CINEMA 100
AROUND 100 WORDS ON MY FAVOURITE MOVIES WITH LINKS TO DL THEM (the files have been found on the net and are not uploaded or hosted by me)
Well if I had to do a top ten list of films which would be almost be an impossible task Welles would have two contenders, Citizen Kane which would certainly make the list and this one my favourite B movie of all time. Fortunately I own this on DVD and what a great movie it is.
The movie is laughably miscast with Charlton Heston appearing with a deep tan as a Mexican detective and Welles as an impossibly overweight and sweaty ill looking crooked Police chief. In spite of this or maybe because of it the film is a guilty pleasure.
The scene is set with one of the great opening tracking shots of all time following Heston walking with his new wife through a border town until a car explodes and sets the film in motion. Oh and sexy Janet Leigh is along for the ride as Heston's bride and she has to contend with greasy womanisers and lesbian bikers (yes really!).
Oh and must mention Mancini's early bongofied score a must have in any music collection.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
Runtime: 112
Language: English
The movie is laughably miscast with Charlton Heston appearing with a deep tan as a Mexican detective and Welles as an impossibly overweight and sweaty ill looking crooked Police chief. In spite of this or maybe because of it the film is a guilty pleasure.
The scene is set with one of the great opening tracking shots of all time following Heston walking with his new wife through a border town until a car explodes and sets the film in motion. Oh and sexy Janet Leigh is along for the ride as Heston's bride and she has to contend with greasy womanisers and lesbian bikers (yes really!).
Oh and must mention Mancini's early bongofied score a must have in any music collection.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
Runtime: 112
Language: English
I first saw this movie about 20 years ago and then relied on vague memories of its wonderfulness as I didn't really think I would ever see it again.
But now with the advent of the internet all these treasures are available to be viewed once again.
If not in my top ten films of all time its certainly a contender and like Cocteaus other masterpiece the Beauty and the Beast it features Jean Marais and it sucks you in to its fevered dream and fully realised fantasy world.
Loosely based on the Greek myth of Orpheus in the underworld its set in the then contemporary world of French poets and coffee houses.
For a film made in 1949 it seems remarkably modern from Marais and his bleached almost beachboy pompadour to the music and look of the pre beatniks in their smoky cafe's it could almost pass for a modern work. Except they don't make movies like this anymore and not that many ever. The only film that has this movie's other worldly feel like the director actually has an insight into the next world is Wings of Desire but as good as that movie is this is more fully realised and consistently interesting.
IMDB Rating: 8.0/10 (1,631 votes)
Runtime: 95 min
Language: French (subtitles included)
But now with the advent of the internet all these treasures are available to be viewed once again.
If not in my top ten films of all time its certainly a contender and like Cocteaus other masterpiece the Beauty and the Beast it features Jean Marais and it sucks you in to its fevered dream and fully realised fantasy world.
Loosely based on the Greek myth of Orpheus in the underworld its set in the then contemporary world of French poets and coffee houses.
For a film made in 1949 it seems remarkably modern from Marais and his bleached almost beachboy pompadour to the music and look of the pre beatniks in their smoky cafe's it could almost pass for a modern work. Except they don't make movies like this anymore and not that many ever. The only film that has this movie's other worldly feel like the director actually has an insight into the next world is Wings of Desire but as good as that movie is this is more fully realised and consistently interesting.
IMDB Rating: 8.0/10 (1,631 votes)
Runtime: 95 min
Language: French (subtitles included)
Just caught up with this one. I was born the year this was made so its only taken me 61 years to do so.
Synopsis:
There is some criticism that the only psychopath in the film is a warder and none of the prisoners seem to be bad. Also the flashbacks are a bit sugary and meant to showcase some starlets of the time although the one featuring the cool con man and his femme fatale noir girlfriend Flossie is a hoot.
Even so this a tough film even by today's standards and the gripping build up to the confrontation between Lancaster and Cronyn masterfully done by the great director Jules Dassin, who recently passed on.
Its a great tribute to Dassin who directed other great noir movies like The Naked City and Rififi. It also made a star of Burt Lancaster.
Imdb: 7.8/10
Synopsis:
At overcrowded Westgate Penitentiary, where violence and fear are the norm and the warden has less power than guards and leading prisoners, the least contented prisoner is tough, single-minded Joe Collins. Most of all, Joe hates chief guard Captain Munsey, a petty dictator who glories in absolute power. After one infraction too many, Joe and his cell-mates are put on the dreaded drain pipe detail; prompting an escape scheme that has every chance of turning into a bloodbath.I couldn't help compare this to the Green Mile as the evil warder in that film was surely based on Hume Cronyn's wonderful portrayal of the psychopathic captain. I think his role is allegorical for Hitler and the prison population perhaps for concentration camp victims.
There is some criticism that the only psychopath in the film is a warder and none of the prisoners seem to be bad. Also the flashbacks are a bit sugary and meant to showcase some starlets of the time although the one featuring the cool con man and his femme fatale noir girlfriend Flossie is a hoot.
Even so this a tough film even by today's standards and the gripping build up to the confrontation between Lancaster and Cronyn masterfully done by the great director Jules Dassin, who recently passed on.
Its a great tribute to Dassin who directed other great noir movies like The Naked City and Rififi. It also made a star of Burt Lancaster.
Imdb: 7.8/10
I had never heard of Phillipe Petit or his exploits until I saw him interviewed by Australian Andrew Denton on his show Enough Rope. This French high wire artist has achieved the most scary guerrilla feats including crossing Notre Dame, Sydney Harbour Bridge and most famously the Twin Towers.
This film sets out in almost thriller terms using real footage and seamless recreations his crossing of the Twin Towers not once but eight times. Being afraid of heights its just unbelievable to me somebody could not only do this but also not want to stop. I was afraid for him the whole time although I knew he survived.
"Man on Wire" won the Audience Award and was named best documentary at Sundance 2008. Ebert gave it 4 stars and its score is 8.3 on IMDB.
Highly recommended.
This film sets out in almost thriller terms using real footage and seamless recreations his crossing of the Twin Towers not once but eight times. Being afraid of heights its just unbelievable to me somebody could not only do this but also not want to stop. I was afraid for him the whole time although I knew he survived.
"Man on Wire" won the Audience Award and was named best documentary at Sundance 2008. Ebert gave it 4 stars and its score is 8.3 on IMDB.
Highly recommended.
Rating: 7.6/10
Runtime: 79
Language: English, German
Country: USA
Color: Color
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086637/
Director: Woody Allen
Cast:
Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, John Buckwalter, Patrick Horgan, Marvin Chatinover
Woody Allen used to be one of the best directors of comedy around. But somewhere in the 90s he got old and had a bust up with Mia Farrow and started churning out what I think are fairly uninteresting almost misonygistic movies. One of the last I found hilarious was Bullets Over Broadway where the Woody Allen part was played by John Cusack to great effect.
Anyway one movie I saw over 20 years ago was Zelig and after years of searching I finally found a copy. It predated the Forrest Gump trick of putting the anti hero in old newsreel footage to great comedic effect. It effectively is about a human chameleon who is so bereft of character that he just imitates anyone he meets even to the extreme of assuming their physical characteristics.
Its done in the famous Woody Allen mock documentary style with interviews with relatives and asssociates and his female psychiatrist with whom he of course falls in love. My favourite scene is where he appears on a balcony with Hitler and causes a commotion which Hitler appears to turn around and watch.
Anyway one movie I saw over 20 years ago was Zelig and after years of searching I finally found a copy. It predated the Forrest Gump trick of putting the anti hero in old newsreel footage to great comedic effect. It effectively is about a human chameleon who is so bereft of character that he just imitates anyone he meets even to the extreme of assuming their physical characteristics.
Its done in the famous Woody Allen mock documentary style with interviews with relatives and asssociates and his female psychiatrist with whom he of course falls in love. My favourite scene is where he appears on a balcony with Hitler and causes a commotion which Hitler appears to turn around and watch.
Rating: 7.0/10 (1,287 votes)
Runtime: 98 min
Language: English
Country: UK
Color: Color (Technicolor)
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087414/
A little known British gangster movie from the 80s. I didn't know anything about this movie until I recently watched it. Tarantino must have watched this. It has one of his favourite actors (Tim Roth) in an early role and the dialog and general air of nothing much happening except for loaded conversation, violent interludes and then a bloody resolution is typically Tarantinoesque.
The movie is basically a road movie set in Spain with some twists.
The actors are superlative with Roth, Hurt and Terence Stamp all inhabiting their roles. Stamp is the most impressive and his sudden character change is one of the shocks of the movie as is his unexpected demise. The characters are all unredeemingly tainted and there are no changes of heart along the way. Laura Del Sol is also impressive and I don't know if she's been in many other roles but she is memorably sexy and feisty in this movie.
The movie is basically a road movie set in Spain with some twists.
The actors are superlative with Roth, Hurt and Terence Stamp all inhabiting their roles. Stamp is the most impressive and his sudden character change is one of the shocks of the movie as is his unexpected demise. The characters are all unredeemingly tainted and there are no changes of heart along the way. Laura Del Sol is also impressive and I don't know if she's been in many other roles but she is memorably sexy and feisty in this movie.
This is more like it. You know this a bad movie but its great fun. Tim Burton's crazy imagination is let run here just like the herd of burning cattle. Who can forget suave Pierce Brosnan prancing around with his head on a chihauha's body. The only slightly sour note is Jack Nicholson's over the top performance in two roles and as a comedian he's a good dramatic actor.
And the alien's are almost cute as they vaporize all and sundry with mischievous looks on their faces. A guilty pleasure and one of the few movies I can watch again and again.
Every now and then you see a movie thats a classic on every level and grabs you and never lets go. Unfortunately this is not that movie. In fact I don't even know what its like as I've never seen it or even want to see it. Its something about an alien from a space ship who loses a hand and it comes alive and grows an eyeball ( I'm not making this up).
In fact the only reason this is here is what a great poster and I wish I had it so I could hang it in my living room.
In fact the only reason this is here is what a great poster and I wish I had it so I could hang it in my living room.
Encounters at the End of the World (2007)DVD Rip
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1093824/
Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Rescue Dawn) confirms his standing as poet laureate of men in extreme situations with Encounters at the End of the World. In this visually stunning exploration, Herzog travels to the Antarctic community of McMurdo Station, headquarters of the National Science Foundation and home to eleven hundred people during the austral summer (Oct-Feb). Over the course of his journey, Herzog examines human nature and Mother nature, juxtaposing breathtaking locations with the profound, surreal, and sometimes absurd experiences of the marine biologists, physicists, plumbers, and truck drivers who choose to form a society as far away from society as one can get.
An elegaic documentary from Herzog and its about as far away from the standard format of the usual documentary as you can get. Narrated by Herzog in his strangely accented voice sounding a bit like a lighter voiced Swartzenegger it is initially almost annoying but you get used to it.
It seems a lot of eccentric characters make it to the pole, most are impressively credentialled, people like the linguist in a land where none are needed but he tells that languages are dying by the dozens every day but no one cares. He wrote a carefully researched thesis but had to destroy it when the powers that be determined that the language he studied was not worth saving.
There's also the Russian who escaped the Soviet labour camps. He couldn't even talk about it but he carries a survival pack at all times containing a raft and tent amongst other things so he can leave in an instant if required.
The common theme amongst these experts at the coalface so to speak is that climate change is real and much worse than the politicians believe and the glacial pace of change will not be nearly enough. These guys should know they see the results for themselves.
It seems that its not if we will go the way of the dinosaur but how quick will it be.
A fantastic version of this famous tale. I revisited this yesterday and what a master of film design was Cocteau. A true artist of the cinema. Starring Jean Marais as both the Beast and Beauty's suitor this remarkable actor looks like a French version of Laurence Olivier. He was Cocteau's long time companion and was also in the director's masterly Orphee. Ebert features both movies in his great movies reviews.
Cocteau was quite ill during the making of this movie and Rene Clement had a hand in directorial duties also. There has never been a fairy tale handled quite like this. An other worldy dream of disembodied hands holding candelabras and magic use of light which seems to follow beauty as she glides around the Beast's creepy castle.
Number 194 in IMDB's top 250 movies and rated at 8.2 well deserved stars.
Links in comments.
Number 194 in IMDB's top 250 movies and rated at 8.2 well deserved stars.
Links in comments.
I saw this a couple of nights ago. An eerie and unforgettable documentary which seems to be an examination of that wonderful landmark the Golden Gate Bridge but turns into a meditation on suicide. Something about the bridge seems to attract the suicidal like moths to a flame. Is it some form of immortality? A brief moment of fame?
One common thread seems to be mental illness but this isn't always the case. And there is a survivor whose story is told in heart rending detail. The thing is a lot of these people seem to have so much to live for with close friends and family who care for them deeply. I'm convinced they're all due to some form of mental aberration and in some cases nothing really helps they just want to do it and they do.
Ebert gives this 4 stars.
Links in comments
One common thread seems to be mental illness but this isn't always the case. And there is a survivor whose story is told in heart rending detail. The thing is a lot of these people seem to have so much to live for with close friends and family who care for them deeply. I'm convinced they're all due to some form of mental aberration and in some cases nothing really helps they just want to do it and they do.
Ebert gives this 4 stars.
Links in comments
Kubrick made many wonderful movies but this might just be the best of them all. Its shot in glorious black and white. When we first see the supposedly 14 year old nymphet Sue Lyon (she was actually 16) lounging in her bikini complete with heart shaped sunnies we know why James Mason a forty something writer changes his mind and decides to accept Shelley Winters offer of a room to rent.
From the droll soundtrack to Peter Sellers manic performance as Clare Quilty its a winner all the way. The movie also hints at the less than savoury behaviour of Humbert but in the end he is a subject for pity as the hapless victim due to his doomed obsession.
The remake was surprisingly OK but is unnecessary and forgettable compared to the original.
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From the droll soundtrack to Peter Sellers manic performance as Clare Quilty its a winner all the way. The movie also hints at the less than savoury behaviour of Humbert but in the end he is a subject for pity as the hapless victim due to his doomed obsession.
The remake was surprisingly OK but is unnecessary and forgettable compared to the original.
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George Clouzot's masterpiece. The movie is the one hand an unbearably tense thriller about two guys driving a truck full of gelignite which may explode at any minute over the toughest conditions imaginable and on the other a character study of two disparate characters, one (Vanel) a sturdy he man and the other (Montand) a casual layabout. Its fascinating how Vanel turns out to be less than he seems and the real tough guy is Montand's character.
The movie starts slowly in surely one of the sleeziest villages ever seen in a movie where Montand mistreats his girlfriend. This only serves to highten the tension which comes later in the movie.
Its a well deserved number 126 in IMDB's top 250 movies.
The remake by under rated director William Friedkin is also worth a look but necessarily fades compared to this version.
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The movie starts slowly in surely one of the sleeziest villages ever seen in a movie where Montand mistreats his girlfriend. This only serves to highten the tension which comes later in the movie.
Its a well deserved number 126 in IMDB's top 250 movies.
The remake by under rated director William Friedkin is also worth a look but necessarily fades compared to this version.
Text file (subs included)
From the greatest noir ever made to perhaps the best gangster movie ever made, Martin Scorsese's masterpiece Goodfellas. All the performances are good from Pesci's trademark crazy midget to Ray Liotta's finest hour as the increasingly neurotic and paranoid informer.
The film is almost comedic at times but every so often we are reminded in terrifying detail just how ruthless and sociopathic the gang members are. I think my favourite scenes are where a strung out Liotta is followed by an unseen helicopter and he starts to realise the game is up.
The download is RMVB playable by Mediaplayer classic or Real Media Player and in my opinion this format is exceptional for its relatively small file size and quality.
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The download is RMVB playable by Mediaplayer classic or Real Media Player and in my opinion this format is exceptional for its relatively small file size and quality.
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Byline: From the moment they met it was murder!
Perhaps the greatest film noir ever made. Every casting choice was perfect and the lead actors were at the height of their powers.
Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), a smoothtalking but naïve insurance salesman, falls for the seductive charms of his beautiful client Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck). The couple are immediately drawn to each other and an affair begins. Together they plot to get rid of her dull husband and collect on the "double indemnity" life policy.
Considered the greatest film noir ever made, and nominated for seven Academy Awards, Double Indemnity is legendary director Billy Wilder's masterful adaptation of James M. Cain's classic thriller. With a brilliant cast - Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson - it is a cynical, witty thriller about adultery, corruption and murder.
Rating: 8.5/10 26,856 votes
Runtime: 103
Language: English
Country: USA
Color: Black & White
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036775/
Get it here. (extract and read) Password: westinghouse
Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), a smoothtalking but naïve insurance salesman, falls for the seductive charms of his beautiful client Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck). The couple are immediately drawn to each other and an affair begins. Together they plot to get rid of her dull husband and collect on the "double indemnity" life policy.
Considered the greatest film noir ever made, and nominated for seven Academy Awards, Double Indemnity is legendary director Billy Wilder's masterful adaptation of James M. Cain's classic thriller. With a brilliant cast - Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson - it is a cynical, witty thriller about adultery, corruption and murder.
Rating: 8.5/10 26,856 votes
Runtime: 103
Language: English
Country: USA
Color: Black & White
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036775/
Get it here. (extract and read) Password: westinghouse
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