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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Dec 12, 2018 23:38:04 GMT
Legend of the Lost (1957). Directed by Henry Hathaway, with John Wayne, Sophia Loren, Rossano Brazzi.
This one plays on the MGM HD channel - I've seen it several times already. Pretty decent adventure pic that takes place in the Sahara desert, filmed on actual locations around Tripoli, Libya.
This one pretty much bombed with critics, maybe because John Wayne and especially Sophia Loren seem a bit out of place at times. With me, at times I felt like I was seeing them as "big movie star," not so much as the character they were supposed to be portraying. But other than that, it's an interesting story with good dialogue and superb cinematography (it was filmed in Technicolor and wide-screen Technirama by renowned cinematographer Jack Cardiff). It looks great in the HD format on the MGM channel.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Dec 13, 2018 0:38:12 GMT
Legend of the Lost (1957). Directed by Henry Hathaway, with John Wayne, Sophia Loren, Rossano Brazzi.
This one plays on the MGM HD channel - I've seen it several times already. Pretty decent adventure pic that takes place in the Sahara desert, filmed on actual locations around Tripoli, Libya.
This one pretty much bombed with critics, maybe because John Wayne and especially Sophia Loren seem a bit out of place at times. With me, at times I felt like I was seeing them as "big movie star," not so much as the character they were supposed to be portraying. But other than that, it's an interesting story with good dialogue and superb cinematography (it was filmed in Technicolor and wide-screen Technirama by renowned cinematographer Jack Cardiff). It looks great in the HD format on the MGM channel.
I love this film. It makes few demands upon the viewer, yet imparts a mythic, contemplative quality that - to borrow a phrase from myself in another post on a different thread - is epic on an intimate scale. The Duke is still The Duke, but it's refreshing to see him in this unfamiliar milieu. And indeed, it's stunning on MGM HD in Technirama, which went VistaVision one better with anamorphic optics applied to a horizontally-exposed negative for a wider aspect ratio. A very enjoyable example of 1950s visual splendor and sweeping style.
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Post by kijii on Dec 13, 2018 7:00:16 GMT
Sounder (1972) / Martin Ritt Owned after buying from Amazon Prime
This is one of the final 3 movies of my Martin Ritt viewing quest (all of which I have seen before). Every time I see this great movie, it amazes me as if I had never seen it before, but I have, three times at least. Based on William H. Armstrong's novel. it was nominated for 4 Oscars: Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Lonne Elder III), Best Actor (the late Paul Winfield), Best Actress (the 94-year-old Cicely Tyson), and Best Picture (produced by Robert B. Radnitz).
Set during the depths of the Great Depression in 1933 Louisiana, this movies tells us the story of a poor black sharecropper, Nathan Lee Morgan (Paul Winfield), his indefatigable wife (Cicely Tyson), their three children, and their dog, Sounder, from which the movies gets its name. It also presents a great coming of age movie of the eldest son, David Lee Morgan (Kevin Hooks), a wonderful father/son relationship, and a story of hope for a better life. Like so many of Martin Ritt's movies, this one just tells a simple story, take it for what it is worth to you.
I love the father/son relationship, the way that David Lee looks up to his father and the way the father, Nathan Lee, treats his son, including him in coon and possum hunting at night with their dog, Sounder. Times are tough and the father is trying to get meat on the table for his family. Finally, the father does steal meat from a white neighbor. He is caught and sent to jail, leaving David Lee as the "man of the family." With his father sent to jail and his mother not allowed to visit him, David Lee visits him with a chocolate cake baked by his mother. Later, at his trial, the father is sentenced to one year of labor at a far away work farm at an unspecified location. But again, the mother has to depend on her son--with the help of a kind white woman, Mrs. Boatwright (Carmen Mathews), who gives her laundry & ironing to Mrs. Morgan for some extra money--to help her find out where the work farm is and try to see the father.
During his long trek to find his father, David Lee comes upon a progressive black elementary school--with a kind teacher, Camille Johnson (Janet MacLachlan), and inquisitive students--his mother had told him that if he needed help during the trek, he should only stop at schools and churches, not stranger's houses. The school and teacher (with all of her books about black history) open up a whole new world to this poor son of a sharecropper.
But still, his mother and family are left to "bring in the crop" during the father's prison sentence. The work is hard and backbreaking, but the mother preserves because she HAS to (just has his father did what he had to do). All these factors leave David Lee and his family with a dilemma. What about that progressive school that might open David Lee's life to new horizons?
Full TCM Synopsis with SPOILERS: In Louisiana in 1933, the Morgan family, Nathan Lee, Rebecca and children David Lee, Earl and Josie Mae, suffers the myriad deprivations of the Depression, barely surviving by sharecropping for demanding store owner Mr. Perkins. Early one evening, Nathan takes David and their beloved dog Sounder to hunt raccoon for dinner. Nathan's shot misses its target, however, and although he is angry and depressed that once again there will be no meat on the family table, Rebecca responds to the news with customary composure. Later, Rebecca reminds Nathan they have been through other tough times, but he bitterly wonders why they toil ceaselessly to make Perkins richer. In the morning, Rebecca finds sausage and ham in the kitchen, and cooks it without a word. After the thrilled children eat their fill, she mildly asks Nathan where he was the previous night, and he responds, "I did what I had to do." David attends school, where he and the other few black children in the class must sit in the back row. Later, the children bring Mrs. Rita Boatwright her laundry, which Rebecca, who takes in laundry to supplement the family's income, has washed. The kindly white woman lends David her copy of The Three Musketeers and offers to discuss it with him. The children then rush to the sugar cane fields, where the men are playing baseball, in time to see Nathan pitch a winning game. On the walk home they celebrate with family friends Ike and Harriet, but upon reaching their home, are distressed to see Sheriff Charlie Young and his deputy waiting there. Young brusquely arrests Nathan for stealing the ham from a neighbor's smokehouse, and leads him off to jail in handcuffs. When Sounder, barking loudly, follows the truck, the deputy shoots him. Sounder limps off into the woods, and Rebecca holds tight to Earl and Josie Mae as David follows the wounded dog, but cannot locate him. Soon after, Rebecca goes to town to visit Nathan, leaving David in charge. As the children wait in tense silence, Rebecca walks miles in the heat to the jail, but despite her pleas, Young announces that black women are forbidden to visit their husbands in jail. While in town, she stops by Perkins' store to trade walnuts for ingredients to bake Nathan a cake. Perkins complains to Rebecca that Nathan has made him look bad, as he has been good to the family, and demands that she do the cropping on her own if Nathan is not home by spring. At the trial, Nathan is sentenced to one year of hard labor at a parish prison camp. Over the next days, while David searches for Sounder, Rebecca bakes the cake and has David bring it to Nathan. From his cramped cell, Nathan struggles to reach the high window for a glimpse of Rebecca, but cannot. He collects himself and shares the cake with David, then asks the boy not to return. In Nathan's absence, the family toils day and night to support themselves. At night, David reads The Three Musketeers to them, and on the weekends they attend church. After church one day, they are visited by the reverend, who reminds a skeptical Rebecca to take her troubles to the Lord. One night, Sounder returns. David ministers to him, and although the dog heals, he will not bark. After the sheriff refuses to inform Rebecca to which labor camp Nathan has been sent, David asks Mrs. Boatwright to find out for him. Young refuses to tell her the information, so after he leaves the office, she screws up her courage to spy in Nathan's file. Returning, Young catches her and declares that if she reveals Nathan's whereabouts to Rebecca, he will turn the entire parish against her. Outside, Mrs. Boatwright tells David that she did not see the name of the labor camp, but knowing that she is lying, he turns away wordlessly. Soon after, however, Mrs. Boatwright arrives at the house and announces the location of the labor camp to Rebecca, who cries with joy. The older woman teaches the family to read a map and pinpoints the location of the camp, and the next day, Rebecca sends David off with Sounder to find his father. Over many days, the boy travels through rain and sunshine, woods and fields, finally reaching the labor camp. There, however, no one will talk to him for fear of reprisal, and the foreman hits his hand with a pipe and chases him away. Dejected, David walks to a nearby schoolhouse, and inside is stunned to see that all the students are black. The young black teacher, Camille Johnson, invites him in and tends to his hand, and upon noting his fascination with the classroom, offers to put him up for the night. Her lovely home is filled with books, and Camille inspires David with tales of notable blacks in history and the writings of intellectuals such as W. E. B. Dubois. The next morning, in class, one boy tells a story of rescuing his sister from drowning, and although the other children doubt his veracity, David defends the boy, knowing that people can achieve the impossible when they are forced to do so. He sets off again for home, laden with books from Camille and hoping fervently to return. Rebecca welcomes him joyously, and although she knows that his returning to Camille's school will mean even more work for her, she agrees to consider it. Over the hot summer, they reap and process the sugar cane, and at the end of cropping season receive their meager payment. One afternoon as Rebecca is sewing, she hears Sounder suddenly bark and run off down the road, and realizes that at long last Nathan has returned. Shouting his name, she runs to meet him, and although he is limping, he drops his cane and rushes to her. The family embraces, weeping with joy. At dinner, Nathan explains that he was injured in a dynamite blast that rendered him unable to work and so was released early. David feels hugely relieved to have Nathan home, but when his father tries to work the next day, he collapses in pain, then bravely carries on. Later, a letter from Camille arrives for David, instructing him to arrive within the week. Nathan is pleased, but David announces that he will not leave his father's side. When Nathan shakes him in anger, declaring that he needs schooling like he needs "good air to breathe," David runs off. At Rebecca's urging, Nathan tracks David to the nearby pond and gently tells the boy that when he was wounded, he made up his mind to beat death, and now he wants David to beat the life that is in store for him. He promises to love David no matter where he is. Days later, David, dressed in a new suit, bids goodbye to his mother, sister and brother and sets out for his school, accompanied by his proud father.
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Post by nostromo on Dec 13, 2018 9:48:16 GMT
'The Guilty' (2018) A 90 minute tense thriller with basically a single actor in just one room. It focuses on a police call centre operative who receives a call that will potentially alter the course of his life. Think 'Locke', but about 20 times better, and no terrible accents. This is Director Gustav Möller's first feature, which is mightily impressive. To reel the audience in for the entire time takes a mighty effort script wise, and Möller pulls it off nicely. There are a few flaws in terms of the character's actions but it is a very fine first effort with a couple of twists and turns in the second half of the movie. The movie's themes touch on morals and assumptions, and perhaps nods to how we in the Western world perceive/judge others in an automatic fashion in a post truth age. The sound editing is also noticeably effective. 7.7/10
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Post by kijii on Dec 13, 2018 16:54:44 GMT
'The Guilty' (2018) A 90 minute tense thriller with basically a single actor in just one room. It focuses on a police call centre operative who receives a call that will potentially alter the course of his life. Think 'Locke', but about 20 times better, and no terrible accents. This is Director Gustav Möller's first feature, which is mightily impressive. To reel the audience in for the entire time takes a mighty effort script wise, and Möller pulls it off nicely. There are a few flaws in terms of the character's actions but it is a very fine first effort with a couple of twists and turns in the second half of the movie. The movie's themes touch on morals and assumptions, and perhaps nods to how we in the Western world perceive/judge others in an automatic fashion in a post truth age. The sound editing is also noticeably effective. 7.7/10 I'm wondering how Roger Ebert could have reviewed this movie..maybe it was made before and just released in the US?
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Post by teleadm on Dec 13, 2018 19:40:55 GMT
The Lion King 1994 Special Edition 2002, directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, voices by Mathew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Rowan Atkinson, Robert Guillaume, Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Madge Sinclair, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and others. Animation, Adventure, Drama, Musical, Comedy and the philosophy of Hakuna Matata. The story about Simba, a Lion cub crown prince, who is tricked by his treacherous uncle Scar into thinking he caused his father Mufasa's death, and flees into exile in despair, only to learn in adulthood his identity and his responsibilities. I watched the English speaking version. A Disney success that charmed and became a much loved movie, and it has managed to charm me too. With so many colourfull characters created for this film, Simba tends to be a bit on the boring side, but such a counterbalance is neccesary to keep the movie in balance so it won't tip over and become overwrought. With a great line-up of actors voicing many characters. Scar, voiced by Jeremy Irons, is a great Disney villain, Timon and Pumbaa, Laurel and Hardy of the Jungle, are great sidekicks with a heart who lives by the Hakuna Matata philosophy, and there are many more who do their little inputs. "Special Edition 2002" was an update and adjustment for IMAX, that included one song that wasn't in the original version, but mostly it was adjusting minor background characters and backgrounds to make a bigger depths in some scenes, and more water in a waterfall scenes, and righting some mistakes that would have been too obvious on the giant IMAX screen, and probably a few other technical details. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The movie won two Oscars, Best Music, Original Song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John and Tim Rice, and Best Music, Original Score by Hans Zimmer.
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Post by nostromo on Dec 13, 2018 21:57:21 GMT
'The Guilty' (2018) A 90 minute tense thriller with basically a single actor in just one room. It focuses on a police call centre operative who receives a call that will potentially alter the course of his life. Think 'Locke', but about 20 times better, and no terrible accents. This is Director Gustav Möller's first feature, which is mightily impressive. To reel the audience in for the entire time takes a mighty effort script wise, and Möller pulls it off nicely. There are a few flaws in terms of the character's actions but it is a very fine first effort with a couple of twists and turns in the second half of the movie. The movie's themes touch on morals and assumptions, and perhaps nods to how we in the Western world perceive/judge others in an automatic fashion in a post truth age. The sound editing is also noticeably effective. 7.7/10 I'm wondering how Roger Ebert could have reviewed this movie..maybe it was made before and just released in the US? How do you mean, sorry? Am I on the wrong forum section? Apologies if so, I only joined recently.
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Post by kijii on Dec 13, 2018 22:23:22 GMT
I'm wondering how Roger Ebert could have reviewed this movie..maybe it was made before and just released in the US? How do you mean, sorry? Am I on the wrong forum section? Apologies if so, I only joined recently. No. You are just fine. What I did was just plug the title of the film into the IMDb and watched the trailer. As I was watching the trailer it said "Stunning" RogerEbert.com. Since he has been dead for a few years, there may just be a reviewing site named after him.
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Post by teleadm on Dec 14, 2018 17:50:49 GMT
Kicking of my own Christmas movies season, where I follow the rules I myself has made up and follow as to what I consider to be a Christmas movie, Pure Christmas movies,movies that are not necessarly Christmas movies, but Christmas is part of the plot or have it's plot played out for a certain amount of time during the Yuletide seasons, or something like that. ! Donovan's Reef 1963, directed by John Ford, based on a story by James A. Michener (uncredited), staring John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Elizabeth Allen, Jack Warden, Cesar Romero, Dick Foran, Dorothy Lamour, Marcel Dalio, Mike Mazurki, Edgar Buchanan and others. Comedy that takes place in French Polynesia. Bar owner Donovan (Wayne) lives a free wheeling happy-go-lucky life on the islands that once was his rescue during WWII, with hs old army buddy and doctor (Warden), but everything changes when Donovan's old firend/enemy Gilhooley (Marvin) enters the island, and even worse when the good doctor's daughter (Allen) also comes to the islands because of a heritage of wealthy shipping company legal matters that has to be solved. Fistfights, barroom brawls, Christmas and hiding illegitimate children follows. First off, the movie was a box-office hit back when it was released and appealed to audiences. For a master like John Ford, it's a very sloppy affair, but with some great scenes and scenery (Hawaii). The parts with Jack Warden as the island-hopping doctor is great, a very funny and touching nativity scene is also great. The rest is very hit or miss, some are funny, some seems unnecessary (like a bar-room brawl with Australian Navy men that has no bearing to the story whatsoever), Marvin's character that is very important when the movie starts, is more or less moved down to only appear occassionally after about 30 minutes, and there is also the very male chauvinistic spanking a woman to obedience scene. I can't but wonder if anyone was sober during this production. Maybe it's because of all it's faults, with this cast and director, that I for some reason find it strangly appealing.
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Post by kijii on Dec 14, 2018 19:36:19 GMT
This is a re-post from June 3rd--Page 29 ---But may add a few things at the end as I am about to finish my Martin Ritt quest.Murphy's Romance (1985) / Martin Ritt Viewed from Amazon Prime rental
Somehow I had never thought of seeing this mid-80s movie until it was mentioned on this Board under a James Garner Appreciation Thread. Garner did great work throughout his TV career (with multiple Emmys, two top-rated TV series-- Maverick and The Rockford Files, and several TV movies) as well as appreciation for his multi-faceted movie career. However, this is the only movie for which he received an Oscar nomination after making such memorable movies as: Sayonara (1957) Cash McCall (1960) The Children's Hour (1961) Move Over, Darling (1963) with Doris Day The Americanization of Emily (1964) Mister Buddwing (1966) Grand Prix (1966) Victor Victoria (1982) It should be noted that Garner was recognized with a SAG Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005; was a was a Korean War veteran with 2 Purple Hearts; and he was married only once, his wife survived him after their 58-year marriage. I found the movie to be very good, showing both James Garner and Sally Field in their most natural settings and personas. Garner plays a likable but non-pushy single over-middle-aged guy living in a small Arizona town. Field plays a 30-something single mom with a preteen son (Corey Haim) arriving in that town and trying to survive by starting a horse boarding and training stable. The movie situation reminds one a bit of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) or The Goodbye Girl (1977) in terms of the single mom-after-divorce theme, yet it has a feeling all it's own too. There is a friendly but, under-the-surface tension between Garner and Field's divorced husband, played by Brian Kerwin, when The latter arrives on the scene trying to rekindle his old relationship with Field. Field, Garner, and Kerwin almost live as a threesome under one roof as the town gossips about it. Her son loves his dad but also likes Garner. This just can't last forever can it? Another element of this movie that now stands out for me is that in my last two Ritt quest movies--the other movie will be Cross Creek)--A divorced woman takes and chance "to make it on her own" and she makes it by herself before finding romance.--It takes a lot of courage to just go out there, just believing you can make it. I can almost imagine another "trilogy" building here: The Martin Ritt (Unusual Couples) Romance Triology:Cross Creek (1983) --based on a true story Murphy's Romance (1985)Stanley & Iris (1990)Pete 'n' Tillie (1972) might make it here, but I failed to see any real build up and the romance doesn't quite make it for me. Unusual relationship, yes--true romance, no. Murphy (James Garner)(at his surprise birthday party): My friends have overlooked my shortcomings, seen me through some dark days, and brightened up the rest of them. I'm glad to have them; I'm honored to have them; I'm lucky to have them.
Emma (Sally Field): Stay to supper, Murphy? Murphy (Jame Garner): I won't do that unless I'm still here at breakfast. Emma : How do you like your eggs?
Murphy (Jame Garner) : I'm in love for the last time in my life. Emma (Sally Field): I'm in love for the first time in my life.Wikpedia Plot Summary with possible SPOILERS:: Emma Moriarty (Sally Field) is a 33-year-old, divorced mother who moves to a rural Arizona town to make a living by training and boarding horses. She becomes friends with the town's druggist (pharmacist), Murphy Jones (James Garner), but a romance between them seems unlikely due to Murphy's age and because Emma allows her ex-husband, Bobby Jack Moriarty (Brian Kerwin), to move back in with her and their 12-year-old son, Jake (Corey Haim).
Emma struggles to make ends meet, but is helped by Murphy, an idiosyncratic widower who drives an otherwise immaculate antique automobile decorated with several political bumper slogan stickers Murphy terms his "causes". While refusing to help her outright with charity or personal loan, Murphy buys a horse and pays to board it with Emma, while encouraging others to do the same. He also introduces Emma to the town's local politicians and provides much-needed emotional support for Emma as well as Jake, who is looking for a father figure to emulate. A rivalry soon develops between Murphy and Bobby Jack. This contest of wills continues until a character shows up from Bobby Jack's recent past that surprises everyone, while forcing Murphy and Emma to reevaluate the nature of their relationship.
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Dec 14, 2018 19:48:59 GMT
Brass Target (1978). Directed by John Hough, with John Cassavetes, Max von Sydow, George Kennedy, Sophia Loren, Robert Vaughn, Patrick McGoohan, Edward Herrmann. DVR’d off of recent TCM telecast. First-time viewing.
Interesting, albeit a bit grim and convoluted (and hypothetical) conspiracy-theory story about events leading up to the death of U.S. Army General George S. Patton, Jr. (here played by George Kennedy, who actually served under Patton during WWII). Nazi gold, assassins, corrupt military officers, the Russians, the Mafia, the black market, skullduggery, even homosexuality are woven into this screwy tale.
In actuality, Patton died some days after being involved in what appears to have been a pretty simple car accident in Germany in December, 1945. Seeing how Gen. Patton was one of the more controversial and colorful military leaders in U.S. history, who - to put it mildly - made a few enemies along the way, it was only natural that conspiracy theories relating to his death were bound to spring up. This movie is one of them.
Nicely filmed on locations in Germany and Switzerland. The casting is a bit uneven (you’ll be scratching your head - or even rolling your eyes - at the appearance of Patrick McGoohan portraying an American Army colonel), but most of the film belongs to John Cassavetes and Max von Sydow who play off each other in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game, keeping it interesting.
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Post by vegalyra on Dec 14, 2018 21:07:52 GMT
Love Legend of the Lost, one of my favorite films in the Duke's library. One of the last or maybe the last American films shot in Libya. I also enjoy the soundtrack by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino. He also did the score for Colossus of Rhodes (among other sword and sandal films) which has that haunting sound as well. Recently finished La Notte. Very interesting film and well shot. I believe I enjoyed L'Avventura a bit better, but Marcello Mastroianni is wonderful as usual. I'm moving on to L'Eclisse tonight or tomorrow.
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Post by petrolino on Dec 14, 2018 21:20:37 GMT
'Virginia City' (1940) - Western set in 1864 in which a weakened Confederacy plots to raid a Yankee stronghold in Virginia City, Nevada, a boomtown where gold is being stashed. Director Michael Curtiz helmed the successful western 'Dodge City' (1939) and this was designed to be a follow-up. Various changes were made pre-production and the two films are very different. 'Virginia City' tells a tale of officers, rebels, spies and banditos.
"Don't you believe in predestination?"
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Dec 15, 2018 23:27:26 GMT
Protocol (1984). Directed by Herbert Ross, screenplay by Buck Henry. With Goldie Hawn, Chris Sarandon, Richard Romanus, Gail Strickland, et al. DVR'd from recent TCM telecast. First-time viewing for me.
Slightly silly movie about a ditzy Washington, D.C. waitress (Goldie Hawn) who, through random circumstances, inadvertently gets caught up in international politics involving the State Department and some sort of fictional Arab kingdom.
I mainly enjoyed some of the dialogue (not surprising, since Buck Henry, one of my favorite screenwriters, was behind the script). In one scene, Hawn's character, Sunny Davis, has this comment about the government people she's now working with: "They talk funny... they sound like they're saying things that they're not really saying, but I can't figure out what the hell it is."
Also: "Do you know what my dad says? He says that if you let a guy sell you a diamond ring for only ten cents, the chances are you own a diamond ring not worth a dime. Well, I bought the whole mine."
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Post by forca84 on Dec 15, 2018 23:53:26 GMT
"Smokey and the Bandit" on DVD... First time watch.
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Post by vegalyra on Dec 16, 2018 2:20:23 GMT
DR. NO
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Post by them1ghtyhumph on Dec 16, 2018 6:03:43 GMT
The Thomas Crown Affair. Great movie.
I hadn't seen it in awhile. I love the theme "The Windmills of Your Mind".
After having read about McQueen many, many times, as I watched the movie, I realized that his character may have been exactly as Steve felt about himself.
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Post by kijii on Dec 16, 2018 6:23:39 GMT
The Mule (2018) / Clint Eastwood Seen at the movies todayTo me honest--and why not be--this is just not up to Eastwood's best, often excellent, standards. In fact, it is no where near his best. Yes, he is an old man in a strange situation, but this movie is not funny, nor even charming. In fact, there is really nothing there to get hold of except the great cast that he has assembled: Dianne Wiest (with 2 Oscars) plays his ex-wife; Bradley Cooper (2 Oscar nominations) plays a DEA agent trying to impress his boss, Laurence Fishburne (1 Oscar nomination); and finally Andy Garcia (1 Oscar nomination) plays the head of the Mexican drug cartel for whom Clint Eastwood is working at the Mexican end of his travels.
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Dec 16, 2018 21:31:03 GMT
GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT 1973 -- This is about as traditional European as it gets--a basic knight coming of age story-I assume this had zero Hollywood financing. The knight fight scenes were well staged with distinctive armor designs and scenic locations. Nigel Green's last movie so I read, and he has a memorable philosophical role--ironic given his real life death. Since beards came up in another topic, this is the perfect film to illustrate that old view of "beardless youth" = weakness since Gawain's lack of facial hair is cited and contrasted by Green's gigantic hair! His head is a giant hairball!
The lead is kind of dull but I don't think this is a negative since the character is supposed to be something of a blank slate who is filled with experiences and he works very well in that regard. Ronald Lacey has a bad guy role and gets his hand burned by an amulet. Practice for Raiders of the Lot Ark? In fact, the ending makes me wonder if Lucas had seen the film since the Vader unmasking scene came to mind--although the point of the story is very different. While ROTJ is about the redemption of a bad character through father-son love, Gawain is strictly by the book coming of age warrior story--with the Green Knight representing an adversary at first, but later fulfillment of a wish to achieve maturity. Next time I want to illustrate differences between Hollywood and other depictions of male characters, I am going to cite this film for reference.
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Dec 17, 2018 0:05:54 GMT
A Few Good Men (1992). Directed by Rob Reiner, with Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Jack Nicholson, et al. DVR’d from TCM telecast.
I’ve seen this before, but it’s been a very long time since I last saw it. I still find it a compelling, thought-provoking story, with a great script and a humdinger of a courtroom drama ending. I do feel now, as I did the last time I saw it years ago, that some of the characters come across as more than a little cartoonish. Also, Tom Cruise looks so incredibly young in this… he seems even younger here than he did in Top Gun, made 6 years earlier!
I guess to that end, his age and appearance remind me of one of my favorite lines from the film. Tom Cruise’s character, U.S. Navy attorney Lt. Daniel Kaffee, is introduced to the aunt of one of the defendants (Aunt Ginny, played by Maude Winchester, who doesn’t look all that old). He tells her, somewhat ingratiatingly, “I’m sorry, I was expecting someone older.” Looking at him, she replies deadpan, “So was I.”
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