Last Movie You Watched

[relm1]

Any Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013) fans in the house? 

Clash of the Titans (1981) - partial cast below w/ Olivier as Zeus (check link for much more) - loved this stop-action film for years (esp. when Judi Bowker emerges from her bath toward the end -  ) - below is an IMDB listing of Ray's films ranked by their system - I've seen most of these movies and own about 8 or so - comments and favorites?  Dave

 

It's crazy to think he retired so young and lived another 32 years after Clash of the Titans.  So, I wonder what he might have thought of Jurassic Park and computer animation replacing stop motion monsters since he lived through all that.

[SonicMan46]

It's crazy to think he retired so young and lived another 32 years after Clash of the Titans.  So, I wonder what he might have thought of Jurassic Park and computer animation replacing stop motion monsters since he lived through all that.

Well, take a look at a 2005 interview w/ Ray HERE -    Dave

[LKB]

Well, take a look at a 2005 interview w/ Ray HERE -    Dave

I actually had that copied and ready to paste here, you beat me to it.

Great minds think alike ( and so do ours    )...

[Karl Henning]

Again: The Green Mile. Basically a QC watch, as the first blu-ray disc that came in skipped. 

[71 dB]

IT FOLLOWS (David Robert Mitchell, 2014)

This small budget ($1.3 million) horror movie has a good reputation online and now I had the change to watch on TV. I can see why this movie is considered artistically successful: It is original, effective and uses its small budget cleverly on things that matter the most. This is a great example of how much you can get out from limited money resources in cinema when you use your brain. What is scary? What is terrifying? How to build creepy mood? The camerawork is great: Very good balance of still camera, smoothly moving camera and shaky camera. Only wide lenses are used making the movie look reality rather than a movie to uphold the creepiness. I really like the music by Disasterpeace aka Rich Vreeland which supported the mood of the movie greatly. While the end of the movie isn't maybe as strong as the beginning and I get wondering where are the parents, this is a "How to make movies wisely" -movie that puts a lot of big budget movies to shame. 4/5.

[Karl Henning]

Walking the Mile, Constantine Nasr's documentary of the shooting of The Green Mile. 

[Karl Henning]

Walking the Mile, Constantine Nasr's documentary of the shooting of The Green Mile.

Shooting a scene in a church, a scene which we're probably all happy was cut from the film.

[Karl Henning]

Shooting a scene in a church, a scene which we're probably all happy was cut from the film.

Not saying the scene itself (whereof this documentary gave us but a snippet) was bad, but this scene does not add anything in particular to the movie, whose running time is already sufficiently long. And which, as I've already said, is fine.

[Karl Henning]

DVD 1: Portrait of Alberto Ginastera

[relm1]

Yesterday, I saw "Sink the Bismarck!" (1960).  I liked it better than 49th Parallel as a movie.  Uniquely, this movie doesn't dwell on the drama on the ships but more about the backroom efforts to track it down.  There is a minor romantic subplot and the captain feared the loss of his son which came across as sincere.  I think the story itself is better than the film perhaps because it sought to focus so much more on the backroom meetings, I think one of the most important aspects of the story is the Bismarck crew knew they were doomed and preemptively received a message thanking them for their sacrifice, but nothing would be done to help them. The film makes no mention of the final hours of doom or what it must have been like to know you were about to meet your end.  True most of that would have been speculative but the romantic subplot and captain's character were already fictional.  Adding an interesting historical gravitas was a few commentaries by the broadcaster, Edward R Marrow playing himself. 

[SonicMan46]

Yesterday, I saw "Sink the Bismarck!" (1960).  I liked it better than 49th Parallel as a movie.  Uniquely, this movie doesn't dwell on the drama on the ships but more about the backroom efforts to track it down.  There is a minor romantic subplot and the captain feared the loss of his son which came across as sincere.  I think the story itself is better than the film perhaps because it sought to focus so much more on the backroom meetings, I think one of the most important aspects of the story is the Bismarck crew knew they were doomed and preemptively received a message thanking them for their sacrifice, but nothing would be done to help them. The film makes no mention of the final hours of doom or what it must have been like to know you were about to meet your end.  True most of that would have been speculative but the romantic subplot and captain's character were already fictional.  Adding an interesting historical gravitas was a few commentaries by the broadcaster, Edward R Marrow playing himself. 

 

Enjoy that films, but not in my collection (would buy an Amazon HD version but not available at the moment - also love Johnny Horton's song on the topic which was suppose to be the 'theme song' of the movie but was left out (more below and at the link).  Dave

P.S. Dana Wynter in a uniform adds some sparkle to a war film -   

Singer Johnny Horton's Sink the Bismarck was a major hit when released in 1960. What many people don't realize is that the song was commissioned as the theme song for the film of the same name that was released the same year. It's pretty obvious why it wasn't used in the final cut of the movie: Horton specialized in catchy novelty songs with a country western theme. The film, directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Kenneth More, was notable for its ultra-realistic take on the British pursuit of the infamous German battleship. As good as Horton's theme was, it would have been completely out of place in the film. Interestingly, if you have the DVD of the movie, check out the bonus trailer - it features snippets of Horton's song, indicating that the decision to cut it was made at the last minute. (Source)

[SonicMan46]

Couple of Kirk Douglas films now in my collection as Amazon HD streamers:

The Man from Snowy River (1982) w/ Douglas in a dual 'twin' role - synopsis below - the scenery, especially with the horses is one of the best parts of the movie for me, and I do like Kirk as the Spur character.  Ratings: 85%, Rotten Tomatoes; 7.2, IMDB - recommended if the plot and characters are of interest. 

Lust for Life (1956) - biopic on Vincent van Gogh the post-impressionistic artist - a favorite of ours - amazing that his paintings in his life time went for 'peanuts' but "The Starry Night painting, highly esteemed for decades has reached $100 million, following its $50 million sale in 1990. (Source)". Summary and awards below - a must see if a fan of this era of art.  Dave

The Man from Snowy River is an Australian Western drama film based on the poem "The Man from Snowy River". The cast included Kirk Douglas in a dual role as the brothers Harrison  and Spur, Jack Thompson as Clancy, Tom Burlinson as Jim Craig, Sigrid Thornton as Harrison's daughter Jessica, and Terence Donovan as Jim's father Henry Craig. Both Burlinson and Thornton later reprised their roles in the 1988 sequel, The Man from Snowy River II. The 1988 sequel film was later released in the United States by Walt Disney Pictures under the title Return to Snowy River. (Source)

Lust for Life is an American biographical film about the life of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, based on the 1934 novel of the same title by Irving Stone which was adapted for the screen by Norman Corwin. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced by John Houseman. The film stars Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh, James Donald as his brother Theo, with Pamela Brown, Everett Sloane, and Anthony Quinn. Douglas won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his performance, while Quinn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. (Source)

   

[VonStupp]

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Peter Lorre

My youngest has a recent fascination with giant squids. Thought I would try this.

Apparently, between Dave and I, it is Kirk Douglas day. KD sings one small song, which I think I had on a 45.
VS

[Karl Henning]

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Peter Lorre

My youngest has a recent fascination with giant squids. Thought I would try this.

Apparently, between Dave and I, it is Kirk Douglas day. KD sings one small song, which I think I had on a 45.
VS

I may never have seen this. I'm kinda curious ....

[SonicMan46]

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Peter Lorre

My youngest has a recent fascination with giant squids. Thought I would try this.

Apparently, between Dave and I, it is Kirk Douglas day. KD sings one small song, which I think I had on a 45.
VS

I may never have seen this. I'm kinda curious ....

Karl - worth a watch; late last year I streamed the film from the Disney+ service (using my son's login but don't tell -    ); so donated my old DVD.  Dave

[VonStupp]

Karl - worth a watch; late last year I streamed the film from the Disney+ service (using my son's login but don't tell -    ); so donated my old DVD.  Dave

Indeed. The underwater sequence is surprisingly good looking too.

I was thinking Captain Nemo could easily have been a James Bond villain here, but I think that would be identical to the plot line of Karl Stromberg from The Spy Who Loved Me.
VS

[Karl Henning]

Indeed.

I was thinking Captain Nemo could easily have been a James Bond villain here, but I think that would be identical to the plot line of Karl Stromberg from The Spy Who Loved Me.
VS

Now I want to see Kirk Douglas as "Jaws."

[VonStupp]

Now I want to see Kirk Douglas as "Jaws."

Ha!

[brewski]

Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015, dir. Christopher McQuarrie) - Highly entertaining, even if I'm not likely to seek it out again. Most fun for classical music fans: a long sequence in the Vienna Opera House during a production of Turandot, with assassins seeking to kill the Austrian chancellor.

Not a big Tom Cruise fan (though he stars in one of my all-time favorite movies, Minority Report), but he's an agreeable presence—gets the job done. Like the other Mission Impossible films, this one has uncompromising action and special effects, and excellent supporting cast members, e.g., Simon Pegg.

-Bruce

[drogulus]

    A Fairey Swordfish flew from the Ark Royal and torpedoed the Bismarck, jamming the rudder so it could only steam in a circle at about 10 kts. If not for that the battleship could have reached Brest where it could have joined Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.