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Bought several Christie films in the Amazon sale, Taylor as well as other actors are random, it's interesting watch despite being dated.
Edited: Crikey Brosbond just appeared, did not realise he was in this film.
Some scenes are garbage
Brian De Palma directed this excellent film.
One of his madder films! It got savaged when it was released but its a cool film, even if it is a half arsed mash up of Rear Window and Vertigo.
There's never been another director like De Palma!
Quite liked it actually. Also clearly inspired by Dario Argento and Mario Bava giallo thrillers. Excellent Pino Donaggio score as well.
Think my all-time favourite though is Leone's For a Few Dollars More - never tire of watching that one!
Caligula (1979) dir (mostly) Tinto Brass. Full-on uncut version of controversial Roman epic. Not one to watch with your Grannie!
***
10. My Name Is Nobody (1973):
This semi-comedy of a Spaghetti Western stars two leading men who cemented their names in the world of cinema with utmost popularity and cult following. Terence Hill plays a mysterious but lighthearted figure of a character going by the moniker 'Nobody', a sobriquet often addressed to as a pun in a line during dialogues and conversations. The second protagonist whom Nobody looks up to is a "legendary bounty hunter" who made a name for himself as a quick-draw gunslinger and killed more bandits than one could think of, a middle-aged man called Jack Beauregard, played by the late great Henry Fonda.
The story revolves around Nobody following Beauregard around as the latter goes to hunt down a corrupt gold mine owner whose beneficiaries had the former's brother killed in a botched deal of business partnership. In the meantime, Beauregard wants to get out of the west and leave for Europe with the intention of having this life of bounty hunting and gunfights left behind, only to find Nobody in his way who indirectly insists that if he wants to go out, he has to go out in style, thus making Beauregard all the more cautious of him, despite finding him on his own side for the most part.
Hill's scenes play out in the jocular comedic tones that he was made popular with in the Italian cinema. He doesn't intend to harm anyone with edginess nor shows a rough side, despite his malicious stares telling the viewer sometimes of his existent dark side, making him a character not to fiddle with. A tone in his films I personally enjoyed over the years, thus making me a fan. Henry Fonda, on the other hand, plays a hero this time as opposed to his villainous character in Once Upon A Time In The West (1969), behaving more like himself as well as coming off halfway between a grandfatherly and uncle figure to those around him, often showing wisdom through his expressions and philosophical explanations. A rather enjoyable entry that I look forward to seeing again, sometime.
11. The Big Gundown (1966):
Fresh out of the set of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966), Lee Van Cleef takes on the role of a heroic protagonist again rather than his charismatic albeit terrifying villain he played in the aforementioned film. Playing a similar character to that of Henry Fonda's in My Name Is Nobody, a renowned middle aged gunslinger named Jonathan Corbett who is thinking about retiring from the bounty hunting game and run for senate, whose campaign is promised to be backed by Brokston (Walter Barnes), a railroad tycoon, as long as Corbett himself supports Brokston's plausible cause. Soon after the town is terrified by the news of a twelve year old girl being raped and murdered, a few witnesses claim that they saw a petty Mexican outlaw called Cuchillo (Tomas Milian) being responsible for which Corbett goes out to hunt him down and bring him to justice. As the game is afoot, Corbett finds out at leisurely pace that things are not as they seem, nor Cuchillo, who's smarter and craftier than he pretends to be, is actually behind the crime he was accused of.
The film is somewhat slow-paced, but does tend to get exciting every now and then as Lee Van Cleef dominates the whole picture, which is why he's my all-time favourite among all the actors who starred in Spaghetti Westerns. Tomas Milian, on the other hand, plays himself, or at least his screen self he's often known of embodying the templates he's given throughout his career, which is interesting for some, whereas I'm indifferent to him. The one actress however who steals some scenes is the beautiful Nieves Navarro, playing a rather ruthless queen bee of a figure with many armed goons of men on her payroll. A femme fatale if you will. Enjoyable experience overall, but not entirely recommended for the regular viewer. It's only for Spaghetti Western purists and completists.
12. Long Days of Vengeance (1967):
Made in a time when the westerns were being reinvigorated by the Italians, this one feels rather different from the rest of the Spaghetti Westerns, and does not rely on the formula of The Dollars Trilogy or the Django franchise, resembling the 1950s American made westerns with an Italian spin given to it, as well as the escapism forming large part of the movie's tone. Starring Giuliano Gemma as Ted Barnett, a man who was framed for the killing of his father and a Mexican General, he escapes imprisonment after three years of sentenced with working labor, travelling back to his hometown to find out the truth behind all the schemes that was planned against him.
According to a Spaghetti Western historian, Marco Giusti, the film is a loose adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, which furthermore resonates with me as that story happens to be one of my all time favourites. It's a typical Giuliano Gemma film that feels very much the same as most of the rest of his westerns, and he always brings a certain Italian charisma with him on the screen. As in The Big Gundown, the lovely Nieves Navarro makes yet another appearance, and this time in a more prominent role that helps Barnett unearth the truth and evidence against a decorated arms dealer who set him up in the first place. Then, there's the lovely actress Gabriella Giorgelli who plays a leading lady that's unlike the other women in spaghetti westerns in general, and she's definitely not a damsel in distress but a rebel of a girl who fights her assailants as much as she can without being defenseless. Armando Trovajoli's score elevates the film's value more so than the visuals of the screen, but then again, the film is yet to be remastered in full. The title describes the film perfectly as it does feel like long days of vengeance. A fairly watchable western that's recommended as a one-timer for the general audience.
"I'm not a miracle worker, I'm a janitor."
-George Clooney as the eponymous Michael Clayton
Michael Clayton is a slow burn legal thriller written and directed by Tony Gilroy of Jason Bourne franchise fame, with a heavyweight cast including George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson and Sydney Pollack who all play inside a finely crafted, paced and tight script. I remember hearing about this movie a decent amount upon its initial release where it may've even picked up some awards buzz, but since then I rarely hear it talked about, if at all. Which is a shame, considering that I find it to be worthy of much discussion and praise.
As far as legal thrillers go, Michael Clayton is a surprise. While the usual elements of a legal drama are there, including heavy court jargon, battling attorneys and scenes where the tenets of law are bent so far backward you think they'll break clean in half, this movie very much stands apart from those in the genre. For one, this is a legal film without any actual scenes in a court, as it is far more driven by the events outside the court and between the characters who are often warring with each other or at the very least constantly looking over their shoulders in a state of paranoia. But even more than anything else, this movie is far more lethal than your usual legal drama, which is where the thriller aspect comes in. Within the first ten minutes of the movie it becomes apparent that in Michael Clayton the characters have more to lose than a simple court case or their career reputations. Their lives are on the line too.
The special ingredients of this film are assuredly its tightness, mood and structure. There is no moment wasted in its storytelling, no indulges allowed, leaving behind a brilliantly paced film where literally every second has a purpose that advances the narrative and leaves you little room for a breather. The mood is at times ominous, at other periods deceitfully quiet, like the kind of quiet that can be the prelude to a sky shattering thunderstorm. One quickly gets conditioned to realize that these moments of silence are never as they appear, as there is always something sinister going on underneath the surface. The structure of the film is perhaps its most manipulative wonder, as the movie plays with the viewer's senses and perceptions from the beginning. The first ten to fifteen minutes of the movie are consciously and purposefully mysterious, aloof and obscure. A lot of dialogues and visuals are thrown at you out of sequence in the larger chronology of the narrative that you only get proper context for later on, the engaging result of any story that begins in medias res. Because of this structure, part of the fun in watching Michael Clayton for the first time is experiencing the sensation of the puzzle pieces slowly moving into place as the story progresses, where what once seemed so random and meaningless is anything but.
Beyond these film conventions, the cast is absolutely immaculate, and every performer plays so brilliantly off one another it becomes easy to forget you're watching a film. While Wilkinson is perhaps the biggest scene stealer, Clooney really impressed me as a quiet, introspective and troubled Clayton as he led the film on. Three years after this film Clooney would star in another movie of his I love, 2010's The American, a Eurospy film that is as ominous, reflective and quietly acted as this one. I always sensed that both films would make for a fitting Clooney double-bill, and my first watch of Clayton only enforces this earlier perception. In both films Clooney plays the role of a man working in a dirty and consequential business, nasty work each character does too well, meaning they are constantly drawn back into the fold by many outside forces. But there's always a sense of resentment for the work these characters feel, as Clooney plays both the hitman of The American and the fixer of Michael Clayton with a jaded and haunted sense of memory, men who always seem to have their hand on the doorknob below the EXIT sign. It quickly becomes a underlying theme of these stories to ask yourself, "How much can one man take?"
In Michael Clayton Clooney shows why he's a true star beyond his ownership of the Hollywood pre-requisites of charm and charisma; here he joins the legions of other actors like Cary Grant or Gregory Peck, showing a range that far exceeds his sex symbol status and more frivolous film roles that he's more widely known for. It's always nice to see him handed quieter scripts now and again that show his dramatic side, as opposed to more predictable Hollywood vehicles that rely far more on exaggerated performances than the more thoughtful and introspective fare here. It's always engaging to see Clooney play a scene with just his eyes, and I often find myself rewinding a few frames just to study his face in a voiceless scene, simply to get a feeling for the character he's crafting. He has a real knack for conveying the exhaustion and paranoia of his characters as well as the weight that can often pile up over their shoulders. This is especially relevant to the claustrophobic story of Michael Clayton, where the most engaging scenes are always those that set the fixer back and where forces outside his control box him in and have him clamoring for oxygen. The self-described janitor quickly gets handed a mess that even he may not be able to clean up.
For those that enjoy movies that gradually build to a crescendo and remain character driven from start to finish while playing with film conventions of mood, atmosphere and structure in a fine package, I think Michael Clayton would impress a good many here. I'm mostly thinking of folks like @bondjames, @Creasy47 and @ClarkDevlin, but the film has an espionage sort of mood that could apply to many kinds of Bond fans as well, especially those who enjoy the Craig and Dalton films. The movie feels like it could've been made in the 70s, sharing the same sort of identity as the best movies of that period, so it may also appeal to those like me who are nostalgic for the ways films used to be made. I think this is a movie I'll be coming back to many times in the future.
This version @chrisisall does actually feature 'strong real sex' as it says on the certificate notice. This includes: penetration, masturbation, fellatio, cunnilingus and a couple of ejaculations. Also plenty of violence and sexual violence.
Boy was that Caligula NUTS!
That sounds really familiar.
The final confrontation is top notch and as you say, Clooney, Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton all give tremendous performances. The late Sydney Pollack was always terrific in these sort of roles too (he played someone similar in Eyes Wide Shut and in Changing Lanes - which I highly recommend as well). I'm due a rewatch soon.
I believe you know that as your Saturday night. Or is that Friday? I know one of those is your preferred day to bomb cars and brutalize people in their flats while the other is when you do your panty raids and pillage whiskey distilleries. I'll be damned if I can't remember which is which!
@bondjames, I thought you'd have seen it somewhere along the line. The experience you have must add something to the film. I can only imagine, but one big thing I came away from the film thinking is, "this kind of thing must happen all the time." It felt almost too real.
I can't remember if you've seen Clooney in The American, but if you haven't the films line up quite nicely and complement each other when it comes to his performances.
Definitely agree about Pollack, as well. I just saw that he died not long after the film released, but I'm certainly going to seek out what other movies he's done. A definite actor's actor, very natural and engaging.
@DaltonCraig007 is right on Syriana and I second his recommendation. That is a great film and gives good perspective on the current Middle East problem. Another I must view again soon.
I'm definitely going to see Syriana in the near future for another more earnest Clooney performance, as I like the looks of it. Added to the list, cheers, @bondjames.
I can understand that criticism about The American. It can be a slow slow burn at times, but that's something I've grown to enjoy about it. It's a film that is relaxing in a weird way, as I find myself thinking about life as the small cast of characters do.
I use a big plank with a big nail through it.