! phenom line ups.
DeleteHey everyone! Just a quick note that I — and by the looks of it, a lot of folks — have moved my social media presence over to BlueSky. You’re all welcome to join me for Anna Kendrick-related rants at robdicristino.bluesky.social.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that my former Twitter handle has already been reappropriated by a bot, so please disregard anything you see from that account.
Never heard of bluesky, but it's not twitter, so i might get it to follow you
DeleteCorrection, your page is
Deleterobdicristino.bsky.social
Thank you!
DeleteYeah, it was good to see you and some of the others show up, and for F This Movie to get an active feed over there now as well.
Deletegood call sir...thanks for the heads up....will hit ya up when i make the move.
DeleteINSIDE OUT 2 (2024)
ReplyDeleteI don't know. This has nice visuals and some good laughs, but a lot of it feels like, "Here's everything from the first movie... again!" A real case of sequel-itis.
STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (1999)
Meesa don't hate it.
PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (1974)
Just astonishing that this movie got made, not to mention how hugely entertaining it is. Beef forever!
THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)
"Oh, you mean this gate key."
I don't hate PHANTOM MENACE either. It's still my favorite of the prequels.
DeleteI rewatched all the Purge movies prior to the election because I was already feeling a bit fatalistic. Plus, the franchise is still kinda horror (and exploitation-like violence) so it worked like a post-Halloween nicotine patch. I still really like those movies I was streaming them to some friends through Discord (we do some movie nights every now and again) and one of them hadn't seen any of them, so that made for some fun commentary throughout.
ReplyDeleteHit Man (2023 Netflix)
ReplyDeleteWent into this very blind...a rare thing these days...expected it to be a disguise changing hit man a-la The Saint but with humor. Turned out to be a very different premise and a genre i dont typically gravitate towards...romantic comedy. In the end i had a lot of fun with it...it could maybe be trimmed down a smidge but its a fun breezy flick with some enjoyable (albiet predictable) pivots in the 3rd act. Worth a visit.