|
Post by teleadm on Oct 3, 2020 19:14:25 GMT
Comments/ratings/recommendations/film posters are welcome and much appreciated. The end of summer soon turns into darker times, unless you live on other side of earth. ![](https://www.filmfestivals.com/files/images/u4547/Der%20Golem_Paul%20Wegener%20%282%29.jpg) Since it's horror month challenge, maybe I ought to see Golem this year... Back to the movies and what interesting things all have seen lately:
|
|
|
Post by claudius on Oct 3, 2020 19:24:23 GMT
Might as well. It’s the centennial (unless somebody found the 1915 version).
|
|
|
Post by wmcclain on Oct 3, 2020 19:24:46 GMT
|
|
|
Post by mikef6 on Oct 3, 2020 19:59:30 GMT
Government Agents vs. The Phantom Legion / Fred C. Bannon (1951). Republic Pictures. Republic released the most consistently good cliffhanger serials and this is no exception. Hal (Walter Reed, no kidding) is given the job to work with the heads of the Trucker’s Association in stopping a gang of truck hijackers. It soon becomes clear that one of the Association leaders is The Voice, the mysterious head of the gang. 12 chapters of thrills, chills, and spills and, as always, great stunt work. ![](https://ilarge.lisimg.com/image/7804485/1118full-government-agents-vs.-phantom-legion-poster.jpg) Rounders / John Dahl (1998). Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) is a law student who dreams of being a big time Las Vegas poker player getting into and winning the World Series of Poker. But going against the Russian gangster Teddy KGB (John Malkovich) he loses it all – his tuition, rent, everything. After swearing off gambling, his incorrigible friend Les (nicknamed Worm) (Edward Norton) gets out of prison, he lures Mike back into the life. But trouble follows Worm and he racks up big debts which Mike is associated with. They end up having to raise $25,000 in a week meaning that Mike will have to sit across the table from Teddy KGB again. The movie is a little overlong but we get a lot of poker lore and insights (“They wear their Tells like signs around their necks: facial tics, nervous fingers, the hand over the mouth, the way a cigarette is smoked, little unconscious gestures that reveal the cards in their hands. We catch everything. If a fish acts strong he's bluffing, if he acts weak he’s got a hand. It's that simple.”) With Gretchen Mol, John Turturro, Famke Janssen, and Martin Landau, wonderful as McDermott's law school mentor. ![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/67/RoundersPoster.jpg) ![](https://www.ruthlessreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/rounders2.jpg) Romeo And Juliet (2019). A recorded live streaming event from Shakespeare’s Globe in London, free on YouTube. Like the Macbeth earlier this year, R&J is a reduced version (about an hour's worth cut) produced expressly for school age students at home during the lockdown. There is also a reduced number of actors and characters. Most of the main players are younger actors - Charlotte Beaumont, the Juliet, was 24. Enjoyable, but aimed at school age audience members who have never seen Romeo and Juliet in a stage production. ![](https://cdn.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/2020/04/Love-in-Isolation_-Romeo-aand-Juliet-2019_-Such-Stuff-s5-e3_-masthead.jpg)
|
|
|
Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Oct 3, 2020 21:17:11 GMT
The second week of my Noomi Rapace movie marathon (aka 'Noomithon') involved watching four of her more dramatic roles...well...at least three of them, anyway. Stockholm is billed more as a 'Biography/Comedy/Crime' film. morrisondylanfan - You asked what the film was about in my 'Your favourite Noomi Rapace films?' thread. The description from the Wiki page: 'The film is loosely based on the true story of the 1973 bank heist and hostage crisis in Stockholm'. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrmalmstorg_robberyAt the time of your asking about the film, I hadn't watched it, but now that I have I can say that I found it a pretty easy watch. Noomi seems to specialize in taking on difficult roles, often playing characters who aren’t easy to like, but I’ve always found her performances have a ‘realness’ to them no matter how ‘crazy’ the role. Even in the so-so films I’ve watched, she always turns in a solid performance. One of the movies I most recently watched (for the first time) was Angel of Mine. Like in The Monitor, there’s a complex mother character that Noomi’s playing and towards the end she really does look like she’s been put through the wringer. She’s an actress who gives it her all and you almost feel exhausted for her. It was a deeply emotional performance and one of her best in recent years, I think. Dead Man Down (2013). The Drop (2014). Angel of Mine (2019). Stockholm (2018).
|
|
|
Post by politicidal on Oct 3, 2020 22:10:26 GMT
Irresistible (2020) 4/10
The Hospital (1971) 5/10
The Dam Busters (1955) 6/10
In the Name of the Father (1993) 8/10
|
|
|
Post by OldAussie on Oct 3, 2020 22:40:36 GMT
|
|
cschultz2
Freshman
@cschultz2
Posts: 91
Likes: 414
![](http://storage.proboards.com/6692551/images/CTEdkGf0wmfSETIzYiXk.gif)
|
Post by cschultz2 on Oct 3, 2020 23:27:58 GMT
“On the Basis of Sex” Distributed by Focus Features, 120 Minutes, Rated PG-13, Released December 25, 2018:
Part of the enjoyment of the 2018 movie “On the Basis of Sex” comes from seeing otherwise intelligent and respectable people interacting during a fairly recent past with social customs unthinkable during modern times--casually, seemingly naturally mouthing sexist platitudes and practicing gender discrimination which would render them pariahs in the PC-conscious post-#MeToo New Millennium.
Bringing these laughably antiquated and inappropriate customs into sharper focus are the interactions of the Ginsburg family. Shown at home already practicing such contemporary courtesies as openness, sharing, and mutual support and encouragement when the story begins in 1958, the Ginsburgs seem conspicuously out of place in the Eisenhower era, as futuristic as the cartoon Jetsons visiting the prehistoric Flintstones in their Bedrock neighborhood.
Knowing the Ginsburgs are soon going to be instrumental in changing America’s tradition of gender inequality brings a smile of anticipation to the expressions of audiences. Indeed, when we see the young Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the movie patiently enduring the slights and insults of the good ol’ boys network that formulated laws and balanced society during that era, viewers very much experience a sense of, “Hey, try getting away with that in twenty-five years, buddy.”
The September 18 death of 87-year-old Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg brings “On the Basis of Sex” into renewed focus. Written by the late justice’s nephew Daniel Stiepleman and directed by Mimi Leder, the picture details the Harvard Law School education and early legal career of the late Ginsburg, examining specifically the progressive young jurist’s involvement with the Moritz v. Commissioner lawsuit.
Moritz v. Commissioner was a landmark 1972 case which challenged a ruling by the US Tax Court that a Denver man, Charles Moritz, was ineligible for tax deductions for the expenses he accumulated as care provider of his invalid mother. The Tax Court had essentially rejected Moritz’ petition for a tax break because he was not a woman and therefore not considered a legitimate care provider, at least according to the social traditions of those bygone days.
Although the case involved tax law and Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s specialty was gender discrimination, the young lawyer accepted the challenge at the urging of her tax lawyer husband because she believed an appellate court composed entirely of male judges would be more sympathetic to a gender discrimination case in which the victim was a man. The case successfully proved “invidious discrimination” against Moritz, and marked the beginning of Ginsburg’s crusade to challenge any and every law that demonstrated inequality on the basis of gender.
“On the Basis of Sex” becomes something like an intellectual “Rocky”--a movie in which the heroes throw words instead of punches, compete in ideas instead of rounds, and work out with books instead of barbells. In its overall feel-good ambiance, it seems no accident that the unmistakable fingerprints of the legendary populist filmmaker Steven Spielberg appear discreetly among the picture’s closing credits.
The picture is anchored by a carefully-shaded characterization by the British actress Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Born in England, educated at Oxford, Jones is probably best known for her performance as Jane Hawking, the wife of physicist Stephen Hawking, in 2014’s Academy Award-nominated biographical film “The Theory of Everything.” The actress also performed the leading role of Jyn Erso in the 2016 Star Wars Anthology picture “Rogue One.”
Jones’ superb and spot-on inhabitation of the late Supreme Court Justice helps to demystify and humanize the legendary jurist. It’s nothing less than inspiring to see the formidable Ginsburg at the beginning of her career, balancing her responsibilities as a young wife and mother with her unflagging devotion to law and equality. The actress’ warmhearted but emphatic performance makes the viewer able to better appreciate the affectionate parodies of Ginsburg performed by comic actress Kate McKinnon on television’s “Saturday Night Live.”
Actor Armie Hammer managed to rebound early in his career from not one but two roles in expensive, high-profile megabombs which for a lesser talent might well have been career-ending fiascoes: Disney’s “The Lone Ranger” in 2013, a $250 million embarrassment which starred Hammer as the masked man and an eccentric Johnny Depp as his faithful sidekick Tonto, and 2015’s “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” a reboot of the beloved television spy classic which teamed Henry Cavill’s Napoleon Solo with Hammer as Soviet sidekick Illya Kuryakin and managed to sabotage little more than the picture’s $100 million budget.
In “On the Basis of Sex,” Hammer might actually have the showier of the picture’s two main roles. With his gently bemused countenance as tax law expert Martin Ginsburg, Hammer’s handed a “Camille”-like near-death scene during the movie’s first half in the late 1950s, but survives intact to become an equal partner in his wife’s crusade for equality in the 1960s...and also to remind their rebellious teenage daughter during the turbulent 1970s that when your mom is Ruth Bader Ginsburg, even Gloria Steinem takes a back seat.
In fact, the only false note in this genuinely compelling film occurs at the very end, when RBG herself unexpectedly makes a brief cameo appearance, giving viewers unfamiliar with the real Ginsberg an opportunity to gape at the remarkable resemblance achieved by Jones and the cosmetics department. The appearance of the Associate Justice herself is plainly meant to be an inspiring moment, a casual stroll into celluloid immortality. Viewed so recently after her death, Ginsberg’s appearance in the picture might be more than a little disquieting to some viewers.
“On the Basis of Sex” isn’t quite as stylish as director Reginald Hudlin’s similarly-themed “Marshall” from 2017, which depicted future Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall as a smooth and smokin’ young Civil Rights lawyer played by the late superstar Chadwick Boseman, although the two pictures are decidedly in the same ballpark. Both the writing by Stiepleman and the direction by Leder are performed with obvious respect and affection for their subject, but not an unnecessary overabundance of deference. Biographical pictures as entertaining as these make history fun.
“On the Basis of Sex” features supporting performances by a sympathetic Justin Theroux as an ACLU attorney and former Harvard classmate of Ms. Ginsburg, Cailee Spaeny as the Ginsburgs’ independence-minded teenage daughter, and Kathy Bates in a small showcase role as civil liberties pioneer Dorothy Kenyon.
The picture performed fairly well with both the nation’s critics and moviegoing audiences. Rotten Tomatoes at the time reported an approval rating of 71% for “On the Basis of Sex,” against an average score of 60% from Metacritic. Exit audiences polled by CinemaScore awarded the picture a grade of A--rare for a non-musical biographical picture.
Opening on Christmas Day 2018 in a limited release to only 33 theaters nationwide, “On the Basis of Sex” expanded into a wide release pattern on January 11 into some 1923 theaters across the United States and Canada, finishing its opening weekend in the sixth place spot on the Box Office Mojo Top Ten behind such formidable holiday competition as “Aquaman,” “A Dog’s Way Home,” “Mary Poppins Returns,” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
“On the Basis of Sex” is rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language concerns, and some suggestive content.
“Public Enemies” Distributed by Universal Pictures, 140 Minutes, Rated R, Released July 01, 2009:
Released by Universal Pictures during the summer of 2009, Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” is a picture that should’ve found a wider audience than it did.
With box office receipts totalling over $214 million around the world, the picture was hardly a failure. But with a timely and compelling story, intelligent and stylish direction by Michael Mann, and a cast of megawatt Hollywood superstars, the picture wasn’t the worldwide blockbuster its ingredients might have suggested.
Based on writer Bryan Burroughs’ 2004 book “Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI 1933-34,” Michael Mann’s 2009 picture depicts the final months of the fabled Depression Era bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), and the pursuit of the outlaw and his gang by the steely-eyed, by-the-book G-Man Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), assigned by the then-fledgling Federal Bureau of Investigation to track Dillinger down.
Woven together in a sort of tapestry of 1930s crime and punishment, Burroughs’ comprehensive book followed four separate storylines: The hapless, self-pitying Charles A. Floyd, known the the world as Pretty Boy; the vicious and calculating Ma Barker and her backwoods brood of kidnappers; the untamed and murderous Barrow Gang, Bonnie and Clyde, who somehow managed to be both shiftless and feral; and the legendary John Dillinger, a personable farm boy who became a sort of Robin Hood to Depression Era America. Familiar names such Machine Gun Kelly, J. Edgar Hoover, and Baby Face Nelson weave in and out of the narrative as necessary.
Author Burroughs’ original intention was to create and develop an extended miniseries for broadcast television, cable, or an online streaming service. But when the writer began to understand the depth and relevance of his subject he decided to write a book instead, a nonfiction novel in the vein of Truman Capote’s 1965 narrative “In Cold Blood” detailing the exploits of the real-life desperadoes who populated newspapers and the imaginations of a generation of Americans during another troubled and turbulent time.
When filmmaker Michael Mann became interested in adapting a motion picture from Burroughs’ book, he decided to focus on only one of its stories--Dillinger and the man who pursued him and ran him to ground. The director also had a hand in adapting the book into the picture’s screenplay, along with collaborators Ann Biderman, an Emmy Award-winning writer known for television’s “Southland” and “Ray Donovan” and the 1996 film “Primal Fear,” and the Irish novelist Ronan Bennett.
As a media-savvy John Dillinger in “Public Enemies,” actor Johnny Depp uses none of the flamboyant flourishes which mark his most popular roles, including his Jack Sparrow characterization from the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean” pictures which bookend “Public Enemies” in the actor's filmography. Once considered a sort of modern day Paul Muni, Depp's characterization as John Dillinger might be one of the performer's last great movie roles before his life and career imploded into a series of lurid headlines in supermarket tabloids the world over.
Rather than attempt an approximation of the famous bank robber’s physical appearance, voice and mannerisms, Depp seems to simply transfer his own natural charisma and magnetism into the role of Dillinger. While Dillinger ultimately robbed some 24 banks, escaped from jail twice, and killed one man (in self-defense), many of those who interacted with him--on both sides of the law--remember him for his charm, and his genial demeanor. Depicted in “Public Enemies” as loose and good-natured and often sporting an easy smile, Dillinger might be the closest role Depp’s ever played to his actual persona.
Born and raised not far from each others’ hometowns in America’s rural heartland, both Dillinger and Depp were, and are, notoriously private men whose professions place them under intense scrutiny from the media. When asked in “Public Enemies” by a member of his gang why he cares so much about the public’s favorable opinion of him, Depp’s Dillinger shrugs and says simply, “I hide out among them.” You almost get a feeling the actor might be speaking for himself.
Although more quiet and intense, actor Christian Bale as the untouchable and incorruptible FBI special agent Melvin Purvis matches Depp’s Dillinger volt-for-volt in his role. Bale’s performance as the embattled G-Man is characteristically studied--as always, the actor disappears into his film persona. Reportedly Bale researched and studied the real-life Purvis’ life and career, and even contacted and spent time with the lawman’s surviving descendants as a means of capturing his speaking cadences correctly.
A professional actor since starring at the age of twelve in Steven Spielberg’s 1987 World War II epic “Empire of the Sun,” Christian Bale despite his worldwide fame as Batman in director Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy of blockbusters has evolved over the years into a sort of master actor, Generation X’s equivalent to the retiring Daniel Day-Lewis. The master thespian delivers in “Public Enemies” another graduate course in the profession of acting. But despite his exacting performance, the audience never quite manages to forget Bale’s an actor playing a role.
The award-winning filmmaker known for projects from television’s iconic “Miami Vice” series during the 1980s and feature films as varied as “Thief” in 1981 to “Collateral” in 2004, “Heat” in 1995 to “The Insider” in 1999 and “Ali” in 2001, Michael Mann with “Public Enemies” contributes another example of solid and compelling filmmaking. If the picture has a fault, it might be in attempting to cover too many bases...and too many genres.
Often Mann’s pictures tend to be triumphs of either style or substance, but rarely both. In approaching his subject as plain and indisputable historical fact with little editorial commentary, Mann’s “Public Enemies” presents neither Dillinger nor Purvis as the story’s hero. There’s nobody for the audience to root for. In many ways, “Public Enemies” aims for both substance and style, and as a result achieves neither. The film despite its occasional dramatic license might actually be more successful as a docudrama rather than a dramatic narrative. And considering the talent involved here, that’s a real disappointment.
Filmed in many of the real story’s authentic locations, “Public Enemies” seems to strive to make many of the film’s details as accurate as possible to the true events...which makes all the more perplexing the narrative’s occasional departures from the facts. The ambush of Dillinger outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater, for example, is rendered in painstaking detail, right down to the exit wounds (and filmed at the actual location on Chicago’s Lincoln Avenue, which during the film’s 2008 production still appeared more or less as it did in 1934). The notion of Dillinger murmuring his dying words into the ear of a G-Man, however, is pure Hollywood fiction.
Also featuring supporting performances by Marion Cotillard as Dillinger’s girlfriend Billie Frechette, Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover, Stephen Dorff and Jason Clarke as Dillinger accomplices, and a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance by Channing Tatum as Pretty Boy Floyd, “Public Enemies” is rated R by the MPAA for scenes of violence and bloodshed and some language concerns.
“The Last Shift” Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, 90 Minutes, Rated R, Released September 25, 2020:
Versatile and prolific character actor Richard Jenkins gets a rare opportunity to step into the spotlight in “The Last Shift,” a new picture from Sony Pictures Releasing that emphasizes character over spectacle, and places drama above action or adventure.
One of those faces you’ve seen a zillion times in movies and TV shows but have trouble attaching a name to, Jenkins’ superb character work has over the years embraced movies big and small and genres from horror to drama to comedy to western--from “Silverado” to “Hannah and Her Sisters,” and “Jack Reacher,” “Spotlight,” and “Kong: Skull Island,” among many others. The actor was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Guillermo del Toro’s 2017 film “The Shape of Water.”
In “The Last Shift,” Jenkins appears as Stanley, one of those invisible people you see every day but don’t really notice--the guy who flips burgers at the neighborhood diner. With no education, no prospects, no family, and no ambition, Stanley’s worked the graveyard shift at Oscar’s Chicken and Fish in Albion, Michigan for 38 years, and looks forward to nothing more complicated than springing his elderly mother from a Sarasota nursing home and retiring with her to Florida.
As his last shift at Oscar’s approaches, Stanley’s charged with training his replacement--a young ex-con named Jevon, on parole after an act of sophomoric vandalism, in need of a steady job to stay out of jail and support his wife and toddler son. Jevon once had enormous promise as a writer, and still actually has talent and dreams of writing as a profession. But as he becomes accustomed to his new job at Oscar’s, Jevon begins to wonder if his future contains no more promise than Stanley’s.
Written and directed in his dramatic film debut by Ann Arbor-born documentary filmmaker Andrew Cohn, “The Last Shift” is rich in nuance and atmosphere, and beautifully acted by both Jenkins as Stanley and newcomer Shane Paul McGhie as Jevon. But even the slight narrative of the picture and its plot seems underwritten. The actors bring more to the table than Cohn the screenwriter provides for them.
As a result, Cohn the director occasionally allows the film to wander a little too far in the direction of pathos, and to become maudlin when it should be reaching for revelation, or even relevance. Funny in places and heartbreaking in others, “The Last Shift” is a pleasant enough way to pass the time for 90 or so minutes, but not really something you’ll remember into next month, or even into next week. The fine performances by McGhie and particularly Jenkins are certainly worth your while. But overall, file “The Last Shift” under D for Disappointment.
Produced by filmmaker and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter Alexander Payne (“Sideways,” “The Dependents”) and also containing a nice big screen supporting role for television stalwart Ed O’Neill, “The Last Shift” is (unfairly) rated R for strong language, adult themes, and a brief scene of urban violence.
“Infidel” Distributed by Cloudburst Entertainment, 107 Minutes, Rated R, Released September 18, 2020:
In “Infidel,” an American journalist critical of the Iranian political leadership is kidnapped in Egypt during a speaking tour and transported to Iran, where he’s placed on trial on a trumped up charge of spying and sentenced to death. His wife, an official for the US State Department, attempts to leverage the government into petitioning for her husband’s release...but fails. With no other choice, she travels to the Middle East herself to search for her spouse and bring him home.
Produced by author, filmmaker, conservative political commentator and conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza, audiences expecting a radical right wing diatribe along the lines of D’Souza’s previous documentary efforts “Obama’s America” in 2012 and “Hillary’s America” in 2016 might be either relieved or disappointed: “Infidel” turns out to be a fairly even-handed and surprisingly engaging political action thriller combined with elements of evangelism, a sort of “God’s Not Dead 3” set in the Middle East.
Written and directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh, the filmmaker behind the controversial 2006 television miniseries “The Path to 9/11” and the 2016 biblical drama “The Young Messiah,” “Infidel” is competently filmed and edited, and presses all the right buttons. The only real trouble is that in structure the movie tries to be a number of separate pictures rolled into one. The first hour is a faith-based inspirational drama while the second hour turns into more of a political thriller before finally morphing into an action adventure during the grand finale.
The performances, though, are uniformly impressive. As the imprisoned journalist, Jim Caviezel runs a gamut of emotions from stoic to cowardly to heroic. Often seeming stiff, solemn, and humorless in his film characterizations (the actor’s signature role was as Jesus in director Mel Gibson’s reverent but brutally graphic 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ), Caviezel in “Infidel” finally kicks back and demonstrates his range as an actor. As his dedicated wife, Australian actress Claudia Karvan is nothing short of sensational, while the Turkish Cypriot-born actor Has Oznan is a standout as a fellow prisoner of Caviezel.
Originally scheduled for release on September 11, “Infidel” was moved instead to September 18 to take advantage of a Covid-related vacancy in the theatrical release schedule after the big budget disaster picture "Greenland" was diverted at the last minute. Released to 1724 theaters across the United States, the picture attracted some $1.5 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend, earning a third place spot on the Covid-dampened Box Office Mojo Top Ten behind the returning movies “Tenet” and “The New Mutants.”
“Infidel” is rated R for language and scenes of violence.
|
|
|
Post by teleadm on Oct 4, 2020 0:10:29 GMT
Here is what Télé have seen lately: The Rainmaker 1997 directed by Francis Ford Coppola, does it have a Coppola touch? not sure. It's old fashioned entertainment with a modern bite. Great cast of actors making their bits, and Teresa Wright in her last movie has a substantial part. While not embracing it I liked the story and how it played out. ![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/37/02/00/370200459d413ec584b9a1e91a8bb77f.jpg) This was a spur of the moment choice to watch, via a violin concerto I heard, and sounds familiar and there I was... The Witches of Eastwick 1987 directed by George Miller (Mad Max). Well maybe the Updike novel was un-filmable since I have a feeling that something is missing. It works very well in in parts, some parts falls flat, while others are outrageously funny. Still funny to re-watch and being reminded by who were the huge stars in the late 1980s. The Laughing Policeman 1973 directed by Stuart Rosenberg and based on a novel by Per Wahlöö and Maj Sjöwall and changing the locals from Stockholm to San Francisco. Someone gunned down all passengers on a bus, but was it a crazy man or was it deliberate to make look like a crazy man random, since one of the victims was policeman. Both Walter Matthau and Bruce Dern makes a good but odd couple on the case, somehow it all feels over-complicated and over-plotted, that somewhere I must admit lost intrest as well as the clues they were following. The title came from an old vaudeville/music hall song were a policeman laughs hysterically, not sure how it was intervowen into the plot, since I can't see it, not even in Swedish. The Walls of Jericho 1948 directed by John M. Stahl, a very slick and professional production, about a man with political ideals (Cornel Wilde) who is married to a drunkard (Ann Dvorak), yet thinks he has a career, when two old friends from the past turns up in small town America and stirs thing up, the girl who went away and now a lawyer (Anne Baxter) and a boyhood friend (Kirk Douglas) with a young wife (Linda Darnell), who it will turn out is a manipulative bitch. Murder trails and skeletons in the closets will come forward. Though it's pure soap opera storywise, I think it's worth a better destiny than to be totally forgotten In one Agatha Christie's novels, a priestly character goes to the cinema thinking it would be a bible movie, that it was not, but felt pleased with what he had seen anyway, and that movie was "The Walls of Jericho", could be "Bertrams Hotel" but I'm not sure, anymore. Impasse des deaux auges aka Impasse/Dilemma of Two Angels 1948 directed by Maurice Tourneur (in what it would turn out became his last movie as director). Simone Signoret is about to be married into high society and leaving a singing career behind her, and her noble husband has bought her a priceless necklace that has been hidden for many years, and organizes crooks are also interested in the necklace, and the master crook turns out to be an old boyfriend or fling of the Signoret character. While not perfect it has a few interesting twists and turns, surprisingly mature at a few points. Iv'e always adored Simone Signoret, but I've seldom seen her in one of her younger roles, Oh La La! Captain from Castile 1947 directed by Henry King. Big and costly and a tad too long. The more I watched it I realized that I've never seen this movie before, and yet it felt familiar. Exploring and conquering was still in fashion when this movie was made, one has to keep that in mind while watching it. Tyrone Power and Jean Peters' likability carries this movie a long way, and nice to see Lee J. Cobb in a sort of nice guy role. Alfred Newman's magnificent music and scoring is worth any ear, and maybe why it felt familiar. I liked it, but couldn't help thinking about, what about those who had lived in what is now Mexico, or maybe that is why Montezuma gave stupid caucasians chili...revenge. The Night Has Eyes 1942 directed by Leslie Arliss, with a dashing young James Mason. Two young teachers goes to the Yorkshire moors, one for adventure the other searching for clues about her other friend who disappeared a year ago, they stumble upon a house with many secrets, are they real or are they supernatural...as they stay the night or two. Is he crazy or is he the sane one? and secret locked rooms too... The movie has a quota quickie feeling and is there ever sun in Yorkshire moors, even in daytime? The story is actually not bad and worth a better copy than the one I watched, and it had a conclusion that I felt reasonable satisfactory with. Well that was my week! I had to call an emergency ambulance halfway during writing this post, while walking around I noticed there was blood all over my floors, nothing unusual with my medications, but this time it didn't stop, so they came and packaged me. As a once boy scout I remembered that to stop bleeding you have to put pressure on the wound with the help of a flat stone, well where the hell do one normally keep flat stones in a modern home? LOL ![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/09/22/80/092280bfaf0bcfaed3fbb25d6b9f1f45.jpg) Flat stones! that apparently everyone have in their homes in case of emergency, except me.
|
|
|
Post by OldAussie on Oct 4, 2020 0:27:03 GMT
teleadm look after yourself and get well, we need you. And you had a nice mix of movies this week!
|
|
|
Post by claudius on Oct 4, 2020 10:34:59 GMT
My Uncle has died. Although he didn’t start my interest in Classic Cinema, he certainly helped in it. I remember back in October 1988 when he brought me to his video-riddled apartment and his movie books, showing me Clive Hirschhorn’s THE UNIVERSAL STORY with its pictures of DRACULA and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (the 1943 one; at the time it didn’t occur to me the original 1925 version was also a Universal film). Through him I was able to see DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN, and THE WOLF MAN. Later on, he managed to get me several VHS episodes of HOLLYWOOD from the out-of-print Kevin Brownlow series. He wasn’t the nicest of Uncles, although I admit my own guilt; one time I turned down a Christmas gift of David Robinson’s CHAPLIN Biography. A few months later, when I told him I changed my mind, he rudely refused. Then there was the time I ‘borrowed’ and ruined his copy of Daniel Blum's PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE TALKIES. Not that there weren’t good times as well, like when he was uncharacteristically jovial to my performance as Luther Billis in my School play of SOUTH PACIFIC. He was in very poor health in these months; the last time I saw him he looked like Groucho Marx in his final years. I was being wishy-washy about seeing him this week due to the Epidemic, only to learn he had a few days left, and then actually a few hours. At least I got to see him before the end.
Sunday 27 THE CIVIL WAR (1990) “1865: War is All Hell” & “1865: The Better Angels of Our Natures” 30TH ANNIVERSARY The final episodes of the Ken Burns documentary. PBS Video DVD.
DRAK PACK (1980) “Dreadful Weather We’re Having.” 40TH ANNIVERSARY YouTube.
SUPERFRIENDS (1980) “Yuna the Terrible/Rock & Roll Space Bandits/Elevator to Nowhere” 40TH ANNIVERSARY Warner DVD.
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF THE LONE RANGER (1980) “The Escape” 40TH ANNIVERSARY I watched this episode on what turned out to be the 100th birthday of William Conrad. BCI Eclipse DVD.
ELLEN (1995) “The Shower Scene” 25TH ANNIVERSARY Amazon Prime
THE FLASH (1990) “Out of Control” 30TH ANNIVERSARY Barry considers dating Tina while facing murders on the homeless. I remember seeing this episode 30 years ago. Warner DVD.
SLIMER! AND THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS (1990) “Janine, You’ve Changed” & “Ghostworld” 30TH ANNIVERSARY this month. The fourth season opener of the series (with heavier emphasis on Slimer) did an interesting thing. The 3rd season went through Mandated-changes in voices and characters. Janine lost much of her feistier personality (and got a new voice actor Kathie Soucie), becoming a more girl-next-door type. This change was treated with suspension of disbelief. However, writer Michael J. Straczynski decided to reboot this change, portraying it as an actual transformation (in this case, the work of a ghost demon body-shaming Janine). The resolution seems to suggest Janine and Ego finally get together, although EXTREME GHOSTBUSTERS dismisses it. I also viewed the commentary version with Straczynski and Southie. The second episode has the gang possessed by evil ghosts while Egon has the flu and a smothering but well-meaning mother (Rose Marie). When I first saw this episode, I thought she was Egon’s Aunt due to a comment Egon made. Later, I realized the comment was a bluff to trick the possessed Janine. Time-Life DVD.
Monday 28 INSPECTOR GADGET (1985) “Wambini Predicts” 35TH ANNIVERSARY Wambini makes his final appearance. DVD.
CARE BEARS (1985) “Luck Charm/Soap Box Derby” 35TH ANNIVERSARY Braveheart Lion makes his TV debut in this two-parter (by Dan Hennessey who also gives an Irish Broque to Good Luck Bear). Mill Creek Entertainment DVD.
THE WUZZLES (1985) “In the Money” 35TH ANNIVERSARY YouTube.
MUPPET BABIES (1985) “Fozzie’s Last Laugh” 35TH ANNIVERSARY YouTube.
ADVENTURES OF THE GUMMI BEARS (1985) “Someday My Prints Will Come” & “Can We Keep Him?” 35TH ANNIVERSARY Disney DVD.
THE EWOKS/DROIDS ADVENTURE HOUR (1985) “To Save Deej” & “Race to the Finish” 35TH ANNIVERSARY Before the Pod Race in PHANTOM MENACE, this DROIDS episode has its own race (and a guest appearance by Bobo Fett, voiced by Don Francks from the HOLIDAY SPECIAL). It also closes its first storyline, with the titled characters being forced to break ties with their masters for the good of all. YouTube.
ROBOTECH (1982) “Space Fold” 35TH ANNIVERSARY this year. English Dubbed (how can it not be ROBOTECH and NOT be English dubbed?) Youtube.
THE SUPER POWERS TEAM: GALACTIC GUARDIANS (1985) “The Fear” 35TH ANNIVERSARY Batman faces the Scarecrow and the trauma of Crime Alley. This is the first time the dark origin was ever portrayed on film (aside from exposition in the 1966 TV series), although the actual shooting (not to mention the word ‘gun’) is blocked out by a scene of lightning. It would also be the only time it was depicted in animation for a long time (not even in the darker TAS, which shares writer Alan Burnett and voice director Andrea Romano from this series). Suitable that Adam West get the chance to handle this part of the Bat Mythos (in what would be his final series as Batman). I first saw this back on its premiere, a bit weirded out to see the usually cool Batman suffering over this trauma. Warner DVD.
THE 13 GHOSTS OF SCOOBY DOO (1985) “Reflections in a Ghoulish Eye” 35TH ANNIVERSARY Warner DVD.
TINY TOON ADVENTURES (1990) “Starting from Scratch” 30TH ANNIVERSARY Spoof of AN AMERICAN TAIL, with Italian fleas instead of Russian Jewish Mice (including a song). Warner DVD.
ER (1995) “Summer Run” 25TH ANNIVERSARY Kerri Weaver’s first day at work, stepping on the toes of Doug Ross and Susan Lewis. Warner DVD.
Tuesday 29 MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM WING (1995) “The Eternal Flame of the Shooting Stars” 25TH ANNIVERSARY The ‘Captive Gundams’ storyline comes to an end, with Quatre becoming a prisoner- temporarily- before he and Heero head for Earth. This also focuses on the new Gundam Quatre used- Wing Zero- which proves to be a very dangerous suit. Japanese with English Subtitles. Bandai DVD. THE SLAYERS (1995) “ZAP! Victory IS Mine” 25TH ANNIVERSARY And so, the first series of SLAYERS ends. I was engrossed enough to want to see the other two series. This DVD edition- Software Sculptor- edited out a post-Ending epilogue, although the footage was retained as a Bonus in the THE SLAYERS TRY DVD Set. I watched this bonus at the end of the episode. Japanese with English Subtitles.
THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1985) “The Final Problem” 35TH ANNIVERSARY The first series of the Granada Sherlock Holmes version comes to a tragic end like the source material it adapted, with Watson thinking his friend has died with Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. Of course, unlike the readers of 1891, the resolution to this ending will come a year later with THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (the aforementioned readers had to wait a decade). However, David Burke will not see it, retiring from the role as Dr. Watson to spend more time with his infant son (he would play Watson- an elderly one- in a 1990s documentary). I actually saw “The Empty House” adaptation first in August 1992- and finally watched this one shortly after Christmas that year. MPI Home Video DVD.
MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS (1970) “Show 5” 50TH ANNIVERSARY Not one of my favorite episodes (not that it was bad; it was just not good enough for me to get it on VHS), first seen on a special showing on Comedy Central in 1993. Eric Idle plays Ian MacKellen at one point. YouTube.
ELIZABETH I (2005) “Episode One” 15TH ANNIVERSARY Two-Part HBO Mini-series on the English Queen (played by Helen Mirren) in the final two decades of her reign. The first installment goes from her marriage meeting with the Duke of Anjou, the conspiracy of Mary Queen of Scots, and the Spanish Armada, with the focal point her stormy relationship with the Duke of Leciester (Jeremy Irons). Poor John McEnery: last April I saw him stabbed in A.D. ANNO DOMINI. Here he gets hanged, drawn & quartered (and two years before I saw him get stabbed in ROMEO AND JULIET). First saw this production on its US premiere in 2006, although I missed the first half of this episode due to travel. HBO Video DVD.
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 (1990) “The Sidehackers” 30TH ANNIVERSARY The second episode of the season, and one of my first. I first saw this in the spring of 1992, and an additional viewing did not make me understand the plot too much. This viewing I finally get it. YouTube of an August 1991 broadcast with promos for several early Comedy Central shows like ALAN KING: INSIDE THE COMEDY MIND and DEAD COMICS SOCIETY. Nostalgia.
BEETLEJUICE (1990) “Summer Vacation” 30TH ANNIVERSARY. Shout DVD.
Wednesday 30 WHOOPEE (1930) 90TH ANNIVERSARY Early 2-Strip Technicolor Talkie Adaptation of the Ziegfeld Broadway Musical with Eddie Cantor, introducing the title song and “My Baby Just Care for Me.” I first saw parts of this film back in 1991, interested in its early-talkie-color. Then I saw the whole film on American Movie Classics in July 1992 as part of a week-long Cantor film fest (showing five of six Goldwyn films sans THE KID FROM SPAIN). I’ve seen it at least three times in the following four years. The first was in 2017 right around when I started my association with this ongoing thread. Last year as part of the United Artists Centennial, and now here for its 90th Anniversary. HBO Video VHS.
THE FLINTSTONES (1960) “The Flintstones Flyer” 60TH ANNIVERSARY Before FAMILY GUY and THE SIMPSONS, this Hanna-Barbera HONEYMOONERS-type show was one of TV’s first Prime-Time Animated Series (and for a time, the longest Animated TV series ever). I’ve seen this episode- Fred and Barney (Alan Reed and Mel Blanc) fake sickness to avoid going to the Opera with their wives Wilma and Betty (Jean Vander Pyl and Bea Benederet)- back in my childhood. Later I learned this was the first episode. I was introduced to the original OP from Cartoon Network in 1993. Warner DVD.
MASK (1985) “The Deathstone” 35TH ANNIVERSARY YouTube DiC’s Syndicated Cartoon about a special agency M.A.S.K fighting the criminal V.E.N.O.M. in vehicles that transform into aggressive machines. Yep, me and my siblings had all the toys. YouTube.
DADDY LONG LEGS (1990) “Girls in Full Bloom” 30TH ANNIVERSARY The senior year begins with the girls going on a date with Jimmie, who finally learns where Judy’s feelings lie. They go to the movies, with a poster that resembles OUR HOSPITALITY, although the film they see is a different one (with characters resembling next season’s THE TRAPP FAMILYSTORY). Japanese with English Subtitles. Bootleg DVD.
FREAKAZOID (1995) “And Fan Boy Is His Name/Lawn Gnomes/Chapter IV: Fun in the Sun/Freak’s French Lesson” 25TH ANNIVERSARY. Bootleg DVD.
RECORD OF LODOSS WAR (1995) “The Black Knight” 25TH ANNIVERSARY The team introduced in the first episode finally form together with Elf Deedlit and pickpocket Woodchuck added to the group. As mentioned before, I first saw this episode and the previous two as a gestalt on SciFi Channel. After watching the ending I expected more, but this mixture was the only broadcast. Image DVD.
GI JOE (1985) “Cobra’s Creatures” 35TH ANNIVERSARY YouTube.
THE TRANSFORMERS (1985) “Enter the Nightbird” 35TH ANNIVERSARY Shout DVD.
Thursday 1 SHE-RA: PRINCESS OF POWER (1985) “Horde Prime Takes a Holiday” 35TH ANNIVERSARY The Horde’s Big Bad makes his first actual appearance, although he goes on vacation. He-Man guest-stars. BCI Eclipse DVD.
TINY TOON ADVENTURES (1990) “Hare-Raising Night” 30TH ANNIVERSARY Warner DVD.
MASK (1985) “The Star Chariot” 35TH ANNIVERSARY YouTube.
TALE SPIN (1990) “A Bad Reflection on You Pt 1-2” 30TH ANNIVERSARY Watched on Thursday and Friday. Disney DVD.
THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR (1990) “Not Without My Pig You Don’t” 30TH ANNIVERSARY
CINEMA EUROPE: THE OTHER HOLLYWOOD (1995) “Where It All Began” 25TH ANNIVERSARY Last January-April was the 40th Anniversary of HOLLYWOOD Kevin Brownlow and David Gill’s first documentary series on the American Silent Film. Now it is the quarter Anniversary of their last production together, this time on the European Silent film. The episode begins in a Best Buy Store showing thousands of screens and images, a description of how saturated the world is with the screen- then turning to a broadcast of 1895 film THE TRAIN, when it was a novelty. The episode covers two decades of film, from the Lumiere shorts of 1895 to the World War and Abel Gance’s J’ACCUSE (1919). With Nic Raine doing most of the compositions (although Carl Davis did the title piece), and Kenneth Branagh narrating his first Brownlow docu. I read about its 1996 US premiere on ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY and USA TODAY; however, I did not have TCM yet (not until that December). I finally saw the series in the spring of 1997. I would record another broadcast in 2000. Image DVD.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1995) “Episode Two” 25TH ANNIVERSARY BBC Video BluRay
GI JOE (1985) “The Funhouse” 35TH ANNIVERSARY YouTube
PETER PAN AND THE PIRATES (1990) “Slightly Duped” 30TH ANNIVERSARY After a week, I return to watching the series. This episode highlights Lost Boy Slightly. YouTube
Friday 2 THE EQUALIZER (1985) “The Defector” 35TH ANNIVERSARY Universal DVD.
MASK (1985) “Book of Power” 35TH ANNIVERSARY YouTube.
THE TRANSFORMERS (1985) “A Prime Problem” 35TH ANNIVERSARY Shout DVD.
PETER PAN AND THE PIRATES (1990) “Slightly in Stone” 30TH ANNIVERSARY To my experience, this was the first PP episode done by a different animator then the TMS group. YouTube
THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980) 40TH ANNIVERSARY One of John Lynch’s more realistic films, an account on the life of the deformed John Merrick (John Hurt) with Anthony Hopkins, Wendy Hiller, Anne Bancroft, Freddie Jones, and Helen Ryan (reprising her role as Princess of Wales Alix from EDWARD THE SEVENTH). I remember seeing parts of this film on Showtime back in the 1980s, noting it was Black and White and yet looked new. After that my experience of the film was the VHS covers at the Rental section of my Grocery store showing Merrick in his cloak and hood. I finally got to see the film on TNT’s “Our Favorite Movies” and American Movie Classics in the early 1990s. Amazon Prime
Saturday 3 TALE SPIN (1990) “A Wing and a Bear” 30TH ANNIVERSARY Although Shere Khan is mainly portrayed as a more grayer character in the series, this episode- where he teams up with Don Karnage to steal oil so he can drive the price up on his own resources at Cape Suzet- is probably the only time he steps into some real villainy. This episode also features Sherry Lynn- the English voice of Princess Sasami and Kiyone in TENCHI MUYO. Disney DVD.
GI JOE (1985) “The GreenHouse Effect” 35TH ANNIVERSARY YouTube.
SHE-RA: PRINCESS OF POWER (1985) “Three Courageous Hearts” 35TH ANNIVERSARY BCI Eclipse DVD
THE TRANSFORMERS (1985) “Arise, Atlantis!” 35TH ANNIVERSARY Despite the title, the underwater city is called Subatlantica. Shout DVD.
MASK (1985) “Highway to Terror” 35TH ANNIVERSARY YouTube.
THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (1970) “You Is My Daughter” 50TH ANNIVERSARY FoxVideo DVD.
SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU? (1970) “Scooby’s Night With a Frozen Sight” 50TH ANNIVERSARY The gang deals with an unfrozen Neanderthal. This features my second favorite song “Seven Days a Week.” Warner DVD.
JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS (1970) “The Swap Plot Flop” 50TH ANNIVERSARY Warner DVD.
VANDREAD (2000) “Boy Meets Girl” 20TH ANNIVERSARY Sci-Fi Anime about a War of the Sexes. The women of the planet Mejere and the men of the planet Tarak. First saw this by accident on Encore Action and watched the rest of the series. First time Japanese with English Subtitles. DVD.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (2000) “Real Me” 20TH ANNIVERSARY So, Buffy has a younger sister who has been around for the entire series. Other series would treat this as normal, but this being BUFFY, there’s more than meets the eye. Also, Harmony has Minions! FoxVideo DVD.
PETER PAN AND THE PIRATES (1990) “When Games Get Deadly” 30TH ANNIVERSARY this month. Today’s episode pits the two group’s inventors- The Twins and Billy Jukes- in a battle of technological wits. YouTube.
THE WEDNESDAY PLAY (1965) “Alice” Dennis Potter’s TV-Play about Reverend Charles Dodgson’s (George Baker) interest in Alice Liddell, leading to the creation of ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (episodes of the story are reenacted). This relationship is to the ignorance of her Dean father (David Langton) but to the understandable discomfort of her mother (Rosalie Crutchley). First saw this in 2010 as an extra to the DVD of ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1966). Unable to locate that video, I decided to watch it on YouTube. This TV-Play makes a nice prequel to…
DREAMCHILD (1985) 35TH ANNIVERSARY this month. Dennis Potter re-adapts “Alice” into a full-length film. While the earlier adaptation has an older Dodgson wax melancholy over his inspiration, this film centers on Alice Liddell herself, or the elderly Alice Hargeaves (Carole Browne) coming to America for the Lewis Carroll Centennial, acting aloof to all this hubbub of a man she claims little memory of, only to find she is deeply haunted by the mathematician (played by Ian Holm, having earlier played James M. Barrie), coming to terms with her relationship with him. Both films share similar scenes- Alice and her sisters having a quarrel over music, Dodgson photographing Alice, the famous boat ride, and a heartbreaking picnic. The Wonderland creatures are also portrayed, although in a darker nightmarish form courtesy of Jim Henson Company. This was a film I knew from reading several reviews until I finally saw it on VHS in 1999. When the Tim Burton version came out, I bought the old Cannon VHS. Then I got the MGM DVD. I had planned to watch it on Sunday, but certain events have forced me to watch it tonight.
Earliest film seen this month: GET OUT AND GET UNDER (1920) Latest film seen this month: THE PRIVATE LIVES OF THE WINDSORS (2019)
|
|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Oct 4, 2020 14:38:26 GMT
claudius Sorry for your loss. teleadm Take care, my friend. And get some flat stones for your home. ![](https://s26.postimg.cc/pyne5ka6x/hide.gif) I saw some regular movies, and then October started and so did my annual month long deep-dive into horror movies, which I'm sure no one wants to hear about, but here they are anyway. ![](https://s26.postimg.cc/nk8u6zh5l/blah.gif) Richard Jewell (2019) The Little Rascals (1994) You Get Me (2017) Frank & Cindy (2015) Frank & Cindy (2007) The documentary the above movie was based on. Aladdin (2019) Gemini (2017) Enola Holmes (2020) Viva Zapata! (1952) Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) Chappaquiddick (2017) Werewolves on Wheels (1971) Scared (2002) a.k.a. Cut Throat Nightmare in Wax (1969) Nightmare Castle (1965) Slaughterhouse (1987) Unfriended: Dark Web (2018) After Dark (2015) The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) Deep Blue Sea 3 (2020) Rawhead Rex (1986) The Wretched (2019) The Blob (1988) The Stuff (1985) Malevolent (2018) ![](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/0f/80/ac/0f80ac41b6f5e14ff7df3711c5cada58.jpg)
|
|
|
Post by cynthiagreen on Oct 4, 2020 20:06:12 GMT
Nothing very classic but some brief notes on a few newish ones
two good ones
HOTEL MUMBAI - I suspect some may experience this as exploitative but for me the most tense thriller for a while - a grim account of the terrorist attacks in 2008, focusing on the luxury hotel where guests and staff were systematically slaughtered. The lack of star names (Dev Patel, Armie Hammer & Jason Isaacs only familar faces to me)adds considerably to the tension as no way of knowing who buys the farm next. I had to keep pausing it as it was so intense. 7
BOOKSMART - easy to see why this such a crowdpleaser - well above par for a teen high school prom comedy - Beanie Feldstein deservedly got raves as the more ebullient of the 2 pals but Caitlyn Dever (Driver?) was wonderful in the less showy role. 6
a disappointing one
SILENCE - I really wasn't prepared for this one _ I knew it had something to do with a priest and was vaguely expecting some visually splendid and soulfull meditation on life and wanted to catch up on Adam Driver's juvenalia. Nothing prepared me for the 3 hour slog this was- the travelogue value was high but instead of soulful searching I got what felt like an Asian SALO (minus the sex and coprophila) as religious intolerence took the form of mass beheadings, burnings at the stake, drownings and scaldings with boiling water. Sadly Mr Driver was very much second fiddle to Andrew Garfield* - the dullest actor to become a star this millenium until Tom Holland hove into view (for info Hayden Christensen was never a star and Taylor Lautner was never an actor and anyway he has his own special category) ![](https://s26.postimg.cc/9posd47tl/devilconf.gif) No idea who the target audience was.
* someone once said (unfairly) of Matthew Modine that he should "rent a personality", That's how I feel about Garfield. Modine, for the record, responded by saying he aspired to own a personality, not rent one ![8-)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/cool.png) which I think is game set and match to team Modine.
a few to avoid
JOKER - meh - Adam Driver was robbed! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) 4
A DIFFERENT KIND OF WEDDING feeble romcom wasting Kathleen Turner (at the risk of sounding ungallant not looking or acting her best although good to see her in a lead again albeit in a no profile movie)3
THE NEST - no idea what was going on here either really but at least it was less than 2 hours long 2
THE WAR WITH GRANDPA - truly repulsive DeNiro (in focker mode) "comedy" - although it must be said Jane Seymour is looking great as Bob's squeeze !
TENET - My God what a lousy film. I watched it after reading what a huge success it was and how it had singlehandedly saved the fate of several cinema chains in the current crisis through its unprecedented BO performance - but I had no idea what was going on and cared less. Fast forwarded through second half 0
|
|
|
Post by cynthiagreen on Oct 4, 2020 20:14:45 GMT
Deep Blue Sea 3 (2020) I had no idea there was a 2, let alone 3 Lebowskidoo - How was it? ( I thought the first was fun )
|
|
|
Post by OldAussie on Oct 5, 2020 0:14:50 GMT
|
|
|
Post by cynthiagreen on Oct 5, 2020 0:32:03 GMT
|
|
|
Post by OldAussie on Oct 5, 2020 0:37:55 GMT
SILENCE - I can only guess that as someone who spent much of his youth intent upon becoming a priest, this is a passion project for Scorcese. I can only say I found it an endurance test and I don't know what the reviewers found in it to give it such a high score - unless the Scorcese name automatically lifts the ratings.
|
|
|
Post by cynthiagreen on Oct 5, 2020 1:09:54 GMT
SILENCE - I can only guess that as someone who spent much of his youth intent upon becoming a priest, this is a passion project for Scorcese. I can only say I found it an endurance test and I don't know what the reviewers found in it to give it such a high score - unless the Scorcese name automatically lifts the ratings. Yes - it has a 7.2 on imdb so suspect your theory applies to the audience as well as critics.... at least those who chose to watch it (and vote on imdb) seem to be making the right choice.
|
|
|
Post by morrisondylanfan on Oct 5, 2020 4:55:03 GMT
Hi all,I hope everyone had a good weekend,and I saw: Auteurs in 2008 trio: ![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LBfqHUAEtfY/hqdefault.jpg) :Le petit fût (2008)8 The last of two Guy de Maupassant short film adaptations he made for the TV series Chez Maupassant, directing auteur Claude Chabrol (CC) closely works with cinematographer Bruno Privat in taking the wry Comedy of La Parure (2007-also reviewed) in a jet-black macabre direction,with the jaunty score acting as a neat counter balance to the cackling bourgeois Chicot. Drinking up Chicot's (played with grinding rage by Francois Berleand) agreement, CC continues to strike at the rotten heart of the rural bourgeois countryside, in elegant panning shots towards Chicot waiting in hope for Magloire (played with a sharp cunningness by Tsilla Chelton) to die. Reuniting with Chabrol after La Parure,the screenplay by Gerard Jourd'hui & Jacques Santamaria keep the limited number of characters sprightly with wickedly cynical between Magloire finding ways to agitate a increase in the cash,and Chicot pouring out plans to end the payments to Magloire. ![](https://pics.filmaffinity.com/kamisama_no_pazuru_god_s_puzzle-496004287-mmed.jpg) God's Puzzle (2008)7 Previously having taken a dip into a philosophical exploration of the galaxy with the outstanding Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (2006-also reviewed) the screenplay by Masa Nakamura spends the majority of the first half in adapting Shinji Kimoto's novel by weighing heavily on in-depth discussions on theories of how the universe was created. Whilst some bright sparks appear, (such as a analogy involving Beethoven's 5th Symphony ) the emphasis on rather dry quantum physics discussions, limits the character from being allowed to develop beyond the jargon. Setting off a big bang with a drastic switch in genre mid-movie that has become a distinctive move of the film maker, Nakamura gets in a fast-pace groove by rolling the hard Sci-Fi with Disaster Movie thrills, as Motokazu finds his guitar licks and sushi-making skills to be all that stands in Saraka's doomsday creation that will prove God does not exist in the battle between science and tradition. Aligning in a more straight direction then his Neo-Noir and Horror works, directing auteur Takashi Miike & The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003-also reviewed) cinematographer Katsumi Yanagijima slams the planets together with a fantastic continuation in building the major motifs across his work, via Miike breaking the 4th wall with on-screen pop-up questions and stylish whip-pans swinging to discoveries made during the quantum physics discussions. Standing on the edge of the apocalypse, Miike lets rip with excellent off-beat twists that turns Ode To Joy into a Japanese Rock song, a contrasting mix of grainy digital video touching on Motokazu touching the earth in India, and a merrily off-key, soft-light Rom-Com ending for the final piece in the puzzle. ![](https://media1.tenor.com/images/a3615f5845211b510576a879c41c620a/tenor.gif?itemid=8603815) Burn After Reading. 8 On the first title since Miller's Crossing (1990) where they have not worked with cinematographer Roger Deakins, co-writers/co-editors/co-directing auteurs Joel and Ethan Coen are joined by Alfonso Cuaron's regular cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki in pairing up the film with a long descending shot from space to the CIA headquarters for the opening,and one going back from the headquarters to outer space for the closing, which subtly captures the theme of a absence of perspective that lays at the heart of the film, where everyone is so obsessed by their own insecurities,that none of them look outwards for a less deadly perception on how they could be fixed. Blocking off chances for different perspectives to appear with wonderful downwards shots framing Litzke's mental/ physical insecurities, from the disembodied close-ups of the areas Litzke wants plastic surgery on, to the towering mid-shot framing of spies, placing Litzke's further into a closed-off corner. Written on alternate days with No Country for Old Men (2007), the screenplay by The Coens continues to hilariously expand the major themes across their credits from the moment the idiotic, ambitious Litzke and Feldheimer have a disc containing CIA info roll into their hands. The Coens spin the disc to botched attempts first at blackmail,then at selling it on the black market, which are tied with the Coen's distinctive take on Screwball Comedy dialogue, that hits fast-talking former spy Osborne Cox, and ricochets off Harry Pfarrer's paranoia of being caught with Osborne's wife.Completing what the Coens call the "Trilogy of Idiots." George Clooney gives a excellent turn as Pfarrer,whose paranoia is heightened by Clooney with constant fidgeting, whilst Brad Pitt steals every scene he hops into a dimwitted gym bunny Feldheimer, and John Malkovich hits each one-liner with rapid-fire relish as Osborne. Reuniting with her husband for the seventh time,Frances McDormand gives a delightfully witty, dry performance as the slow on the uptake Litzke,whose plans to get rich,are burnt after reading. Other flicks: ![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5b/%27Carnage%27_2017_feature-length_BBC_film.jpeg) Carnage (2017) 7 Cooking up a passion project, writer/director/ narrator Simon Amstell & cinematographer Casper Leaver leap from 2067 to post-WWII Britain in order to serve up a stylish take on the history of vegan,from the dour coloured footage in a interview marking the founding of The Vegan Society,to the brash, futuristic flashing lights colours running along a peaceful meat-free future. Bringing out a seriousness not displayed in his many panel show appearance, Amstell displays a striking eye for mixing footage of slaughterhouse with absurdest, archive footage of celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay saying "Happy meat (animals) taste better" and Fanny Cradock performing her cooking show at the Royal Albert Hall in 1956. Opening the press release statement with the line "I made a Comedy about being a Vegan-I'm sorry!", the screenplay by Amstell makes his taste clear in short black Comedy sketches linked by the history of Vegan, from meat eaters walking round like zombies once the sale of meat is banned,to a Super Swine Flu in 2021 spreading like wildfire among the population.Along with a plate of Vegan, Amstell links the sketches together with a sweet underlying theme of empathy, touching on not only the way humans treat animals, but also the way they treat each other in a world of carnage. ![](http://geekandsundry.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/casey-tomorrowland.gif) Tomorrowland (2015)6 Soaring onto the screen a project he had turned down directing Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015-also reviewed) in order to make, co-writer/ (with Damon Lindelof and Jeff Jensen) director Brad Bird & Life of Pi (2012-also reviewed) cinematographer Claudio Miranda ignite a Adventure movie atmosphere with a opening tribute to The Rocketeer (1991-also reviewed) that powers up outstanding special effects which seamlessly crosses Newton (played by a plucky Britt Robertson) between the real world and Tomorrowland at her fingertips. Flying between the gadget thrills of his Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011-also reviewed) and the retro Sci-Fi of The Iron Giant (1999) Bird fills every corner of the screen with loving tributes to Sci-Fi flicks/characters,from Star Wars merch covering the store Newton visits to learn more about the Tomorrowland badge, to a "Stargate" being at the centre of the land, sparked in stylish 5 minute long one-take tracking shots gazing at the futuristic world.Keeping the head of Tomorrowland (played by a wonderfully hammy Hugh Laurie) chewing the Stargate scenery, Bird intelligently plays round the PG rating with the decision to make most of the baddies robots, allowing for explosive beat-downs that swing beheaded robots across the screen. Starting with a timer that pays tribute to his work on "Lost", the fingerprints of bumbling co-writer hack Damon Lindelof runs close to damaging all that Bird makes work on screen, with the "Mystery Box" of how to enter Tomorrowland (from it clearly being set-up of having to stay in the real world) being illogically changed with a flick of a switch that offers no answers. Lecturing at the audience a environmental message that stops the Sci-Fi dead in its tracks, (Lindelof can't do subtle) Lindelof shuts the enticing exploration of Tomorrowland's futurism with a dire "across the world" final undermining the challenges faced by the leads to enter the location, which is all neatly tied in a romance between George Clooney and a robot who looks 12 years old in the world of tomorrow.
|
|
|
Post by morrisondylanfan on Oct 5, 2020 4:59:29 GMT
Here is what Télé have seen lately: The Rainmaker 1997 directed by Francis Ford Coppola, does it have a Coppola touch? not sure. It's old fashioned entertainment with a modern bite. Great cast of actors making their bits, and Teresa Wright in her last movie has a substantial part. While not embracing it I liked the story and how it played out. ![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/37/02/00/370200459d413ec584b9a1e91a8bb77f.jpg) This was a spur of the moment choice to watch, via a violin concerto I heard, and sounds familiar and there I was... The Witches of Eastwick 1987 directed by George Miller (Mad Max). Well maybe the Updike novel was un-filmable since I have a feeling that something is missing. It works very well in in parts, some parts falls flat, while others are outrageously funny. Still funny to re-watch and being reminded by who were the huge stars in the late 1980s. The Laughing Policeman 1973 directed by Stuart Rosenberg and based on a novel by Per Wahlöö and Maj Sjöwall and changing the locals from Stockholm to San Francisco. Someone gunned down all passengers on a bus, but was it a crazy man or was it deliberate to make look like a crazy man random, since one of the victims was policeman. Both Walter Matthau and Bruce Dern makes a good but odd couple on the case, somehow it all feels over-complicated and over-plotted, that somewhere I must admit lost intrest as well as the clues they were following. The title came from an old vaudeville/music hall song were a policeman laughs hysterically, not sure how it was intervowen into the plot, since I can't see it, not even in Swedish. The Walls of Jericho 1948 directed by John M. Stahl, a very slick and professional production, about a man with political ideals (Cornel Wilde) who is married to a drunkard (Ann Dvorak), yet thinks he has a career, when two old friends from the past turns up in small town America and stirs thing up, the girl who went away and now a lawyer (Anne Baxter) and a boyhood friend (Kirk Douglas) with a young wife (Linda Darnell), who it will turn out is a manipulative bitch. Murder trails and skeletons in the closets will come forward. Though it's pure soap opera storywise, I think it's worth a better destiny than to be totally forgotten In one Agatha Christie's novels, a priestly character goes to the cinema thinking it would be a bible movie, that it was not, but felt pleased with what he had seen anyway, and that movie was "The Walls of Jericho", could be "Bertrams Hotel" but I'm not sure, anymore. Impasse des deaux auges aka Impasse/Dilemma of Two Angels 1948 directed by Maurice Tourneur (in what it would turn out became his last movie as director). Simone Signoret is about to be married into high society and leaving a singing career behind her, and her noble husband has bought her a priceless necklace that has been hidden for many years, and organizes crooks are also interested in the necklace, and the master crook turns out to be an old boyfriend or fling of the Signoret character. While not perfect it has a few interesting twists and turns, surprisingly mature at a few points. Iv'e always adored Simone Signoret, but I've seldom seen her in one of her younger roles, Oh La La! Captain from Castile 1947 directed by Henry King. Big and costly and a tad too long. The more I watched it I realized that I've never seen this movie before, and yet it felt familiar. Exploring and conquering was still in fashion when this movie was made, one has to keep that in mind while watching it. Tyrone Power and Jean Peters' likability carries this movie a long way, and nice to see Lee J. Cobb in a sort of nice guy role. Alfred Newman's magnificent music and scoring is worth any ear, and maybe why it felt familiar. I liked it, but couldn't help thinking about, what about those who had lived in what is now Mexico, or maybe that is why Montezuma gave stupid caucasians chili...revenge. The Night Has Eyes 1942 directed by Leslie Arliss, with a dashing young James Mason. Two young teachers goes to the Yorkshire moors, one for adventure the other searching for clues about her other friend who disappeared a year ago, they stumble upon a house with many secrets, are they real or are they supernatural...as they stay the night or two. Is he crazy or is he the sane one? and secret locked rooms too... The movie has a quota quickie feeling and is there ever sun in Yorkshire moors, even in daytime? The story is actually not bad and worth a better copy than the one I watched, and it had a conclusion that I felt reasonable satisfactory with. Well that was my week! I had to call an emergency ambulance halfway during writing this post, while walking around I noticed there was blood all over my floors, nothing unusual with my medications, but this time it didn't stop, so they came and packaged me. As a once boy scout I remembered that to stop bleeding you have to put pressure on the wound with the help of a flat stone, well where the hell do one normally keep flat stones in a modern home? LOL ![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/09/22/80/092280bfaf0bcfaed3fbb25d6b9f1f45.jpg) Flat stones! that apparently everyone have in their homes in case of emergency, except me. That is a great mix of films/genres Tel. Is this your first Maurice Tourneur?
|
|