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Post by delon on Dec 8, 2018 11:55:10 GMT
Comments/ratings/recommendations/film posters are welcome and much appreciated.
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Post by wmcclain on Dec 8, 2018 14:37:04 GMT
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Post by politicidal on Dec 8, 2018 18:19:58 GMT
Cult of the Cobra (1955) 4/10
Dr. Cyclops (1940) 7/10
The 300 Spartans (1962) 5/10
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018) 7/10
Song of Freedom (1936) 6/10
Dante's Peak (1997) 4/10
V for Vendetta (2006) 8/10
Identity (2003) 7/10
Becoming Jane (2007) 6/10
Mandy (2018) 8/10
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Post by teleadm on Dec 8, 2018 19:40:38 GMT
My mix: When I heard about this I thought it was a bad joke. As it is I must admit a did Laught a few time Steve Martin is a great comedian and I do love him in anything else, but he's not Peter Sellers! Historic drama ( To Kill a King in English) so so movie but left me with a wanna know more feeling, Britain was a republic once!! . Lovely movie, though not anyones average feel good movie, lot of pain but worth watching. Depp re-creates some silent movie rutines beautifully. Slightly over complicated plot, but with these actors one follows it, and enjoys the ride. Great cast, great plot, I just wished they were a few more funny scenes in this movie, yet it was so nice to see Kim, James, Jack, Ernie, Hermoine, that siamese cat and ELSA! A very personal favorite that I adore and enjoy with each viewing, every time, at least once a year Well that was that!
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Post by OldAussie on Dec 8, 2018 22:03:58 GMT
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Dec 9, 2018 2:37:28 GMT
My mix: When I heard about this I thought it was a bad joke. As it is I must admit a did Laught a few time Steve Martin is a great comedian and I do love him in anything else, but he's not Peter Sellers! Historic drama ( To Kill a King in English) so so movie but left me with a wanna know more feeling, Britain was a republic once!! . Lovely movie, though not anyones average feel good movie, lot of pain but worth watching. Depp re-creates some silent movie rutines beautifully. Slightly over complicated plot, but with these actors one follows it, and enjoys the ride. Great cast, great plot, I just wished they were a few more funny scenes in this movie, yet it was so nice to see Kim, James, Jack, Ernie, Hermoine, that siamese cat and ELSA! A very personal favorite that I adore and enjoy with each viewing, every time, at least once a year Well that was that! Wonderful seeing B&J get a mention on this board teleadm! Your comments does very well summing up my feelings on how the pain makes the romance really rewarding (with the added bonus of a cute Masterson.) It is a shame that despite hits like this and Christmas Vacation, dir Jeremiah S. Chechik took a wrong twist with The Avengers (1998) and has mostly being doing TV since. I first heard about B&J, when a friend praised the 2012 Bollywood film Barfi! (2012) (which got sent as an Oscar contender by India) ,and I discovered that it was (what turned out to be poor) an un-credited knock-off of Benny and Joon:
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Post by mikef6 on Dec 9, 2018 5:38:35 GMT
The Dragon Murder Case / H. Bruce Humberstone (1934). Warner. The very wealthy amateur detective Philo Vance is played by Warren William, the first of two times he would play the role. Vance has a doozy of an impossible crime to solve this time around. We begin at the country home of a rich family whose various members each hate one another. One night they decide to go swimming in the pool that had been created by partially damming a river. Three me dive into the water but only two emerge. When the pool is drained the next day, there is no body to be found. Vance later finds the corpse on a hillside about a quarter of a mile away from the house. Among the suspects are Lyle Talbot and the always delightful Margaret Lindsay. Eugene Pallette is Sgt. Heath, the dumbest of the hundreds of dumb cops that populated mystery films in the ‘30s and ‘40s. The Casino Murder Case / Edwin L. Marin (1935). MGM. This time around the role of Philo Vance, the homicide bureau’s best friend, is taken by Hungarian born actor Paul Lucas, just eight years past since he arrived in Hollywood and another eight years in the future away from a Best Actor Oscar. We have another rich family at each other’s throats when they start dying off rather alarmingly. Sgt. Heath is played by Ted Healy, best known as the first boss of The Three Stooges before they set out on their own. Woman On The Run / Norman Foster (1950). Fidelity Pictures. Frank Johnson is out walking his dog one night when he witnesses a mob hit. When police tell him that the victim was killed to keep him from testifying, Johnson slips away, not believing the police could keep him safe either. When Inspector Ferris (Robert Keith, father of Brian) talks to Johnson’s wife, Eleanor (Ann Sheridan), he finds out that the Johnson’s marriage was in a bad way and Eleanor doesn’t care one way or the other what happens to her husband; but when Legget (Dennis O’Keeffe), a tabloid reporter, offers her a thousand dollars if she can find her husband and get him an exclusive interview, she begins, with Legget in tow, to investigate among Frank’s friends and co-workers. While the script was produced by three named writers, future producer Ross Hunter is credited as “dialog director” so he may have been responsible for snappy repartee like this exchange between Eleanor and Legget: Are you trying to bribe me? Yes, and if I can’t bribe you I will try to win you. Isn’t that a reverse of the usual procedure. I’m a reverse kind of guy. But you are attractive, Mrs. Johnson. I may try to win you first. I’d rather be bribed. Amazingly, the writers took Hitchcock’s maxim of “suspense over surprise” and reveals the identity of the killer about at the half-way mark. It works. This completely shifts the tone and levels of the story. At age 35, Ann Sheridan was – by Hollywood standards – past the stage of her “The Oomph Girl” years, but her acting had deepened. Her performance as a woman who, as she looks into her estranged husband’s current life, comes to believe that they might get together again has depth. The film’s climax takes place under and on a noisy roller coaster. As Eleanor tries to warn Frank from a rocking coaster car, all her new found love and desperation comes pouring out. This is some fine work from Ann Sheridan. Others in the cast include Syd Saylor, John Qualen, and Victor Sen Yung. First Reformed / Paul Schrader (2017). The Rev. Toller (Ethan Hawke) is pastor of the lightly attended First Reformed Church in upstate New York. The church is owned and controlled by a near-by mega church called Abundant Life. Toller has been given the post after several life changing events that have left him depressed, alcoholic, in poor health, and barely capable of getting through the day. First Reformed, however, is approaching its 250th anniversary with a big ceremony planned. This film was written and directed by Paul Schrader who gleefully appropriates plot points from Bresson’s “Diary Of A Country Priest” and Bergman’s “Winter’s Light.” He is called upon by the pregnant Mary (Amanda Seyfried) to give counsel to her husband Michael (Philip Ettinger) an environmental activist who believes that a child should not be brought into this world. Anyone who has seen the above mentioned movies knows what happens next. Michael’s message has effected Toller to the point that he plans a terrorist action against a local polluter. The ending is ambiguous and almost surreal, which may confuse and even anger some viewers. But this may be Ethan Hawke’s year, so look for him when Golden Globe and Oscar nomination come out. Eighth Grade / Bo Burnham (2018). I have no doubt that the eighth grade has changed greatly since the early 1960s. (For those unfamiliar with the U.S. educational system, eighth graders would be 13 or 14 years old.) I didn’t particularly like public schools but I managed to breeze through the years without damage. If Bo Burnham’s vision of today’s Junior High is accurate – and reviews seem to say that it is – I’ll never wish to be young again. Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) is our guide through insecurity, self doubt, and severe anxiety. Every class, every meeting with other people, is fraught with humiliation. Kayla has her own YouTube channel where she gives advice to people her own age like how to be confident and how to make small talk, but she is unable to do these things herself. Her concerned and loving single father (Josh Hamilton) wants to help but is as out of touch with her life as I am. I was getting Dad Feelings for her myself. I wanted to tell Kayla, “It gets better.” Young Miss Fisher, who is about 15, is quite a find, quite an accomplished actress already. She is already starting to get recognition from critics’ groups and has a Golden Globe nomination for actress in a musical or comedy (a case for both comedy or drama could be made for “Eighth Grade”) – and she deserves them all. Widows / Steve McQueen (2018). Caper films are usually something of a light-hearted romp in which charming thieves get their own back from an even badder Bad Guy. This year’s other female lead caper, “Ocean’s 8,” fits this bill exactly and is very entertaining for it. Steve McQueen, however, working from a script he co-wrote with Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) takes a much darker tone with a much more complex tale of human greed and betrayal. The strikingly edited opening switches back and forth between four men saying goodbye to their wives and the robbery they are involved in going wrong in every way it can – resulting in all the husbands being killed. Soon, Veronica (Viola Davis) is visited by Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry) who tells her that her dead husband Harry (Liam Neeson), the crime’s leader, had robbed two million dollars from him and the money was destroyed when the escape vehicle exploded and burned. Manning, a gang leader in a predominately African-American neighborhood, is trying to go straight and is challenging Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell) for alderman of Chicago’s 8th district. He needs his money to mount his campaign. He gives Veronica a month to raise two million to pay him back, even though she knew nothing of her husband’s plans. Following a lead, Veronica finds a notebook that Harry kept which gave detailed instructions for future crimes. Veronica finds the other widows (played by Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Carrie Coons) to join her in a robbery to raise the money with plenty left over for them. Coons backs out but soon they find Belle (fast rising star Cynthia Erivo) to be their driver. The stakes are high. The danger great. Each woman has to find something inside herself to get her through this experience. McQueen tightens the tension and doesn’t let loose until the end. I predict multiple Oscar nominations for acting, directing, editing, and maybe Picture. Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Rodriguez, Viola Davis
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 9, 2018 11:24:46 GMT
Hi all, my lot from last week >
Victims of the Beyond (1933) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0024628/reference
Hokum Bokum.
Victims of the Beyond (AKA: Sucker Money) is directed by Melville Shyer and Dorothy Davenport (as Dorothy Reid) and written by Willis Kent. It stars Mischa Auer, Phyllis Barrington, Earl McCarthy, Ralph Lewis and Mae Busch.
For the era it was made this deserves credit for being a fore runner to a splinter of films dealing with spiritualism - notably as a fake exercise. Unfortunately for dramatic worth it has nothing of note to offer. Plot essentially has fake medium Swami Yomurda (Auer) using his nefarious means to swindle persons of wealth out of money. Enter an undercover reporter who is intrepid in trying to unmask the scammers and save the day. The End!
It's all a bit creaky, the direction, the acting and the production as a whole really doesn't have much going for it. The premise at the core is interesting enough to hold attention for the short one hour run time - even if the first fifteen minutes drag and hardly entice one to stay through the rest of the play. Plenty of séance scenes are decently played, and thus rewards those into such shenanigans, but it becomes tiresome and the writing simply isn't good enough to drive home some thriller possibilities. 4/10
Along Came Jones (1945) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0037508/reference
Like I told your friend, never turn your back on anything... especially a girl!
Along Came Jones is directed by Stuart Heisler and adapted to screenplay by Nunnally Johnson from the Alan Le May novel The Useless Cowboy. It stars Gary Cooper, Loretta Young, Dan Duryea and William Demarest. Music is by Arthur Lange and cinematography by Milton R. Krasner.
Mild mannered Melody Jones (Cooper) and his friend George Fury (Demarest) wander into the town of Payneville. Because of the saddle on his horse having the initials M J, Jones is mistaken for being wanted outlaw Monte Jarrad (Duryea), something which brings him into conflict with the townsfolk - and Jarrad himself!
Monte Jarrad. Tall and skinny, mean tempered and extra fast with a gun - travels with half-wit uncle called Uncle Roscoe something.
Cooper for the first time enters the realm of producer and delivers a sly spoof of the Western genre that served him so well. Cooper as Jones is happy to laugh at himself, portraying him as an amiable buffoon. Initially it's not easy to accept such a laconic and mighty presence as being such a character, but Cooper quickly draws you in. Cooper is aided by professional turns from Young, Duryea and Demarest, who in turn get a sprightly script of fun dialogue to work from - which in a film of much chatter is crucial to make it work.
Elsewhere, what action scenes are forthcoming are moderately staged and Krasner's black and white photography is gorgeous in print form, but the locales and set designs just sort of sit there waiting to be elevated. The budget restriction in place is annoying, where we should have sweep and out of studio airiness, we instead have cheap tricks and crude back projection, this cast deserves better production value. Plotting is also thin and formulaic, the screenplay and Heisler's direction playing safe and not doing justice to the satirical beats trying to be heard.
It's fun and charming enough to be worth time spent on viewing, and Cooper and co are good company, but it should have been better and had better care afforded it from a technical standpoint. 6/10
Lady in the Lake (1946) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0039545/reference
If I should die before I live!
Lady in the Lake is directed by Robert Montgomery and adapted to the screen by Steve Fisher from the novel The Lady in the Lake written by Raymond Chandler. It stars Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan, Tom Tully, Leon Ames and Jayne Meadows. Music is by David Snell and cinematography by Paul Vogel.
It's the Christmas Holidays and private detective and part time writer Philip Marlowe (Montgomery) strolls into Kingsby Publications to submit his latest novel. Although he didn't know it at the time, his reason for being there is for different matters, and soon he is involved in missing persons and dead bodies...
Famous for being the film that used a first person gimmick (the camera is Marlowe for most of the picture), Lady in the Lake has a very divisive reputation for a number of reasons. Be it the gimmick or the portrayal of Marlowe (a much loved character to Chandler and film noir fans) by Montgomery, you will find for every person who likes the film greatly, the next person hates it. So with that you have to roll the dice and take your chance.
I have an allergy against getting mixed up with tricky females who want to knock off the boss's wife and marry him for themselves.
If able to leave aside Chandler's novel (and the writer's agitation about the film in general) , and to not let the camera as the active protagonist trick take you out of the story, then there's a good picture here. As is the Chandler way, there's a pot boiler at work as Marlowe tries to solve the cases at hand. He gets punched and slapped about, drops sarcasm quips a plenty, flirts roughly with Adrienne Fromsett (Totter) and jousts with the police as a course of nature. The mystery element is delightfully strong, suspicious behaviours and dubious motives are prominent, all of which reach a satisfying conclusion at pics end.
When it comes to women, does anybody really want the facts?
Montgomery's take on Marlowe isn't for everyone, and coming as it did just a year after Bogart had laid down a considerable marker in The Big Sleep, he was up against it. He actually does well in my book, stentorian like in delivery, wonderfully brusque of manner, and a filthy laugh to boot! His interactions with the yummy Totter and battle of wills with the cops are what make the picture worthwhile.
Perhaps you'd better go home and play with your fingerprint collection.
Unfortunately, with the gimmick in such loaded prominence, it does get a bit weary come the mid-point. The film also lacks some biting noir visuals, the story and its plotting screams out for dark shadow play and chilly chiaroscuro, but no joy in that department here. So some various irks for sure. It starts off with Christmas carols for the opening credits, and finishes on an un-noirish note, but everything in between - gimmick be damned - makes this an intriguing and entertaining Marlowe noir piece. 7/10
Class of 1984 (1982) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0083739/reference
I am the future!
Class of 1984 is directed by Mark Lester and Lester co-writes the screenplay with Tom Holland and John Saxton. It stars Perry King, Roddy McDowall, Merrie Lynn Ross, Timothy Van Patten, Stefan Arngrim, Michael Fox, Roddy McDowall and Lisa Langlois. Music is by Lalo Schifrin and Alice Cooper and Cinematography by Albert J. Dunk.
New music teacher Andrew Norris (King) is shocked to find the pupils of Lincoln High rule the roost. Refusing to kowtow to Peter Stegman's (Patten) gang of thugs, he decides to fight back...
It's always tricky revisiting later in life films that have cemented themselves as cult favourites. Class of 1984 is one such cult favourite of many who eagerly digested it back in the early half of the 1980s, a time when censorship was rife and banning orders the order of the day. The word of mouth back then was that Lester's film pushed boundaries, a frightening vision of a future where education as we know it would be replaced by anarchy, the youths of the day running amok with violence, sexual aggression and copious amounts of drugs. Was this an astute portent by Lester and his crew?...
Essentially this marks one of the turning points in the trashy filmic timeline of films dealing in educational establishments collapsing within via youth rebellion. Where the likes of Blackboard Jungle kicked things off with grim textures, Class of 1984 picks up the baton and urinates on it with a glint in its eye - for better or worse. As a whole the pic is given over to being ridiculous for the sake of shock value, yet it's strangely magnetic, managing to strike a nervous chord. Exploitation? No not really, that was just a marketing ploy that worked...
Viewing it these days it looks part of a tired formula, but that in no way should denigrate the importance of it, for it helped turn the tide in said formula. Ultimately it becomes a visceral revenge thriller, where some scenes are well constructed, others not so much, with the finale outrageously over the top. The acting from the younger cast members is mostly ok, though Patten is difficult to take serious as the gang leader. King is splendidly committed to the lead, garnering our support, while McDowall is the class act on show.
Lurid colours, eye splinter fashions and a rocky sound track round it out as a trashy "B" movie of much ebullience. One for the nostalgic amongst us for sure, but also for film historians interested in the sub-genre this sits in. 7/10
The Alamo (2004) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0318974/reference
I think I will probably have to settle for what I am now.
The Alamo is directed by John Lee Hancock, who co-writes with Leslie Bohem and Stephen Gaghan. It stars Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Patric, Patrick Wilson, Dennis Quaid, Emilio Echevarria and Jordi Molla. Music is scored by Carter Burwell and Dean Semler is the cinematographer. Story is a recreation of The Battle of the Alamo that ran for 13 days during the Texas Revolution of 1836.
On release it was met with disdain at worst, indifference at best, and now historically it stands as the second biggest box office failure behind Cutthroat Island. The pre release word of mouth wasn't good, and with "difficulties" of the financial and creative kind leading to Ron Howard leaving the directors chair-and Russell Crowe and Ethan Hawke bowing out of roles for two of the main characters, the film has never had an equal footing from which to try and sell itself as a worthy epic. Yet if there is a western styled war film most likely to improve with age, then Hancock's Alamo is it. You see, in time it's hoped that people can embrace that this take on the Alamo legend thrives on humanistic depth, telling it not as a "hooray" hero piece, but as it was, men doomed to die. And more pertinent, men who "knew" that in all probability, they were waiting for death to come.
Now that's a hard sell. It's highly unlikely that we will ever get an Alamo film to please everyone, because ultimately the story is a sombre one, an unforgiving 13 days of sadness and bitter disappointments. No matter how it gets dressed up, with Duke Wayne bravado or otherwise, this was a futile engagement. There's no chest beating stirring of the emotions for the outcome of this battle, for example such as the British being allowed to withdraw gracefully from Rorke's Drift, this is bleak history. It was a bold approach by Hancock and his team, to strip away the glitter and paint it in fallible humanistic greys. Heroic pop culture characters like Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie are not defined by glory rah rah rah, but by being men dealing with the harsh realities of war as best they can. It's telling that when Crockett turns up at the Alamo, he is genuinely stunned to learn that the fighting is not over, his plans for a comfortable life in politics vanquished the moment he sets foot upon Alamo turf.
Hancock should be roundly applauded for having the courage to craft such an honest depiction of the siege, and it's not as if we aren't warned about it, either in history as fact, or during the downbeat opening five minutes of film! So a film rich with in depth characterisations, then, but also a picture layered over with considerable technical skill. Hancock himself only really misfires by having a tacked on coda that shows Houston defeating Santa Anna and gaining his surrender. Who made the decision for this "uplift" I'm not sure, but it feels forced and doesn't have the impact intended. It would have been more telling and poignant to just have a title card flash up to tell us that Houston defeated Santa Anna in 18 minutes. We don't need to see a hurried recreation, the sombre mood needed to be kept up right to the last end credit rolled. For that's the true pain of The Battle of the Alamo.
However, Hancock gets mostly great performances from his leading cast members (Thornton hugely impressive as Crockett) and shoots his battle scenes with brutal distinction. His overhead shots are superb, especially as the Mexican army attacks for the final and telling time. The 100s of soldiers swarming over The Alamo looks like ants converging on a desert oasis, the hopelessness of the defenders of Mission San Antonio de Valero is never more evident than it is here. Semler and Burwell aid the mood considerably. The former is inspired by much of the film being set at night, utilising fires and candle lights to enforce the shadows (of death) hanging around the characters, while the textured brown, red and yellow hues used for the landscape gives off a parched beauty that lends one to understand why these men fight for the land they occupy. Burwell scores it evocatively, where tender swirls of emotion sit neatly along side the more broad action strains of the brass variety.
The lavish sets and costuming, including some tremendous hats, are all good on production value, to round out a tip top production. It cries out for revisits by those who dismissed it so casually back on its release. Certainly I myself found it helped considerably knowing now that this was not some rousing spectacle, but that it's a detailed character story leading up to a sad and inevitable conclusion. That coda and some under nourished support characters stop it from being a fully formed classic from the genre, but that aside, it's still one terrific and thoughtful piece of film making. 9/10
Across the Hall (2009) - www.imdb.com/title/tt1176724/reference
Art Deco Neo-Noir has more style than substance?
Across the Hall is directed by Alex Merkin and Merkin co-writes the screenplay with Jesse Mittelstadt and Julien Schwab. It is adapted from Merkin's short film of the same name that aired in 2005. It stars Mike Vogel, Brittany Murphy, Danny Pino, Natalie Smyka and Brad Greenquist. Music is by Bobby Tahouri and cinematography by Andrew Carranza.
The Riverview Hotel, and Terry (Pino) has rented the room opposite the room where he believes his fiancée June (Murphy) is cheating on him...
Alex Merkin clearly loves film noir and knows his noir onions, this is not in doubt due to the twisty story, characterisations and superb stylistics on offer here. And just in case anyone is in any doubt about this, the keen of noir eye will notice the film showing at the theatre next to the Riverview Hotel is Nightmare Alley, the brilliant Tyrone Power noir pic from 1947.
On the style front the production is top draw, Carranza's photography is both beautiful and ghostly, creating a brooding atmosphere befitting the plot machinations. The look is supplemented considerably by Tahouri's edgy pulse like musical score, while the Art Deco design of the Riverview is a splendid accompaniment to dark deeds unfolding.
As a story we are served up standard fare, the insertion of twisters and linear jumps not really lifting it out of its predictable trajectory. Which is a shame, because performances are solid and Merkin obviously has love for noir as a film making style. The resolution is expected but handled well enough to pay off the patient, but as a whole Across the Hall just about rises above average, but really this is more down to style than substance. 6/10
Moneyball (2011) - www.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/reference
Sporting Economics.
I have no affinity to Baseball as a sport, I'm British you see. I tried to get in to it when British cable networks began showing it, but it never grabbed me. My only contribution to any conversation about the sport is that I support The Cleveland Indians because of the film Major League, a film that continues to make me laugh to this day.
I was intrigued by Moneyball, synopsis tantalisingly offering up a sports success story based on an improbable blend of maths (something I hate with a passion), guile and perceived misfits as a team. Sure enough, after viewing Moneyball it has landed joyously onto a personal favourites list.
Unsurprisingly, when digging into the actual facts of the Oakland Athletics 2002 season at the core of the story, I found truths stretched, some character portrayals toyed with, and omissions to round out a better story. But crucially, the key element here is the moulding of a team for what in Baseball parlance is financial peanuts. This makes their 20 game wining run as being an outstanding achievement.
The mathematical aspects of the story are easily explained via the interactions of General Manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) and his economics right hand man Peter Brand (Jonah Hill). Baseball operations behind the scenes are given fascinating clarity via the tremendous screenplay (Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin). And ultimately the blend of on field action, family relationships and team assembling flows beautifully as one.
In turn punch the air brilliant with heart tugging worth, and brainy into the bargain, Moneyball most certainly a film non Baseball fans can watch and maybe love for bringing something new to the sports movie table. 9/10
Done
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2018 13:10:08 GMT
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 9, 2018 14:02:37 GMT
Will look forward to any reviews you throw in, intrigued by The Nightmare and I have never seen Deadfall. Of the ones I have seen I can offer up as comparison to what your thoughts on the films may be >
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
I have no soul. I'm beyond the pale. I'm one of the living dead!
It's one of the most famous pieces of literature ever written, a genius piece of story telling from the trippy mind of Robert Louis Stevenson. That it has consistently been ripe for film and stage adaptations, and continues to be so since it first surfaced in written form in 1866, is testament to what a devilishly intelligent piece of work it is.
This 1931 version, directed by Rouben Mamoulian and staring Fredric March, may not be 100% faithful to the source, but it's arguably the finest adaptation to screen, led by a superb performance from March and featuring technical guile by Mamoulian and his team. It's wonderfully stylish, and coming as it did before the Hayes Code, it's sexy and dangerous, awash with terrifying cruelty, with the subversive and Freudian psychological beats making for a Gothic horror classic.
Split personality a go go, inhibitions cast asunder, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is priceless. 8/10
Moonrise (1948)
What I did was resign from the human race.
Directed by Frank Borzage and adapted from the novel by Theodore Strauss, Moonrise sees Dane Clark playing Danny Hawkins, the son of a man who was hanged for his crimes. Tormented by his father's past and bullied about it as a child, Hawkins grows into a confused and resentful man. Striking out at anyone foolish enough to cross his fractured state of mind, tragedy is quick to strike, sending Hawkins deep into the Southern mire. Can solace come in the form of Gilly Johnson? (Gail Russell) or is it simply too late to rejoin the human race?
We open with a hazy reflection that merges into the feet of walking men, men walking to the gallows as Danny Hawkins' father is hanged. The mood is well and truly set for Borzage's dreamy film noir. It's something of an oddity in many ways for it most assuredly is film noir, certainly in texture and on the technical issues it is, yet an overtly poetic heart and a distinctly less than broody ending almost steer it to being fanciful fluff. Borzage and his cinematographer, John L. Russell (in one of his first prominent assignments), do wonders with the atmosphere of the piece. Set in the steamy South, shadows and darkness are a constant and rewarding part of proceedings, while swinging lights and conversations filmed at midriffs further enhance the skew whiff state of Dane Clark's protagonist. Also of note is that some scenes showcase why Borzage was rightly held in high regard back in the day, a Ferris Wheel, a car crash and a Racoon tree top sequence (that upset and engrossed me simultaneously) are just some of the reasons why this is a must see for Borzage enthusiasts.
Coming as it does out of the Republic Pictures house of "B" moviedom, it's natural to expect some low budgetary issues. However, this is a splendid production belying its "B" movie worth. The cast are fine, with Clark particularly doing well as his character battles with anger and warmth issues, and the sets and location work are effective and benefit the story greatly. Thankfully, and even though it has no restoration, the picture quality is very good, the sound mix is a bit down at times, but by and large this one has transfered well to prints being shown on British TV. With a support cast containing Ethel Barrymore, Allyn Joslyn (excellent), Henry Morgan, Harry Carey Jr and a brief Lloyd Bridges, this is a recommended film of course. But I can't, and will not, vouch for the ending appeasing all comers. 7/10
The Birds (1963)
Birds of a different feather do indeed flock together.
The Birds is directed by Alfred Hitchcock and adapted to screenplay by Evan Hunter from the story of the same name written by Daphne du Maurier. It stars Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy, Veronica Cartwright and Ethel Griffies. Cinematography is by Robert Burks and editing by George Tomasini.
Mother's love? Better to be ditched or loved?
When animals attack! The only outright horror movie that Alfred Hitchcock ever directed, The Birds sees the great man get the utmost terror from something so amiable in our lives; Birds! Modern day critics can hark on about it being dated all they like, it still doesn't detract from what a frenzied experience The Birds can still be; never mind what it did for cinema goers in 1963! Though undeniably it isn't a small screen film, too much is missed or under enhanced, sadly.
But it isn't dark Annie! It's a full moon.
Plotting is simple in trajectory terms. Hip socialite Melanie Daniels (Hedren) has a friendly vocal joust in a pet shop with handsome Mitch Brenner (Taylor), the result of which sees Melanie, on a mischievous whim, buy a couple of lovebirds and set off for Mitch's weekend retreat out in Bodega Bay to deliver them as a show of devilish womanhood . Upon arrival in Bodega Bay though, Melanie seems to be the spark for the birds in the area to start attacking humans, and pretty soon the attacks escalate and intensify...
Hitchcock and Hunter offer up no reasons or answers for what occurs in Bodega Bay (to keep it murky we learn late on via radio that other towns become affected), and famously the ending is open ended as well, forcing the audience to unravel ideas themselves. There's no musical score in the film, thus Hitchcock gets the terror and tension out of editing, bird effects and unholy sounds. The pacing is also a key area, it's a good hour before things go decidedly nasty, the wait keeps the viewer on edge, we seriously get to know the principal characters (the actors worked well by Hitch) and then the terror is unleashed. Perfect.
Hitchcock's skill at staging a memorable scene is well evident in The Birds. The climbing frame that sees one crow arrive, cutaway as Melanie smokes on a bench, back to the frame and now it's four crows, cutaway, back, and five crows – eight – then a "murder of crows". The birds first attack at the birthday party, the telephone kiosk, gas station mayhem, the birds swooping into view above the school roof and the POV viewpoint as we join a bird hovering above a town under siege, all great scenes, as is the crowning glory that is the eerie silence that accompanies the edge of your seat finale
Motifs are plentiful, from Mothers to sexuality, from broken crockery - to glass - to abandonment fears, Hitch has fun, especially with the human interactions, or lack of in certain scenes. It's a film that cries out for analysis, such is the director's want, in turn it's a riveting horror picture and a crafty enigma. It sounded daft as a basic idea for a film, and some must have thought Hitchcock had missed the boat of the creature feature boom of the 50s. Yet The Birds stands tall and proud as a damn fine piece of film from the maestro, one of his last true classics and still today, over 50 years after its release, the film provokes theory discussion and visual terror in equal measure. 9/10
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 9, 2018 14:33:22 GMT
My mix: When I heard about this I thought it was a bad joke. As it is I must admit a did Laught a few time Steve Martin is a great comedian and I do love him in anything else, but he's not Peter Sellers! Historic drama ( To Kill a King in English) so so movie but left me with a wanna know more feeling, Britain was a republic once!! . Lovely movie, though not anyones average feel good movie, lot of pain but worth watching. Depp re-creates some silent movie rutines beautifully. Slightly over complicated plot, but with these actors one follows it, and enjoys the ride. Great cast, great plot, I just wished they were a few more funny scenes in this movie, yet it was so nice to see Kim, James, Jack, Ernie, Hermoine, that siamese cat and ELSA! A very personal favorite that I adore and enjoy with each viewing, every time, at least once a year Well that was that!
Bell, Book and Candle is a film I constantly wish was better, I kind of keep watching it every other year in the hope it is going to be better. I genuinely do have a framed picture of Kim & Jimmy (from the film) hanging in my hallway!
Pyewacket Pudding.
It's one of those films that we all have, the movie that features actors you simply adore, but no matter how many times you watch it in the mystical hope that it will change and get better, but it never does. Bell Book & Candle is my pet frustration.
Fronted by James Stewart and Kim Novak, supported by Jack Lemmon & Elsa Lanchester, this screen version of the theatre play has a modicum of charm befitting the story of a publisher who falls under the love spell of a modern day witch, but ultimately it plays out as dull.
It looks nice, both in art direction and colour photography, Jimmy and Kim are pleasant of course, and Elsa, Hermione Gingold and Pyewacket the cat are bundles of fun, yet the belly laughs are missing, a need to care about the lovelorn and the restless sadly some place else.
I have a framed still of Jimmy & Kim from this movie hanging in my hallway, every time I pass it I point my finger at it and swear with sadness in my heart. I love those guys you see, the movie not so much... 5/10
The Wizard of Oz. Yep, me the same as you, it's a love that lasts forever. I'm always mortified when I come across someone who doesn't share the love
Timeless classic still entertaining the masses as each new generation comes in.
Dorothy is a young girl living on a Kansas farm, during a tornado, she, along with her dog Toto, is swept up and plonked down in a magical and mysterious land known as Oz. Desperate to get back home and under threat from a wicked witch, she is advised to seek out a great wizard who should be able to help her get back home. As she sets off and on her way, she meets and befriends a wonderful array of characters whom also have something to ask of the fabled wizard, it's a journey that will prove to be both magical and fraught with danger.
The Wizard Of Oz is a film that has been pored over and dissected from almost everyone involved in the wonderful world of film. One thing that strikes me every time I view it is that there not only is no place like home, there is also no film like The Wizard Of Oz, and really, when all is said and done, there is unlikely to be another film of its ilk to ever grace the silver screen. Upon multiple viewings only the most biased of film fan could say that it is a technically perfect picture, it clearly isn't. At times it's a wee bit creaky and when scrutinised, some of the performances in the piece are far from an excellent standard, but crucially any misgivings are quickly erased due to the wonder of it all, this is because the film has an ability to transport everybody who is watching into OZ alongside Dorothy.
The Wizard Of Oz appeals (and caters) to every demographic and pretty much any age group, we have adventure, the meeting of new friends, fears and trepidations, booming colour, songs to singalong with, and of course the total point of homely values. The Wizard Of Oz stands up well 70 years later because it taps into all the emotions available to the human being, be it a young child spellbound on a first viewing, or an octogenarian couple of grandparents wistfully humming along to the tunes, it's a film that shouldn't be dissected looking for faults and hidden meanings, it's a film that should be loved and praised for the ode to fantastical whimsy that it so obviously is.
The film of course will forever be associated with its darling star, Judy Garland. Viewing now, and knowing what a sad life she would eventually lead, The Wizard Of Oz is a fitting picture on which to remember what a magical and wonderful performer she was. Myself as a lump of waning machismo, I have no shame in saying that as Judy sings Somewhere Over The Rainbow I melt and feel as though I'm being sent spinning into another world, that's the power of the piece, as a sepia Kansas becomes the glorious colour of Oz, nothing else in my world matters, I'm in hook line and sinker.
There are many interesting back stories to the picture, with books galore available to anyone interested. Some notes that might interest you being the original castings to be W.C. Fields, Shirley Temple and Deanna Durbin, munchkins running riot, drunken cast members, sadness and suicides, and grizzled old pros fighting hard not to let Garland steal the picture. Well it makes for a great read, for sure, but what remains to this day is one of the most beloved pictures to have ever been made, for once in the pantheon of great cinema we have a film that is termed a classic, that actually deserves to have that tag!
One of the great things about the advent of technology is that it can benefit old classic movies to make them better, for now we can view remastered editions of The Wizard Of Oz and appreciate even more what a great job the makers did. Keep your eyes on Dorothy's Ruby Slippers during the film and see how they are the sparkling important character that they should be, or take in the brilliant work of the make up crew, the tiniest of rivets on The Tin Man a testament to the brilliant work that goes into bringing magic to our lives. Get the newest copy you can and then also see it on the biggest screen available to you because The Wizard Of Oz is a 10/10 movie. And then some.
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Post by wmcclain on Dec 9, 2018 14:41:23 GMT
Will look forward to any reviews you throw in, intrigued by The Nightmare and I have never seen Deadfall. Of the ones I have seen I can offer up as comparison to what your thoughts on the films may be Deadfall: I'm trying to see every Bryan Forbes film. This was pretty limp, although it has a good John Barry score. Nightmare: dramatized accounts of those who have sleep paralysis and see "shadow people". Might be of interest if it happens to you, otherwise not. There is no investigation or explanation. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: I hope to have reviews of several of the films next October. The Birds: I extended my review after reading Camille Paglia's book on the film: The Birds (1963)-Bill
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Post by claudius on Dec 9, 2018 14:44:29 GMT
My annual Christmas viewings will be in italicized.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (1978) “Walter Matthau” 40TH ANNIVERSARY. Universal DVD.
The Berenstein Bears’ Christmas Tree (1979) The first animated adaptation of the Bear Family by Jan and Stan Berenstein, this Animated TV special (with songs by Elliott Lawrence) would lead to several other Holiday specials about Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Baseball. A perennial since 2001, this viewing is via a Kids Klassics VHS.
Torappu Ikka Monogatari- The Trapp Family Story (1991). “Wish for an Angel/Christmas Carol” Governess Maria and the Trapp children celebrate Christmas much to the delight of Captain Von Trapp and much to the disdain of their stern and class-conscious housekeeper Matilda who is trying to engineer a marriage between the Captain and a rich lady. Her plans become threatened when the children makes a Christmas wish for Maria to stay and the Captain cancels an invitation with the lady to spend the holiday with the children. Meanwhile, an attraction grows between the Captain and Maria, as the latter talks about her abused childhood. This serial is part of the World Masterpiece Theater series, where each season is an adaptation of a Western Literature novel or story. This entry is based on Maria Von Trapp’s memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, best known to everyone as the source for the musical The Sound of Music. Aside from an opening sequence that used a Japanese “Do Re Mi” (removed in later broadcasts and video), the series is more faithful to the real accounts despite the usual adaptation approach. This two-parter also features Maria and the children singing several Christmas songs, foreshadowing their future occupation. Saw this one on a Chinese import DVD with flawed subtitles.
The Nutcracker (1987) A recording of the 1987 performance by the Bolshoi Ballet (the stage curtains are marked with USSR symbols) by Yuri Grigorovich and starring Yekaterina Maksimova and Vladmir Vasilev. Some sites would misinterpret this production for an earlier 1978 production with the same couple, broadcast to the US with Betty Ford as host. Kultur DVD
A Muppets Family Christmas (1987) Kermit and The Muppet Show gang spend Christmas at Fozzie’s mother’s house (much to the chagrin of housesitter Doc and Sprocket). It’s a holiday get together that unites the Muppets with the casts of Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock (plus a home-movie appearance by the Muppet Babies). From a 1988 ABC broadcast videotaped 30 years ago that shows the special in its uncut form with all the songs included. Commercials include promos for Who’s the Boss, Roseanne, Mr. Belvedere, Just the Ten of Us, and the short-lived Murphy’s Law, as well as a Ritz Crackers advertisement with a young Jerry O’Connell.
SUPERMAN (1988) “Night of the Living Shadows/Graduation” 30TH ANNIVERSARY. The penultimate episode of this series, as well as Lex Luthor’s last episode.
Tenchi Muyo: Manatsu No Eve- Midsummer’s Eve (1997). The second movie based on the Tenchi Muyo anime series, this production is a gestalt of the original OVA continuity while including Kiyone of the TV series continuity. An adolescent claims to be Tenchi’s daughter, causing much havoc (comedic and dramatic) to his space-girl harem. This is all part of a plan of a demon seeking to settle a score with Tenchi’s family. Christmas is celebrated at the beginning and end, as well as being a plot point for character motivation. This story shares similarities with the franchise’s second (notoriously infamous) TV series Shin Tenchi Muyo! (Known in America as Tenchi in Tokyo) which also has its own rebooted continuity! Although the ending portrays a happy addition to the Tenchi gang, the story had been ignored by future stories. Pioneer DVD.
A Christmas Carol (1951) 175TH CHRISTMAS CAROL ANNIVERSARY. Much has been written about this classic adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel starring Alistair Sims and Michael Hordern. A perennial since 1997 (although I have watched colorized versions since 1990), I am watching this from the VID Entertainment 60th anniversary DVD edition; the print uses its alternative title Scrooge.
JANE EYRE (1983) “Episode Nine” 35TH ANNIVERSARY. Penniless and stranded, runaway Jane finds sanctuary with a pastor and his sisters. One of those sisters is played by 40-something Morag Hood (ten years earlier she was already a bit long in the tooth when she played teenager Natasha in WAR AND PEACE). Warner/BBC Video DVD.
EDWARD AND MRS. SIMPSON (1978) “The Decision” 40TH ANNIVERSARY. The throne or Wallis? A & E Video DVD.
ER “A Miracle Happens Here” (1995) Dr. Greene deals with problems of the past and present (his future as a doctor is jeopardized by his role in a delivery gone horribly wrong, and his marriage is now over), but regains optimism in helping a Holocaust survivor find her missing granddaughter. Meanwhile, Dr. Peter Benton involves himself in new surgical procedures and Carol Hathaway tries to get her ‘new’ house (in the context of having recently bought the ruin) ready for the holidays. Look closely for a young pre-NCIS Sean Murray (although much of his appearance ended up on the cutting room floor). Watched on the ER Season Two DVD by Warner.
Nutcracker the Motion Picture (1986) I tend to watch several versions of Tchiakovsky’s Ballet. First for this Christmas is a full-length film treatment by Carroll Ballard, from Kent Stowell-Maurice Sendak’s stage production by the Pacific Northwest Ballet. This version deals with a WIZARD OF OZ- Freudian tones as Clara- between child and woman- deals with her unusual relationship with her godfather Drosselmeyer, who gives her a dream where she sees fantasy characters impersonated by people she knows (The Nutcracker Cavalier is personified by her father; fortunately Clara morphs into an adult woman for the romantic duet). A perennial since 2000 (although I had watched it before, usually in broadcast that includes segments by Tony Randall), this viewing is from an MGM on Demand DVD (replacing the Paramount Home Video VHS).
DARK SHADOWS (1968) “Episodes 439-440” 50TH ANNIVERSARY Now begins another anniversarial marathon viewing for this supernatural Soap Opera! In this case, the two-part Quentin Collins Saga. Part One is the Haunting, which begins here as David Collins and newbie Amy Jennings find an old telephone that can talk to them. This also begins the departure of series intro Victoria Winters, with Betsy Duskin replacing Alexandra Moltke (she left over disillusionment over her character’s idiocy over the truth of Barnabas’ former nocturnal life- remember he’s been cured of vampirism at this point of the story- as well as getting pregnant). MPI Video DVD.
INSPECTOR GADGET (1983) “So It is Written”, “Fang the Wonder Dog”, ”School for Pickpockets,” and “Quizmaster.” 35TH ANNIVERSARY. And so ends my anniversary marathon viewing of the first season of INSPECTOR GADGET, with Cree Summer and John Hennessey voicing their series finale roles as Penny and Chief Quimby.
Saturday Night Live (1975) “Candice Bergen/Stylistics.” The series’ first Christmas-themed episode, hosted by Candice Bergen (who compared the experience of working with the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time-Players as the Symbionese Liberation Party) with music by the Stylistics and Martha Reeves. In its first season, the series began with certain segments that would later go by next season: the ill-fated Muppets Land of Gorch, Bridging pieces (Who’s Tommy playing Pong), home movies (A montage of airport family reunions set to the music of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound”). There is also a serious piece where Bergen promotes the Gray Panthers, an anti-Ageism group (where Bergen confesses her fear about aging), as well as a piece about Gilda talking about avoiding overeating (…). Universal DVD.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) What can be said about this classic TV Christmas special that has not already been written? I viewed this on a Video Treasures/Hi-Tops Video VHS of an older TV edit that doesn’t include the restored-post-1990s scene of Linus sling-shooting a snowball with his blanket. This video print also freeze-frames the “A Charlie Brown Christmas- The End” credit scene.
Scrooge (1970) 175TH CHRISTMAS CAROL ANNIVERSARY. Albert Finney (who, if his recollections of playing Poirot are true, evidently liked playing a role that was an escape from his pretty boy image) heads a cast of British stage and TV actors in this Leslie Briscusse musical. Despite its trappings as a wholesome musical, my early recollections of it were anything but. 1980s TV broadcasts would add these commercial eyecatchers with an eerie music tone. Already being discomforted by the 1984 NBC Broadcast of Mickey’s Christmas Carol and its ‘grave from Hell’ sequence, and this film’s decision to add a skull-face to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, this version left me wary to other adaptations with a ‘will they, won’t they’ anxiety of showing the Ghost’s face behind the hood. But I’ve grown to be more comforted by this version. I like the musical score, and although much has been written against it, this adaptation has led to a stage show, and the ‘Sing a Christmas Carol’ intro is part of Disney World’s Christmas Parade score. A perennial for 21 years, this film is viewed from the Paramount/CBS-Fox Video DVD.
The Box of Delights (1984) Episode 2 “Where Shall the ‘nighted Snowman go?” The serial continues as Kay Harker is temporarily transported to a Saxon camp. Before he is returned to his time, Harker is given the magical Box by Cole Hawling to protect it from the ‘wolves.’ When Hawling is scrobbled (kidnapped) by Abner Brown and his priest con artists, Kay learns more about this war of good and evil in an animated sequence.
The Last: Naruto the Movie (2014). Japan often treats its Christmas as a romantic holiday, so many Anime shows set around December stress romance. As the Leaf vIllage Konoha celebrates the Christmassy Rinne festival, they, as well as the Earth itself, are being threatened by collision from the Moon itself. The act is orchestrated by an empowered lord who intends to wipe-out civilization to save it. Famed ninja Naruto Uzumaki is sent to stop this catastrophe, little knowing this mission will change his life forever. The tenth film based on the popular Japanese manga series by Mihashi Kishimoto, The Last is a controversial film. Unlike its previous entries, disconnected from canon and continuity, this film is a canonical chapter dealing with the main character entering a romance (which will produce a character for a spinoff series). A relationship that has divided the series’ fanbase: those very happy with the fulfillment of their ship, and those very unhappy that their desired ship did not happen. Viz Media DVD
Uresei Yatsura – Those Bothersome Aliens (1979) “Pitter Patter Christmas Eve” Based on Rumiko Takahashi’s manga series. Adolescent lecher Ataru Moroboshi is ‘married’ to a beautiful space alien Lum. As Christmas arrives, friends of Ataru, unhappy at his indifference to Lum (or more accurately, wanting the girl for themselves) stage a plan to separate the two by humiliating the guy. Lum learns about it, and intends for her ‘darling’ to learn a lesson…assuming she wants to see him go through with it. AnimeEigo DVD
DRAGON BALL (1988) “Son Goku’s Marriage!” 30TH ANNIVERSARY. It appears I always end up watching key episodes of this series whenever I go down to Pittsburgh. So far, in that area, I celebrated the 30th Anniversaries of the Anime debut of Piccolo and Goku’s defeat of him. This time, I watch the Fight, Courtship, and Engagement of Son Goku and Chichi!
A Christmas Carol (1984) 175TH CHRISTMAS CAROL ANNIVERSARY. Much has been written about this classic TV production starring George C. Scott that I feel it unnecessary to write any more. FoxVideo DVD (My first DVD viewing of the film after 19 years watching the VHS).
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1998) “The Wish” 20TH ANNIVERSARY. Cordelia makes a wish that changes Sunnydale, already signified by the debut of Vengeance Demon Anyanka (Emma Caufield). Fox Video DVD.
Big O (1999) “Daemonseed” As Paradigm City celebrates Heaven’s Day, Roger the Negotiator deals with an eco-terrorist dressed up like Santa Claus while deciding to get a gift to his android maid Dorothy. Watched on Vol. 4 DVD by Bandai.
Saturday Night Live (1976) “Candice Bergen/Frank Zappa.” Candice reprises her role as host of the Christmas-themed episode, with Frank Zappa performing a rather elaborate (for SNL) music number. Aired on December 11, 1976, sketches include Consumers report (Candice Bergen interviews shady toymaker Dan Akroyd and his dangerous toys like Johnny Switchblade and Bag of Glass), ending with a scene of the cast and crew ice-skating at Rockefellers square. Universal DVD.
A DIFFERENT WORLD (1988) “Life With Father.” 30TH ANNIVERSARY Dwayne ends up dating his teacher’s daughter. I remember watching this on its actual broadcast on NBC. TV One Broadcast on VHS.
Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970) After handling Rudolph and Frosty, Rankin-Bass covers their first version of the story of Santa Claus. Romeo Muller gives a 1960s vibe in portraying Santa (voiced by Mickey Rooney in his first Santa for the studio) as a rebel against the establishment by Burgomeiester Meisterburger (Paul Frees, who would play Santa in several R-B specials). Viewed this special on Freeform, in its third edited incarnation from that channel (The first edit, broadcast on ABC Family in the turn of the century, removed several songs. The second edited form, broadcast in the mid-00s, restored all the songs but deleted a part out of each one, including the credits song. This new one, broadcast since 2009, has all the songs intact but snips out several scenes, such as Meisterburger torching a pile of toys before bereaved children).
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) The Arthur Rankin Jr. –Jules Bass ‘Animagic’ (their term for stop-motion) television special that started its series of successful Holiday programming. I viewed this on CBS. which replaces Rudolph and Hermie’s “Fame and Fortune” duet with “A Couple of Misfits.”
BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATION (2017) “The Ghost Incident: The Investigation Begins!” Cartoon Network viewing.
DRAGON BALL SUPER (2017) “Staring Down the Wall that Must be Overcome! Goku VS Gohan!” English Premiere on Cartoon Network.
I also watched the first hour of IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946- up to the Martinis Homecoming) on USA Network. I also viewed parts of A CHRISTMAS CAROL THE MOVIE (2003) and SANTA CLAUS THE MOVIE (1985).
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 9, 2018 14:58:37 GMT
I really enjoyed Atomic Blonde. I had to watch it twice because the first time I was so into the action and the sexiness of it all I lost track of the plot!! Focussed on story the second time
I have pencilled Sleuth in for a first viewing over the Xmas holidays.
Fright Night (1985) first time or did you do a nostalgia revisit? It's a great old time horror pic >
Feeling like a time warp now, but oh so much fun and frights.
Viewing this for the first time in 20 years really put a smile on my face, now I know that for after having just watched a horror film that may not be the best guideline you will ever read, but the film has it's tongue firmly in cheek and it doesn't come up short on the thrill factor.
You will read other reviews stating that the film is a little cheesy and a little dated, and sure, in this day and age of gorno and ultimate slash kill death murder movies, the film can be judged as tame alongside the big box office ghoul movies. But from a personal point of view I got such a kick out of watching a good honest genre piece that shows love, care, and entertainment rolled into one movie. Perhaps I'm the old fart who is so desensitised to blood horror these days? Perhaps I live in the past too much? So what? It matters not because as long as there are delightful genre pieces like this to remind me that the 80s horror crowd had some knowing style, then I'm a happy bunny.
Cute teens embroiled in Vampire next door plot is about the make up of the film. No one believes the central guy of the piece (William Ragsdale as Charley Brewster), but he convinces TV Vampire Slayer Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowell) to join his quest to rid the neighbourhood of the murdering menace living next door. The film has the love interest in peril (Amanda Bearse), it has the grossly annoying best friend (Stephen Geoffreys) - and boy is he annoying! And it has all the homages to the horror classics gone by you could wish to have.
Such guts and gusto went into making this film I felt like clapping at the end. It's aware of the horror competition when you catch some of the dialogue, so it should never be allowed to become a perceived cheesy relic, because this is 1985 and it rocks for those that remember when horror had a glint in its eye instead of a sabre through its head. 8/10
Your thoughts on The Tall Men are of course requested.
Will you take my boots off?
The Tall Men is directed by Raoul Walsh and stars Clark Gable, Jane Russell, Cameron Mitchell and Robert Ryan. Produced out of 20th Century Fox by William A. Bacher and William B. Hawks, it's adapted for the screen by Frank S. Nugent & Sydney Boehm from a novel written by Heck Allen (as Clay Fisher). Filmed out of Durango, the cinematography is by Leo Tover in a CinemaScope/DeLuxe production and Victor Young provides the score.
Montana Territory 1866
"They came from the South, headed for the gold-fields
.Ben & Clint Allison, lonely, desperate men. Riding away from a heartbreak memory of Gettysburg. Looking for a new life. A story of tall men-and long shadows."
The Tall Men has professionalism written all over it, from the tight direction by Walsh to the on the money writing, it's a Western that has no pretencions. The panoramic vistas are beautifully realised by the makers and in spite of Russell's flat style of acting, the cast put credibility into the cattle drive and romantic aspects of the story. Tho action sequences are few and far between, the film succeeds because of the well written characters and the landscapes that frame them. There's even much comedy to enjoy as well, a department where Russell does earn her corn in the movie (there's also a bath moment to get us boys hot under the collar too). Most notably the comedy works for her when playing off of Gable who seems to be enjoying himself as the rough, tough and cheeky Ben Allison. Very talky to be sure, there are for instance many extended scenes of our lead protagonists swapping dialogue, but it all serves a purpose and in the capable hands of Walsh the sequences serve to drive the narrative forward.
Solid enjoyable stuff if ultimately a touch too long. 6.5/10
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Post by mikef6 on Dec 9, 2018 15:43:19 GMT
wmcclainI greatly enjoyed both halves of your review of "The Birds." Almost every review/essay I read about this film - whether from an academic, an ordinary fan like myself, or even a negative point of view - I learn something new, get a new insight, into this seemingly bottomless film which may also be nothing more than an effective thriller movie or both at the same time.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 9, 2018 18:29:44 GMT
The Dragon Murder Case / H. Bruce Humberstone (1934). Warner. The very wealthy amateur detective Philo Vance is played by Warren William, the first of two times he would play the role. Vance has a doozy of an impossible crime to solve this time around. We begin at the country home of a rich family whose various members each hate one another. One night they decide to go swimming in the pool that had been created by partially damming a river. Three me dive into the water but only two emerge. When the pool is drained the next day, there is no body to be found. Vance later finds the corpse on a hillside about a quarter of a mile away from the house. Among the suspects are Lyle Talbot and the always delightful Margaret Lindsay. Eugene Pallette is Sgt. Heath, the dumbest of the hundreds of dumb cops that populated mystery films in the ‘30s and ‘40s. The Casino Murder Case / Edwin L. Marin (1935). MGM. This time around the role of Philo Vance, the homicide bureau’s best friend, is taken by Hungarian born actor Paul Lucas, just eight years past since he arrived in Hollywood and another eight years in the future away from a Best Actor Oscar. We have another rich family at each other’s throats when they start dying off rather alarmingly. Sgt. Heath is played by Ted Healy, best known as the first boss of The Three Stooges before they set out on their own. Woman On The Run / Norman Foster (1950). Fidelity Pictures. Frank Johnson is out walking his dog one night when he witnesses a mob hit. When police tell him that the victim was killed to keep him from testifying, Johnson slips away, not believing the police could keep him safe either. When Inspector Ferris (Robert Keith, father of Brian) talks to Johnson’s wife, Eleanor (Ann Sheridan), he finds out that the Johnson’s marriage was in a bad way and Eleanor doesn’t care one way or the other what happens to her husband; but when Legget (Dennis O’Keeffe), a tabloid reporter, offers her a thousand dollars if she can find her husband and get him an exclusive interview, she begins, with Legget in tow, to investigate among Frank’s friends and co-workers. While the script was produced by three named writers, future producer Ross Hunter is credited as “dialog director” so he may have been responsible for snappy repartee like this exchange between Eleanor and Legget: Are you trying to bribe me? Yes, and if I can’t bribe you I will try to win you. Isn’t that a reverse of the usual procedure. I’m a reverse kind of guy. But you are attractive, Mrs. Johnson. I may try to win you first. I’d rather be bribed. Amazingly, the writers took Hitchcock’s maxim of “suspense over surprise” and reveals the identity of the killer about at the half-way mark. It works. This completely shifts the tone and levels of the story. At age 35, Ann Sheridan was – by Hollywood standards – past the stage of her “The Oomph Girl” years, but her acting had deepened. Her performance as a woman who, as she looks into her estranged husband’s current life, comes to believe that they might get together again has depth. The film’s climax takes place under and on a noisy roller coaster. As Eleanor tries to warn Frank from a rocking coaster car, all her new found love and desperation comes pouring out. This is some fine work from Ann Sheridan. Others in the cast include Syd Saylor, John Qualen, and Victor Sen Yung. First Reformed / Paul Schrader (2017). The Rev. Toller (Ethan Hawke) is pastor of the lightly attended First Reformed Church in upstate New York. The church is owned and controlled by a near-by mega church called Abundant Life. Toller has been given the post after several life changing events that have left him depressed, alcoholic, in poor health, and barely capable of getting through the day. First Reformed, however, is approaching its 250th anniversary with a big ceremony planned. This film was written and directed by Paul Schrader who gleefully appropriates plot points from Bresson’s “Diary Of A Country Priest” and Bergman’s “Winter’s Light.” He is called upon by the pregnant Mary (Amanda Seyfried) to give counsel to her husband Michael (Philip Ettinger) an environmental activist who believes that a child should not be brought into this world. Anyone who has seen the above mentioned movies knows what happens next. Michael’s message has effected Toller to the point that he plans a terrorist action against a local polluter. The ending is ambiguous and almost surreal, which may confuse and even anger some viewers. But this may be Ethan Hawke’s year, so look for him when Golden Globe and Oscar nomination come out. Eighth Grade / Bo Burnham (2018). I have no doubt that the eighth grade has changed greatly since the early 1960s. (For those unfamiliar with the U.S. educational system, eighth graders would be 13 or 14 years old.) I didn’t particularly like public schools but I managed to breeze through the years without damage. If Bo Burnham’s vision of today’s Junior High is accurate – and reviews seem to say that it is – I’ll never wish to be young again. Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) is our guide through insecurity, self doubt, and severe anxiety. Every class, every meeting with other people, is fraught with humiliation. Kayla has her own YouTube channel where she gives advice to people her own age like how to be confident and how to make small talk, but she is unable to do these things herself. Her concerned and loving single father (Josh Hamilton) wants to help but is as out of touch with her life as I am. I was getting Dad Feelings for her myself. I wanted to tell Kayla, “It gets better.” Young Miss Fisher, who is about 15, is quite a find, quite an accomplished actress already. She is already starting to get recognition from critics’ groups and has a Golden Globe nomination for actress in a musical or comedy (a case for both comedy or drama could be made for “Eighth Grade”) – and she deserves them all. Widows / Steve McQueen (2018). Caper films are usually something of a light-hearted romp in which charming thieves get their own back from an even badder Bad Guy. This year’s other female lead caper, “Ocean’s 8,” fits this bill exactly and is very entertaining for it. Steve McQueen, however, working from a script he co-wrote with Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) takes a much darker tone with a much more complex tale of human greed and betrayal. The strikingly edited opening switches back and forth between four men saying goodbye to their wives and the robbery they are involved in going wrong in every way it can – resulting in all the husbands being killed. Soon, Veronica (Viola Davis) is visited by Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry) who tells her that her dead husband Harry (Liam Neeson), the crime’s leader, had robbed two million dollars from him and the money was destroyed when the escape vehicle exploded and burned. Manning, a gang leader in a predominately African-American neighborhood, is trying to go straight and is challenging Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell) for alderman of Chicago’s 8th district. He needs his money to mount his campaign. He gives Veronica a month to raise two million to pay him back, even though she knew nothing of her husband’s plans. Following a lead, Veronica finds a notebook that Harry kept which gave detailed instructions for future crimes. Veronica finds the other widows (played by Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Carrie Coons) to join her in a robbery to raise the money with plenty left over for them. Coons backs out but soon they find Belle (fast rising star Cynthia Erivo) to be their driver. The stakes are high. The danger great. Each woman has to find something inside herself to get her through this experience. McQueen tightens the tension and doesn’t let loose until the end. I predict multiple Oscar nominations for acting, directing, editing, and maybe Picture. Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Rodriguez, Viola Davis Woman on the Run. Good sell mate, I'll lend my support. It's more frightening than romantic. It's the way love is when you're young... life is when you're older.
Woman on the Run is directed by Norman Foster who also co-adapts the screenplay with Alan Campbell from a story by Sylvia Tate. It stars Ann Sheridan, Dennis O'Keefe, Robert Keith and Ross Elliott. Music is by Arthur Lange and Emil Newman and cinematography by Hal Mohr.
When Frank Johnson (Elliott) witnesses a man being shot and he himself is shot at by the killer, he decides to go on the run rather than trust police protective custody. The police turn to Frank's wife, Eleanor (Sheridan) to help track him down, but she thinks he has other reasons to runaway. Aided by newspaperman Danny Leggett (O'Keefe), who is after the exclusive story, Eleanor follows the trail left by her husband; but nothing is as it first seems...
Compact at under 80 minutes, Woman on the Run is something of a little seen film noir offering. Basically a man hunt in essence, picture boasts strong atmosphere around the San Francisco locations and a last 15 minutes of noir excellence. In the narrative is a failing relationship that gets expanded upon as the story moves forward, and of course there's a twist, which thankfully is a genuine surprise. It's also very well performed, especially by the excellent Sheridan. The problem is that for the first hour it is exposition heavy, while the musical score is often too chirpy, a hindrance to the visual atmospherics. However, once we reach the last quarter and the story unfolds at an amusement park (Pacific Ocean Park), the picture hits its stride. Here is where the shadowy photography takes on a sinister edge, the action seemingly in a drug induced state. It's a terrific finale that lifts the film from being ordinary into must see status for the film noir faithful. 7/10First Reformed. I think I can probably call myself an Ethan Hawke fan by now, so I'm always interested to see what he is featuring in. I remember being miffed about Training Day because as much as I love Washington, and I so do, it bothered me that Hawke's excellent perf in the film got lost in the mix. Having not seen the other two films you mentioned (will have to see if it's a Bergman that appeals to me as I love some but others not so much), so I may be in for a treat with First Reformed and have put it on my radar for when it premieres on UK cable. Been hearing great things about Eighth Grade and you have added considerable weight to that. Thanks for the review
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 9, 2018 19:15:07 GMT
Will look forward to any reviews you throw in, intrigued by The Nightmare and I have never seen Deadfall. Of the ones I have seen I can offer up as comparison to what your thoughts on the films may be Deadfall: I'm trying to see every Bryan Forbes film. This was pretty limp, although it has a good John Barry score. Nightmare: dramatized accounts of those who have sleep paralysis and see "shadow people". Might be of interest if it happens to you, otherwise not. There is no investigation or explanation. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: I hope to have reviews of several of the films next October. The Birds: I extended my review after reading Camille Paglia's book on the film: The Birds (1963)-Bill Super review and post on your site Bill. Delighted you dig The Birds as much as myself, I can only not concur with your last great Hitch film statement since I think Frenzy is a brilliantly mischievous piece of work. I'm intrigued by Paglia's thoughts in literary form. I used to shy away from such writings as regards The Master, the fear of being influenced bothered me because going into one of his better works felt like a tempter of one's own interpretations, personal like. Now of course I can't get enough of film lovers input into his work to broaden my thinking. I'm due a Hitch weekend as there are still some of his talkie pics I need to revisit and review, I'll definitely be adding The Birds into the viewing schedule, just talking about it makes me want to even more keep on puzzling it out
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 9, 2018 19:20:38 GMT
Will look forward to any reviews you throw in, intrigued by The Nightmare and I have never seen Deadfall. Of the ones I have seen I can offer up as comparison to what your thoughts on the films may be Deadfall: I'm trying to see every Bryan Forbes film. This was pretty limp, although it has a good John Barry score. Nightmare: dramatized accounts of those who have sleep paralysis and see "shadow people". Might be of interest if it happens to you, otherwise not. There is no investigation or explanation. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: I hope to have reviews of several of the films next October. The Birds: I extended my review after reading Camille Paglia's book on the film: The Birds (1963)-Bill PS: Forgot to ask as regards Forbes, have you seen Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)?
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Post by wmcclain on Dec 9, 2018 19:28:32 GMT
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Dec 9, 2018 19:51:40 GMT
Hi all,I hope everyone is having a good weekend,and just two this week: Tag (2018) 7 Chasing after the guys (and the women) playing the game, director Jeff Tomsic & cinematographer Larry Blanford give the set pieces an Action-Comedy crunch, via darting fast zoom-ins as a hand reaches out to tag, and shots of slo-mo tracking the most stealth methods of avoiding the tag. Making his cinema debut after years making TV movies and series, Tomsic displays a keen grip on keeping the atmosphere snappy, with side screen wipe keeping the game in constant "action" mode, and wide group-shots catching the taken aback glances as each member makes plans on how to tag Pierce. Tagged from Russell Adams WSJ article entitled "It Takes Planning, Caution to Avoid Being It" (!) the screenplay by Rob McKittrick and Mark Steilen plays bromance-style bonding with slick physical comedy. Whilst jokes where the guys are at various times called gay feel ill-fitting, the writers make up for it with dollops of charm from the increasingly hilarious, over the top ways the loyal friends try to outplay Pierce. Setting up in flashbacks over years that Pierce has never been beaten, the writers do really well at building a bond Callahan and the others in the group over never having got this win, whilst Pierce is visible more detached to his friends due to the game. Having the eye of a hawk to spot all tag attempts,Jeremy Renner gives a great turn as Pierce, whose dead-pan manner from Renner has Pierce escaping under the nose of his pals. Reuniting with Renner from The Town (2010) Jon Hamm gives a very funny, frustrated turn as Callahan, whilst Ed Helms and Lil Rel Howery as Malloy and Reggie hand out the slap-stick with zest in ths epic round of Tick. Bao (2018) 6 Cooked as a metaphor to "empty nest" motherhood, writer/director Domee Shi unrolls a wonderfully off-beat script,as the mother attempts to perform traditional parental routines, with a hungry steamed dumpling. Snacking on a tasty melancholy ending,the slick CGI has a bouncy look which gives the dumpling a softness,as the dumpling and Bao get a taste for each other.
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