Movies Watched -- A Fantastic Woman (2018)

100 minutes so the right length, but I quit watching this after 20 minutes, and it was a Blu-Ray disc so I don’t have a screencap to accompany the post. It’s about a transgender man/woman in Chile… his/her older male partner croaks and he/she has to deal with his family afterwards… it didn’t grab me, I wasn’t interested, I have no idea why it has won any critical acclaim. Could be that the transgender issue is hot now and the media latched onto this thing, but you can definitely give it a miss.

Tony Lane also wasn’t thrilled.

Movies Watched -- Leave No Trace (2018)

109 minute running time, so at least 10 to 20 minutes too long. Unusual movie, directed by a woman from a script written by women. About a damaged guy (a Marine vet with PTSD) and his teenage daughter who live in the woods outside of Portland … “social services” brings them in and tries to house them (they’re all very nice, no stupid people in the mix), but Dad wants to run away again and does, taking his daughter with him, even though she just wants a place to settle down and live a “normal” life. Mom is absent, dead or divorced, we don’t know.

I didn’t buy the story. Just how long have they been out in the woods? And the father is not going to abandon his fine-boned daughter, I don’t care how much shock and awe he saw in the desert. Critics (esp. women like Zacharek, who wrote a good and glowing review) are going to love it, and it’s not terrible, it’s just that the premise is flawed.

Miss Quivering Chin with yet another Kind Earthy Woman

Movies Watched -- Support the Girls (2018)

90 minute running time so the perfect length, but I have no idea how this ended up on my to-watch list. About an overwhelmed woman who manages a Hooters-style restaurant in Houston? Not sure what demographic they’re targeting with this one, but it isn’t mine. The lead is sweet, but the story is depressing. Give it a miss.

Burgers, beer, and boobs

Movies Watched -- Green Zone (2010)

114 minute running time so at least 20 minutes too long. Bouncy cam, non-stop action, video-gamer special (never forget how many thousands of people really died). War Porn of sorts, and at its heart, a really dumb Hollywood thing… yes, of course non-existent WMD were a pretext for starting the war, everyone knew that from the beginning … but we need chief warrant officer “Miller” going rogue to get to the bottom of this fiction … funny to see the Entertainment Tonight host as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, he probably would have done as good a job as the real guy … god, I hated this … fast forward. Give it a miss.

Don’t be naive, Freddy.

Movies Watched -- Foxcatcher (2014)

134 minute running time, so they could have trimmed 20 minutes or so, but this was really good, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Steve Carell with prosthetic eagle nose plays John Dupont, nutty supporter of the US Wrestling Federation, Channing Tatum plays Mark Schultz (whom I do remember from early cage fights), and Mark Ruffalo plays Dave Schultz, Mark’s older brother, also an Olympic gold medalist. Interesting (tragic) story, well told. Highly recommended!

(Rex also liked it.)

Ornithologist, Philatelist, Philanthropist

Movies Watched -- Fire at Sea (Fuocoammare) (2016)

113 minute running time, so it could have been trimmed a bit … but this was a special film … a documentary, but not a conventional one. Life on the small island of Lampedusa (population 6,000) off the coast of Italy (shown through the simple times of a young boy), and the front line of the refugee crisis … desperate people crossing the Mediterranean trying to get to Europe — Sudanese, Syrians, Eritreans, etc. — first arrive here. I enjoyed it and can recommend it.

So many body bags….

Movies Watched -- Too Late For Tears (1949)

98 minute running time so just under the sacred 100 minute mark. A real film noir with blackmail, a femme fatale, multiple murders, Los Angeles and sleazy Mexico locales (once again, see Touch of Evil and The Hitch-Hiker), double-crossing dames, old wartime buddies, and sex — not graphic sex of course, but a more explicit approach, surprising for a movie made in 1949. My copy from “Alpha Video” was in terrible shape, but apparently there’s a restored version on Blu-ray available now. The movie wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad, and it’s a must-see for noir fans.

You’re quite a gal, Mrs. Palmer

Movies Watched -- Swing Time (1936)

103 minute running time … some great dance scenes, lovely songs by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields (The Way You Look Tonight, A Fine Romance, and Never Gonna Dance — the last has the best dance scene, really moving, I shed a tear) … goofy story / comedy in between the musical numbers. I’ve always liked Fred Astaire’s singing. He does one scene in black-face, which will drive the PCs crazy, but those were the bad old days. Certainly a top ten movie from 1936, but I haven’t seen them all. Recommended if you like song and dance.

Ginger suffering from a mild case of nipple-itis

Movies Watched -- The Arbor (2011)

90 minutes, so the perfect length, but I only made it an hour in before quitting because it was just too depressing. Another horror story from a British housing project, just awful stuff … poor, dumb, foul-mouthed, miserable people — why watch them? Some toff down in London published the play, slumming it. Avoid.

I was a vewy pwetty girl, until someone waped me with scissows

Movies Watched -- Touch Of Evil (1958)

95 minute running time but feels much longer. I’d seen this one in the past and forgot about it. Old Orson Welles grumbling and bumbling around… some really neat camerawork, no doubt the man was way ahead of his time. Dumb story though. Mexican lesbian dopers a novelty in 1958. Sleazy California-Mexico border town featured (same as in The Hitch-Hiker). Welles as corrupt cop, Marlene Dietrich as fortune teller… Aiding justice, partner! Wasn’t thrilled with it, though it’s something every movie buff oohs and aahs over, but it’s just not that well put together, the story is no good. You can give it a miss.

Janet Leigh (Jamie Lee Curtis’s mom) in repose