Last Movie You Watched

[Karl Henning]

There is no good excuse to offer why, but last night for the first time I watched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.  Preposterous sundries notwithstanding, thoroughly enjoyable.

[SonicMan46]

Huge sale at Kino.  Many more than half off.

https://www.klstudioclassics.com/

Bill - thanks for the link; I've never been to the Kino Lorber website and was not aware of their 'sale' offerings - looking through the BD list, I already own dozens of these films, but will do a closer inspection along w/ my movie list (of course, always check the blu-ray.com site for quality evaluation - Kino seems to try to find the best material available to them but does little in restoration, but just my impression from viewing their discs and reading reviews) - however, I watched the Peck film below last night produced by Kino which received a 4/3.5 rating for visuals and audio - and I must say the B&W film looked quite good (on scene in Death Valley).  Dave
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[George]

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.  Visually imaginative and very well executed - it's the next step beyond Avatar in terms of visuals - the story and dialog are very poor, and the two leads are positively dreadful.  It's hard to decided who is worse, the dude, who sounds like a dimmer Keanu Reeves, or the lovely Cara Delevingne, who can't even convincingly play a statuesque beauty.  One can see homages to all manner of sci-fi films and see the influence this comic had on subsequent sci-fi, so there's that, I guess, and the first person one sees is Rutger Hauer, which almost serves as the highlight of the movie.  Too bad there's not a twentieth anniversary touring edition of The Fifth Element this year; that flick is several orders of magnitude better than this dud.

Given its name, I wonder if it is meant as a sleep aid.

[aligreto]

The Box....





Not exactly a "Mind-Blowing Chiller" but certainly an interesting film about choice and consequence.

[vandermolen]

Am going to see Dunkirk on Sunday so will report back.

The current issue of the satirical magazine Private Eye features, on its front cover, an image from the film of a packed group of British soldiers crammed together awaiting evacuation on a jetty and cowering down trying to avoid aerial bombardment.

A speech bubble from one of the states: 'It's harder to leave Europe than we thought.'

[Mahlerian]

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.  Visually imaginative and very well executed - it's the next step beyond Avatar in terms of visuals - the story and dialog are very poor, and the two leads are positively dreadful.

So, in that sense, about on par with Avatar.

[Bogey]

So, in that sense, about on par with Avatar.

It has to be better than Avatar....it jut has to be.

[Mister Sharpe]

Troubling, touching and ultimately redeeming (ooops, spoiler alert) 'real life' musical about the murders of five prostitutes in Ipswich and their effect on a community. Recommended.

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[SonicMan46]

Well, a couple of new BDs arrived for my collection - viewed the last few nights:

Yellow Sky (1948) w/ Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter, Richard Widmark, et al - short synopsis below; filmed in part in Death Valley w/ a Ghost Town (see pic below) - 7.5/10 rating on IMDB - the Kino Lorber offering is quite good w/ an excellent B&W presentation; Peck is head of a bunch of bank robbers and gradually falls in love w/ Baxter - enjoyable western film - recommended.  I'd probably go for a 4*/5* rating on Amazon.

Night People (1954) w/ Gregory Peck, Broderick Crawford, Rita Gam, Buddy Ebsen, et al - second short synopsis below; 6.6/10 rating on IMDB - another Kino Lorber production which could have been better, especially w/ the visuals - only one scene showing the beautiful legs of Rita Gam (pic added below for a better appreciation - the film Mohawk is suggested) - I'd probably do 3+*/5* on Amazon if rating there - like Peck and the story; Crawford his usual self - also recommended.  Dave

Fugitive James "Stretch" Dawson (Gregory Peck) and his ring of bandits hide out in a town that has been deserted by its entire population, except for a young woman named Mike (Anne Baxter) and her grandfather. When Dude (Richard Widmark), the cruelest thug in the gang, learns from the two locals that there is gold nearby, he devises a scheme to knock off Mike and her grandpa, then gets his cohorts to go along with the plan. Stretch refuses, which leads to a violent power struggle.

A U.S. soldier stationed in West Berlin after the end of World War II is kidnapped and held captive in East Berlin. Col. Steve Van Dyke (Gregory Peck) is leading the kidnapping investigation, which becomes more complex as he is forced to deal with deceit, conspiracies and double identities. As Van Dyke begins to discover the truth about the case, he finds himself in a perilous situation -- even his closest ally, his former lover Hoffy (Anita Björk), may not be who she says she is.

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[listener]

TEENAGE DREAMERS  Hong Kong 1983
Leslie Cheung (very early in his career), Chou Hsui-lan as the starlet
Teen-age musical romance with a school production of Romeo and Juliet as a back story
Awful canned music, lots of teenage angst.   Occasional subtitles, more might make it worse.

[aligreto]

A good Marriage....





Engaging and enjoyable.

[Karl Henning]

A good Marriage....



Engaging and enjoyable.

Do you know, thanks to my enjoyment of Kingdom Hospital, you have got me interested here . . . .

[aligreto]

Do you know, thanks to my enjoyment of Kingdom Hospital, you have got me interested here . . . .

Go for it Karl 

[Karl Henning]

Rashomon, even better the second time (not surprisingly).

[aligreto]

Beyond Borders....





A different take on a love story.

[Autumn Leaves]

Latest viewing:



Wasn't expecting anything too thoughtful or original with this one - essentially it was just a big Action/SFX fest.
Like Yimou Zhang's other blockbusters Hero and House Of The Flying Daggers this was a visually appealing movie with beautiful costumes and sets.
Quite good fun - may watch it again at some stage if the opportunity arises.

[Cato]

Am going to see Dunkirk on Sunday so will report back.

The current issue of the satirical magazine Private Eye features, on its front cover, an image from the film of a packed group of British soldiers crammed together awaiting evacuation on a jetty and cowering down trying to avoid aerial bombardment.

A speech bubble from one of the states: 'It's harder to leave Europe than we thought.'

Here is a very positive review of Dunkirk:

http://deadline.com/2017/07/dunkirk-review-christopher-nolan-harry-styles-1202132557/

An excerpt:

...Anyone who ever saw Memento knows Nolan is a fan of playing with time and structure, incorporating a pulsating suspense factor even without spelling anything out for the audience. Again, like a true master of cinema, he lets it all come together in sometimes surprising but enormously effective and even emotional ways. With sparse dialogue and an emphasis on three separate angles on the Dunkirk operation, Nolan creates three smaller elements that lead to a much bigger picture.

In a compact 105 minutes, he takes what was in reality a nine-day effort and brings it all into focus, even without dwelling on a lot of character exposition or development. This is not a typical war picture in which we get much backstory of the men fighting it. We see them in action during a crisis where the goal isn't to ultimately show off a victory. Here the endgame is just to get these guys off this beach and take them 26 miles across the English Channel back home, a complex task. This is a movie that, in its quiet way, is about beginnings, a necessary operation just to live to fight another day, but Nolan and his expert production team have made it all riveting to watch and experience....

[SonicMan46]

Last few nights, a variety of films:

Cat People (1942) w/ Simone Simon & Kent Smith - short synopsis below - ratings: 7.4/10, IMDB; 93% Rotten Tomatoes - recorded on my DVR - Criterion has just released a BD of the film, so wanted to re-watch - good film but no need for me to buy the new blu-ray offering; however, kind of a 'horror cult classic' so consider a viewing, if not seen before.

Gifted (2017) w/ actors listed on the cover art - streamed from Amazon - short second synopsis below; ratings: 7.7/10, IMDB; 69% Rotten Tomatoes - Susan & I love these types of films (e.g. Little Man Tate), but this one had more to do w/ the custody issues vs. the brilliance of the girl - I'd do 3+*/5* on Amazon, and 4* if more emphasis was placed on the child - BUT, if you like this type of movie, then recommended.

Vera Cruz (1954) w/ Cooper & Lancaster - short third synopsis below - some great supporting actors (Romero, Borgnine, Bronson, et al) - this is a BD replacement for a DVD-R from the TCM channel - just a fun movie w/ nice interaction between the two main stars.

Fantasia - 1940 & 2000 versions - BD replacements for my older DVDs - 4.7 & 4.8 out of 5 AV ratings HERE - both films are beautiful on a HDTV and w/ the sound way up on my den stereo just outstanding - if you like these Disney productions, then a step-up to blu-ray is mandatory.  Dave

Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon), a New York City--based fashion designer who hails from Serbia, begins a romance with marine engineer Oliver Reed (Kent Smith). After the couple gets married, Oliver becomes concerned about Irena's notion that she is cursed and may transform into a large cat in the heat of passion. Confiding in his beautiful assistant, Alice Moore (Jane Randolph), about his marital issues, Oliver unwittingly triggers Irena's curse, with tragic results.

Frank Adler (Chris Evans) is a single man raising a child prodigy - his spirited young niece Mary (Mckenna Grace) - in a coastal town in Florida. Frank's plans for a normal school life for Mary are foiled when the 7-year-old's mathematical abilities come to the attention of Frank's formidable mother, Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan), whose plans for her granddaughter threaten to separate Frank and Mary.

Following the American Civil War, veteran Benjamin Trane (Gary Cooper) and gunslinger Joe Erin (Burt Lancaster) are just two of many men who head to Mexico as mercenaries. When Emperor Maximillian (George Macready) recruits their services, they reluctantly work together, since the price is right. Trane and Erin are to escort Countess Marie Duvarre (Denise Darcel) to Vera Cruz -- but when they find a wealth of gold hidden in the stagecoach, the original plan no longer applies.

 

 

[Karl Henning]

Over two days (pausing at the proper Intermission), and only for the second time as yet: The Seven Samurai. I do not now why the first time impressed as little as it did;  this second viewing was a different order of experience, and now at last, am I bowled over 

[James]

John Wick
2014 ‧ Crime film/Thriller ‧ 1h 47m

Legendary assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) retired from his violent career after marrying the love of his life. Her sudden death leaves John in deep mourning. When sadistic mobster Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen) and his thugs steal John's prized car and kill the puppy that was a last gift from his wife, John unleashes the remorseless killing machine within and seeks vengeance. Meanwhile, Iosef's father (Michael Nyqvist) -- John's former colleague -- puts a huge bounty on John's head.

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