Last Movie You Watched

[SimonNZ]

Three Clear Sundays (Ken Loach, dir. 1965)

[Karl Henning]

Last night:  Blade II with Guillermo del Toro's commentary.  There are two other commentaries, and the director is also a participant on one of these . . . I am curious (but not in any great rush) to listen to them both.

Possibly the most entertaining factoid garnered from this commentary:  Michael Jackson was a friend of Wesley Snipes's, and nearly appeared in the movie in a brief, weirder-than-average vampire cameo.

[Autumn Leaves]

Recently watched:



Fair to say I wasn't expecting this to be up to the standard of the original Kurosawa movie (or the "old" Holywood version for that matter) but I found this pretty enjoyable for the most part - not much story to distract from the (well-staged) action scenes.

[SonicMan46]

Hello ALL!  Susan & I just returned from a week vacation in Ontario, Canada (Lake Simcoe & Toronto) - had a BUNCH of old films recorded on my DVR during our absence - watched the two below last tonight:

Arrowsmith (1931) w/ Ronald Colman, Helen Hayes, and a young Myrna Loy (shown below); John Ford, director - synopsis below; ratings: 6.2/10, IMDB & 3.4/5*, Amazon - as a teen, I was a BIG Sinclair Lewis fan and loved reading this novel, as a 'future' physician - I've seen the film many times in the past and was enthralled w/ Colman's voice - the production is overly wrought and melodramatic (probably enjoyed more in much earlier watchings) - worth a watch, if a fan of the author, John Ford, and the actors - I'd agree w/ Amazon, i.e. 3 1/2*.

Between Two Worlds (1944) w/ John Garfield, Eleanor Parker, Paul Henreid, Edmund Gwenn, and Sydney Greenstreet; Erich Wolfgang Korngold, music; second synopsis below - just love the beautiful young Eleanor Parker (pic below) - excellent ensemble cast performances, especially Garfield and Gween (for me); ratings: 7.3/10, IMDB & 4.6/5*, Amazon - first watch of this movie and really enjoyed - recommended; would do a 4/5* rating on Amazon.  Dave

In this adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Sinclair Lewis, Dr. Martin Arrowsmith (Ronald Colman) marries nurse Leora Tozer (Helen Hayes) and misses out on a position with the esteemed Prof. Max Gottlieb. When Swedish scientist Gustav Sondelius (Richard Bennett) invites Arrowsmith to help fight an outbreak of the bubonic plague in the West Indies, he must reconcile his desire for prestige and dedication to the scientific method with the needs of real people in pain.

In London during World War II, married couple Henry (Paul Henreid) and Ann Bergner (Eleanor Parker) decide to commit suicide instead of waiting to be killed in a Nazi air raid. After carrying out their decision, the Bergners awake to find themselves on a large, mysterious ship with several other passengers. The ship's steward, Scrubby (Edmund Gwenn), informs them that the vessel is where the dead come to be judged. The passengers now must await the fate handed down to them by the Examiner.

[Todd]

Rewatched The Fountain.  Aronofsky's best gives up more details with additional viewings.  Daniel Craig is one lucky dude.

[Mister Sharpe]

Went to see Wonder Woman yesterday and found it most entertaining.  There is a short passage in its score that is distinctly VW-like, can anyone find it?

[listener]

Nicolas Cage and Nicolas Cage in ADAPTATION   with Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper
directed by Spike Jonze
Ingenious plot but a bit slow helps keep the double rôles apart, but that yields a petard of clunky-sounding dialogue and editing upon which the film hoists itself.
Music by Carter Burwell

[Karl Henning]

Nicolas Cage and Nicolas Cage in ADAPTATION   with Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper
directed by Spike Jonze
Ingenious plot but a bit slow helps keep the double rôles apart, but that yields a petard of clunky-sounding dialogue and editing upon which the film hoists itself.
Music by Carter Burwell

I remember the slow pace, and agree that it suited.  I do not recall the dialogue or editing running clunky.  I should revisit.

[Karl Henning]

Thread Duty:  Last night I watched about half of Die Hard with the subtitle cast-&-crew commentary.  Much of interest, including Michael Kamen's demand that director Jn McTiernan secure the rights to "Singin' in the Rain."  McTiernan required Kamen to putter with the "Ode to Joy";  Kamen protested, I'll slice and dice Wagner and Strauss all you like, but please spare LvB . . . the director won Kamen over with the example of A Clockwork Orange . . . and this was therefore the source of Kamen's counter-request for "Singin' in the Rain."  I have always thought fondly of Kamen because of Gilliam's Brazil.  I am glad of this commentary because . . . it called my attention to the score, and I had not in fact noticed just how subtly the "Ode to Joy" is woven through the movie.

So Bruce Willis was cast only after the role was turned down by Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Burt Reynolds, and Harrison Ford.  And the rest is history . . . .

[aligreto]

The Circle....





I am not a fan of Hanks but I thought that he was very good in this one.

[James]

Ugetsu
1953 ‧ Drama film/Fantasy ‧ 1h 37m

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro (Masayuki Mori) and Tobei (Sakae Ozawa) sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa (Machiko Kyo), as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi (Kinuyo Tanaka) and Ohama (Mitsuko Mito).

[asin]B06XP4QG28[/asin]

[Drasko]

Ok, but less good than it promises, same as Wheatley's previous, High Rise.

[Todd]

With Dunkirk nearly here, I rewatched Spielberg's epic.  The shock and awe has worn off over the years, and what remains is comparatively better than twenty years ago.  I see that Nolan's flick is PG-13, so it will be a kinder, gentler vision of war.

[Karl Henning]

Last night, Die Hard 2 with commentary by Finnish director Renny Harlin.  In my view, one of the less interesting commentary tracks I have listened to (I nearly said, endured).  He went on a bit about the Winter of No Snow (when snow was what they particularly wanted in the story) rather longer than I found truly engaging.  I guess I was just inattentive all these years, but I only learnt via the commentary that the Chief of Dulles operations (in the movie) served in the US Senate.  To be fair, one of the more interesting bits was discussion of the "penalty" of the plane crash, the fear on the part of the Suits was that it would disaffect the audience (they pushed for the destroyed plane to be an empty cargo vessel), and Harlin's decision that the story needed the apparent cruelty of some personable shots from the interior of the doomed plane.

[SonicMan46]

Well, I still have some old movies on my DVR - a couple w/ Brian Donlevy from the mid-1940s last few nights:

An American Romance (1944) w/ Brian Donlevy & Ann Richards - short synopsis below - ratings: 6.9/10, IMDB - Donlevy w/ a convincible accent rises from a lowly immigrant to start a car company in Detroit & then build airplanes during WW II, which was still in progress - enjoyable - I'd do a 3.5-4*/5 rating on Amazon.

Hangman Also Die! (1943) w/ Brian Donlevy, Anna Lee, Walter Brennan, & Gene Lockhart; Fritz Lang, director - second synopsis below; based on a true event, i.e. assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, considered one of the main Nazi architects of the Holocaust - rating 7.5/10, IMDB - made in the middle of WW II, historic facts distorted (as expected), but an enjoyable drama - recommended; I'd do a 4*/5 rating on Amazon.  Dave

Czech Stefan Dangosbiblichek (Brian Donlevy) immigrates to America where, despite having almost no money, he is allowed through Ellis Island. Stefan makes an arduous journey on foot to Minnesota, where his cousin works in a mine. Ambitious and energetic, he changes his name to Steve Dangos and eagerly learns English from teacher Anna O'Rourke (Ann Richards), whom he soon marries. The couple move to Chicago to pursue Steve's dream of success, but the way to American citizenship proves rocky.

During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovokia, insurgent Franticek Svoboda (Brian Donlevy) assassinates the brutal German leader Reinhard Heydrich (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski). Svoboda escapes with the aid of history professor Stephen Novotny (Walter Brennan), but Novotny is then captured, along with 400 other Czechs, through the machinations of Nazi sympathizer Emil Czaka (Gene Lockhart). The Czech prisoners are then told that if Svoboda does not surrender, they will all be executed.

 

[Drasko]

[Todd]

Finally watched THX 1138.  Two things struck me while watching this not so hot film.  First, George Lucas liked some of the sound design elements so much, he couldn't help but use them a few years later.  Second, while he's obviously an idea guy, he's not really a good director.

[Karl Henning]

"Do you like sex, Mr Lebowski?"

Thread Duty:  Last night for the second time, Mimic.  Even when the movie is not at his best level, del Toro's work is a story engagingly told, and beautiful to watch.

[aligreto]

The Green Inferno....





An interesting story line. The film contains many graphic, and sometimes disturbing scenes. Definitely not one to watch with children!

[Karl Henning]

How can a writer express that so poorly?—gripping but you can't look away: worst use of a conjunction by a professional author, ever.