My Week in Movies: April 26 - May 2
May. 3rd, 2020 01:13 pmThis is more like it! Lots of films watched this week. I also finished God of War PS4 (except for the side quests, which I don't think I'll go back for).
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
Shaft (1971)
Un flic (1972)
The House That Dripped Blood (1971) w/![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sol_se
The Devil and Miss Jones, not to be confused with a similarly-titled film from the 1970s, is basically an extended comic episode of Undercover Boss, if the boss went undercover to bust unions. However, he soon learns the value of his employees and it's all very heartwarming. I had my usual issues watching a film where deception is the primary thrust of the storyline.
RKO made an attempt to make their own The Thin Man with The Ex-Mrs. Bradford, bringing in William Powell and matching him with Jean Arthur as his goofy ex-wife. Powell character is drawn into a murder mystery to the delight of Arthur, who tries to help and mostly muddles. The leads don't have the same Nick and Nora chemistry, unfortunately, and the mystery itself is something of a cludgy mess.
I watched My Dinner with Andre to better appreciate the Community episode that homages it. It's a really great film. You'd think two guys talking in a restaurant would be anathema to my ADHD, but my mind only wandered once or twice and it didn't really matter. That's not the point. You get drawn in by these conversations that are full of vivid imagery and startling revelations, revelations that may or may not have actual substance. But what is substance? ...and you can go on from there.
Shaft is a lot of fun and really earns its place as one of the crown jewels of blaxploitation.
I had previously enjoyed other Jean-Pierre Melville crime films, so Un flic was a no-brainer. It's about two parallel stories -- a police commisar going through his daily toil and a thief planning an elaborate heist. The two stories are joined because both men are involved with Catherine Deneuve, who can be read as acting as a proxy for their mutual attraction.
sol_se and I are coming down to the last few of our remote Saturday night movie dates. Pretty soon they'll be unnecessary because she'll be here in LA. I'm very excited to watch movies any day of the week in person. As selections go for these last few dates, The House That Dripped Blood was actually a last-minute replacement for Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, which slipped off of free Prime viewing unexpectedly. THTDB is an Amicus anthology, comprising four stories all roughly related to the eponymous house (which never drips blood). It features great lead performances from Denholm Elliott, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Jon Pertwee. It ended up being a lot of fun.
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
Shaft (1971)
Un flic (1972)
The House That Dripped Blood (1971) w/
sol_se The Devil and Miss Jones, not to be confused with a similarly-titled film from the 1970s, is basically an extended comic episode of Undercover Boss, if the boss went undercover to bust unions. However, he soon learns the value of his employees and it's all very heartwarming. I had my usual issues watching a film where deception is the primary thrust of the storyline.
RKO made an attempt to make their own The Thin Man with The Ex-Mrs. Bradford, bringing in William Powell and matching him with Jean Arthur as his goofy ex-wife. Powell character is drawn into a murder mystery to the delight of Arthur, who tries to help and mostly muddles. The leads don't have the same Nick and Nora chemistry, unfortunately, and the mystery itself is something of a cludgy mess.
I watched My Dinner with Andre to better appreciate the Community episode that homages it. It's a really great film. You'd think two guys talking in a restaurant would be anathema to my ADHD, but my mind only wandered once or twice and it didn't really matter. That's not the point. You get drawn in by these conversations that are full of vivid imagery and startling revelations, revelations that may or may not have actual substance. But what is substance? ...and you can go on from there.
Shaft is a lot of fun and really earns its place as one of the crown jewels of blaxploitation.
I had previously enjoyed other Jean-Pierre Melville crime films, so Un flic was a no-brainer. It's about two parallel stories -- a police commisar going through his daily toil and a thief planning an elaborate heist. The two stories are joined because both men are involved with Catherine Deneuve, who can be read as acting as a proxy for their mutual attraction.
sol_se and I are coming down to the last few of our remote Saturday night movie dates. Pretty soon they'll be unnecessary because she'll be here in LA. I'm very excited to watch movies any day of the week in person. As selections go for these last few dates, The House That Dripped Blood was actually a last-minute replacement for Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, which slipped off of free Prime viewing unexpectedly. THTDB is an Amicus anthology, comprising four stories all roughly related to the eponymous house (which never drips blood). It features great lead performances from Denholm Elliott, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Jon Pertwee. It ended up being a lot of fun.
