Last Movie You Watched

[SonicMan46]

Spielberg Films - Top 30 as ranked by Rotten Tomatoes HERE - table attached (click to enlarge) - I've seen all but 3 or 4 of these films and own about a dozen (most in the top 20 of this listing); 3 others receiving 'rotten rankings' at the bottom of the link include 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park', '1941', and 'Hook'.

Of course, there are other rankings that would likely re-order these movies, but for this listing, I'm pretty much in agreement although wife and I were not big fans of 'The Fabelmans' or  'West Side Story', plus one of my favorites '....Last Crusade' w/ Hairston & Connery as father-son I'd like to see somewhat higher in the ranking.  Finally, I need to re-watch 'Catch Me If You Can' - remember enjoying that one but never made a purchase nor a re-watch.  Dave

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Mr. Harrigan's Phone:




A young boy goes to work for a wealthy old man a number of times each week. The boy reads to the man and they build up a relationship over the years. The boy teaches the older man how to use a mobile phone and the internet. The boy begins to experience problems at school with bullying. The old man dies suddenly and at the funeral service the boy slips the mobile phone into the man's pocket as a gesture of affiliation. The boy gets a message one day from the dead man's phone....

I'll have to see if I can borrow that movie; when I googled it, I found out that it was a story by a certain favorite writer of mine. 

PD

[aligreto]

I'll have to see if I can borrow that movie; when I googled it, I found out that it was a story by a certain favorite writer of mine. 

PD

I think that the time spent on the hunt for it will be time well spent. 

[George]

Funny guy.

[Todd]

Funny guy.

Loved the bit about the wife being in charge of home improvement.

[George]

Loved the bit about the wife being in charge of home improvement.

Yeah and when they asked him "is your husband here?" 

[VonStupp]

Fox and the Hound (1981)
Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell
Jack Albertson, Pearl Bailey, Sandy Duncan

Following The Rescuers, F&H uses 'stars' of the decade and music of its time to date the film, although this one improves upon the predecessor somewhat. Still a little on the gritty side story-wise.

I also confused Pearl Bailey and Minnie Pearl from the opening credits, but was immediately put on notice when Bailey's character sang at the opening scene! 

VS

[VonStupp]

The Black Cauldron (1985)
Nigel Hawthorne, John Hurt, John Huston

A dark fantasy from Disney.

I wonder if they were attempting to compete with the Rankin & Bass Tolkien films, or the Last Unicorn, Secret of Nihm Don Bluth style animation movies. Also some strange Wizards-type bosom jokes that seem out of place for Disney.

The Elmer Bernstein score was a surprise too. The dark moments had that Ghostbusters theremin sound while the more upbeat parts were distinctly Stripes.

VS

[Karl Henning]

The Black Cauldron (1985)
Nigel Hawthorne, John Hurt, John Huston

A dark fantasy from Disney.

I wonder if they were attempting to compete with the Rankin & Bass Tolkien films, or the Last Unicorn, Secret of Nihm Don Bluth style animation movies. Also some strange Wizards-type bosom jokes that seem out of place for Disney.

The Elmer Bernstein score was a surprise too. The dark moments had that Ghostbusters theremin sound while the more upbeat parts were distinctly Stripes.

VS

Most curious!

[Karl Henning]

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I think that the time spent on the hunt for it will be time well spent. 

Found out that it's only currently available online (Netflix).  Will do my best to file away the idea of eventually renting it (I imagine that it will be released on DVD considering as to who wrote the story)--hopefully in a part of my brain that will still be accessible to me! 

PD

p.s.  Have you read the story by the way?  Wonder whether it differs much?

[Karl Henning]

Ebert's contrarian take is of interest, I thought:

[JBS]

The Black Cauldron (1985)
Nigel Hawthorne, John Hurt, John Huston

A dark fantasy from Disney.

I wonder if they were attempting to compete with the Rankin & Bass Tolkien films, or the Last Unicorn, Secret of Nihm Don Bluth style animation movies. Also some strange Wizards-type bosom jokes that seem out of place for Disney.

The Elmer Bernstein score was a surprise too. The dark moments had that Ghostbusters theremin sound while the more upbeat parts were distinctly Stripes.

VS

...and I would assume it was based on this series by Lloyd Alexander--which I don't think I've ever read because I confused it with the series by Evangeline Walton, which I did read when I was 13 or so.

The Walton made a strong impression on me; if you've never read I recommend it if you can find it. [It seems to OOP and priced accordingly, unlike the Alexander.

[LKB]

I've always liked Tim Burton's Batman, mostly for Nicholson's Joker and Elfman's score ( I've always thought that Mr. Keaton has always seemed a bit too " normal " to be a credible Caped Crusader ).

[Madiel]

...and I would assume it was based on this series by Lloyd Alexander--which I don't think I've ever read because I confused it with the series by Evangeline Walton, which I did read when I was 13 or so.

The Walton made a strong impression on me; if you've never read I recommend it if you can find it. [It seems to OOP and priced accordingly, unlike the Alexander.

It is indeed based on one of the Lloyd Alexander books. I have fond memories of that series. I'm not certain that I ever watched the movie however. My recollection is that reviews were middling. VS is currently going through a bleak period of Disney films where they weren't really having any big successes.

[aligreto]

p.s.  Have you read the story by the way?  Wonder whether it differs much?

I have not read the story, PD, so I can offer no comparison.

[Fëanor]

Gads!! I remember reading those Walton books many, many years ago.

[George]

First time seeeing this, only about halfway through. Will get to see the rest over the weekend.

[Karl Henning]

First time seeeing this, only about halfway through. Will get to see the rest over the weekend.

I look forward to your report. I really enjoy Washington, yet I've missed this thus  far.

[aligreto]

The Boat:





This is quite a surreal, single actor film. A Maltese fisherman encounters an abandoned yacht on his daily run. He boards the abandoned yacht and his adventures begin. His trial becomes one of endurance and mental strength. If you are looking for something different then this is for you. I enjoyed it.