March Movies Part I

I saw 14 movies in March, so I’m giving you seven today, seven tomorrow. Or maybe the next day....

The Atomic Submarine (1959) Spencer Gordon Bennet [1:12]

Ships begin to disappear in the Arctic Sea and a newly equipped atomic sub is sent to investigate. Ah, 1959.... It was a time when you’d hear lines like this:

“What could be worse than disappointing a little girl?”

“Disappointing a big girl.”

The Atomic Submarine isn’t the worst sf movie you’ll ever see, but neither is it anywhere close to the best, but since I have a thing for submarine movies, and it was on the Hulu Channel, I had to see it.   

2/5

The Browning Version (1951) Anthony Asquith [1:30]

Previously discussed here.

5/5

Notorious (1945) Alfred Hitchcock [1:41]

It doesn’t matter how many times I see Notorious, I’m always amazed at how good it is. It’s got a bit of everything: adventure, intrigue, mystery, suspense, romance, wine and champagne.... Plus you’ve got the famous crane shot, the long staircase, and that chilling final shot. Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains - they’re all perfect. I picked up the new Blu-ray edition from MGM which looks and sounds pretty good, but accessing the extras is really wonky.    

5/5 (Seen multiple times, at least 7)

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1961) Tony Richardson [1:44]

Part of the British New Wave films of disillusioned youth, this time with Tom Courtenay as Colin Smith, a young man who gets into enough trouble to be sent to a youth detention center. He can run, though, so the headmaster (another excellent performance by Michael Redgrave) hopes Colin can win the running event in an upcoming competition against a public school. 

In some ways, the film is a typical "rebel against the establishment" movie. Is Colin going to run for the man or tell him what he can do with his race? The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is told through a series of flashbacks that work fairly well for its purposes. The soundtrack contains some nice moments (especially one of Colin’s running sequences backed with jazz), but others that make no sense. Unfortunately Richardson includes a few fast-motion scenes of teens trying to evade the police, scenes accompanied by frantic, cartoon-like music that, I suppose, is meant to convey the sense of “Those crazy kids!”, but instead woefully misfires. The film is dated, but contains several nice moments and the performances are good. Worth your time. 

4/5

Zodiac (2007) David Fincher [2:42]

Previously discussed here.

5/5 (3rd time I’ve seen it, the last time in 2008)

Timecrimes (2007) Nacho Vigalondo [1:29]

A pretty nifty low-budget time travel movie from Spain that works most of the time. Most of all, I'm interested in seeing what Vigalondo will do next. Worth a look.  

4/5

Süskind (2012) Rudolf van der Berg [1:58]

Previously discussed here. 

4/5

More next time....