Last Movie You Watched

[Cato]

The Tower of London (1939) with Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Vincent Price. Also, a young Leo G. Carroll.

Oh my!  I have not seen that for maybe 60 years!  I recall catching it on a Saturday morning c. 6:00 A.M. on local television.

Did you find it at the library?

Recently, because Mrs. Cato recalled this movie from the early 1970's...




A "cultural artifact" of the 1960's-70's, so to speak: The Gospel of Matthew as performed by '70's-hippie circus clowns.

It was interesting to see and hear a 24-year old Victor Garber as Jesus;  Half of the cast left show business soon or immediately after the movie's release.  The rest had somewhat steady careers, with Lynne Thigpen being the most successful.

Godspell is still around on the stages of American high schools, public and religious, not infrequently as The Senior Class Play.

   

[Karl Henning]

Oh my!  I have not seen that for maybe 60 years!  I recall catching it on a Saturday morning c. 6:00 A.M. on local television.

Did you find it at the library?

Recently, because Mrs. Cato recalled this movie from the early 1970's...




A "cultural artifact" of the 1960's-70's, so to speak: The Gospel of Matthew as performed by '70's-hippie circus clowns.

It was interesting to see and hear a 24-year old Victor Garber as Jesus;  Half of the cast left show business soon or immediately after the movie's release.  The rest had somewhat steady careers, with Lynne Thigpen being the most successful.

Godspell is still around on the stages of American high schools, public and religious, not infrequently as The Senior Class Play.

   

Godspell was indeed one of my High School's school plays. (I wasn't selected to participate.) I think I saw the movie, but remember little to nothing of it.

[Madiel]

I was rehearsal pianist for a production of Godspell in 2018.  Basically the gospel meets theatre sports.

[Cato]

Godspell was indeed one of my High School's school plays. (I wasn't selected to participate.) I think I saw the movie, but remember little to nothing of it.

There is a good reason for that! 

Today, speaking of acquired tastes (Mrs. Cato does not like such movies, and while she is gone for a meeting...)



An early masterpiece, helped of course by Bernard Herrmann's score!

Yes, it has Hitchcockian references beyond a Herrmann score, and people sniffed at the movie because of it: but an intriguing ride all the way.

And if you do not know the movie, watch the asylum-flashback scene carefully!  Somebody appears there, whose presence is absolutely mind-boggling!         

If you do know the movie, and are not sure to what I am referring, watch it again and look more carefully at that scene. 

I should mention that The Criterion Collection's restoration of Sisters is available (for free, with commercials) on TUBI! 

They also offer Brian De Palma's Obsession, much less violent than Sisters, which in comparison to e.g. modern television shows like CSI, seems today not very violent at all!

Obsession features a grand, almost over-the-top score by Bernard Herrmann, who said in an interview that he liked this movie more than Vertigo, because he thought the star (James Stewart) was unconvincing in Vertigo.

[Philo]

A rewatch of Dredd (2012) - I compare it to Doom Eternal when it comes to the ratio of calm to pulse-poundedness.

[Karl Henning]

And, an extra I have not hitherto watched: The workprint of Blade Runner (watching with commentary.)

This evening: the Director's Cut (1992) Part of me wants the commentary, but I found that the commentary dominated my experience of the Workprint, so I'll just watch the movie now.

[AnotherSpin]

There is one bitter truth about history: it teaches nothing. Even if the world fully understood the crimes committed by Russians against the Finns, it would not prevent repetition, not even today. History does not work that way. It never teaches.

Still, there is one small consolation: you can watch a film in which justice is fully served.

Sisu: Road to Revenge is absolutely worth seeing.

[relm1]

There is one bitter truth about history: it teaches nothing. Even if the world fully understood the crimes committed by Russians against the Finns, it would not prevent repetition, not even today. History does not work that way. It never teaches.

Still, there is one small consolation: you can watch a film in which justice is fully served.

Sisu: Road to Revenge is absolutely worth seeing.

History teaches loads and is full of warnings to the future.  The problem is no one cares to learn it.  That's our failure, not history's.

[Karl Henning]

Introduced the missus and mom-in-law to Elf and they were appropriately charmed.

[Karl Henning]

Diary of a Madman (1952) based on stories by Guy de Maupassant, starring Vincent Price. 

[brewski]

Inland Empire (2006, dir. David Lynch). My first time seeing his final film, almost 20 years after it came out. Need to ponder its brilliance for awhile, but for now, what a movie.

[Madiel]

Big Eden



Gay romantic drama set in Montana that is thoroughly middling. Inoffensive, fairly bland, sometimes a bit clunky. The central characters are very repressed and the film as a whole doesn't have much emotional availability either.

[Cato]

History teaches loads and is full of warnings to the future.  The problem is no one cares to learn it.  That's our failure, not history's.

As a History teacher (now retired) of Ancient, Medieval, Byzantine, Modern European, and American History, I thank you for the clarification!  😇

Recently...


A British movie created by Writers and Directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburg,
from 1945 (late 1945, after the conclusion of World War II?), with Wendy Hiller...



Available in the restored version from The Criterion Collection on TUBI. A woman is supposed to meet her older fiance' on a Scottish island for their private wedding, and meets the islanders and a charming Navy officer around her own age.

Let's just say it is NOT a mystery movie!   

Plus it has Finlay Currie!

[AnotherSpin]

As a History teacher (now retired) of Ancient, Medieval, Byzantine, Modern European, and American History, I thank you for the clarification!  😇

[...]

I, too, have taught history at university. I have no doubt that history teaches us nothing. If there are no students, meaning people who are truly capable of learning its lessons, then there is not only nothing to learn, but history itself ceases to exist. After all, history becomes a coherent whole in our minds only.

[Karl Henning]

As a History teacher (now retired) of Ancient, Medieval, Byzantine, Modern European, and American History, I thank you for the clarification!  😇

Recently...


A British movie created by Writers and Directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburg,
from 1945 (late 1945, after the conclusion of World War II?), with Wendy Hiller...



Available in the restored version from The Criterion Collection on TUBI. A woman is supposed to meet her older fiance' on a Scottish island for their private wedding, and meets the islanders and a charming Navy officer around her own age.

Let's just say it is NOT a mystery movie! 

Plus it has Finlay Currie!

I used to have Tubi via my wifi-connected blu-ray player, but Tubi seems to have dropped off.

[arpeggio]

I just returned from the new Avatar film.
It was a good movie for me.
There are two cons.
One. The Film is 3hrs and 15 minutes long.  They could have cut out 60 minutes and it still would have been a good movie.
Second.  It was essentially a remake of the first movie.  The big bad corporation is trying to take over Pandora (the planet).  The local life forms attack and defeat the corporates armies.

[Brian]

A British movie created by Writers and Directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburg,
from 1945 (late 1945, after the conclusion of World War II?), with Wendy Hiller...



Available in the restored version from The Criterion Collection on TUBI. A woman is supposed to meet her older fiance' on a Scottish island for their private wedding, and meets the islanders and a charming Navy officer around her own age.

Let's just say it is NOT a mystery movie!   

Plus it has Finlay Currie!

I watched that one last month. Here was my review: "The plot of this movie is 'Scotland has terrible weather,' and yet the emotional effect of the movie is 'I want to move to Scotland.' Talk about movie magic!"

[Cato]

I watched that one last month. Here was my review: "The plot of this movie is 'Scotland has terrible weather,' and yet the emotional effect of the movie is 'I want to move to Scotland.' Talk about movie magic!"

Love conquers even the weather! 

[Madiel]

Hard Eight



Paul Thomas Anderson's first feature film is pretty good. There were perhaps just a couple of moments that felt tonally off, but on the whole you can see the talent.

Perhaps the most problematic thing is that it takes more than three-quarters of the movie to find out why the hell the central character, Sydney, is doing what he's doing. It does make sense eventually, and the movie is very watchable before that, but I did have this little nagging thing tugging inside my head asking why is any of this happening? I'm glad there was indeed a reason, but I still wonder a bit about the very first scene in the film and I think for me it would have been slightly better if either (a) at least some explanation came earlier (even if it wasn't full or true), or (b) other characters showed some curiosity as to why Sydney is, well, being Sydney.

Plenty of good acting to be had.

[71 dB]

History teaches loads and is full of warnings to the future.  The problem is no one cares to learn it.  That's our failure, not history's.

Most people care to learn. People like you and me. It's just that most people who rise to the position of (near-unlimited) power are very often actually demons, the ones who didn't learn because demons can't learn anything that is linked to humanism. In undemocratic countries demons rise to they power because they strive in such a system. In democratic countries demons rise to the power because most voters are ignorant morons who can't tell demons apart from normal humans.