Movies you have watched in 2021

Saw that one years ago, and "enjoyed" it.  Probably should watch it again.

Lucky with Harry Dean Stanton plays a old man who has outlived all of his friends and of course the turtle. Kind of quirky but a good movie and best of all free on YouTube. 8/10

"The Spy Who Came In From the Cold", 1965

Richard Burton,
Clare Bloom,
Oscar Werner,
George Voskoyec,
Cyril Cusak,
Peter Van Eyck,
Michael Hordern,
Bernard Lee,
Nial McGinnis,

And so many others.

Just a superb film of great story by one great writer, John Le Carre.

For me the movie has special significance. Much of it towards the end is set in the old DDR where I spent time in the early 1980s. It is also a Winter movie with snow and bare trees in London, Holland and Germany. The existential angst is as thick as a pudding and can be cut with a knife. 

I never tire of this one.

Robin Hood (2018). Very slick and they really put the money on the screen but I'm simply not as bullish on Taron Egerton as British action movie directors seem to be. The film does seem a bit small given everything but I can't imagine Nottingham was a particularly large place back then. It was clearly meant to be a trilogy and they held the plot back accordingly. Worth watching if it's on but not worth going out of your way to find. Funner than the Russell Crowe versión for what it's worth.

Watched an old favorite last night, Fried Green Tomatoes, I’m older than you and I have more insurance.!

'Judas and the Black Messiah' 7/10

Wyvern. SciFi 2009. Fun. Dragon comes out of the ice and eats Alaska town. Beats 90% of what else is on.

Just watched "Bottle Shock" on DVD.
Good movie.
Somewhat true story about a wine tasting/contest in 1976 between California wines and French wines.
A California Chardonnay won.
Shattered the myth that French wines were the finest.

One Night in Bangkok (2020). Good plot that they overexpose and a director with no talent for working with actors. The performances just seem so wooden. Compare it to the Tom Cruise & Jaime Foxx movie with basically the same plot from a few years back and appreciate what a difference a quality director can make.

Club de Seductores (2019). A terrible film. It's poorly constructed, edited, acted, unfunny, unsure of what it wants to be and a true waste of government film subsidies.

I’m not normally a cartoon movie watcher but just finished watching Son of Batman. 9/10
Guess I’m reliving my youth.

Dreamcatcher, old Steven King movie.

Penfold's Grange shiraz is one of the world's great wines.  

What is a “perfect film”? I’m sure we all have our own ideas about this. Some film-addicts may have many such films, and others are so picky that they have very, very few. I confess to being among the latter group.

For me a “perfect” film has to hew to some specific bench-marks. If it is an historical film it has to be accurate to the spirit of the history it deals with, if not the absolute factuality. Alll films must be plausible. They must have a strong and carefully selected cast— no clinkers among them. The script must be impeccable. The direction must be focused, skillful, and virtually invisible. The camera work should fit the narrative seamlessly and be done with faultless expertise. Emotions shown, and elicited, must be sound, unforced, and uncoerced. If it contains a “conclusion” it must not be deus ex machina but follow inexorably from the narrative, characters, and situation as developed. There’s more but that’s a good start.

Pretty picky. While I have many “almosts,” I have very few bullseyes. I would submit LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (David Lean, 1962) as being at the top of my list. AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS (Louis Malle, 1987) next, not necessarily second. So different, but both... perfect.

What are the criteria that others use to judge their “perfect” films? I’m curious.

That is a good one.