|
Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Aug 11, 2018 18:05:24 GMT
kijii: re: The Beginning or the End... interesting that we both posted this at nearly the same time. Wasn't that a great film?
|
|
|
Post by kijii on Aug 11, 2018 18:14:23 GMT
kijii : re: The Beginning or the End... interesting that we both posted this at nearly the same time. Wasn't that a great film? Wow, I found it interesting that we posted almost at the same time. What I was doing to looking at DVR'd movies that I had watched but not yet reviewed. I found the film very interesting. The cast was not all the best known performers, but there were a few Oscar nominees in it.
|
|
|
Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Aug 11, 2018 18:24:25 GMT
kijii : re: The Beginning or the End... interesting that we both posted this at nearly the same time. Wasn't that a great film? Wow, I found it interesting that we posted almost at the same time. What I was doing to looking at DVR'd movies that I had watched but not yet reviewed. I found the film very interesting. The cast was not all the best known performers, but there were a few Oscar nominees (and at least one winner) in it. I liked Brian Donlevy's character. Hume Cronyn, as "Oppy" (scientist Robert Oppenheimer) was great!
|
|
|
Post by kijii on Aug 12, 2018 22:38:32 GMT
Billy Elliot (2000) / Stephen Daldry Streamed form Starz
Movie Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=phCEwSmHpOE
This, of course, is a great movie!! I am surprised (ashamed?) that I hadn't seen it before this weekend. It received 3 Oscar nominations: Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Julie Walters); Best Director (Stephen Daldry), and Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Lee Hall). All nominations were richly deserved in that this story and its production that were so original at a time when many movies are (were) simply ground out of the same old tried-and-true hackneyed stuff. However, as I watched the movie unfold, it reminded me of other great movies in several ways, yet I doubt that it was beholding to any of them.
---Since it was set in a lower-class Northern England household, it reminded me of a bit of Kes (1969), with an English dialogue that was almost as hard for me to follow. Also, like Kes, it revolves around a younger sibling who had found his bliss in a way outside of the family norm.
---Since it was set in a coal mining town while the miners were on strike in Thatcher's England, it reminded me of Brassed Off (1996). This is another movie in which the miners had to find another way to express themselves while out of work--some ways were destructive while other were more exploratory and self-fulling.
---Since it was about a young working-class person wanting to find more creative ways to express themselves, it also reminded me a bit of Flashdance (1983).
---Since, in the final analysis, it was about wanting to help a youngster find a better life, it reminded me of The Corn Is Green (1945).
---Finally, and coming full circle, it did remind me of the roles that Michael Cain and Julie Walters had as mentor and mentee in Educating Rita (1983). Isn't it wonderful to see the mentee of THAT movie become the mentor of THIS movie? It is sort of like "playing it forward".... (and Julie Walters received an Oscar nomination for both movies!!!) -----------------------
The story centers around an 11-year-old boy, Billy (Jamie Bell), who is supposed to be taking boxing lessons, but becomes more fascinated by the girls ballet class in the same location. Billy's mother had recently died and his dad (Gary Lewis) is left with Billy, his older brother, and Billy's aged and failing grandmother. As if all this weren't hard enough to deal with, the coal mine where his dad and brother work is on strike!! So, why is Billy more interested in ballet (that thing for girls and sissies) than the more "manly" stuff like boxing and wrestling? [Actually all of these activities require strength, dexterity, and athleticism; but, only society says that one is more manly than another] Grandma : I used to go to ballet. Billy : See? Dad : All right for your Nana, for girls. No, not for lads, Billy. Lads do football... or boxing... or wrestling. Not friggin' ballet.
When the girls' ballet teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson (Julie Walters), sees that Billy would like to join the class and learn ballet, she sort of encourages him his he has the fee. Later, she becomes his advocate and encourages him to try out of the ballet academy in London (a far-off place unimaginable to a boy from Billy's town). Billy : So, what's it like, like? Dad : What's what like? Billy : London. Dad : I don't know, son. I never made it past Durham. Billy : Have you never been? Dad : Why would I want to go to London? Billy : It's the capital city! Dad : Well, there are no mines in London. Billy : Jesus Christ, is that all you think about?
Once Billy's dad realizes that this is Billy's opportunity, he hires on as a scab in the coal mine and suffers the shame of being a scab (non-union) replacement for the striking miners. This places his dad a older brother into direct conflict.
To add a little more juice to the story, one of Billy's friends is gay and thinks Billy might be gay too. When approached by his friend, Billy has to dispel him from this notion: " Just because I like ballet doesn't mean I'm a poof, you know.."
There is really a LOT to like about this movie. It you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend it...
Tutor 1 : What does it feel like when you're dancing? Billy : Don't know. Sorta feels good. Sorta stiff and that, but once I get going... then I like, forget everything. And... sorta disappear. Sorta disappear. Like I feel a change in my whole body. And I've got this fire in my body. I'm just there. Flyin' like a bird. Like electricity. Yeah, like electricity.
|
|
|
Post by mikef6 on Aug 12, 2018 22:53:59 GMT
|
|
|
Post by kijii on Aug 13, 2018 15:53:48 GMT
Dunkirk (1958) / Leslie Norman Rented for streaming from Amazon Prime
I actually prefer this older black-and-white version, with three top male actors, to the newer version. This version is based on a novel by Trevor Dudley Smith and a book by Ewan Butler. This movie focuses more on the characters and the story than the overblown film technology displayed in Christopher Nolan's version. It also gives more of the background story of the need to evacuate Dunkirk. What was at stake? How were the British soldiers placed in this position, etc.
Corporal 'Tubby' Binns (John Mills): What about all of this? Charles Foreman (Bernard Lee): Stupidity. Everybody saying that war was so terrible it couldn't happen again. And shoving our heads in the sand, like a lot of ostriches. Well, the Germans didn't think that way. To them, war meant guns or butter. They chose guns. We chose butter. No, you can't blame the Army. They had what we gave them - last war weapons, last war methods. This is the result.
|
|
|
Post by kijii on Aug 13, 2018 19:08:52 GMT
Seen from recent TCM DVR'd airing
This biopic of Grover Cleveland Alexander is really much better than I remember. It is a good baseball movie and actually, Ronald Reagan, Doris Day, and Frank Lovejoy form a "winning team" here. There is also a lot of archival footage in the movie too. As in other baseball movies, this adds to the story. Grover Cleveland Alexander was one of the greatest pitchers of the 1910s and 1920s, and he also served in WWI during his career. He won the pitching Triple Crown three times!!!! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland_Alexander
Funny (maybe true) story: While President, Reagan once (jokingly) said something like, "Oh, of course I know who Grover Cleveland was. I played him in a movie once."
Grover Cleveland Alexander (Ronald Reagan): You must be so tired, Dear! Aimee Alexander (Doris Day): Why should I be tired? Grover Cleveland Alexander : I've been stealing strength from you all season - every game, every pitch. Without you there, I couldn't have done any of it. God must think a lot of me. He's given me you.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
@Deleted
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2018 21:04:24 GMT
The Last two movies i finished was Bring it On (2000) and Pitch Perfect (2012)
Average movies really nothing special about them.
|
|
|
Post by jeffersoncody on Aug 14, 2018 8:58:55 GMT
PIN CUSHION (2017). Rating: 8 out of 10. Recommended.
|
|
|
Post by teleadm on Aug 14, 2018 17:14:02 GMT
The African Queen 1951, directed by John Huston, based on a novel by C.S. Forester, staring Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, Robert Morley, Peter Bull, Theodore Bikel, Walter Gotell and others. Adventure, Drama, Romance and Comedy on a river in German East Africa at the outbreak of what is now called World War One. With two dimensionally different stars with great personalties and enourmous star power this shouldn't go wrong, and it doesn't. Both stars is so well balanced that one doesn't overpower the other. Looking at it now when one knows that it was dolls that was on the boat when it went down the streamier parts of the river one can easily see it's dolls. It doesn't take away the enjoyment of seeing this movie at all, even if the available copy in Sweden isn't top notch. Nominated for four Oscars, Humphrey Bogart won the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar, nominated too was Katherine Hepburn for Best Actress in a Leading Role, John Huston for Best Director and John Huston and James Agee for Best Writing, Screenplay.
|
|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Aug 14, 2018 17:21:52 GMT
Watched Trolls(2016), didn't really want to see it but it turned out to be far superior to what I was expecting. It's very funny and full of fun music, the trolls are cute and what more could you want?
|
|
|
Post by kijii on Aug 15, 2018 16:13:50 GMT
Seen on TCM
Because 1939 is so often considered the best year for great classical movies, this movie may have been lost in the shuffle. I consider it a great movie of a very good drama with excellent detail in the way it unfolds. Aside from the fact that the three main characters (played by Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power, and George Brent) were never “oscared,” the cast has several character performers who had, or would, receive Oscar nominations for other movies: Maria Ouspenskaya, Joseph Schildkraut, Jane Darwell, Marjorie Rambeau, Henry Travers, and H.B. Warner. And, these performers help to enrich this well-presented story. [Interestingly, Maria Ouspenskaya was nominated the same year for Leo McCarey' Love Affair (1939) in which she played a totally different type of character.] Love Affair (1939) The Rains Came (1939) This story, based on Louis Bromfield's novel, is set in 1938 during the British Raj of India. Unlike most other movies from this historical period, it is interesting in that there seemed to be some Indian rule within the country, with Brits, Indians, and Americans living together and understanding their respective roles within the Indian governing system: a British "social royalty" (the BEST families), an American Christian mission, and an Indian governance in Ranchipur. All three groups play important roles in the story presented in the movie. Tom Ransom (George Brent) and Lord and Lady Esketh (Nigel Bruce and Myrna Loy) are all “parts of the best families of England.” The American mission consists of the striving Simons (Marjorie Rambeau, Harry Hayden, and their daughter, Fern (Brenda Joyce) and the more down-to- earth Smileys (Henry Travers and Jane Darwell). The local Indian ruling class is the Maharani (Maria Ouspenskaya) and the Maharajah (H.B. Warner). But the hope of the future for India is represented by the young Indian doctor, Major Rama Safti (Tyrone Power). Fern wants to escape her boring life at the mission and awkwardly tries to pursue Tom Ransom to help her escape from her situation. Thomas 'Tom' Ransome (George Brent) : I hope I'm not keeping you from your guests. Fern Simon (Brenda Joyce) : Oh, they're not *my* guests. That's mother's idea of "high society." They're all excited because YOU'RE here. Thomas 'Tom' Ransome : Really? Should I be flattered? Fern Simon : They say dreadful things about you... Thomas 'Tom' Ransome : [playfully whispers] What sort of things? Fern Simon : That you're a drunkard, and a bounder, and a remittance man... They'll hang around you just the same, because your father was an earl.
Tom Ransom and Edwina Esketh (former lovers) meet at the palace of the Maharani, and Edwina (unhappy in her marriage) proclaims her interest in Saftii. Lady Edwina Esketh : [Noticing a handsome Indian man at a nearby table] Who's the pale copper Apollo? Thomas 'Tom' Ransome : Major Safti. Lady Edwina Esketh : Not bad - not bad at ALL. Thomas 'Tom' Ransome : Well, don't waste your time. He's a surgeon and a scientist. Any interest he *might* have in romance is purely biological. Lady Edwina Esketh : You make him sound even MORE exciting.
If one thinks of this movie as a two-act play, the first act is set up to introduce the characters and their social roles at this point. The second act starts after the rains come, an earthquake occurs, and a local outbreak of the plague as a result of the natural disasters. [There were some Oscar nominations for special effects for these scenes Best Effects, Special Effects Fred Sersen (photographic) Edmund H. Hansen (sound) ] In the second act, we see a behavioral evolution of the "character" and the characters. Relationships change... I think this a rich, wonderful, and well-directed movie that brings out some symbolism. I realize it had a color remake, The Rains of Ranchipur (1955). I plan to watch it also, but I don’t see who it can possibly beat this version. This movie reminds me more of the TV series, The Jewel in the Crown (1984) or the movie, A Passage to India (1984) than some of the other Anglo-Indian type movies (Kipling works, for example).
Full TCM synopsis with SPOILERS: Tom Ransome, a devil-may-care philanderer, has spent the last several years in India, embellishing his reputation and watching the rains come and go. Tom's reputation fascinates Fern Simon, the innocent young daughter of American missionaries, but Tom thinks of Fern as a young girl. During a party held at the Maharajah's palace, Tom is reunited with an old flame who is now Lady Edwina Esketh, having married the wealthy but borish Lord Esketh. Tom sees his own shallowness reflected in Edwina, and becomes alarmed when she decides to make a conquest of his friend, Major Rama Safti. However, the major's commitment to his work as a doctor makes him immune to Edwina's charms. Meanwhile, as the coming of the rains abates the heat, Tom begins to fall in love with Fern. Then, one night, disaster strikes the state of Ranchipur when an earthquake destroys the dams and releases flood waters that smash everything in their path. Lord Esketh perishes in the disaster, as does the Maharajah. The courageous Maharani then presses Tom into service as her aide-de-camp, and he asks Fern to join him. As a plague sweeps the city, the major fights valiantly to contain it, and Edwina volunteers to help in the hospital. Her selflessness causes the major to fall in love with her, but when she becomes a victim of the plague, he is unable to save her. The major finally vanquishes the plague, and as Tom and Fern are married, he ascends to the position of Maharajah of the rebuilt state, but faces a lonely future before him.
|
|
|
Post by teleadm on Aug 15, 2018 18:44:10 GMT
The Queen 2006, directed by Stephen Frears, screenplay by Peter Morgan, staring Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Alex Jennings, Roger Allam, Sylvia Syms and others. Historical drama concerning the royal family and the new prime minister and the crisis that erupted with the death of ex-Princess Diana. What is true and what is speculations, well nobody knows since what happens behind the locked doors of the British Royal Family, we can only speculate. Still this is a great movie with great acting of the highest order, and deservingly became a big box-office success, though I felt that Prince Philip was ridiculed, or maybe that is how he is. It's also a great reminder of that chaotic time after Diana's death 1997. Has it really gone 21 years since it happened? Helen Mirren won the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, and the movie was nominated in another five categories.
|
|
|
Post by mikef6 on Aug 16, 2018 3:43:26 GMT
kijii "The Winning Team" is my favorite baseball movie. I wrote a rather long review for the old boards about 11 years ago. I said, in part:
|
|
|
Post by mikef6 on Aug 16, 2018 3:52:22 GMT
Son Of Robin Hood / George Sherman (1958). Who can carry on the legacy of Robin Hood? Why, his son Deering. But when Deering arrives, the “son of Robin Hood” turns out to be *gasp* a GIRL! This is a tale for the kids’ matinee, but shot in Technicolor and Cinemascope. With June Laverick and David “Al” Hedison.
|
|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Aug 16, 2018 17:13:10 GMT
Dragonwyck (1946) with the gorgeous Gene Tierney, and the amazing Vincent Price, in a heartbreaking performance, never have I seen him like this. It's got Anne Revere, Walter Huston, Harry Morgan and Jessica Tandy too!
|
|
|
Post by Doghouse6 on Aug 16, 2018 18:32:24 GMT
Hopscotch (1980) When veteran CIA field agent Miles Kendig (Walter Matthau), clashing with new supervisor Myerson (a pompous and sputteringly profane Ned Beatty), is relegated to ignominious desk duty in the filing department, he instead "disappears" himself, going undercover and contriving to write a tell-all book, mailing chapters one by one to D.C., London, Moscow and other worldwide intelligence counterparts, assisted by former agent and erstwhile paramour Isobel von Schmidt (Glenda Jackson) and pursued by agency protege Joe Cutter (Sam Waterston) and Russian opposite number "frenemy" Mikhail Yaskov (Herbert Lom). As much fun as it is to imagine espionage agents as dashing and athletic James Bond or Jason Bourne types, Matthau - with all the romantic glamour of an old shoe, full of geniality and without apparent guile - is really more credible as the sort of unassuming, under-the-radar operatives real life is likely to offer, at home anywhere from Savannah to London to Munich to Salzburg, completely convincing as the experienced world traveler dealing easily and casually with border guards, passport forgers, gadget-builders and local officials. Always confidently one step ahead of those on his trail, the character Kendig benefits from every ounce of unaffected charm the actor Matthau possesses. When a lovely young pilot he's hired to fly him clandestinely to Bermuda remarks at the end of their journey, "You seem like a nice fella; you remind me of my father," he deadpans, "That's always been my problem." I give this delightful romp a viewing every 4 - 5 years - just enough time for the twists and turns of its clever unfoldings to become new again - and neither it nor the affable and comfortable Matthau (who owns this show in spite of the high-powered support) ever disappoint.
|
|
|
Post by kijii on Aug 17, 2018 6:51:24 GMT
Chained (1934) / Clarence Brown Rented for Streaming from Amazon Prime
Beginning to explore some Clarence Brown movies I haven't seen before, my search starts out with this thud. I can't imagine a less entertaining love triangle than this one. Here, shipping magnate, Richard I. Field (Otto Kruger), starts divorce proceedings against his wife in order to marry his secretary, Diane Lovering (Joan Crawford). But, before marrying Lovering, he wants her to make such that she really wants the marriage.
During and after the cruise, Lovering fails the test when she meets Mike Bradley (Clark Gable) on the ship and falls in love with him. She then insists on going back to NYC to break the bad news to Field, in person, only to find out that Field had given up everything in his divorce to marry her.
Though there are some somewhat fun scenes with Gable and Crawford during their love affair, the plot is dismal and no one really wins in the end.
|
|
|
Post by teleadm on Aug 17, 2018 17:13:30 GMT
A Kiss Before Dying 1956, directed by Gerd Oswald (movie debut as director), based on a novel by Ira Levin, staring Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith, Joanne Woodward, Mary Astor, George Macready, Howard Petrie and others, originally made in Cinemascope. Crime drama about 25y/o student Bud Corliss (Wagner) who is wooing Dorothy Kingship (Woodward) and everything is fine, but when she tells him that she is pregnant he realises that his dreams of a come-uppance in society is crushed, his secret agenda is to be part her father's (Macready) copper mining fortunes, but when she suggests that they could live on love, he stages her suicide, and he succeeds (It's not a spoiler since it's in the original trailer!), but there is many loose ends that has to be eliminated. After a couple of months he has succeeded in becoming Dorothy's sisters (Leith) boyfriend... in the plot there is also another murder, Bud's dotting mother (Astor) who he treats as lower trash, and a young professor (Hunter) with glasses and smoking pipe who is actually a police detective working undercover. This is not a bad movie, bad I can't help but feel that it could have been much better in the hands of a more experienced director, since it has a good story and great location shots from in and around Tucson, Arizona. Director Oswald had experience as second unit and assistant director on movies like Niagara 1953 and Prince Valiant 1954, but his only experience as a director was a TV version of The Ox-Bow Incident 1955, and then suddenly has to handle a Cinemascope movie, his direction is too flat. Woodward is good and very touching as the first girlfriend, as is Astor in her minor role. Wagner is too stiff and we never get to know how his mind works, it's a very demanding character to portray. Since Jeffrey Hunter's name is second in the titles sequenze we know that his role must be bigger than it appears in the first parts of the movie, though once it's revealed that he is actually a police detective there sould be no reason why he still plays that character in more or less every scene, and why was he working undercover at that university (?), well, we never get to know, was he following another case (?), we never get to know. Anyway it's still not a bad movie. Lots of old 1950s cars for those who love that too. In Sweden this movie was banned! I haven't seen the 1991 remake so I don't know if that picture captured Ira Levin's story better.
|
|
|
Post by kijii on Aug 18, 2018 0:48:47 GMT
Something for the Birds (1952) / Robert Wise Viewed from DVD
The subject of this movie is really more topical today than it might have been when it was released. It covers the subjects of political phonies, 'Admiral' Johnnie Adams (Edmund Gwenn), D.C. lobbyists, Steve Bennett (Victor Mature), and environmentalists, Anne Richards (Patricia Neal), trying to fight off large corporations who want to push gas lines through bird wildlife refuges. The cast is good, the idea is good, but the movie never quite hits the comedy tone I would have hoped for.
The movie is certainly helped along with by having Edmund Gwenn in the cast. But, if that is what you want to win you over to a good comedy, I can think of several of his movies that are more convincing. My favorite Gwenn comedies are Pretty Baby (1950), Apartment for Peggy (1948), Mister 880 (1950), and of course, Miracle on 34th Street (1947), and this is not as good as any of those. This movie has its moments, but all the elements of a good comedy fail to come together in winning way.
Anne Richards (Patricia Neal) : Politics is too important to be left to the politicians.
'Admiral' Johnnie Adams (Edmund Gwenn): You know, there's so much confusion in Washington, that if you only seem to know what you're doing, you can get away with anything.
'Admiral' Johnnie Adams : You know how it is in Washington - the more you deny something, the more everybody believes it.
|
|