Last Movie You Watched

[Cato]

Ha!  I got the reference!



I've been known to sneak that "super easy..." line into my lectures when a student asks just the right question...

My wife bought me a T-Shirt with "Super Easy...Barely an Inconvenience!"

I wear it while mowing the grass on our half-acre lot! 

Ryan George's satires on illogical and generally bad movies are TIGHT!


Recently, a classic: of interest is that co-star Ben Johnson did all of his own riding and stunts, and comes across as one of those actors who seems natural, i.e. he is not acting a part!

[T. D.]

Slightly off-topic, but an Ennio Morricone documentary that looks very promising is showing (fairly) nearby next week and I'm considering going. Has anyone seen it?

Trailer at https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3031654/
Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennio_(film)

[Karl Henning]

Slightly off-topic, but an Ennio Morricone documentary that looks very promising is showing (fairly) nearby next week and I'm considering going. Has anyone seen it?

Trailer at https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3031654/
Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennio_(film)

Most interesting. First I've learnt of it!

[Cato]

Two funny satires on American kulcher, in particular Disney mania and Hollywood, but all kinds of things are mocked, gently and brutally!





The sequel introduces Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), who steals the movie:

[Karl Henning]

It's this one:

Mildly tickled that the opera poster readsDonnizetti (sic)

[Cato]

Mildly tickled that the opera poster reads Donnizetti (sic)

Well, it beats Donnie Zetti, the Pizza King of Sheboygan!  😇

[DavidW]

I watched the Road House remake.  Good action movie?  Yes.  Remake as good as the original?  Eh, kind of doesn't have the charm.  I still liked it, and also I'm not a super fan of the original, I saw it once many years ago.

[SonicMan46]

Moby Dick (1956) w/ Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart et al; directed by John Huston, co-writer of the screen play w/ Ray Bradbury (more below) - just purchased in HD on Amazon - film in color and 1.66 aspect ratio (looked great on my HDTV). Specials good for the '50s (lot of detail in the link) - controversial choice of Peck as Ahab, again plenty of discussion in the Wiki article - take a look if interested.  I enjoyed after not seeing the film in decades.  Dave

Moby Dick is a 1956 American color adventure film directed and produced by John Huston, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ray Bradbury. A film adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick, the film stars Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart and Leo Genn and follows the exploits of Captain Ahab in pursuing and killing a gigantic sperm whale with whom he has a personal vendetta. The music score was written by Philip Sainton. (Source)

[Karl Henning]

Moby Dick (1956) w/ Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart et al; directed by John Huston, co-writer of the screen play w/ Ray Bradbury (more below) - just purchased in HD on Amazon - film in color and 1.66 aspect ratio (looked great on my HDTV). Specials good for the '50s (lot of detail in the link) - controversial choice of Peck as Ahab, again plenty of discussion in the Wiki article - take a look if interested.  I enjoyed after not seeing the film in decades.  Dave

Superb!

[JBS]

Moby Dick (1956) w/ Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart et al; directed by John Huston, co-writer of the screen play w/ Ray Bradbury (more below) - just purchased in HD on Amazon - film in color and 1.66 aspect ratio (looked great on my HDTV). Specials good for the '50s (lot of detail in the link) - controversial choice of Peck as Ahab, again plenty of discussion in the Wiki article - take a look if interested.  I enjoyed after not seeing the film in decades.  Dave

Amusingly confusingly, while the score was composed by Philip Sainton, one of the smaller roles in the film was played by an Anglo-Australian actor named Philip Stainton.

[Irons]

The Zone of Interest.

A film I watched nearly a week ago and I can't stop thinking about it. Profound and shattering. The horror of Auschwitz is laid bare although the camera at no time enters the building (in background of picture below). I would not recommend it as entertainment but very glad I did as a life-changing watch and no film has done that, ever.

[LKB]

Moby Dick (1956) w/ Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart et al; directed by John Huston, co-writer of the screen play w/ Ray Bradbury (more below) - just purchased in HD on Amazon - film in color and 1.66 aspect ratio (looked great on my HDTV). Specials good for the '50s (lot of detail in the link) - controversial choice of Peck as Ahab, again plenty of discussion in the Wiki article - take a look if interested.  I enjoyed after not seeing the film in decades.  Dave

Ray Bradbury wrote a fictionalized account of his experiences with John Huston and the film, called Green Shadows, White Whale. I've read it, and can recommend it to interested parties.

[LKB]

I watched the Road House remake.  Good action movie?  Yes.  Remake as good as the original?  Eh, kind of doesn't have the charm.  I still liked it, and also I'm not a super fan of the original, I saw it once many years ago.

I saw the original on cable, decades ago. Tbh l remember very little, yet the film provided one of my frequently-used smart-ass replies.

Concerned friend/ family/ colleague:

" Are you OK? "

Me:

" Opinions vary... " 

[DavidW]

I saw the original on cable, decades ago. Tbh l remember very little, yet the film provided one of my frequently-used smart-ass replies.

Concerned friend/ family/ colleague:

" Are you OK? "

Me:

" Opinions vary... " 

There was a movie I watched two decades ago or more, forgot everything about it, but in conversation when someone offers up some absurd speculation on something I never can stop myself from saying "you just keep thinking Butch, that's what you're good at it..."

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The Zone of Interest.

A film I watched nearly a week ago and I can't stop thinking about it. Profound and shattering. The horror of Auschwitz is laid bare although the camera at no time enters the building (in background of picture below). I would not recommend it as entertainment but very glad I did as a life-changing watch and no film has done that, ever.

I remember hearing about that film and being intrigued by the way that the film was presented.  Did you see it in the theatre Irons or watch it online?

PD

[Ganondorf]

I saw Dune: Part two recently. What a massive improvement over the first one (which wasn't half bad either)! I have to especially highlight the amazing visual style the film has. Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha was a wonderfully creepy performance.

I still roll my eyes at those blind critics who considered Dune an uncritical example of White Saviour trope. I believe it is mentioned in Dune Messiah that Paul is, directly or indirectly, responsible for billions of deaths.

[DavidW]

I saw Dune: Part two recently. What a massive improvement over the first one (which wasn't half bad either)! I have to especially highlight the amazing visual style the film has. Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha was a wonderfully creepy performance.

I still roll my eyes at those blind critics who considered Dune an uncritical example of White Saviour trope. I believe it is mentioned in Dune Messiah that Paul is, directly or indirectly, responsible for billions of deaths.

Dune part 3 has been greenlit, we will see Dune Messiah on the big screen!  I like that the audience doesn't have to wait to see the deconstruction of our hero because the part 2 film made changes to show.  Frank Herbert was always critical of charismatic leaders and the horrors they can bring.

I had a friend that bought into that white savior narrative for Dune and I explained to him the full context of the trilogy and won him over and he never brought it up again.

[LKB]

There was a movie I watched two decades ago or more, forgot everything about it, but in conversation when someone offers up some absurd speculation on something I never can stop myself from saying "you just keep thinking Butch, that's what you're good at it..."

That's a recurring line from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, spoken by Robert Redford to Paul Newman. I think that film is from 1969, and it was either the first or second Western l ever had an appreciation for, before or after True Grit with John Wayne.

[SimonNZ]

Dune part 3 has been greenlit, we will see Dune Messiah on the big screen!  I like that the audience doesn't have to wait to see the deconstruction of our hero because the part 2 film made changes to show.  Frank Herbert was always critical of charismatic leaders and the horrors they can bring.

I had a friend that bought into that white savior narrative for Dune and I explained to him the full context of the trilogy and won him over and he never brought it up again.

Its been a long time since I read the books, but I feel like the film made the case much more explicitly that choosing to follow the religion and the messiah myth was choosing just another form of oppression. In my memory the first book was more subtle or more ambiguous about that.

In fact they may have oversold that in one scene which got a chuckle from the audience I was with for being a bit too close to Life Of Brian:

"I'm not the chosen one"
"And he shall say he is not the chosen one...It is the prophesy!"

[DavidW]

Its been a long time since I read the books, but I feel like the film made the case much more explicitly that choosing to follow the religion and the messiah myth was choosing just another form of oppression. In my memory the first book was more subtle or more ambiguous about that.

In fact they may have oversold that in one scene which got a chuckle from the audience I was with for being a bit too close to Life Of Brian:

"I'm not the chosen one"
"And he shall say he is not the chosen one...It is the prophesy!"

Yeah that was what I was getting at... that the movie made changes to show the theme from Dune Messiah early as it was not explicitly stated in the first book.  Which is also what caused many fans to be outraged when Dune Messiah was first published.