Last Movie You Watched

[karlhenning]

The In-Laws

Charade

[George]

Working my way through this. Very funny. 

[Joe_Campbell]

Not exactly the last movie I watched, but superb, as with all of Studio Ghibli's works.

[SonicMan46]

Not exactly the last movie I watched, but superb, as with all of Studio Ghibli's works.

Hi Joe - I've own that animated film for a while & have probably watched it 3-4 times - really enjoy the story and the animated artwork; may not be to everyone's taste, but at least worth an initial viewing!  Dave

[Joe_Campbell]

I think I'll probably have to watch it again, but it left a strong impression with me, along with Howl's Moving Castle, for that matter.

[SonicMan46]

Last night, into a little Stewart Granger & Deborah Kerr - King Solomon's Mines (1950) - chemistry between these two stars was quite good & the on-scene filming spectacular (just not done these days!) & The Prisoner of Zenda (1952 version) - in color & w/ James Mason as the scoundrel; this is really a good re-make, but I do prefer the 1937 film (in B&W) w/ Ronald Colman & Madeleine Carroll; I don't own that 'double feature' version shown below (burned both of mine off the TCM channel), but at the Amazon Marketplace price of $10, don't hesitate if you like 'old' adventure films! 


 

[Solitary Wanderer]

Kenneth Branagh's superb adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V.

'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger. . . .'

[Lilas Pastia]

Ophuls is probably the most sophisticated of all french cinéastes. Ironically, he started his carreer in Germany (was born in Saarbrücken) and worked in the UFA studios in Berlin for many years. He spelled his named with an umlaut (Ophüls), which was dropped when he left for the USA in 1933 - he was Jewish. After the war he returned to France and his claim to fame rests entorely on a handful of films he made there in the 1950s.

In a sense he can be said to have combined the best characteristics of Ernst Lubitsch, René Clair, Eric Rohmer and Jacques Demy. He was the role model for the latter two - esp. Demy, who adopted his elegant, fluid camera style).

Le Plaisir is an adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's La Maison Tellier, a classic of french litterature. I haven't seen an Ophuls film in decades. The last one was Lola Montes (his only colour feature). Coincidentally, I bought the Marco Polo disc of its music (by George Auric) a few weeks ago.

Corey, your cinematic culture is just beautiful 

[Jay F]

I very much liked JUST A QUESTION OF LOVE, starring Cyrille Thouvenin, so I rented another movie with him in it, A CONFUSION OF GENDERS, and it was a mess. Just a bunch of thoroughly unsympathetic characters. Bleah. Proof that just because it's French doesn't mean it's necessarily going to be good (even though I like French movies most of the time).

[Kullervo]

Corey, your cinematic culture is just beautiful 

You flatter me.  

Lola Montes seems to be unavailable at the moment. However, I do have The Earrings of Madame de... sitting on my television for viewing tomorrow — will be sure to post on it. Ophuls is indeed an amazing discovery for me.

[Bogey]

Dracula (1931)



Obviously the role that defined Bela Lugosi, of which he only played the role of Dracula one more time in Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).  (I believe he played a vampire at least a couple(?) more times.) Though I enjoyed Stoker's novel much more, I believe this is must see monster stuff.  I noticed while viewing that the character of Dracula never shows his fangs.  In fact, I do not recall him ever being filmed actually biting a neck, but rather just heading that way.  Such was 1931 where the power of suggestion took care of a "show everything" type filming that recent monster films are notorious for.  Lastly, if you do not care for the type of acting that these older monster films provided, at least watch it for the sets.  Truly incredible.  As a bit of trivia: He was buried in the cape he wore in this film.

This also begins my viewing run of the Universal Monster films.  I will be watching these more in a story arc than in a chronological order.  So my first run will be as follows. 

DRACULA:
Dracula (1931)
Drácula (193I Spanish)
Dracula's Daughter (1936)
Son of Dracula (1943)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
House of Dracula (1945)

[pjme]

Ophuls is probably the most sophisticated of all french cinéastes. Ironically, he started his carreer in Germany (was born in Saarbrücken) and worked in the UFA studios in Berlin for many years. He spelled his named with an umlaut (Ophüls), which was dropped when he left for the USA in 1933 - he was Jewish. After the war he returned to France and his claim to fame rests entorely on a handful of films he made there in the 1950s.

In a sense he can be said to have combined the best characteristics of Ernst Lubitsch, René Clair, Eric Rohmer and Jacques Demy. He was the role model for the latter two - esp. Demy, who adopted his elegant, fluid camera style).

New print of Max Ophuls' masterpiece put together by the Paris Cinemathèque that restored its original colours, stereophonic sound, editing and cinemascope format. Max's son Marcel Ophuls helped on the project, with support from the Thomson Foundation and the Franco-American Cultural Funds, as well as several European Film Archives, including the Brussels Archives.

Marcel Ophuls's last film was long shown in a heavily cut version, which eschewed the original dream-like structure. Although this was restored, the film still remained incomplete. Lola Montes is the portrait in flashback of a circus dancer, Lola (Martine Carole), answering questions from the audience about her "notorious" past, made up of a brutal marriage and affairs with Liszt and Ludwig of Bavaria. Made in 1955, the film displayed a baroque and poetic sense of sets and décor, and was the only colour film Ophuls directed. Spectacular and morbid, sensual and melancholy, it will be shown at last in a version long assumed to have been lost.

With: Anton Walbrook, Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov

Peter

[ChamberNut]

Wife and I both loved it! 

[pjme]

I very much liked JUST A QUESTION OF LOVE, starring Cyrille Thouvenin, so I rented another movie with him in it, A CONFUSION OF GENDERS, and it was a mess. Just a bunch of thoroughly unsympathetic characters. Bleah. Proof that just because it's French doesn't mean it's necessarily going to be good (even though I like French movies most of the time).

I saw "Juste une question d'amour" some years ago on TV. "Très sympa" as the French say - but hardly a "great" film. Even in Belgium it is difficult to see recent French films - except a few pot boilers as . (which has a few really funny moments!)

I'm glad to have ARTE ( Franco-German) TV. A good source of cultural information opn both countries.
Peter

[Bu]

[Solitary Wanderer]

Interesting, if a bit out of date now (2004).

[Bogey]

Good to see you back.....hope all is well.

[Lilas Pastia]

New print of Max Ophuls' masterpiece put together by the Paris Cinemathèque that restored its original colours, stereophonic sound, editing and cinemascope format. Max's son Marcel Ophuls helped on the project, with support from the Thomson Foundation and the Franco-American Cultural Funds, as well as several European Film Archives, including the Brussels Archives.

Marcel Ophuls's last film was long shown in a heavily cut version, which eschewed the original dream-like structure. Although this was restored, the film still remained incomplete. Lola Montes is the portrait in flashback of a circus dancer, Lola (Martine Carole), answering questions from the audience about her "notorious" past, made up of a brutal marriage and affairs with Liszt and Ludwig of Bavaria. Made in 1955, the film displayed a baroque and poetic sense of sets and décor, and was the only colour film Ophuls directed. Spectacular and morbid, sensual and melancholy, it will be shown at last in a version long assumed to have been lost.

PS: Lola Motés was King of Bavaria Ludwig I's mistress. Although the music of the film was written by 20th Century composer Georges Auric, it should be reminded that Viscontis's Ludwig was about that king's son and course prominently featured Wagner's music.

With: Anton Walbrook, Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov

Peter

Thanks, PJ. Makes mw want to see it again when it comes comes back into the form you describe (is it a Cinémath`que project or product ??).

Also, the poster you showed pointed to an actor that hasn't had much of a reputation outside of Europe, although he is well known to most francophile cinemagoers: Oskar Werner. He is best rememebered as one of Jeanne Moreau's suitors in Truffaut's immortal Jules et Jim (Jules). I definitely have too look for more Max Ophuls...

[Kullervo]

Also, the poster you showed pointed to an actor that hasn't had much of a reputation outside of Europe, although he is well known to most francophile cinemagoers: Oskar Werner. He is best rememebered as one of Jeanne Moreau's suitors in Truffaut's immortal Jules et Jim (Jules).

He was also in Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451.

[pjme]

http://www.cinematek.be/

http://www.cinematheque.fr

As far as I could check, Lola Montés ( restaured version is not ( yet?) available on DVD - at least in Brussels.

Peter