What movie are you viewing at the moment?

[Brecht]

The Third Man (1949)



Trailer

World War II has just ended and Vienna is still divided into four sectors, each run by one of the allied forces (US, Soviet Union, France and Great Britain). Two-bit writer Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) arrives at the invitation of his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) who offered him a job, only to learn that Lime was killed by a truck while crossing the street. At the funeral, that is also attended by Lime's local associates, Martins meets two officers of the British Military Police, Sargeant Paine (Bernard Lee) and Major Calloway (Trevor Howard). The latter tells him that Lime was a criminal and suggests he return to the US. But Martins decides to stay and investigate on his own, especially since the stories he heard from Lime's associates about the circumstances of his death are full of contradictions.

This is a film every cinephile should have seen multiple times. The cinematography and the atmosphere are astonishing. It's obvious that Carol Reed borrowed a lot from the interwar German expressionist movement but it is a masterpiece in its own right.

[73north]

Proving once again that the teenage experience of perpetual disaffection and sudden hope transcends borders, the Jewish International Film Festival selection Barash ( means Blush ) , 1 hour 25 minutes) begins in sun-drenched schoolyard and desultory nightclub car parks of Israel's provinces where Naama (Sivan Noam Shimon) first bonds with new girl Dana (Hadas Jade Sakori) over the need to score weed.
I also found the actresses to be very nice looking and had really nice breasts - with fine physique
.......

"It's the best kiss I've ever had," the former tells the latter after their friendship suddenly escalates, and Naama happily follows Dana into gay clubs and adult uncertainty even as her own fractured family starts to panic at the disappearance of her older sister, an Israeli Army conscript.

Michael Vinik's fine debut is about the in
tensely insular experience of first love, as the reactionary rantings of Naama's father fall into the background as his daughter discovers a new world. The visual textures are adroitly familiar, but the director never loses track of her two young leads: the sex scene between the two young women tumbles through often contradictory moods and their distinct uncertainty before capturing their pleasure together

[Tmee2020]

Originally Posted by Brecht

The Third Man (1949)



...
This is a film every cinephile should have seen multiple times. The cinematography and the atmosphere are astonishing. It's obvious that Carol reed borrowed a lot from the interwar German expressionist movement but it is a masterpiece in its own right.

I agree, I can't get enough of it. I love the art work of these posters too.

Rather amusingly, I have to admit I went a long time before I realised Carol Reed was, in fact, a bloke!

I once read somewhere that they were also a long time into filming before Orson Welles turned up, which created a few logistic problems. Haven't found any reference to that now though.

[Brecht]

Originally Posted by tmee2000

I agree, I can't get enough of it. I love the art work of these posters too.

Rather amusingly, I have to admit I went a long time before I realised Carol Reed was, in fact, a bloke!

I once read somewhere that they were also a long time into filming before Orson Welles turned up, which created a few logistic problems. Haven't found any reference to that now though.

When I first read about this film, the director's name had me confused. Female directors are not unusual but this was the 1940s. I'd soon find out that Carol Reed is a guy.

I've heard of people, usually Americans, who bear female or feminine sounding names like Kelly or Shannon but Carol is just too extreme. That's like naming your son Elizabeth.

It seems that you're right about the problems caused by Orson Welles. I don't know if he arrived late but he took some time off, for whatever reasons. Reed and Welles didn't get along because of Welles' constant complaining. For example, he refused to shoot the sewer scenes in actual sewers, so some of it had to be filmed on a set in the UK.

[Brecht]

The Big Heat (1953)



Trailer

Homicide detective Sergeant Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is an upright cop who thinks that the local mob boss Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby) has a number of higher ranking police officials on his payroll. After the death of his colleague Tom Duncan is officially ruled as suicide, Bannion is approached by his mistress, Lucy Chapman (Dorothy Green), who expresses her doubts in the official story. Bannion is ordered by his superiors to let the case go but he investigates nevertheless. When a car bomb meant for him kills his wife instead, Bannion, disgusted by the compliance and cowardice of his colleagues, quits the force and goes on a vendetta.

This is probably my favorite film noir next to Jules Dassin's The Naked City and an exceptionally tough film for its time. Glenn Ford is brilliant as is the entire cast. A truly remarkable picture but what else would you expect from an old master like Fritz Lang?

[Sir Honkers]

The Girl With All The Gifts. Quite possibly the best zombie movie I've ever seen.
http://http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4547056/
And now having watched the film, I realise The Boy On The Bridge is actually a prequel.

[trailmaster]

This is one of the Netflix movies I saw a few days ago. It is a science fiction film called: Passengers, starring Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen(as an android) and Lawrence Fishburne who is seen later into the film.

Far in the future the passenger liner called Avalon is transporting 5,000 passengers with a crew of 258 all of which are in a hibernating sleep because they are on a 120 year journey to a new planet 60 light years from Earth. After 30 years the ship is damaged by a meteor storm and one of the passengers played by Chriss Pratt is awakened. At first he thinks that the ship has arrived at it's destination, but seeing no one else has awakened realizes that he was awakened early and finds out from a computer that he has been awakened 90 years earlier. For one whole year he tries everything he can to get back into a state of hiberbation, but can't. The only company he has is this android bartender called Arthur. Finally after terrible loneliness and desperation he purposely wakens another passsenger, a very pretty writer played by Jennifer Lawrence. At first he lies to her saying that she was woken accidently like he was. Over the next year they fall in love, and then they find out that the entire ship is failing due to being hit by numerous meteors. A deck hand played by Lawrence Fisburne is also accidently awakened and he helps the other two passsengers fix the ship, but then he dies of coronary complications. I don't want to give away the ending. This is a great sci-fi film. Great acting, production, directing, good effects, good story.

[Brecht]

Killing Zoe (1993)



Trailer

Professional safe-cracker Zed (Eric Stoltz) comes to Paris to help his childhood friend Eric (Jean-Hugues Anglade) with a bank robbery on Bastille Day. The bank they intend to rob is the only open bank during that holiday. While on his way to a hotel, Zed is asked by the cabdriver if he needs some discreet company because he could arrange a prostitute for him. Zed accepts the offer and is visited by the girl soon after his arrival in the hotel. The prostitute is a young student called Zoe (Julie Delpy). After having sex, they realize that their relationship could go beyond mere service. But their time together is interrupted by Eric who wants to get on with the business as soon as possible, throwing the girl out. Zed is shocked to learn that the heist is happening the very next day, leaving no time for thorough planning but he's reassured by Eric that everyone knows what they have to do and that he has nothing to worry about. But before they pull the possibly biggest heist in the history of France, Zed, Eric and his lowlife junkie friends decide to party all night long, naturally in the company of heavy drugs.

Killing Zoe was written and directed by Roger Avary who is also known as the co-writer of Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Some people like it, some hate it but it has gained a cult following in the years after its release. There's not much to say about this movie except that it's simple, nihilistic and violent. This is not a judgement but an observation. The acting is great, especially the performance delivered by Jean-Hugues Anglade who portrays the psychopath Eric as if he was born for the role. If I were to rate this film, I'd place it somewhere between average and good.

[Wendigo]

A low budget early 90's monster classic

There's Nothing Out There (1991)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103077/


A party of 7 teens on spring break head off to the hills for a vacation, one is a film geek (you know the type ), when they see a car crash he starts to believe something is in the woods. He sees hints that he has picked up from watching horror films over the years and thinks they are in danger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfWt-FghKog

[Rogerbh]

I watched the Tom Hanks film Bridge of Spies (2015). Interesting film regarding a lawyer who defended a Russian spy and subsequently was instrumental in the exchange of Gary Francis Powers (U2 pilot) and some lovesick college student stuck in E Germany (right after the wall was put up) for the same Russian spy.

I doubt if this film helps people decide to go visit or work in dangerous countries like North Korea, but if it does, perhaps we should just let idiots rot there. The film did seem to show that Powers refused to follow orders to kill himself to prevent capture. He was lucky the Hanks character had convinced the judge to spare the death penalty from the Russian spy in that earlier event.

In terms of accuracy, Wiki states that along with problems with the wall in the story, he lawyer's house was never shot at and the American student was convicted of obtaining "confidential" material - something not mentioned in the film.

I don't know why it bothers me so much that Hollywood adds excitement to true life stories to make them more interesting. I am not watching the Discovery Channel. Still it pisses me off no matter how I rationalize it.