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Post by teleadm on Dec 15, 2018 22:50:36 GMT
Since our friend delon might be Christmas shopping and standing in a long cue. Whatever reasons delon we miss you! Comments/ratings/recommendations/film posters are welcome and much appreciated. This is just a temporary jump-in!
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Post by wmcclain on Dec 15, 2018 22:59:24 GMT
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Post by OldAussie on Dec 15, 2018 23:50:38 GMT
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Post by teleadm on Dec 16, 2018 0:17:21 GMT
This are my ventures: I love this movie, and it's part of my Christmas joys. "Santa's Super Sleigh" Story takes place during a year, from one Christmas to next years Christmas! I used to love those dice board games, and I love this movie, even if special effects are on the old side. Great slam-bang action, if one don't think too much about it, great lazy day movie! Lovely movie and Hakuna Matata! Very low-budget version from BBC 1977, with the great Sir Michael Hordern, acting is great but production values were very very low. Part of my Christmas joys. Not a bullseye, but still worth a look! The poster makes it look more expensive than the movie actually was. Part of my Christmas joys. Not the greatest movie John Ford directed, far from it, the whole sloppiness of this movie makes it fascinating. Part of my Christmas Joys. This keeps it all in balance so it don't become too sweet. A very creepy British movie that chills. So called splashy bio-pic, very polished and professional, not bad, but has nothing to do with the real Dolly Sisters, and that could have been a very inyeresting movie instead. Well that was it!
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Post by mikef6 on Dec 16, 2018 1:03:56 GMT
Inspired by the thread put up by snsurone on 1939’s “Jesse James,” I decided to watch two other western biographies that I already had on my DVR queue for their historicity as well as their movie value. The Kid From Texas / Kurt Neumann (1950). Universal International Pictures. Technicolor, Academy ratio. This was Audie Murphy’s second lead role and his first western of many to come. He plays one of the most famous gun fighters in the lore of the American west, Billy The Kid (whose real name was either William H. Bonney – which was “fact” when I was growing up - but which now seems to have become Henry McCarty). Murphy still seems a little stiff in front of the camera (which could also be taken as internal acting), but, as the saying goes, the camera loves him and he has a sort of boyish, soft spoken charisma that makes him very watchable. Separating fact from legend as far as Billy The Kid is concerned is never easy, but scholarship has pretty much uncovered the major events of his life. After the opening titles, a narrator tells us that what we are about to see is true. Sure, he says, they changed all the names and altered some chronology, but it is all factual. Actual history is used a sort of a clothesline to hang a fictional story on: Billy being taken in by an honest rancher and merchant in south east New Mexico Territory, the murder of that rancher over a land dispute, Billy and his friends on a mission of vengeance, Billy refusing a pardon from Gen. Wallace, his arrest and conviction for murder, his escape while killing two deputies, the “siege of Lincoln,” and his ultimate death at the hands of Sheriff Pat Garratt. All of this is in “The Kid From Texas.” But some of the playing out of these occurrences and other incidents are fictional as are most of the people who populate this movie. The movie even gives The Kid an infatuation with the young wife (Gale Storm) of a Lincoln, New Mexico banker (Albert Dekker). One delight is getting to see Dennis Hoey (Inspector Lestrade in the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes series) as the head of a gang of land grabbers. Also with Shepperd Strudwick, Will Geer, William Talman, and Ray Teal. Cole Younger, Gunfighter / R.G. Springsteen (1958). Allied Artists Pictures. Color by DeLux, Cinemascope (2.35:1). Very entertaining western. We are supposed to be in sympathy with Southerners during Reconstruction as Texas is under Federal Control and its state police force is brutalizing the citizenry. Young hothead Kit Kaswell (James Best) is doing his best to annoy the local force even though his father and fiancé (Abby Dalton) want him to back off. Kit is arrested with Frank Wittrock (Jan Merlin). When Frank begins to be beaten, Kit revolts, fights the officers and escapes with Frank. Fleeing a posse, they run into Cole Younger (Frank Lovejoy). Younger, a cynical gunfighter, slowly forms a bond with Kit. Cole’s help will be needed when Frank manages to frame Kit for murder so he can make moves on Abby. This is fast moving and well acted but this story never made the acquaintance of a history book. The character played by Lovejoy could have had any name, but Cole Younger sounds intriguing. So take my advice and don’t write a history paper for school based on this movie. Murder On The Blackboard / George Archainbaud (1934). RKO Radio Pictures. The second of three movies in which Edna Mae Oliver played Hildegard Withers, an amateur detective created by mystery novelist Stuart Palmer. Other continuing cast members are James Gleason as Inspector Piper and Edgar Kennedy as Det. Donahue. A young music teacher is murdered in the school where Hildegard is also teaching. Is the murderer the principal or the science teacher both of whom had flings with the victim? Or the dead woman’s flat mate who shared a winning Irish Sweepstakes ticket? Or the drunk janitor? Or someone else? Great chemistry between Oliver and Gleason, their back-and-forth dialog is very witty. Technically, this is a pre-Code film but there is not much that is pre-Codish about it. Loads of fun. The Favourite / Yorgos Lanthimos (2018). A delightful cookie full of arsenic set in the early 18th century under the reign of Good Queen Anne (Olivia Colman). Anne is obese and, usually, ill and tired. Most of the running of the government falls on the Queen’s best friend (and more, as we learn) Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz). That is, until a poor relation of Sarah’s, Abigail (Emma Stone) from the Landed Gentry but become destitute, looking for work. This begins a tug-of-war between Sarah and Abigail for the attention and favors of the Queen, leading to some hilarious backstabbing and mayhem. Nicholas Hoult shines among the masculine members of the cast as the Tory leader of the opposition in Parliament. A fun romp and some marvelous, amazing acting from the three lead women, especially Colman – but Weisz and Stone are not to be missed either. All three ladies have Golden Globe and SAG nominations.
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Post by politicidal on Dec 16, 2018 1:05:43 GMT
From Hell it Came (1957) 1/10
Enchanted Island (1958) 3/10
Alpha (2018) 7/10
Bandolero! (1968) 6/10
Jagged Edge (1985) 5/10
Bowfinger (1999) 8/10
My Cousin Rachel (1952) 7/10
Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) 3/10
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Post by Doghouse6 on Dec 16, 2018 1:52:16 GMT
Thanks for stepping in, teleadm . I was just on the point of wondering where to put this. Whistling In the Dark (1933) Classic film fans are likely to be more familiar with the 1941 Red Skelton film of the same title (and its two Whistling offshoots) than with this 1933 original, which was produced by MGM the same year the Broadway play from which it was adapted closed after 265 performances. Absent Skelton's manic energy and zaniness, it plays more like a Paramount comedy of the same era with its sly tone that leans more in the direction of drollery than farce, and centers around a reluctant hero of decidedly different mild manners. In place of Wally "The Fox" Benton, radio crime-solver, is novelist Wally Porter, who happens upon the secluded Hudson Valley hideout of racketeer Jake Dillon when his car breaks down on the way to elopement with sweetheart Toby Van Buren, and is pressed into service to employ his expertise in devising a perfect murder. Imagine a cross-pollination of Robert Benchley's distracted geniality and Bob Hope's false bravado, with a pinch of Edward Everett Horton's fussy indignation added, and the combination presents itself in the diminutive form of Ernest Truex as Wally (recreating the role he originated on Broadway). Truex's feature film appearances, while numerous, perhaps weren't as notable as his collection of B'way ones, with nearly four dozen shows to his credit over roughly as many years. He's probably best remembered by film buffs as the prissy reporter Bensinger in 1940's His Girl Friday. Here, with an arsenal of tics, takes and disarming inflections at his disposal, Truex's performance is full of charming inventiveness, no doubt well-honed after a year on the boards but deftly modulated for the camera under the direction of Elliot Nugent (who also adapted the material for the screen), giving free rein to a hundred subtle yet attention-commanding mannerisms. As Dillon, the imposing and always-wonderful Edward Arnold (also recreating his stage role) executes expert timing, working with Truex like a vital component of a well-tuned machine. Alternating between silky smoothness and sinister intimidation, Arnold displays his own inventory of adroit nuances. One running bit is his repeated dismissal of taciturn and watchful housekeeper Hilda (Marcelle Corday) with a brusque "Scram." Late in the proceedings, after the devoted Hilda has alerted Dillon to dissension within his ranks, Arnold tenderly places a hand on Corday's shoulder and says, "I'll never forget what you did for me tonight," and when the inevitable "Scram" follows, he delivers it with the hint of a smile and warmth that transform it into an endearment. Una Merkel is everything from adorable to exasperating as fiance Toby (played on B'way by Claire Trevor), and goonish Nat Pendleton fills the role played by "Rags" Ragland in '41. The target for assassination this first time around is a prominent brewer who's interfering with Dillon's protection racket, but viewers of the later version will recognize basic plot devices: the poisoned toothpaste; the radio re-wired to transmit as well as receive; attempts to flip members of the gang. Free of the "third wheel" character played by Virginia Grey in '41, this pre-PCA outing delights with an extended scene missing from the later film, in which Toby, sharing a bedroom with him for the night, not-so-coyly attempts to lure the diffident Wally into bed with repeated reminders that this may be the last night of their lives. Also present are topical Depression-era references, such as Merkel's chirpy pronouncement that they'll be "as safe as a bank," which elicits from Truex a slow take and a dubious, "WHAT bank?"After only one viewing, this '33 version has become a sudden rival for the affection I have for the '41, but I anticipate peaceful coexistence between the two, and I'm so glad I finally caught up with it, most especially for the understated but captivating work of Ernest Truex. It's available for the rest of the month through the TCM website's "Watch Now" feature (the listing for which is erroneously accompanied by artwork from the later one), and I recommend checking it out.
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Post by claudius on Dec 16, 2018 12:54:55 GMT
If there is a Zetes, my apologies for years before.
A Christmas Story (1983) 35TH ANNIVERSARY this year. There has been much written about Bob Clark’s adaptation of Jean Shepherd’s nostalgia stories that I see it unnecessary to give any further information. I watched this on an MGM/UA VHS, which allows me to view the ending credits playing Carl Zitter-Paul Zaza’s lovely instrumental for “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” a scene not included in the TBS/TNT annual Christmas Day 24-hour marathon.
DARK SHADOWS (1968) Episodes 641-645 50TH ANNIVERSARY David and Amy meet the (at present unseen) Ghost of Quentin Collins (his theme makes its intro in this series, already been introduced in Curtis' THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR HYDE). MPI Video DVD.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (1978) “Eric Idle/Kate Bush” 40TH ANNIVERSARY. Sketches include the bloodbath known as The French Chef (Dan Akroyd as Julia Child cutting herself) and Idle as Prince Charles living with ‘The Woman He Loved.” Universal DVD.
Rocko’s Modern Christmas or You Can’t Squeeze Cheer Out of a Cheeze Yulelog (1994) Rocko the wallaby tries to enjoy Christmas despite the lack of snow (the cloud seem to have some…problems) and the machinations of Mr. Bighead (one of Charles Adler’s many roles in this series). Shout Factory DVD.
Upstairs Downstairs (1973) “Goodwill to All Men” This is the Centennial of the first Christmas after WW1, and this Third Season episode is about the last Christmas before it happened. It is Christmas 1913, and Richard Bellamy and his servants are visited by Georgina Worsley, stepdaughter of the family’s late Southwold lord (he and his sister, Richard’s wife Marjorie, died in the Titanic disaster). The girl befriends the new maid Daisy; together the two decide to visit the latter’s impoverished family with food ‘borrowed’ from the house’s Christmas desserts: reality hits their adventure hard in this last holiday of relatively World Peace. This episode introduced Georgina (Lesley Anne Down) replacing last season’s star Nicola Paget (as the Bellamy daughter Elizabeth). She will be a regular for the remainder of the series’ run. Acorn Media DVD.
The Life and Times of Jesus (1993) “The First Christmas” 25TH ANNIVERSARY this year. The first episode of Cine-Mundo Inc./USA News’ Three part documentary on Jesus. Scholars and historians examine the origins and accuracy of the Infancy Narratives of Luke and Matthew. Was Jesus really born in Nazareth and not in Bethelehem? Is the Virgin Birth based on a mistranslation of Isaiah? Was the star a conjunction of planets? Narrated by Armand Assante with Betty Buckley quoting the Bible, with paintings, sculptures, and location footage giving the visual aspect. A perennial for 22 years, this viewing comes from a recorded VHS broadcast in December 1996 on The Learning Channel (before it became a Reality-TV channel).
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (1966) I watched the Chuck Jones/Boris Karloff Animated Classic on a 1987 VHS recording (which edits part of the ‘You’re a Mean One’ song) of what must have been one of its final broadcasts on CBS (before Turner took the rights for its TNT and TBS broadcasts). Commercials include an announcement by make-up-free Michael Dorn (right at the beginning of STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION).
SUPERMAN (1988) “The Last Time I Saw Earth/It’s Superman!” The series finale of this one-season work (the next Animated version won’t be until THE ANIMATED SERIES in 1996). The B Story features Superman’s first appearance. Warner DVD.
FRIENDS (1998) "The One With Ross' Sandwich" 20TH ANNIVERSARY. Netflix.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1993) “Santa Claus” 25TH ANNIVERSARY this Month. Mike Nelson and the robots Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo are forced to watch a 1959 Mexican production of the Yuletide toymaker and his battle with Lucifer, emphasized by his minion Pitch. If you think that’s weird enough, include mechanized reindeers, a toy shop composed of children from stereotype-portrayed nationalities and a heavy religious slant. I never really warmed over to Mike Nelson when he replaced Joel Hodgson; I felt a decline in quality in the episodes under his era. But this entry is one of the few I liked. Bootleg DVD.
The Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold (1981) On Christmas Eve, a cabin boy comes to an island to pick up an Evergreen for his ship’s Christmas celebration; his endeavor finds him Gold, Leprechauns, and a Banshee. Leprechaun was the penultimate Rankin-Bass Animagic special (concluding with Life Adventures of Santa Claus in 1985). It is the production’s swansong to regular writer Romeo Muller and songwriters Laws and Bass (although this production uses the song “Christmas in Kilarney”). Warner VHS.
A Christmas Carol (1971) 175TH CHRISTMAS CAROL ANNIVERSARY. Produced by Chuck Jones but created by Richard Williams, some would call this animated short subject the definitive animated version of the Dickens’ tale. Narrated by Michael Redgrave, with Alistair Sims and Michael Hordern vocally reprising their roles from the 1951 version. Viewed on GEM DVD. JANE EYRE (1983) “Episode Ten.” 35TH ANNIVERSARY Warner/BBC Video DVD.
EDWARD AND MRS. SIMPSON (1978) “Proposals” 40TH ANNIVERSARY. David tries everything to keep the throne and Wallis. A & E Video DVD.
SUPERMAN THE MOVIE (1978) 40TH ANNIVERSARY. I attempted to watch the original version on DVD, but the disc kept sticking. So I watched a VHS recording of what must have been its Widescreen Format TV premiere on American Movie Classics (which I recorded overnight) in 2000, one of Bob Dorian’s final intro/outro. I also viewed the Television Extended cut on BluRay.
Saturday Night Live (1977) “Miskel Spilman/Elvis Costello” 80-year-old grandmother Miskel Spilman wins a contest to be host of SNL. Elvis Costello makes his infamous change of song. Universal DVD.
The Nutcracker (1977) Mikhail Baryshnikov’s television production of the Tchiakovsky ballet with then-girlfriend Gelsey Kirkland as Clara. The shortest of the three Nutcrackers ballets in my viewing (several pieces were shortened, and the “Arabian Dance” omitted), it is probably the most popular of the three. A Christmas perennial for 28 years. Kultur DVD.
The Box of Delights (1984) Episode 3 “In Darkest Cellars Underneath” Kay Harker learns more about Abner’s plans to get the Box of Delights with the help of his Sylvia Pouncer (played by Robert Stephen’s wife Patricia Quinn, the character is mentioned as Kay’s former governess, according to John Masefield’s The Midnight Folk). As the day goes by, people start missing from Kay’s governess to his guest the feisty, air-gun-totting Mariah Jones. Kay has to use the Box’s magic to avoid going missing too. BBC PAL DVD.
Simple Gifts: Six Tales of Christmas (1978). Broadcast on PBS (the video includes a 1970s caption of the station), Simple Gifts deals with six (actually seven) differently-animated tales involving the season, all involving- as host Colleen Dewhurst attests- gifts given, received, or unfulfilled (with the narrations of Jose Ferrer, Hermoine Gingold, and David Jones). The Maurice Sendak intro presents an impoverished and freezing child who transforms into a Christmas Tree to help fellow children in similar problems. The first tale is “A Memory of Christmas” based on Moss Hart’s autobiography Act One (itself a film starring George Hamilton). Portrayed as a series of photograph stills animated by dissolves, it tells the story of a father and son exploring the Christmas gift carts on the marketplace, unable to buy anything and even more unable to recognize the more important gift they could give to each other. The second tale is “Lost and Found” based on Fontaine Fox’s early-20th century comic strip Toonerville Trolley, dealing with a henpecked husband and father (voiced by Paul Dooley) and his role in Christmas. The third tale is the Seymour Chwast-drawn “The Great Frost” from Virgina Woolf’s Orlando, where the title character has a bittersweet romance with a feisty Russian visitor. Tale Four is the brief “My Christmas;” Charles B. Stackman illustrates the diary entry of 11-year-old Theodore Roosevelt’s Yuletide recollections in Rome, Italy. The fifth tale is James McMullan-illustrated “December 25, 1914: A Letter from the Western front by Captain Sir Edward Hulce” relating his experience of the Christmas Truce (with a bittersweet disclaimer). The sixth and final tale Is R.O. Beechman’s “No Room in the Inn,” about the Holy Family being shunned, accepted, patronized, and then shunned again by the Bethlehem residents. A perennial since 2009 (I first saw parts of this on PBS in December 1995), this viewing comes from a PBS Home Video VHS.
Watashi no Ashinaga Ojisan- Daddy Long Legs (1990) “Our Christmas.” Judy (an orphan supported by a mysterious benefactor she has nicknamed “Daddy Long Legs”) and her school roommate Sally plan to celebrate Christmas with the latter’s brother Robbie. Hearing this, their spoiled roommate Julia invites herself to the proceedings (despite the objections of her mother, who wishes her to spend Christmas in New York as a Debutante). All three spend their free time knitting scarfs to give to Robbie, with the usually catered Julia struggling to make one. Although she is successful, her plans turn to disappointment. Based on Jean Webster’s book, this Japanese Animated series is part of the World Masterpiece Theater, a series that broadcasts serial adaptations of a Western Literature novel or story. Although this adaptation takes some liberties, setting it to the 1920s and de-aging the characters (including Jarvis Pendelton), unlike the 1955 Fred Astaire-Leslie Caron adaptation, it keeps the identity of the titled character secret until the end (although this episode reveals a clue to the truth). Saw this on a Chinese import DVD with flawed subtitles.
Tattertown (1989) 30TH ANNIVERSARY. Molly and her doll Miss Muffet end up in Tattertown, “the elephant graveyard of unwanted toys” where said toys come to life. The wistful Molly tries to teach the town the holiday of Christmas, but her old doll Moppet- now a volatile tyrant- wants to put a stop to it with her dangerous toys. A failed pilot by Ralph Bakshi, Tattertown is a weird surreal production done in the style of a Max Fleischer Betty Boop cartoon (a secret society member from Bimbo’s Initiation (1931) can be spotted, as well as a waiter from Dizzy Dishes (1930)). I remember one promo say it was from the creators of Mighty Mouse (the controversial 1987 cartoon series), and then a few years later, a new promo ordained it from the makers of Ren and Stimpy. This comes from a gestalt recording (due to an accident in recording Act 2) of a 1992 Nick at Nite (titled “Christmas at Tattertown”) recording and a 1995 ABC recording (retitled “A Tattertown Christmas”).
Saturday Night Live (1982) “Eddie Murphy.” This eight season Christmas episode (hosted by Eddie Murphy replacing Nick Nolte, much to the chagrin of several castmates) consists of “Merry Christmas Dammit!” (a Gumby Christmas special with Joe Piscopo’s Frank Sinatra and Gary Kroeger & Julia Louise Dreyfuss’ Donnie & Marie singing “Blue Christmas” before making out) and “A Christmas Message” (Julia Louise-Dreyfuss’ April May June tells the story of the Nativity before turning it into a rant about crying babies and deadbeat husbands). This comes from the Starmaker’s The Best of Saturday Night Live Hosted by Eddie Murphy VHS, which deletes Lionel Richie’s appearances as well as several sketches.
DRAGON BALL (1988) “Mysterious Man, Shen!” 30TH ANNIVERSARY. Funimation DVD.
SCTV (1982) “Christmas Staff Party” The title says it all with John Candy as Johnny LaRue (nearly freezing to death on Street Beef), Doctor Tongue, Divine, and Orson Welles. Eugene Levy as Judd Hirsch. Rick Moranis as Bob McKenzie, Richard Dreyfuss, and Elton John. Dave Thomas as Doug McKenzie, Tex Boil, Liberace, and Michael Caine. Joe Flaherty as Guy Caballero, Alan Alda, and Sammy Maudlin. Andrea Martin as Edith Prickley, Ethel Merman, Edna Boil, and Marsha Mason. Catherine O’Hara as Lola Heatherton, Dusty Towne, and Maggie Smith. Shout Factory DVD.
The Life Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) The final Rankin-Bass Animagic special. Based on L. Frank Baum’s book, this version of the story of Santa Claus takes on darker tones than R-B’s previous work. Here Claus witnesses war, slavery, and poverty, and desires to make something better for the innocents. Viewed on Warner VHS
DRAGON BALL SUPER (2017) “Staring Down the Wall That Must Be Passed! Goku VS Gohan!” VHS Recording.
Frosty the Snowman (1969) The Rankin-Bass classic with Jimmy Durante and Jackie Vernon. Viewed on a VHS of a 1992 CBS broadcast with a promo for the ‘new’ series Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman.
The Avengers (1966) “Too Many Christmas Trees” Something is bothering the usually unflappable John Steed; dealing with a recent leakage of governmental secrets, he is suffering from nightmares involving a creepy Father Christmas and premonitions of things to come (such as the sudden death of a colleague acknowledged of those secrets- from neurological causes). Is it his past catching up with him (“I wouldn’t mind that. That would be fun!”) or is it psychological trauma originating from the revelation that there is actually no Father Christmas? (“Oh no, isn’t there really?”). Emma Peel decides to help his friend by taking him to a Christmas celebration in the country held by a Dickens collector (Melvyn Johns), culminating with a costume party of Dickens characters (Emma is Oliver Twist). What also culminates at the manor is the cause of Steed’s mental problems. Directed by Roy Ward Baker, this episode in the black-and-white Peel season also has an in-joke involving Steed’s previous lady Cathy Gale (“What is she doing in Fort Knox?”). PAL DVD.
DRAGON BALL KAI- THE FINAL CHAPTERS (2014) Video Commentary of “Videl is Worn, Ragged, Gohan’s Anger Reaches Its Limit!” This is a Video Commentary of Kyle Hebert (Gohan), Kara Edwards (Videl), Andrew Chandler (Spopovitch), and writer J. Michael Tatum watching the episode. Funimation BluRay.
The Box of Delights (1984) Episode 4 “The Spider in the Web” Using the box, Kay Harker is able to evade getting scrobbled by Abner Brown’s men. Mariah is returned safe and sound, but other people like Peter Jones and the Bishop of Tarchester cathedral get scrobbled. Kay journeys to the Chester Seminary and learns that Cole Hawling is not as old as he thought he was (or more accurately, not as young as he is supposed to be). PAL DVD.
A Disney Christmas Gift (1982) Disney cobbled this special together with scenes of 1983 Disneyland and shorts and film clips. “Once Upon a Wintertime” (from Melody Time), Peter Pan’s “You Can Fly” number, the Merlin departure/Tournament/Sword drawing scene from The Sword and the Stone (with Wart’s dialogue in the major scene silenced), Donald Duck’s The Clock Watcher, Pluto’s Christmas Tree, the ice scene from Bambi, the “Bibbidi, Babidi, Boo” number from Cinderella (with June Foray adding her own voice to Verna Felton’s), and an edited version of The Night Before Christmas (removing Junior’s Blackface moment and adding footage from Santa’s Workshop). Disney VHS.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1998) “Amends” 20TH ANNIVERSARY. Something is troubling Angel (more than usual for our tortured vampire with a soul); he is seeing ghosts of his victims, including Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMotte in a role she regretted reprising). Despite reservations, Buffy decides to the get to the bottom of it before Angel either dies or becomes evil again. Beautiful ending. FoxVideo DVD
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN (2010) “Revenge of the Shadow Clones” Broadcast on Cartoon Network
NARUTO: BORUTO NEXT GENERATION (2017) “The Shadow of the Mastermind.” Broadcast on Cartoon Network
DRAGON BALL SUPER (2017) “Which Universe Will Survive?! The Strongest Universe Warriors Are Coming Together!” English premiere on Cartoon Network
I also viewed parts of MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS (1934 Goodtimes Colorized VHS), A CHRISTMAS CAROL: THE MOVIE (2003 MGM/UA DVD), SANTA CLAUS THE MOVIE (1985 Anchors Bay DVD), the ‘Nutcracker Suite’ from FANTASIA (1941 Disney 1991 VHS), and THE SANTA CLAUSE (1994 Freeform Broadcast).
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Dec 16, 2018 13:47:18 GMT
I didn't really see any classics this week, the oldest movie I saw was Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994)! How does Liam Neesom always find himself in these situations? In The Commuter he has to find someone on a train before his kidnapped family is killed. Way to ruin your rush hour. I rewatched The Hollars (2016) with a friend, I really love it, maybe it's because I relate so much to the characters and certain circumstances. The cast is really working hard, especially Copley, Martindale and Jenkins. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll eat too much while laughing and crying at this movie...okay, that bit was probably just me. Hostiles (2017) is a violent and dangerous western with a killer cast, so great to see these actors acting together. It's pretty harsh and cruel, probably how the old west really was. Santa Jaws (2018), yes, this is a real movie, it sounds ridiculous, but it's not to be lumped in with the usual schlock that comes along. It has actors who can actually act, and it doesn't look like it had the budget of a mere $100. You have to have a special sort of tolerance for this sort of thing, and I do, apparently. The plot seems like a mash-up of Home Alone and Jaws: The Revenge, so if that sounds like fun to you, you will enjoy this soon to be holiday sorta-classic. This is a real scene from the movie, I won't explain how the Santa hat winds up on the shark fin, yule just have to see it for yourself! Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994) was the fifth and final entry in the Charles Bronson series, and I had seen all the rest, but not this one. Figured I should watch it because I planned on seeing the Bruce Willis remake of the original later on. Bronson gleefully kicks ass at age 71, this was his last theatrically release film, R.I.P. Death Wish (2018) is a nice update on the original, although I prefer the gritty 70's vibe of the original still. This one has some of my favorite actors in supporting roles, Vincent D'Onofrio and Dean Norris. A standout was Beau Knapp who plays a serious scumbag, wound up seeing him in another scumbag role later in the week, purely coincidental. Small Town Crime (2017) and Small Crimes (2017). jeffersoncody recommended Small Town Crime, which did end up being right up my alley. A bit of a Coen-noirish thing going on there. While searching for it on Netflix, they also suggested the similarly titled Small Crimes, so I watched that too. Robert Forster was in both, how's that for coincidence?! 5-Headed Shark Attack (2017), although still stupid, this third movie in the series is slightly better than the first two. It takes a little more time to develop the characters (well, kinda) and the CGI has improved, somewhat. Just don't expect any explanation for why there are 5 heads, or where that 5th one comes from. Vincent N Roxxy (2016), seemed like your typical lovers on the run tale...and then the last half-hour is a major bloodbath of unexpected violence. Whoa, Nelly! Beau Knapp returns as yet another scumbag.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 16, 2018 15:30:18 GMT
Only 3 film viewings this week as I binged watched the outstanding Broadchurch (2013-2017) - www.imdb.com/title/tt2249364/referenceCompelling as a murder mystery, outstanding as a character study.Having first caught series 3 on its debut run, thus viewing before series 1 & 2, I was both excited at finding out the origins of Detective Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman), and nervous by hoping that the first two series justified there being a third? How great to find that the interwoven series 1 & 2 are quite simply a rich tapestry of grade 1 acting with writing to match. What could have easily been a run of the mill murder investigation, where producers and writers cram in shocks for shocks sake, turns out to be an intricate character study by way of all the challenges sent us all in life. Add in the small town setting, and all that close and personal apple cart up-tilts that affect a tight community, and it's hot-pot a go go.
Be horrified, be gladdened, be tearful and submit to the depth of the human condition on show here. Rejoice in actors who put the Great in Great Britain, to be in the company of Tennant, Colman and Jodie Whittaker is to be a part of believable emotions that drag you right into the troubled heart of Broadchurch. Tip your hat to creator Chris Chibnall with thanks for not playing it safe and keeping the mystery strong. Yes the red herrings mount up, but in this small town everyone is a suspect, more so as dark pasts will out, illicit misdoings come prominent, unspoken passions arise and religion is under the microscope. This is a hot bed of a murder mystery series, it's true that series 3 is not quite as strong as it shifts to a new case, but itself holding its head way above water (British press by then were well involved and writing a list of suspects!), yet as a whole this is essential TV drama and proves that ITV can compete with the BBC when it comes to high octane television shows of substance. 10/10 Rocketeer (1991) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0102803/reference I may not make an honest buck, but I'm 100% American. I don't work for no two-bit Nazi.
Rocketeer is directed by Joe Johnston and co-written by Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo and William Dear. It is based on Dave Stevens' comic book The Rocketeer. It stars Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton and Paul Sorvino. Music is scored by James Horner and cinematography by Hiro Narita.
It took eight years to get to the screen, with many rewrites, changes in personal, changes in setting and etc, the only thing consistent was Disney's inconsistency. Once out the film received generally positive reviews but posted only a small profit, in the wake of a Tim Burton inspired reinvention of the Super Hero genre, Rocketeer fell away into cultdom, sequels planned were shelved and its reputation remains to this day one of being a misfire. Unfair say I! Rocketeer is a lovingly crafted adventure film, nodding towards the serials of the 1930s, it's awash with period Hollywood delights, Art Deco imagery, has a damsel in distress, square jawed heroics, Nazi villains, wonderful effects and a blunderbuss Zeppelin finale. Backed by beautiful smooth tone photography and an evocative heart stirring music score, it's a family friendly blockbuster that ticks all the requisite boxes. The quality of the action sequences still hold up today, and Johnston, who wanted the job big time, directs with a knowing grasp of the setting, and crucially he never once loses a grip on tone and pacing. There's no self parody here, no deep Fruedian dissection of the main character, just a honest to goodness good against bad axis, with a romantic cause deftly wafted over proceedings.
The role of Cliff Secord (Rocketeer) proved hard to cast, where Vincent D'Onofrio turned it down and "name" actors such as Dennis Quaid, Emilio Estevez, Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton auditioned for the part. Paxton, it's believed, was very close to getting it as well. Disney wanted an A list man, Johnny Depp and Kevin Costner were mooted, but Johnston had a feel for unknown Billy Campbell and managed to convince nervous Disney heads that he was perfect. Much of the scorn that has flown towards Rocketeer has landed at Campbell's door, again, this is unfair. It's hard to tell if one of those A list actors could have made the character work better, for it helps in this instance to not have a familiar face propelling the adventure. There's an innocence, an awkwardness to Campbell's portrayal that just sits right for a guy stumbling upon a rocket pack and finding himself submerged in a chase and harry battle against bad. He also has the looks, a handsome dude who creates a homespun based chemistry with the sensuous Connelly. It's Dalton's movie, though, he's having a devil of a time as the chief villain. Modeled on Errol Flynn and the spurious notion that he was once a Nazi spy, Dalton has the looks, the gusto, the moustache twirling shiftiness and a voice perfect for such material. A roll call of great character actors fill out the support slots, with Terry O'Quinn, Paul Sorvino and Ed Lauter particularly striking the right chords.
A smashing piece of escapism, no pretensions or ideas above its station. The willingness to tap into the basic premise of a comic book actioner and entertain in grand Hollywood terms, to be applauded. And I do, and I do love it so. 8/10Riddick (2013) - www.imdb.com/title/tt1411250/referenceMaybe you're all scared of the wrong thing.
Unsurprisingly reactions to this, the third outing for Vin Diesel's sci-fi based anti-hero, has been very mixed. In truth it's hardly a great film of the "must see" kind, and it does in fact cleave very close to Pitch Black, the first and most superior of the Riddick trilogy. However, there's a whole bunch of science fiction fun to be had here.
Plot has Riddick left for dead on a inhospitable planet, where he finds himself up against some alien creatures. His only hope of getting off the planet is to bring notice of his whereabouts, which brings two ships to where he is. Both with crews who have differing reasons for wanting to capture the enigmatic convict...
And thus we get a beautifully filmed sci-fier that features beasties of both the human and alien kind. Action and moody histrionics are never far away, and Diesel is wonderfully muscular, macho, course and scary. Some of the CGI is weak, and naturally much of the film's coincidences and contrivances have to be forgiven if one wants a popcorn and beer good time of it. So the requisite here is to chill out and enjoy me thinks! 7/10Jack Reacher (2012) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0790724/referenceYou think I'm a hero? I am not a hero. And if you're smart, that scares you. Because I have nothing to lose.
It got off on the wrong foot, fans of the Lee Child novels were up in arms about the casting of Tom Cruise in the title role. He didn't fit the profile it was said, scorn was poured on the film, quite often by people who hadn't even seen it! So how refreshing to find that since I personally have no affinity to the Child books, and having never read anything by the author, I found a wonderfully old fashioned thriller.
Reacher the character is a damn fine creation, an ex military bad ass who doesn't get found unless he wants to get found. He gets involved with jobs that need solving, utilising his special skills to close out the mysteries. Here he pitches up along side defence attorney Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike) when an ex army sniper apparently at random kills five people and then mentions Reacher's name during interrogation. Cue twists and turns, rocks upturned for covert clues and a shady road to be trawled to get to the crux of the matter.
Cruise as Reacher is superb, where under the astute directing and writing of Christopher McQuarrie we are left in no doubt this is a cool no nonsense hard man, loved by the ladies and feared by not just the crims, but also the law authorities. None of which is overkilled, it's subtle in execution, McQuarrie doesn't need to turn his film into a blitzkrieg of CGI blunderbuss multiplex pandering. Action is smartly staged, the violence brutal without being course, while the story is delightful in how it gleefully wrong foots the viewers in plot dynamics and sly humour.
The deal is closed out via the sterling supporting turns to Cruise, with Pike, Robert Duvall, Werner Herzog and Jai Courtney adding considerably to this splendid Cruise and McQuarrie broth. In spite of divisive reviews and reports, Jack Reacher in filmic form has risen above that to become a success. Hooray! 7.5/10Done peeps.
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Dec 17, 2018 4:06:08 GMT
Hi all,I hope everyone had a good weekend,and I watched: Auteurs of 2006 trio: Friedkin's Bug 10 “I am a super mother bug!” Descending in a long opening crane shot down to Agnes White’s motel room in the first of his two collaborations with writer Tracy Letts, directing auteur William Friedkin & cinematographer Michael Grady limit gazes outdoors to a handful of crane shots over the motel, displaying the isolated wilderness the location is surrounded by. Dicing his recurring motifs of visceral Neo-Noir styling with the abrasiveness of Horror, Friedkin and Grady superbly spray a Horror Noir atmosphere, with Friedkin going for the Redneck vein in a documentary-style of sawn-off whip-pans and shaking fluid close-ups looking into the eyes of madness which bite at White and Evans increasingly paranoid loneliness. Tugging at the wings of horror by painting Evans entrance to White’s room in grubby over saturated yellow,Friedkin fires up the screen with a gradual dip into a blue neon burn, which along with slicing open a claustrophobic mood, also plays as a canvas for Friedkin to bite into sharp shocks of blunt-force horrors. Working with Friedkin for the first time, writer Tracy Letts brilliant sets out the Redneck world that would be explored here and in Killer Joe, as deep-fried murky mysteries to their pasts crawl out of White and Evans skins. Largely kept to just two people in a small room, (with the occasional unwanted guest to spice things up) Letts unveils his playwriting skills by keeping the dialogue fresh in a limited set-up, thanks to the dialogue tugging at the ambiguity of Evans (who like Killer Joe, is a complete loner) paranoia, and White becoming inflamed by the doubts from Evans nibbling at her own fragile state. Spending the whole film round each other, Michael Shannon and Ashley Judd give outstanding performances as Evans and White, thanks to Shannon having Evans roll in with Southern charm which gets cut up into cracking under fear pressure,whilst Judd grinds down on the shell around her, as White is unable to shake off the feeling of something bugging at her. Takashi Miike's Big Bang Love, Juvenile A 9 “From one light-year away you can see the earth one year ago.” Snapping the film open with the Clap Board clapping and the lone on-screen actor appearing to be reading from the script, directing auteur Takashi Miike & debuting cinematographer Masato Kaneko (who also did Sun Scarred in the same year with Miike) tear the 4th wall down with a major subtle theme which covers Miike’s credits of there being no safety barrier between the viewer and the film. Painting the prison cells starkly with shadows for the bars and abrasive primary coloured blocks for the walls, Miike offers no easy answers to the audience on the murder, as prisoners speak directly to the viewer in first-person sequences, and the questions (silently asked) pop-up on screen. Toning down his distinctive over the top gore motif,(but keeping sexual violence intact, here examined in a thoughtful, psychological manner) Miike and Kaneko explore the prison grounds with bubbling surrealist stylisation. Set in a near-future, Miike paints the sky with dazzling Sci-Fi colours, (with even a rocket launch being included) and fills the corners of the cells with fading ghosts and tribal tattoos of prisoners standing out against the coloured walls, which superbly creates a yin/yang atmosphere, via the religious meditation on the universe reflecting on the windows of the raw minimalism in the prison. Sparingly using Kôji Endô’s score, Miike displays a sharp ear for the use of silence, with the lone thump of fist punchings and ropes snapping on a silent backdrop tuning into an incredibly raw chill. Nodding to Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950) (despite knowing the outline,I’ve still not seen it!) in the adaptation of Ikki Kajiwara and Hisao Maki’s novel Shonen A ereji, Miike’s regular collaborator Masa Nakamura intelligently expresses the themes of the film in the stripped-down dialogue between the delicate, and yearning for love Ariyoshi, with the primal screams of pain from Kazuki. Criss-crossing the perspectives on the killing, Nakamura enticingly keeps the definitive version of events clouded in Juvenile A. Chabrol's Comedy of Power 6 “You know what the courts call her?: The Piranha.” For the seventh and final time she worked with Claude Chabrol, Isabelle Huppert gives an excellent performance as Charmant-Killman. Determined to peel all layers of corruption away, Huppert avoids having Killman deliver justice in a melodramatic style, by instead scratching away with a refined, forensic manner, which captures the professional stride Killman holds herself to. Reuniting with Chabrol straight after this for The Girl Cut in Two (2007)François Berléand gives a very good turn as Humeau,with Huppert’s performance being complimented by Berléand’s attempt to escape Killman’s gaze with slippery underhanded skills. Cheekily stating in the credits that the film is not based on the “ Affaire Elf” scandal, co-writer/(with Odile Barski) directing auteur Claude Chabrol and cinematographer Eduardo Serra unveil the corruption in stylish dissolves over Killman’s power-play marriage troubles being contrasted with the power she has in the investigation. A family affair with his sons Matthieu doing the score, and Thomas co-starring,along with wife Aurore being the script supervisor, the screenplay by Chabrol & Barski uses the "Elf affair" to continue Chabrol’s clinical dissection of the bourgeoisie with the businessmen and politicians having an um-settling calm and self-confidence that they can slip out of any attempt to bring them down. Going for more of a Drama rather than a Thriller, Chabrol gives Killman fight against the corporate system an oddly casual atmosphere, via little room being given to Killman’s net widening in taking on the comedy of power. Other movies: Rote Sonne (1970) 7 Holding back from the free-wheeling shoot-outs which made the Italian Crime genre so lively, (with a clever use of muffled sound effects for newspaper being used as a silencer) director Rudolf Thome & cinematographer Bernd Fiedler take aim with a off-beat, casual hippie atmosphere, with the ladies sorting out the next supply not in a seedy den, but a "happening" house. Swinging very much to the sounds of the 60's,Thome keeps the flick refreshingly playful by breaking the Crime tunes with splashes of kitsch "free love" and from out of left-field brightly coloured partying. Keeping to the beat of Thome's style, the screenplay by Max Zihlmann wraps Thomas (played by a fittingly meek Marquard Bohm) and his relationships with the sexy women in a peculiar hazy mood, which subtly works as the women reveal to Thomas why they all stay somewhat disconnected in their romantic encounters, as they load up when the red sun sets. Ocean's 8 (2018) 6 Continuing a collaboration with Steven Soderbergh which started when Soderbergh produced his directing debut Pleasantville (1998), co-writer/(with Olivia Milch) director Gary Ross & cinematographer Eigil Bryld keep the flow of the 2001 Ocean's smoothly continuing with sleek panning shots along the floors following the long con, and Pop-Art editing shaking up a bubbly atmosphere. Laying out the cards in the first half, Ross takes some of the shine off the franchise with a surprisingly blatant amount of product placements,which hurts all the set-up in the due to scenes being left needlessly hanging by the focus being not put on the characters, but flogging products. Merrily going full circle with the opening, the screenplay by Ross and Olivia Milch attempts to introduce each gang member with a thumb sketch, but leaves them all smudged by not offering sequences where a spark develops between them all. Massively helped by the glamour from the cast, the film rolls some winning numbers in the extended robbery where the charisma and sign of friendship between each member of the group is at last allowed to sparkle as Debbie Ocean rolls a hard eight.
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Dec 17, 2018 17:43:57 GMT
Rocketeer (1991) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0102803/reference I may not make an honest buck, but I'm 100% American. I don't work for no two-bit Nazi.
Rocketeer is directed by Joe Johnston and co-written by Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo and William Dear. It is based on Dave Stevens' comic book The Rocketeer. It stars Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton and Paul Sorvino. Music is scored by James Horner and cinematography by Hiro Narita.
It took eight years to get to the screen, with many rewrites, changes in personal, changes in setting and etc, the only thing consistent was Disney's inconsistency. Once out the film received generally positive reviews but posted only a small profit, in the wake of a Tim Burton inspired reinvention of the Super Hero genre, Rocketeer fell away into cultdom, sequels planned were shelved and its reputation remains to this day one of being a misfire. Unfair say I! Rocketeer is a lovingly crafted adventure film, nodding towards the serials of the 1930s, it's awash with period Hollywood delights, Art Deco imagery, has a damsel in distress, square jawed heroics, Nazi villains, wonderful effects and a blunderbuss Zeppelin finale. Backed by beautiful smooth tone photography and an evocative heart stirring music score, it's a family friendly blockbuster that ticks all the requisite boxes. The quality of the action sequences still hold up today, and Johnston, who wanted the job big time, directs with a knowing grasp of the setting, and crucially he never once loses a grip on tone and pacing. There's no self parody here, no deep Fruedian dissection of the main character, just a honest to goodness good against bad axis, with a romantic cause deftly wafted over proceedings.
The role of Cliff Secord (Rocketeer) proved hard to cast, where Vincent D'Onofrio turned it down and "name" actors such as Dennis Quaid, Emilio Estevez, Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton auditioned for the part. Paxton, it's believed, was very close to getting it as well. Disney wanted an A list man, Johnny Depp and Kevin Costner were mooted, but Johnston had a feel for unknown Billy Campbell and managed to convince nervous Disney heads that he was perfect. Much of the scorn that has flown towards Rocketeer has landed at Campbell's door, again, this is unfair. It's hard to tell if one of those A list actors could have made the character work better, for it helps in this instance to not have a familiar face propelling the adventure. There's an innocence, an awkwardness to Campbell's portrayal that just sits right for a guy stumbling upon a rocket pack and finding himself submerged in a chase and harry battle against bad. He also has the looks, a handsome dude who creates a homespun based chemistry with the sensuous Connelly. It's Dalton's movie, though, he's having a devil of a time as the chief villain. Modeled on Errol Flynn and the spurious notion that he was once a Nazi spy, Dalton has the looks, the gusto, the moustache twirling shiftiness and a voice perfect for such material. A roll call of great character actors fill out the support slots, with Terry O'Quinn, Paul Sorvino and Ed Lauter particularly striking the right chords.
A smashing piece of escapism, no pretensions or ideas above its station. The willingness to tap into the basic premise of a comic book actioner and entertain in grand Hollywood terms, to be applauded. And I do, and I do love it so. 8/10Riddick (2013) - www.imdb.com/title/tt1411250/referenceMaybe you're all scared of the wrong thing.
Unsurprisingly reactions to this, the third outing for Vin Diesel's sci-fi based anti-hero, has been very mixed. In truth it's hardly a great film of the "must see" kind, and it does in fact cleave very close to Pitch Black, the first and most superior of the Riddick trilogy. However, there's a whole bunch of science fiction fun to be had here.
Plot has Riddick left for dead on a inhospitable planet, where he finds himself up against some alien creatures. His only hope of getting off the planet is to bring notice of his whereabouts, which brings two ships to where he is. Both with crews who have differing reasons for wanting to capture the enigmatic convict...
And thus we get a beautifully filmed sci-fier that features beasties of both the human and alien kind. Action and moody histrionics are never far away, and Diesel is wonderfully muscular, macho, course and scary. Some of the CGI is weak, and naturally much of the film's coincidences and contrivances have to be forgiven if one wants a popcorn and beer good time of it. So the requisite here is to chill out and enjoy me thinks! 7/10Done peeps. Hi Spike,I've first got to say the that is a really solid Action trio (I've heard plenty of good things about Jack Reacher.) Now being the movie with Starbuck and Drax,I really liked how low-key the opening was. From my viewing in 2013: 8 Taking a big risk with the film by staying away from delivering any big action scenes for the first 30 minutes,the screenplay by writer/director David Twohy instead builds up a mystical Sci-Fi atmosphere,which despite running the risk of going in an unintentional Comedy direction, (one man and his alien dog!)is saved by Twohy keeping the movie rooted in a gritty Sci-Fi setting,whilst also showing an unexpected sincerity in his building up of Riddick and his dog's (who is brought to life by amazing CGI effects,that keep the character's personality at the centre of the effects) surprisingly touching relationship. After building a strong Sci-Fi atmosphere,and also keeping references to the past movies to a minimum,so that the movie is assessable for new people to the series,whilst also including a number of sly nods that fans can enjoy,Twohy kicks the film into a nail biting action direction,by putting Riddick into "preditor" mode,where it is Riddick against two groups of bounty hunters,who despite having better weaponry lack Riddick's skills and ingenuity.Covering the film in a rough'n ready yellow desert colour filter,Twohy reveals an excellent unflinching eye for the movie's expertly handled action scenes,thanks to Twohy giving each of the scenes a brutal rawness which allows for every broken nose punch,"animal trap" and beheading to be hit with maximum,deadly force. Returning to the role after 9 years,(and also having to re-mortgage his house in order to get the movie made!)Vin Diesel shows that he has not lost his skill of getting Richard B.Riddick to light up the pitch black darkness,with Diesel brilliantly making sure,that despite showing a bit more of a human side,that the centre of Riddick remains a man who is a highly intelligent,ruthless murderer.Joining Diesel,Katee Sackhoff, (who also appears naked in the film)gives a vicious performance as bounty hunter Dahl,who may possibly be Riddick's first serious opponent,whilst Dave Bautista and a cameo-ing Karl Urban give the film a good macho punch,as Riddick begins to find out how "pitch black" things can really go. After catching Rocketeer (1991) (which is one of RLM's Mike Stoklasa's all-time favourite films) I could see why Johnston was chosen to direct Cap America 1,and the style of the flick reminded me of The Iron Giant. From Sep 2018: 8. Drawing from the pages of Dave Stevens Comic-Book, director Joe Johnston makes a sketch which he would return to in the 2000's with the first Captain America flick. Closely working with cinematographer Hiro Narita, Johnson puts a dazzling Art-Deco design on the page, reeling in the spirit of Golden Age Hollywood, Johnson stylishly uses Art- Deco whites and blues to colour the high-life society Rocketeer fights in. Inspired by serials of the 30's, Johnson displays a keen eye in setting up little moments,that become patched into the film later, (Jenny's name on the photo, the use of gum) and using the Rocketeer suit sparingly to capture the thrill from the sighting of heroes in the serials. Put together over 8 years,Danny Bilson/ Paul De Meo & William Dear adaptation impressively shows little sign of the difficulties, with the writers wisely avoiding kitsch to tell a dashing pulp tale that takes in boo-hiss Nazi's and turbo-charged advancements in machinery. Unexpectedly becoming a superhero on all the front pages, the writers uniquely have Cliff's unwillingness to be unmasked to push him towards outwitting Sinclair and all those after the suit, rather than use his fists. Becoming a rocket man after Joe Johnson held firm from all the "suggestions" from Disney, Billy Campbell gives a brisk performance as Cliff that fittingly gives this superhero a wide-eyed, aw shucks innocence. Returning to the Fantasy genre after a short departure, 20 year old Jennifer Connelly gives a glittering performance as Jenny,who whilst having the image of a damsel, jumps in to join the high-speed fighting. Rolling in with the charm of Errol Flynn, Timothy Dalton gives a dashing performance as Sinclair, whose bubblegum baddie dialogue Dalton delivers with a rich relish, as Sinclair fights the Rocketeer.
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Post by delon on Dec 17, 2018 20:25:13 GMT
Thank you for stepping in during my absence, teleadm ! Very much appreciated.
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Post by marianne48 on Dec 18, 2018 1:02:50 GMT
Two classics, one new one:
Neptune's Daughter (1949)--I watched this primarily to see the performance(s) of its Oscar-winning song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (since it's been in the news lately). MGM made a few great musicals, and many, many run-of-the-mill ones; this definitely falls into the latter category. Esther Williams runs a swimsuit company (what else?) and has to fend off the advances of South American polo player Jose O'Rourke, played by Ricardo Montalban (who used that same surname for his role years later in Fantasy Island--was O'Rourke a typical South American name of that time?) Her sister, played by Betty Garrett, is crazy for men and will pounce on any one that comes into her vicinity. There's some silliness about mistaken identity, and of course the requisite swimming pool scene, which seems a little tacked on at the end, as if someone suddenly remembered that this was an Esther Williams vehicle. The song is sung twice, first with Montalban pleading with Williams not to leave his apartment, then with Garrett pursuing a reluctant Red Skelton, who pleads with her not to stay. Both times it's cute (for its era), if a little icky even back then. Interestingly, this song was a replacement for another song intended as the big number, "Slow Boat to China," which was pulled from the film for being too risque (the line "I'd like to get you on a slow boat to China" seemed too sexually suggestive). At any rate, the stars singing about the blizzard outside (in balmy California?) add even more absurdity to the tune. Watch this if you have a high tolerance for fluffy musicals.
Dragnet (1987)--I rewatched this more than 30 years after seeing it brand-new in the theater. It definitely plays like an old "classic" now. The central character, Dan Aykroyd's Joe Friday, is an homage to Jack Webb's original Joe Friday in the classic TV series. If you're not familiar with that character's singular line delivery and persona, as well as the format of the show, you might not get all the humor here. Co-starring is Tom Hanks, back when he was still playing easygoing goofy comic characters and was not yet known for his heroic/tragic roles. There's lots of dated 1980s touches--public phone booths, punk outfits, and the sex scene that includes a prominent display of a box of condoms (many films of that era made it almost a requirement to show responsible condom usage during sex scenes, one of Hollywood's few nervous responses to the AIDS crisis of the time). In the pre-CGI era, the big action scenes consist, of course, of wild car chase scenes--tiresome and cliched, but still more fun than today's CGI fakery. Worth watching for a few laughs (and now I remember where the name "Pep Streebek" came from).
Leave No Trace (2018)--sad, depressing, and beautifully poignant. It plays out almost like a documentary, as no one here seems to be really "acting" and their faces have the look of those Depression-era photos of the 1930s. Some reviews of this film have complained that the movie is boring because "nothing happens," there's not a lot of exposition to explain everything for them, and it doesn't have the slick feel of a typical Hollywood movie. Ignore these reviews; this is one of the best films of the year.
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Post by rudeboy on Dec 18, 2018 2:53:49 GMT
8
Knife in the Water (1962) Roman Polanski
7
Maria Full of Grace (2004) Joshua Marston La bête humaine (1938) Jean Renoir) My Childhood (1972) Bill Douglas
6
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) Carl Franklin
4
Loving (2016) Jeff Nichols Friends with Money (2006) Nicole Holofcener Bottle Rocket (1996) Wes Anderson Midnight Special (2016) Jeff Nichols
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 24, 2018 1:20:07 GMT
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 24, 2018 1:40:10 GMT
This are my ventures: I love this movie, and it's part of my Christmas joys. "Santa's Super Sleigh" Story takes place during a year, from one Christmas to next years Christmas! I used to love those dice board games, and I love this movie, even if special effects are on the old side. Great slam-bang action, if one don't think too much about it, great lazy day movie! Lovely movie and Hakuna Matata! Very low-budget version from BBC 1977, with the great Sir Michael Hordern, acting is great but production values were very very low. Part of my Christmas joys. Not a bullseye, but still worth a look! The poster makes it look more expensive than the movie actually was. Part of my Christmas joys. Not the greatest movie John Ford directed, far from it, the whole sloppiness of this movie makes it fascinating. Part of my Christmas Joys. This keeps it all in balance so it don't become too sweet. A very creepy British movie that chills. So called splashy bio-pic, very polished and professional, not bad, but has nothing to do with the real Dolly Sisters, and that could have been a very inyeresting movie instead. Well that was it!
Hee, I'll have to jump in about 633 Squadron. It has long been a family favourite > www.imdb.com/review/rw1833168/?ref_=tt_urv 7/10
The day I first watched Donovan's Reef was the day I ordered it for my own collection, absolutely love it > www.imdb.com/review/rw2089649/?ref_=tt_urv 8/10
The Rocking Horse Winner I think is outstanding >
You have a runaway talent for spending money and that's all.
The Rocking Horse Winner is directed by Anthony Pelissier, who also adapts the screenplay from the D. H. Lawrence short story of the same name. It stars Valerie Hobson, John Howard Davies, Ronald Squire, John Mills, Hugh Sinclair and Susan Richards. Music is by William Alwyn and cinematography by Desmond Dickinson.
Dreadful, Evil Money.
There's a handful of British films from the 1940s that deserve to be far better known, films that blended haunted themes with film noir traits and visual smarts. The Night Has Eyes, Uncle Silas, Corridor Of Mirrors and the magnificent Queen Of Spades readily come to mind. Now it has an official DVD release, we can add Anthony Pelissier's brilliant The Rocking Horse Winner to the obscure gem list.
Story has young Paul Grahame (Davies) receiving a weird looking Rocking Horse for Christmas. He's an introverted and sensitive lad, seemingly reaching out for some sort of guidance from his parents. Unfortunately his mother, Hester (Hobson), is a spendthrift badly hung up on money as some sort of status symbol, while his father, Richard (Sinclair), is a gambler, and not a good one at that. With Uncle Oscar Creswell (Squire) bailing them out of financial trouble for the last time, the Grahame family are heading for bankruptcy unless income can be found. Befriending the new handyman, Bassett (Mills), Paul is delighted to find that Bassett is an ex-jockey and regales him with tails of horse racing, he even learns from Bassett how to ride his Rocking Horse like a real jockey. Then something magical happens, Paul seems to be able to predict the winners of real horse races, and the money starts to roll in
D. H. Lawrence's story gets a faithful adaptation and transfers quite excellently to the screen. It's a haunting fantasy at heart, but one tinged with utter sadness, and being Lawrence it has a sex metaphor sitting right in the middle of the greed and exploitation thematics. As story progresses, it soon becomes evident that Paul has to ride his Rocking Horse to a frenzied climax, if he doesn't get there then he will not see the name of the next race winner. Initially he is thrilled to be able to win lots of money, the house seems to be telling him that his parents must have more money, so aided by Bassett, he is saving the cash to help his frantic mother, who by now has resorted to pawning possessions for cash. But the more he wins, and the more Bassett and Uncle Oscar also profit, the further away from his parents Paul gets. Soon enough it's going to come to a head and it will prove to be devastating for the Grahame family.
Pelissier, Alwyn and Dickinson each work respective wonders to smoother the picture with a sense of the unearthly, not so much supernatural, but like a blurry discord, a purgatory where ignorant parenting dwells and childhood innocence is corrupted. Pic is crammed with sinister imagery. The Rocking Horse itself is up in the attic, which gives the makers perfect opportunities for shadows to enhance the "unhealthy" scenes of Paul riding away like a boy possessed, while for the key scene Pelissier uses a depth perception technique that is gloriously disorientating. An ascent by Paul up to the attic is moody magnificence, Hester's visit to the back room Pawnbroker (Charles Goldner) drips with unease, while the finale features a near demonic last shot that literally will be burned into your soul.
With top performances from the cast to seal the deal, this tale of a boy and his Rocking Horse gnaws away at the senses as the fallibility of the human condition is frighteningly laid bare. 9/10
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 24, 2018 2:17:16 GMT
Inspired by the thread put up by snsurone on 1939’s “Jesse James,” I decided to watch two other western biographies that I already had on my DVR queue for their historicity as well as their movie value. The Kid From Texas / Kurt Neumann (1950). Universal International Pictures. Technicolor, Academy ratio. This was Audie Murphy’s second lead role and his first western of many to come. He plays one of the most famous gun fighters in the lore of the American west, Billy The Kid (whose real name was either William H. Bonney – which was “fact” when I was growing up - but which now seems to have become Henry McCarty). Murphy still seems a little stiff in front of the camera (which could also be taken as internal acting), but, as the saying goes, the camera loves him and he has a sort of boyish, soft spoken charisma that makes him very watchable. Separating fact from legend as far as Billy The Kid is concerned is never easy, but scholarship has pretty much uncovered the major events of his life. After the opening titles, a narrator tells us that what we are about to see is true. Sure, he says, they changed all the names and altered some chronology, but it is all factual. Actual history is used a sort of a clothesline to hang a fictional story on: Billy being taken in by an honest rancher and merchant in south east New Mexico Territory, the murder of that rancher over a land dispute, Billy and his friends on a mission of vengeance, Billy refusing a pardon from Gen. Wallace, his arrest and conviction for murder, his escape while killing two deputies, the “siege of Lincoln,” and his ultimate death at the hands of Sheriff Pat Garratt. All of this is in “The Kid From Texas.” But some of the playing out of these occurrences and other incidents are fictional as are most of the people who populate this movie. The movie even gives The Kid an infatuation with the young wife (Gale Storm) of a Lincoln, New Mexico banker (Albert Dekker). One delight is getting to see Dennis Hoey (Inspector Lestrade in the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes series) as the head of a gang of land grabbers. Also with Shepperd Strudwick, Will Geer, William Talman, and Ray Teal. Cole Younger, Gunfighter / R.G. Springsteen (1958). Allied Artists Pictures. Color by DeLux, Cinemascope (2.35:1). Very entertaining western. We are supposed to be in sympathy with Southerners during Reconstruction as Texas is under Federal Control and its state police force is brutalizing the citizenry. Young hothead Kit Kaswell (James Best) is doing his best to annoy the local force even though his father and fiancé (Abby Dalton) want him to back off. Kit is arrested with Frank Wittrock (Jan Merlin). When Frank begins to be beaten, Kit revolts, fights the officers and escapes with Frank. Fleeing a posse, they run into Cole Younger (Frank Lovejoy). Younger, a cynical gunfighter, slowly forms a bond with Kit. Cole’s help will be needed when Frank manages to frame Kit for murder so he can make moves on Abby. This is fast moving and well acted but this story never made the acquaintance of a history book. The character played by Lovejoy could have had any name, but Cole Younger sounds intriguing. So take my advice and don’t write a history paper for school based on this movie. Murder On The Blackboard / George Archainbaud (1934). RKO Radio Pictures. The second of three movies in which Edna Mae Oliver played Hildegard Withers, an amateur detective created by mystery novelist Stuart Palmer. Other continuing cast members are James Gleason as Inspector Piper and Edgar Kennedy as Det. Donahue. A young music teacher is murdered in the school where Hildegard is also teaching. Is the murderer the principal or the science teacher both of whom had flings with the victim? Or the dead woman’s flat mate who shared a winning Irish Sweepstakes ticket? Or the drunk janitor? Or someone else? Great chemistry between Oliver and Gleason, their back-and-forth dialog is very witty. Technically, this is a pre-Code film but there is not much that is pre-Codish about it. Loads of fun. The Favourite / Yorgos Lanthimos (2018). A delightful cookie full of arsenic set in the early 18th century under the reign of Good Queen Anne (Olivia Colman). Anne is obese and, usually, ill and tired. Most of the running of the government falls on the Queen’s best friend (and more, as we learn) Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz). That is, until a poor relation of Sarah’s, Abigail (Emma Stone) from the Landed Gentry but become destitute, looking for work. This begins a tug-of-war between Sarah and Abigail for the attention and favors of the Queen, leading to some hilarious backstabbing and mayhem. Nicholas Hoult shines among the masculine members of the cast as the Tory leader of the opposition in Parliament. A fun romp and some marvelous, amazing acting from the three lead women, especially Colman – but Weisz and Stone are not to be missed either. All three ladies have Golden Globe and SAG nominations. Great read on The Kid From Texas, I'll just tag on with my 7/10 review > www.imdb.com/review/rw3051233/?ref_=tt_urv
Cole Younger, Gunfighter. It's a remake of 1954 film The Desperado, which is a much better film.
Cole Younger, Gunfighter - www.imdb.com/review/rw3306407/?ref_=tt_urv
The Desperado - www.imdb.com/review/rw3298471/?ref_=tt_urv
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 24, 2018 2:27:00 GMT
Hi all,I hope everyone had a good weekend,and I watched: Auteurs of 2006 trio: Friedkin's Bug 10 “I am a super mother bug!” Descending in a long opening crane shot down to Agnes White’s motel room in the first of his two collaborations with writer Tracy Letts, directing auteur William Friedkin & cinematographer Michael Grady limit gazes outdoors to a handful of crane shots over the motel, displaying the isolated wilderness the location is surrounded by. Dicing his recurring motifs of visceral Neo-Noir styling with the abrasiveness of Horror, Friedkin and Grady superbly spray a Horror Noir atmosphere, with Friedkin going for the Redneck vein in a documentary-style of sawn-off whip-pans and shaking fluid close-ups looking into the eyes of madness which bite at White and Evans increasingly paranoid loneliness. Tugging at the wings of horror by painting Evans entrance to White’s room in grubby over saturated yellow,Friedkin fires up the screen with a gradual dip into a blue neon burn, which along with slicing open a claustrophobic mood, also plays as a canvas for Friedkin to bite into sharp shocks of blunt-force horrors. Working with Friedkin for the first time, writer Tracy Letts brilliant sets out the Redneck world that would be explored here and in Killer Joe, as deep-fried murky mysteries to their pasts crawl out of White and Evans skins. Largely kept to just two people in a small room, (with the occasional unwanted guest to spice things up) Letts unveils his playwriting skills by keeping the dialogue fresh in a limited set-up, thanks to the dialogue tugging at the ambiguity of Evans (who like Killer Joe, is a complete loner) paranoia, and White becoming inflamed by the doubts from Evans nibbling at her own fragile state. Spending the whole film round each other, Michael Shannon and Ashley Judd give outstanding performances as Evans and White, thanks to Shannon having Evans roll in with Southern charm which gets cut up into cracking under fear pressure,whilst Judd grinds down on the shell around her, as White is unable to shake off the feeling of something bugging at her. Takashi Miike's Big Bang Love, Juvenile A 9 “From one light-year away you can see the earth one year ago.” Snapping the film open with the Clap Board clapping and the lone on-screen actor appearing to be reading from the script, directing auteur Takashi Miike & debuting cinematographer Masato Kaneko (who also did Sun Scarred in the same year with Miike) tear the 4th wall down with a major subtle theme which covers Miike’s credits of there being no safety barrier between the viewer and the film. Painting the prison cells starkly with shadows for the bars and abrasive primary coloured blocks for the walls, Miike offers no easy answers to the audience on the murder, as prisoners speak directly to the viewer in first-person sequences, and the questions (silently asked) pop-up on screen. Toning down his distinctive over the top gore motif,(but keeping sexual violence intact, here examined in a thoughtful, psychological manner) Miike and Kaneko explore the prison grounds with bubbling surrealist stylisation. Set in a near-future, Miike paints the sky with dazzling Sci-Fi colours, (with even a rocket launch being included) and fills the corners of the cells with fading ghosts and tribal tattoos of prisoners standing out against the coloured walls, which superbly creates a yin/yang atmosphere, via the religious meditation on the universe reflecting on the windows of the raw minimalism in the prison. Sparingly using Kôji Endô’s score, Miike displays a sharp ear for the use of silence, with the lone thump of fist punchings and ropes snapping on a silent backdrop tuning into an incredibly raw chill. Nodding to Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950) (despite knowing the outline,I’ve still not seen it!) in the adaptation of Ikki Kajiwara and Hisao Maki’s novel Shonen A ereji, Miike’s regular collaborator Masa Nakamura intelligently expresses the themes of the film in the stripped-down dialogue between the delicate, and yearning for love Ariyoshi, with the primal screams of pain from Kazuki. Criss-crossing the perspectives on the killing, Nakamura enticingly keeps the definitive version of events clouded in Juvenile A. Chabrol's Comedy of Power 6 “You know what the courts call her?: The Piranha.” For the seventh and final time she worked with Claude Chabrol, Isabelle Huppert gives an excellent performance as Charmant-Killman. Determined to peel all layers of corruption away, Huppert avoids having Killman deliver justice in a melodramatic style, by instead scratching away with a refined, forensic manner, which captures the professional stride Killman holds herself to. Reuniting with Chabrol straight after this for The Girl Cut in Two (2007)François Berléand gives a very good turn as Humeau,with Huppert’s performance being complimented by Berléand’s attempt to escape Killman’s gaze with slippery underhanded skills. Cheekily stating in the credits that the film is not based on the “ Affaire Elf” scandal, co-writer/(with Odile Barski) directing auteur Claude Chabrol and cinematographer Eduardo Serra unveil the corruption in stylish dissolves over Killman’s power-play marriage troubles being contrasted with the power she has in the investigation. A family affair with his sons Matthieu doing the score, and Thomas co-starring,along with wife Aurore being the script supervisor, the screenplay by Chabrol & Barski uses the "Elf affair" to continue Chabrol’s clinical dissection of the bourgeoisie with the businessmen and politicians having an um-settling calm and self-confidence that they can slip out of any attempt to bring them down. Going for more of a Drama rather than a Thriller, Chabrol gives Killman fight against the corporate system an oddly casual atmosphere, via little room being given to Killman’s net widening in taking on the comedy of power. Other movies: Rote Sonne (1970) 7 Holding back from the free-wheeling shoot-outs which made the Italian Crime genre so lively, (with a clever use of muffled sound effects for newspaper being used as a silencer) director Rudolf Thome & cinematographer Bernd Fiedler take aim with a off-beat, casual hippie atmosphere, with the ladies sorting out the next supply not in a seedy den, but a "happening" house. Swinging very much to the sounds of the 60's,Thome keeps the flick refreshingly playful by breaking the Crime tunes with splashes of kitsch "free love" and from out of left-field brightly coloured partying. Keeping to the beat of Thome's style, the screenplay by Max Zihlmann wraps Thomas (played by a fittingly meek Marquard Bohm) and his relationships with the sexy women in a peculiar hazy mood, which subtly works as the women reveal to Thomas why they all stay somewhat disconnected in their romantic encounters, as they load up when the red sun sets. Ocean's 8 (2018) 6 Continuing a collaboration with Steven Soderbergh which started when Soderbergh produced his directing debut Pleasantville (1998), co-writer/(with Olivia Milch) director Gary Ross & cinematographer Eigil Bryld keep the flow of the 2001 Ocean's smoothly continuing with sleek panning shots along the floors following the long con, and Pop-Art editing shaking up a bubbly atmosphere. Laying out the cards in the first half, Ross takes some of the shine off the franchise with a surprisingly blatant amount of product placements,which hurts all the set-up in the due to scenes being left needlessly hanging by the focus being not put on the characters, but flogging products. Merrily going full circle with the opening, the screenplay by Ross and Olivia Milch attempts to introduce each gang member with a thumb sketch, but leaves them all smudged by not offering sequences where a spark develops between them all. Massively helped by the glamour from the cast, the film rolls some winning numbers in the extended robbery where the charisma and sign of friendship between each member of the group is at last allowed to sparkle as Debbie Ocean rolls a hard eight. I am going to have to give Bug a go at some point. I thought I had surely seen it, but apparently not. Thanks for selling it so well mate.
Ocean's 8 on the other hand I'm in no hurry to see...
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