Letterboxd 5019o rich quade https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/ Letterboxd - rich quade Pee 6uw6s wee as Himself, 2025 - ★★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/pee-wee-as-himself-1/ letterboxd-review-898124964 Mon, 26 May 2025 08:20:12 +1200 2025-05-25 No Pee-wee as Himself 2025 4.0 277685 <![CDATA[

4v291o

complicated mix of feelings after this one....

Joy at how much fun and creativity he brought into the works. That the everyday can be magical.

Nostalgia, both for those old Pee Wee times, my younger self, and the googie world of toys, designs and whatnot he refracted through his work.

Something akin to regret or shame in realizing that I've been mostly been living half awake in comparison.

Grief at the idea that he's gone. Even forgetting all his work, I'd give almost anything just for more hours of Paul sitting there talking into the camera. Though the heart felt audio of him a day before he died is harrowing. We're all here for a time and then we're gone.

Satisfaction that in some sense, through this film he got to write his own eulogy.

Matt Wolf did fine assembling this, but I do wish Paul had been able to direct his own more abstract version.

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rich quade
The Villainess 486c1j 2017 - ★★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-villainess/ letterboxd-review-895853929 Sat, 24 May 2025 05:01:49 +1200 2025-05-23 No The Villainess 2017 3.5 437109 <![CDATA[

Sook-Hee goes through not one but two different La Femme Nikita type assassin training programs (no wonder she's so good at it!)
She's very competent in ordinary murdering situations, but when you add a layer of grief and revenge she becomes an unstoppable killing machine.
The opening and closing action set pieces are truly bonkers.

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rich quade
From Darkness to Light 6i5445 2024 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/from-darkness-to-light/ letterboxd-review-893758885 Wed, 21 May 2025 12:21:00 +1200 2025-05-20 No From Darkness to Light 2024 3.0 1320482 <![CDATA[

A documentary on Jerry Lewis's unfinished film "The Day the Clown Cried" is loaded with potential. Is the remaining footage as terrible as has been often depicted? Mostly yes, you can see the ideas that he was going for but it practice it doesn't work at all. Then again judging unfinished work is unfair. The talking heads both pump it up and tear it it down. The practical problems of the production (non-English speaking cast/crew being directed by Lewis, producer running off with the money, and, most astoundingly, letting the rights to the story lapse during production) are also fascinating and compelling.
But the film (this one not that one) is frustrating in its execution. You can really feel that they had a lot more audio than video available, as we see repeated (and I mean REPEATED) shots of leader, or dials, or reels slowly turning.
Coulda/shoulda been better?

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rich quade
The Sheepman 283t3i 1958 - ★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-sheepman/ letterboxd-review-891875353 Mon, 19 May 2025 09:20:09 +1200 2025-05-18 No The Sheepman 1958 2.5 76568 <![CDATA[

Western somewhere in-between an A and a B, with an interesting cast:

Shirley MacLaine ,as usual, is singularly endearing.

Leslie Nielsen leaves no impression as the villain, adding another brick towards his late career resurgence as a deadpan comedian (playing off all the blank characters he'd played earlier).

Edgar Buchanan is wonderful, as always (I'd listen to him reciting the phonebook).

Pernell Roberts is fine as an oily villain (see also: "Comanche Station")

Slim Pickens is wonderful, but his screen time is far too short.

All of this is negated by Glenn Ford's playing one of the most insufferable characters I've ever seen.

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rich quade
Sinners 5z1711 2025 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/sinners-2025/ letterboxd-review-888363737 Thu, 15 May 2025 08:08:09 +1200 2025-05-14 No Sinners 2025 3.0 1233413 <![CDATA[

As a movie about Black history, or blues history, it is quite good.

As a vampire movie, the rules are somewhat unclear and seemingly not all that consistent.

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rich quade
Leaving Las Vegas 206d3l 1995 - ★★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/leaving-las-vegas/ letterboxd-review-886675946 Tue, 13 May 2025 03:52:10 +1200 2025-05-12 Yes Leaving Las Vegas 1995 3.5 451 <![CDATA[

I saw this back when it came out, and I not liking that much (it felt too one note depressing). Watching it again, I think Cage's performance overshadowed the film; he IS very good, especially once he meets Elizabeth Shue (the early scenes have a bit more "Vampire's Kiss" in them than I think he intended). One of my favorite moments is when they first meet and Shue asks him if he's sorry (for almost running her over), the way he says "yes" really cracked me up.
But what really struck me this time was the style of the film, Mike Figgis directed the hell out of it (the camera work, the editing, the sound, the production design are great).

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rich quade
The Boy Friend 2n1e2d 1971 - ★★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-boy-friend/ letterboxd-review-885267946 Sun, 11 May 2025 14:14:50 +1200 2025-05-10 No The Boy Friend 1971 3.5 31515 <![CDATA[

This is one of the most visually inventive and pleasurable films I've seen in quite some time (reminds me of "King of Jazz" in this respect). Twiggy looks like a 1920's drawing come to life, and Tommy Tune is like an animated string of spaghetti (any time he's on screen I can't look away).

The narrative is pretty slight, and doesn't maintain interest for the whole two plus hours length of the film.

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rich quade
Rounders 391g1m 1998 - ★★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/rounders/ letterboxd-review-883281069 Fri, 9 May 2025 06:50:17 +1200 2025-05-08 No Rounders 1998 3.5 10220 <![CDATA[

Is Malkovich's accent incredibly awful or awfully incredible??


Good film.

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rich quade
Masterminds 3c6h3c 2016 - ★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/film:151796/ letterboxd-review-882008746 Wed, 7 May 2025 10:40:11 +1200 2025-05-06 No Masterminds 2016 2.0 213681 <![CDATA[

While ittedly this one had some laughs, it should've been better/funnier given the stacked cast. Maybe the fact that the cast is so well known played a part? Jared Hess had better command of tone on "Napoleon Dynamite".

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rich quade
They Won't Believe Me m556v 1947 - ★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/they-wont-believe-me/ letterboxd-review-879297495 Sun, 4 May 2025 13:23:09 +1200 2025-05-03 No They Won't Believe Me 1947 2.0 27203 <![CDATA[

A cross between a soap opera and a noir. Robert Young is surprisingly effective as the philandering husband of a controlling wife (he's too beholden to the cushy lifestyle she provides to leave her)(she eventually moves him to a rancho in the middle of the desert to keep him from temptation). Susan Hayward is vivacious as a quick-witted gold digger. It's all pretty solid at first but as the film goes on, the contrivances of the plot get more far-fetched. Also Hayward's flinty character is inexplicably turned into a believer in true love (over Young's character, who's done next to nothing to earn it).

Two moments stuck out for their oddity: 1. the wife (Rita Johnson), recalling fond memories, includes "that train ride to Quito where you bought that mummified head".
2. the way the windshield clearly shatters before before the impact with the truck.

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rich quade
Isle of Fury 3g23b 1936 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/isle-of-fury/ letterboxd-review-872967443 Sun, 27 Apr 2025 08:11:03 +1200 2025-04-26 No Isle of Fury 1936 3.0 121848 <![CDATA[

Pretty decent B-Movie starring Humphrey Bogart in one of his first starring roles. He's a relatively uncomplicated decent guy with a potentially disreputable past (and a definitely disreputable Clark Gable mustache!).Margaret Lindsay ably plays one of her good girl types, but Donald Woods is a bit stiff as the third leg in this love triangle.
The budget doesn't feel that constrained except for the octopus special effect, and I have a real weakness for black and white movies set in the tropics (there's something so evocative of dreams, especially in the night time scenes)(see also Bing Crosby's "Waikiki Wedding" among many others).

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rich quade
The Wind That Shakes the Barley 6we6p 2006 - ★★★★ (contains spoilers) https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-wind-that-shakes-the-barley/ letterboxd-review-870093168 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 17:17:21 +1200 2025-04-22 No The Wind That Shakes the Barley 2006 4.0 1116 <![CDATA[

This review may contain spoilers.

A powerful film. The first half is a good guerrilla fight for independence, with occasional pastoral "Thin Red Line" vibes. But the film really soars in the second half when Ireland 'kinda' gets it's independence, and the Half-a-Loaf treaty tears the Irish rebels into two parties for and against the treaty; leading to a civil war pitting former comrades (and even brothers) against each other. How much is good enough? The high price that has already been paid hardens the resolve of both sides. This being Ken Loach, there is also a strong undercurrent of the fight for economic justice.
The film also really conveys the way that power (and guns) tends to dehumanize the behavior of the strong towards the weak.

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rich quade
The Outfit 2f3x63 1973 - ★★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-outfit/ letterboxd-review-867399900 Mon, 21 Apr 2025 02:45:27 +1200 2025-04-20 No The Outfit 1973 3.5 26762 <![CDATA[

A gritty and tough-minded 1970's crime drama about Robert Duvall as a recently released from prison bank robber who's out for payback against the mob who killed his brother (and tried to kill him). John Flynn provides meat and potatoes direction, but the real attraction is the stacked cast.
You have old Hollywood types late in their careers like Robert Ryan, Jane Greer, Marie Windsor and Elisha Cook Jr; New Hollywood types Like Duvall, Karen Black, Jo Don Baker, and Sheree North; and character types like Richard Jaeckel (Sgt Bowren in "The Dirty Dozen"), Emile Meyer (Lt Kello in "Sweet Smell of Success")("C'mere Sidney, I want to chastise you"), and Bill McKinney (the rapist in "Deliverance"). Plus you get Timothy Carey! (however on the Timothy Carey scale, he's relatively tame here). Duvall is strong, but Best of Show probably goes to Baker.
A good exploration of the professional rules and mores of a business that exists outside of normal rules and mores.

Based on a book be Donald Westlake (as Richard Stark).

My one quibble is the title,. You would think that a movie called "The Outfit" would be more about the inner workings of the mob.

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rich quade
Cuckoo 6286j 2024 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/cuckoo-2024/ letterboxd-review-866281984 Sun, 20 Apr 2025 01:58:29 +1200 2025-04-19 No Cuckoo 2024 3.0 869291 <![CDATA[

Tilman Singer as a directer: 3.5 stars
Tilman Singer as a writer: 2 stars

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rich quade
The Amateur 4fk55 2025 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-amateur-2025/ letterboxd-review-863920176 Thu, 17 Apr 2025 10:28:22 +1200 2025-04-16 No The Amateur 2025 3.0 1087891 <![CDATA[

He becomes a super-spy surprisingly fast (yes, he is a genius, and a background as an analyst)(not to mention his time spent as Mr Robot!)
It WAS an entertaining ride, and he's more emotional than most spies.

Kind of wanted more Jon Bernthal. (I liked their energy together more than RM & LF)

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rich quade
The Game 3g122 1997 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-game/ letterboxd-review-862585444 Tue, 15 Apr 2025 16:10:44 +1200 2025-04-14 Yes The Game 1997 3.0 2649 <![CDATA[

What I found interesting this time (first viewing was when it came out) is how Douglas knows The Game is going on but still can't figure out what is real and what is The Game.
I doubt I'd be as sanguine about the whole thing as Douglas is at the end.

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rich quade
So I Married an Axe Murderer 2w1s48 1993 - ★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/so-i-married-an-axe-murderer/ letterboxd-review-862583085 Tue, 15 Apr 2025 16:06:33 +1200 2025-04-14 No So I Married an Axe Murderer 1993 2.0 10442 <![CDATA[

Falls into the gap between sketch world and movie world. Michael Myers is not convincing as an actual person (and the montage of his butcher gags is cringe inducing). The writing and filming also fall short of 'suspension of disbelief'.
That said, there are some pleasures, namely fine extended cameos by Phil Hartman, Steven Wright and Charles Grodin (who create more credible characters in a couple min. of screen time than Myers does in the whole movie.

[I do often like Myers in sketch comedy, but he's kind of addicted to mugging]

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rich quade
Ship of Fools 4t2w4e 1965 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/ship-of-fools/ letterboxd-review-861146777 Mon, 14 Apr 2025 04:23:01 +1200 2025-04-13 No Ship of Fools 1965 3.0 30080 <![CDATA[

Was this the Inspiration for "The Love Boat"? Loaded cast includes Oskar Werner, Simone Signoret, Jose Ferrer, Vivian Leigh, Werner Klemperer, Lee Marvin, and maybe best of all Michael Dunn (Dr Lovelace in "Wild Wild West", I would watch him in anything). Set in 1933, the coming Nazi apocalypse provides backdrop for various soapy subplots between the engers and crew (my favorite was probably the Push-Me-Pull-you 'romance' of young George Segal and Elizabeth Ashley). It's too bad this was Vivian Leigh's last role before retiring, as she still provides a fiery, brittle performance (on the other hand, this might be Lee Marvin's worst [or at least broadest] performance as the drunken racist lout). Actually now that I think about it, he was also this broad in "Cat Ballou", but that was meant to be a comedy, here he's meant to be delivering a serious 'message' about American boorishness.
The 3rd star is for the chance to see Michael Dunn, in a significant role.

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rich quade
Smarty 291g4m 1934 - ★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/smarty/ letterboxd-review-857721635 Wed, 9 Apr 2025 17:27:48 +1200 2025-04-08 No Smarty 1934 1.0 224264 <![CDATA[

This movie has a fine cast (Edward Everett Horton, Jimmie McHugh, Warren William, Claire Dodd) and I love Joan Blondell, but this movie is awful. Blondell bounces between husbands WW and EEH, always tormenting the one she has while chasing the one she hasn't. She thinks a man doesn't love her unless he's ionate enough to hit her and mean it. Obviously this is a pretty dubious philosophy, but if anyone deserves a beating it's her, as she's completely insufferable.

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rich quade
Your Lucky Day 431k3v 2023 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/your-lucky-day-2023/ letterboxd-review-854815843 Sun, 6 Apr 2025 12:02:51 +1200 2025-04-05 No Your Lucky Day 2023 3.0 923993 <![CDATA[

A 156M$ winning lottery ticket gets a lot of people killed. This isn't a world-beater, but it is a taut and nasty low budget crime thriller.
Came for Angus Cloud, stayed for Jessica Garza.

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rich quade
Nightbitch 93s5h 2024 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/nightbitch/ letterboxd-review-847768470 Sat, 29 Mar 2025 05:32:51 +1300 2025-03-28 No Nightbitch 2024 3.0 728949 <![CDATA[

That is a totally committed performance by Amy Adams.

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rich quade
Black Bag 1o2o5k 2025 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/black-bag-2025/ letterboxd-review-846630819 Thu, 27 Mar 2025 12:43:15 +1300 2025-03-26 No Black Bag 2025 3.0 1233575 <![CDATA[

An entertaining and jaunty spy film with a really good score by David Holmes. It's too tidy and obsessed with surfaces to be more than a pleasant diversion.

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rich quade
Anatomy of a Fall 215z2g 2023 - ★★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/anatomy-of-a-fall/ letterboxd-review-844375682 Mon, 24 Mar 2025 14:53:17 +1300 2025-03-23 No Anatomy of a Fall 2023 3.5 915935 <![CDATA[

The truth is messy and complex, so the lawyers for the prosecution (and defense) make up a simplified cartoon version that they try to sell to the jury. Has our addiction to story making/consuming made it impossible to see the chaos of reality? That said, Sandra Hutter plays a convincingly full and ambiguous character.

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rich quade
Party Girl 2n4gc 1995 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/party-girl-1995/ letterboxd-review-842018671 Sat, 22 Mar 2025 09:23:37 +1300 2025-03-21 No Party Girl 1995 3.0 36196 <![CDATA[

This is one of those films where you definitely feel the director's specific and individual choices. The narrative and motivational links from scene to scene are tenuous at best, but it's OK because the film relies on the charm of Parker's posing, and she delivers the goods.

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rich quade
Inherent Vice jx2a 2014 - ★★★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/inherent-vice/ letterboxd-review-839942716 Wed, 19 Mar 2025 11:59:36 +1300 2025-03-18 Yes Inherent Vice 2014 4.5 171274 <![CDATA[

I know I'm in the minority here, but I think this is PTA's best film, considerably better than than his overly controlled chilly 'masterpieces' "The Master" or "There Will Be Blood". It pulls you close but maintains as air of mystery as well. The production is so immersive, the sound, the score, the music selections. The visuals (by Robert Elswit)have an almost chewy tactileness (just the texture of Joaquin Phoenix's skin and hair [facial and otherwise] in those close ups). The feel of locations like Gordita Beach streets at twilight or The Chick Planet Massage trailer in the mid-day sun (wind briskly flapping the plastic flags).
The plot, while shambolic, has an internal logic and keeps moving forward. The 'theme' is the waning of the American Dream; or rather, since the actual American Dream has always been about the brutal levers of Capitalism and Imperialism, more of a Dream of the American Dream, that we could be be freer, kinder, better than we were. This Dream crested somewhere between Woodstock and Altamont, and the subsequent undertow wiped out countless dreamers. PTA effectively captures Pynchon's vibe of paranoia and defeat as the monied Conservative elite reestablish primacy (if they had ever ceded it), and the weirdness of a time when Hippies, Nazi bikers, New Age cults and Real Estate moguls were all bumping into each other.
Phoenix's performance as Doc Sportello is one of his best, he maintains a current of intelligence that bubbles just below the stoned surface. The obvious comparison is to Jeff Bridges in "The Big Lebowski", but it's darker, with a greater sense of bitterness amid the resignation. A closer comparison might be to Elliott Gould's Marlowe in "The Long Goodbye", but closer still to Raymond Chandler's original Marlowe, a knight errant who knows the game is rigged but is still willing to stand for his principles (without expectations of success).
Also, Doc's complicated (to say the least) relationship with cop Big Foot Bjornson (and Josh Brolin's unhinged performance) is a wonder to behold.
I might enjoy "Boogie Nights" more (because Mark Wahlberg and John C. Reilly are so funny), but I think this is his best.

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rich quade
Goodbye Lover e3g4a 1998 - ★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/goodbye-lover/ letterboxd-review-839125364 Tue, 18 Mar 2025 11:29:37 +1300 2025-03-17 Yes Goodbye Lover 1998 2.5 49981 <![CDATA[

An interesting failure of a movie that sinks under its increasingly ludicrous plot twists. The outlandishness becomes comedic, which may or may not be intentional but I suspect not, partly because Joffe is such a self serious director and the bits that are clearly intended to be comedic (like Ellen DeGeneres' cynical wisecracks) mostly land like lead balloons.

While it may not be that good of a movie, it works great as a Time Machine back to an earlier type of Hollywood film(90's Erotic Thriller).
The production design, the camera work, the surprisingly stacked cast: Patricia Arquette, Don Johnson, Dermot Mulroney, Mary Louise Parker, Ellen DeGeneres, Vincent Gallo.

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rich quade
One of Them Days 61af 2025 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/one-of-them-days/ letterboxd-review-835289398 Fri, 14 Mar 2025 12:07:05 +1300 2025-03-13 No One of Them Days 2025 3.0 1280672 <![CDATA[

Goofy movie with a charming cast. It's nice to see a film about how people live (scrambling to pay rent) rather than fighting aliens or vengeful wraiths.

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rich quade
Mickey 17 296tq 2025 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/mickey-17/ letterboxd-review-829309486 Sat, 8 Mar 2025 06:06:18 +1300 2025-03-07 No Mickey 17 2025 3.0 696506 <![CDATA[

Cool premise with some interesting ideas about labor exploitation and identity. But the class warfare angle is weakened by having Mickey be the only expendable on board, and the Characters played by Ruffalo and Colette are so underwritten that they are left cartoonishly flailing.
The whole thing veers off course in the final third.

This sloppy piece is a letdown after the precision of Bong Joon-Ho's "Parasite"

I'll still give it three stars for Robert Pattinson's immensely charming performance and physical comedy.

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rich quade
Kinds of Kindness t606w 2024 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/kinds-of-kindness/ letterboxd-review-828407608 Fri, 7 Mar 2025 04:25:45 +1300 2025-03-06 No Kinds of Kindness 2024 3.0 1029955 <![CDATA[

I didn't have any emotional connection to the movie as it made almost no sense from moment to moment, but it kept my interest waiting for the next gonzo turn. [I guess having the fine cast turn up as different characters in each story imposed a certain structure to the chaos].

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rich quade
Night Must Fall 225h5h 1964 - ★★½ The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension 211k5t 1984 - ★★★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-adventures-of-buckaroo-banzai-across-the-8th-dimension/ letterboxd-review-821302915 Thu, 27 Feb 2025 11:50:45 +1300 2025-02-26 Yes The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension 1984 4.5 11379 <![CDATA[

No notes!

This movie is filled with wonderful digressions and interesting curlicues.
It takes me back to the 1980's where oddball movies could flourish at the edges of the culture. (also fun: seeing all these actors so young!)

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rich quade
The Yakuza 1t6x25 1974 - ★★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-yakuza/ letterboxd-review-819762633 Tue, 25 Feb 2025 14:21:02 +1300 2025-02-24 No The Yakuza 1974 4.0 28415 <![CDATA[

Not so much about the Yakuza, but about the effort and cost of living by a code. It's a movie about not only adult, but middle-aged people, and how every decision and action has consequences. And over the course of decades, all these strings get tangled and complicated. Because of this, the movie can feel murky in the moment, but upon reflection, this film's standing improves.
While much less realistic, I think the John Wick films get a lot of their fatalistic world-weariness from this film, though here the ending is more optimistic. It's hard won, but through effort, sacrifice (and the occasional pinky) the damage of the past and the fissures in relationships can be repaired.
Robert Mitchum and Ken Takakura carry the weight of the film on their weary shoulders, but all of the characters feel lived in. (and it's nice to see the Richard Jordan character's growth, contrasted with his unbending character in "Logan's Run").
Extra half star for the appearance of the classic blue Pan Am bag in the final scene.

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rich quade
The Gorge 1655l 2025 - ★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-gorge-2025/ letterboxd-review-818554596 Mon, 24 Feb 2025 10:17:07 +1300 2025-02-23 No The Gorge 2025 2.5 950396 <![CDATA[

Essentially a B-Movie with aspirations of being an A.
The premise and plotting are ridiculous, but the design and execution of the gorge bottom (and its denizens) are pretty good.
If anything, I wish it were cheesier; Anya Taylor-Joy manages a vibe, but Miles Tellier is a bit too much of a normie. I dream of a version of this starring Roddy Piper and Pam Grier.

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rich quade
The Brutalist d6e2s 2024 - ★★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-brutalist/ letterboxd-review-817099880 Sun, 23 Feb 2025 05:19:20 +1300 2025-02-22 No The Brutalist 2024 4.0 549509 <![CDATA[

The age old conflict of the artist and the business man.
The narrative arc and themes work ok, but what really makes this film shine are its sensual pleasures. The visual style is languid and evocative, the editing generally flows but chooses its moments to slap you in the face, and speaking of faces, Adrien Brody's is eminently watchable and expressive. I love the curvy sheen of the 1950's automobiles and the industrial montages. It all feels like a specific person's vision.
I also really appreciate the music, both the score and the needle drop songs included (not the usual suspects). Bonus points for including Spike Jones and the City Slickers.
3.5hrs that went down very easily.

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rich quade
The Burmese Harp 1i1d67 1956 - ★★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-burmese-harp/ letterboxd-review-815514649 Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:54 +1300 2025-02-20 No The Burmese Harp 1956 3.5 33319 <![CDATA[

A surprisingly gentle Japanese war film (actually most of it takes place in the immediate aftermath of the war). I liked the camaraderie of the Japanese unit and their concern for their wayward member who has become a monk with a mission to bury Japanese death scattered across Burma.

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rich quade
SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) 6x5466 2025 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/sly-lives-aka-the-burden-of-black-genius/ letterboxd-review-814738108 Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:06:29 +1300 2025-02-19 No SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) 2025 3.0 847692 <![CDATA[

It's the standard arc of the star's journey: innovation and success followed by drugs and destruction. I acknowledge that everything in America has a racial aspect, but if Questlove wanted to stress that angle, it seems like he could've brought in Sly's cultural relationship to James Brown (as a Funk innovator) or Arthur Lee (as a Black man in the rock field).
That said, it's definitely worth seeing because of all the fantastic music and video clips.

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rich quade
Stop 613se You're Killing Me, 1952 - ★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/stop-youre-killing-me/ letterboxd-review-810559738 Sun, 16 Feb 2025 11:34:21 +1300 2025-02-15 No Stop, You're Killing Me 1952 2.0 94504 <![CDATA[

Did you ever want to see Margaret Dumont in color?
Did you ever want to hear Broderick Crawford singing?
This is the movie for you.

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rich quade
Companion 2bk68 2025 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/companion-2025/ letterboxd-review-807507978 Thu, 13 Feb 2025 04:26:45 +1300 2025-02-12 No Companion 2025 3.0 1084199 <![CDATA[

Chekov's corkscrew.

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rich quade
Shadow in the Sky 451667 1952 - ★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/shadow-in-the-sky/ letterboxd-review-805363373 Mon, 10 Feb 2025 14:03:37 +1300 2025-02-09 No Shadow in the Sky 1952 2.5 137717 <![CDATA[

Relatively early movie about the effects of PTSD, and it's just ok.
Future Mrs Reagan is fairly wooden but James Whitmore is solid.
The main attraction is Ralph Meeker, who's more sympathetic than usual but as always delivers the goods.
This is also the movie that Jean Hagen did right before "Singin' in the Rain"

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rich quade
The Pawnbroker 6p3f4v 1964 - ★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-pawnbroker/ letterboxd-review-804069680 Sun, 9 Feb 2025 12:58:51 +1300 2025-02-08 No The Pawnbroker 1964 2.5 20540 <![CDATA[

It felt kind of belabored TBH.
Rod Steiger's performance is fine (especially in the quiet moments), but his 'rictus of suffering' moments were jarring (more in line with Emil Janning's silent film acting)
The shots of early 1960's NYC street life were cool.

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rich quade
Oliver! 70274r 1968 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/oliver/ letterboxd-review-803594961 Sun, 9 Feb 2025 05:44:01 +1300 2025-02-08 No Oliver! 1968 3.0 17917 <![CDATA[

I liked this more (somewhat) than I thought I would (not at all), though it is pretty bloated.
The two different approaches to villainy is interesting. Ron Moody's Fagin seduces with pleasurable timing and gestures. Oliver Reed's Sykes is truly repellent with his dark energy and brute menace.

Trivia Fun Fact: this was the last G-rated movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture. (it's a bit surprising it was G-Rated; the image of Reed's corpse swinging back and forth will haunt my dreams).

Crazy that director Carol Reed also did "The Third Man".

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rich quade
Blues in the Night 3g414k 1941 - ★★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/blues-in-the-night/ letterboxd-review-802979244 Sat, 8 Feb 2025 13:11:20 +1300 2025-02-07 No Blues in the Night 1941 3.5 25862 <![CDATA[

To address the elephant in the room: this is a movie about jazz musicians where African Americans are completely sidelined (although there is one scene with the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra).
If you can get past the whitewashing, this kooky movie has a lot to recommend it, including being the source of the classic tune "Blues in the Night" (by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer).

See Elia Kazan as an actor playing a hepcat clarinetist!
Apparently the key to being a jazzbo is speaking in double time.

Lead actor Richard Whorf is like a roughed up, bargain basement Tyrone Power.

Betty Field is an effective bad girl (opposite good girl Priscilla Lane)

Lloyd Nolan plays a pretty interesting villain with a soft spot for the jazz band (otherwise he's a dangerous, sullen bully)


But the main draw is the staging and especially the nutty montages (one of which includes a POV of a piano being played!). I'm not sure who's responsible for those montages director Anatole Litvak, cinematographer Ernest Haller, or some 2nd unit guy, but they definitely earned their money.

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rich quade
Young Dillinger 1t5m41 1965 - ★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/young-dillinger/ letterboxd-review-794092616 Thu, 30 Jan 2025 14:40:30 +1300 2025-01-29 No Young Dillinger 1965 1.5 116767 <![CDATA[

Brooding hothead Nick Adams doesn't look anything like Dillinger, and this low budget film from the 1960s doesn't look anything like the 1930s. The characterizations (and the action) are one note and ultimately quite boring. As is the drab, gray cinematography.
The only scene that makes any impression is the histrionic Sanatorium scene.

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rich quade
Let It Be 52l6k 1970 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/let-it-be/ letterboxd-review-793072362 Wed, 29 Jan 2025 14:00:01 +1300 2025-01-28 Yes Let It Be 1970 3.0 20556 <![CDATA[

A film on the making of the Beatles' next album, it's generally thought to be a document of their demise, however I didn't think the band was nearly as disgruntled or dispirited as I'd been led to believe. Sure there was some sniping, but mostly it's about a group of musicians working through the creative process. (I haven't seen PJackson's extended version of this material). What struck me is how grizzled and experienced they seemed to be considering they were all still in their 20s.

Plus: George's guitar tone on "Two of Us"
Minus: Paul staring into the camera with his puppy dog eyes as he sings "The Long and Winding Road"

In the end with the rooftop concert, it's a little perverse for the biggest band in the world to give a free concert in a location where the audience can hear but not see them.

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rich quade
The Platform 3r296d 2019 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/the-platform/ letterboxd-review-793062120 Wed, 29 Jan 2025 13:48:51 +1300 2025-01-28 No The Platform 2019 3.0 619264 <![CDATA[

A metaphor turned into a movie. The people below eat the leftovers of those above. The first two thirds are masterful, as the director slowly unspools the rules and consequences of this thought experiment. Runs out of gas towards the end.

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rich quade
Back in Action 2h564g 2025 - ★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/back-in-action-2025/ letterboxd-review-790857179 Mon, 27 Jan 2025 13:47:01 +1300 2025-01-26 No Back in Action 2025 2.0 993710 <![CDATA[

Netflix feature that struggles mightily to reach mediocrity and mostly fails. It's definitely following a template; at any given point it's easy to predict the next 10 minutes. The laugh lines are recognized as such but rarely deliver actual laughs. Back in the 80s & 90s, there was an action movie like this released about every other week, which is maybe why we don't need more of them now?

Jamie Foxx's relaxed bemusement plays better than Cameron Diaz's straining to deliver on the rote emotional beats.

Watch the "Long Kiss Goodnight" again instead.

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rich quade
Dead Calm 493226 1989 - ★★★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/dead-calm/ letterboxd-review-789522145 Sun, 26 Jan 2025 15:42:02 +1300 2025-01-25 Yes Dead Calm 1989 4.5 10493 <![CDATA[

Is this the perfect action/suspense movie? Perhaps (I'm generally against the 'villain' pops up one more' time gambit, but it is fairly well done here).

This film fires on all cylinders: the action has a logic to it, the staging is clear, the characters are all competent. (I appreciate that when Kidman has a chance to kill Zane, she sets him adrift instead; defying the Hollywood lust for the righteous kill)(only to satisfy it later. Like I said, I'm iffy on the ending)
The cinematography is great at emphasizing the aloneness, and is really poetically beautiful during the twilight scenes as she hurries back, trying to locate the sinking boat (but again, emphasizing the stakes and ramifications of the descending darkness.
The sound and song choices are excellent.

And the cast! Young Nicole Kidman demonstrates the steely determination that has allowed to her stay on top of the Hollywood heap for 35 years. Sam Neill is a paragon of rational stoicism, with deeper currents running below. And this was the first film I saw Billy Zane in, and he made such an impression that I've never trusted him in anything ever since.


PS: also: the shot of the toddler flying through the air like superman!

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rich quade
Buck and the Preacher 5m186p 1972 - ★★★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/buck-and-the-preacher/ letterboxd-review-788203383 Sat, 25 Jan 2025 15:04:04 +1300 2025-01-24 No Buck and the Preacher 1972 3.5 26928 <![CDATA[

And you think that that the white sodbusters had it rough in the West?

Not even a set of moldy gray teeth can dim Harry Belafonte's charisma.
And the title sequence, with music by Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee really sets the tone for the film.

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rich quade
Artists and Models 2c5d30 1955 - ★½ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/artists-and-models/ letterboxd-review-786947801 Fri, 24 Jan 2025 11:21:40 +1300 2025-01-23 No Artists and Models 1955 1.5 43317 <![CDATA[

The word that comes to mind to describe Jerry Lewis is "insufferable".
(It's amazing he wasn't regularly beaten to a pulp).
The movie also points to the cognitive dissonance of translating a silent film or cartoon aesthetic to another more realistic medium . I think it has to do with the fact that the more abstracted from reality, the more liberties you're allowed to take. On the other hand, this movie's winking acknowledgement that it IS a movie, and persistent references to other movies makes it a clear predecessor to films like "Airplane!". Also, Tashlin's technical prowess in staging is a result of his experience in the forced narrative economy of cartoons.
But Lewis is just so fucking annoying.

Saving graces:
Dean Martin singing "Amorata"
Young Shirley MacLaine's charm

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rich quade
David Lynch 5a6h4t The Art Life, 2016 - ★★★ https://letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rich_quade/film/david-lynch-the-art-life/ letterboxd-review-786787041 Fri, 24 Jan 2025 08:34:41 +1300 2025-01-23 No David Lynch: The Art Life 2016 3.0 413765 <![CDATA[

Visuals of old man Lynch painting and thinking, while he narrates the story of his childhood and and nascent artistic development. A full circle experience.

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rich quade