Last Movie You Watched

[Karl Henning]

So, which Bond to watch, after having revisited the four Daniel Craig movies?

Yesterday evening I watched Dr No.  (Oh, yes—I did.)

Obviously, this was made for peanuts compared to any later Bond production;  and they made it, focusing on the task, without any (or, much) thought to it being The First Item in The Franchise.

Like [the tone recaptured in] the Craig—and first, IMO, in the Dalton—era, the tone is borderline dangerous, there is an edge which custom, and the winks at the audience, have not yet dulled.  Many feel that Connery has played the role best;  and here he plays it more nearly stripped-down than later.  The observation will not change anyone's opinion, but in his (thoroughly respectable) tenure, Connery (and director Terry Young, here) defined the character as a blend of the steely-nerved killer on Ian Fleming's pages, and the suave playboy whom Terry Young modeled.  I'm not writing in reproof of anyone;  but it was a choice.  I am not saying that he would not have had any quarrel if they kept the character to Fleming's text, but recall that Patrick McGoohan declined to play the role because Bond was a loose libertine, "morally flexible," as Martin Blank might put it . . . although arguably, that aspect is part of why Bond became a cultural icon in the '60s.

On balance, I am a little surprised to report, I enjoy Dr No quite a great deal—probably better than any Connery Bond other than From Russia With Love.  I wonder if it is worth delving into any correlation between this, and the fact that gadgetry, and the grand exploding set-piece, would soon assume signature prominence in the brand.  Sure, they blow up the evil Doctor's bauxite mine, but they did not yet have the budget to linger over it.  Maybe in 1962 they could not have done otherwise, but I do find myself deducting points for casting an actress whose lines had to be looped.  Sure, Ursula Andress is (the jury has long since been out) easy on the eyes—although her swimming outfit's bottom has lines suggestive of Tatiana's of Novosibirsk.  But I see it not so much as an exigency of the immediate production, as the start of a franchise tic . . . both the casting of foreign actors who cannot deliver their lines in English (I know Gert Frobe is a general favorite, but now, I can hardly bear to watch his face on screen) and the casting of female actors, of any nationality other than Russian, as Russian spies.

Of course, Quarrel had to perish, and Honey to survive, otherwise that final shot of the boat would have had less appeal.

We learn something, I suppose, about Bond's character, though it is nothing to admire, when he guns down Prof. Dent.  Maybe I am coming too fresh from Judi Dench's M, who found frequent irritation in Bond's killing targets whom she would have preferred to interrogate, but I cannot help finding Dent's execution gratuitous and vindictive.  Of course, Bond's coolly expert observation—That's a Smith & Wesson, and you've had your six—is one of the dramatic highlights of the screenplay (and Bond would not have known that for a certainty, perhaps, until he switched the light on).  But whether this perhaps a 21^st-c. retrofit, I consider that this means that Dent was a pretty safe capture at this point, and not just meat to be cut down.

I'm going to go ahead and make a clean breast of this:  while it is not the sole reason, I suppose, I am happiest about Dr No when I reflect that its (and Connery's) success was a the seed of Mel Brooks' Get Smart.

[Karl Henning]

And perhaps it is a little goofy that Bond asks that Felix Leiter give him a tow, only to let the rope slip for the final camera shot.  Wasn't that pretty much (so to speak) the boat they were in before Leiter's craft hove to?

[Karl Henning]

Again, perhaps a bit of a retrofit, but I am a bit disappointed that the catalyst for the villain's demise, was his deformity.  When the evil Doctor (and, he is the evil Doctor, so, sure, he deserves to snuff it) dies in the radioactive pool, because his metal hands cannot grasp and pull him back to safety—whatever else we may say, it is not a "clean kill."

[drogulus]

     I finally got to watch the William Friedkin film of The Birthday Party in HD widescreen and it's way better looking than the 4:3 DVD.

[Madiel]

Today went and saw Early Man, the latest Aardman animation film.

It was passable, but that's all (which is disappointing). The opening section was very funny, but it rather ran out of steam after that. For most of it's length we were just experiencing the occasional chuckle.

[aligreto]

Sinister





A bit predictable but not a bad watch.

[Karl Henning]

Yes, I watched this one last night . . .

The thing about a Woody Allen film is, whatever else happens, the characters are intriguing to hear. They tend to be smart, witty, not above epigrams. A few days before seeing "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," I viewed his "Hannah and Her Sisters" again. More than 20 years apart, both with dialogue at perfect pitch. Allen has directed more than 40 movies in about as many years and written all of them himself. Why isn't he more honored? Do we take him for granted?

"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is typical of a lot of his mid-range work. It involves affluent characters at various levels of sophistication, involved in the arts and the intrigues of love. They're conflicted about right and wrong. They're undoubtedly low-level neurotics. In addition, they are attractive, amusing and living lives we might envy -- in this case, during a summer vacation in Barcelona.

[Traverso]

One of my favorite television series is the "the Jewel in the Crown" broadcast in 1984.
There is a remastered version  in circulation witch  has a much better picture and sound quality.
It is only a shame that this is only released in region 1 and not in region 2 which is necessary for me to play the series.
I have taken the trouble to contact ITV but although the answer came quickly there was no real answer given so I had nothing.
This remastering is obviously very expensive  and I can not understand that this quality series is not available for other regions.
Do any of you know more about this series that could help me? "
I contacted the company in the states but they  are not allowed to deliver to foreign countries.
On ebay it is for sale but in region 1

http://www.pbs.org/program/jewel-crown/

https://www.ebay.nl/itm/The-Jewel-in-the-Crown-Remastered-Anniversary-Edition/401506743429?hash=item5d7baab485:g:WCkAAOSwA3dYT7eX

This is the only one .There are more boxes ,anniversary edition and so, but they all are not remastered.

[drogulus]

     

One of my favorite television series is the "the Jewel in the Crown" broadcast in 1984.
There is a remastered version  in circulation witch  has a much better picture and sound quality.
It is only a shame that this is only released in region 1 and not in region 2 which is necessary for me to play the series.
I have taken the trouble to contact ITV but although the answer came quickly there was no real answer given so I had nothing.
This remastering is obviously very expensive  and I can not understand that this quality series is not available for other regions.
Do any of you know more about this series that could help me? "
I contacted the company in the states but they  are not allowed to deliver to foreign countries.
On ebay it is for sale but in region 1

http://www.pbs.org/program/jewel-crown/

https://www.ebay.nl/itm/The-Jewel-in-the-Crown-Remastered-Anniversary-Edition/401506743429?hash=item5d7baab485:g:WCkAAOSwA3dYT7eX

This is the only one .There are more boxes ,anniversary edition and so, but they all are not remastered.

     There are 2 solutions, buy a multiregion player to play the disks, or my own preferred way, not to play the discs but just rip them on my PC and play the files. Ripped discs don't have a region. You can burn them to discs that will play on your region locked player or just play the files.

[Traverso]

     
     There are 2 solutions, buy a multiregion player to play the disks, or my own preferred way, not to play the discs but just rip them on my PC and play the files. Ripped discs don't have a region. You can burn them to discs that will play on your region locked player or just play the files.

Thank you but  the DVD's  are protected should  that  be a problem?

[Baron Scarpia]

Thank you but  the DVD's  are protected should  that  be a problem?

If you have an external DVD rom drive, it will probably allow you to switch the region a finite number of times (like 3, maybe). It will work, but if you don't plan ahead you might end up with a DVD rom that only plays region 1 discs.

[Baron Scarpia]

     
     There are 2 solutions, buy a multiregion player to play the disks, or my own preferred way, not to play the discs but just rip them on my PC and play the files. Ripped discs don't have a region. You can burn them to discs that will play on your region locked player or just play the files.

BTW, what software do you use for ripping DVDs?

[drogulus]

Thank you but  the DVD's  are protected should  that  be a problem?

     No, it's not a problem. The program you use removes the region code from DVDs and BDs. Without that they play on any machine.

BTW, what software do you use for ripping DVDs?

     I use MakeMKV, which is free and easy to use. You never change the region on the disk player, the software does a workaround and produces a file type that is playable on BD players through their USB ports. Note that file sizes are gigantic, no additional compression is done. But then, storage is so cheap what are you complaining about?

[drogulus]

     You put the disk in, you start the program, it reads the disk and when it finishes reading you get this screen:

     

     The big file is the movie, in this case a British region 2 film which won't play on any machine I have. The other ones are special features I don't usually bother with, I choose the big one, open it and unchoose subs and other sound tracks, choose where it lands and hit make MKV and add it to my collection. I haven't paid attention to region codes or PAL/NTSC or framerates for over a decade. I just go get what I want.

[Traverso]

     You put the disk in, you start the program, it reads the disk and when it finishes reading you get this screen:

     

     The big file is the movie, in this case a British region 2 film which won't play on any machine I have. The other ones are special features I don't usually bother with, I choose the big one, open it and unchoose subs and other sound tracks, choose where it lands and hit make MKV and add it to my collection. I haven't paid attention to region codes or PAL/NTSC or framerates for over a decade. I just go get what I want.

,Well,  I shall purchase  the DVD's set ( not this one) and Thank you for your  help. 

 

[North Star]

,Well,  I shall purchase  the DVD's set ( not this one) and Thank you for your  help. 

 

Ah yes, one of my favourite shows - especially the earlier seasons.

[Traverso]

Ah yes, one of my favourite shows - especially the earlier seasons.

Indeed the earlier ones with     Carol Drinkwater are the most atractive

Did you know that the author portrayed the characters in a way that his old colleagues were not happy with.Example ;Tristan comes home and lets James Herriot carry his bags.

[drogulus]

Indeed the earlier ones with     Carol Drinkwater are the most atractive

     Carol Drinkwater are?

     Seriously, she was wonderful, a big part of the success of the original series.

[North Star]

     Carol Drinkwater are?

     Seriously, she was wonderful, a big part of the success of the original series.

Indeed the earlier ones with     Carol Drinkwater are the most atractive

Did you know that the author portrayed the characters in a way that his old colleagues were not happy with.Example ;Tristan comes home and lets James Herriot carry his bags.

I certainly knew that the person who Siegfried was based on, wasn't happy about the character at all. 

Losing Carol Drinkwater as Helen, and Mary Hignett as Mrs Hall, certainly hurt the series. And I don't think I like the postwar series' writing quite so much in general.

[Traverso]

I certainly knew that the person who Siegfried was based on, wasn't happy about the character at all. 

Losing Carol Drinkwater as Helen, and Mary Hignett as Mrs Hall, certainly hurt the series. And I don't think I like the postwar series' writing quite so much in general.

Indeed,   I purchased "The Jewel in the Crown" and I'm most curious to watch it in the best quality available.I installed MakeMKV so I'm ready.