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Post by wickedkittiesmom on Oct 29, 2020 16:58:34 GMT
La Strada is one of my favorite Fellini films.
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Post by teleadm on Oct 29, 2020 18:53:53 GMT
Hannibal aka Annibale 1959 directed by Edgar G. Ullmer and Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia. Starring Victor Mature, Gabriele Ferzetti, Rita Gam, Mario Girotti (who would later be known as Terence Hill), and somewhere is also Carlo Pedersoli (who would later be known as Bud Spencer), though Hill and Spencer don't share any scenes together this time. Carthaginians led by general Hannibal attacks the Roman Republic by crossing the Pyrenees and the Alps with his vast army, and the elephants are with them too. The elephants looks more Indian than African by the way. Since this movie takes history with a pinch of salt, one should take this movie with a pinch of salt, and it somehow becomes more enjoyable, if one can stand Victor Mature offcourse.
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Post by Prime etc. on Oct 30, 2020 7:02:52 GMT
FRAGMENT OF FEAR 1970 - I had a feeling I had seen this before when I watched it--David Hemmings seeks information on his murdered aunt and it just gets weirder and weirder. It does build up some paranoia but I think in the end you just go WTF?
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Post by Prime etc. on Oct 31, 2020 7:34:05 GMT
Tourist Trap 1979 - This really has some creepy scenes especially the opening and the weird stuff with the screaming mannequins. I read about this when it came out so Chuck Connors role wasn't a secret. HOUSE OF WAX 2005 as others have noted must have taken a lot of ideas from this. Perhaps the film goes a little too far in Connors mental state but Davy, as a Leatherface clone, is very creepy. GHOST SHIP 2002 - This I haven't seen in at least 10 years but I must have watched it a few times in the 2000s since so much is committed to memory. I still feel it is a little too CGI-ish and when you watch older movies and then jump to a one from the 90s or after the rapidity of editing really distracts (the average shot lasts 2 seconds and usually the camera is moving) although eventually one ignores it again. Karl Urban was a stand out among the unknowns when I first saw this. One thing I had wrongly assumed--at the end I thought the people carrying the crates were her crew members--especially the last two which didn't make sense but now I see they were not. I think they should have replaced that modern song during the heist scene with the song from the start! I was surprised by the brief nudity--forgot about it--seems so rare now. Come to think of it-the ending would NEVER be done now--implying all those rich white people would go up to heaven? lol
I wonder if a metal wire can really do what they showed. I am skeptical. I would think the wire would encounter too much resistance from bone collision and either snap or carry them along with it.
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Post by kijii on Nov 1, 2020 5:54:36 GMT
James L. Brooks wrote and directed 6 feature films. The ones listed below don't quite hit the mark--well, let's be honest, come no where near--Broadcast News (1987) ; As Good as It Gets (1997); and Terms of Endearment (1983).
The two films, below, have flaws, both in their characters, and their plots. How Do You Know (2010) is a love triangle with out much reason for its being or need to get involved with its outcome. In I'll Do Anything (1994), Nick Nolte is a struggling actor who ends up caring for his reluctant little daughter after his ex-wife is sent to prison. He believes he is an actor but he isn't quite sure about his fathering skills or abilities. Which ones will he end up spending his time developing--and why? The film interested me for its actresses who rarely act in feature films, Julie Kavner (the voice of TV's Marge Simpson and former younger sister of TV's Rhoda);, the very talented, chameleon-like Tracey Ullman (from TV's Tracey Ullman Show); and Joely Richardson (who has a striking similarity to her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and her late sister, Natasha Richardson).
Next on my watching list will be Spanglish (2004) to finish out the James L. Brooks films.
I'll Do Anything (1994) / James L. BrooksMatt Hobbs (Nick Nolte) : What did she do? Beth Hobbs (Tracey Ullman) : I loved, helped, and supported in every way possible a businessman who committed the terrible crime of being financially imaginative with a pension fund.
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Post by Prime etc. on Nov 1, 2020 6:29:31 GMT
Finished off my Halloween month viewing with THE CHANGELING 1980. Been ages since I watched it. A few interesting things to consider. This big budget (and technically Canadian) haunted house movie came out before the Shining. It has a similar plot to The Fog--disabled victims killed by drowning in order to get gold-and the beneficiaries pay for the sins of their fathers. Come to think of it--it's the same as Friday the 13th too! Also that this was 10 years before the Exorcist 3 but is something of a warm up for Scott. It has some creepy bits--unlike modern haunted house movies--you don't feel like there is a crew of 100 standing behind the camera.
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Post by kijii on Nov 2, 2020 5:58:11 GMT
Spanglish (2004) / James L. Brooks
Wonderful and wonderfully entertaining, this movie really is about "as good as it gets." For me, it may even transcend Terms of Endearment (1983) as far as weaving together wonderful and wonderfully sad interpersonal relationships into one masterpiece. Brooks wrote the original screenplay which, alone, deserves some sort of award. Yet, the movie received no Oscar nominations whatsoever--not one! There was not one bad actor in the movie and yet it is hard to pick which performer might have been best!! Maybe if there were and Oscar for best ensemble cast, this one could have been a contender. I think I have always thought of Adam Sandler as that guy on SNL that I didn't like very much. But, he was pitch perfect here, and I will think twice before ever selling him short again.
Brooks has a way of tearing down unplausible physical barriers to make a movie work on so many levels at the same time. For example, there are three mother/daughter relationships that make up the infrastructure of the movie. Yet, one does not notice this until the movie is over. Then, there are the communication gaps that lie under each of the unspoken moments of the story. Even the movie title hints at this.
Deborah Clasky (Téa Leoni) : How are you nicer than me? John Clasky (Adam Sandler) : You didn't set the bar that high.
Evelyn Wright (Cloris Leachman) : We have to talk. Deborah Clasky : Mother, are you buzzed? Evelyn Wright : No. I quit drinking weeks ago! No one noticed, but I guess that's a pretty good indicator that I conducted myself quite well when I was drunk. But this isn't about me right now.
Flor Moreno (Paz Vega) : It's something, watching you. John Clasky : Well. Well, if it's anything on your end, imagine over here. Scratch that. The last thing you want to hear is someone going off on your looks. Flor Moreno : Don't be crazy. Tell me EVERY detail. John Clasky : Okay. Okay, I will. Flor Moreno : [Settles in to listen. Places chin in hand] Uh-hmm. John Clasky : They should name a gender after you. Looking at you doesn't do it. Staring is the only way that makes any sense. And trying not to blink, so you don't miss anything. And all of that, and you're YOU. [nervous laugh] John Clasky : I mean... [looks down] John Clasky : Look, forgive me. It's just you are DROP DEAD, CRAZY GORGEOUS! So much so that I'm actually considering looking at you again before we finish up here. Flor Moreno : [Whisper] Soon, please.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Nov 2, 2020 21:08:29 GMT
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Post by kijii on Nov 3, 2020 6:04:29 GMT
Secrets & Lies (1996) / Mike Leigh
Re-Watch--
I finish my Mike Leigh survey with this great film!! While I would still rank Topsy-Turvy (1999) as my favorite Mike Leigh film, this one comes in as a strong 2nd for totally different reasons. Secrets & Lies explores long-hidden traumas within one extended family. Garnishing 5 Oscar nominations, the film builds nicely to its great family "union."
Monica Purley (Phyllis Logan): Can't miss what you never had! Maurice (Timothy Spall) : Can't you?
Maurice : Secrets and lies! We're all in pain! Why can't we share our pain? I've spent my entire life trying to make people happy, and the three people I love the most in the world hate each other's guts, and I'm in the middle! I can't take it anymore!
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Post by movielover on Nov 3, 2020 6:10:12 GMT
Alice, Sweet Alice
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Post by sostie on Nov 3, 2020 16:19:40 GMT
Loser Takes All (1956) Diverting little romantic-comedy. Rossano Brazzi is charming, Robert Morley is, well, Robert Morley and Glynis Johns is a joy to watch
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Nov 3, 2020 21:00:14 GMT
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Post by Prime etc. on Nov 4, 2020 6:49:05 GMT
The Frightened City 1961 -- This is only the second film I have seen with Alfred Marks from my recollection, the other being Scream and Scream Again where he steals all his scenes. Here he is second banana crime boss to Herbert Lom who as usual gives a mesmerizing performance. The surprise is the unknown Sean Connery who actually shows some decent range here--as a good-hearted small-time crook with some conflicted loyalties. This good be an audition for James Bond actually-he gets one or two laugh out loud lines and Lom has a dandy response to him when he enters through a balcony window that makes one wish Lom had been a Bond villain. Yvonne Romain also appears (and if that is her singing voice wow! She can sing really well). Kenneth Griffith is Connery's injured "second storey man" friend. Actually there's a brief exchange between Connery and Romain that made me think of, of all things X-Men First Class, which was supposedly set in the early 60s yet so much of the hair styles were very unlike anything I have seen from that era. So as they are standing in a room, she sees this woman with a bizarre unkempt hairstyle and says "what is that?" and Connery explains she is a member of royalty with a big family tree and Romain says "looks like she just climbed out of it."
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Post by kijii on Nov 6, 2020 5:56:17 GMT
Tommy (1975) / Ken Russell
The Specialist (Jack Nicholson): [singing] He seems to be completely unreceptive. The tests I gave him showed no sense at all! [pause] The Specialist : His eyes react to light; the dials detect it. He hears but cannot answer to your call! Tommy (Roger Daltrey) : [sings] See me! Feel me! Touch me! Heal me! [sings again] The Specialist : [singing to Tommy's mother] There is no chance, no untried operation. All hope lies with him and none with me. Imagine though the shock from isolation, when he suddenly can hear and speak and see! Tommy : [sings again] SEE ME! FEEL ME! TOUCH ME! HEAL ME! The Specialist : [singing] His eyes can see, his ears can hear, his lips speak. All the time the needles flick and rock. No machine can give the kind of stimulation... needed to remove his inner block! Frank Hobbs (Oliver Reed) : [Frank sings while Nora imitates him] I often wonder what he is feeling! Has he ever heard a word I've said? Look at him in the mirror dreaming! What is happening in his head?
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Post by Prime etc. on Nov 6, 2020 7:42:56 GMT
THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY - 1969 Always on the lookout for an unheard of Pamela Franklin film and a Richard Boone performance doesn't hurt either. Marlon Brando as fellow hostage taker doesn't trust Boone-described as a "psycho pimp." Having seen relatively few Brando movies, it was interesting to see in his pre-fat days in a role which seemed out of place with the plot, but I don't know--it worked for me--especially when he gets upset thinking about Boone's perversions and starts yelling about getting his head chopped off.
Boone is able to speak a thousand words without moving his face. Set in France the story builds suspense in a workman-like manner although I am a little lost on the ending but I've seen worse.
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Post by teleadm on Nov 6, 2020 19:21:58 GMT
Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House 1948 directed by H.C. Potter and starring three of my favorites, Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas A very witty comedy about living in expensive if tight apartments on Manhattan, and creating a new home on the countryside and how bills keeps rising. Saved by a Ham named Wham in the end. Hadn't seen this since the early 1980's, and it's still enjoyable, and since I'm now older understands some of of the wit I didn't understand back then.
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Post by kijii on Nov 7, 2020 5:45:57 GMT
The Story of Adele H (1975) / François Truffaut
The strange, but true, story about Victor Hugo's second daughter's unrequited love for a soldier. This story depicts a case of Erotomania (yes, its a new word for me too).
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Post by Prime etc. on Nov 8, 2020 10:01:15 GMT
The Scars of Dracula/The Horror of Frankenstein 1970. Released together in their first UK showing. I like them both--despite some cheapness in the set lighting. They were said to be the first Hammer films made with British money sources. The latter film has a poor reputation but I enjoy it as a comedy which it was clearly intended to be. Maybe they should have called it the Humor of Frankenstein.
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Post by kijii on Nov 8, 2020 17:48:47 GMT
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977) / Anthony Page
I had never seen this movie and tried it out after a recent GG.
This movie, like many others set in mental facilities, suffers from too much--and too many--unrealistic overdramatic episodes in the rooms and hallways of the institution. I would apply this same criticism to Shock Corridor (1963), The Snake Pit (1948). In reality, most of the patients in such settings are either "drugged" or quietly sitting in their own private hells. Furthermore, this film inserts lifelike hallucinations which look too realistic as opposed to those seen in A Beautiful Mind (2001) or Splendor in the Grass (1961).
The most effective scenes are those between, Dr. Fried (Bibi Andersson) and Kathleen Quinlan Deborah Blake (Kathleen Quinlan). Deborah Blake : You can turn me off, you know. You can go off with your friends and write another paper on schizophrenia and get an award for it. But I can't turn me off. So I'm calling off the fight. Dr. Fried : So you quit. Stay in the nuthouse for the rest of your life.
Dr. Fried : You created these gods & you can destroy them. You're stronger than they are. If you give up Yri, you'll be able to feel in this world. Don't call off the fight, Deborah, you can win. You are strong enough, but YOU have to make the choice.
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Post by kijii on Nov 9, 2020 5:30:29 GMT
Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) / Barry Levinson
Re-watch, still fun to watch after all these years. Film based on the real-life DJ, Adrian Cronauer.
Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams) : Good morning, Vietnam! Hey, this is not a test. This is rock and roll. Time to rock it from the delta to the DMZ! Is that me, or does that sound like an Elvis Presley movie? Viva Da Nang. Oh, viva, Da Nang. Da Nang me, Da Nang me. Why don't they get a rope and hang me? Hey, is it a little too early for being that loud? Hey, too late. It's 0600 What's the "0" stand for? Oh, my God, it's early. Speaking of early, how about that Cro-Magnon, Marty Dreiwitz? Thank you, Marty, for "silky-smooth sound." Make me sound like Peggy Lee. Freddy and the Dreamers! Wrong speed. We've got it on the wrong speed. For those of you recovering from a hangover, that's gonna sound just right. Let's put her right back down. Let's try it a little faster, see if that picks it up a little bit. Those pilots are going, "I really like the music. I really like the music. I really like the music." Oh, it's still a bad song. Hey, wait a minute. Let's try something. Let's play this backwards and see if it gets any better. Freddy is a devil. Freddy is a devil. Picture a man going on a journey beyond sight and sound. He's left Crete. He's entered the demilitarized zone. All right. Hey, what is this "demilitarized zone"? What do they mean, "police action"? Sounds like a couple of cops in Brooklyn going, "You know, she looks pretty to me." Hey, whatever it is, I like it because it gets you on your toes better than a strong cup of cappuccino. What is a demilitarized zone? Sounds like something out of The Wizard of Oz, Oh, no, don't go in there. Oh-we-oh Ho Chi'Minh Oh, look, you've landed in Saigon. You're among the little people now. We represent the ARVN Army The ARVN Army Oh, no! Follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail. "Oh, I'll get you, my pretty!" Oh, my God. It's the wicked witch of the north. It's Hanoi Hanna! "Now, little GI, you and your little 'tune-ooh' too!" "Oh, Adrian. Adrian. What are you doing, Adrian?" Oh, Hanna, you slut. You've been down on everything but the Titanic. Stop it right now. Hey, uh, hi. Can you help me? What's your name? "My name's Roosevelt E. Roosevelt." Roosevelt, what town are you stationed in?. "I'm stationed in Poontang." Well, thank you, Roosevelt. What's the weather like out there? "It's hot. Damn hot! Real hot! Hottest things is my shorts. I could cook things in it. A little crotch pot cooking." Well, can you tell me what it feels like. "Fool, it's hot! I told you again! Were you born on the sun? It's damn hot! I saw - It's so damn hot, I saw little guys, their orange robes burst into flames. It's that hot! Do you know what I'm talking about." What do you think it's going to be like tonight? "It's gonna be hot and wet! That's nice if you're with a lady, but it ain't no good if you're in the jungle." Thank you, Roosevelt. Here's a song coming your way right now. "Nowhere To Run To" by Martha and the Vandellas. Yes! Hey, you know what I mean! Too much?
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