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Michael Barker recommended The Killers (1964) in Movies (curated)

The Killers (1964)

1964 | Crime, Drama, Mystery

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"Ernest Hemingway’s superb eight-page short story is the jumping-off point and inspiration for these two essential and very different movies (Stacy Keach reads the story magnificently in one of the DVD extras). I don’t understand why more people don’t know the 1946 Siodmak film. For my money, this is not only the best noir movie of all time but is just about my favorite Hollywood drama from the 1940s. The complex narrative structure begins as a jumbled Rubik’s Cube, and, slowly but surely, each piece falls into its precise place by movie’s end (the stuff Quentin Tarantino’s dreams are made of). The moody atmosphere provided by Siodmak and his technicians is a marvel. The cinematic execution of a heist has never been better. Here marks the birth of two glorious stars: Burt Lancaster (a beautiful caged animal, all teeth) and Ava Gardner (wow). Paul Schrader’s seminal essay on film noir, as a DVD extra, is invaluable. For those of you who wonder why Siegel’s 1964 violent, stylish, quirkily entertaining B version (the first TV movie ever made) is on this list, I have two words for you: Lee Marvin. There has never been a star like him before or since. Words simply cannot do justice to the magic of this guy—the timbre of his voice, the calm, paranoid, roughneck danger in his physical moves. In a spectacular extra on this DVD, fellow actor Clu Gulager gives a very moving (and, one feels while watching it, very truthful) account of working with Marvin, Siegel, and Ronald Reagan (who hated the movie—yet another reason to see it!)."

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Kudos

Jonathan Donahue recommended The Little Prince in Books (curated)

"Back in the late '60s and early '70s, children's records were all the rage, with stars making cameo appearances. The Little Prince was no different. It featured Richard Burton in the role of the narrator in the audiobook. It had a who's who at the time as well, with big Hollywood names such as Jonathan Winters and a whole other bunch of people. The idea was that you'd read the book and along with it, you'd hear some sort of strange synthesiser. I got it for my birthday in 1974 when I was eight years old. It had one of those effects where the moment it was on the vocoder, I was paralysed, I stopped what I was doing - this I could vividly remember and I would sit down and listen. I literally started to pound tables to turn onto side two! The whole story is read out and the idea of a concept such as narration going over an orchestration or some sort of a continuous, linear soundtrack is something that stayed with me. It gave me the momentum to later on follow on with the idea of a concept record. Certainly a lot of our music has that fairy tale aspect to it and The Little Prince would have been one of the first influences - along with one or two others - that embedded in the DNA of Mercury Rev very early on. This is also probably my favourite book and after 40-45 years it still hits me. Try as I might to go in another direction sometimes, this musical aspect still comes out of me."

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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Painted Veil (2007) in Movies

Sep 20, 2020

The Painted Veil (2007)

2007 | Drama, Romance

8.0

(2 Ratings)

Movie Rating

If there's one thing John Curran excels at more than anything, it's evoking emotionally gut-wrenching performances out of his actors over a gorgeous backdrop & score to deliver not-great-not-awful dialogue for a potentially stimulating premise that deserves more than just the okay execution he ends up giving it. An oddly specific trademark, now that I think about it. As decent a recreation of an Old Hollywood romance as the year 2006 probably could have offered, with as skilled and engrossing performers such as Watts and Norton (finnicky accent from the latter aside - they're tremendous) this is still more than watchable in spite of its lack of any nuanced bone in its body. Could have rated this even higher to tell the truth - it is quite sophisticated and well paced after all - though not only does it rush itself out the door in its final scenes, but the age-old "white people save misguided foreign nation" stuff really turns me off here. It's like it intentionally brushes off all its politics in favor of ensuring these two white people remain relatively happy. At one point the Mother Superior gives an entire lecture about how Watts saving her own ass and finding her husband is more important religiously than staying and helping all of the deathly ill Chinese people and the horribly undermanned staff overseeing them. Not the only time it does something like that either, but for what it's worth this does it much less aggressively than other films like it, I guess? Wouldn't watch it again but I liked it, it is what it is.

Kudos

Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated M (Movie) (1931) in Movies

Jan 28, 2021

The maestro of dark shadows, Fritz Lang already had 14 feature films under his belt by 1931, including the much loved and much borrowed from Metropolis in 1927. It is said that he was such a slave driver with cast and crew alike that he had very few friends and was detested as a man. His work spoke for itself, however, and was always miles ahead of anything happening at the same time in Hollywood. Take the dark, sinister and serious M as an example. It tackles the subject of child abduction and murder, homelessness, crime in general and the punishment of a mob – subjects American cinema would never have touched in 1931, let alone done with such an exquisite non- melodramatic feel.

Peter Lorre as the killer compelled by his own weakness and madness gives an unfeasably nuanced performance for the era also. He is mesmerically creepy and unforgettable. Images and motifs (such as the whistle that indicates the murderer is lurking) abound, creating a landscape of pure mood and disease. As a morality tale it touches on issues of vigilantism and true justice that still has some relevance today. It also works as an entertaining thriller, and there wasn’t a minute I felt bored or distracted. The only jarring element are the scenes where Lang cuts the sound entirely to create tension and focus – they feel like technical mistakes, not deliberate choices. Otherwise, I could not have been more impressed and pleasantly surprised by this Euro classic for all time. If I were making a list of the best films ever made that disregarded the limitations of the age, then M would definitely make the cut.

Kudos

Tim McGuire (301 KP) rated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) in Movies

Aug 19, 2019

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

2019 | Crime, Drama, Thriller

7.4

(64 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Brad drives while Leo coughs: The Movie.

350. Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood. A movie that answers the big questions like: What is Brad Pitt's driving skills like? Or, what does Leonardo Dicaprio look like hacking up a lung? They will be answered because a large portion of this three hour long movie is dedicated to just that. Brad Pitt driving by himself listening to the popular tunes of the late 60's, Brad Pitt driving Leo around while Leo hacks up a lung from smoking and drinking, and Brad Pitt driving while flirting with one of the Manson girls he just happens to keep running into... OK with that out of the way, its a really cool movie, cool concept and of course great acting, writing and directing. Has the Tarantino signature, multiple separate storylines coming into one explosive finale... Basically its the story of a down on his luck actor, Rick Dalton, and his stunt double/bestie, Cliff Booth, and as I said earlier, Cliff drives a lot because his bestie Rick has racked up quite a few DUI's so... and at the same time... we have Rick's new neighbors on Cielo Drive, the Polanski's, Sharon Tate coming into her own stardom and enjoying life, and we also have Cliff's solo driving adventures where he picks up a Manson girl hitching and meets the rest of the family on the ranch, all leading up to the events of August 9, 1969. A pretty sweet ride, I think its the least violent of all Tarantino's movies, but don't worry there's a bit of bloodiness thrown in to make you say, 'there it is'! Filmbufftim on FB