All About Eve

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... All About Eve!

Original image located here. Accessed 22nd March 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 23 (1950)

One of the undisputed classics of cinema. It tells the story of an aging theatre actress taking on a younger protégé only for the latter becoming more successful and famous than the former.

It seems that this movie's reputation relies on the performances - in particular that of Bette Davis - as well as the witty dialogue, the satire and the general nastiness involved. Personally I'm not one to argue with such an assessment so yeah, this was a lot of fun to watch. 
Having done a number of stage shows, can I confirm that such an environment is anything like this? Yes and no. Yes I may have had my share of bitchiness in certain shows but other times I have found such an environment to be very supportive. Guess a lot depends on which cast you end up surrounding yourself with...

Rashomon

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Rashomon!

Original image located here. Accessed 11th June 2021

I walk into my local library without any intention to borrow anything and yet i walk out with a DVD of this movie. How strange it is that I partake in an antiqued act that should have died with Blockbuster.
But how could i refuse? This is one of the all time classics - one that announced Japanese cinema to the world and gave us the trope of the same situation retold by multiple unreliable narrators.

And it would appear that seventy one years has not tarnished this film at all. It is gripping, well-directed and beautifully shot. And it is shining example of what one can do with a small cast and an even smaller number of locations (one can imagine many a independent/budding filmmaker watching this and taking notes). It may be bleak when compared to Akira Kurosawa's other masterwork - The Seven Samurai - but it still has his humanist approach and his eye for sword battles

Sunset Boulevard

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Sunset Boulevard!

Original image located here. Accessed 14th August 2020

Hey, it's the movie based on the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical
But seriously, the musical was how I became aware of Sunset Boulevard - my dad had a CD of Lloyd Webber's best known songs and it contained musical's theme song ("Kiss someone's wife! Kiss someone's ass!"). So it was a surprise to seventeen year old me that there was actually a move that came well before it. A movie that has gone down in history as being one of the greats of cinema.

And they weren't kidding: Photography and set design that would be more at home in a horror movie. A scathing critique of Hollywood that makes me wonder how those involved agreed to do it. And the performance to end all performances from Gloria Swanson. You know how people talk up a movie only for it to turn disappointing? That certainly is the case. A monumental picture that has not been tarnished with age (70 years!).
Funny thing, I've seen this and The Talented Mr Ripley - two films that came up on my radar from the connection to The Disaster Artist/The Room. So has Tommy Wiseau seen this? One can only wonder.....