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Post by kijii on Apr 17, 2018 6:29:45 GMT
The Long Gray Line (1955)
John Ford's presentation of 'Marty' Maher's (Tyrone Power) 50-year career at West Point is entertaining. It is loaded with the military and institutional tradition of The Point. Yet, it is also relayed with a lot of human warmth. [For fort military tradition, I also liked Ford's movie, Fort Apache (1948)]. Ford loved making movies about soldiers, the Irish, and Irish Americans. Here, he combines some of these loves with much of his traditional cast, including Maureen O'Hara, Ward Bond (in a semi-leading role as Marty's boss at West Point), and Donald Crisp (from How Green Was My Valley). The movie covers some history-making events occurring during the early 20th Century. In the class of 1915, Maher witnessed the West Point education of many of the American generals who would become so famous during World War II, including Dwight D. Eisenhower (who was President at the time this movie was released).
Martin 'Marty' Maher (Tyrone Power) : What is this place? Is it maybe a prison, or is it a looney house?
Cpl. Rudolph Heinz (Peter Graves): This is the United States Military Academy.
Martin 'Marty' Maher : [glances around] What a fine ruin it would make!
4.bp.blogspot.com/-rD3HDaV2KpU/UVJZRIGD20I/AAAAAAAAA6E/dInkGk-7Tus/s1600/longgr1.jpg
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Post by jeffersoncody on Apr 17, 2018 10:13:26 GMT
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Apr 17, 2018 13:09:00 GMT
The Search (1948), a really great movie that I'd never heard of until I decided to watch some Montgomery Clift movies, this is his debut.  
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Post by kijii on Apr 17, 2018 15:19:38 GMT
The Search (1948), a really great movie that I'd never heard of until I decided to watch some Montgomery Clift movies, this is his debut. Lebowskidoo--- ---This the beginning of Fred Zinnemann's post-war trilogy and near the beginning of Fred Zinnemann's great career as one our best directors. If you follow Zinnemann filmography, you'll see that he is one of those directors that just gets better and better. He hardly ever falters from here til the end of his career. Even in his final movie, Five Days One Summer (1982), is very underrated, IMO. |
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Post by kijii on Apr 17, 2018 16:24:08 GMT
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Post by jeffersoncody on Apr 17, 2018 17:11:00 GMT
BREAKER MORANT (1980) - excellent true story about a hypocritical miscarriage of justice during the Boer War (the British fucked over three Australian soldiers for political reasons. Pommy bastards). 9 out of 10.  |
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Post by teleadm on Apr 17, 2018 17:25:30 GMT
How to Steal a Million 1966, directed by William Wyler, starring Audrey Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Eli Wallach, Hugh Griffith, Charles Boyer, Fernand Gravey and others, early soundtrack composed by John Williams. Lighthearted romantic caper comedy about a woman (Hepburn) who must steal a statue from a Paris museum to help conceal her father's (Griffith) art forgeries, and the man (O'Toole) who helps her. Great location shots from Paris, Givenchy creations Audrey wears, a funny and smart caper sequence that would be impossible today, in other words it's nice civilized entertaiment even if they are crooks. Since the movie stretches out to a little more than 2 hours, it feels a bit too long before it get's going. Audrey's car is a Autobianchi Bianchina Special Cabriolet and it's very small.   
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Post by Doghouse6 on Apr 17, 2018 17:55:23 GMT
I didn't just finish it; does last night count?  This 1945 RKO programmer has one foot planted squarely in the light comedy-mysteries of the 1930s, and the other in the burgeoning but yet-to-be-defined noir thrillers of the '40s-'50s. In an early outing, director Anthony Mann finds moments to inject style into a brisk little diversion that clocks in under 70 minutes.  On a fog-enshrouded street...  ...a dazed and injured man (Tom Conway) stumbles into the path of an oncoming taxi...  ...and is nearly knocked down by plucky driver Ann Rutherford (best remembered as Andy Hardy's perpetually-miffed girlfriend Polly Benedict, in a rare - and well-seized - opportunity to carry a film as leading lady).  He has no recollection of who he is or where he's been, and she makes it her mission to help him, working from only the clues in his pockets - two theater ticket stubs, a matchbook from a hotel and $518 cash - and the initials in his hatband.  It soon appears he may be implicated in a murder...  ...and they bluff their way through encounters with archetypes like an exasperated police detective (Emery Parnell), a fast talking reporter (Dick Lane)...  ...a befuddled butler (Harold De Becker)...  ...a comically gregarious drunk (Jack Norton)...  ...a couple of shady ladies (Jane Greer in her first billed appearance, as Bettejean Greer...  ...and Jean Brooks), along with other Manhattan nightlife habitués (Charles C. Wilson, who played Clark Gable's apoplectic city editor in In Happened One Night, covers familiar territory here as Lane's bellowing boss). There's plenty of humor...  ...as, for example, Lester Matthews apologizes for the harsh words of their last encounter, to which Conway replies, "Oh, forget it," before adding pointedly, "I have," and sequences of shadowy suspense...   ...in the noir tradition. But above all, it must be emphasized that it's the reliable Rutherford, as the resourceful and quick-thinking Patty Mitchell...  ...who drives this economical but efficient vehicle, and would alone provide reason enough to go along for the 68-minute ride. |
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Apr 17, 2018 23:13:44 GMT
Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940), directed by John Cromwell, with Raymond Massey, Gene Lockhart, Ruth Gordon. DVR'd this off of TCM some while back. First time viewing.
Really enjoyable telling of Abe Lincoln's formative years, from his life on the frontier to his rise through the political ranks up to the point of being elected POTUS and boarding a train for Washington. Lots of gentle humor and iconic bits of pre-Civil War Americana appear throughout. Part legend, part fact, part artistic license (there was a scene that depicted the suppressing of John Brown at Harper's Ferry, for example, that contained some notable historical inaccuracies), but still an interesting look back at some important events that shaped America's development. And you can't help but note that some of the themes covered in the film - race issues, political corruption, unbridled struggle for power, etc. - are just as relevant today as they were when the film was made some 80 years ago, or when the events depicted in the film took place 160 or so years ago.
Raymond Massey was a good choice to play Abe Lincoln, as he bears an uncanny likeness to him.
Also noteworthy is the appearance of Ruth Gordon in what is apparently her first credited screen role, as Mary Todd Lincoln. Quite a performance, and really nice to see her here. She would go on much later in her career to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for 1968's Rosemary's Baby. I think I remember her mostly, though, for 1971's Harold and Maude.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2018 23:52:51 GMT
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
I put it as the third worse Star Wars movie. Episode I and II are worse.
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Apr 18, 2018 12:27:37 GMT
The Search (1948), a really great movie that I'd never heard of until I decided to watch some Montgomery Clift movies, this is his debut. Lebowskidoo--- ---This the beginning of Fred Zinnemann's post-war trilogy and near the beginning of Fred Zinnemann's great career as one our best directors. If you follow Zinnemann filmography, you'll see that he is one of those directors that just gets better and better. He hardly ever falters from here til the end of his career. Even in his final movie, Five Days One Summer (1982), is very underrated, IMO. Zinnemann does have a fine batch of films under his belt, I've seen: The Search
High Noon
From Here To Eternity
A Man For All Seasons
Julia
Five Days One Summer
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Post by teleadm on Apr 18, 2018 17:10:00 GMT
A Breath of Scandal 1960, directed by Michael Curtiz, based on Ferenc Molnár play "Olympia", starring Sophia Loren, Maurice Chevalier, John Gavin, Angela Lansbury, Isabel Jeans, Tullio Carminati and others. An American bussinessman get's cought up in intrigues at the Emperial court of Austria, falling in love with Olympia when she pretends to be someone else. Romantic comedy in fancy costumes and shot on beautiful locations in Austria, especially Belvedere and Schönbrunn palaces in Vienna. Sadly it's not a very good movie, it feels to belong to another era, which is a pity since Sophia Loren is in a spirited comedy mood, but John Gavin doesn't have the right lighness for this kind of role. Jeans and Lansbury are also good as two court ladies with posion in their tongues. Maybe the whole production was hampered by Curtiz detoriating health, and there are rumours that much of the film was actually directed by Vittorio de Sica as a personal favour to producer Carlo Ponti. at least according to Walter Bernstein who wrote the screenplaym and then got his name withdrawn after he had seen the film. The movie doesn't have the right lighness and flow to make this kind of movie work.   
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Post by louise on Apr 18, 2018 18:48:14 GMT
Support your local gunfighter - quire amusing comedy western, similar story to support your Local Sheriff
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Apr 19, 2018 1:40:16 GMT
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978), directed by Ermanno Olmi, with Luigi Ornaghi, Francesca Moriggi, Omar Brignoli. DVR'd off of recent TCM broadcast. First time viewing.
Long, atmospheric glimpse of life amongst 5 peasant families living in Northern Italy (Lombardy region, near Milan) circa 1898, who live under the protection - as well as exploitation - of a wealthy landowner. Nicely filmed, almost documentary-like in many parts, with minimal plot. All the actors were real peasants from the Bergamo province, in Italy. They had no acting experience at all.
Everybody has a name, but it's hard to remember who's who because their names aren't used all that frequently in direct address. It almost seems deliberate: it's as if Olmi wants to show them as nameless peasants struggling just to eke out an existence. His message - with strong Christian undertones - seems to be that it's not important that they do something grand in this life that will immortalize them. No, it's important only that they learn to love one another and help one another, else they won't survive. It's that simple.
Various farm animals play notable parts in the story. Just be warned that there are two graphic animal slaughter scenes in the film. On the other hand it's exactly this depiction of the raw-boned grittiness of hard-scrabble peasant life that makes the film what it is.
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Post by louise on Apr 19, 2018 16:03:20 GMT
Julie and Julia. amusing comedy drama about real life chef Julia Child, Meryl, Streep very good as Julia.
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Post by teleadm on Apr 19, 2018 17:26:57 GMT
A Farewell to Arms 1957, directed by Charles Vidor, based on Ernest Hemingway's novel, screenplay by Ben Hecht, starring Rock Hudson, Jennifer Jones, Vittorio De Sica, Oskar Homolka, Mercedes McCambridge, Elaine Stritch, Kurt Kasznar, Alberto Sordi and others. The last movie produced by David O. Selznick. About an English (Jones) nurse and an American soldier (Hudson) on the Italian front during World War I who fall in love, amidst the horrors surrounding them. Having read so many negative reviews about this movie, I wondered if it could be THAT bad, and I would say NO. It's not the great epic it desperatly want's to be, but it's not uninteresting and there are impressive scenery and scenes of drama buried in it, but some emotional scenes doesn't feel that interesting, only shallow. Beware! that it stretches out to 146 minutes. It's not a war movie, though there are a few war scenes. If Selznick wanted to outdo his Gone with the Wind I think he choosed the wrong novel to do so, the title sequence is very reminding of GWTW by the way. I can't compare it with the old 1932 version, since I've only seen that version in some crappy public domain version. A commercial and critical flop? With the critics it was, but commercially it apparently wasn't since it made around 25M USD worldwide (by the end of 1959) compared to costing around 4,5 M USD to make, but maybe the hopes were set higher. Plus, it only got one Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor (Vittorio De Sica).    
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Post by kijii on Apr 19, 2018 20:35:21 GMT
A Farewell to Arms 1957, directed by Charles Vidor, based on Ernest Hemingway's novel, screenplay by Ben Hecht, starring Rock Hudson, Jennifer Jones, Vittorio De Sica, Oskar Homolka, Mercedes McCambridge, Elaine Stritch, Kurt Kasznar, Alberto Sordi and others. The last movie produced by David O. Selznick. About an English (Jones) nurse and an American soldier (Hudson) on the Italian front during World War I who fall in love, amidst the horrors surrounding them. Having read so many negative reviews about this movie, I wondered if it could be THAT bad, and I would say NO. It's not the great epic it desperatly want's to be, but it's not uninteresting and there are impressive scenery and scenes of drama buried in it, but some emotional scenes doesn't feel that interesting, only shallow. Beware! that it stretches out to 146 minutes. It's not a war movie, though there are a few war scenes. If Selznick wanted to outdo his Gone with the Wind I think he choosed the wrong novel to do so, the title sequence is very reminding of GWTW by the way. I can't compare it with the old 1932 version, since I've only seen that version in some crappy public domain version. A commercial and critical flop? With the critics it was, but commercially it apparently wasn't since it made around 25M USD worldwide (by the end of 1959) compared to costing around 4,5 M USD to make, but maybe the hopes were set higher. Plus, it only got one Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor (Vittorio De Sica). teleadm -- The bad reviews may be mainly Hemingway's ideals of what he wanted to see in the movie. Hemingway was a very close friend to Gary Cooper, and I think Hemingway always thought of him as the ideal male lead, as he was in the earlier 1932 version with Helen Hayes. He also thought that (at that time), Jennifer Jones was too old to play the Catherine Barkley role. On the other hand, Vittorio De Sica was ideal for the Italian doctor, and I am glad he received an Oscar nomination for that role (played in the 1932 version by Adolphe Menjou). I agree that this movie is much more polished and extended than the earlier version. Poor poor Selznick, so his great GWTW wasn't good enough for him?  . He wanted to outdo GWTW with a movie with Jennifer Jones in the lead? Didn't he try that with Duel in the Sun (1946)? Couldn't he just be happy with Gone with the Wind?
GWTW still stands as the best movie ever made, IMHO.
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Post by kijii on Apr 20, 2018 6:39:26 GMT
Goya's Ghosts (2006)
(See trailer: www.imdb.com/title/tt0455957/videoplayer/vi2729050393?ref_=tt_ov_vi )Due to the recent passing of Milos Forman, I sought out movies of his that I had not yet seen and chose this one (available for streaming with Amazon Prime). This is a great period film covering a dark and interesting part of Spanish history. The screenplay was written by Jean-Claude Carrière who contributed to movies ranging from The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) to The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988). The cast is no less impressive with Stellan Skarsgård as Goya ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Goya ); Natalie Portman as his muse, Inés (and also her daughter, Alicia); Randy Quaid as the Spanish King, Carlos IV; and Javier Bardem as Lorenzo, the tortured man whose life shifts back and forth from a priest inquisitor (during the Spanish Inquisition) to a champion of the Rights of Man (as the French Revolution sweeps over Spain). This movie incorporates the stories of three main characters (Goya, Inés /Alicia, and Lorenzo) though the sweep of this interesting period of Spanish history. (See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goya%27s_Ghosts for complete movie synopsis WITH SPOILERS) This movie has more of a historical sweep than the biographical one presented in Forman's Amadeus (1984) But, both movies are suffused with their respective arts, be it painting or composing.  This is Natalie Portman as Inés while posing for Goya  This is Natalie Portman as Inés after being emprisioned  This is Natalie Portman playing Inés's daughter, Alicia, a prostitute  I'm sorry I can not post posters or paintings here, but the following link will direct you to some of Franciso Goya's paintings: learnodo-newtonic.com/francisco-goya-famous-paintings--------------------------------------------------- As we mark the passing of Milos Forman, we should think of him as a truly great director with emphasis on quality rather than quanity. While he only directed 13 feature films, he won 2 Oscars for his direction and directed several films that yielded many Oscars or Oscar nominations: -- The Firemen's Ball (1967) received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. -- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) received 9 Oscar nominations and won 5 Oscars. -- Ragtime (1981) received 8 Oscar nominations. -- Amadeus (1984) received 11 Oscar nominations and won 8 Oscars (including one for himself). -- Valmont (1989) received an Oscar nomination. -- The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) received 2 Oscar nominations (including one for himself). -- Goya's Ghosts (2006) didn't receive any Oscar nominations, but I believe it was worthy of many. Well done, Milos, RIP!!
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Apr 20, 2018 7:22:47 GMT
The Seventh Veil (1945), with James Mason, Ann Todd and Herbert Lom.
Didn't like this one all that much: too much psycho-babble and high-strung melodrama for my tastes, but, I did enjoy the musical interludes (Ann Todd's character, who's a classical pianist, plays some well-known pieces from Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Grieg, Brahms... superb!). Also fun to see a young Herbert Lom here, years before he gained a new sort of stardom as the harried Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther films. James Mason was very good in this, too, but unfortunately his character is a bit of a jerk.
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Post by politicidal on Apr 20, 2018 12:41:23 GMT
All the Money in The World (2017). Quite a good drama.
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