Last Movie You Watched

[Karl Henning]

At the film's end, Davis turned to de Havilland and admitted, "I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Flynn was brilliant!"

Wow! Gotta love people who are adult enough to own when they were mistaken. And darned if I ain't interested in this now. Dave!...

[SimonNZ]

Recently, I upgraded this film to BD (inserted above - 5* rating for visual restoration HERE) - lot of interesting info at the link below including the quotation about Davis not wanting Flynn for the Essex role - Dave

Heh. Well, the role of Essex requires a vain swashbuckler with an outsized view of his own talent and who knows how far his good looks can take him, rather than a Shakespearian gravitas, so, yeah its definitely more Flynn than Olivier.

I'm pleased to hear that Davis and de Havilland were good friends.

[Karl Henning]

Heh. Well, the role of Essex requires a vain swashbuckler with an outsized view of his own talent and who knows how far his good looks can take him, rather than a Shakespearian gravitas, so, yeah its definitely more Flynn than Olivier.

A good fit, then

[relm1]

I saw Tar today.  Interesting to see a film set around classical music conducting but that is really not what the film is about.  It just happens to be the setting.  Amazing performance by Cate Blanchet.  I've seen professional conductors way worse than she is.  One small thing that really blew me away was how she so subtly tried to cajole a different emotion in Mahler's Adagietto.  It just felt so real.  She really conveyed an idea and emotion the orchestra wasn't conveying as if she's had this piece in her mind for decades.  That's amazing acting!  BUT, important for people to understand, that is not what this film is about. 

[Karl Henning]

I saw Tar today.  Interesting to see a film set around classical music conducting but that is really not what the film is about.  It just happens to be the setting.  Amazing performance by Cate Blanchet.  I've seen professional conductors way worse than she is.  One small thing that really blew me away was how she so subtly tried to cajole a different emotion in Mahler's Adagietto.  It just felt so real.  She really conveyed an idea and emotion the orchestra wasn't conveying as if she's had this piece in her mind for decades.  That's amazing acting!  BUT, important for people to understand, that is not what this film is about. 

Interesting, thanks.

[Karl Henning]

Last night, SWAMBO's choice:

The In-Laws (1979) w/ Falk & Arkin in one of the funniest films of the era (synopsis below) - own the Criterion BD which is a superb restoration.  BTW, the scene below is where Arkin learns the so-called 'serpentine' movement to escape being shot -    Highly recommended - Dave

 

José Grecos de muertos ....

[SonicMan46]

Nothing Sacred (1937) - several quotes below w/ short synopsis and cast. An Amazon HD streamer restored by Kino Lorber w/ 4*/5* AV ratings HERE - well done for a film around 85 years old!  Carol Lombard (1908-1942; airplane crash) just beautiful in color and a great comedic role for her.  Ratings: 92% Rotten Tomatoes and 3 1/2*/4* both VideoHound and Maltin.  Dave

Nothing Sacred is an American Technicolor screwball comedy film directed by William A. Wellman, produced by David O. Selznick, and starring Carole Lombard and Fredric March with a supporting cast featuring Charles Winninger and Walter Connolly. The lush, Gershwinesque music score was by Oscar Levant, with additional music by Alfred Newman and Max Steiner. The film's opening credits feature distinctive caricatures of the leading actors, as 3d-figurines. This was Lombard's only Technicolor film, and was one of her personal favorites. (Source)

Certain she was dying from radium poisoning, Hazel Flagg (Carole Lombard) is delighted to learn from her doctor that it was a false alarm. But when dapper and desperate New York City reporter Wally Cook (Fredric March) shows up looking for a story about a young girl braving terminal illness, Hazel decides that she's sick again. Wally whisks her off to Manhattan, where her supposed courage wins her many admirers. The toast of the town, she falls in love with Wally and dreads being discovered. (Source)

 

[Karl Henning]

Certain she was dying from radium poisoning, Hazel Flagg (Carole Lombard) is delighted to learn from her doctor that it was a false alarm. But when dapper and desperate New York City reporter Wally Cook (Fredric March) shows up looking for a story about a young girl braving terminal illness, Hazel decides that she's sick again. Wally whisks her off to Manhattan, where her supposed courage wins her many admirers. The toast of the town, she falls in love with Wally and dreads being discovered.

I somehow read your post backwards, Dave, reading this first, and I was very surprised to find that it's after all a screwball comedy ; )

[SonicMan46]

I somehow read your post backwards, Dave, reading this first, and I was very surprised to find that it's after all a screwball comedy ; )

Hi Karl - well, I guess 'radium girls' were 'topical' at the time but a tragic occupational hazard as noted below (much more at the link for those interested) - BUT the movie is definitely a comedy - 

Radium dials were typically painted by young women, who used to 'point' their brushes by licking and shaping the bristles prior to painting the fine lines and numbers on the dials. This practice resulted in the ingestion of radium, which caused serious jaw-bone degeneration and malignancy and other dental diseases. The disease, radium-induced osteonecrosis, was recognized as an occupational disease in 1925 after a group of radium painters, known as the Radium Girls, from the United States Radium Corporation sued. By 1930, all dial painters stopped pointing their brushes by mouth. Stopping this practice drastically reduced the amount of radium ingested and therefore, the incidence of malignancy. (Source)

[Karl Henning]

Hi Karl - well, I guess 'radium girls' were 'topical' at the time but a tragic occupational hazard as noted below (much more at the link for those interested) - BUT the movie is definitely a comedy - 

At first, it read a bit like Silkwood, ahead of its time

[relm1]

I am currently watching Wolfgang Petersen's Troy (2004) but with Gabriel Yared's original score.  His original score was fantastic but more complex than James Horner (who I'm a fan of) score but Horner made this film more of a Hollywood spectacle (think action film where Gabriel Yared's score considered this more of a classic literary myth). 

[Madiel]

Nothing Sacred (1937) - several quotes below w/ short synopsis and cast. An Amazon HD streamer restored by Kino Lorber w/ 4*/5* AV ratings HERE - well done for a film around 85 years old!  Carol Lombard (1908-1942; airplane crash) just beautiful in color and a great comedic role for her.  Ratings: 92% Rotten Tomatoes and 3 1/2*/4* both VideoHound and Maltin.  Dave

 

I have access to this film on streaming. I might just try it out.

[brewski]

Since I'm going to a small Oscars party on Sunday night, I decided to do some homework and see some of the nominees this week (a first in awhile).

Tonight, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and it is quite an achievement. Star turns by Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis (!), but the real stars are the directors ("the two Daniels") and Paul Rogers, nominated for direction and film editing, respectively.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/04/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-editor-never-saw-oscar-nod-coming.html



-Bruce

[Karl Henning]

High Noon

[Fëanor]

Since I'm going to a small Oscars party on Sunday night, I decided to do some homework and see some of the nominees this week (a first in awhile).

Tonight, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and it is quite an achievement. Star turns by Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis (!), but the real stars are the directors ("the two Daniels") and Paul Rogers, nominated for direction and film editing, respectively.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/04/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-editor-never-saw-oscar-nod-coming.html



-Bruce

I saw Everything Everywhere All At Once and was underwhelmed.  Personally I'd give it at most 7/10*.  Yes, Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis gave nice performances. However so many Oscar nominations for this flick is puzzling IMO.  Does it have to do with today's "diversity" obsession?

[Brian]

I saw Everything Everywhere All At Once and was underwhelmed.  Personally I'd give it at most 7/10*.  Yes, Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis gave nice performances. However so many Oscar nominations for this flick is puzzling IMO.  Does it have to do with today's "diversity" obsession?

I'd give it like an 8.2/10. With that out of the way:
I don't think the "diversity" obsession (as you put it) is a particularly good explanation compared to three others:
1. it represents a younger generation of filmmaking, and the Academy could be keen to appeal to younger people;
2. it is an original story, not an adaptation of a comic book or a historical figure;
3. it was relatively popular and seen by a lot of people. Domestically it ranks only 27th in ticket sales, but if you take out all the sequels and comic books, it actually ranks 10th.

The real test is which categories it wins. I have not seen Tár, but from what I've heard, a Yeoh win for Everything would be a "diversity" win (and she even seemingly considers it so herself, having shared social media posts about how Cate Blanchett has won enough already).

My own view is that the acting and technical achievements are exhilarating, the sense of humor is lively, and the fight scenes are wonderfully choreographed, but that by the end, once you've realized that it's all a big metaphor, things drag on much too long. The climax in particular takes forever. After I'd realized where the movie was heading, I became impatient for it to just go ahead and get there. The first half, introducing all the running jokes, was much more entertaining for me.

[brewski]

I'd give it like an 8.2/10. With that out of the way:
I don't think the "diversity" obsession (as you put it) is a particularly good explanation compared to three others:
1. it represents a younger generation of filmmaking, and the Academy could be keen to appeal to younger people;
2. it is an original story, not an adaptation of a comic book or a historical figure;
3. it was relatively popular and seen by a lot of people. Domestically it ranks only 27th in ticket sales, but if you take out all the sequels and comic books, it actually ranks 10th.

The real test is which categories it wins. I have not seen Tár, but from what I've heard, a Yeoh win for Everything would be a "diversity" win (and she even seemingly considers it so herself, having shared social media posts about how Cate Blanchett has won enough already).

My own view is that the acting and technical achievements are exhilarating, the sense of humor is lively, and the fight scenes are wonderfully choreographed, but that by the end, once you've realized that it's all a big metaphor, things drag on much too long. The climax in particular takes forever. After I'd realized where the movie was heading, I became impatient for it to just go ahead and get there. The first half, introducing all the running jokes, was much more entertaining for me.

All fair, and yes, some of the imagery that returns near the end has already made its (spectacular) appearance earlier, so yes, perhaps 20 minutes off might be fine. That said, you clearly put more pieces together than I did, since I didn't quite know where it was heading!

In any case, much to enjoy. Planning to watch Tár and The Banshees of Inisherin over the next few days, just so I've seen a handful of the nominees. Really looking forward to the latter, especially, since Martin McDonagh is one of my favorites, both in theater and film.

-Bruce

[Madiel]

I saw Everything Everywhere All At Once and was underwhelmed.  Personally I'd give it at most 7/10*.  Yes, Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis gave nice performances. However so many Oscar nominations for this flick is puzzling IMO.  Does it have to do with today's "diversity" obsession?

Maybe other people just like it a lot better than you do. 

I mean, both the average critic scores and average user scores on Metacritic are higher than yours. You could either accept that at face value or you could look for racially based explanations because you're convinced your own reaction is "objective".

[Madiel]

Next stop in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Spiderman: Homecoming



A lot of fun (although the Washington Monument sequence definitely triggered my vertigo). One of the more entertaining of the MCU movies I've watched so far. There were parts where I genuinely laughed out loud.

[Karl Henning]

Quite a lot of fiction, particularly in the last half hour, which is more fiction than fact. The sets and costumes are old school clumsy, as is Korngolds score. But Bette Davis performance is still remarkable all these years on.

Hadn't known this was in color, one of the initial big impact 1939 colors, along with Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind and Robin Hood.

I'm in!