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SMB Film Thread 2025

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fyl2u said:
That sentence has at least THREE things I never knew.

Robert Redford wanted to live in Utah.
The Sundance Festival is in Utah.
Robert Redford set up the Sundance Festival. (I'd obviously made the "Sundance Kid" connection but thought it was just an homage from fans, not that Redford himself had created it.)

So... thank you!

Oh, and FOUR... that it was the film that triggered these events.
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Down and Dirty Pictures by Peter Biskind isn't at all complementary about Sundance. Redford's heart was in the right place when he started it, but it became an end in itself: every young filmmaker in America trying to get there to be the next Steven Soderbergh. There became a perceivable Sundance style among low-budget American indie pictures, which didn't really benefit anyone. It's striking how few of the prize winners have become established. That said, it gave us Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Richard Linklater.
 

More Robert Redford, jumping slightly around the timeline...

The Natural (1984) (Netflix)
Baseball period drama. Enjoyable sports movie. Intrigue, corruption and romance make this one a little different from some sports movies. Worth a watch if you're into this sort of thing. 7.5/10
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Robert Redford ctd.

The Sting (1973)
Awesome movie. Engrossing from beginning to end. Redford and Paul Newman reunite, this time as grifters pulling a big con on a mob boss played by Robert Shaw. Twists abound. Utter quality. 9.5/10
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Robert Redford ctd.

The Way We Were (1973)

Sentimental romantic drama against the backdrop of McCarthyism. Barbra Streisand bumps into her ex, Redford, and remembers their time together.
Great movie. Not my usual sort of thing but these two acting heavyweights show just why they're both household names all these years later. 9/10
 
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Miami Expose (1956)

One of those newspaper headline-based mob/corruption noirs so popular in that era, this is a hamfisted, though watchable, effort.

Lee J Cobb is a detective tasked with finding out the truth behind his murdered superior. There’s a power struggle at play in the Florida underworld, masterminded by corrupt lawyer Alan Napier, who is blackmailing local powerbrokers via the lobbyist Edward Arnold. Cobb has to protect the widow of a rival to Napier.

This is both clumsily filmed and constructed, and perfectly serviceable as a B noir. There’s some crappy bits, yet I liked it. It’s quite absorbing, thanks to Cobb’s weary determination and natural gravitas, and Napier’s frankly bizarre casting. It’s criticised on various sites, but I found him engaging as a kind of prototype Brit villain, as found ten a penny in the 90s. There’s some nice location work, and the film clocks in at around 75 minutes.

6/10
 
fyl2u said:
Robert Redford deep dive continued....

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Pretty much a slow-paced "Falling Down" in a frozen wild west setting. Solitary man vs snowy nature vs injuns. Pretty brutal in parts. Redford shines as the "just wants to be a lone mountain man" who gets shit on by life repeatedly yet makes the best of it for a while then eventually snaps.

Worth a watch. 7.8/10

Also the movie that gave us this meme...


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Click to expand...
I've seen that meme 100 times and never copped it was him :eek:
 
fyl2u said:
More Robert Redford, jumping slightly around the timeline...

The Natural (1984) (Netflix)
Baseball period drama. Enjoyable sports movie. Intrigue, corruption and romance make this one a little different from some sports movies. Worth a watch if you're into this sort of thing. 7.5/10
--------
Click to expand...

I quite like The Natural, first watched it on VHS in 1984, borrowed from a family friend, we had no idea what it was about through just had “The Natural” written in pen on the cassette sleeve. Put it on thinking it was going to be mystery/horror type thing.
 
Yadang: The Snitch (2025) 8/10
A corrupt prosecutor rises through the ranks thanks to his dodgy dealings with snitches. But he ends up in a conspiracy he has no control over. Decent Korean thriller.
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Killing Romance (2023) 5/10
Director Lee Won-suk tries to position himself as a Korean Wes Anderson with this whimsical modern fairytale. Falls flat, and the narration - I think from an Aussie plucked at random from the expat community in Seoul - is godawful.
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Pas de vagues (The Good Teacher) (2024) 9/10
A French teacher in a tough inner city school is wrongly accused of sexual harassment by a female student. When it's revealed he's actually gay, is situation is made worse. Slated in some quarters because it flips the usual victim narrative, it's actually based on the real life of the director, Teddy Lussi-Modeste.
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Les Miserables (2012) 6/10
Not a patch on the 5-hour 1934 French-language version, though with its massive budget and CGI this adaptation includes aspects (eg urchins living inside an elephant statue) that were left out of the other. I'm not a big fan of musicals, so I'm not the target audience.
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That Day, on the Beach (1983) 9/10
Feature debut by Taiwanese genius Edward Yang. Explores personal relationships amid the clash between tradition and Westernisation. Widely regarded as the starting point of the Taiwanese New Wave.
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Side Street (1949) 7/10
Farley Granger as a struggling postie who tries to steal $200, but it turns out to be $30,000 tied to a murder. Police procedural that makes decent use of contemporary New York (though it was done much better a year earlier in The Naked City).
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Good morning all, I have a request for everyone who posts here.
When we post a review can we also state where you watched it (Cinema, Netflix, even DVD).
I see a lot of films I fancy watching (especially classics) but then have to find the bloody thing.
I am typing this as I google where to watch the 1934 version of Les MIserables......Criterion ;)
 
fyl2u said:
More Robert Redford, jumping slightly around the timeline...

The Natural (1984) (Netflix)
Baseball period drama. Enjoyable sports movie. Intrigue, corruption and romance make this one a little different from some sports movies. Worth a watch if you're into this sort of thing. 7.5/10
--------

Robert Redford ctd.

The Sting (1973)
Awesome movie. Engrossing from beginning to end. Redford and Paul Newman reunite, this time as grifters pulling a big con on a mob boss played by Robert Shaw. Twists abound. Utter quality. 9.5/10
-------------

Robert Redford ctd.

The Way We Were (1973)

Sentimental romantic drama against the backdrop of McCarthyism. Barbra Streisand bumps into her ex, Redford, and remembers their time together.
Great movie. Not my usual sort of thing but these two acting heavyweights show just why they're both household names all these years later. 9/10
Click to expand...
Bull Durham, Field Of Dreams, that Cusack Boston White Sox bribery one, Madonna’s one etc there seemed to be a few baseball movies back in the 80s n 90s. They don’t seem to come around as often nowadays. Its of course possible that the suitable baseball novels may all be filmed now?
I saw that one on video then read the book by Bernard Malamud. I should’ve tried a few more of his books.
 
Saw an Albanian B movie which translated to '' My flute isn't a wasp any longer''
It was a heart rendering story of loss, love and JCB factory workers.

10 out of 10
 
Beat The Devil. 1953. Dir: John Huston. 6/10.

Bogart, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre in an African grifter-comedy-adventure-heist pastiche. Huston has a lot of fun nodding to his old films with Morley playing the obvious Sydney Greenstreet tribute. It’s no Casablanca, fans of which will appreciate it despite the obvious shortcomings. Truman Capotes screenplay like a Mag tobacconist seems to be zigging when you expect it to be zagging. Lollobrigida is as usual beyond words. Worth watching but not worth going out of your way too.
Factotum. 2005. 5/10.

Just watched this. Matt Dillon is Hollywoods idea of a down and out Charles Bukowski in his early prepublication days. Staggering from bar to crap job to shite accommodation to getting sacked then going through the whole process again. He has a fling with Marisa Tomei somewhere along the way who is Hollywoods idea of a skid row alcy anarl.
This auld shites dvd cover is plastered with 4**** reviews! I normally like Dillon and Tomei but they don’t fit in this fillum at all and you suspect everyone knew it long before day one of the shoot.
Don’t bother. It’s in the charity shop pile already.
 
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