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Post by OldAussie on Aug 4, 2019 23:02:36 GMT
Hitch’s “Notorious” is one of my favorite and most admired (for people who make that distinction) films. I think it is a masterwork. I saw “Cool World” decades ago. The same goes for “Body Double.” Neither made much of an impression on me. I am not as much of an enthusiast for “Goodfellas” as most of the rest of the world. I think Scorsese repeats himself a lot in his gangster/crime films. Joe Pesci’s bravura performance, however, cannot be overlooked. Is the Columbo episode the one where Jack Cassidy is the magician? If so, it is one of my favorites. Cassidy also played a mystery writer who murdered his writing partner in one of the very first of the Columbos. My son started a film appreciation class and was shown snippets of Goodfellas (long tracking shot) and Notorious (the zoom to the key shot) and so we HAD to watch them at home. He hadn't seen either before. Notorious gets better with every viewing. I'm with you on Goodfellas - a brilliantly made film, but like Raging Bull, a movie where EVERY character is so disgusting I'm never invested. The Columbo was actually a third Cassidy episode which I'd forgotten - the 2 you mention are among my favourites. The one where he is a partner in a mystery writing team is the Spielberg directed episode. I'm trying to get one Columbo each week totally at random.
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Post by OldAussie on Aug 4, 2019 23:07:20 GMT
Body Double. You like? De Palma Double Bubble, Toil and Trouble. Body Double is directed by Brian De Palma, he also co-writes the screenplay with Robert J. Avrech. It stars Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry, Deborah Shelton, Guy Boyd and Dennis Franz. Music is by Pino Donaggio and cinematography by Stephen H. Burum. Brian De Palma continued his crusade to push buttons of the sensitive whilst homaging his hero Alfred Hitchcock, with this cheeky, garish, sleazy thriller. Even when moving away from Hitch like movies, he created a storm with Scarface (1983), so the critics of 1984 wondered if a return to suspense thriller territory would put the director back on an even cinematic keel? Not a bit of it! The reaction to Body Double was ridiculously over the top, apparently a misogynistic homage to the porn industry, with exploitation gore thrown in for good (bad) measure, Body Double was the devil's spawn in the eyes of critics. The public? Not so much, film was a sure fire hit at the box office. Of course today it seems all very tame, where not even a simulated drilling killing can raise the temperature of the audience, or that frank sexual language and bare bodies no longer makes cinema goers blush. On reflection now it's easy to view De Palma's movie as a visionary piece of work, a film gently poking the ribs of Hollywood and the MPAA, and as was always the case with his 70s and 80s work, he was a director who easily elicited a response from his audience. And with his box of cinematic tricks still impressive before he became over reliant on them, Body Double is a fascinatingly lurid viewing experience. That it's Vertigo and Rear Window spliced together is a given, but that doesn't make it a bad film, besides which it bears the De Palma stamp as well, undeniably so. Plot finds Jake Scully (Wasson), a struggling actor with claustrophobia, thrust into a world of murder, obsession, deceit and paranoia, for when he house sits for a newly acquired friend, he spies a sexy lady through the telescope apparently being stalked by an odd looking Native American. To reveal more would spoil the fun of anyone watching for the first time, but suffice to say that Jake has entered the realm where neo-noir protagonists wander around wondering how and why they are in this mess. It's pulpy and pappy, but in the best ways possible, and unlike many other films made by directors who ventured into similar territory, it's never boring (hello Sliver). Cast are appropriately cartoonish or animated, the twists fun if not hard to see coming, and with De Palma's visual panache cosying up nicely with Donaggio's musical score, Body Double is fine entertainment brought to us by a director with a glint in his eye. 8/10 Yeah, I'm a fan of De Palma's homages - Blow-out, Obsession and Dressed To Kill as well as Body Double. All are stylish entertainments.
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Aug 4, 2019 23:37:35 GMT
With how you found Kings Speech,will you be trying Tom Hooper's other films,Spike? With the reaction it got,I'm hoping Cats turns out to be un-intended psychotronic trash, (being aimed for Oscars,the kitties will likely get neutered) but before that arrives, Les Mis offers the unique sound of Russ belting out a tune, whilst the Danish Girl has a nice watercolour look and good performances.
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Post by Fox in the Snow on Aug 5, 2019 9:49:59 GMT
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Aug 5, 2019 13:33:23 GMT
Blood Lake (1987) Low, low-budget filmed-on-video 80's slasher movie. It's not the budget or the video that makes this so bad, but it's just a bunch of teenagers talking and water skiing for a full hour who are picked off at the last minute in total darkness. No payoff really, but it's still not the worst of this type I've ever seen. The endless chatter between the kids is at least a little entertaining. Friday Foster (1975) Why did I always assume Friday Foster was Yaphet Kotto's character and not Pam Grier's? Seemed like an extended episode of Starsky & Hutch, or some other 70's cop show, except with the occasional n-word getting dropped in there, casually. Pam Grier is such a star and drop dead gorgeous. Harmless blaxploitation fluff, seems tame by today's standards. Doom Asylum (1987) I watched this mess because it was the film debut of Kristin Davis from Sex and the City. Lucky for her, things got way better after this. Was it supposed to be a spoof? Or was it just a really dumb horror movie with the worst jokes ever? We may never know... Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) Vincent Price and the gang from the 60's beach party movies together in one film? Yup, sign me up! Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966) More of the same only filmed in Italy and some characters are obviously dubbed. Ping Pong Summer(2014) Set in the 80's, a young man on summer vacation attempts to defeat a bully at ping pong. Susan Sarandon, what are you doing here? A bit limp and boring, I was slightly disappointed. It does have a fun opening sequence involving an egg in a mircowave though. Always Be My Maybe (2019) "I once saw Glenn Close order a pineapple sandwich!" This rom-com was such a great surprise. Hilarious lines, relatable characters and scenes, plus, Keanu Reeves as Keanu Reeves! Randall Park and Ali Wong are perfect comedy gold together. I really loved this. It was a weird movie week, till next time!
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Aug 6, 2019 1:26:29 GMT
Hi COE! I hope you are having a good weekend,and with me being one of 3 people who enjoyed the movie,how did you find Horns to be,and having been interested in the title since seeing Rapace in the Millennium Trilogy, what did you think of Beyond? Thanks. Hi, morrisondylanfan. Thank you. I hope you are having a good weekend too. An interesting thing I noticed about this^ film was the fact that this is the second time the actress Tehilla Blad has played the young version of a character played as an adult by Noomi Rapace. Here she played the younger version of Noomi's character, Leena, and I immediately recognised her as having previously played young Lisbeth Salander in the Millennium trilogy of films. I guess the casting people must've thought she played a good young version of Noomi (and since this movie came out only a year after the Millennium films, I imagine the young actress was still fresh in the casting directors' minds). Both actresses did really well in their roles as the character of Leena, though the movie was tough to watch at times/quite unpleasant in places. The movie also starred Noomi's husband (at the time. They're divorced now, apparently), Ola Rapace. I didn't know until now that Noomi's original last name was Norén, while Ola's original last name was Norell, and that when they married they decided to choose a new surname together, opting for Rapace (French for “bird of prey”). Regarding the movie Horns...I didn't mind it. It was certainly 'different' (and one gory moment near the end was edited out of the version I watched on TV here. I had to go online to find what had been cut out, as I knew something was fishy when the screen went to black for a second). but it's the first movie I've seen Daniel Radcliffe in post-Harry Potter where I thought he gave a convincing enough performance as a different character. Granted, the only other movie I've seen him in after HP is The Woman in Black - and there it didn't really feel like he was stretching his acting muscles that much, whereas here I thought he did an admirable job of playing someone completely different to Harry Potter. Hi COE,thank you for the really interesting info on Beyond,esp about Tehilla Blad having played the young Salander,and also about the origins of the Rapace name (only thing I've seen Ola in is Skyfall.) With how hard-hitting & challenging the Millennium trilogy was (and Beyond sounds) it's a shame that Noomi Rapace has not gotten the roles in Hollywood which would make the most of her talents. I'm pleased to read that you liked Horns,and one of the main things I enjoy about it is how "off" everything is,from Daniel Radcliffe and Juno Temple being the main Americans in the film, to director Alexandre Aja's walking a fine line between small town weirdness, mixed with Southern Gothic shocks.
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Post by marianne48 on Aug 6, 2019 1:41:16 GMT
Mister Roberts (1955)--Fun comedy with a lot of great stars--James Cagney, William Powell, Henry Fonda, and Jack Lemmon. Fonda is a young (?) officer who longs to be transferred from his dull assignment on a cargo ship to a battleship in the waning weeks of WWII in the Pacific; his pigheaded, power-hungry captain, Cagney, refuses to approve his transfer because he's eager for a promotion and he takes credit for Fonda's good work. There's a lot of funny moments, but on the downside, a lot of the crew is badly overdubbed to the point of sounding hopelessly goofy, and the soundtrack is often too obtrusively "zany" as well. Martin Milner has a brief, but funny, scene, but the best parts of the film, IMO, are Cagney's over-the-top rages--"Allllll right! Whoooo did it?" is Cagney at his funniest. Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)--Great ensemble comedy which offers a wonderful time capsule of romance, marriage, and the styles and fashions of 1970. The mini/maxi dresses...the men wearing scarves as neckties...the busy wallpaper...the inflatable furniture....for those who were too young to remember that era, believe it--this is how people dressed and decorated their homes in that era. The attitudes and lifestyles of that time may seem dated to younger viewers today, but this movie portrays them pretty accurately. The young soon-to-be-married couple has to hide from their families the fact that they've already been living together for some time. The groom's parents (Bea Arthur and Richard Castellano) are devastated that their other son is divorcing, and they try to dissuade him; the bride's father is cheating on her mother; her sister (Anne Meara, a bit too old to be playing Bonnie Bedelia's sister) has major problems with her husband; interspersed with the family problems are scenes with the groom's best friend, who desperately wants to find some sexual fulfillment with the maid of honor, who wants to keep things on a spiritual level and keeps quoting Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet (virtually everyone had a copy of that book back then) among other works to him while he's trying to get her into bed. There are some touching observations about love and marriage as well as some great performances. Rated R at the time for its supposedly risque subject matter, although it would likely get a PG-13 today.
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Post by ellynmacg on Aug 6, 2019 3:35:33 GMT
Early in the week we saw an early John Garfield film, They Made Me a Criminal: A week or two before this, we--my sister and I--watched The Postman Always Rings Twice. Garfield and (Lana) Turner set the screen on fire every time they appear together. Ay chihuahua! Whenever I watch a John Garfield film, I am torn between avid admiration and a mixture of frustration, helpless rage, and sorrow when I reflect on his tragic death at the age of 39. Thanks a bunch, HUAC! A Deanna Durbin double feature: I watched both of the DD films in a local revival house, the Stanford Theatre. While I enjoyed both movies (and Three Smart Girls featured the young and toothsome Ray Milland), I preferred the later-released It Started With Eve. She and Robert ("Bob") Cummings worked well together, but it was a real treat to see Deanna interacting with the legendary Charles Laughton. Great fun (but with a few poignant moments, too)!
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Post by wmcclain on Aug 6, 2019 11:47:49 GMT
I watched both of the DD films in a local revival house, the Stanford Theatre. While I enjoyed both movies (and Three Smart Girls featured the young and toothsome Ray Milland), I preferred the later-released It Started With Eve. She and Robert ("Bob") Cummings worked well together, but it was a real treat to see Deanna interacting with the legendary Charles Laughton. Great fun (but with a few poignant moments, too)! Durbin and Laughton were together again in Because of Him (1946), but It Started With Eve is one of her best: It Started with Eve (1941), directed by Henry Koster. When fabulously wealthy, jolly tyrant Charles Laughton is on his deathbed he insists on meeting his future daughter-in-law. Hapless son Bob Cummings ("honest but weak") can't produce her immediately so he dragoons hat check girl Deanna Durbin for the job. Surprise! A pretty young woman in the house gets the old man's blood flowing and he perks up, maybe not dying after all. How to broach the truth while managing the real fiance and her fierce pearl necklace-swinging mother? This doesn't get listed in the top tier of screwball comedies but I have always been fond of it. Durbin, age 20 and with top billing, was about half way through her film career. She'd just left juvenile roles and handles the adult work deftly. They never allowed her characters to have any spice or sexual naughtiness; that would have blown too many fuses in the theater. She quit because she couldn't get good roles. As always, Laughton is a hoot. He appreciates a pretty girl without being overly lecherous about it. He wants her around and plays matchmaker. Their mutual affection is really quite touching. The actor was only age 52 here. Love the eccentric carved wood and stone mansion. Durbin plays piano and sings a few songs. Is she wearing a bra? (That scene where she pushes out the grand piano and takes off her jacket). Some very mild sex humor. Eternal butler Charles Coleman does a Churchill impression. Mantan Moreland is the comical black railway porter typical of the period, but note the jokes are on the other characters. He has a race quip I don't remember hearing in film before: " High yellow: my favorite color!"
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Aug 6, 2019 13:15:48 GMT
Laura / Otto Preminger (1944). 20th Century Fox. Great noir classic from Otto Preminger and a stellar cast led by Dana Andrews (who would star in at least three other Preminger films), Gene Tierney, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson, and Clifton Webb in a marvelous movie-stealing and Oscar nominated performance – his first on movie acting since 1925. Detective Mark McPherson is investigating the shotgun killing of socialite Laura Hunt (Tierney). Apparently, she had answered a knock at her door and been greeted with a blast to the face. The person closest to Laura is the caustic newspaper and radio gossip columnist Waldo Lydecker (Webb). Even though grieving, he is always ready with a sardonic quip (“My apartment is lavish but I call it home”). Other suspects include Laura’s fiancé Shelby Carpenter (Price), a broke playboy from a formally wealthy family and Ann Treadwell (Anderson), an older woman who loves Carpenter. As McPherson delves into Laura’s life (seen in flashbacks) he becomes more and more obsessed by her. Lydecker warns McPherson that he may end up in an asylum. After a shocking mid-film development, the investigation shifts into a completely different gear. Sceenplay byJay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Elizabeth Reinhardt, and Ring Lardner (uncredited) from a novel by Vera Caspary. An absolute essential for anyone even tangentially interested in film noir. The Big Clock / John Farrow (1946). Paramount Pictures. A fun mystery thriller and semi- noir. George Stroud (Ray Milland) is a workaholic editor of a crime magazine, part of a huge publishing house lorded over by the tyrannical Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton). The magazine prides itself on capturing criminals before law enforcement and publishing the scope. Stroud, as the film opens, is trying to wrap up the latest case so he can finally take a honeymoon with his wife after five years marriage and a young son. He ends up meeting Janoth’s mistress Pauline (Rita Johnson) and escorting her back to her apartment just before Janoth himself arrives and kills her when she tries to blackmail him. Stroud is called back from his honeymoon by Janoth to find the man who last saw Pauline, which was Stroud himself. Now, he has to pretend to be in pursuit of the mystery man while actually hindering progress and trying to find the real killer. Also in the great cast in Maureen O'Sullivan has his long suffering wife on the verge of leaving him, George Macready, Elsa Lanchester, Lloyd Corrigan, and Harry Morgan as Janoth’s personal bodyguard and thug. Though Morgan has no lines, he is a constant presence lurking in the background. He relationship to Janoth is coded gay even though, of course, there is nothing explicit in the portrayal. This is very similar to the handling of Wilmer’s bond with Gutman in “The Maltese Falcon” (1941). Screenplay by Jonathan Latimer from a novel by Kenneth Fearing. Cinematography by John F. Seitz (The Lost Weekend, Sunset Blvd). Highly recommended. Ride The Pink Horse / Robert Montgomery (1947). Universal International Pictures. A classic example of film noir, this picture has been recently restored and issued on DVD and Blu-Ray after decades of neglect. A three-minute unbroken single take opens the film as Gagin (director Robert Montgomery, also starring) gets off a bus, moves a gun from his briefcase to under his coat, places an object in a bus terminal’s locker then hides the key behind a wall map. He is in the desert town of San Pablo (a fictional version of Santa Fe, New Mexico). Gagin is mob muscle on a personal quest of vengeance against Mr. Hugo (Fred Clark). Hugo and his entourage have come to San Pablo for the annual festival celebration and are staying at a four-star hotel in town. Along the way, Gagin bonds with two of the local residents: Pilar (Wanda Hendrix, very very good) a Native American teen who preternaturally sees Something in Gagin and Pablo (Thomas Gomez, Oscar nominated, the first Latino actor to have that privilege) who admires Gagin for being able to hold his own during a night of heavy drinking. “Ride The Pink Horse” is a true jewel just getting its deserved praise. A dark hardboiled tale touched with a measure of the meaning of friendship and personal loyalty. The Latino and Native American populations are never demeaned. In fact, the final image is a very sensitive shot of Pilar. PERSONAL NOTE: “Ride The Pink Horse” was almost entirely shot on sound stages in Los Angeles, but is important to New Mexicans for a few short seconds of film taken during Fiesta week in Santa Fe during 1947 that include the large effigy called Zozobra who is burned the night before Fiesta begins and is supposed to send peoples’ troubles up in smoke. While The City Sleeps / Fritz Lang (1956). Bert E. Friedlob Productions / RKO Radio Pictures. When the owner of a major big city newspaper dies, the mantle passes to his playboy son, Walter Kyne (Vincent Price) who knows nothing about the newspaper business. Kyne decides he need a general manager to be his second and run the day-to-day business so he pits his four department heads against each other. The one who can come up with a big scoop about the serial killer terrorizing the city will get the promotion. The four are Pulitzer Prize winning author Edward Mobley (Dana Andrews), Mark Loving (George Sanders) who heads the international wire service, the city desk editor Jon Day Griffith (Thomas Mitchell) and a reporter Harry Kritzer (James Craig) who was a personal friend of Kyne. What Kyne doesn’t know is that his wife (Rhonda Fleming) is having an affair with Kritzer. The rivalry among the journalists is the main story as they are egged on by gossip columnist Ida Lupino. The serial killer is a sub-plot as is Mobley’s romance with a secretary from the newspaper office (Sally Forrest). The young killer is played by John Drew Barrymore (billed as John Barrymore, Jr.). The movie is nowhere near film noir even though there are several names credited on the film who are often thought of as associated with noir, mainly: director Fritz Lang (this was among the last of his English language films before returning to Germany), Dana Andrews, Vincent Price, Ida Lupino, George Sanders, Rhonda Fleming, and cinematographer Ernest Laszlo (Kiss Me Deadly, Inherit The Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg). A pleasant film with humor mixed in with danger. The Fastest Gun Alive / Russell Rouse (1956). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Superior western adventure and one of Glenn Ford’s best performances. This is what used to be called an Adult Western, meaning a mainly psychological drama as opposed to old fashioned shoot-‘em-ups aimed at the underage set. In other words, “adult” did not mean it was a porno. George Temple (Ford) and his wife Dora (Jeanne Crain) have run the general store in Cross Creek (pronounced “crick”) for over four years but lately George has been behaving as if an old addiction was coming back to haunt him. He is restless, bad tempered and sweats a lot. Dora knows what it is: his six-shooter, gun belt, and holster which he had told Dora had been thrown into a lake but is hidden under blankets in the store’s back room. Meanwhile, in a nearby area, three outlaws – Vinnie Herold (Broderick Crawford), Swope (John Dehner, a very underrated actor) and Dink (Noah Berry, Jr.) – are passing through looking for fast guns. Vinnie considers himself fastest ever and wants to challenge any and all with pretensions of being the best. They also rob banks. Eventually, George and Dora’s life will be turned inside out when George cracks and reveals his skills in shooting. Word quickly reaches Vinnie who heads straight for Cross Creek. But there are surprises yet to come. As Dora whispers to George, “You haven’t told them everything,” and in the final minute of the film, there is another great Reveal that is handled beautifully. I saw this years and years ago (probably at the drive-in with my parents) but still remembered the scene where George demonstrates a remarkable feat of marksmanship and the final gunfight. Also with Russ Tamblyn, Leif Erickson, Rhys Williams, and Virginia Gregg. Highly recommended even if westerns are low on your list of movies to watch. A Kiss Before Dying / Gerd Oswald (1956). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Robert Wagner has built a solid resume as a male ingénue and action hero is such films as “Halls of Montezuma” (1951), “Titanic” (1954), and “Prince Valiant” (1954) before taking an extreme U-turn as the murdering sociopathic college student Bud Corliss in “A Kiss Before Dying.” Corliss has decided to worm his way into the rich Kingship family by marrying the youngest daughter, Dorothy (Joanne Woodward). His plans are threatened when she gets pregnant and wants to elope out of the influence of her controlling father. Well, that’s not going to make Bud rich, is it? He begins to plot ways of either ending the pregnancy or ending his girlfriend. Virginia Leith plays Ellen, Dorothy’s older sister. Leith is a talented actress who, unfortunately, is usually remembered only as the mad-scientist’s girlfriend whose live severed head ends up in a lab pan (“Jan in the pan”) in the horror howler “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die” (1962). Joanne Woodward is particularly bad in this, showing none of the potential she had. Her voice is high-pitched and grating. She does a lot of whining. I have to presume she was directed this way and had no say about it at this point in her career. Jeffrey Hunter is a police detective with a Thing for Ellen. Overall, a terrific thriller with a couple of real shocks that, had it not been shot in full (sometimes garish) color, might have been considered a top noir. The first “neo-noir,” maybe? But let’s not go there. The cinematographer was Lucian Ballard (The Killer Is Loose, Kubrick’s The Killing, City of Fear, True Grit (’69) and The Wild Bunch).
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Aug 6, 2019 13:53:38 GMT
A very lazy comedy, with a few chuckles. In this strange new world of political correctness, laughing and making fun of fat people is apparently allright. Life of both some citizens and an old city in decay just before the re-birth, following a few low-lives and dreamers for a few days. Burt Lancaster is just wonderful as the old has-been dreamer who suddenly makes some very doubtful money. I liked how director Louis Malle makes us vouyers (just like Lancaster's character) in to some persons lives with a very gentle light touch, he just registers and does not judge them or force us to judge them even if they deal in narcotics. Hitchcock turns small town America upside down. Hadn't seen this one in many years and forgotten many scenes that is actually revieling. We know who the bad guy is from the start, but there is a little spot where Hitchcock fools us to think that he has actuall regrets and tries to start anew, even if the money is...well you know what. A favorite uncle that pretends to care. Big Momma. Some of it is just puerile, and it for sure is no Tootsie or Mrs. Doubtfire, but it has its moments. Hardly the devil's spawn some made it out to be. I'm no great fan of Lawrence but he does have very good comic timing. Atlantic City. Very much one I have to view and review. Shadow of a Doubt > 10/10 www.imdb.com/review/rw1833268/?ref_=tt_urv
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Aug 6, 2019 14:21:34 GMT
The Full Monty. One of the better theatre experiences I had, so much laughter and pure enjoyment oozing out from a packed house. I think its reputation in America has greatly improved over time, but definitely in the early days many Americans didn't get some of the "Britishness" on show. So I'll stand by my review from back in those early days > www.imdb.com/review/rw2044593/?ref_=tt_urv 8/10 Pearl Harbor. Not quite the 1/10 movie many would have us believe, but it's a struggle to give it viable support as a whole. OK! Lets not beat around the bush, it's historically suspicious, badly written, badly cast and clearly an hour too long. A splendid "support cast" are wasted as Michael Bay and his production team think they can produce some sort of Titanic of the Skies like epic and fail in their objective. By the time of the brilliantly constructed assault by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, and "it is" exhilarating and edge of the seat heart pounding, you are left with the feeling that all the main characters in the piece are not really worth our emotional investment. It's not an outright stinker, situations such as the nurses trying to cope in the hospital during the attack are poignant, and there's a jingoistic - cum - romantic fervour that screams out that the film wants to be genuine in making you feel, well, emotionally battered. However, given the budget and time you are asked to invest in the story, it's impossible not to feel cheated as the clock ticks past the three hour mark. Perhaps it's unfair to use Titanic as a template for this type of epic? Especially since over the course of time many have come out of the woodwork to knock Titanic when previously there were nods in appreciation for it, all be it grudgingly. But Pearl Harbor just doesn't have enough about it to make it even a "time waster" recommendation, and this even allowing for some quality "Bayhem" action as the film rolls into its blunderbuss third quarter. 5/10
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Aug 6, 2019 14:45:18 GMT
IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD (1963) UNITED ARTISTS 100TH ANNIVERSARY. Stanley Kubrick’s All-Star Ode to slapstick comedy. First saw this on TBS in 1991. Received a nice refresher on first viewing THE SIMPSONS “Homer the Vigilante” (1994) which ends with a madcap tribute to the film (including cariactures of Phil Silvers, Buddy Hackett, and Milton Berle). MGM/UA DVD. MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949) 70TH ANNIVERSARY. Willis O’ Brien’s softer-toned KING KONG. First viewed in 1990 (on colorized form). Warner DVD. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1976) UNITED ARTISTS 100TH ANNIVERSARY. Some would consider this the high peak of Roger Moore’s ‘OTT Spectacle’ Bonds (it is one of my favorites, along with the low-key FOR YOUR EYES ONLY and the gesalt OCTOPUSSY), introducing Richard Kiel’s Jaws, Walter Gotell’s General Gogol (as well as Robert Brown, who will succeed Bernard Lee as M for the final batches of the pre-Bronsan Bond films, and George Baker, who was in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE- proclaiming the Bond Family Motto "The World is Not Enough"- and was probably filming I, CLAUDIUS at the time). First saw parts of this on ABC. Then I got to see the beginning (where I learned Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does it Better” came from this film) and the end (on different times) on TBS in December 1995. Watched the whole thing on VHS in January 1996 (a day after watching I, CLAUDIUS for the first time, although I didn't recognize Baker). Got the DVD as a graduation present in 1998. The last time I saw this was a Cinemark’s CLASSIC SERIES screening a few years ago (where Maurice Binder’s OP nude models became more noticeable on the big screen). MGM/UA Kubrick directed It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) ! I did a thread on the old IMDb CFB asking if it was a comedy classic or an ass numbing bore? Turned into a great thread packed with pros and cons adult conversations. Review > www.imdb.com/review/rw1833280/?ref_=tt_urv 6.5/10 Mighty Joe Young 49 - Lovely film > www.imdb.com/review/rw3262759/?ref_=rw_urv 8/10 Yay, another Bond Commander James Bond, recruited to the British Secret Service from the Royal Navy. License to kill and has done so on numerous occasions. The Spy Who Loved Me is directed by Lewis Gilbert and adapted to screenplay by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum from the novel written by Ian Fleming. It stars Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curt Jurgens, Richard Kiel and Walter Gotell. Music is scored by Marvin Hamlisch and cinematography by Claude Renoir. Bond 10. Allied and Soviet nuclear submarines are mysteriously disappearing from the waters and causing friction between the nations. MI6 and the KGB have a notion that a third party is responsible and stirring up trouble for their own nefarious means. 007 is partnered with Soviet spy Major Anya Amasova (Agent XXX) and the pair are tasked with getting to the bottom of the plot before the crisis escalates. During the whole run of the James Bond franchise there have been a few occasions when it was felt it had run out of steam. 1977 and on the back of the mediocre reception and by Bond standards the poor box office return of The Man with the Golden Gun, now was one such time. With producer Albert Broccoli striking out on his own, the stakes were high, but with a determined vision forming in his head and a near $14 million budget to work from courtesy of United Artists, Broccoli went big, and it worked magnificently. The Spy Who Loved Me is Moore's best Bond film, not necessarily his best Bond performance, but as a movie it's near faultless, it gets all the main ingredients right. Gadgets and humour were previously uneasy accompaniments to James Bond as a man, but here they serve to enhance his persona, never taking away his tough bastard edge. The suspense and high drama is back, for the first time in a Roger Moore Bond film things are played right, we don't think we are watching an action comedy, but an action adventure movie, what little lines of humour are here are subtle, not overt and taking away from the dramatic thrust. For production value it's one of the best. Brocoli instructed the great Ken Adam to go build the 007 Stage at Pinewood so as to achieve their vision for The Spy Who Loved Me. At the time it became the biggest sound stage in the world. With such space to work from, Adam excels himself to produce the interior of the Liparus Supertanker, the home for a brilliant battle in the final quarter. Vehicles feature prominently, the amphibious Lotus Esprit moved quickly into Bond folklore, rocket firing bikes and mini-subs, helicopter, speedboat, escape pod, wet-bike and on it goes. Then there's Stromberg's Atlantis home, a wonderfully War of the Worlds type design for the outer, an underwater aquarium for the inner. Glorious locations are key, also, Egypt, Sardinia, Scotland and the Bahamas are colourful treats courtesy of Renoir's photography. Underwater scenes also grabbing the attention with some conviction. The film also features a great cast that are led by a handsome, and in great shape, Moore. Barbara Bach (Triple X) is not only one of the most beautiful Bond girls ever, she's expertly portraying a femme of substance, intelligent, brave and committed to the cause, she is very much an equal to Bond, and we like that. The accent may be a shaky, but it's forgivable when judging Bach's impact on the picture. Jurgens as Stromberg is a witty villain, but he oozes despotic badness, sitting there in his underwater lair deliciously planning to start a new underwater world. Kiel as Jaws, the man with metal teeth, he too moved into Bond folklore, a scary creation clinically realised by the hulking Kiel. Gotell as Gogol is a presence and Caroline Munro as Naomi is memorable, while Bernard Lee's M and Desmond Llewelyn's Q get wonderful scenes of worth. They forgot to give poor Moneypenney something to chew on, but in the main it comes over that the makers were reawakened to what made Bond films great in the first place. There's even a candidate for best title song as well, Nobody Does it Better, delivered so magically by Carly Simon. The grand vision paid off, handsomely. It raked in just over $185 million at the world box office, some $87 million more than The Man with the Golden Gun. Not bad considering it was up against a record breaking Star Wars. Critics and fans, too, were pleased. It's not perfect. It's ironic that director Lewis Gilbert returned for his second Bond assignment, because this does feel like a rehash of his first, You Only Live Twice, only bigger and better. Hamlisch underscores it at times and John Barry's absence is felt there. While if we are being particularly harsh? Then Stromberg could perhaps have been a more pro-active villain? He makes a telling mark, we know he's a mad dastard, but he only really sits around giving orders and pushing death dealing buttons. But small complaints that fail to stop this Bond from being one of the best. Hey, we even get an acknowledgement that Bond was once married, and the response from Bond is respectful to that dramatic part of his past. 9/10
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Post by vegalyra on Aug 6, 2019 15:59:42 GMT
Only had one this week... Actually a great film about the Texas Revolution and predated Wayne's The Alamo by a few years. Sterling Hayden was great as Col. Jim Bowie. Slim Pickens has a small role too, and it's always easy to spot him.
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Post by claudius on Aug 6, 2019 22:23:41 GMT
There are probably two more Bonds I will cover for the UA centennial.
I'm reminded by a EW review for the film RAT RACE (2001): "It's not IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD (but then again, neither was IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD)…"
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Post by mikef6 on Aug 7, 2019 2:31:56 GMT
Only had one this week... Actually a great film about the Texas Revolution and predated Wayne's The Alamo by a few years. Sterling Hayden was great as Col. Jim Bowie. Slim Pickens has a small role too, and it's always easy to spot him. A favorite from my early years. I was raised from 4th grade on into adulthood in the Alamo City, San Antonio, Texas. I saw it several time in theater and it often showed up on the afternoon movie. You're right, Sterling Hayden was great as Bowie. I also appreciated the grizzled, garrulous David Crockett of Arthur Hunnicut. (In real history, there is no evidence that Crockett ever called himself "Davy." This point is brought up in the 2004 "The Alamo" directed by John Lee Hancock. Billy Bob Thornton played Crockett in that one.) It’s a strange thing that no matter what the emphasis or how much screen time is given to what character, people come away from a movie about the Alamo remembering Crockett. The only negative think I can think of is that Richard Carlson is a shallow Travis. One last point on a technical matter, regardless of what's on that poster, the title of the movie is "THE Last Command." I'm glad you liked it.
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Post by vegalyra on Aug 7, 2019 12:36:53 GMT
Only had one this week... Actually a great film about the Texas Revolution and predated Wayne's The Alamo by a few years. Sterling Hayden was great as Col. Jim Bowie. Slim Pickens has a small role too, and it's always easy to spot him. A favorite from my early years. I was raised from 4th grade on into adulthood in the Alamo City, San Antonio, Texas. I saw it several time in theater and it often showed up on the afternoon movie. You're right, Sterling Hayden was great as Bowie. I also appreciated the grizzled, garrulous David Crockett of Arthur Hunnicut. (In real history, there is no evidence that Crockett ever called himself "Davy." This point is brought up in the 2004 "The Alamo" directed by John Lee Hancock. Billy Bob Thornton played Crockett in that one.) It’s a strange thing that no matter what the emphasis or how much screen time is given to what character, people come away from a movie about the Alamo remembering Crockett. The only negative think I can think of is that Richard Carlson is a shallow Travis. One last point on a technical matter, regardless of what's on that poster, the title of the movie is "THE Last Command." I'm glad you liked it. My family and I were in your great city this past weekend. We stayed at the Hotel Contessa and visited the Riverwalk and took the boat tour. Lots of good history wrapped up into a short trip. We have some friends that live near the airport and regularly try to visit them. A beautiful city although I haven't actually toured the Alamo since I was a kid (We did visit a couple of the missions last time we were there though). I agree it is interesting how most people remember Crockett above everyone else at the Alamo. I guess a lot of it has to do with Wayne's depiction of him and the Disney film about him with Fess Parker.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Aug 7, 2019 18:08:06 GMT
hitchcockthelegend Rod Cameron! Last year I had a strange experience: out of the blue, for no reason at all, I remembered Rod Cameron. I had completely forgotten him until that sudden memory. I quickly moved to YouTube and watched the first two episodes of his TV series “State Trooper” (1956-1959). He was a solid actor in mostly western films. In the past, I had considered him a poor man’s Randolph Scott. The two men were near contemporaries. Scott was about 10 years older and they died just four years apart. They appeared together in at least one film I know of, the WWII flick, “Gung Ho!” (1943). What is your opinion of Sheldon Leonard in “Frontier Gal”? Like Bogart and Cagney, he seems to me a very unlikely western actor and more like those other two mugs: 1940s streetwise New York city born and raised in the concrete forest. Speaking of Cagney, that’s a nice review of “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.” I would add a word about that amazing (to today’s audiences) scene where a secret recording is made of a conversation by creating a vinyl record on a machine hidden in a closet. I, too, think a lot of “Vice Squad” with its rapid editing and rat-a-tat dialog. I love it that Eddie G.’s police captain has to interrupt his day to appear on a TV talk show. What can one say about “The Court Jester” that hasn’t been said? One classic comedy set-piece after another. Haven’t seen “A Stitch in Time” but clearly remember the first time I saw Norman Wisdom. It was in a neighborhood theater in Texas in the early 1960s. The movie was “Follow A Star” (1959). I laughed so hard that my eyes filled with tears making it difficult to see the screen. Don’t know if I ever again laughed so hard at a movie. It’s too bad that his one attempt at a Hollywood career (“The Night They Raided Minsky’s” 1968) didn’t work out. Hiya Chap Cameron. Well while he most certainly was no Randy Scott, it's a viable comparison of sorts - not least in that they actually do look alike facially in certain scenes His Western output is filled mostly with time wasters, even if there is nothing from memory I could recommend with confidence. But he is a watchable genre lead man though. KTG - Yes! The vinyl trap is a very nice filmic artefact - not least for the look on Ward Bond's face when he is faced with the evidence! Vice Squad Wisdom. Thanks for sharing that memory, if you are tempted to see if he can still make you smile later in life you should maybe give On the Beat or The Early Bird a spin.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Aug 7, 2019 18:33:24 GMT
Thieves' Highway (1949) 9 Continuing a visual/ audio motif which even appeared in his early light Comedy flick Martha, directing auteur Jules Dassin makes silence deafening, rolling Garcos down the Noir road with dialogue-free sequences filled of the rumbling screech, and dead weight clang bursting from Garcos truck. Apple bobbing at the real Figlia Market, Dassin & cinematographer Norbert Brodine unpack a rustic Noir atmosphere, rubbed with stylish tracking shots weaving between the boxes Garcos opens up to find corruption at the Market, and nailed with entrancing long shadows over the ruthlessness Figlia controls the Market with. Forced to throw in a last-minute coda for Hays Code approval which ends it all on a Film Gris note, A.I. Bezzerides thankfully stays off-track for the rest of this thrilling adaptation of his own novel, slyly dissecting the post-WWII "free market", a place where Garcos goes for a fair deal, only to be met by Figlia shaking down any small businesses that have disagreements with him. Returning home to find his dad legless, Bezzerides leaves Garcos a Noir loner on the thieving highway, who drifts in and out of a shell-shock state,to anger over the broken state of the land he has returned to. Sliding out of any attempts to one-up him, Lee J. Cobb gives a wonderful,slime ball turn as Figlia, who Cobb keeps out of reach from being caught with a slippery charm keeping his brute force underhanded tactics to control the Market out of sight. Beating Dana Andrews and Victor Mature for the role,Richard Conte gives a superb performance as Garcos, who Conte keeps shaken between fury over his dad being attacked, and frustration, from Garcos finding himself alone on the thieves highway. Amsterdamned looks quality One for the October challenge me thinks Chuffed you liked Thieves' Highway as much as you did, more than myself in fact! Yup, we agree on the coda, disappointing for sure. Top reviewing as usual chap. Myself in piggyback mode > Everyone likes apples - Except doctors. Thieves' Highway is directed by Jules Dassin and adapted to screenplay by A. I. Bezzerides from his own novel Thieves' Market. It stars Richard Conte, Valentine Cortese, Lee J. Cobb, Barbara Lawrence, Jack Oakie and Millard Mitchell. Music is by Alfred Newman and cinematography by Norbert Brodine. A war-veteran returns to the family home to find his father has been left wheelchair bound by a amoral produce dealer in San Francisco. Swearing revenge he sets himself up as a truck driver and heads off to Frisco with a truck load of Golden Delicious apples... Revenge, hope and desperation drives Dassin's intelligently constructed noir forward. It's a film very much interested in its characterisations as it doles out a deconstruction of the American dream. The familiar noir theme of a returning war-veteran kicks things off, with Nico Garcos (Conte) finding a crippled father and a money hungry bride to be waiting for him; welcome home sailor! From there Dassin and Bezzerides push a revenge theme to the forefront whilst deftly inserting from the sides the devils of greed and corruption of the California produce business. The trucks journey is brilliantly captured by the makers, both exciting and exuding the menace of the hard slog for truckers. Once Nico and his partner, Ed Kinney (Mitchell), get to Frisco and encounter bully business boy Mike Figlia (Cobb), underhand tactics come seeping out and the appearance of prostitute Rica (Cortese) into Nico's life adds a morally grey area that pings with sharp dialogue exchanges. Real location photography adds to the authentic feel of the story, and cast performances are quite simply excellent across the board. The code appeasing ending hurts the film a touch, inserted against Dassin's wishes, and there's a feeling that it should have been more damning with the economic tropes; while the fact that Nico's father is more concerned about being robbed of money than losing the use of his legs - is a bit strange to say the least. However, from a graveyard of tumbling apples to the fact that more than money is stolen here, Thieves' Highway is sharp, smart and engrossing stuff. 7.5/10
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Aug 7, 2019 18:39:50 GMT
With how you found Kings Speech,will you be trying Tom Hooper's other films,Spike? With the reaction it got,I'm hoping Cats turns out to be un-intended psychotronic trash, (being aimed for Oscars,the kitties will likely get neutered) but before that arrives, Les Mis offers the unique sound of Russ belting out a tune, whilst the Danish Girl has a nice watercolour look and good performances. Not on my immediate to see lists, but very much a case of when they are shown on the cable I will be recording into the library for sure.
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