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3:10 to Yuma (1957)
They don't make 'em like this anymore
A masterclass in story telling. Start with characters to care about. Build in a magestic performance by he lead and mix in crafted film-making and you get a classic. Glenn Ford does great tone shifts, world-weary cynicism and loss/redemption with depth and sensitivity. Support isn't quite at that calibre, but that doesn't detract too much from a film comparable with High Noon
The Pursuers (1961)
Noble Intentions but No Panache
While the film start with noble Intentions, lest we forget the nazi horrors of WW2, the delivery is pedestrian. The soundtrack is strangely intrusive and the plot ever so slightly bon-sensical.
Cypher (2002)
Difficult to see the point
After a promising start, this film lurches downwards until it's difficult to tell if this is a parody or not, which is not a good thing. Pwhat results is a by-the-nimbers noir conspiracy thriller set in a world dominated by evil conglomerates willing to sacrifice individual identity as they battle each other. While the director shoes signd of breathing life into a tired genre, he's eventually defeated by the format and a noticeable lack of budget.
Chernobyl Diaries (2012)
A Toxic Chiller
A truly toxic film, this is well realised, effective horror. The film makers realise theres more to be gained from showing people terrified than blood and gore. The hand-held camera works giving a sense of being in the middle of things while not getting a full handle on what's going on. That makes for an unsettling but satisfying experience and the film is well structured throughout.
The Fury (1978)
Fury
This film seriously misses the mark. While Kirk delivers, the scenes without him tend to drag and my mind wandered to how ridiculous the plot was.
Hell Is a City (1960)
Decent British Crime Drama
Clearly 3rd hand via French and American cinema, this is a fairly standard police procedural. However, it is marked by a typically empassionex lead performance and by its Manchester setting.
I Confess (1953)
Interesting Early(ish) Hitchcock
This was a great unexpected find discovered under a pile of rubbish films in the local shop.
It seems the film has taken a bit of a kicking, apparently even from Hitch himself. However, I think this is unwarranted. I thought the central idea for the story was great - full of dilemmas and moral questions around which events were entwined, which we can now see as classic Hitchcock. Themes a plenty centred on devotion to duty (Logan was first a soldier then a priest) propel the story forward and the underlying question of "will he blab or not" hold the suspense.
Then come the touches of the master. Although suffering from what appears to me a lack of confidence which was clearly not significant later on, leading to a lack of consistency in the directing, there are some cracking images. Favourite was Monty struggling up a hill in front of a church and an outline of Christ carrying the cross. Monty on his 40 days in the wilderness. Other instances have been mentioned elsewhere on the reviews for this film.
However, I did have some difficulties. The film lacked pace in places giving the viewer time to focus on the improbability of the basic premise. And then we come to Monty. This was the first time I've seen him in a film and I thought he was too stilted, as wooded as a wooden table. Finally, Hitchcocks on screen walk on, which always keep me watching keenly (is that why the sly old dog does that) came much too early.
Incidentally, other reviewers refer to Rope as "underrated". Puzzling. I always thought that has been rightly recognised as a landmark film and is high on most lists of Hitchcock's best