Last Movie You Watched

[Bogey]

Today, I received a handful of BD replacements for DVDs - tonight, watched the two below:

Petrified Forest, The (1936) w/ Leslie Howard & Bette Davis; Bogart in one of his early defining roles - wonderful restoration, 4.8/5 for video & 4.5/5 for audio (HERE) - cannot emphasize the remarkable AV restoration of this film - and Bogey in one of his 'break-throught' roles, and a great collection of character actors.



 

This one holds up for the era.  Great design IMO.

Got that BD in the Gangsters set and have been saving it for dessert, Dave.  Glad to hear you agreed with the restoration reviews I have seen.

Thread duty:

[Ken B]

Today, I received a handful of BD replacements for DVDs - tonight, watched the two below:

Petrified Forest, The (1936) w/ Leslie Howard & Bette Davis; Bogart in one of his early defining roles - wonderful restoration, 4.8/5 for video & 4.5/5 for audio (HERE) - cannot emphasize the remarkable AV restoration of this film - and Bogey in one of his 'break-throught' roles, and a great collection of character actors.

Rio Grande (1950) w/ John Wayne & Maureen O'Hara - part of the John Ford trilogy, so a MUST have if you're into that collection - again, the blu-ray restoration is well done, i.e. 4.2/5 for both video & audio (HERE) - if you're into this trilogy, then another MUST consideration - Dave

 

Bogart only got that role because Leslie Howard insisted. Warners fought the idea.

Howard btw had the reputation as Hollywood's greatest seducer.

[SonicMan46]

Bogart only got that role because Leslie Howard insisted. Warners fought the idea.

Howard btw had the reputation as Hollywood's greatest seducer.

Hi Ken - I can certainly imagine that being true - Bogie just 'exploded' on the scene after that film - Leslie Howard was an extremely attractive and seductive actor - his roles in Of Human Bondage, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Pygmalion, & Gone w/ the Wind are just some examples of his allure - died @ the age of 50 y/o in 1943 over the Bay of Biscay, likely shot down by the Germans - Dave

[SonicMan46]

Last few nights, some more BD replacements for my DVDs - these are all well rated films so will not make my usual comments - check the Blu-ray Site for comments about the restorations - some outstanding movies - Dave

   

[Bogey]

Watched again.   I know this was Bogie's marking role.  I believe this is the one that had other actors sneaking over to the set to see him do his thing.  But hey, we would be remiss and forgetting Bette Davis.  The more of her movies I take in, the bigger fan I become. 

[Linus]

But hey, we would be remiss and forgetting Bette Davis.  The more of her movies I take in, the bigger fan I become.

Same here. I'll come off as a dilettante, but I honestly can't think of a better actress throughout the history of film.

Got any favourite performance of hers?

[Bogey]

Same here. I'll come off as a dilettante, but I honestly can't think of a better actress throughout the history of film.

Got any favourite performance of hers?

Indeed:



 

[Linus]

I love her in All about Eve too. As of late, my favourite of hers is probably The Letter; she owns that film so completely I can't remember who else was in it or what they did.

[listener]

a minor entry in the Shaw library, THE YOUNG REBEL, one of two films directed by prolific actor Ti Lung.
David Chiang stars as the title character, a troublesome youth named Xiang Rong who is forced to get a job to support his mother and sister after his father dies. His friend Gen Lai (Ti Lung) lands him a job delivering groceries, but Xiang frequently quarrels with his new boss. After two years of this, Xiang's run-in with bullying thugs leads him to learn kung fu. Driven by his inner demons, Xiang advances far beyond his fellow students at the gym. But seeing his aggressive tendencies, his master (played by Simon Yuen) asks him to leave. One fateful grocery run leads Xiang to the thugs' boss (Lo Dik) and a new high-paying job as an enforcer. But when Xiang is asked to kill, he finds himself in over his head with his mother threatened and the only way out is to fight. There's an unexpected cameo by Sammo Hung..

[Beaumarchais]

Gregory Peck stars as the big game hunter in this adaptation of Hemingway's story, who is dying from an infection caught while trying to get close to group of hippopotami ( it may sound pretentious but I am definitely not going to say hippopotamuses ) and is awaiting an aircraft to lift him back to civilisation.
Lying on his makeshift bed he can see vultures gathering in a nearby tree while his girlfriend Susan Hayward tends to his infected leg. As he drifts in and out of delirium, he sees episodes from his life in flashback: as a writer in 1920s Paris, a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War or as an international celebrity novelist still pining for his lost love Ava Gardner. Directed by Henry King, a usually reliable if somewhat pedestrian director, the film retains a 1950s ambience despite its overall time span. To use Dr. Johnson's famous phrase, it's worth seeing but not worth going to see.

[SonicMan46]

Still watching my 'burned' DVD collection and toward the end of the 'S' movies - last few nights the ones below:

Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) w/ Barbara Stanwyck & Burt Lancaster - film noir drama w/ Stanwyck in one of her best roles as an hysterical 'mental cripple' w/ only a telephone to communicate - highly recommended if you've not seen this film - she claimed that her hair started to turn gray after this performance? Secondary great roles w/ Ed Begley & William Conrad.

Sounder (1972) w/ Cicely Tyson & Paul Winfield about a strong family of Black sharecroppers in Louisiana in 1933 - Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor/Actress - again, highly recommended.

Southern, The (1945) w/ Zachary Scott and Betty Field & some great supporting actors; Jean Renoir, director - about a poor southern farmer and probably one of Scott's best films.

Spellbound (1945) w/ Ingrid Bergman & Gregory Peck; Alfred Hitchcock, director - a psychiatrist (Bergman) protects the identity of an amnesia patient (Peck) accused of murder while attempting to recover his memory. A must see!  Dave

 

 

[Ken B]

Not saw, drove


The real actual African Queen lives in Key Largo these days. You can ride and steer it. The better half and I did just that.

So also therefore

[TheGSMoeller]

I love Key Largo. My favorite of the Bogey/Bocall films.

[SonicMan46]

A movie out this afternoon at our downtown independent theater:

Mr. Turner (2014) w/ Timothy Spall in a bioptic of the English romantic artist J.M.W. Turner - excellent portrayal of the artist as a kind of grumpy character - Spall was great in the role and apparently studied painting for 2 years before the film was made.  Synopsis below from Rotten Tomatoes; rating there 98% w/ the critics, but 60% w/ the audience; IMDB, 7.0/10 - long film @ 2 1/2 hrs - not enough ratings yet on Amazon but I would certainly do 4*/5*; however, I've been an art fan since my undergrad days and have seen many of Turner's paintings in various museums in the USA & in Europe.  The scenery is extremely beautiful and worth seeing the film on a big screen.  Dave

This film explores the last quarter century of the great if eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Profoundly affected by the death of his father, loved by a housekeeper he takes for granted and occasionally exploits sexually, he forms a close relationship with a seaside landlady with whom he eventually lives incognito in Chelsea, where he dies. Throughout this, he travels, paints, stays with the country aristocracy, visits brothels, is a popular if anarchic member of the Royal Academy of Arts, has himself strapped to the mast of a ship so that he can paint a snowstorm, and is both celebrated and reviled by the public and by royalty.

 

[kishnevi]

That Turner tempts.

Anyone hear familiar with this vendor?
http://www.ccvideo.com/
Found their snail mail catalogue at the laundromat this morning.

[Bogey]

Not saw, drove


The real actual African Queen lives in Key Largo these days. You can ride and steer it. The better half and I did just that.

So also therefore

Coolness!

[Bogey]

TCM today.  Some other shots that impressed me.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

The only problem with Psycho is that the plot twist in the end has become so well known it has sometimes hard time shocking audiences the same way it did back in 1960. I mean the reveal in the end is up there with "Rosebud" and "I am your father" with the most well known reveals in cinema history. Although nevertheless, those movies still shock me in their respective scenes even though I have known them for so long. They are so well made.

[TheGSMoeller]

The only problem with Psycho is that the plot twist in the end has become so well known it has sometimes hard time shocking audiences the same way it did back in 1960. I mean the reveal in the end is up there with "Rosebud" and "I am your father" with the most well known reveals in cinema history. Although nevertheless, those movies still shock me in their respective scenes even though I have known them for so long. They are so well made.

I agree, Alberich. It's the sign of a well constructed film. Solid writing and directing. Many films, mostly more recent, rely on a twist ending or resolution to define the entire story. The Sixth Sense is an example I like to reference. I for one didn't enjoy the film, and a main reason is because once the shocking twist is revealed it makes the previous 90+ minutes obsolete in my mind, because those previous scenes were never really that interesting or compelling, the story was simply riding along in search of that shocking finale, while never offering anything substantial along the way. I feel that some films are written backwards, with a great twist composed initially and then trying to fill in the blanks to lead up to that great twist. The films, or twists that you mentioned above are examples of great stories that can be enjoyed all the way through regardless of knowing the ending.

[Wakefield]

Tarkovsky: The Sacrifice

"The Sacrifice" is not the sort of movie most people will choose to see, but those with the imagination to risk it may find it rewarding. Everything depends on the ability to empathize with the man in the movie, and Tarkovsky refuses to reach out with narrative tricks in order to involve us. Some movies work their magic in the minds of the audience; this one stays resolutely on the screen, going about its urgent business and leaving us free to participate only if we want to.

That is the meaning of a sacrifice, isn't it - that it is offered willingly?

-- Roger Ebert