What Classics Did You See Last Week? (29 May to 4 June 2017)
Jun 5, 2017 2:58:12 GMT
howardschumann, Salzmank, and 1 more like this
Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2017 2:58:12 GMT
Catching up with a back-log of television series but still have time for a few classics. 
We Were Strangers (1949) Jennifer Jones, John Garfield, Pedro Armend
If you view this film as an action-movie rather than as a drama then you will be fairly satisfied as the characters are fairly one-dimensional and quickly thrown together into the urgency of meeting the deadline for the conspiracy plot. Jennifer Jones is the revolutionary love interest and she only manages to excel at looking pretty and confused most of the time and I did not buy into the rushed love-affair ending. But I did enjoy the movie, even with the few plot holes, good enough- 6/7
Academy Award-winning director John Huston's epic drama stars John Garfield as Tony Ferrer, a passionate Cuban revolutionary who's determined to set in motion a coup d'état to depose the Machado, the country's current regime. When he hears that state officials are set to converge at a funeral, he lays out what he thinks is a foolproof plan to assassinate them, but as always, things don't quite work out according to plan. Jennifer Jones costars.
The Wild Bunch (1969) William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson
What else could be said about this violent western masterpiece that tells a brutal yet beautiful tale of the ending of the old west, it is Peckinpah's directorial symphonic masterpiece, the pacing of the film is sublime, just when he slows down the action and you start to want more, he anticipates your every mood and delivers that much more, the acting, cinema-photography, set-design, story, script, characters, spectacular- I can't find a flaw in it- 10
Director Sam Peckinpah's brilliant 1969 Western epic tells the story of a bunch of aging outlaws, led by Pike Bishop (William Holden), whose botched plans to pull off one last job forces them to collude with a crooked Mexican general (Emilio Fernández) -- leading to ugly bloodshed. Ernest Borgnine, Ben Johnson and Jaime Sánchez co-star in this special edition, which includes never-before-seen outtakes and three exclusive documentaries.
Frenzy (1972) Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster, Billie Whitelaw, Anna Massey
Frenzy is a great-late Hitchcock film, what makes it really tick is the screenplay that can be absolutely graphic on one hand and filled with devious black-humor on the other, this is really difficult to pull off and the writers deserve the applause because in the wrong hands it could of been crass instead of brilliant and sharp. The actors are totally first-rate British pros and Jon Finch and Barry Foster make a great on-screen pairing. Just a few Hitchcock touches, the panning away down the staircase to increase the suspense of the impending murder was really effective but overall it seems that he just wanted to let the actors fill the canvas while he expertly frames every shot. 8/9
Unemployed London bartender Richard Blaney (Jon Finch) is suspected of killing his ex-wife in a string of serial strangulations in this Hitchcock thriller. Viewers learn early on that Bob Rusk (Barry Foster) is really the murderer, and suspense builds as Rusk's strangulation spree continues. Police inspector Oxford (Alec McCowen) must bear his wife's attempt at gourmet food as he tries to solve the case, doubtful that Blaney's the strangler.
My summer hobby is to acquire various books on Film History,
A World of Movies 70 years of Film History by Richard Lawton. This is a pictorial history of film till 1974 (published date). Filled with some gorgeous B&W plates that are worthy of framing close to 400 pages of film outtakes and movie stars with short captions.
Just a great way to browse for movies.
We Were Strangers (1949) Jennifer Jones, John Garfield, Pedro Armend
If you view this film as an action-movie rather than as a drama then you will be fairly satisfied as the characters are fairly one-dimensional and quickly thrown together into the urgency of meeting the deadline for the conspiracy plot. Jennifer Jones is the revolutionary love interest and she only manages to excel at looking pretty and confused most of the time and I did not buy into the rushed love-affair ending. But I did enjoy the movie, even with the few plot holes, good enough- 6/7
Academy Award-winning director John Huston's epic drama stars John Garfield as Tony Ferrer, a passionate Cuban revolutionary who's determined to set in motion a coup d'état to depose the Machado, the country's current regime. When he hears that state officials are set to converge at a funeral, he lays out what he thinks is a foolproof plan to assassinate them, but as always, things don't quite work out according to plan. Jennifer Jones costars.
The Wild Bunch (1969) William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson
What else could be said about this violent western masterpiece that tells a brutal yet beautiful tale of the ending of the old west, it is Peckinpah's directorial symphonic masterpiece, the pacing of the film is sublime, just when he slows down the action and you start to want more, he anticipates your every mood and delivers that much more, the acting, cinema-photography, set-design, story, script, characters, spectacular- I can't find a flaw in it- 10
Director Sam Peckinpah's brilliant 1969 Western epic tells the story of a bunch of aging outlaws, led by Pike Bishop (William Holden), whose botched plans to pull off one last job forces them to collude with a crooked Mexican general (Emilio Fernández) -- leading to ugly bloodshed. Ernest Borgnine, Ben Johnson and Jaime Sánchez co-star in this special edition, which includes never-before-seen outtakes and three exclusive documentaries.
Frenzy (1972) Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster, Billie Whitelaw, Anna Massey
Frenzy is a great-late Hitchcock film, what makes it really tick is the screenplay that can be absolutely graphic on one hand and filled with devious black-humor on the other, this is really difficult to pull off and the writers deserve the applause because in the wrong hands it could of been crass instead of brilliant and sharp. The actors are totally first-rate British pros and Jon Finch and Barry Foster make a great on-screen pairing. Just a few Hitchcock touches, the panning away down the staircase to increase the suspense of the impending murder was really effective but overall it seems that he just wanted to let the actors fill the canvas while he expertly frames every shot. 8/9
Unemployed London bartender Richard Blaney (Jon Finch) is suspected of killing his ex-wife in a string of serial strangulations in this Hitchcock thriller. Viewers learn early on that Bob Rusk (Barry Foster) is really the murderer, and suspense builds as Rusk's strangulation spree continues. Police inspector Oxford (Alec McCowen) must bear his wife's attempt at gourmet food as he tries to solve the case, doubtful that Blaney's the strangler.
My summer hobby is to acquire various books on Film History,
A World of Movies 70 years of Film History by Richard Lawton. This is a pictorial history of film till 1974 (published date). Filled with some gorgeous B&W plates that are worthy of framing close to 400 pages of film outtakes and movie stars with short captions.
Just a great way to browse for movies.