Film What was the last movie you watched? Part 2

[Ash J. Williams]

 

[Batgirl0202]

10/10

 

[Frodo]

 

[blueharvest]

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

The Bride Wore Black

François Truffaut's homage to his great idol, Alfred Hitchcock. It follows a woman named Julie Kohler (Jeanne Moreau) as she seeks revenge on five men for the shooting of her husband on the day of their wedding. That's pretty much it. The strength of it lies in the performances. Moreau is (of course) very good, and the terrific Michael/Michel Lonsdale shines as a sleazy local politician with ambitions for bigger things. My favourite though is Charles Denner as Fergus, a womanising artist, bringing considerable depth to what could so easily have been a very two-dimensional character.

Roger Ebert said that the film works as a 'Hitchcock homage', but not actually as a 'Hitchcock film' (if that was what Truffaut intended). Parts of it do feel very Hitchcock, but parts of it definitely don't. It feels more like a drama than a thriller. There isn't really much tension (odd for a tribute to the Master of Suspense), and whilst some of Julie's methods are interesting, some require a massive leap of faith/suspension of disbelief (setting up the final kill is a prime example).

After the film I watched an interview in which Truffaut said the difference between American and European cinema is that American films are about plot, whereas European films are about characters. This film illustrates that.

Continuing the Hitchcock connection, the score is by Bernard 'Psycho' Hermann, whilst the story itself is based on a book by Cornell Woolrich (who wrote the story Hitchcock used as the basis for Rear Window).

Interesting, but not gripping. 6.5/10

 

[Brutikus]

 

[ObiWanCon]

The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)

 

[Rozen Thorne]

 

[Ash J. Williams]

The second one is Beastman Snowman.

 

[Brutikus]

 

[Sculder]

Charli XCX: Alone Together (2021)
Welcome to Sudden Death (2020)
Trolls Band Together (2023)
The Pay Day (2022)
F1 (2025)
Gui cai zhi dao / Dead Talents Society (2024)
The Sundowners (1950)
Hotaru no haka / Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Fixed (2025)

 

[Rozen Thorne]

 

[squeekness]

Finch

 

[KaijuDude1992]

A solid entry in this franchise and judging by the BO so far I doubt it will be last. The ending definitely made me feel something though and it works as a nice send off for certain characters.

7/10

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Carrie (1976)

Still so good after all these years.

 

[Brutikus]

 

[Link]

Ken Russell's The Devils is considered one of the most controversial films ever made, infamous for its depictions of violence and wild sexuality through religious figures and iconography. The film doesn't aim for empty shock value, though. The Devils is a ruthless examination of organized religion at its worst, at its most hypocritical.

Sexual frustration, particularly in the religious space, is covered as well. The nuns at the heart of the story are quite literally locked away from the rest of the world, stuck behind bars, worlds apart from their objects of desire. Another key theme, an unholy union of church and state, is introduced in the very first scene. That, to me, is religion at its most dangerous, when pharisaic leaders in both the religious and political spheres get to wield moral panic as a power-hungry weapon. Released in 1971, The Devils hasn't aged a day.

Now, as far as the filmmaking goes, I was in awe. The magnificent production design, the costumes, the cinematography, and the cast — it's all top-notch. The acting highlight for me is Vanessa Redgrave as the demented Sister Jeanne. Her performance is as terrifying as it is rapturously funny.

As Warner Bros. continues to cower in fear of conservative backlash, the uncut version of The Devils remains at large. However, they did allow a bizarre cameo from one of the nuns in Space Jam: A New Legacy, among hundreds of other pop-culture references. What a time to be alive.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Don’t even begin to ask me why I did a double feature with these two classics.



Random as hell, I know!

But I’m grown and pay my own bills.

 

[Ash J. Williams]

 

[emielaen]

 

[ObiWanCon]

The Nun II (2023)

 

[Rozen Thorne]

 

[ObiWanCon]

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

 

[Brutikus]

 

[MilkmanDan]

Thunderbolts*