My Week in Movies: August 18 - 24
Aug. 25th, 2019 01:23 pmAn eclectic mix, most of which is from Criterion Channel.
Movies I've seen before are in italics.
The Four Musketeers (1974)
Night Nurse (1931)
New Tale of Zatoichi (1963)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Illicit (1931)
Jamaica Inn (1939)
Forbidden (1932)
Ladies of Leisure (1930)
Witchboard (1986) w/![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sol_se
Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
Most of the films in this list are from Criterion Channel's look at the pre-Code works of Barbara Stanwyck. I kind of love her. Her characters might make some terrible choices (especially in Forbidden, which is about a woman who basically sacrifices everything -- including her own child -- to prop up the career of her married lover), but she's always a winner. I believe, and I may be wrong, that Ladies of Leisure is the first time I ever saw a movie from 1930.
The Four Musketeers was as good as its predecessor, except that the same goofy comedic notes are maintained up until some brutal and tragic moments, which seem wildly out of place.
The Manchurian Candidate is great. Its reputation precedes it, of course, but luckily it wasn't a film that relied on twists to convey information. Everything was pretty plainly laid out, so I wasn't "spoiled." Angela Lansbury is magnificent. There's a weird scene in the middle where Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh speak in non sequitirs. I've seen reading of the scene that suppose that Leigh is also an agent of the Chinese-Russian conspiracy, which I don't not believe.
Jamaica Inn was Hitchcock's last British feature film until, I believe, Frenzy. It's also really hard to see as a Hitchcock film. With a few exceptions here and there, it's a workmanlike thriller with very little remarkable about it. It also drags on, which is impressive since the whole thing takes place over the course of just two days.
Witchboard is terrible and boring, but it has some slash potential. It completely lacks, oh what's that thing that horror films want... right, tension.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout was ridiculous fun the way that all of the M:I movies have been since the fourth. Like the Fast and the Furious, this is definitely a franchise that found its footing later in the game. There was one distracting element, in that the major helicopter chase scene was shot in IMAX at 1.78:1, while the rest of the film was, I believe, 2.35:1. The movie would sometimes switch back and forth quickly between the two. Pick one for the entire sequence, I say.
Movies I've seen before are in italics.
The Four Musketeers (1974)
Night Nurse (1931)
New Tale of Zatoichi (1963)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Illicit (1931)
Jamaica Inn (1939)
Forbidden (1932)
Ladies of Leisure (1930)
Witchboard (1986) w/
sol_se Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
Most of the films in this list are from Criterion Channel's look at the pre-Code works of Barbara Stanwyck. I kind of love her. Her characters might make some terrible choices (especially in Forbidden, which is about a woman who basically sacrifices everything -- including her own child -- to prop up the career of her married lover), but she's always a winner. I believe, and I may be wrong, that Ladies of Leisure is the first time I ever saw a movie from 1930.
The Four Musketeers was as good as its predecessor, except that the same goofy comedic notes are maintained up until some brutal and tragic moments, which seem wildly out of place.
The Manchurian Candidate is great. Its reputation precedes it, of course, but luckily it wasn't a film that relied on twists to convey information. Everything was pretty plainly laid out, so I wasn't "spoiled." Angela Lansbury is magnificent. There's a weird scene in the middle where Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh speak in non sequitirs. I've seen reading of the scene that suppose that Leigh is also an agent of the Chinese-Russian conspiracy, which I don't not believe.
Jamaica Inn was Hitchcock's last British feature film until, I believe, Frenzy. It's also really hard to see as a Hitchcock film. With a few exceptions here and there, it's a workmanlike thriller with very little remarkable about it. It also drags on, which is impressive since the whole thing takes place over the course of just two days.
Witchboard is terrible and boring, but it has some slash potential. It completely lacks, oh what's that thing that horror films want... right, tension.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout was ridiculous fun the way that all of the M:I movies have been since the fourth. Like the Fast and the Furious, this is definitely a franchise that found its footing later in the game. There was one distracting element, in that the major helicopter chase scene was shot in IMAX at 1.78:1, while the rest of the film was, I believe, 2.35:1. The movie would sometimes switch back and forth quickly between the two. Pick one for the entire sequence, I say.
