Last Movie You Watched

[Karl Henning]

Couple of thrillers from the mid-1940s - own both as Amazon HD streamers:

Gaslight (1944) - short synopsis and cast below - Boyer w/ his 'sinister eyes' and Bergman superb; nominated for 7 Oscars and Bergman a winner for Best Actress - recommended.

Mildred Pierce (1945) - summary and cast below; never a big fan of Crawford, but she is great in this film (felt to be her best performance HERE); nominated for 6 Oscars and Crawford awarded as Best Actress.  Dave

 

Gaslight is brilliant, so to speak. 

[Karl Henning]

I should have known Laurence Fishburne, but had to be reminded by the closing credits. Disappointed that Wick's solution at the end was a violation of house rules. Much more disappointed that they so baldly set up a sequel.

That said, the mirrors scene was quite fun.

[SonicMan46]

Wife was on her computer and then reading, so decided to watch a few favorite westerns (of many!):

Red River (1948) - story and cast below; Clift young and gorgeous before his accident, and his first film role; Brennan a standout as usual; Dru beautiful. Maltin & Ebert both gave 4*/4* reviews, the latter's HERE for those interested. A long favorite for me and highly recommended to 'oater movie' fans - 

My Darling Clementine (1946) - summary and cast below w/ John Ford directing in his beloved Monument Valley; Brennan again a standout - now there have been many films about Wyatt Earp, Tombstone, and the O.K. Corral but this is still one of the tops - again 4*/4* reviews from Maltin and Ebert (HERE) - another high recommendation for lovers of westerns and the spectacular scenery.

Years ago, we were at a radiology meeting in Tucson, AZ and had a day off - took our rental car south to visit Bisbee (great copper mine tour) and Tombstone, saw the O.K. Corral and the Boot Hill Cemetery, so the film brings back some memories.  Dave

Red River is a 1948 American Western film, directed and produced by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru + many others. It gives a fictional account of the first cattle drive from Texas to Kansas along the Chisholm Trail. The dramatic tension stems a feud over the management of the drive between the Texas rancher (Wayne) his adopted adult son (Clift). Borden Chase and Charles Schnee wrote the screenplay based on Chase's original story "Blazing Guns on the Chisholm Trail" (Source).

My Darling Clementine is a 1946 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp during the period leading up to the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The ensemble cast also features Victor Mature (as Doc Holliday), Linda Darnell, Walter Brennan, Tim Holt, Cathy Downs and Ward Bond. The title of the movie is borrowed from the theme song "Oh My Darling, Clementine". The screenplay is based on the fictionalized biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal by Stuart Lake, as were two earlier movies, both named Frontier Marshal. (Source)

 

[SonicMan46]

What are the BEST westerns of all time? 

In putting together my previous 'western' post, I was wondering how the likely hundreds of westerns made over the last 100 years or so (yes, going back into the silent era, e.g. Tom Mix) - well, the 4-5 lists that I perused were quite different (several favoring films made in the last 50 years or so which would leave out the two that I just watched). 

But, this SITE ranked 50 and below are their TOP 20 - now I've seen all except #10 & #16 (comments?), and own 17 as physical discs or HD/UHD streamers.  And glad to see Red River & My Darling Clementine on the list (for myself, some rearrangement would be appropriate -  )

Interestingly, quoted below are other films about the O.K. Corral and its contestants, including several movies in my collection (1957 & 1994) - none made the TOP 50 list (although several did in other rankings, so these listings can be quite personal and arbitrary).  Dave

The heart and soul of the book are the separate chapters on the making of eight theatrical O.K. Corral films: Frontier Marshal (1939), Tombstone: the Town Too Tough to Die (1942), My Darling Clementine (1946), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), Hour of the Gun (1967), Doc (1971), Tombstone (1993), and Wyatt Earp (1994). (Source)

TOP 20 Westerns - Vulture List (link above)
01 - The Searchers (1956)
02 - Unforgiven (1992)
03 - Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
04 - Stagecoach (1939)
05 - McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
06 - Red River (1948)
07 - The Wild Bunch (1969)
08 - Rio Bravo (1959)
09 - The Naked Spur (1953)
10 - Meek's Cutoff (2010)
11 - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
12 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
13 - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
14 - My Darling Clementine (1946)
15 - Johnny Guitar (1954)
16 - Forty Guns (1957)
17 - High Noon (1952)
18 - 3:10 to Yuma (1957)
19 - Shane (1953)
20 - She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

[Karl Henning]

But, this SITE ranked 50 and below are their TOP 20 - now I've seen all except #10 & #16 (comments?), and own 17 as physical discs or HD/UHD streamers.  And glad to see Red River & My Darling Clementine on the list (for myself, some rearrangement would be appropriate

Not a particular fan of the western, as a genre, there are maybe a dozen I own. Some omissions which I note: The Big Country h/t to @Cato Django Unchained, and True Grit.

[SonicMan46]

Not a particular fan of the western, as a genre, there are maybe a dozen I own. Some omissions which I note: The Big Country h/t to @Cato Django Unchained, and True Grit.

Well, from that list of 50, the two below are there - absence of the Big Country is a surprise, but the film was on some other lists I perused as were the others mentioned above - as stated the lists are personal and not always objective, so pick one you like best -    Dave

26 - True Grit (2010)
37 - Django (1966)

[Karl Henning]

as stated the lists are personal and not always objective, so pick one you like best

Just so, Dave! Just a footnote that the movie I meant (Django Unchained) is a Tarantino movie much later than the 60s.

[Karl Henning]

26 - True Grit (2010)

37 - Django (1966)

Interesting, too, that the True Grit listed is the Coen Bros' remake. Myself, I do enjoy both original and remake.

[Karl Henning]

TD: Perfume, the Story of a Murderer. Recommended to me by an organist friend. Really strong. A good job that I watched it while the girls are absent, I'm pretty sure it would have creeped them out too much.

[SonicMan46]

Just so, Dave! Just a footnote that the movie I meant (Django Unchained) is a Tarantino movie much later than the 60s.

Yep, I've seen both; Django is a '60s spaghetti Western from the time of the early Eastwood days - haven't seen the film in years and prefer Django Unchained, often both were listed in the rankings I perused - in the link used just the older Italian movie was included.  Dave

Django is a 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Corbucci, starring Franco Nero (in his breakthrough role) as the title character alongside Loredana Nusciak, José Bódalo, Ángel Álvarez and Eduardo Fajardo. The film follows a Union soldier-turned-drifter and his companion, a mixed-race prostitute, who become embroiled in a bitter, destructive feud between a gang of Confederate Red Shirts and a band of Mexican revolutionaries. Intended to capitalize on and rival the success of Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars, Corbucci's film is, like Leone's, considered to be a loose, unofficial adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo. (Source)

[Karl Henning]

The Man Who Wasn't There. Not the best from the Coen Bros. perhaps, but solid, all the same. 

[Cato]

Great movie with Patrick McGoohan and other classic actors (e.g. Sir Michael Hordern )from the British movie world of the 1950's and 1960's.

Originally released in theaters in Great Britain, it was shown in the U.S. on Walt Disney's Sunday television show c. 1964 over three weeks.

There is a claim that the theatrical release was a 90-minute version of the longer, three-part series.

I have the longer, television version: excellent musical score and performances all around!

[SonicMan46]

Well, Susan is on her iMac trying to get us a condo in Myrtle Beach in September, so decided to watch a couple of more 'oaters' in the top 10 of my previously posted list:

The Searchers (1956) - plot and cast below; John Ford classic in glorious color and widescreen filmed in Monument Valley (watching an Amazon HD on a 4K HDTV); 4*/4* Maltin and Ebert reviews (latter HERE) - well if you need to watch one western in your life, then this one is a good choice - 

Rio Bravo (1959) - synopsis and cast below; Martin and Nelson excellent (and even doing some duets together!); ratings 3 1/2*/4* Maltin & 4*/4* Ebert (HERE); Walter Brennan again who steals every scene he is in - highly recommended.  Dave

The Searchers is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War veteran who spends years looking for his abducted niece (Natalie Wood), accompanied by his adopted nephew (Jeffrey Hunter). Since its release, it has considered a masterpiece and one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. It was named the greatest American Western by the American Film Institute in 2008. (Source)

Rio Bravo is a 1959 American Western film directed and produced by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, and Ward Bond. Written by Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett, based on the short story "Rio Bravo" by B. H. McCampbell, the film stars Wayne as a Texan sheriff who arrests the brother of a powerful local rancher for murder and then has to hold the man in jail until a U.S. Marshal can arrive. With the help of a cripple, a drunk and a young gunfighter, they hold off the rancher's gang. (Source)

 

[Karl Henning]

Well, Susan is on her iMac trying to get us a condo in Myrtle Beach in September, so decided to watch a couple of more 'oaters' in the top 10 of my previously posted list:

The Searchers (1956) - plot and cast below; John Ford classic in glorious color and widescreen filmed in Monument Valley (watching an Amazon HD on a 4K HDTV); 4*/4* Maltin and Ebert reviews (latter HERE) - well if you need to watch one western in your life, then this one is a good choice - 

Rio Bravo (1959) - synopsis and cast below; Martin and Nelson excellent (and even doing some duets together!); ratings 3 1/2*/4* Maltin & 4*/4* Ebert (HERE); Walter Brennan again who steals every scene he is in - highly recommended.  Dave

 

The Searchers is magnificent! I should find Rio Bravo at the Library. 

[Papy Oli]

Gosford Park (2001) - Such a great cast and premise but such a slow 1st hour. Didn't feel like there was enough comedy or sarcasm or tension (post-murder for the latter). It wandered, neither here nor there. Shame. That doesn't entice me to give Downton Abbey a go either (same writer).

[Cato]

Great movie with Patrick McGoohan and other classic actors (e.g. Sir Michael Hordern )from the British movie world of the 1950's and 1960's.

Originally released in theaters in Great Britain, it was shown in the U.S. on Walt Disney's Sunday television show c. 1964 over three weeks.

There is a claim that the theatrical release was a 90-minute version of the longer, three-part series.

I have the longer, television version: excellent musical score and performances all around!

I discovered, upon closer inspection, that my DVD box in fact contains a second DVD with the shorter movie version!

I had thought that it contained Part III of the T.V. version.

With the cuts, certainly the movie version focuses more succinctly on Dr. Syn's escapes and crusade against unjust taxation and the general injustice of an oppressive government.

Walt Disney must have liked Patrick McGoohan: he also chose the actor for the lead in The Three Lives of Thomasina (another excellent, highly recommended movie).

[Roasted Swan]

Gosford Park (2001) - Such a great cast and premise but such a slow 1st hour. Didn't feel like there was enough comedy or sarcasm or tension (post-murder for the latter). It wandered, neither here nor there. Shame. That doesn't entice me to give Downton Abbey a go either (same writer).

But the score includes Ivor Novello!!!  So that makes it great in my book 

[Papy Oli]

But the score includes Ivor Novello!!!  So that makes it great in my book 

I refrained clapping, that would have encouraged him further   

[Karl Henning]

No toon can resist the old "Shave and a haircut."

[DavidW]

I saw a neat little movie about a lost hiker dying of cancer that stumbles upon a couple in the woods.