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Post by delon on Apr 28, 2018 9:15:54 GMT
Comments/ratings/recommendations/film posters are welcome and much appreciated.
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Post by delon on Apr 28, 2018 9:18:44 GMT
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Post by OldAussie on Apr 28, 2018 9:23:50 GMT
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Post by wmcclain on Apr 28, 2018 12:29:42 GMT
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Post by mikef6 on Apr 28, 2018 14:36:35 GMT
Not a good week for me. The only thumbs-up I can give is to an early TV cop show. Highway Patrol S.1, Ep. 13 “Escort” December 26, 1955. This almost legendary 30-minute police series ran 4 seasons from October 1955 to June 1959. Oscar winner (for 1949) Broderick Crawford stars. In this episode, a crusading Senator is targeted for death by a gangster his crime commission is investigating. Dan Mathews (Crawford) must get the Senator safely to the commission hearing and catch the Bad Guy in the act of attempted murder. And, yes, Crawford and cast say “10-4” multiple times. Crawford dominates every thing with his gravely voice and imposing presence.  Pretty Maids All In A Row / Roger Vadim (1971). Talk about your “male gaze.” The opening credits follow the POV of a hormone driven high school boy (I hope that’s not redundant) as he walks to school. Images of female bottoms and shirt fronts tumble one over the other. Not that I am immune to feminine pulchritude, but such a display of male centric “humor” should have looked overdone (at least) even in the middle of the sexual revolution of the early 1970s – and maybe it did. Things don’t get any better. Rock Hudson plays the school’s football coach and guidance counselor who regularly turns on the “Testing. Do Not Enter” sign over his office so he can have sex with the underage female students. Angie Dickinson plays a sexy substitute teacher who “helps” a shy boy in one of her classes by going to bed with him. The monkey wrench in these monkeyshines comes when some of the high school girls end up being murdered. This, I guess, was all intended to be a dark comedy but nothing works. It moves at a glacial pace with one eye rolling sequence after another. The only exchange I ended up laughing at was: “Are we going to have football practice today.” “No, we never have practice on the day of a murder.” Oddly, the only actor to actually be funny and interesting is Telly Salvalas who does it by playing his police detective absolutely straight. I hope I don't come across like a conservative finger-wagging prude, but times have changed so much and so recently that the attitudes expressed in this movie seem really vile.  I Was A Teenage Ninja / Yoshikazu Katō (2007). Along with classic films, I really enjoy Asian martial arts films. You might call it my Guilty Pleasure or my Brain Candy movies. Anyway, that is how I ended up watching Teenage Ninja which turned out to be a truly awful martial arts film with no fight choreography to speak of but was really, as my buddy Wikipedia eventually informed me, the fourth in a series of Ninja sexplotation films, each one starring an adult video actress popular in Japan as the protagonist. So, near zero ninja action, 5 softcore sex scenes, all the female cast members show their breasts as the extent of the nudity, terrible acting, ridiculous clumsy staging and shooting of scenes. Waste of time even for a sex film. The first three of this series can be found on the movie database but not this one. I’m not going to bother to add it.  Lady Bird / Greta Gerwig (2017). One of the year’s most acclaimed films sort of landed with a thud for me. Catholic high school senior Christine (Saoirse Ronan), who insists on being called Lady Bird, has decided to rebel against her perpetually angry mother (Oscar nominee Laurie Metcalf) and go to college on the east coast (the film is set in Sacramento, California). I won’t go into any more intimate details except to say that all the clever lines can be heard in the trailer. I am happy for all the people who loved this film but it just didn’t do it for me.  |
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Post by politicidal on Apr 28, 2018 16:09:37 GMT
4 for Texas (1963) 6/10
Western comedy starring Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Hardly groundbreaking material but the duo are fun together plus the ladies (Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress !!) look lovely in this.
Coco (2017) 7/10
Pixar's most gorgeously animated film yet is solid family entertainment with a heartwarming message that overcomes a predictable plot.
Missing (1982) 5/10
Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek team up to find a disappeared John Shea in thinly disguised 1970s Chile. Meh.
Suburbicon (2017) 3/10
George Clooney may be a terrific actor but he is a terrible director. This proves it once and for all. Slipshod social commentary are unevenly mixed with a dull-as-dishwater mystery. Matt Damon and Julianne Moore are wasted but Oscar Isaac is delightful.
Molly's Game (2017) 6/10
Jessica Chastain has never been sexier or more chatty as Olympian turned gambling hostess Molly Bloom. The story sounds too good to be true and while entertaining, the dialogue is so wordy that it becomes almost a self indulgent self-parody by writer-director Aaron Sorkin.
The Breaking Point (1950) 8/10
Tense and suspenseful film noir with excellent acting by John Garfield and Patricia Neal.
The Post (2017) 5/10
Another one of Steven Spielberg's Oscar-bait movies like Munich or Bridge of Spies; neither of which I really enjoyed. It's well made and the actors aren't slouching. But I cannot say it's entertaining.
1944 (2015) 4/10
Estonian war drama set during the latter half of World War 2. Looks authentic but it's not necessarily enthralling.
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Post by teleadm on Apr 28, 2018 18:57:47 GMT
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Post by claudius on Apr 29, 2018 7:00:41 GMT
I forgot to mention last week my April 15th 25th Anniversary viewing of THE SIMPSONS Season 4 episode "The Front" via VHS.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (1978) "Steve Martin/The Blues Brothers" 40TH Anniversary. A much-popular episode, with Theodoric of York and King Tut. The Weekend Update comments about NBC's recent broadcast of HOLOCAUST, which I just viewed a week before for its 40th Anniversary.
THE PATSY (1928) 90TH Anniversary. Marion Davies makes a great Lillian Gish impression.
DRAGONBALL SUPER (2016-2017) "Goku Vs. Arale! A Ridiculous Battle Will End the Earth?!", "Champa's Challenge! This Time We Fight with Baseball!", "Let's Do it Zen-O-Sama! The All-Universe Martial Arts Tournament!", and "Son Goku the Recruiter Enlists Kuririn and No.18!" Bootleg DVD.
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN (2013) "Naruto's Plea" Viz Media DVD.
YURI ON ICE! (2017) Episodes 6-7. Funimation DVD.
UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS (1974) "Facing Fearful Odds." My WWI Centenary viewing of this season reaches its penultimate with this episode, beginning in April 27, 1918. Acorn Media DVD.
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Post by manfromplanetx on Apr 29, 2018 7:20:22 GMT
Among the highlights three outstanding ninkyo eiga, (Yakuza) films, Knockout Japanese crime classics, absolute gems, Highly Recommended . Bakuchi-uchi: socho tobaku , Big Time Gambling Boss (1968) Kôsaku Yamashita Meiji kyokyakuden - sandaime shumei , Blood Of Revenge (1965) Tai Katô Otoko no shobu: byakko no tetsu , Man's Showdown: Tetsu, the White Tiger (1968) Kosaku Yamashita was a highly creative director who flourished in the 60s with a prolific output of ninkyo eiga, (Yakuza) films. He had an exceptional talent for the creation of dramatic crime tales driven by conflicted & engaging characters caught in a tense social underworld atmosphere. Tetsu, the White Tiger is primarily about, honourable & noble yakuza caught in a conflict between rival clans, and obligations each has toward their yakuza boss & brothers. There is a rich layer of human emotion even some romance. Flat colours help to generate a dense tone with an emotive score , great script, terrific acting , the action packed knife wielding encounters are stunning, violent & bloody. I love the fearless courage, the nobility of a hardened Yakuza soul, one who thinks nothing of marching up single handed to confront the rival mob. The story is not quite up there with his incredible, Bakuchi-uchi: socho tobaku from the same year, however a master of the ninkyo eiga, .Kosaku Yamashita's Tetsu the White Tiger is wonderful entertainment. Bakuchi-uchi: socho tobaku , Big Time Gambling Boss (1968) EXCELLENT !!!  |
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Apr 29, 2018 13:12:24 GMT
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) 8 Taking a role written for Irene Dunne,Myrna Loy gives a bubbly performance as Muriel,whose sly,dead-pan smile Loy uses to nicely balance the physical comedy of Jim. Appearing together for the third time, Loy and Cary Grant play off each-other like a well-oiled machine,as Grant dives into the lively physical snap-stick,whilst engaged in a war of one-liner exchanges with Loy. Loosely inspired by Eric Hodgins's autobiography ,the screenplay by Norman Panama & Melvin Frank build the troubles unfolding in the making of the dream house with whip-smart pace, with cracks appearing early as Jim hilariously tries to remember where the house is getting built,and gathering pace with each cash-strapping measure placed on the roof. Working on solid foundations, director H.C. Potter and cinematographer James Wong Howe stylishly use dissolves to tease every mishap Jim Blandings will step on in the fight to build his dream home. French flicks highlights: Brigitte Lahaie duo: Parties fines (1977) 10 Jess Franco's Je brûle de partout (1979) 6 Pulling Jenny into her net of sin,Brigitte Lahaie makes her short appearance count, with a sultry, tempting performance as Lorna. Completely caught up in the waves of seedy sex and lust at the brothel,Susan Hemingway actually does very well in retaining a sense of innocence with Jenny,that reverberates in an unplanned family reunion. Left uncredited, the writers strip Jenny of all her dreams in the outside world with sex scenes that push her into being a plaything,that when unthreaded,cleverly links Jenny to the rest of Franco's film "universe." Dashing the flick out in 6 days (!) leads to auteur Uncle Jess being at his most care-free, via Jess and cinematographer Alain Hardy poking at the steamy sex scenes with Jess's trademark zoom-in button bashing & whip-pans. Gliding on the slick Jazz from regular collaborator Daniel White, Jess finds space in the limitations for artful asides,from a funny Disco intro,to fellow sex workers gliding over the body of Jenny like poisonous snakes. Jean Gabin duo: Les vieux de la vieille (1960) 7 Le jardinier d'Argenteuil (1966) 6 Franju duo: Judex (1963) 7 Abridging the 12 hour run-time of the 1916 original in their modern adaptation, the screenplay by Jacques Champreux and Francis Lacassin brilliantly keep to the spirit of the films roots,with the ransom demand, the kidnapping of Jacqueline and the end of reel heroic rescue by Judex hitting the frantic atmosphere of classic cinema serials. Keeping close to the pace of a serial, the writers struggle to get out of a disjointed tone,as the plan by the baddies becomes stretched out,and Judex is saved to appearances at the end of acts. Lovingly paying tribute to Feuillade with Silent-movie style fade-ins and a classy dedication, director Georges Franju & cinematographer Marcel Fradetal build upon the Fantasy stylisation of Eyes Without A Face,with the bird mask intro of Judex and the climbing up of walls by him and his gang. Whilst the cast have more alluring costumes, Franju twists his visceral horror of Eyes into the serial origins with the return of a bird cage as a motif, Diana's kidnapping of Jacqueline holding tension on a knife-edge,and an astonishing shot following someone falling to their death. Eyeing another collaboration with Franju, Edith Scob gives an excellent,expressive performance as Jacqueline,whose face gets caught in a wide-eyed state of fear. Creeping around dressed as a nun, Francine Bergé gives an outstanding performance as Diana,who is given a ruthlessness by Bergé which shines each time she pulls a knife out. Swinging into action at every end of act, Channing Pollock gives a dashing performance that keeps the heroic Judex flying in the air. Nuits rouges (1974) 4 Other French films: Icy Breasts (1974) 8 Poil de carotte (1973) 6 L'été meurtrier (1983) 9 Not making anything else until a segment in 1991's Lest We Forget,director Jean Becker shows here what could have been,with a highly distinctive style,that retains the elegance of his dad Jacques production, but is proudly it's own creation. Wiggling Elle into the Montecciari family life, Becker and his cinematographer brother Étienne give the first half a lush Erotic rural Drama atmosphere,with sharp outdoor lighting giving the many naked appearances of Elle a sensually-charged mood,and the warm,golden glow within the Montecciari household colouring the cold shoulders and snide remarks Elle gets from family members. Closely working with editor Jacques Witta,Becker undresses Elle's flirting with tightly-coiled editing that brings to light a mystery in her family life, that gains clarity with each note Elle hits on a secret that her parents have locked from her sight. Adapting his own novel,Sébastien Japrisot wonderfully draws each member of the Montecciari family with quirks that abrasively rub against Elle, from the hot and cold romance of Pin-Pon and the frozen glances from the mother, to the fragile attempt at friendship from a half-deaf relative. Gathering the pieces to Elle's family life, Japrisot displays an excellent maturity to the horrors inflicted on her family,with exchanges between Elle and her locked behind a door dad allowing Japrisot to peel open the psychological damage that the secret has had on Elle. Looking ravishing from her first appearance,Adjani gives an incredible performance as Elle,who is given a sexual swagger in the naked scenes,which keeps the mental fragility just underneath the skin during this one deadly Summer. |
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Post by marianne48 on Apr 30, 2018 0:54:00 GMT
Victoria and Abdul (2017)--If you've seen the 1997 film Mrs. Brown, you don't really have to see this; it's pretty much the same movie. Judi Dench plays Queen Victoria, spending her days scowling at everyone and displaying slobby table manners, until she meets a brash male "outsider" who ignores all entreaties to not disrespect Her Majesty by looking directly at her or initiating a dialogue with her. As her underlings snort and grumble disapprovingly, she flirts harmlessly with the guy, but normality eventually ensues with a deathbed sequence. And the point of both movies? Vickie needed a little male companionship.
Wonder (2017)--Decent adaptation of the enormously popular children's book, with one glaring flaw: the filmmakers apparently chickened out on the appearance of people with the facial deformity which the main character has. Ideally, they could have gotten an actor who actually has that particular series of deformities, or at least provided the lead actor with a more realistic make-up job. Actor Jacob Tremblay's make-up consists mainly of a few moderations around his eyes, a couple of scars, and some additions to the bridge of his nose and ears. Why not portray the character's appearance more realistically? It defeats the point of the story not to.
Ben (1972)--There are a lot of bad kitschy horror movies. Then there are some good ones, too. This sequel to the original Willard is one of the most memorable of the "killer animals on the loose" trend in the 1970s-1980s, which also included
The Swarm, Piranhas, Frogs, and the horrendous Night of the Lepus (featuring killer bunnies!).
It plays like a twisted version of the Lassie films, with a lonely sick boy befriending the super-intelligent leader of the killer rats from Willard. Danny loves his new little friend and has Lassie-like conversations with it:
Danny: So you live down this street?
Ben: Squeak! Squeak!
Danny: Do we make a right at this corner?
Ben: Squeak, squeak!
Danny: Okay! (spots thousands of rats in sewer): Wow, Ben! You have a big family!
Ben: Squeak, squeak!
Okay, it's silly, but is it really more ridiculous than that "What's that, Lassie?" (Dog whines). "Timmy's been kidnapped?" (Whine, whine) shtick that went on in the Lassie movies and TV series?
The movie also features some questionable acting (Danny comes up with the lyrics to his song for Ben as if he's translating Braille; the cops have some odd scenes with a running gag about lighting each other's cigarettes; the extras watching the aftermath of the rat attacks stand around wordlessly like mannequins--maybe they got paid less if they had no lines?) But there are some memorable scenes--Ben the rat watches as Danny puts on a dancing-rat puppet show; Ben and his gang come to the rescue when a bully assaults Danny (ah, if only every bullied kid had his/her personal rat pack); the rats spend a glorious evening in the cereal aisle of the local supermarket (nostalgia alert--those cereals back then had incredible toys inside every box!) And how many movies include a scene of a little boy kissing a rat? Awwww....And admit it--the ending is AT LEAST every bit as touching as the end of Lassie Come Home. The end also features Michael Jackson singing the title song, which was nominated for a Best Song Academy Award (it should have won, too). The DVD of the film also features some interesting and amusing audio commentary by the film's star, Lee H. Montgomery, an atypically contented former child actor who doesn't mind goofing on his performance in the movie and his crush on his co-star Meredith Baxter.
In addition, I also watched several episodes from the first season of Night Court, in honor of the late Harry Anderson.
Unpretentiously goofy fun. R.I.P., Harry.
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Post by them1ghtyhumph on Apr 30, 2018 2:21:46 GMT
Two Bogey/Bette classics.
The Petrified Forest - Duke Mantee (Bogey), fugitive on the run. Gabby (Bette Davis), Daughter os a diner owner in the desert and Alan (Leslie Howard), a philosophical drifter. It always seemed to me in this movie and Gone With the Wind that Leslie Howard walked onto the wrong sound stage.
Kid Galahad - Nick Donati (Edward G. Robinson) & his girlfriend Fluff (Bette Davis) discover a bellhop that can fight (Wayne Morris), who punches out gangster Turkey Morgan (Bogey). The bellhop hides at Donati's mother's farm, where Donati's sister (Jane Bryan) falls for him, but Fluff has fallen for the bellhop.
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Post by Dramatic Look Gopher on Apr 30, 2018 2:23:35 GMT
The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) with Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern, from New Age Hollywood. It was just OK. Good acting, though, and the ending was rather shocking.
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🎄😷🎄 on Apr 30, 2018 11:21:19 GMT
 A sweet little movie about an extremely gifted girl, I was surprised by how much I liked this movie.  Heard so much about this movie so I finally watched it. Three hours long, but you never notice that because you're so involved in these characters and their story. Adèle Exarchopoulos seems so genuinely real in her performance. At one point, she blushes. How do you make yourself blush while acting? She's crazy good. Léa Seydoux, who has less screen time, is equally up to the challenge. Yes, some very graphic sex scenes, but everything does actually overshadow that, it's just that good.  How weird, the third Thor movie should be the best Thor movie, but it is! I snickered and cheered throughout the whole thing, all the cast gets their chance to shine and it was all very exhilarating! Lots of changes for Thor in this one, hold on tight!  John Travolta in a movie meant for Nicolas Cage. It sounds like a bad idea, but it's an okay movie about revenge, the usual plot angle for these kinds of action movies. Nice to see Rebecca DeMornay again, I'd always thought she was going to be huge, she's very talented and had several hit movies early on.  Stumbled upon this on YouTube, and it completely altered the "course" of my movie watching for the rest of the week. Looks like some harbinger of Rush Hour movies to come, but it was actually a pleasant retro-surprise. It reminded me more of Beverly Hills Cop, those late-80's cop comedies with too much saxy-pop music on the soundtrack. Which, actually, it is. More than a few laughs, not as bad as I was led to believe.  Because I watched Collision Course (1989), I simply had to locate and watch Collision Course (2012), which is not a remake but about solar flares and a plane that might crash, kinda dull but adequate and short enough.  I was determined to eradicate any and all movies with "Collision Course" in the title from my watchlist, and that included this. It's basically the TV show with acting bits scattered in and some kind of plot. For kids, probably. R.I.P. Steve Irwin, a truly crazy, lovable man.  This is the fifth, and we hope, final Ice Age movie. Scrat goes to outer space, an asteroid is coming to destroy the Earth. Way too many characters from other movies in this one, and they added more. Not bad, but enough already.  Scrat: Spaced Out was a mini-movie on the DVD of Ice Age: Collision Course, seemingly made up of all of Scrat's scenes from the movie cut together.  I wanted to relax and unwind on Saturday afternoon, so naturally I chose to rewatch Natural Born Killers, which I had not seen since it came out in the 90's. It's very inventive, Oliver Stone has a lot going on, and you can appreciate it more a second time around. Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Downey Jr. both really stood out for me in absolutely gonzo performances.  I watched all 8 episodes of Slasher, season 2, on Netflix. It's a real whodunnit and the gore factor is high this year. This is a Canadian horror anthology series that airs on the Chiller network in the US. I'm proud to say I figured out the killer halfway through, watching too many movies will make you smarter, let's just say! |
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Post by shield on Apr 30, 2018 14:52:02 GMT
Missed last week so my list are from both weeks. Not much classics but I have my eye on several I want to watch. A couple of rewatches and new experiences... Into the night (1985)  Rewatch but it was a long time since I last saw it. Apart from the excellent leads, Jeff Goldblume and my first actress-crush Michelle Pfeiffer, this movie also features some other famous names. It´s probably wellknown but I had no idea. These are some of the actors ;-) David Cronenberg Lawrence Kasdan John Landis (who also directed the film) Amy Heckerling Paul Mazursky Daniel Petrie Jonathan Lynn Jonathan Demme Paul Bartel Roger Vadim Jim Henson Richard Franklin I'm sure I missed some and there are lots of other "actors" from other proffesions in the film industry. This must have been so much fun to be a part of for these guys! Peter Rabbit (2018) - I have some trouble with Domhnall Gleeson as an actor and he keeps popping up everywhere.  The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936) - Another good collaboration by Powell and Loy but not one of the top ones imo.  Gorgeous (1999) - Wanted to see some Jackie Chan-moves. He did some nice things but the movie left much to desire  The Equalizer (2014) - Rewatch and I like this one very much  Zootopia (2016) - Rewatch. One of my top animated movies and I want a sequel!  Groundhog Day (1993) - Rewatch for the umpteenth time. Still among my top movies  Lost in Space (2018-) - Watched the whole season of the new Netflix-serie which I thought was very well made although the overall feeling it left was somewhat dissapointing which I won´t go into.  |
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Post by morrisondylanfan on May 1, 2018 0:45:19 GMT
Missed last week so my list are from both weeks. Not much classics but I have my eye on several I want to watch. A couple of rewatches and new experiences... Into the night (1985) Rewatch but it was a long time since I last saw it. Apart from the excellent leads, Jeff Goldblume and my first actress-crush Michelle Pfeiffer, this movie also features some other famous names. It´s probably wellknown but I had no idea. These are some of the actors ;-) David Cronenberg Lawrence Kasdan John Landis (who also directed the film) Amy Heckerling Paul Mazursky Daniel Petrie Jonathan Lynn Jonathan Demme Paul Bartel Roger Vadim Jim Henson Richard Franklin I'm sure I missed some and there are lots of other "actors" from other proffesions in the film industry. This must have been so much fun to be a part of for these guys! Peter Rabbit (2018) - I have some trouble with Domhnall Gleeson as an actor and he keeps popping up everywhere. The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936) - Another good collaboration by Powell and Loy but not one of the top ones imo. Gorgeous (1999) - Wanted to see some Jackie Chan-moves. He did some nice things but the movie left much to desire The Equalizer (2014) - Rewatch and I like this one very much Zootopia (2016) - Rewatch. One of my top animated movies and I want a sequel! Groundhog Day (1993) - Rewatch for the umpteenth time. Still among my top movies Lost in Space (2018-) - Watched the whole season of the new Netflix-serie which I thought was very well made although the overall feeling it left was somewhat dissapointing which I won´t go into. Hi Shield,with clips of the show making it looking very different,are there any parts of Lost In Space similar to the original show? Thanks. |
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Post by shield on May 1, 2018 9:12:57 GMT
]Hi Shield,with clips of the show making it looking very different,are there any parts of Lost In Space similar to the original show? Thanks. Unfortunately (or fortunately in this case as I might have disliked this more) I haven´t seen the original show. I´ve seen the movie which I didn't think was good. I´m a fan of space-stories so I had higher hopes for this serie. As I said, I think the filming, CGI and scenery was of a very high quality and in some ways made up for the lacking in acting and writing. Not a specific spoiler but more of an overall opinion regarding the whole show My biggest complaint was the constant saving in the nick of time. I don't know if it was the same in the original but here it became ridiculous. |
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