Last Movie You Watched

[NJ Joe]

"My plan was to kiss her with every lip on my face".

[Bogey]

Nominated in 1933 for Best Picture and Best Director (as well as other nominations), Lady for a Day.  Directed by Frank Capra (It's a Wonderful Life), one can immediately fell his touch for creating sentimentality also shines in this film.  I also appreciated the ending that seemed to make one have even more questions, but where the story that wanted to be told was done so.  You can stream it from Amazon if you want to take it in.  Just be sure to stick with it.

Oscar Moment:Will Rogers presented the Academy Award for Best Director, and when he opened the envelope he simply announced, "Come up and get it, Frank!" Capra, certain he was the winner, ran to the podium to collect his Oscar, only to discover Rogers had meant Frank Lloyd, who won for Cavalcade, instead. Possibly to downplay Capra's gaffe, Rogers then called third nominee George Cukor to join the two Franks on stage.  Which it won for, and the only statue out of its 7 nominations.




And

An all time favorite of mine that was also nominated for Best Picture the year it was released.  From 1956, The Ten Commandments.  This one I took in on Blu ray and was very impressed with what they have done for the film.  Granted that the visual effects and backgrounds are more discernible, but the colors of the costumes and props are absolutely stunning.  The Elmer Bernstein score is one of the best and truly takes this film even up another notch, imo.



Oscar Moment: The film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. DeMille was reluctant to discuss technical details of how the film was made, especially the optical tricks used in the parting of the Red Sea. It was eventually revealed that footage of the Red Sea was spliced with film footage (run in reverse) of water pouring from large U-shaped trip-tanks set up in the studio back lot.

[George]

"My plan was to kiss her with every lip on my face".

Classic! 

[SonicMan46]

And

An all time favorite of mine that was also nominated for Best Picture the year it was released.  From 1956, The Ten Commandments.  This one I took in on Blu ray and was very impressed with what they have done for the film.  Granted that the visual effects and backgrounds are more discernible, but the colors of the costumes and props are absolutely stunning.  The Elmer Bernstein score is one of the best and truly takes this film even up another notch, imo.

Oscar Moment: The film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. DeMille was reluctant to discuss technical details of how the film was made, especially the optical tricks used in the parting of the Red Sea. It was eventually revealed that footage of the Red Sea was spliced with film footage (run in reverse) of water pouring from large U-shaped trip-tanks set up in the studio back lot.

Hi Bill - the BD restoration of Ben Hur is just as spectacular, both video & sound!  I bought them separately a while back but both films (4 total BDs) are packaged together and offered @ Amazon for just under $12 - fans of these movies who also have a BD player & HDTV - don't delay!

Years ago now, we were in LA (believe I spoke @ a medical meeting) - we toured Universal Studios - the tram shown below drove though the 'parted' Red Sea - I believe that Jaws was in one of those ponds!  Dave

[Philo]

Going to rewatch some of my favorites whilst completing my thesis: Hackers, Trick,  and maybe the Daniel Craig Bond films.

[Todd]

Rust and Bone.  Marion Cotillard is an orca trainer who has a workplace accident, and Matthias Schoenarts is a beefy, street fighting thug, and they hook up.  The basic premise could have worked, but as it is, the story heaps melodrama after melodrama on top of each other, rendering a rather too much of a good (or bad) thing type film.  Decent enough acting, I suppose, but this is the very epitome of a two star flick.

[Bogey]

From Billy Wilder, and 1960's Best Picture winner, The Apartment.



Lemon, MacClaine, and even Fred MacMurry....tightrope between a comedy and a drama.  Played well as Lemon kept the picture moving.  I was entertained throughout.

Oscar Moment: This was the last B&W movie to win Best Picture at The Academy Awards until The Artist (2011). Schindler's List (1993) which won in 1994 was not completely B&W as some scenes were in color, like the girl in the red and the candle at the beginning.

[Wakefield]

This afternoon with my nephew:



Excellent movie, very entertaining and funny, with a totally unexpected dose of social criticism: Huxley, Orwell and Wells came to my mind. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ_JOBCLF-I

[SonicMan46]

Well, last few nights I decided to stream a few action films first seen at my son's place - both held my interest - no need for a purchase, one was free w/ Amazon Prime & the other just $3:

Last Stand (2013) w/ Arnie & Thor (2011) w/ Chris Hemsworth - Dave

 

[Wakefield]

From Billy Wilder, and 1960's Best Picture winner, The Apartment.



Lemon, MacClaine, and even Fred MacMurry....tightrope between a comedy and a drama.  Played well as Lemon kept the picture moving.  I was entertained throughout.

Oscar Moment: This was the last B&W movie to win Best Picture at The Academy Awards until The Artist (2011). Schindler's List (1993) which won in 1994 was not completely B&W as some scenes were in color, like the girl in the red and the candle at the beginning.

What a delightful creature was the young Shirley MacLaine! 

[Bogey]

What a delightful creature was the young Shirley MacLaine! 

Truth.

[TheGSMoeller]

Consistently cited by critics worldwide as one of the greatest films ever made...

[asin]B005HK13OK[/asin]

And I agree, in fact it's time I upgraded my old DVD copy for this one. I also purchased last year a box set of seven of Renoir's film I have yet to dive into.

[HIPster]

We watched the Pilot for 'Mozart In The Jungle' last night. 

Has anyone else watched this yet?

Could be a fun series if Amazon runs it. . .

[Wakefield]

Consistently cited by critics worldwide as one of the greatest films ever made, Jean Renoir's bittersweet drama of life, love, class, and the social code of manners and behavior ("the rules of the game") is a savage critique undertaken with sensitivity and compassion. Renoir's catch-phrase through the film, "Everyone has their reasons," develops a multilayered meaning by the conclusion. A young aviator (Roland Toutain) commits a serious social faux pas by alluding to an affair on national radio. To avert a scandal, the cultured Robert de la Chesnaye (Marcel Dalio), husband to the aviator's mistress, Christine (Nora Gregor), and a philanderer in his own right, invites all to a weekend hunting party in his country mansion. The complicated maze of marriages and mistresses (social register and servant class alike) is plotted like a bedroom farce, but the tone soon takes a darker cast. Renoir, who also takes the pivotal role as Andre's jovial pal and de la Chesnaye confidant Octave, deftly blends high comedy with cutting satire as he parallels the upstairs-downstairs affairs. The film builds to a comic pitch with the hilarious performance of Julien Carette as a rabbit poacher turned groundskeeper, but soon turns tragic in a devastating conclusion. The film was roundly condemned and banned in France upon its 1939 release, but years later (out of the shadow of WWII) the film was rediscovered for the masterpiece that it is. --Sean Axmaker

[asin]B005HK13OK[/asin]

As I'm enjoying some vacation, I visited a little movie shop near my apartment. I came back with a 4-DVD set of movies by Jean Renoir: Le carrose d'or, The River; Le déjeuner sur l'herbe and La règle du jeu. Additionally, seasons 6 & 7 of "House M.D".

I fought bravely to resist the acquisition of Carl Sagan's Cosmos and a set with The Martian Chronicles (TV series from the 70s).

If at the end of my vacation I have watched at least The River and La règle du jeu, I will know I have spent worthily my time. 

[stingo]

We watched the Pilot for 'Mozart In The Jungle' last night. 

Has anyone else watched this yet?

Could be a fun series if Amazon runs it. . .

Keep meaning to, just haven't gotten there yet.

[lisa needs braces]

Crowd sourced "Robocop."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/02/14/robocop_remake_by_fans_is_better_than_new_version_in_theaters_watch_video.html

[Bogey]

Nominated in 1966 for Best Picture (and nominated for seven more, but failed to win any)



I thought the movie drug on the entire 3 hours and found myself watching it over four nights just to make it through.  I kept waiting for its "great moment" which never happened.  I thought McQueen's presence was barely there and the rest of the acting seemed amateurish at best.  Even a young Candice Bergen failed to make a mark in the film.  Guess the eight snubs from the Academy were spot on.

[TheGSMoeller]

Federico Fellini's 1963 semi-autobiographical story about a worshipped filmmaker who has lost his inspiration is still a mesmerizing mystery tour that has been quoted but never duplicated. Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido, a director trying to relax a bit in the wake of his latest hit. Besieged by people eager to work with him, however, he also struggles to find his next idea for a film. The combined pressures draw him within himself, where his recollections of significant events in his life and the many lovers he has left behind begin to haunt him. The marriage of Fellini's hyperreal imagery, dreamy sidebars, and the gravity of Guido's increasing guilt and self-awareness make this as much a deeply moving, soulful film as it is an electrifying spectacle. Mastroianni is wonderful in the lead, his woozy sensitivity to Guido's freefall both touching and charming--all the more so as the character becomes increasingly divorced from the celebrity hype that ultimately outpaces him. --Tom Keogh

[asin]B002U6DVQM[/asin]

But what did James think about it? 
I'm curious because it's possibly my favorite film.

[snyprrr]

Dead of Night (TV;1977) third episode "Bobby"

It's on Yt (again, I can't seem to embed)- THE MOST TERRIFYING HALF HOUR OF TELEVISION EVER EVER EVER!!!

Just find a stormy night and sit alone and watch this short film. I saw it again yesterday for the first time in almost 40 years, and yes, the ending was just as scary as I remembered. DOES AAANYONE REMEMBER THIS?

[SonicMan46]

Nominated in 1966 for Best Picture (and nominated for seven more, but failed to win any)

 

I thought the movie drug on the entire 3 hours and found myself watching it over four nights just to make it through.  I kept waiting for its "great moment" which never happened.  I thought McQueen's presence was barely there and the rest of the acting seemed amateurish at best.  Even a young Candice Bergen failed to make a mark in the film.  Guess the eight snubs from the Academy were spot on.

Bill - replaced my DVD w/ a BD last year - just a fabulous restoration (review HERE), but I agree - took me 2 nights - what I like the most about the film is the atmospheric production of the period and the location, and Candice was rather dull in her role -   Dave