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M. Night Shyamalan Ranking:
1. Unbreakable
2. The Sixth Sense
3. Signs
4. The Village
5. Wide Awake
6. Praying with Anger
7. Lady in the Water
8. The Happening
9. The Last Airbender
Not the best Harry Palmer film but enjoyable nonetheless. Directed by Ken Russell, who seems to be enjoying himself. Filmed in Finland with Michael Caine,of course, as Palmer. This has Harry trying to avert World War 3 by tthe fanatical General Midwinter. (Ed Begley) Good score by Richard Rodney Bennett, with Maurice Binder spoofing his own Bond credit titles.And producer Harry Saltzman even ropes in Syd Cain on production designer duties!
Stylish helmed by Russell (great scene where the Cossacks on horseback surprise Harry in the forest) and it has a great ending with the trucks on the ice lake, this is good fun, but The Ipcress File still remains the finest one.
All three 60's Harry Palmer films are worth a watch. The Ipcress File remains one of my top five favourite films. Need to watch the 90's films again sometime too. They weren't as good, but were enjoyable enough.
I was a huge fan of the series. I didn't think the movie was quite as terrible as everyone else but it's still pretty bad. The only things I really like are the sets, some of the special effects, Dev Patel, and the score which I think is terrific.
It’s just massively disappointing. As far as bad execution it’s about par with The Happening but the added element of not even remotely living up to the show just hurts that much more.
The fact that over a half hour was cut from the film didn't help.
That sounds like a good thing to me. Extra content to explain and develop things is great in theory but when it’s as poorly made as that movie it’s really just longer torture.
M. Night Shyamalan Ranking:
1. Unbreakable
2. The Sixth Sense
3. Signs
4. The Village
5. Wide Awake
6. Praying with Anger
7. Lady in the Water
8. After Earth
9. The Happening
10. The Last Airbender
I'm curious now to learn how you feel about THE VISIT.
Just finished rewatching Inherent Vice, a film that requires multiple viewings to keep up with. I'm still not sure if I do!
The plot starts quite straight forward when hippie private eye Larry "Doc" Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) gets a surprise visit by his ex-girlfriend, who tells him about her current billionaire land developer boyfriend, and the plot his wife and boyfriend has to kidnap him. Then Doc's ex disappears. Trying to describe the plot further is quite difficult, as it involves a wide variety characters and subplots making this film quite a lot to take in in one viewing. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing, as it adds to the experience. You might be left as confused as the look on Doc's face throughout the film.
One reviewer characterized the film as "sunlight noir". Watching this film makes me think of it as a psychedelic cousin to Harper (1966). The same review drew comparisons between Doc and Philip Marlowe in The Long Goodbye (1973). I've yet to watch that film, but it's definitely on my list.
Inherent Vice is one of few films I've seen made the last five years, and one of even fewer I find myself wanting to watch again, and again.
I added that to my Netflix watchlist a couple of days ago the trailer was fun, I'll probably watch it tomorrow.
M. Night Shyamalan Ranking:
1. Unbreakable
2. The Sixth Sense
3. Signs
4. The Village
5. Wide Awake
6. The Visit
7. Praying with Anger
8. Lady in the Water
9. After Earth
10. The Happening
11. The Last Airbender
Another low-key, high-tension drama from John Madden that works pretty well (despite some awkward fictionalisation of real life issues), mostly thanks to a superb performance from Jessica Chastain as a lobbyist who changes sides and leads the charge in favour of a Universal Gun Control Bill.
It's not perfect. Like many dramas of its kind, the plot often takes a backseat to character work - requiring the film to play catchup on the political machinations of its own story early in the third act, which slows the pace right down after a pretty fluid first 90 minutes. However, it builds back up to a pretty powerful finale with a wonderful "aha!" moment thrown in for good measure; making you wish it were actually based on true events.
Max Richer's score is worth a mention, too - his thudding electronics and string elegies complimenting the emotional spectrum of Washington DC pettiness and backstabbing accordingly.
The pitter patter dialogue exchanges are very Sorkin'esque (while he didn't write this one, he did write Molly's Game which Chastain also starred in with Idris Elba). Sadly it was ignored by the Oscars, probably because it didn't fit with their politics during an election year.
M. Night Shyamalan Ranking:
1. Unbreakable
2. The Sixth Sense
3. Split
4. Signs
5. The Village
6. Wide Awake
7. The Visit
8. Praying with Anger
9. Lady in the Water
10. After Earth
11. The Happening
12. The Last Airbender
Superb thriller made by Francis Ford Coppola, starring a freakily paranoid Gene Hackman and a very young Harrison Ford. Here's a thriller anyone even slightly concerned about his privacy ought to carefully take in. The 70s at their best!
Really need to watch this one again. Must be something like ten years since I watched it.
How is this film after god over 200 viewings still so perfect if Shatterhand or The Hildebrand Rarity or whatever Bond 25 is called is half as good as this we are in for a treat.
Films I saw in 2019
1. Casino Royale
2. Licence to Kill
3. Beverly Hills Cop 2
4. Casino Royale 1954
5. Oliver Stone The Doors
6. Highlander
7. Moonstruck
8. Hitman agent 47
9. Walk the line
10. Highlander 2
Highlander series
1. Highlander
2. Highlander 2
Bond series
1. Casino Royale
2. Licence to Kill
3. Casino Royale 1954
Jukebox
1. Oliver Stone The Doors
2. Walk the line
Fantastic choice! One of my favourite films and the perfect compliment to my choice of film for this cold Saturday.
THE PARALLAX VIEW
It's been a long, LONG time since I've seen this film, so the gut punch of an ending felt fresh. Beatty is Beatty, which is a good thing. The tension is palpable throughout. The behavioral modification sequence is equal parts beautiful and vomit inducing.
Pakula makes you work very hard during this film, and then rewards you by pulling the rug out from under you. That sense of desperation and hopelessness that dawns on Frady in the films final act is tragic - and the fact that the film has numerous references to real-life assassinations and conspiracy theories only compounds the paranoia.
While Cappola's THE CONVERSATION makes you feel like they're listening to your every word, Pakula's film makes you feel like they're watching your every move.
Watching them back to back would make for an unsettling double-bill.
My Pakula season continues tomorrow with ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, and I'll round out the "paranoia trilogy" once I get my hands on a copy of KLUTE.
Saw Glass (2019) for the second time at the theater tonight. Enjoyed it just as much this time as the first. In my opinion, it’s simply a superb ending to the trilogy and one of the best threequels I’ve seen. Ending my Shyamalan marathon on a very high note.
M. Night Shyamalan Ranking:
1. Unbreakable
2. The Sixth Sense
3. Glass
4. Split
5. Signs
6. The Village
7. Wide Awake
8. The Visit
9. Praying with Anger
10. Lady in the Water
11. After Earth
12. The Happening
13. The Last Airbender
I 've watched The Parallax View loads of times, but that ending is still a punch to the gut, as is the final scene when the committee make their decision about Frady.
Superb.
Haven't watched The Conversation in an age, must do so. Hackman is his usual brilliant self.
Klute is another I watch often. Love Jane Fonda in it!
Absolutely. Everything about that committee was highly unsettling, and it was a nice little jab at the Warren Commission too!
THE CONVERSATION, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR are amongst my most rewatched 70s thriller flicks. I lost my copies of them during a house move last year, so I'm refreshing my memories of them again. I haven't actually seen KLUTE in about 15 years, which was also around the time I last watched THE PARALLAX VIEW, so I'm looking forward to seeing it again.
:)
Got myself a blu ray copy of Three Days of the Condor just before Christmas. Superb thriller which has some of the best editing in action I've seen. (As does The Yakuza, which is also by director Sydney Pollack!)
Wow. I'm speechless. Tom Hardy in a car talking to other people for 80 minutes. And it works. Better than that; it's the best "theatre monologue" on film I've ever experienced. Hardy plays Ivan Locke, a man with a good life who may have made one mistake and must now do what he can to set things right, if possible. He's momentarily very calm and calculated, but clearly on the verge of a breakdown.
And literally ill. One thing I like about this film is that it's so real, honest and naturalistic. Our only real character is fighting fatigue, a cold, anger and desperation. He keeps going for that hanky, one of the least appealing things for a movie character to do. But then, this guy is you and me, not the product of a fantastical film script. And because of that, he won't do crazy things because he's in a car at night and, like most of us, decent citizens, he won't resort to rash decisions. No, instead, like most of us he will try to fight his way out of his problems by means of socially conditioned and responsible conduct, honesty, professional diplomacy and the magic of hands-free car phone usage.
Boring? Not at all. Instantly, we are sucked into this real, everyman nightmare. The road ahead is long and systematic but the problems to tackle are plenty and unpredictable. Tension is raised on multiple levels. But it's Hardy's acting more than anything else that keeps the finger on the pulse the entire time. He dons a thick Welsh accent which he flawlessly combines with a premeditated though restless demeanour. Unlike your typical movie character exploding into loud drama at the merest setback, Hardy's titular character understands that he lives in the real UK of 2013, trapped in a web of emotional confusion and moral determination. He will face the consequences of his actions because that is what we are all raised by proud moms and dads to do. Plus, this is how he does his job--and haven't we all somewhat fallen under the spells of our professional existence? How will this real man come to terms with what he has done and with how much he's about to look like the man he has always despised?
The likes of Andrew Scott, Tom Holland, Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, Ben Daniels and Bill Milner provide good vocal support as people on the phone, but it's Hardy's outstanding interaction with their voices that keeps this movie going strong. I'm impressed by this little film, written and directed by Steven Knight. Its energy comes from a very real story and Hardy's electric portrayal, perhaps the best of his career so far. Not a single second in this film is boring or unearned. Watch LOCKE. It's compulsive watching!