Last Movie You Watched

[James]

Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) a programmer at a huge Internet company, wins a contest that enables him to spend a week at the private estate of Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac), his firm's brilliant CEO. When he arrives, Caleb learns that he has been chosen to be the human component in a Turing test to determine the capabilities and consciousness of Ava (Alicia Vikander), a beautiful robot. However, it soon becomes evident that Ava is far more self-aware and deceptive than either man imagined.

[asin]B00XI057M0[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

Purple Rain (1984) w/ Prince et al; ratings: 6.4/10, IMDB; 67%, Rotten Tomatoes; 4.5/5*, Amazon - saw this film on release and remember enjoying - own none of his music; Susan wanted to see what was 'up' w/ all of the news coverage he received on his recent death - she left the room about half way through, and I soon turned the film off - guess I've been listening to TOO MUCH classical music, old jazz, and pop singers from the last century - HA!    Dave

I had seen it new-ish, back when I was at Wooster, Dave.  A few years ago, the DVD was a remaindered item at the MFA book shop, so it was a cheap impulse/curiosity purchase.  I get Simon's point (fairly bad film with good music moments), but I don't like the music well enough to seek the album out on its own.

[Drasko]

[Bogey]

I had seen it new-ish, back when I was at Wooster, Dave.  A few years ago, the DVD was a remaindered item at the MFA book shop, so it was a cheap impulse/curiosity purchase.  I get Simon's point (fairly bad film with good music moments), but I don't like the music well enough to seek the album out on its own.

Ditto. 

[listener]

over the past couple of days
NIGHT PASSAGE     James Stewart, Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, Brandon de Wilde
James Neilson replacing Anthony Mann as director gives an unmistakable Universal touch in spite of the great photography.   Great process work using footage on the Durango & Silverton RR
THE MERMAID 2016 production from Stephen Chow  comedy-fantasy with eco-message (keep the waters clean).    I should have realized the quick release here would be a pirate copy, that's pretty obvious from the low-grade visual quality and the missing credits.  But cheap price gets me a spare case when I get a legit copy.    Not a 3-D copy.

[Bogey]

over the past couple of days
NIGHT PASSAGE     James Stewart, Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, Brandon de Wilde
James Neilson replacing Anthony Mann as director gives an unmistakable Universal touch in spite of the great photography.   Great process work using footage on the Durango & Silverton RR

I have not seen this one, but with your Mann comparison (which puts your street cred up a number of notches ) I would love to see the film and compare as well.  Excellent post!

[SonicMan46]

For jazz fans, a couple of new films are now in the theaters; their subjects are Miles Davis & Chet Baker - yesterday, we saw the one about Davis at our downtown Indie theater:

Miles Ahead (2015) w/ Don Cheadle & Ewan McGregor; Don Cheadle, director & screenwriter - he even learned to play the trumpet - reviews are mixed:  7.1/10, IMDB; 71%, Rotten Tomatoes - below part of a 'negative' review (link at end, if interested) which I selected because sums up some of my own thoughts.  This film is certainly worth seeing if a Miles fan; Cheadle's performance is excellent and I really enjoyed the atmospheric soundtrack, but will not purchase nor do I have a need to see again - no Amazon ratings at the moment, but I'd probably do a 3 1/2*/5* at the most.  Dave

Miles Ahead sounds like a great movie on paper. Don Cheadle, making his directorial debut, starring in a biopic of Miles Davis, featuring plenty of Davis' music. It's a longtime passion project for Cheadle—who even resorted to crowdfunding to get it completed.

But Miles Ahead is a mess. Rather than do anything to get at the essence of who Miles Davis was, the film focuses on a specific period late in Davis' life, engaging in a bunch of action-packed adventures that never actually happened. It's sort of mind-boggling. Miles Ahead, aside from a series of flashbacks, is set mostly in the late-1970s, during a fallow period in which a hobbled, drug-addled Davis isn't making music and wonders if he ever will again. Meanwhile, he pines for his long-ago wife (Emayatzy Corinealdi), who graced the cover of one of his early great albums (Source).

[SonicMan46]

I have not seen this one, but with your Mann comparison (which puts your street cred up a number of notches ) I would love to see the film and compare as well.  Excellent post!

I'm w/ Bill, don't believe that I've seen Night Passage w/ Stewart & Murphy; now, I've seen most of those Mann/Stewart westerns and own a handful; so, will look out for this one on TCM (does not seem to be an Amazon streamer at the moment).  Dave

[listener]

My reference to Universal in the NIGHT PASSAGE remarks is not a complimentary one, the film looks much better than their usual product.

[Scion7]

[Bogey]

My favorite all time Bond film!

[Karl Henning]

My favorite all time Bond film!

She had her kicks.

Thread Duty:

Obviously not for the first time, but the first time on Blu-ray, The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Obviously not for the first time, but the first time on Blu-ray, The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Sad to say, I haven't seen that yet. At the risk of asking a stupid question: is it as good as they say?

[Drasko]

[James]

College student Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) returns home after his father has a stroke. When he discovers a severed ear in an abandoned field, Beaumont teams up with detective's daughter Sandy Williams (Laura Dern) to solve the mystery. They believe beautiful lounge singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) may be connected with the case, and Beaumont finds himself becoming drawn into her dark, twisted world, where he encounters sexually depraved psychopath Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper).

[asin]B005HT400A[/asin]

[SonicMan46]

Tonight, a couple of films on my DVR from the TCM channel and both new to me:

H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941) w/ Robert Young, Hedy Lamarr, & Ruth Hussey - first synopsis quoted below; ratings: 7.1/10, IMDB; 67%, Rotten Tomatoes (audience); 4.8/5*, Amazon - enjoyable film w/ Young quite good - Lamarr & Hussey beautiful - I'd do 4* on Amazon - recommended.

The Big Clock (1948) w/ Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, & Maureen O'Sullivan - second synopsis below; ratings: 7.7/10, IMDB; 100%, Rotten Tomatoes (6 critics); 4.2/5*, Amazon - this is an excellent film - at least 4* for me on Amazon - if you like these types film noir pictures and the two main male actors, then highly recommended.  Dave

Based on the novel by J.P. Marquand, H.M. Pulham, Esq., stars Robert Young as a successful but stuffy Boston businessman. The glimmer of sadness in Young's eyes indicates that his ascension to the top was not without its cost. In flashbacks, we see how Young considered changing the track his life was on in order to marry Hedy Lamarr. After marrying his wife, however, the man never strays. The film utilizes the Strange Interlude approach of interior monologues heard on the soundtrack, and anticipates Citizen Kane (which hadn't yet been released when Pulham was filmed) by building its entire narrative on the flashback structure. H.M. Pulham, Esq. contains what may well be Robert Young's best performance.........

Anticipating a much-needed vacation from Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton), his abusive boss, magazine editor George Stroud (Ray Milland) finally reaches a breaking point when Janoth insists he skip his honeymoon and go out of town on assignment. Stroud resigns and finds solace over multiple drinks with his boss' unhappy mistress, Pauline York (Rita Johnson), at a local bar. Together they come up with a half-inebriated plot to embarrass Janoth -- but the plan takes an unexpected turn toward murder.

 

[Scion7]

[listener]

a Russ Meyer film from 1966 (50th Anniversary viewing, I guess) b&w with strong female leads, no nudity but tight clothing on pneumatic bodies.  FASTER PUSSYCAT...KILL! KILL!
Commentary by Meyer elevates this to a learning session, if one is interested in his oeuvre.

[Karl Henning]

Sad to say, I haven't seen that yet. At the risk of asking a stupid question: is it as good as they say?

I think it is.  And (not surprisingly), though I've seen it a few times before, I got yet more out of it this latest viewing. For me, the weakest element is (and maybe this is ironic, since the song became a huge hit) Doris Day's vocal delivery, which at moments can seem a hybrid of Ethel Merman, and a train whistle which has nothing more to lose.  I almost laughed audibly when, immediately after singing the line "I answered tenderly," KA-POW sera sera!  There is a reason why she sings loud at the end, to be sure;  but I think she's even rather heavy-handed at the initial set-up of the song as an element of the story, in the privacy of their hotel room.  But (the long explanation notwithstanding) that is nothing at all serious against the movie, which remains a favorite of mine.

(Well, okay, another arguable weakness:  the apparent process shots in the Marrakesh marketplace.  For me, it really just underscores the excellence of the overall endeavor, that I have these niggly cavils.)

Thread Duty:  Last night again (though, likewise, the first time on Blu-ray), The Trouble With Harry.  Gosh, but this is good fun.

[Bogey]

TOP....I mean, TOP shelf stuff!