Last Movie You Watched

[SonicMan46]

   

An excellent movie with a good cast, all the players in suitable roles, a well cast cast, about William Wilberforce.

Sad to say, I suspect I need to add an explanation of who Wilberforce was. But I won't.

Hey Ken - own the DVD of Amazing Grace w/ Ioan Gruffudd, who I also enjoy in the Hornblower TV series (also have on DVD in my collection).

Last night, we streamed the third film above (on my 'to see' list):

The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) w/ Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, and Daniel Brühl - short synopsis below and a true story; more information on Jan Żabiński (1897–1974) and Antonina Żabiński (1908–1971) HERE - reviews: 7/10, IMDB; 60% (6/10) from critics & 79% (3.9/5) from audience, Rotten Tomatoes - the critics seemed to have 'downgraded' the film based on a lost opportunity to tell a powerful story; despite their opinions, I enjoyed and would have to do a 4*/5* rating on Amazon (which was 4.2/5*) - recommended.  Dave

The time is 1939 and the place is Poland, homeland of Antonina Zabinski and her husband, Dr. Jan Zabinski. The Warsaw Zoo flourishes under Jan's stewardship and Antonina's care. When their country is invaded by the Nazis, Jan and Antonina are forced to report to the Reich's newly appointed chief zoologist, Lutz Heck. The Zabinskis covertly begin working with the Resistance and put into action plans to save the lives of hundreds from what has become the Warsaw Ghetto.

[drogulus]

     I watched Burn After Reading last night, a delightful romp. I particularly enjoyed the "all's well that ends well" conclusion.

     

[George]

     I watched Burn After Reading last night, a delightful romp. I particularly enjoyed the "all's well that ends well" conclusion.

     

I need to see that one again. I am a big fan of the Coens, but that one flew right over my head when I first saw it. 

[NikF]

I need to see that one again. I am a big fan of the Coens, but that one flew right over my head when I first saw it. 

I haven't seen that either.

And I've only seen this once (on release) but I want to watch it again -

A Serious Man (2009)
[asin]B002ZRQB9U[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

I've at last watched the 2-hour-20-min. documentary Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures. Highly worthwhile.

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[drogulus]

I need to see that one again. I am a big fan of the Coens, but that one flew right over my head when I first saw it. 

     It's flying over my head right now.

I haven't seen that either.

And I've only seen this once (on release) but I want to watch it again -

A Serious Man (2009)
[asin]B002ZRQB9U[/asin]

     I have it, and I haven't watched it, which is strange because I'm a super fan of Michael Stuhlbarg.

[Drasko]

[Mr. Minnow]

Not easy viewing, but then nor should it be given the subject matter. To the extent that it is even possible to have any idea of what it was like to be a member of the Sonderkommando in a death camp, I would imagine this is probably about as close as we can get.

[Bogey]

This one has more grit than P12 sandpaper.

[Karl Henning]

This one has more grit than P12 sandpaper.

A classic.  Just ask our Cato!

[Cato]

This one has more grit than P12 sandpaper.

A classic.  Just ask our Cato!

Oh yes!  I saw it several times in the 1960's.   Great movie and a great play for television by Rod Serling, who had tried boxing in his youth. 

The third time I viewed it was in 1966 at a religious retreat (part of my education at an all-boys Catholic high school).   We were supposed to discuss the moral aspects of the characters, along with the moral aspect of professional boxing itself, which the Catholic Church has traditionally condemned as completely immoral.  I recall quite distinctly a priest saying that anything beyond 3-round Olympic boxing with headgear was a serious sin, since deliberately attempting to injure the brain and cause unconsciousness placed the opponent one step away from death.  To do this for money was contemptible.

What then to make of all those (seemingly Catholic) Hispanic boxers making the Sign of the Cross before they enter the ring?  0:)

On topic: thanks to cable channel FXM I caught this Brian DePalma classic a few days ago:



One of my all-time faves: psychic powers, secret government agencies, and never a dull moment!  One of the greatest and funniest scenes has Kirk Douglas practically doing Frank Gorshin's impersonation of himself: after terrorizing a policeman ( a young Dennis Franz) via a car chase, the Kirk Douglas character - about to go his way - releases the policeman and says:

"Ask Childress (the villain) how he likes his arm now!"
"Wha- wha- what did you do to his arm?"

"I KILLED it!"   And with his teeth clenched he drags the word "KILLED" across the bottom of his throat, exactly like Frank Gorshin's exaggerated imitation!

Yesterday we went to a theater to give this movie a chance:



After about 20 minutes I feared we had spent money on a bomb.  But then some family scenes started up and injected life into it: oddly, the "stand-up comic" main character is either not funny or only mildly amusing, with the usual comedy-club shtick ( a la "So I buy Grape Nuts and open up the box: guess what?  No grapes, no nuts, what is this?!").  When Holly Hunter and Ray Romano finally appear, things really improve.

Imagine an early Woody Allen movie, except Woody is a not particularly funny Pakistani Muslim whose parents are old-country immigrants. and who wants nothing to do with Pakistani women.  In fact the movie has been criticized for trashing Pakistani women, e.g.:

...The message is clear: to marry a Pakistani woman would, for Kumail, be a surrender, a backwards step.

Jewish women are used to this schtick, thanks to the many, many love stories in which Jewish men are portrayed as exotically desirable while blond non-Jewish women represent the romantic ideal. Woody Allen and, latterly, Judd Apatow have both worked in this vein for decades, and it has long been implied in movies starring Jewish comedians such as Ben Stiller (Meet The Parents) and Adam Sandler (The Wedding Singer). Jewish women are represented as nasal, nagging or simply non-existent – someone to move on from as quickly as possible...

See:

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2017/jul/15/the-big-sick-funny-sweet-original-leave-me-furious

[drogulus]

     That's a shallow interpretation. Kumail is not objecting to any nationality, he is objecting to an arranged marriage. The religious ethnocentrism comes from the parents. Neither is he bound by identity politics that reinforces the same prejudices. On the subject of women, one might ask how they view these arranged marriages. I consider that question asked and answered.

[Cato]

     That's a shallow interpretation. Kumail is not objecting to any nationality, he is objecting to an arranged marriage. The religious ethnocentrism comes from the parents. Neither is he bound by identity politics that reinforces the same prejudices. On the subject of women, one might ask how they view these arranged marriages. I consider that question asked and answered.

True:  he says that he is no longer a Muslim, and not a Pakistani.  He is an American who believes in finding the love of his life on his own.

[SonicMan46]

This one has more grit than P12 sandpaper.

 

Boy, I've not seen Requiem... for a while - only have the film on a burned DVD-R from the TCM channel - just checked Amazon, a commercial DVD is available but no BD - Dave

[SonicMan46]

Last night, a couple of new BDs for my 'commercial' collection - had these films on DVD-R only:

Great Expectations (1946) w/ John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Alec Guinness, et al; David Lean, director - excellent AV presentation, as shown by the ratings below w/ glorious B&W cinematography - rated in the Top Ten of 20th century British films by the British Film Institute - highly recommended.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) w/ Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katherine Hepburn, et al; Stanley Kramer, director - I've always had an ambivalent attitude toward this film for many reasons - many and more discussed well in this 1968 Roger Ebert Review - 50th Anniversary release arrived as an inexpensive Digipak (w/ Amazon credit, my cost was just $4) - despite its flaws, dated presentation, and Ebert's reservations, the film remains entertaining and Tracy in his last role was a joy to watch for me.  Dave

 

[Cato]

Boy, I've not seen Requiem... for a while - only have the film on a burned DVD-R from the TCM channel - just checked Amazon, a commercial DVD is available but no BD - Dave

The original television play with Jack Palance, Keenan Wynn, and the latter's father comedian Ed Wynn, is also worthwhile.

https://www.youtube.com/v/_el9xm6pxW4

The Wynn's generated another television drama about their performances in this play!   The Man in the Funny Suit is about Ed Wynn being given a chance to revive his career, and needs to learn how to be an actor quickly.   They play themselves, and Rod Serling plays himself, as does Red Skelton!

https://www.youtube.com/v/o6Q7OWSdS4I

Rod is great!  Wait until you hear him growl: "He's going to stink and 70 million people are going to smell 'im!"

[Karl Henning]

Rod is great!  Wait until you hear him growl: "He's going to stink and 70 million people are going to smell 'im!"

Did they break the mold after Serling, or what?

[Bogey]

Did they break the mold after Serling, or what?

He has to be on my Rushmore for story tellers.

[Karl Henning]

Separately, oh lawd:  how did I not know that was Christopher Lloyd, in (erm) The Search for Spock?

[Jaakko Keskinen]

I partly dislike that 1946 version of Great Expectations. The actor of Jaggers, my favorite character in the book, was not good.