The Last Film You Watched

I also saw Maestro the other day at the Barbican but wasn't overly impressed. It seemed very choppy - like a montage of clips that didn't flow together very well and left me trying to join the dots (with the emphasis on trying, as I'm not overly familiar with Bernstein's life and work). So 2 1/2 stars from me.

Scarface (1983) ****

Films directed by Brian de Palma are often a guilty pleasure of mine, but this one is actually good and there is no shame in admiring its qualities, thanks in no small measure to the screenplay from Oliver Stone.

I had not seen Scarface since its initial 1983 opening, and I was surprised at how little I remembered watching the 40th anniversary re-release. The clever updating of the 1932 version -- co-director Howard Hawks and co-writer Ben Hecht are thanked in the 1983 credits -- resets the action to contemporary Miami and concerns Cuban rather than Italian-American mobsters.

Surprisingly, only two actors of Cuban heritage feature. Al Pacino is not one, but nevertheless pulls off the lead role of Tony Montana with astonishing realism in a powerhouse performance. That he and the movie were unforgivably overlooked by Oscar, demonstrates how political those awards have ever been.

Montana's belief that "the world is yours" if only you are ruthless enough to take it, sees his rise from commie-hating Cuban exile to capitalist-loathing drugs warlord. It's the American Dream writ large, and the set-piece finale is iconic.

While the influence of the earlier Godfathers cannot be ignored, de Palma's contribution stylistically, a heady mix of profanity, uber-violence and hedonistic drug culture set to an 80s Giorgio Moroder disco/synth-pop soundtrack, arguably had the greater impact in shaping the output of Tarantino and others.

Such a pleasure to re-evaluate this classic on the silver screen, and so good to see it being very well attended at my local Odeon.

There's Something in the Barn ****

After November's Thanksgiving forensically took the mickey out of one American holiday, hot on its tails is another comedy/horror in There's Something in the Barn, and this time the target is Christmas.

It is to snow-covered rural Norway that an American family relocate, unaware of what lurks in their barn, and the biggest clue to subsequent events is the credits disclaimer "No elves or animals were harmed in the making of this film".

The style is pure Gremlins -- and also uses Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on the soundtrack -- with a strong nod towards E.T. thrown in for good measure. The laughs and the (fairly gentle) horror land well. This is good, escapist fun, and perfect as dark, seasonal entertainment right now.

David And Lisa (1962) - ***

A curious little drama, a treatment facility romance between a teen boy who thinks he will die if touched and a teen girl who has multiple personalities and can only speak in rhyme.

The setup is interesting, but I'm not entirely sure what the film is trying to say in the end, particularly with the outcome of Lisa's story. It's like a whole portion of her character development is left off screen which makes the arc feel kind of light. Potentially quite daring with its themes in the early 60s, but not quite as affecting as it wants to be on modern viewing.

Saw a preview of Sweet Sue today, which wasn't quite as good as I hoped, though held my interest. In a way I wish I hadn't read immediately beforehand that the director, Leo Leigh, was the son of Mike Leigh (& of course of Alison Steadman), as I couldn't help comparing the work of father and son and thinking throughout that Leigh junior had made a film exactly like Leigh senior's earlier ones, ie with some characters and scenes so quirky and bizarre as to border on the grotesque. Apparently also there had been a lot of improvisation on set, another Mike Leigh similarity.

Saw a sparsely-attended early evening preview of Priscilla yesterday and it wasn't at all what I expected. It may have been historically accurate but I was left wondering why Sofia Coppola had bothered to make it - and being even more convinced that she's not all she's cracked up to be as a director. As I was leaving, a man following me out remarked "Well, that's the most depressing film I've seen in a while" and though I wouldn't go that far, it certainly took a progressively downbeat note, then petered out. I'm not sure I'd have bothered to see it had I waited for the reviews, so will be interested to see what they say.

Where is this available to watch Mkb? I’ve heard lots of good stuff!

Saw Godzilla Minus One on Friday and I can't recommend it highly enough. An almost perfect combination of emotional human story and action with a wonderful score puts it right up there as one of my films of the year.

I just wish there hadn't been three young children sat behind me, as they kept talking and getting up mid film.

Just back from a preview of The Holdovers. What a lovely movie with some great performances. Such a shame that it wasn't released a little earlier as with its Christmas setting that would seem appropriate. There were five in our party - aged from 22 to 61 and we all really enjoyed it. For those of us old enough to remember, the period details are spot on. Highly recommend.

showgirl Yes we saw it at our local Picturehouse which, luckily for us, is less than a ten minute walk from our house and which I regard as an extension of our front room (albeit with less comfy seats!).I think the Picturehouse may have shot itself in the foot with this one. There may have been twenty people at the screening. Whereas the Boy and the Heron preview a couple of weeks ago (similarly priced at - expensive - Kia preview prices) was very well attended. We worry a lot about losing our Picturehouse especially as we have a large Vue also within walking distance and are promised an Everyman next year. I don't understand the economics of how they are running it (although it is let out a fair bit to local evangelical churches) but we treasure it while we have it.

I saw Ferrari yesterday and found that not only was I not looking forward to it that much - I had deliberately booked a late AM performance due both to the length & relatively serious subject - but also that I really didn't enjoy the actual experience a lot, either. For me it followed soon after Priscilla (gaslighting, grooming, manipulation, objectification of women), the start of which was set only a few years later, so to see so soon another film in which women were either bitter and vengeful or confined to the sidelines, wringing their hands, whilst the men did most of the talking and decision-making was depressing, even if authentic. What did however feel jarringly anachronistic and false was that though the dialogue was in English, all the characters (apart from a few who were genuinely English-speakers) were forced to speak in fake Italian accents. Really? I thought things had moved on from this, even if the era depicted was bound to seem very different and in some ways barbaric when compared to current thinking.