Last Movie You Watched

[SonicMan46]

Well, still looking at replacing my aging DVDs w/ HD Amazon streamers - two added in the last few days below:

The Flame and the Arrow (1950) w/ Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo, and Nick Cravat - many may not remember Lancaster for his excellent '40s 'film noir' roles and his early '50s 'swashbuckling characters' often in glorious technicolor, but this film and the Crimson Pirate are favorites - in both he appears w/ his friend Nick Cravat, who were circus acrobats together and perform virtually all of the stunts in these early films; Cravat had a THICK Brooklyn accent so usually appeared as a mute - synopsis of the story below, although don't expect historic accuracy - 

Breaking Away (1979) - see second quote below for brief summary and the actors.  The film takes place in Bloomington, Indiana (which is the southern hilly part of the state and famous for limestone quarrying) - the campus is just beautiful - we've visited a half dozen times because our son attended IU (Indiana University, a Big Ten school), and met his future wife there (both live in Indianapolis now - have not seen them in 2 years because of COVID -  ) - highly recommended if the description below and the link is of interest.  Dave

The Flame and the Arrow is a Technicolor swashbuckler film made by Warner Bros.; it was directed by Jacques Tourneur; the music score by Max Steiner and cinematography by Ernest Haller. In the time of Frederick Barbarossa, in the area of Italy known as Lombardy, Dardo Bartoli (Lancaster) has brought his son Rudi to the town especially to see Count Ulrich, known as "the Hawk", together with his niece, Lady Anne (Mayo), and his mistress, Dardo's unfaithful wife Francesca (Lynn Baggett). Dardo shoots down Ulrich's hunting hawk. In revenge, the count orders that Dardo's son be taken to his castle. Dardo is struck by an arrow while fleeing with Rudi, so the boy allows himself to be captured in order to draw the soldiers away. During the 23rd Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Cinematography (Color) for Ernest Haller. A second nomination for Best Musical Score was received by Max Steiner, neither won the Oscar. (Source)

Breaking Away is a 1979 American coming of age comedy-drama film produced and directed by Peter Yates and written by Steve Tesich. It follows a group of four male teenagers in Bloomington, Indiana, who have recently graduated from high school. The film stars Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley, Barbara Barrie, Paul Dooley, and Robyn Douglass. The film won the 1979 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and received nominations in four other categories, including Best Picture. It also won the 1979 Golden Globe Award for Best Film (Comedy or Musical), and received nominations in three other Golden Globe categories. (Source)

   

[Karl Henning]

Cape Fear (1962)
Tension you can cut with a knife. Bob Mitchum is an absolute animal here. The Herrmann score is, of course, superb.

[listener]

a dystopian dyptich
A BOY AND HIS DOG
CLOCKWORK ORANGE

[aligreto]

Effie Gray:





This is the story of the rise in stature of the reputation of John Ruskin centered around the time of his disastrous marriage to Effie Gray. The screenplay was written by Emma Thompson who also stars in the film. As a period drama piece it was well done but I cannot vouch for how fact based the film is. I read conflicting views on this online. I did enjoy the film as a well put together piece of cinematography and it is definitely worth your time if period drama is of interest to you. 

[ritter]

:
...
Breaking Away (1979) - see second quote below for brief summary and the actors.  The film takes place in Bloomington, Indiana (which is the southern hilly part of the state and famous for limestone quarrying) - the campus is just beautiful - we've visited a half dozen times because our son attended IU (Indiana University, a Big Ten school), and met his future wife there (both live in Indianapolis now - have not seen them in 2 years because of COVID -  ) - highly recommended if the description below and the link is of interest.  Dave

My son is in the last stages to obtain his PhD in law at IU. I visited him a couple of years ago, and indeed it's a beautiful campus. And the IU Jacobs School of Music offers a superb opera season, which would make any large city proud.

I watched Breaking Away when it was first released (and had no expectation that I'd have a son studying in Bloomington 40 years later  ), and I greatly enjoyed it at the time. Have been meaning to watch it again, but it's not easy to find the DVD in Europe these days...

[Karl Henning]

a dystopian dyptich
A BOY AND HIS DOG
CLOCKWORK ORANGE

Harlan Ellison had rather a storied career.

The German word for the fruit is Orange, then? Dutch seems to have different words for the fruit and the color: sinaasappel and oranje.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

My son is in the last stages to obtain his PhD in law at IU. I visited him a couple of years ago, and indeed it's a beautiful campus. And the IU Jacobs School of Music offers a superb opera season, which would make any large city proud.

I watched Breaking Away when it was first released (and had no expectation that I'd have a son studying in Bloomington 40 years later  ), and I greatly enjoyed it at the time. Have been meaning to watch it again, but it's not easy to find the DVD in Europe these days...

I've heard of that movie before but haven't yet seen it.

One of my favorite cellists taught at the IU Jacobs School of Music:  https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/awards/honoree/3879.html 

PD

[SonicMan46]

My son is in the last stages to obtain his PhD in law at IU. I visited him a couple of years ago, and indeed it's a beautiful campus. And the IU Jacobs School of Music offers a superb opera season, which would make any large city proud.

I watched Breaking Away when it was first released (and had no expectation that I'd have a son studying in Bloomington 40 years later  ), and I greatly enjoyed it at the time. Have been meaning to watch it again, but it's not easy to find the DVD in Europe these days...

Hi Ritter - my son and DIL graduated about 25 years ago from IU, our last visit; but you're right their Jacobs School of Music is ranked in the tops of USA University-associated music schools; two lists below (i.e. University-Associated vs. Standalones) - number one from HERE; I'm sure other ranking sites would differ but considered an excellent music school.  Hope you get to see the film soon - we have not watched it in ages and the streaming HD version purchased from Amazon looked great.  Dave

[LKB]

a dystopian dyptich
A BOY AND HIS DOG
CLOCKWORK ORANGE

Saw the first film once at a drive-in. Tbh, l don't remember much besides it featuring Don Johnson ( I think ). I don't think l hated it, since that l would almost certainly remember.

ACO, on the other hand, ranks up there with Kubrick's best, imho. It's a strong adaptation of Burgess's short-but-intense novel, and Kubrick makes a shrewd choice in dialing down Alex's most shocking exploits, leaving the viewer enough emotional space to feel at least a smidgen of sympathy once Alex's luck changes for the worse. Brilliant editing, cunning production design, an inspired score and perfect dramatic pacing seal the deal.

[JBS]

Harlan Ellison had rather a storied career.

The German word for the fruit is Orange, then? Dutch seems to have different words for the fruit and the color: sinaasappel and oranje.

I remember learning the word for the fruit to be Apfelsinen.

[Karl Henning]

Cape Fear (1991, Scorsese)

Wesley Strick's screenplay (an adaptation of Jas R Webb's screenplay for the 1962 original) — with Scorsese's input — makes Cady even creepier, makes Bowen yet more flawed and amplifies problems in the Bowen family. I may admire more the sleek purity and focused intensity of the original, but Scorsese's movie is quite the ride.

Now: earlier this year, I read an interesting piece in The Bulwark. Bill Ryan has a quarrel with "Two forgettable Exorcist sequels and a prequel were made without her [Ellen Burstyn] between 1977 and 2004." Pointedly, he thinks The Exorcist III (1990) one of the best horror films ever made. So, color me curious ... although, on second thought, I'll watch something lighter tonight

[Cato]

Harlan Ellison had rather a storied career.

The German word for the fruit is Orange, then? Dutch seems to have different words for the fruit and the color: sinaasappel and oranje.

Apfelsine translates as "Chinese apple" in German.  The "sine" part coming from Latin/Greek, as in "Sino-Soviet Relations."  The Dutch word reverses the two parts.

However, "Orangensaft" for Orange Juice is not unknown.

Now: earlier this year, I read an interesting piece in The Bulwark. Bill Ryan has a quarrel with "Two forgettable Exorcist sequels and a prequel were made without her [Ellen Burstyn] between 1977 and 2004." Pointedly, he thinks The Exorcist III (1990) one of the best horror films ever made. So, color me curious ... although, on second thought, I'll watch something lighter tonight.

John Boorman's The Exorcist II: The Heretic offers us Richard Burton in an alcoholic daze, who stated in an interview back in the 1970's that he understood not one bit of the script.

Concerning  The Exorcist III !  It was tinkered with by nervous studio execs and was NOT what Blatty wanted!  His original cut was found and released in 2016 as Legion, which was the title of his book.

You can watch both versions to see whether the studio executives were right or wrong!

See:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10045260/

[Brahmsian]

Cape Fear (1991, Scorsese)

Wesley Strick's screenplay (an adaptation of Jas R Webb's screenplay for the 1962 original) — with Scorsese's input — makes Cady even creepier, makes Bowen yet more flawed and amplifies problems in the Bowen family. I may admire more the sleek purity and focused intensity of the original, but Scorsese's movie is quite the ride.

I do like both the original and the remake.

[VonStupp]

The Longest Yard (1974)
Burt Reynolds & Edddie Albert

The poster shows what Burt Reynolds was treasured for during the 70's. Eddie Albert as the warden is a great baddie in this one and there are 70's US football stars galore.

I have no fancy to watch the Adam Sandler remake. VS

[Karl Henning]

Apfelsine translates as "Chinese apple" in German.  The "sine" part coming from Latin/Greek, as in "Sino-Soviet Relations."  The Dutch word reverses the two parts.

However, "Orangensaft" for Orange Juice is not unknown.



John Boorman's The Exorcist II: The Heretic offers us Richard Burton in an alcoholic daze, who stated in an interview back in the 1970's that he understood not one bit of the script.

Concerning  The Exorcist III !  It was tinkered with by nervous studio execs and was NOT what Blatty wanted!  His original cut was found and released in 2016 as Legion, which was the title of his book.

You can watch both versions to see whether the studio executives were right or wrong!

See:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10045260/

Interesting, indeed! I see that the "Collector's Edition" blu-ray includes a "new Director's Cut"

[SonicMan46]

The Longest Yard (1974)
Burt Reynolds & Edddie Albert

The poster shows what Burt Reynolds was treasured for during the 70's. Eddie Albert as the warden is a great baddie in this one and there are 70's US football stars galore.

I have no fancy to watch the Adam Sandler remake. VS

 

LOL!    I'm sure that many remember that early 70s Cosmo foldout inserted above.  He had an amazingly LONG career, starting out in TV in the late 50s into the 60s, then making his many films in the 70s and into the 90s (IMDB LIST); although I've seen many of these movies, I own just one, i.e. Deliverance from 1972 (about the time of the Cosmo photo).  Dave

[Cato]

Concerning the two versions of The Exorcist III/Legion ...

Interesting, indeed! I see that the "Collector's Edition" blu-ray includes a "new Director's Cut"

For the Director's Cut, the original version had to be culled from videotapes, rather than the original footage on film.  As a result, according to the reviews, the quality of those sections is sub-par, since the tapes had deteriorated during the 25 years before their discovery.

Apparently no real restoration of the tapes was done.

[Karl Henning]

LOL!    I'm sure that many remember that early 70s Cosmo foldout inserted above.  He had an amazingly LONG career, starting out in TV in the late 50s into the 60s, then making his many films in the 70s and into the 90s (IMDB LIST); although I've seen many of these movies, I own just one, i.e. Deliverance from 1972 (about the time of the Cosmo photo).  Dave

I think the only thing we own with Burt Reynolds is "The Bard" from Season 4 of The Twilight Zone, in which he plays a parody of Marlon Brando.

[SonicMan46]

Continuing my local charity donations of old DVDs by purchasing HD streamers on Amazon Prime Video - last few days the two below - favorites of both of ours:

Music of the Heart (1999) w/ Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Cloris Leachman, Angela Bassett, and Gloria Estefan - short synopsis below; my favorite part is the ending at the benefit concert in Carnegie Hall, quoted from the link  "Itzhak Perlman, Arnold Steinhardt, Isaac Stern, Mark O'Connor, Michael Tree, Charles Veal Jr., Karen Briggs, Sandra Park, Diane Monroe, and Joshua Bell all cameo as themselves in the film's recreation of the Carnegie Hall benefit concert (at which all were actually present)."

Songcatcher (2000) w/ Janet McTeer, Aidan Quinn, and others - summary below; the soundtrack features many famous country singers (see last quote below).  A special relationship for us, we live just 2 hrs or less away from the Appalachian Mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway; the film was made just north of Asheville, NC - we've been visiting these mountains for 40+ years and the film always brings back memories - both films highly recommended if you're in a 'musical mood'!  Dave

P.S. third pic my own from a trip this summer to Asheville (downtown in the background along w/ the Blue Ridge Mtns) - we stayed at the Grove Park Inn in the Sammos Wing.

Music of the Heart is a 1999 American biographical musical drama film directed by Wes Craven and written by Pamela Gray, based on the 1995 documentary Small Wonders. The film is a dramatization of the true story of Roberta Guaspari, portrayed by Meryl Streep, who co-founded the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music and fought for music education funding in New York City public schools. The film also stars Aidan Quinn, Gloria Estefan, and Angela Bassett. It was director Wes Craven's first and only mainstream cinematic film not in the horror or thriller genre, and also his only film to receive Oscar nominations. (Source)

Songcatcher is a 2000 drama film directed by Maggie Greenwald. It is about a musicologist researching and collecting Appalachian folk music in the mountains of western North Carolina. Although Songcatcher is a fictional film, it is loosely based on the work of Olive Dame Campbell, founder of the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina, and that of the English folk song collector Cecil Sharp, portrayed at the end of the film as professor Cyrus Whittle. (Source)

The film's score was written by David Mansfield, who also assembled a roster of female country music artists to perform mostly traditional mountain ballads. Some of the songs are contemporary arrangements, and some are played in the traditional Appalachian music style. The artists include Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Maria McKee, Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch and Patty Loveless. Singers Emmy Rossum, Iris DeMent, and Hazel Dickens, who appeared in the film, are also featured on the soundtrack. (Source above)

   

[VonStupp]

I think the only thing we own with Burt Reynolds is "The Bard" from Season 4 of The Twilight Zone, in which he plays a parody of Marlon Brando.

The NY Times review of The Longest Yard opines:

...and Reynolds doing a "lumbering imitation" of Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront.

They make a strong point to shave Burt Reynold's moustache when he enters the prison. Here is a side-by-side of the two.