In French. 93 minute running time so the perfect length. This was a cute story but too cute. Every shot was carefully posed, the colors, the lighting, the framing, all precious, all capital A.R.T. Yes, it’s heartwarming, yes, the humanity, but no, it’s too contrived and forced for me. Farr recommended it but I say pass.
Movies Watched -- Training Day (2001)
122 minute running time so at least 20 minutes too long and felt like an hour too long … I can never buy Denzel as a tough, street smart guy … he has perfect teeth and skin and is super articulate, so it’s like, come on, give me a break … the only part that Denzel can believably play for me is a college professor. He’s like a “safe” black man for Hollywood.
This started out sort of annoying then took a very dark turn and then turned ultra-violent and just ridiculous. It was no good. Ethan Hawke’s imperfect teeth interested me and I found him a more believable character than Denzel’s. And it was way way too long. And there was an unbelievable amount of cussing.
This was not a John Farr recommendation … some guys in my Discord room recommended this and I won’t be taking any further recommendations from them.
Movies Watched -- Onibaba (1964)
In Japanese. 103 minute running time so a good length. This was an unusual one and I sort of enjoyed it .. it’s true that I fast forwarded through the endless rustling grass shots, but I liked the honesty of portraying these savages during wartime and the raw sexuality and the triangular relationship and the female jealousy and bare breasts and the demon mask. I guess I’ll give it a green-go, as did John Farr. I didn’t know at the time I got it that Farr also recommended it, so I was suprised when I saw that he did.
Laundry day
Movies Watched -- Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
127 minute running time so at least 30 minutes too long. It’s kind of a cute story and star-studded with aged fuddy-duddies, but I couldn’t get into it and it was way way too long. I loved young Lauren Bacall, but not old Lauren Bacall. Only Jacqueline Bisset at age 30 looked good, the rest were relics. This was a John Farr reco, but I say pass.
Albert Finney as Poirot
Movies Watched -- Images (1972)
101 minute running time, but I didn’t make it too far in before going to fast forward. It didn’t grab me and it had a 70s vibe where I knew it would be a slog. It’s about a woman who is cracking up, I guess. The star is beautiful and had nice floppy breasts, but there wasn’t much else to hold my attention. John Farr wrote, “The movie's bleak, opaque quality will not be to all tastes, but psychological horror fans should pounce.” Wrong, don’t pounce my fellow psychological horror fans, run away.
Best Thriller / Mystery Movies of the 2010s
These are the best thriller / mystery movies of the 2010s according to John Farr. I’ve arranged them chronologically below:
English-language movies:
Animal Kingdom (2010)
Drive (2011)
Margin Call (2011)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
Take Shelter (2011)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
Argo (2012)
Mud (2012)
American Hustle (2013)
Captain Phillips (2013)
Prisoners (2013)
The Widower (2013)
A Most Violent Year (2014)
Foxcatcher (2014)
Bridge of Spies (2015)
Room (2015)
The Gift (2015)
All the Money in the World (2017)
Personal Shopper (2017)
Sweet Country (2017)
Mr. Jones (2019)
Queen and Slim (2019)
Foreign-language movies:
In a Better World (2010) (Danish)
Incendies (2010) (French)
Of Gods and Men (2010) (French)
Poetry (2010) (Korean)
The King of Devil's Island (2010) (Norwegian)
White Material (2010) (French)
Aurora (2011) (Romanian)
Bullhead (2011) (Dutch)
Elena (2011) (Russian)
Policeman (2011) (Hebrew)
The Skin I Live In (2011) (Spanish)
A Hijacking (2012) (Danish)
No (2012) (Spanish)
Bastards (2013) (French)
Stranger by the Lake (2014) (French)
Elle (2016) (French)
The Handmaiden (2016) (Korean)
The Salesman (2016) (Farsi)
The Woman Who Left (2016) (Tagalog)
Transit (2017) (German)
A White, White Day (2019) (Icelandic)
The Traitor (2019) (Italian)
Movies Watched -- Frenzy (1972)
116 minute running time so at least 20 minutes too long … very late Hitchcock and not up to his usual standard … it’s not terrible but it’s also not good enough to recommend … the best part was the comedy between the Chief Inspector and his wife (Vivien Merchant) at dinner … this was a John Farr recommendation.
You’re my type of woman…
Movies Watched -- Maria Full of Grace (2004)
In Spanish. 100 minute running time so a perfect length … sort of a scared straight movie, you don’t want to be a drug mule, kids … starred a beautiful Colombian girl … it wasn’t a perfect movie, but it’s good enough to get a green-go, I enjoyed it and loved the ending. The girl had guts and should become a solid Murkan citizen in time. This was a John Farr recommendation, and I second it.
Movies Watched -- Fox and His Friends (1975)
In German. 123 minute running time so 23 minutes too long. Another Fassbinder film. Sort of you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all, except he (and his Big Johnson) stars in this one. Variations on his blinding hatred of bourgeois German society as well as German gay culture, or maybe all gay culture (Fassbinder was gay), and why not include all of humanity in there as completely loathsome and unredeemable. Fassbinder is very good at playing a naive prole.
People call him a genius and I have to sort of agree, I do like his schtick, but this is not general audience stuff, this is highbrow, art house stuff for sophisticates like me. I’ll give a blanket green-go to all the movies Fassbinder made (at least the ones I’ve seen so far), as does John Farr.
Movies Watched -- Marathon Man (1976)
125 minute running time so 25 minutes too long … yes, the performances by Hoffman and Olivier and Scheider are good, but the story makes no sense. Why would Levy’s father and brother be involved with Der Weisse Engel? That part made no sense to me and sort of ruined the movie.
But I suppose it’s a green-go despite the lack of “plot logic,” maybe for the dental torture scene alone. It’s another in the gritty-70s-Manhattan series of movies … oddly the World Trade Center doesn’t appear in a shot of southern Manhattan, so they must have used old stock footage there? Hoffman didn’t like the original ending where he kills Olivier, so they brought in Robert Towne to re-write the ending where Olivier impales himself, which I do think is better. This is a John Farr recommendation.
Is it safe?