ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[memento]

From IMDB: Friends for ten years, a group of twenty-somethings head for the ski slopes as guests of Ian's father. (Ian and dad are estranged because dad worked too many hours when Ian was a lad.) Dad has something to say, but Ian won't listen. Meanwhile, David is gay and virginal; Ian's business partner, Keaton, is unhappy that his sister Jane is pregnant with no plans to tell the father; Lisa is everybody's pal and no one's lover; John, stuck in adolescence, is always on the make. He brings German-born stunner, Carla, and promptly loses her affection to Hans, a fast-talking ski instructor. David meets Manny: they have chess in common. Soon, surprises abound as relationships take new turns

[southendmd]

AKA "Seventeen Years".

Plot:  Tao Lan and Yu Xiaoqin are teenage stepsisters. They go to the same high school, sleep in the same bedroom, but couldn't be more different. The first is wild, a bit of a vagabond, while the other is diligent and studies hard. One day Yu Xiaoqin steals money from her father and puts the blame on Tao Lin, who accidentally kills her sister while attempting to prove her innocence, and is put in jail. 17 years later, a woman by now, she is allowed out and is escorted by a guard to find her home long demolished. The two go to the new address of the ageing parents, and the guard becomes an eyewitness to the difficult reunion and the girl's remorse, the anxiety and fear of the mother and the stepfather's silent struggle to rise above his pain and find forgiveness.

[memento]

From IMDB: Harry is a 23-year-old former boy band idol who is watching his younger brother Max, 16, follow in his footsteps. Harry has detoured on his way to a Japanese concert tour to escort Max on a long-promised camping adventure. Their trip begins on a note of camaraderie but quickly turns serious as old wounds resurface, forcing them to come to terms with their dysfunctional past--Harry's drinking problems, his disconnection from the family, and, most of all, his relationship with Max and the emotional dependency that keeps them from moving into adulthood.

[Fran]

From IMDb:  I am not certain Ellen Glasgow's book is faithfully reproduced in this movie, but John Huston has brought to the screen an excellent melodrama, featuring two of Hollywood's greatest actresses (both dual Oscar winners) in Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland. The story of the two sisters' relationships with each other and their men, played by two very boring actors George Brent and Dennis Morgan, is very well told, with Davis having a great final scene with her uncle, as depicted by Charles Coburn. The young Afro-American actor Anderson played his role extremely sensitively and possibly was the first of his race to be cast in a movie in this light. Character actors such as Lee Patrick and Hattie McDaniel certainly added to the charm of this film. I do feel that the character Roy (de Havilland) could have been better developed by the script, but, as usual, she carried it off brilliantly. Billie Burke was featured in a most unusual role for her, and she did it well.

[oilgun]

Plot: Manny tries to get his crack addict brother, Danny, to clean up.

From IMDb: This little-known movie boasts remarkable performances by an unusual ensemble. Tim Roth powerfully carries the film, and Alexis Arquette effectively conveys the sensitive, gentle personality beneath the ruins of Danny's drug addiction. The astonishing Danitra Vance, in the last of her few film appearances, burns a hole in the screen with her baleful glare -- you can't take your eyes off her. Kathleen Chalfant (a famous New York stage actress, almost unknown in the movies) is staggering in her one scene as the mother; it's been years since I saw the film and I can still hear her heart-wrenching reading of the line, "Tell him I'm sorry I couldn't see him." The brothers' time together takes on something of the quality of an odyssey over the course of the film. The movie's final confrontation, and in particular the last shot, with the camera pulling away from Danitra Vance until she seems to be running in place, are unforgettable. "Jumpin'" affected me very deeply in a way that is difficult to describe. Unbelievable that Jeff Stanzler never made another full-length movie

[memento]

From IMDB: Part of the films which came out in the 1960s from the North of England and labelled kitchen-sink drama, Stan Barstow's novel 'A Kind of Loving' comes to the screen under the sure direction of John Schlesinger.

Alan Bates is Vic Brown, a lad dissatisfied with his lot, who wants to break away from Lancashire to go and see the world, do things, and make something of himself. June Ritchie is Ingrid Rothwell, who after a few fumbles in a bus shelter and a painfully acute quickie traps him into staying put.

Beautifully observed performances from both leads ensure this film is unmissable. As a small Northern tragedy in many ways, it shows a snapshot of a more innocent time and what could easily happen when the heart rules the head. Ingrid's overbearing mother (played by the brilliant Thora Hird) thinks Vic is nowhere near good enough for her daughter - Ingrid is set for better things, not marriage and babies with such as he.

There are lesser characters of interest too - Vic's little brother, his married sister and her husband, his parents, his friends in the local boozer. You can see both the life he wants to escape to and equally why he will stay.

It is also a snapshot of what happens when young love dies. Vic and Ingrid's plight will stay in your mind a long time after you see this perceptive, humorous, and moving film.

=aside=
Sorry I jumped the gun before.

[Fran]

From IMDb:  Danny O'Shea has forever lived in the shadow of his brother, the great football player Kevin O'Shea. Kevin was stronger, faster, and more popular. But when his daughter is cut from Kevin's pee-wee football team, Danny brings together a squad of picked-lasts and losers to prove to Kevin that he can still learn a lot from his brother.

[southendmd]

Wiki plot:  The Stooges play three sets of identical triplets, born one year apart. All nine brothers lose track of each other after World War II, unaware that are all living in the same city. One set are single, one are engaged, and one are married.

Trouble brews when the engaged set of brothers decided to celebrate at a local nightclub. Before they arrive, the unmarried set show up, followed by the fiancees of their brothers. The ladies start hugging and kissing the unsuspecting brothers. Within minutes, the wives of the married brothers show up, thinking their husbands are cheating on them. All hell breaks loose when the nightclub waiter (Frank Sully) walks in and sees all nine brothers simultaneously.

[memento]

From IMDB: I guess I get rather confused with what this film is supposed to represent, because I was told by a friend who recommended it that it was the prequel to "The Innocents"....now, if "The Innocents" is based on "Turn of the Screw" then I guess that would explain it find, so I'll leave it at that. What we have here is two children whose parents have died, who are left with a wealthy relation who wants nothing to do with them and leaves them in the hands of their maid, nanny, and the somewhat questionable gardener Quint (as played by Marlon Brando). Of course, with no other adults around to help with their upbringing, the children embrace what they are told by Quint as gospel, and Miss Jessel (Stephanie Beacham), their nanny, doesn't exactly provide a better example to follow either. For it seems that she and Quint have something of a rather dubious nature going on, being that he likes to tie her up and hurt her. And the children have found a way to spy on them too, so of course soon they're imitating what they see, oops! "It has to hurt" says young Miles to sister Flora, as he has her hog-tied on the bedroom floor. Anyway, Mrs. Grose, the maid, is rather down on this whole kinky thing that's going on and forbids Quint to enter the house, but the children are rather eager to get the loving couple back together. No good can come of this all though and soon Miss Jessel and Quint are united in the afterlife after a somewhat gruesome set of events. And then, a new nanny arrives...which is where, I guess, The Innocents picks up. This is gorgeous to look at and there are a few chilling moments here and there, some of which are fantasy but you don't realize that for a few moments. The ending is rather grim and creepy though. This is fairly stylish and is not a far cry from the Hammer brand of horror. Well done and interesting, 8 out of 10.

[Fran]

From IMDb:  The story covers eighty years in the lives of a pair of Welsh identical twins with an unusual bond as they go through war, love affairs, and land disputes.