Lady From Shanghai

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Lady From Shanghai!

Original image located here. Accessed 18th December 2020

Once again I am watching a movie from the pre-New-Hollywood era: in this case, from 1947. Nothing wrong with that - but in this case, I have been wanting to see this because there's a story attached.

You see apparently, this movie originally ran for three hours but the director, Orson Welles, was forced to cut it down to half that running time. The missing portion has since been lost to time and the movie has suffered for it.

With this in mind, watching The Lady From Shanghai is an odd experience. The narration is strongly placed, the flow is jarring and there are moments that may have required additional scenes. Welles have been attempting to do something different with film noir - admirable seeing as he was working with the limitations of what he had - but he doesn't quite pull it off successfully. Still it has it's moments: Not least of which is the final showdown in a hall of mirrors (oft-imitated but never bettered).

Temple Grandin

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

Original image located here. Accessed 11th December 2020

As mentioned in previous posts, I will show favoritism to movies that are based around protagonists that are on the autistic spectrum. And this movie is one from that particular ell. It's a biopic based around livestock scientist Temple Grandin.

I will admit: I had no idea who Temple Grandin was until i saw this movie. And if a Biopic makes me interested in knowing more about the person in question then it has done it's job with flying colors.
Over the course of the movie, we see key moments in Grandin's life: Her diagnosis, her ingenuity, her coping methods and her revolutionary ideas on the treatment of livestock. And such a remarkable life is handled by Claire Danes giving the performance of her career.
It may be a TV movie but it sure stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Lady and the Tramp

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Lady and the Tramp (1955)!

Original image located here. Accessed 4th December 2020

Well i am a dog person so perhaps it is inevitable that I end up seeing this.
You know, this movie is sixty-five years old and yet it still comes across as being quite striking. One of the beauties of animation is that it can do things that Live action can never do and that certainly is the case here. It is impressive that we have animated dogs acting very much like real dogs and the sheer expressiveness of these characters are stunning to behold.
It may be short and it may be overlooked by Disney fans but honestly? I think this is one of their strongest works.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 2)

And this week's Friday night movie has been...Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 2)!

Original image located here. Accessed 27th November 2020

And so here we are: the endpoint of a journey that took ten years to complete (although for me it took eighteen). We have seen these characters, not to mention the actors and actresses playing them, grow and age over that time. On the whole, it is impressive that this film series manage to pull off a continuous story being told over a decade - Okay sure the story in question was already established in written text but it is difficult to imagine current movie franchises as they are had they not followed the path the Harry Potter movies made out. Indeed, it's not much of a stretch (at least in my mind), to picture the MCU looking over Harry Potter's shoulder and taking notes.

As for the movie itself, i was expecting a conclusion that would leave a crater of sizable portions and that's exactly what i got. Clearly the first Deathly Hallows movie existed just to get some of the character moments out of the way so we can see the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort. And what a confrontation it is: The siege is spectacular, the sight of Hogwarts following said sage is indeed a shock, the long-awaited final confrontation is something to behold and it's nice to see various faces form the preceding movies make a reappearance.
However for all the spectacle, my favorite moments in the movie are, ironically, the quiet ones (example: "You've been so brave sweetheart"). I have spoken previously how it worked for the last movie but here it strikes gold, being able to warm the cockles of my cold, jaded heart.

And so, we reach the end of this particular movie serial. I may have been skeptical when i started but these movies did win me over. Granted the movies may be a mere glimpse when compared to the richness of the source material (or so i have been told) but now, the fandom sure makes a whole lotta sense.
So here's to you, Harry.

Oh and House Ravenclaw forever.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1)

And this week's Friday night movie has been...Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1)!

Original image located here. Accessed 20th November 2020

Last week i observed that there is nothing wrong with serials taking the occasional step back and addressing a more smaller-scale/personal story. The only difference between this and the Half Blood Prince however is this pulls it off more successfully.

In all honesty, this movie surprised me: I was expecting something apocalyptic, considering the build-up with Voldemort, but what I got was the opposite: I got to see Harry on the run and having to confront the possibility that he, along with Hermione and Ron, is out on his own and just what a terrifying prospect it can be. I can imagine seeing these kids tramping through the wilderness may seem dull but that's kind of the point: It's an effective use of conveying isolation.
And such a mood reaches it's height with the graveyard scene - for me this is, so far, the apex of this series. It is well done and proves that being quiet can be damn effective.
Also who would have guessed that the music of Nick Cave would work in a Harry Potter movie?
Still, this movie is still intent on building up to a major conclusion. And I can imagine it's going to be something spectacular - after all, how could it not?

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!

Original image located here. Accessed 13th November 2020

It is interesting to revisit this movies over a decade later. Because I can do it on my own terms and be as far removed from the hostility this series initially attracted as I wish. Of course, a disgusted fanbase grumbling about an adaptation is nothing new but as the years went on, this hatred eventually died down. So I have to ask: Do the Harry Potter fans still hate the movies? I suppose
a) the fact that the movies all came over the course of a decade wore the haters down
b) the Potter fans grew older and wiser
c) the realization from the fanbase that the movies were drawing in new interest
d) the knowledge that we should be grateful that these movies gave us Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe
e) the haters moved on. To Game of Thrones (probably).
Can anyone confirm this?

As for the movie itself, I will admit that this is perhaps the weakest entrant in the series so far. Sure it all looks nice and we get some interesting character moments but far too often Half Blood Prince comes across as meandering and slow paced - which seems to go against the grain of what came previously. I don't object to serials taking the occasional step back and address a more smaller-scale/personal story but not if they make two and a half hours a slog to get through.
HOWEVER! I am willing to forgive this tedium purely for the final half hour. Oh my goodness, is that a rollercoaster of a ride. Atmospheric, frightening, exciting and heart-wrenching, it is proof that when these movies score a hit, they can knock it out of the park.
Ultimately though, I can't shake the feeling that the slower pace of this entrant is a buffer for what's happening next which, as is my understanding, is going to get nasty.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!

Original image located here. Accessed 6th November 2020

Seems Chronicles of Narnia isn't the only fantasy serial I have neglected...
Funny thing with the Harry Potter movies: I started them but I never got around to completing the series entirely. So for this November, i will rectify this situation. Granted I've picked a bad time to do this but hey, I'm not one to leave a job unfinished.
Now previously I couldn't remember if I have seen Order of the Phoenix before but I watched it anyway: Largely to refresh my memory.

However it is difficult to assess this movie on it's own as a) it's part of a serial and b) it's the first of four movies headed by the same director, David Yates. Still, this was a lot of fun. And it has the same wonder, adventure, scares and humor that won me over when i saw the first movie back in 2002 (!).
Also it is handy to be reminded why people hate Dolores Umbridge so much.

Eyes of my Mother

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Eyes of My Mother!

Original image located here. Accessed 30th October 2020

Behold: the final entrant in this year's clutch of October horror movies.
Now in my view, there are two kinds of horror movies: There's those with the jump scares and there are those that rely on mood and a creeping dread.
Guess which type i find myself gravitating towards.

And in the terms of creating mood, this movie has it in spades. The black and white imagery is effective and use of atmosphere, quiet, and a slow build up prove to be the most potent things going for this movie.
Granted there are moments that don't work (ie, the abrupt plot developments, the use of torture, a middle section which seems to lag and the vibe of this movie being the bastard lovechild between a horror movie and an art-house movie) but as a depiction of trauma, loneliness, being cut off form the real world and being warped a young age, when this movie hits, it knocks it out of the park.

The Bride of Frankenstein

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Bride of Frankenstein!

Original image located here. Accessed 23rd October 2020

Last year, in October, i watched the original Frankenstein. So it is fitting that I would see the sequel this year.

Seeing as the Monster, and it's sympathetic portrayal at the hands of Boris Karloff, was such a selling point in the previous movie, it would make sense for it to be expanded upon in the sequel. As such, the monster gets to speak, learn some basic concepts and undergoes a quest for companionship and acceptance - all with the pathos that powered the engine of the previous movie.
In fact much of the movie is shining example of doing a sequel: It takes the original and expands it. What is shown here is a combination of the familiar and the new - which is a trickier balancing act than one would think. The use of humour is a bit strange and threatens to derail the film but once again, it's the atmosphere, the use of horror and the monster itself that makes this movie work.

 As for the Bride herself, she is a remarkable creation: The mummified body, the freaky hair, the bird-like movements and the ear-piercing shriek. And what is most astonishing is that she makes an impact even with the most limited of screen-time.

Braindead

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Braindead (Dead Alive)!

Original image located here. Accessed 16th October 2020

Like most of the world, I only knew of Kiwi director Peter Jackson through the Lord of the Rings trilogy. So it is somewhat inevitable that I would eventually take a trip to the low budget horror movies that Jackson was making before he struck gold with bringing Middle-Earth to the screen.

I have previously stated that I'm not a fan of slasher movies because they are populated with idiots - but saying that only misses the point. Because the whole point of slasher movies, and by extension it's cousin-in-horror the zombie movie, is seeing HOW the hapless fools on screen get taken out. And it is to this end that Braindead succeeds: The kills are indeed (and I can't believe i am typing this out) creative, bloody, gruesome and hilarious - and often all at once.
So there is certainly is a lot going for this movie with it's ingenious special effects, bonkers model design, pitch-black humor and enough blood to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool (apparently much of Jackson's pre-Lord of the Rings movies are a lot like this).
But personally, this movie strikes me as someone trying to remake Psycho but instead opted to do it drunk. And is all the better for it.

The Fiend Without a Face

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Fiend Without a Face!

Original image located here. Accessed 9th October 2020

It may be a tradition to watch some horror movies during October but that doesn't mean there isn't any room for some schlock.

Last week I made mention that Night of the Living Dead invented the modern horror movie. Well, it would appear that this was the type of thing it was moving away from.
This movie is pretty much a product of it's time (the 1950s): Alien invaders, distrust of science, wonky special effects, fears of the atomic age, Cold War paranoia and glorification of the military.
Such aspects may be laughable now (particularly the special effects) but I give this movie credit: It's got quite a bloody climax that I didn't think movies of that time were capable of.

Night of the Living Dead

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Night of the Living Dead!

Original image located here. Accessed 2nd October 2020

Well it's become something of a tradition with this series that October is a month spent wholly committed to watching horror movies. And this year, we're kicking off the year's run with a swing for the fences: A movie that a launched a thousand zombie tropes.

I have spoken previously how intimidating it can be encountering a movie that stated a whole lotta trends: In such cases, the lessons this movie gave have been used and replicated so many times that to go back to the source can leave it with having less bite than it should have.
So is this movie dated? Yes. Is it clearly shot on the cheap? Of course. Does it still pack a punch over half a century later? I do believe it does. Stunning lightening, chilling atmosphere and being done straight-faced all add up to deliver a striking (and gory) whole.
Also of note is that this movie truly functions as the bridge between the horror movies of the pre-mid-sixties and the more modern horrors movies. Here the rules got re-written and have been studied extensively since.
There is a part of me that would say that this movie should not have the punch it does, given the passage of time and a horde of imitators that emerged in it's wake but somehow, it still does so.

The Hateful Eight

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Hateful Eight!

Original image located here. Accessed 25th September 2020

I have seen a Magnificent Seven, a Ruthless Four and now we arrive at a movie that I've been wanting to see for quite some time. And I finally got the opportunity to do so (thanks Nick!).

No way around it: This a Tarantino film and it is therefore expected to see what he can do with the lessons he had picked up through watching countless movies. In a way, considering his affinity with gun battles, disjointed narratives and limited locations, it is unsurprising that he should again try his hand at a western.
Now I do enjoy a good western and I can see some familiar tropes being put to use: The use of scenery, the bounty hunter tracking down criminals, the presence of a stagecoach, the abrupt nature of people getting gunned down, lot's of blood and the presence of the late great Ennio Morricone. But these tropes are placed through the lens of a Tarantino picture: Thus we have some fascinating characters, a truly weather beaten look, some gripping suspense and a lot of black humor.
It may be difficult to determine Tarantino's best work but this is well and truly up there