I’m
experimenting with this idea of short one-line reviews without the babbling on
and spoiling the movie for those who haven’t seen it yet. This list is just a
sample of some of my favourite films, some I’ve known all my life and others
I’ve discovered on disc. They are in purely random order, and I do not use any
ratings system, so if I tell you I think that it’s great and you don’t think
so, you can’t blame me for it. There
aren’t too many that have been released in the last five years or so, so if
you’re looking for new releases, this list will be of no use to you whatsoever.
I don’t believe in preaching to the converted, so if you know what I’m talking
about, then you’ll just know it. If you don’t know, then watch the movie and
find out.
Repulsion Catherine Deneuve goes
crazy in front of Roman Polanski. Excellent film to watch again.
In a Lonely Place
Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame are two star-crossed lovers who could never make
it last. Film noir with a bit of heart.
Night
of the Hunter Robert Mitchum plays a suspect preacher, after the money that’s been left to two children
in a toy doll. Not for the faint
hearted.
Duck
Soup Supreme political satire of dictators, government and
pomposity. No wonder everyone loves it.
Get
Carter Grimy,
depressing, crass and totally engrossing. A great crime film and totally unrelenting in its violence.
Species
Improving
with age, witty take on the alien genre. Sexy girl alien after a mate, and
chased down before she decimates humanity.
Strangers
on a Train Sly undertones as Robert Walker plays a nutjob
trying to lord it over Farley Granger. A pair of hopeless romantics.
Chinatown
A
chinese puzzle, for the audience and Jack Nicholson, with Faye Dunaway’s flawed
iris thrown in.
The
Ghost and Mrs Muir A
beauty from the classic era, haunting Herrmann score, beautiful photography and
appealing Gene Tierney.
Escape
from New York You can’t beat the original, why this
worked is because Carpenter loves what he’s doing. He’s a good storyteller who provides audience with
interesting characters. In any genre.
Days
of Wine and Roses Glum and downbeat, played to the hilt
by Lemmon and Remick, but somewhat empty at its core, as if director had no
other ideas.
Gaslight
Old
fashioned melodrama as Ingrid Bergman is driven to distraction by her shady
husband in his pursuit of her dead Aunty’s jewels. Creepy and effective.
The
Relic Interesting
combination of voodoo and body horror, but derivative and not very well cast in
the lead roles.
The
Unforgiven (1960) A
Freudian melodrama about miscegenation in the wild west. John Huston
goes moody and it kind of works on its own modest level.
The
Conversation Classic 70s cinema about politics,
paranoia and the main character’s obsession with privacy. Innovative sound and
a thrilling plot keeps us on our toes.
A
Heart in Winter A thwarted love affair between a
violinist and her violin maker. Sexy yet not provocative; haunting yet
commonplace; contemplative yet interesting.
 |
| A number of shocking moments |
Dressed
to Kill One of de Palma’s better films, owes a
lot to Psycho but steals in style, and the story is better than critics would
have you believe.
East
of Eden I have always found this a bit
stilted, and not at all the classic a lot of people claim it to be. But it
grows on you I guess and James Dean has great presence.
Possession
A travesty of the 900 page book, but what do you
want anyway? The 19th century lovers go at it hammer and tongs and
make Paltrow and Eckhart look anaemic.
French
Connection Classic 70s cinema, great car chase,
so good you forget how good it is. Hope to see again.
Near
Dark A vampire western, sans the gothic clichés. Lance
Henricksen looks like he needs a good feed. (Which he gets.)
Sid
and Nancy Excellent examination of Sid Vicious
and Nancy Spungen’s life together before their deaths.
Hombre
A
great cast do justice to interesting Western, with beautiful backdrops and
racial sub-text.
Mississippi
Burning Racial prejudice in the south;
beautifully angry and hasn’t dated one iota.
Eye
of the Needle Spy film set on a windswept island
with romance and suspense. Old fashioned but fun to watch.
Lone
Star A soap opera set in Texas with a
complicated plot and a very hot love scene later on.
Andersonville
Quasi documentary about prisoners in
Andersonville who endured more than was their lot as the Civil War was ending.
Harrowing.
California
Suite Filmed Neil Simon
play about life in a hotel in Los Angeles. Three stories cobbled together but
amusing and observant with good perfs.
 |
| Darren MacGavin in his funny hat |
The
Verdict One of Paul Newman’s great
performances in his mature years as an alcoholic lawyer with one last case left
to redeem himself. Strangely religious and gratifying.
The
Exorcist III Effectively
hammy, but loyal to the original material, with George C Scott in top form
telling Ed Flanders about a carp in his bathtub.
The
Seventh Sign A good apocalyptic entry, about a
woman who believes her unborn child will be the last child before the end of
the world. Who will believe her? Me.
Funny
Face Classic Audrey Hepburn as a plain bookstore clerk is swept
away to Paris to become a model. Every girl’s dream! Beautiful Gershwin songs
make this special.
Drugstore Cowboy Gus
van Sant directs. Quirky, funny, about life on the edge with four prescription drug thieves trying to
survive onto their next high. Gets religious by the end.
The
Godfather Canonised 70s entry, violent, family
oriented, Italians out of the mainstream, mafia hitmen buying canoli for their
wives and lots of mayhem. A good show.
Blackadder
Great
Brit comedy series about a cunning public servant surviving the Elizabethan and
Regency periods by sucking up to the upper classes. Hilarious and droll.
 |
| Ronald Reagan liked this film |
Equus
A great play is transformed seemingly intact about a disturbed adolescent with
a religious obsession for horses. He must conform or sink. Richard Burton helps
out.
Carrington
A tragic
relationship ensues between a woman artist and English writer Lytton Strachey.
A wonderful sense of period, this is excellent.
Wolf
This is less tedious than it deserves to be.
Nicholson gets bitten by wolf and transforms from a beast of a man into a
decent law abiding wolf. Pfeiffer goes along for ride.
Reversal
of Fortune Plenty of flashbacks but a good examination of guilt and innocence as
audience ponders whether Claus Von Bulow fluffed murdering his wife not once,
but twice.
Reds
A
hagiography of American communist John Reed as interpreted by Warren Beatty.
Not bad, but too much emphasis on romance at the expense of politics. Good
anyway.
Barry
Lyndon Seventh
heaven cinema. Redmond Barry’s trials
and tribulations will keep you on the edge of your seat for its extended
running time.
Little
Big Man A thinking man’s Forest Gump in the
wild west told from the Indian’s point of view. Classic 70s cinema.
The
39 Steps Another
early Hitchcock with Robert Donat caught up in a deadly spy ring. Great ride.
 |
| Whatever is is, I'm against it |
The
Third Man Rainy streets, grimy sewers, Vienna
was a bad place to be in 1947. A zither
and Orson Welles round it off.
Don’t
Look Now Some of us can’t look but you should
look at this. Things are not as they seem. Or maybe they are.
Frankenstein
(1931) Karloff’s outstanding performance is a good selling point
for this classic horror entry. Still disturbing.
Altered
States Mad scientist experiments with brain, changes into monkey,
almost loses his wife. Not as dumb as it sounds.
King
Kong (1976) A remake dumber than the original
but beautiful scenery and the romantic point is made obvious by end
Elephant
Man A mainstream David Lynch film based on true story of
civilised circus freak and his desire for acceptance.
Bridge
on the River Kwai If war isn’t mad, then at least it’s
silly. Guiness an obsessed martinet and
a sweaty Holden. Great.
The
Invisible Man HG
Wells allegory about a scientist taking over the world so he can give it to his
girlfriend. Hmm.
Taxi
Driver Brilliant, disturbing, but is it also
pointless. De Niro goes on rampage and we all go ‘hurrah’. Don’t know anymore.
 |
| He's doing it for Flora. True. |
Naked
Lunch Respectable rendering of classic novel, plenty of gory
effects but true to Burroughs vision. Writer’s block is not a pleasant
experience, so just keep on writing.
Lifeboat
Unsung Hitchcock, terrific character study, if
a bit talky. Some get to stay on board, others get tossed over. See if you can
guess which ones.
Pretty
Poison This sweet young girl hates her mother
and finagles her impressionable boyfriend to get rid of her. Funny but not in
the right way, which makes it interesting.
The
Bedford Incident Another apocalyptic scenario as a mad
naval captain plays cat and mouse with a Russian submarine in the Artic. Scary
but somehow seems inevitable.
Rebel
Without a Cause James Dean’s moment of glory, garish
in wide screen, larger than life but somehow touching amidst the conventional
melodrama.
American
Graffiti Ensemble
cast of nobodies who became somebodies is a good enough reason to watch this.
Although it’s engaging with plenty of the great
songs that were recorded before the Beatles hit.
White
Heat James Cagney goes crazy in the clink. Breaks out and
causes more mayhem. His ma’s been murdered and all hell breaks loose. Classic
noir and vintage Cagney.
Ordinary People Redford
beat Scorcese for Best Director Oscar with this. Tyler Moore is a terrible
mother. Hutton a neglected child. Sutherland a neglected husband. Bring on
therapy.
The
Hit Terence Stamp pleads for his life as a pair of henchmen
make their way through the Spanish desert and attempt to assassinate him.
Existential and essential gangster fare.
Pulp
Another
one of those ‘is it fiction or real life’ scenarios. By the time it’s over you
won’t care, as long as everyone gets out alive. A Michael Caine triumph.
 |
| James Dean looking hurt in 'East of Eden' |
Lust
for Life A biography of Van Gogh. Douglas is
neurotic, misunderstood and plain grumpy. The paintings look beautiful but as
biography…well.. you decide.
Bride
of Frankenstein Iconic gay horror directed by James
Whale. Perhaps a little over-rated by the Hollywood boys but nonetheless
compelling with a female monster and no Igor.
Lady
Caroline Lamb The love affair between Byron and said
Lamb. Melodramatic, beautiful to look at, a wonderful evocation of 19th
century Europe. But that’s all.
The Night Strangler/Stalker When
TV shows had a reason for being. McGavin as indefatigable journalist
investigating the paranormal and in trouble with his superiors. Fun and
subversive.
Memento
Have to watch it backwards to make any sense, compelling nonetheless. Loss of
memory causes problems, but does that make audience delusional?
The
Man Who Knew Too Much Is such a thing possible. Apparently,
yes.
 |
| The best zombie movie ever. |
Night
of the Living Dead We
aren’t dead yet but we deserve to be. The Vietnam war is blamed for
practically everything including the zombiefication of Americans. Pity they
can’t hit back.
White
Zombie Lugosi
carries on as a magician in Caribbean who helps a man possess a woman he can
neve have. Moody and atmospheric.
The
Time Machine George
Pal without the puppets as Rod Taylor attempts to socially engineer a group of
helpless natives into believing they’re British. What else is new
The
Great Gatsby A deluded millionaire attempts to
salvage an affair that died long ago. Money is blamed and everyone gets hurt.
Lots of Charleston dancing.
Eyes Without a Face Mad
French scientist experiments on his daughter. Crazy but easy to take.
Like strychnine.
The Damned A rich German family coping with the Nazi’s
rise to power. Not very enlightening. Nice uniforms.
On the Beach Melbourne as the last civilized place on
earth. Great cast, dour but appropriately so for a movie about the end of the
world.
The
Lady from Shanghai Misanthropic noir as Welles tries to get a
handle on his Irish accent. Hayworth looks gorgeous and has a horrible husband.
Nixon
Hopkins
is miscast in title role but there are many other actors playing real-life
characters who are stupendous. Stone’s somewhat personal vision of his bete
noir, but arresting nonetheless.
Cassandra
Crossing An all star cast liven up this disaster
movie about an infectious disease breakout on a train for rich people. Harris
and Loren make proceedings interesting.
 |
| A pensive Bogart pondering the infinite |
Jagged
Edge Jeff Bridges is creepy as a man suspected of killing his
wife, and has the good fortune to have his defence lawyer fall in love with
him. Ludicrous but somehow believable.
Still
of the Night A great role for Meryl Streep as a strange
girl who may know more than what she thinks she does. Psychiatrist Scheider
investigates.
Dead
Zone Walken is haunted as a medium who believes he can change
the course of history. A cautionary handbook for all those people out there who
think they can predict the future.
Midnight
Express Life in a Turkish prison. Lots of
hurla burla and a real life story replaced by a load of bunkum that never
actually happened. Good Mroder score and potent.
Mary
Reilly Julia Roberts is very good in title role, as
the maid of Dr Jekyll who falls for her,
as does his alter ego, Mr. Hyde. She is won by neither.
JFK
This
is exciting stuff with great cast, terrific detective work, terrifically edited
and photographed. Except for the melodramatic and unnecessary family scenes
this gets the highest recommendation.
Yes,
Minister Jim Hacker is a hapless minister
utterly dependent on his head public servant Humphrey Appleby, even though he
doesn’t know it. Hilarious and droll and still prescient.
 |
| Whicha one is winnin', preacher? |
Phantom
of the Opera Lon Chaney pleads with Mary Philbin
not to tear off his mask. But what does she do? Oh dear….Massive makeup job
done by Chaney himself. Very tasty.
Absence
of Malice A silly young slip of a girl thinks
she’s a journalist and gets Paul Newman into all kinds of trouble. When will
these feminists ever learn?
The
Way We Were Streisand is great and sings the title
song; Redford is a good actor and keeps up. Lots of politics surprisingly
enough but the romance is paramount and verrry sad.
True
Confessions This is a great unsung title. Duvall
and de Niro work great together playing brothers up to their armpits in the
death of the Black Dahlia. They learn to stick together.
Dr
Strangelove Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here. This is
the war room! Sellers has a least three roles, George C Scott has only one. I
think that’s unfair.
The
Stand A very long
television movie in four chapters but an excellent version by King himself.
Gary Sinise is handsome and heroic. Molly Ringwald adequate.
The
War Lover Little known Steve McQueen title with
Robert Wagner as his sidekick. They play pilots in the 2nd world war
who seem to be enjoying themselves. Unusual but profound.
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