The Birdcage Inn (Paran daemun) (1998) 7.5/10
Drug (1987) 7/10
I resaw M (1931) after many many years. Directed by Fritz Lang and starring Peter Lorre, this is a major classic film (52nd in IMDB's top 250 films) and is a 10/10 film.
I saw the restored German film version. On the DVD is also the English version shot at the same time. Peter Lorre spoke his words so this was his English speaking debut.
Lorre's character whistles In the Hall of the Mountain King (from Grieg's Peer Gynt) but as Lorre wasn't very good at whistling, Fritz Lang did it himself.
It is Peter Lorre's best film and his portrayal of a serial child murderer is so convincing that some people came to think of Lorre as a child murderer.
Needless to say M holds the record for the shortest film title along with Costa-Gravas's Z (1969) and Q (2011). There are other films with single lettered titles.
Kelin (2009) 8/10
The Patience Stone (2012) 9/10
Jaloux (2010) 5/10
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Not to be confused with Devil in Miss Jones (1973) which is a very very different type of film 
I saw Diary of a Lost Girl (1929). This was the second G W Pabst film starring Louise Brooks, the first being Pandora's Box which I saw a few months ago,
Silent classic about a young beautiful woman who was raped whilst unconscious. She becomes pregnant, and when her baby is born it is taken away from her by her family and she is sent to a reformatory. The reformatory's director and his wife are sadists and the inmates suffer at their hands. Eventually the heroine escapes with a friendly inmate. She discovers that her baby has died and lands up with the friendly inmate at what might be called a dance establishment of ill repute. One evening her father and second wife (who hates the heroine) come to the establishment to "see the seedy side of life" and when her father sees her, he turns his back on her and leaves. 3 years later she reads that her father has died and has left his estate to her. In order to gain some sense of respectability she married a Count who has known her for many years and who frequents the establishment. She goes to her father's house to see the solicitor for the reading of the will. I won't say any more about what happens in the latter part of the film.
Louise Brooks was one of the most beautiful actresses of all time and although the film is silent you know what she is feeling just through her face.
Some of the other performances are memorable.
Fritz Rasp played the man who raped her. He was notable in Fritz Lang's Metropolis.
Andrews Engelmann played the director of the reformatory. A deeply disturbing performance and every bit as scary as Max Schreck in Nosferatu.
Valeska Gert played the director's wife. Quite possibly the model for Lotte Lenya's Rosa Klebb in From Russia with Love. The scene where she gets the inmates to exercise and the expression on her face at the end are astonishing.
Foreign Correspondant (1940) 9/10 3rd viewing
I watched Wonderful Town (2007) a film from Thailand set post-tsunami.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1135992/
An exceptionally low key film and with such a downbeat ending this is one of the most pointless films ever made. The title of the film must have been meant to be ironic.
The director Aditya Assarat left Thailand in his teens to be educated in the States and got a master's degree in film production there before returning to Thailand. I wouldn't be surprised if he had been influenced to some extent by Andrei Tarkovsky's films but this film is a pale shadow of any of Tarkovsky's.
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Foreign Correspondant (1940) 9/10 3rd viewing
One of my favourite Hitchcock films.
Originally Posted by El Loro:
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Foreign Correspondant (1940) 9/10 3rd viewing
One of my favourite Hitchcock films.
There is so many great Hitchcock films, though i do think Psycho is a tad overrated
The Killing (1956) 8.5/10
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
The Killing (1956) 8.5/10
Here's Stanley Kubrick's debut, a short documentary:
Thanks i shall have a look at that
Bazi (2005) 8.5/10
I resaw Vampyr (1932) which was directed by Carl Dreyer. The version I saw was the restored 72 minute version rather than the 62 minute version previously available on tape. It's a strange almost dreamlike film full of shadows. The film was financed by Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg. He agreed to provide the finance provided he appeared in the film. He played the lead role of Allan Gray under the name Julian West. Not a professional actor and a somewhat wooden performance.
I thought the earlier scenes were more effective than the later scenes. The original film seems to have been slightly longer suggesting that the restored version is incomplete.
There are two sisters in the film Leone and Giselle. The IMDB synopsis has Giselle as the vampire's victim but the book with my DVD has Leone as the victim.
The Hunt (Jagten) (2012) 8.5/10
Verso (2009) 4/10
I saw Tayna Chingis Khaana (By the Will of Ghengis Khan) (2009), a Russian biopic. Although it had its moments, the director crammed far too much into the 2 hour length of the film which given its epic nature was inadequate. The director seemed to be trying to be the Russian equivalent of David Lean or pretensions of being the next Akira Kurosawa but failed. The low rating on IMDB of 4.4 is justified.
I haven't seen Mongol which was made in 2007 and appears to be a much better film covering the same material.
The best I can say about the film was if you like lots of bloody battle scenes lacking in any real quality you might enjoy the film after downing a few pints.
Rain (1932) 7/10
Originally Posted by El Loro:
I saw Sedmikrasky (Daisies) (1966). Jackassfan, I know you did not like this film at all but I found it quite enjoyable and had a nihilistic charm to it. It helped to know before I saw the film what to expect and that there was no plot as such.
I do seem to be in a minority with me not liking Daisies, its just not my kind of film
I saw Ballad of Narayama (1958). Quite stylish and in the form of Japanese Kabuki theatre apart from the very last scene which is quite jarringly different.
The novel from which the film was adapted was adapted again for the 1983 film of the same name. The two films, although telling the same story, are very different. By coincidence both versions get an IMDB rating of 7.7.
Boomerang (1947) 8/10
Woyzeck (1994) 8/10
Nothing But A Man (1964) 8.5/10
We Need To Talk About Kevin...Unsettling to say teh least. Very good though 
Yellow Sea (Hwanghae) (2010) 8.5/10
Warm Bodies (2013) 5/10
I saw Red Cliff (2008) directed by John Woo. An epic battle film which was well constructed and interesting. Although the film is complete in itself there is a sequel. Note that there is an International version which combines the two films cutting out about 50% of each film. Also both UK films are cut from the original as they contain scenes of animal cruelty (horses falling on their necks which are not permitted to be shown in the UK).
Yellow Sky (1948) 8.5/10
Avatar was the last film.
I saw Notorious (1946) the Hitchcock film starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. Quite a dark spy thriller set and filmed just after WW2. Bergman's father has just been found guilty of treason. Grant is a government agent who recruits Bergman to infiltrate a group of Nazis who have fled to Rio.
Offline (2012) 7/10
A couple of films I've seen recently:
Miss Potter (2006), the biopic about Beatrix Potter starring Renee Zellweger. A reasonable film but no mention of The Taylor of Gloucester which she wrote during the timespan covered by the film which was a bit dissapointing as I live in Gloucester.
The Lake House (2006) starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Quite watchable and very different from their Speed films. By a strange coincidence The Lake House had a couple of clips from Notorious which I had seen within the last week.
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Originally Posted by El Loro:
A couple of films I've seen recently:
Miss Potter (2006), the biopic about Beatrix Potter starring Renee Zellweger. A reasonable film but no mention of The Taylor of Gloucester which she wrote during the timespan covered by the film which was a bit dissapointing as I live in Gloucester.
The Lake House (2006) starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Quite watchable and very different from their Speed films. By a strange coincidence The Lake House had a couple of clips from Notorious which I had seen within the last week.
While watching Miss Potter i thought that Emily Watson should have the title role
The Lake House is a remake of a South Korean film
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Originally Posted by El Loro:
A couple of films I've seen recently:
Miss Potter (2006), the biopic about Beatrix Potter starring Renee Zellweger. A reasonable film but no mention of The Taylor of Gloucester which she wrote during the timespan covered by the film which was a bit dissapointing as I live in Gloucester.
The Lake House (2006) starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Quite watchable and very different from their Speed films. By a strange coincidence The Lake House had a couple of clips from Notorious which I had seen within the last week.
While watching Miss Potter i thought that Emily Watson should have the title role
The Lake House is a remake of a South Korean film
I agree, Emily Watson would have been more appropriate. I don't know why the producers decided on Renee Zellweger. She was OK and her English accent was OK but everyone knows she's American.
Asmaa (2011) 8/10
Originally Posted by El Loro:
I saw Curtain Call, a 1940 RKO low budget comedy. Although the storyline is different, it is quite possible that Mel Brooks had seen the film and developed the idea into his first film The Producers.
And I've now seen the follow up film Footlight Fever (1941) which was a weak farce. Elysse Knox was in the film as the daughter of the aunt who financed the play. The only reason I mention this is that Elysse Knox is the mother of Mark Harmon, famous for NCIS and other television series.
I saw Sing and Like it (1934) which was a comedy about a gangster (Nat Pendleton) very much taken by a song sung by Zasu Pitts auditioning at a theatre. He decides that she must be made into a star and persuades (forces) a producer (Edward Everett Horton) into making her the lead in a play. The gangster's girlfriend (Pert Kelton) is jealous and arranges for her to be abducted so that she plays the lead instead.
A minor film, but is surprisingly witty in places. I preferred it to Woody Allen's Bullets over Broadway which has a slightly similar concept.
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
I saw this many years ago. The version I saw was the original version rather than the version which was shown for many years with the final scene being shortened. The ending is what makes the film unique in the film noir genre.
I resaw Superman II (1980). Weaker than the first and some of the added humour was silly. 2 of the terrorists in the Paris scene were played by Oz Clarke (the wine expert who was also in Superman) and the late Richard Griffiths !
I saw Star of Midnight (1935) a comedy murder mystery. It starred William Powell (in a role similar to Nick Charles in the Thin Man series of films) and Ginger Rogers (in a role equivalent to Nora Charles). Very watchable though not as good as the original The Thin Man made a year earlier.
De Jurk (1996) 7.5/10
Cul-De-Sac (1966) 8/10
I watched Christopher Strong (1933). Based on a book of the same name it starred Colin Clive as Sir Christopher Strong but the real lead is Katherine Hepburn as Lady Cynthia Darrington. Story is of an affair between Sir Christopher Strong (married to Lady Strong played by Billie Burke) and Cynthia Darrington who is an aviator.
It was Katherine Hepburn's second film but even at such an early stage in her career she had a very strong personality. Although the film is dated and some of the dialogue is corny she makes the film worth watching.
The film was directed by Dorothy Arzner who was the only significant woman director in Hollywood in the golden age of Hollywood.
Interesting bio of her on IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002188/bio
The film was made just before the Hays code came in. There is a scene where although only Hepburn's arm can be seen it is obvious that she and Clive are in bed together in the middle of the night. That scene would have been impossible once the code came in.
I saw the recent restored Metropolis (1927). Running at just under 2 and a half hours it's 25 minutes longer than the version I saw previously.
The restoration was taken from material which had been found in South America but had badly corroded. Although the restorers have done what they could, the restored scenes are very obvious when watching the film. They are watchable but still poor quality. However they do add to the film.
Some of the restored material is slight, but some are more significant. For instance Georgy (the worker rescued by Freder & they change places) and the Thin Man (Fritz Rasp) have more scenes particularly a scene with Josaphat.
Fredersen sees a huge sculpture of his late wife Hel at Rotwang's house and is overcome with grief (thus showing a more human side of him and why he became so hard).
The escape from the flooding city of the workers by Freder, Maria, Josaphat and the children is extended. In particular when they get to the top of the stairwell they find that it is barred and they try to break it down all the time children are trying to escape.
For a complete list of the added scenes:
http://www.kinolorber.com/metr...lis_added_scenes.pdf
Note that this list is duplicated.
There are a couple of scenes which are still missing so this version has boards to summarise what happens,
A 10/10 film and a very strong contender for the greatest science fiction film ever made, Certainly no other film before the film 2001 can compare to it.