Film Diary: 2021
My journey through unseen film territory continues...
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- DirectorLarry ClarkStarsJames WoodsMelanie GriffithVincent KartheiserIn the hope of a big score, two junkie couples team up to commit various drug robberies which go disastrously wrong, leading to dissent, violence, and murder.
- DirectorWolf RillaStarsMarjorie RhodesCyril SmithVera DayA sailor named Albert is late for his own wedding, but a bigger problem occurs when he gets a message from the Navy saying he can't marry for certain legal reasons. Everyone jumps to conclusions and thinks there's another woman out there with a claim of some kind.Only in order to see John Meillon when he was a little younger than he is in Crocodile Dundee. The whole thing was almost worth it to hear him unexpectedly call his would be mother in law "bitch!" to her face. Shocking indeed.
Otherwise a very slow, one-room affair. But there were some very funny bit-parters crammed in, like Irene Handl (I had to check that she wasn't an earlier incarnation of Miriam Margolyes, because she reminded me so much of her) as a batty but sweet old lady and Frankie Howerd as the increasingly bored organist at the wedding that never takes place. - DirectorJarl KulleStarsJarl KulleIngvar KjellsonMargaretha KrookAn absent-minded University teacher lives a double life as an impostor. His butler helps him find victims.
- DirectorJohn FlynnStarsJames WoodsBrian DennehyVictoria TennantA hitman approaches a writer to help him create his next best seller, but the violent world he was a part of has other plans.
- DirectorHugo BolanderStarsGus DahlströmHolger HöglundFritiof BillquistSquadron leader Morgonkröök throws big a party where one of his colleagues is going to demonstrate a new type of explosive substance.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsHeather LangenkampRobert EnglundJf DavisA demonic force has chosen Freddy Krueger as its portal to the real world. Can Heather Langenkamp play the part of Nancy one last time and trap the evil trying to enter our world?
- DirectorRobert KurtzmanStarsTammy LaurenAndrew DivoffAngus ScrimmA demonic djinn attempts to grant its owner three wishes, which will allow him to summon his brethren to Earth.
- CreatorFriedrich SchillerStarsConrad PhillipsWilloughby GoddardJennifer JayneDepicts the legend of William Tell, who, as the stories say, shot an apple off of his son's head and lead the rebellion to free Switzerland.A couple of episodes here and there to see Nigel Green.
- DirectorSimon WincerStarsPaul HoganCuba Gooding Jr.Beverly D'AngeloLightning Jack Kane is an Australian outlaw in the wild west. During a bungled bank robbery he picks up mute Ben Doyle as a hostage. The two become good friends, with Jack teaching Ben how to rob banks, while they plan Jack's last heist.
- DirectorDon SharpStarsChristopher LeeNigel GreenJoachim FuchsbergerAfter cheating death, master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu returns with a plot to contaminate the River Thames with a powerful toxin extracted from Tibetan poppies.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsCharley ChaseMartha SleeperEvelyn BurnsJimmy returns from college and works at his father's iron foundry and helps his mom with a charity event. He goes to a tough dance hall to impress his girl, where he mistaken for a notorious gangster.
- DirectorKarel ReiszStarsDavid WarnerVanessa RedgraveRobert StephensAfter his wife leaves him for his former best friend, a failed London artist begins his descent into madness in trying to win her back.
- StarsRoy MarsdenBarry FosterRay BrooksForensic scientist Dr. Edwin Lorrimer is murdered. Detective Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh is assigned the case, having recently investigated another killing in the area. His pursuit of the truth unravels a web of dark secrets.
- DirectorMartin SöderhjelmStarsNils PoppeGunnar BjörnstrandAdolf JahrIn the small town Skrabbarp lives the school teacher Sebastian Pettersson, an amateur detective and one of the most diligent correspondents of the Stockholm police.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsTerry CamilleriJohn MeillonKevin MilesThe small town of Paris, Australia deliberately causes car accidents, then sells/salvages all valuables from the wrecks as a means of economy.To see some more John Meillon I watched this oddity of a movie. It was completely worth it.
The town makes no sense, financially speaking, but that doesn't matter. It's the atmosphere and that feeling of conspiracy and not knowing that makes it into the gem that it is. I also appreciate that the main character is such a loser. He even looks up to the corrupt mayor, even though he's covering up brutal murders. The kid is so unsure of himself that he's willing to go along with pretty much anything. He's practically brainwashed as soon as he sets foot in the town. Imagine had it been a hunky all-American hero-type. That would have been insufferable. And it would have set the North of the moral compass in a completely different direction. This kid I like, because he has no idea what's really right anymore.
For a bit towards the end, during the final battle, I got the same feeling as during the end fight in "The Island", when the adventure music plays. The perspective shifted slightly and suddenly I wasn't even sure whose side I was on, because I could see the tragedy of the gangmembers being slaughtered too. They're all as bad as each other, but you're lulled into the mind-set of the town, just like the main guy. Who knows what's the right thing to do?
This along with "Wake in Fright" and, as far as I've seen "Walkabout", have that same abysmal air of doom about them. Like you're drawn into a cult and made to like it. Maybe there's something about the Australian landscape that inspires a particular mindset. Even though the film is over, you'll never really leave those places behind. If anything, I think the memories of that certain feeling grow stronger over time. - DirectorLina WertmüllerStarsGiancarlo GianniniFernando ReyShirley StolerThe defense of honor, a strong value in Neapolitan society, and its effects on the life of everyman Pasquale Frafuso.Oh boy, I've had two really good weird movie picks these past couple of nights.
The amount of extreme close-ups put me off a little to begin with, but then I reminded myself that I love looking at faces, and then I didn't mind.
Giannini is great in this. Those puppy-eyes work very well in close-up. Horrible guy in the movie, but somehow entirely sympathetic, despite being despicable. He's a complete underdog and at the same time pathetic, desperate and charming. I find it refreshing that he didn't really learn anything from the whole ordeal in the end. His takeaway from it all ended up being completely wrong, but also understandable, quite funny and yet again pathetic. Just hurry up living. Why not. Who has time to change? Just do the same thing as before, only more and quicker.
It says 'comedy' in the description somewhere. It isn't. And it is. Some things are outrageously funny, while most of it is just pure desperation. The scene where he has to chop up the guy he killed is probably the funniest bit. It's like the bit in between the action in other movies. The scene not even filmed, or even written. The stuff they skip over to make the characters look cooler and more in control. This guy is not in control. He has a hot temper, things happen to him, he makes mistakes, but his will to live is so strong he'd rather do something sickening than give up. - CreatorJay BaumanStarsJay BaumanRich EvansMike StoklasaMike, Jay, Rich and the rest of the Red Letter Media crew brave some of the worst movies ever created by man.The whole kit and kaboodle, from first episode to last (as of 26th Jan 2021), over the course of late 2020 and the date mentioned above.
- DirectorEthan ManiquisRobert RodriguezStarsDanny TrejoMichelle RodriguezRobert De NiroAfter being set-up and betrayed by the man who hired him to assassinate a Texas Senator, an ex-Federale launches a brutal rampage of revenge against his former boss.Finally a lead for Trejo, even if he hardly says anything, but I guess Machete don't speak. The action is silly but fun. What irks me is mainly the use of obvious digital effects, mainly for blood. It just looks bad. And the fact that it's set in the modern day also doesn't quite match with the tone - however I see that it is a deliberate choice, since Machete is the low-tech analog man in a digital world.
I like the swings at American racism and politics, even inventing a wall before there was a wall. It's one of those rare movies that is both stupid action and manages to say something important at the same time. It didn't have to, but it did, and I think it makes it better.
Everyone is in it too. DeNiro demise is of course deliciously ironic. - DirectorRobert RodriguezStarsDanny TrejoAlexa PenaVegaMel GibsonThe U.S. government recruits Machete to battle his way through Mexico in order to take down an arms dealer who looks to launch a weapon into space.A worthy sequel, I think. Pretty much the same again. Also setting up the unavoidable space-sequel to come. Who would you send into space to save the world? Why, Machete of course.
- DirectorBrett HarveyStarsCheech MarinCraig BalkamDanielle TrejoHaving spent much of his early life in prison, actor Danny Trejo discusses his career and how he has overcome a life of crime and addiction.Very honest documentary straight from the heart. And Trejo has a big one. I see why I like that guy.
- DirectorHugo BolanderStarsAllan BohlinÅke SöderblomGaby StenbergBjörn Harring studies theology, but the boxing coach Charlie happens to see when he scares a couple of troublemakers through skilled boxing.Ingen aning, jag såg egentligen inte så noga. Rätt tråkig, trots en del inhopp från Tosse och Håge. Det jag minns mest är ett oerhört pompöst tal av Bohlin som prästen, som väl troligen skulle tala till en nation nästan-i-krig och infria någon slags sammanhållning och fosterlandskänsla. Det fungerade inte på mig.
- DirectorAnthony DrazanStarsHarvey KeitelFairuza BalkKelly LynchA recently widowed, small-time hustler struggles to raise his two daughters on his own, and still make a dishonest living in 1960s Portland, Oregon.Cute. Not the best Keitel performance, but a decent one and an interesting clearly conflicted character. The kids are good too. It's fun to see Moss look almost exactly the same as she does now, only smaller.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsMira SorvinoJeremy NorthamAlexander GoodwinThree years ago, entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler genetically created an insect to kill cockroaches carrying a virulent disease. Now, the insects are out to destroy their only predator, mankind.I have to write something right away, because this movie annoyed me so much, I just can't let it go. The problem for me is that it's almost enjoyable. It presents a couple of possibilities that it never lives up to, a bit like the "Slave of the Cannibal God" movie, where half of it is pretty decent - engaging even - only to forget all about the plot threads towards the end. This has many things going for it as a solid creature feature. It has a good cast, a creepy monster, a claustrophobic location and a certain time-frame. Cool. Some of the characters are interesting, and some I don't care for. Like the two leads. I know the only woman in the cast is going to live, because she's the only woman in the cast. At least she has a personal connection to the monster, since she created it. That should make for some inner conflict, or at least some conflict between her and the others as they find out. Not really. But it should mean that she has some handy expertise that will help kill the creatures, like how their anatomy works and what it takes to defeat them? Well... she just ends up throwing herself in front of an oncoming train.
Then there's the male lead, whom I don't care about either. He's alright, but extremely generic. In the end he surprisingly survives, and I couldn't help thinking "are you kidding me? Do they want me to be happy about this?". It's played like a triumphant moment when he walks out of the tunnel and reunites with the heroine and the kid...
Yes, the kid. The child of missed opportunities. What's the point of that kid? Two children die at the beginning of the movie, so they're clearly not afraid to kill them off. Yet, he survives. Why? He plays the spoons, which seems to be an important detail, mentioned many times over as to hammer home information later to be used as a plot-point. It isn't. I had two theories about the kid, and none of them came true.
Either: The kid mimics people walking by playing his spoons. He 'mimics' them. Geddit? He disappears down the tunnel system, only to be found later by his father, who takes him along back into the train carriage. They all barricade in there. The lead guy gets killed as he turns the power on. A heroic sacrifice, and a win for the team who get moving by train. They're on their way to safety - they think. But the conductor-guy (I don't remember what he actually is, but he knows about trains anyway) bumps against something and starts bleeding again. The kid reacts strangely. He turns out to be a Mimic. The father is faced with killing what looks like his own son. Will he be able to do it? Either he does, but dies at the same time, or he can't and is killed anyway, and the others are left to get rid of the Mimic themselves. That would have been a climactic scene between father and "son". Instead of the father finding him and then just getting killed by an insect hiding behind him.
Or: The kid, being able to you know 'mimic' and everything, would turn out to be the only human who could actually communicate with the Mimics, by way of clicking. This could be used to distract or somehow even bargain with them to reach some kind of goal, I don't know. At least there would have been a point to the whole spoon-thing then. And to the fact that the kid was left alive for the duration of the movie.
I kept expecting there to be a last shot whammy of the kid showing a fang or something, to signify that he was in fact a Mimic all along. They didn't even do that cheap little twist. I'm all for subverting expectations, but come on! At least don't be so incredibly underwhelming! - DirectorLina WertmüllerStarsGiancarlo GianniniMariangela MelatoAgostina BelliForced to leave his family in Sicily, Mimí finds a job in a factory in Turin, where he gets involved in an extramarital affair.My second Wertmüller. I'm getting obsessed and fascinated, although I suspect that none of her other films will quite match up to my first experience with "Seven Beauties".
This is lighter in tone, and really works as a farce centred around corrupt politics, sexual affairs and the complete hipocracy of the main character.
Someone compared Giannini's presence to that of Chaplin. I can see that. Or maybe even more Max Linder. Some scenes are played as a silent short, and his expressive face and movements, along with the variety of female character actors, make it work beautifully.
The scene where he finds out his wife is pregnant with another man, and gets so angry that he storms out of the car, stops, exclaims "why am I on foot?" and gets back in the car to drive home and murder her, is pure physical comedy brilliance. As is the following scene where they meet, and she finds out that he has a child on the side too. They're like cartoons raging at each other, not ever stopping to realize that they've both done the same thing, they really agree with each other and a divorce would solve everything (except reputation - which is somehow more tarnished by divorce than if you publicly declare bigamy).
The flash zooms on the cousins with their three moles become a running gag and a warning of political quagmires. Whatever he does will be wrong. - DirectorPaolo CavaraStarsGiancarlo GianniniClaudine AugerBarbara BouchetA series of victims are paralyzed while having their bellies ripped open, much in the same way tarantulas are killed by the black wasp. The victims all seem to have a connection with a spa.Giallo. But not enough gore.
The women all look exactly the same to me, I couldn't tell them apart. Beautiful, auburn hair, overly sexualized. I don't care. I kept waiting for the cop's wife to finally get murdered, but it didn't happen until the last ten minutes. The killer is of course the blind guy wearing lenses. Obvious. Not a big deal, had the killings been more interesting or the atmosphere more gloomy. The method is vaguely related to the tarantula, but never played out to its full creepy potential. With his last victim the killer is so sloppy and slow that the cop has time to drive from the gym and all the way home before his wife gets stabbed. Because apparently the killer needs his victims to be aware of the fact that they're being killed. This didn't seem to get in the way before, but now, sure. He actually stabs her with the needle in the base of her skull (sure-fire way to murder someone, no?) right before the cop bursts through the door. He sees her and -- drops the gun! -- only to scream and jump on the guy instead. This is hilarious, if frustrating and absolutely irrational. Killer gets caught, sad ending, boo-hoo for the poor cop...
Smash cut to: actual ending where his boss tells him his wife will make a complete recovery. Really??
There's a fun little chase sequence on a roof-top, as they always are, even though nothing much comes of it. A momentarily edgy bit where a truckload of steel bars back into the cop's car while he's still in it. And a luridly sexy score by Morricone, which is simultaneously annoying and kind of good. - DirectorLina WertmüllerStarsGiancarlo GianniniMariangela MelatoLina PolitoWhen a friend is murdered by the Facists, a melancholy farmer takes up residence in a Roman brothel as he and an anarchist prostitute plot to assassinate Mussolini.Third Wertmüller. Very, very good. Don't have much more to say at the moment. I'll have to watch it again. "Seven Beauties" is still the best one so far, but this comes really close at times.
- DirectorJoachim TrierStarsAnders Danielsen LieHans Olav BrennerIngrid OlavaOne day in the life of Anders, a young recovering drug addict, who takes a brief leave from his treatment center to interview for a job and catch up with old friends in Oslo.(Skolfilm) Deprimerande, verklighetstrogen, sorgsen, frustrerande, smårolig, och faktiskt bra. Kommer förmodligen aldrig att se den igen.
- DirectorLina WertmüllerStarsSophia LorenMarcello MastroianniGiancarlo GianniniIn pre-World War II Sicily, just as the fascists come to power, two men fall in love with the same woman. The changes in their country's politics ultimately take all three on a journey across the ocean to New York City.Fourth Wertmüller. Interesting attempt, but not quite there. I saw it dubbed into English, and I'm not sure if that was the way it was originally released, because sometimes their mouths lined up so perfectly to the dialogue, and it sounded like the actual actors. I may also have missed out on about 20 minutes somewhere, because the runtime on the one i saw was much shorter than the one listed here, even though there was both beginning and end, and everything seemed to go together.
I kept expecting them to actually get on the boat and eventually arrive in America, but that didn't happen. At least not in my version.
Mastroianni and Giannini work very well as diametrical opposites, yet quite likable. I was interested in the aspect of the two of them becoming reluctant friends, or at least dependent on one another. This didn't quite play out, though. Also Mastroianni's beard is unforgivable. - DirectorEttore ScolaStarsMarcello MastroianniMonica VittiGiancarlo GianniniA three-way love affair in the Rome of the early seventies.Surprisingly really good. I love the inventive storytelling in that the courtroom is never shown, but instead the characters turn to camera in the middle of whatever ridiculous situation they're in, and just tells us their version of events. The acting is just the right amount of off the wall, and all parts of the triangle are sympathetic in their own way. I just wonder what happened to the pizza-maker at the end. None of them got the girl, but at least the other guy was happy with his illusion of her.
The opening is brilliant, both from a storytelling standpoint, and as comedy. In a way it reminds me of the opening to "Sunset Blvd." where we immediately understand that the narrator speaks to us from beyond the grave.
Funny too to watch straight after "Blood Feud", since that also revolves around Giannini and Mastroianni quarreling about a woman. And not getting her. This time they live, though. - DirectorLina WertmüllerStarsGiancarlo GianniniMariangela MelatoRiccardo SalvinoA trip into the Mediterranean sea becomes a trip into the discovery of how society's frameworks of the rich and poor are delicate and temporary.Fifth, and probably last Wertmüller in a while. I can't seem to find any more of them with subtitles in a language I can understand. Especially not the other two films she did with Giannini.
But it's been a nice ride. This one I kept stopping and coming back to over a period of days.
Interesting concept and despicable characters. Again we have sex not as pleasure or a way to show affection, but as a means to gain control - however it does turn into lust and maybe even love in the end.
The class politics are in place, with the working man getting some revenge on the upper class lady as soon as they get stranded on an island where his skills are suddenly way more valuable than her money. Manipulations follow, possibly a kind of two-way stockholm syndrome-romance. They come back to the "civilised" world and things go back to the normal pattern again. With the same feeling as the end of "Lord of the Flies". - DirectorTony ScottStarsDenzel WashingtonChristopher WalkenDakota FanningIn Mexico City, a former CIA operative swears vengeance on those who committed an unspeakable act against the family he was hired to protect.Oh boy what a long-winded boring toff of a movie. Dakota Fanning is great, but she's pretty much only in the first thirty minutes, since her kidnapping is the motivation for the entire plot to happen. And since the plot hasn't even started yet, that first half hour gets tedious very fast.
The father is overtly shifty, and so the reveal of him being involved isn't much of a surprise. The fact that the kid's still alive is also an anticlimactic twist, since it's been hinted at before.
I have nothing against Washington. I even like him, but there's something about him that's so very nondescript. I can never remember him in anything, even though I enjoy his presence on the screen as he's there. He just plays very similar characters in several movies, always with the same haircut, kind of neutral clothes, not much of an accent in any direction, a vague backstory to motivate the man of action he is now. I have such trouble describing him. He blends in, which is maybe not what you want from the lead. But I don't think it's his own fault, at least not exclusively. The guy can act, he has some charisma. It's like a gigantic movie industry-conspiracy to make Denzel Washington forgettable. Maybe he's too much of a character chameleon? Maybe the heroes he plays are plainly written to let the big bold personality of a movie star bleed over them, and that means Washington just isn't that kind of guy and doesn't have anything to work with? I don't know. I'd love to see him in an ensemble cast, as the wildcard with long hair and a stutter, or something.
Also the characters genreally aren't that well written in this. Or the story, for that matter. Walken, Rourke and Giannini are all extremely underused. I'm not sure why they were even there. Was Rourke killed by a katana? I think that was him in the pool, face-down. Maybe. It was done off-screen, and he didn't show up later, so. And what was that threat to the journalist that didn't go anywhere? She was told not to print the article or else she'd get killed, plus the cabbie was shot in the leg, poor guy. Then she prints the thing and nothing happens. She has an affair or something with the cop, whose only function is to fill the cut-away scenes of the police-surveillance with cigarette smoke. He also gets to kill the baddie in an afterthought of a one-shot epilogue while the credits roll... Good for him.
The editing is so erratic that I think I got the twinging screws. An interesting idea, and maybe in small doses. For drug-induced hallucination, or maybe as a cool effect in a music video. But every other shot for a 2h 30min. movie? No. Plus an experimental use of on-screen text, as a lot of characters speak Spanish. It's okay, but I would still prefer to just have normal subtitling. It's less distracting. - DirectorSergio CorbucciStarsGiancarlo GianniniMichel ConstantinGiuseppe MaffioliAn experienced truck-driver is forced to become assistant to a young Sicilian driver. The Beast, the truck they drive around Europe, becomes their ground for mutual respect and trust.Hah. I'm crazy. Another Giannini-movie. I like following actors around, and when I latch on to someone outside my own linguistical territory, I find it even more intriguing, because that will lead me to films I would never find or watch otherwise. This time I couldn't even find a copy with subtitles, so I just watched it in Italian. It was really good. I have mostly no idea what they said.
Actually that doesn't matter too much in this case, because the storyline is so clear anyway. And a lot of things happen through action, rather than dialogue. Also the way they speak to each other is sometimes enough to get the general idea of the conversation.
I was also happy to find that I recognised the other guy in the truck. Namely Michel Constantin. I knew him from another film I first saw without subtitles and liked a lot - "Dernier Domicile Connu". This made me chuckle.
This goes on my list for favourite finds, because of so many tense, funny and clever scenes, and because of that atmosphere. A little bit of trucker-heaven, along with "Sorcerer", "Wages of Fear", "They Drive by Nigth", "Hell Drivers" and "Roadgames".
It's also a funny thing to see that I enjoyed this movie a great deal more than the previous one I watched, of which I could understand every single word. - DirectorHasse EkmanStarsHasse EkmanLars HansonElsie AlbiinDuring excavations in Stockholm in 2248, old film footage from the 1940s is found. The Research Group for Ancient Films tries to arrange the finds into a movie, while guessing the original director's intentions.Jag beundrar experimentet. Kul idé och kan man inte spela in film, så vad gör man om man är extremt kreativ och produktiv? Använder det man har, så klart.
Inledningen, som ju är ett nyinspelat segment, uppräkningen av diverse depraverade karaktärer genom likaledes nyinspelad berättarröst och telefonsamtalen funkar bäst. Ibland blir det till och med riktigt roligt. Den hade vunnit på ännu mer berättarröst, eller nydubbningar av karaktärer, tror jag. Men jag inser att det också ingick i restriktionerna för vad som var möjligt.
Framförallt är den rolig därför att den visar Hasse Ekmans självdistans i form av narrande självgodhet. Och för att den gjorde i princip vad "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" gjorde, fast trettio år tidigare. - DirectorGrigoriy ChukhrayStarsGiancarlo GianniniOrnella MutiOtar KoberidzeAntonio is a retired aviator from the Portuguese colonial wars. He falls in love with a member of the resistance against the dictatorship of Antonio d'Oliveira Salazar. He is arrested and escapes with his love. The code word among the resisters is: 'Life is Beautiful.'Another language-related oddity in my watching experience. This time I could only find it dubbed into Russian. So Italian film, dubbed into Russian with English subtitles. That worked well too. The dubbing was very well made. The only detriment really was that it became somewhat confusing to remember what country I was supposed to be in.
A pretty solid movie. I'm not sure if I should give it a 6 or a 7. Nothing too special, but very effective at what it does. Spy thriller with some well planted clues throughout and a couple of twists that I didn't expect. The pacing is great, and it trots along without getting boring. If anything, I wouldn't have minded if it was a bit longer, just to really dig down in the horrible hopelessness some more.
The main character is sympathetic and also very able, which is great to see. He's thrown into something he doesn't want to be part of, a victim of circumstance, who then has to make a choice. He may be a bit of a goody-two-shoes, but he hatches a plan and executes it brilliantly. The prison escape is definitely thrilling and actually surprising in how simultaneously simple and clever it is. Giannini is unusually but suitably subdued. This isn't a comedy, but a serious and sometimes shocking spy thriller with Hitchcockian wrong man-elements. I was reminded slightly of Alan Arkin in "The Other Side of Hell".
Very confusingly this film of course shares the name with a later, more famous, albeit Italian movie. And both of them are similarly easily confusable with Frank Capra's old classic. In this case, the phrase is wholly ironic to begin with. But maybe, in the end, it's true even for the would-be-spy escapee too. - DirectorAlberto LattuadaStarsSuzy KendallKenneth MoreNigel GreenDuring the First World War, female German spy Fraulein Doktor and her team of saboteurs plan to kill Lord Kitchener, obtain the Allied defense plans, and steal the new French mustard-gas formula.Surprising in many ways. I wanted to see some more Nigel Green, but at least he was in it, at his absolute Britishest Britishness, incidentally as a German intelligence officer. And Giancarlo Giannini was in there too, ambiguosly playing a German soldier with an English accent and the apparent ability to speak another language that we don't get to hear.
So there's a female German agent who is using her seductive abilities to get close to men and women alike. She is also a dope-fiend. And she gets away with it all in the end! Now, that's a surprise.
My favourite bits where the scene where the soldiers get on the train by lying on the tracks and reaching for a metal bar at exactly the right time, and the following bit where they have to break into a safe and copy a map before the officer comes back. The best thing is that there are two safes. Imagine a thief's utter horror if he broke in only to find a room full of safes. Where to begin? Which is the right one? Here it's only two, but it is one too many and it gets very tense. I was also fascinated with the pretty long sequence of trench-warfare and the spreading of mustard gas. Soldiers tumble over each other, they can clearly not see much at all in their masks, some opting to take it off only to choke instantly, and others peeling the skin off their hands after getting gassed. Terrifying. - DirectorGiancarlo GianniniStarsGiancarlo GianniniVictoria AbrilLino TroisiOn a hot summer night, Raffaele, the elderly manager of a Neapolitan counter-lot, is brutally strangled in his own accommodation.(No subtitles)
Occasionally funny. Overall a bit confusing, but still enjoyable.
I was very confused by what tone it was going for at first, especially when the main guy starts to get into all kinds of slapstick in the middle of the scene where his wife discovers her father dead. But then I just accepted it as a dark farce, and it was all the better for it.
My favourite bits had to do with fish. When he stands by tha aquarium and accidentally confuses a fish with a cigar, putting it flapping in his breast pocket. And then on the boat where he gets seasick and bumbles across the boat, there's one reaction-shot where he spits out a fish, which just looks very funny and is perfectly timed. I also liked the bit where he has to serve the mob-boss while he's watching a snuff-film. That's a perfect example why this is a very dark farce, because on the one hand we have the stakes of the situation, what's shown on the tv, the fact that the boss enjoys what he sees - and on the other hand we have Giannini's face conveying all kinds of repulsion, fighting to stand still and not piss the mobster off.
It's an odd thing. I probably couldn't really say that it's good, but it is quite fun. - DirectorLuigi MagniStarsGiancarlo GianniniOrnella MutiCarlo CroccoloOne of the key factors in Italian unification was the overthrow in 1860 of Francesco, the King of Naples and the two Sicilies, who went into elegant but impoverished exile in Rome with his Queen, Maria Sofia. This seriocomic drama follows the deposed royals as they adapt to their new lives. The former king has recognized the political finality of his deposition, but his queen has taken to traveling in men's clothing all over Italy trying to foment an uprising to restore them to the throne. She is also frantic to have a baby, an heir, but the king has become celibate as a kind of homage to his beloved mother; he spends all his time lobbying the Vatican to get her declared a saint.(No subtitles)
A little hard to follow in the political play, but action sequences work well. I especially remember the scene where the husband, disappointed by a letter that proves why his mother can't be made a saint (as I understand it), starts to weep uncontrollably, while his wife stays completely calm. It's a sweet little reversal of gender stereotypes, as well as a funny scene because the entire attempt on his part is so pathetic. - DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsHanna SchygullaGiancarlo GianniniMel FerrerIn 1938, a German singer falls in love with a Jewish composer in Zurich, who helps Jews flee Nazi Germany. She wants to help but is forced back to Germany. Her song "Lili Marleen" becomes a hit with soldiers and the Nazi top brass.(In German with English subtitles)
Interesting and at times intriguing story. Hard to really sympathise with the main character who keeps making selfish decisions, even though it is understandable. I would have liked to see a little more of the characters' feelings, more soliloquis, if you like. It's hard not to compare to "Cabaret", and by that standard almost everything falls short. There is something in the tone of that film that I think was half-attempted here, but not quite executed all the way through.
The sequence where the composer is tortured with the skipping needle on the record sung by his lover, is a great idea. But it's used only as a cut-away to show the stakes. I wish the film would linger more on moments, ideas and scenes like that.
I guess that's what "Cabaret" does so well. It lingers. - DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsGiancarlo GianniniLaura AntonelliRina MorelliTullio Hermil is a chauvinist aristocrat who flaunts his mistress to his wife, but when he believes she has been unfaithful, he becomes enamored of her again.(No subtitles)
Haunting, brooding and absolutely gorgeous. I haven't seen such a good looking film in a very long time. The set- and costume-design is magnificent. When can I move in? This world of deep red and green, in contrast to the depraved people living in it, makes for a compelling almost Kubrick-esque drama. I couldn't look away, even if I would have wanted to. - DirectorMario MonicelliStarsGiancarlo GianniniEnrico MontesanoVittorio GassmanThe adventures of two vagabonds in pursuit of their modest ambitions: enough to eat and a place to sleep. Inspired by the seminal 16th century picaresque novels "Lazarillo de Tormes" and "Guzman de Alfarache".(No subtitles)
Wild adventure about to buffoons trying to get up in the world. Some bits are really funny, and the budget must have been quite high, considering the ship and attention to periodic detail. It was more like a series of sketches or a long-running comic strip slapped together into one story. A little bit of character development would have been nice, but then again, these two weren't really made for that. They are practically comic strip characters, or sit-com figures, and will learn nothing from their travels. The point is to survive, or die on their own terms, and they succeed at least in the first. - DirectorMarco VicarioStarsGiancarlo GianniniRossana PodestàGastone MoschinFrom his youth, Sicilian baron Paolo Castorini, is as attracted to women as they to him. However, he feels dissatisfied with a life only of the body, compared to his journalist friend Vincenzo and his own father, a serious thinker.(No subtitles)
Not badly made, not badly acted, quite the contrary. Sometimes funny, occasionally sad. Just not entirely my thing. Pretty much coitus interruptus - the movie. - DirectorPer HanefjordStarsClaudia GalliRichard UlfsäterEva FritjofsonErica's parents are killed in a traffic accident. She moves to Fjällbacka and discovers she has a brother.Mja, nåja. Jag hade läst boken (på tvätten, som ljudbok) och tyckte ändå att den var bättre. Helt okej som film, fast ljudmixen var så dålig att det var svårt att ställa in en nivå på tv:n så att man både hörde dialog och slapp dö av chock ljudbaserad överexponering varje gång musiken kom igång på allvar.
Jag hade roligt åt att känna igen en av de norska skådespelarna från "Lillyhammer". - DirectorErnesto GastaldiVittorio SalernoStarsDominique BoscheroMara MarylGiancarlo GianniniA young man visits his ancestral home accompanied by his guardian and their respective wives, where he is plagued by the memories and influence of his murderous, psychosexual father.(No subtitles)
Pretty good, somewhat similar to "Les Diabolique" but similar in style to early Hammer-films. I was reminded of the '63 "Paranoiac" with Oliver Reed, not unpleasantly.
There were even some twists that I didn't quite expect. With the set-up of four people, it seemed obvious from the get-go that it wouldn't turn into a splatter fest. At least not very quickly. I was guessing whether it was psychological or a mean prank, and the conclusion kept changing. As did who was in on what whith whom, which made for some surprisingly tense last twenty minutes or so. - DirectorSergio CorbucciStarsFranco NeroTony MusanteFranco GiacobiniA greedy Polish mercenary helps a mine worker and a peasant girl lead a revolution against the Mexican Government, all while being pursued by an American rival.
- DirectorEnzo G. CastellariStarsFranco NeroGiancarlo PreteBarbara BachAn engineer seeks vigilante justice against the gangsters who took him hostage, and forms an unlikely partnership with a young robber to bring them down.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsStacy KeachJeff BridgesSusan TyrrellTwo men, working as professional boxers, come to blows when their careers each begin to take different directions.
- DirectorValerio ZurliniStarsAlain DelonGiancarlo GianniniSonia PetrovnaIn Italy, gambler and poetry professor Daniele Dominici arrives in the seaside town of Rimini and is hired to teach for four months at a high school, replacing another teacher. His relationship with his partner Monica is in crisis and he spends most of the time with his new acquaintances and gamblers Giorgio Mosca, Marcello, and Gerardo Pavani. In the classroom he meets 19-year-old student Vanina Abati, who is Gerardo's girlfriend, and they fall in love. Their relationship leads to a tragic end.
- DirectorAlfonso ArauStarsKeanu ReevesAitana Sánchez-GijónAnthony QuinnPaul Sutton, a young married soldier, befriends a pregnant lady who is petrified her father will disown her, and agrees to pose as her boyfriend. As time passes, they start growing fond of each other.
- DirectorElio PetriStarsGiancarlo GianniniÁngela MolinaAurore ClémentA disaffected media executive spends his days watching violent programming on the six television screens in his office, and his evenings neglecting his frustrated wife at home.
- DirectorClaudio FragassoStarsGiancarlo GianniniRaoul BovaRicky MemphisTuri Leofonte (Giannini) is a former mafioso who accepts to be a witness at a process involving very important people in the organization. For the Mafia, Leofonte is dangerous, that's why he has to be killed. A police group led by Nino Di Venanzio(Bova) accepts to protect him and to escort him till Milan where the process has to take place.
- DirectorClaudio FragassoStarsGiancarlo GianniniRaoul BovaRicky MemphisAfter 11 years in prison, Mafia accountant Turi Arcangelo Leofonte can return to freedom.
- DirectorMario MonicelliStarsGoldie HawnGiancarlo GianniniClaudine AugerAn American actress vacationing in Italy falls for her friend's married Italian lover.
- DirectorNanni LoyStarsGiancarlo GianniniLina SastriAldo GiuffrèDuring a debate in Naples' town hall in the early 1980s, Pasquale Picone, a former steel-worker who has recently lost his job, sets himself on fire in front of the Municipal Council.
- DirectorRenzo MartinelliStarsDonald SutherlandGiancarlo GianniniStefania RoccaOne of the main players in Italian politics, Aldo Moro, gets kidnapped and murdered by terrorists. One judge finds evidence that sheds dangerous new light on the case.
- DirectorLes BlankStarsWerner HerzogTom LuddyMichael GoodwinA short documentary in which directors Werner Herzog and Errol Morris make a bet which results in Herzog being forced to eat his own shoe.Highly inspirational. Herzog ate a shoe for anyone who wants to make a film but think they can't.
- DirectorLes BlankStarsWerner HerzogKlaus KinskiClaudia CardinaleA documentary following German auteur Werner Herzog as he deals with difficult actors, bad weather and getting a boat over a mountain, all in an effort to make his film Fitzcarraldo (1982).
- StarsClaire WikholmHenrik StåhlGrynet MolvigBella, a female chef, decides to become a private investigator. With the help of her housekeeper and a cross-dressing student she solves the cases in her own unique way.
- DirectorRichard LoncraineStarsMaggie SmithRonnie BarkerChris CooperAn unlikely group of people find solace and friendship after being thrown together in the wake of a terrorist attack.
- DirectorLina WertmüllerStarsGiancarlo GianniniCandice BergenMichael TuckerA communist journalist and an American liberal photographer try to cohabit with their different perspectives of love and life.
- DirectorFrancisco Josè FernandezStarsGiancarlo GianniniGiuliana de SioArnoldo FoàEugenio has Down syndrome, works as a gardener at a country house, and despite his condition he is full of illusion and tries to help those in need, such as Patrizia, a young woman who has had a car accident.
- DirectorSergio CittiStarsHarvey KeitelGiancarlo GianniniElide MelliSicily between the end of the War and the fifties. Vipera is the wife of a Sicilian smithy. She meets a man who shows her that life can be better and promptly leaves her husband and her little daughter.
- DirectorYngve GamlinStarsHalvar BjörkLeif HedbergLars PassgårdA policeman and a teacher catches a desperado in the north of Sweden.
- DirectorBrad MirmanStarsHarvey KeitelClaire ForlaniGiancarlo GianniniAn aspiring young writer (Jackson) tracks a literary titan (Keitel) suffering from writers block to his refuge in rural Italy and learns about life and love from the irascible genius and his daughters.
- DirectorGiuseppe FerraraStarsMichele PlacidoAnna BonaiutoMassimo BonettiThe story of the first ever "anti-mafia judges pool" established in the '80s at the Palermo Courthouse, in Sicily, in the '80s, while two mafia families started a 10-year-long war to obtain the complete control of smuggles. Giovanni Falcone was the most important of them: he discovered the liaisons between mafia and politicians, working along with Rocco Chinnici and Paolo Borsellino. Rocco Chinnici was killed by Mafia in the middle '80s, with a bomb. Giovanni Falcone was killed by mafia in 5/23/1992, with more than 100 kilograms of TNT placed under the highway between Palermo and the Punta Raisi airport, and he died along with his wife and three police officers from the VIP Protection Bureau. Paolo Borsellino was killed by mafia 50 days later, with a bomb-car placed under his mother's house, and he died along with many police officers from the VIP Protection Bureau.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonGunnar BjörnstrandMax von SydowRecently released from a mental hospital, Karin rejoins her emotionally disconnected family in their island home, only to slip from reality as she begins to believe she is being visited by God.
- DirectorJohn PogueStarsJared HarrisSam ClaflinOlivia CookeA university professor and a team of students conduct an experiment on a young woman, uncovering terrifyingly dark, unexpected forces in the process.
- DirectorJaume BalagueróStarsAnna PaquinLena OlinIain GlenA teenage girl moves into a remote country house with her family, only to discover that their gloomy new home has a horrifying past that threatens to destroy the family.
- DirectorGeorge ZaloomStarsStanley TucciBridget FondaGiancarlo GianniniOn a mission to save his family's fireworks business, a man becomes distracted after he falls in love.
- DirectorRoman CoppolaStarsJeremy DaviesAngela LindvallÉlodie BouchezA young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and realizing that he's infatuated with the sci-fi film's starlet.
- DirectorMauro BologniniStarsGiancarlo GianniniCatherine DeneuveFernando ReyBased on a true incident, this tells the story of a troubled young man who kills his sister's reactionary, violent, abusive husband and is eventually arrested for the murder. However, the dead husband happened to be a member of the Italian nobility, and the trial starts to turn into more of a prosecution of the defendant's socialist politics and the activities of his father, a well-known liberal social reformer, than of the actual crime.
- DirectorFranco BrusatiStarsVittorio GassmanGiancarlo GianniniAndréa FerréolA businessman has trouble reuniting with his roguish con-artist uncle, especially when the uncle propositions school-age girls and comes on to his nephew's mistress.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsAnthony QuinnAnna MagnaniVirna LisiDuring WWII in Italy, a wine-producing village hides a million bottles from the Germans
- DirectorRobert EnricoStarsBourvilLino VenturaMarie DuboisAn ex-con with ulterior motives convinces the struggling inheritor of a sawmill to use convicts as affordable lumberjacks.
- DirectorAlberto LattuadaStarsGiancarlo GianniniSilvia MontiHiram KellerA humble Milanese window-cleaner with dreams of magazine and TV fame accuses himself of the murder of a soprano from La Scala. "It's a film close to my heart. It was an old project called Essere un mostro ('Being a Monster') and this, too, is the story of an 'anti-hero'. Giannini was extraordinary". (A. Lattuada)
- DirectorEugene LevyStarsJohn CandyJim BelushiCybill ShepherdPhoebe and a fellow American in Rome find a dog with a $5000 reward. They take a train to the owner in Monte Carlo. She turns up murdered. They run and become suspects just as 3 other Americans on the train.
- DirectorGiacomo CampiottiStarsFabrizio BentivoglioGiancarlo GianniniIgnazio OlivaGabriele is a successful antiques dealer in Paris, but he's dogged by dreams of his childhood in Italy, where he was raised by a loving mother, the kept mistress of Gabriele's father, a wealthy patriarch. When she dies, Gabriele is "adopted" into his father's affluent family, but his bastard status elicits resentment and cruelty from his step-brothers. Still hurting and haunted years later, Gabriele hatches a plan for revenge.
- DirectorUlf MalmrosStarsBjörn A. LingKjell BergqvistTuva NovotnyWhen the factory in Molkom shuts down, Robin leaves his beloved hometown to try his luck in Stockholm as a wedding photographer. This experience changes not merely his outlook on life but also his hairstyle.
- DirectorEnzo G. CastellariStarsFranco NeroFernando ReyJames WhitmoreA righteous police inspector matches wits with a powerful Italian drug ring, all while key suspects and those closest to him begin to die in more-or-less equal measure.
- DirectorElla LemhagenStarsGustaf SkarsgårdTorkel PeterssonTom LjungmanA Swedish gay couple adopt what they think is an 18-month-old orphan, only to meet their new son, a 15-year-old homophobic delinquent.Förutsägbar, men söt.
- DirectorJane MagnussonStarsJoel AdolphsonDaniel AlfredsonEmil BeerHasse and Tage were best friends for over 30 years. Their films, shows, songs and books influenced an entire nation and were the glue that held people's home together. As a comedic duo, they united right-wing ghosts and anarchists in laughter. When Tage dies prematurely, his children lose a father, Hasse a father figure and all of Sweden a country father. And when Palme dies just months after Tage, the Swedish stable society begins to crumble. For the first time, the Alfredson and Danielsson families open up the archives and give us exclusive access to their stories, photographs and recordings.(Med mamma)
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsGael García BernalLuis GneccoMercedes MoránAn inspector hunts down Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who becomes a fugitive in his home country in the late 1940s for joining the Communist Party.
- DirectorEnzo G. CastellariStarsCaterina BorattoRosanna SchiaffinoGiancarlo GianniniWhat must Cardinal Giove do to acquire land on which stands a prestigious brothel?
- DirectorMarcello FondatoStarsClaudia CardinaleVittorio GassmanRenato PozzettoWhen Tina is put on trial for murdering her violent and unfaithful husband, Gino, only one juror, the housewife Gabriella, believes in her innocence. Gabriella tries to find a witness who can absolve Tina.
- DirectorMichael WinnerStarsPeter UstinovLauren BacallCarrie FisherWhen a former prison wardress who dominates the lives of her three adult stepchildren and her daughter is found dead at an archaeological dig near the Dead Sea, there are a great many suspects.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsMelina MercouriPeter UstinovMaximilian SchellA conman gets mixed up with a group of thieves who plan to rob an Istanbul museum to steal a jewelled dagger.
- DirectorLina WertmüllerStarsSophia LorenGiancarlo GianniniClaudia GeriniIn turn-of-the-century Italy, wealthy Francesca (Loren) adopts a poor little girl named Nunziata. As the years pass, Nunziata falls in love with Francesca's son Federico (Bova), her adoptive brother.
- DirectorColin NutleyStarsHelena BergströmPernilla AugustReine BrynolfssonThe Victoria stadium is totally destroyed in a bomb attack and Christina Furhage, head-responsible for the Olympic Games in Stockholm, dies with it. Why did someone destroy the stadium and why is Christina murdered? The police desperately seek for clues that will lead them to the perpetrator but without any luck. As the Olympic Games draws near the situation becomes more desperate. Annika Bengtzon, a reporter for Kvällsposten, sees a connection that no one else sees and without understanding it she starts a carousel that in the end will threaten her own life.
- StarsKjell BergqvistAgnes Lindström BolmgrenFilip BergUnscrupulous and arrogant murder detective Evert Bäckström finds himself with the hardest case he ever had when a skull pierced with bullet holes is found on an uninhabited island in the archipelago.Säsong 1, först ensam sedan en gång till med pappa.
- StarsJulia RagnarssonKjell BergqvistCecilia NilssonA student at the Police Academy is tasked to study a cold case: the murder of a pregnant woman on a Swedish beach 25 years ago.
- DirectorJack ErsgardStarsKjell BergqvistLena EndreJohannes BrostFrank, Sara and their two children have recently moved into the house of their dreams on the countryside. Frank is disturbed by mysterious sounds and somebody tears down the wallpaper from the walls. He contacts a ghost-hunter, Allan. While conducting an experiment, Allan is killed, and Frank has to find out the truth himself. What's so special with the mysterious room in the attic?Haha, jippie! En riktigt fån-skön spökrulle på svenska! Bergqvist i toppform som otursförföljd och hantverksinkompetent farsa och Olin som är lite trött på alltihop. Dessutom en smått underbar Johannes Brost som spökjägare fullastad med hemgjorda manicker som kanske funkar. Urtjusiga specialeffekter som inte ser ett dugg verkliga ut, en plott som jag redan har glömt och en hel del slapstick. Allt som gör en bra kultfilm. Den måste man ju se igen!
- StarsKjell BergqvistCecilia NilssonGöran RagnerstamArchaeologists dig up a mass grave in a Swedish forest. A special police group is set up to find out the murderers.
- StarsKjell BergqvistAnnika HallinJens HulténA 25 year old skeleton is found in a cave on a small island off the Swedish coast. As it appears to be connected to a family massacre, the team of investigators from 25 years ago return to the island to discover what they missed the first time.
- DirectorHans IvebergStarsLena NymanKim AnderzonKent AnderssonIn a dystopian future two private detectives try to find a stolen bracelet.
- DirectorMats ArehnStarsKjell BergqvistHenrik LundströmPeter ViitanenThe year is 1969. A junior chef and his friend embark on the ship Snowdrift destined for Cape Town. They meet with The Chef who rules unrestricted by a of sharp set of rules and regulations.
- DirectorRolf BörjlindStarsMikael PersbrandtStefan SaukAndrea Vagn JensenA present-day thriller about a man with a needle in his brain. This needle poisons his mind and tortures him with morbid thoughts and an urge to kill. When he finally commits a murder there is a witness, who is drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse, which will come to a climax in an abandoned fish factory.
- DirectorMårten KlingbergStarsHedda StiernstedtRolf LassgårdLena EndreAfter breaking up with her boyfriend, 28-year-old aspiring journalist Hanna decides to leave Stockholm and move back in with her parents and brother in her small hometown, Alingsås. After she gets a job at the local news station, her world turns upside-down when her father, a respected priest in the community, informs his family of his lifelong feminine side and announces that he wants to come out as Marianne. The whole family must now deal with the consequences this might have for them and the community at large.
- DirectorFredde GranbergStarsLeif AndréeJohan HedenbergCecilia FrodeA dead body is found and police detective Mårten Späck draws the conclusion that a serial suicide killer is at large. Späck with his colleagues Grünvald Karlsson and Irene Snusk suspect a gang who distributes pirated DVD's of 'bottom-of-the-barrel' Swedish movies.
- DirectorHans IvebergStarsGösta EkmanJanne CarlssonLena OlinGary misses the bus. He doesn't have a car.
- DirectorJan HalldoffStarsPierre LindstedtKjell BergqvistElisabeth Seth RippeA truckdriver figures out a way to sell huge amounts of "leftover" pallets and makes big bucks. However, the additional income eventually becomes impossible to hide.