Last Movie You Watched

[Cato]

It took two days...

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I really wanted to like this movie, having seen it lionized in some of the obituaries of Cimino when he died some weeks ago.

The studio chiefs were not wrong to be upset: lurking within the 216 minutes    is a not bad movie, and many scenes are - visually - beautiful and even breath-taking.  But, yes, they go on for much too long, many scenes do little or even nothing to advance the story, and scenes which are compelling linger and linger with long silences, as if Cimino had seen too many German "art" movies from the 1970's* and thought: "That is the way to do things!"  The symbolism of the class warfare is simplistic and the villainous big ranchers are cartoon cut-outs.  John Hurt's character is undeveloped, except for being a cynical drunk.

And keep in mind that I like the 8-hour version of Sergei Bondarchuk's War and Peace.  0:)   So, yes, I found the movie just "not too bad," and only if one has great patience, and loves cinematography and scenery a little more than drama, should one consider the movie. 


* One example comes to mind: the title is lost forever, unfortunately.  A movie where practically nothing happened!  I was previewing it as a possibility for my German classes.  One scene in particular is illustrative: the camera follows a young woman into a lower-middle class apartment, and the camera stays in the hallway and focuses down the long passage into the kitchen. For a loooong time it stays there, while the girl makes a sandwich, and then disappears from the frame, makes noise of scooting a chair around, walks back into the frame, walks back out, rustles, coughs, goes to the refrigerator, sits back down out of the frame, etc. etc. etc.

That was a typical sequence, a stunt similar to Andy Warhol filming somebody sleeping.   

[Karl Henning]

Thanks for taking one for the team, Cato! 

[Cato]

Thanks for taking one for the team, Cato! 

Shucks, 'twarn't nuthin' !   

I should mention that Heaven's Gate also features Christopher Walken - in strange make-up - and of course it is always fun to watch him!

[listener]

another film by King Hu with 3 co-directors including Tsui Hark who is probably responsible for the computer SFX
THE SWORDSMAN (1990) 
Sam Hui, Cecilia Yip, Cheung Man and Jacky Cheung in it

[Jaakko Keskinen]

[Jaakko Keskinen]

[North Star]

Pickpocket (dir. Robert Bresson)

[Brian]

Man, Criterion has such strong graphic design.

[Drasko]

[Cato]

Bill - I probably first saw The Big Trial maybe 6-8 years ago and burned a DVD-R off the TCM channel, then bought the DVD, and now the BD - below the beginning paragraph from Blu-Ray Website, which is worth a read if contemplating a purchase, just $8 on Amazon.

What amazes me is that Wayne was just 23 y/o is this film, and only 3 year out from the silent film era - use of the 2.10 aspect ratio all combine to make seminal film making - plus, the dramatic panoramic scenes like the wagons being hoisted down the cliffs pre-CGI are astounding - not even sure if models were used?  If you catch the film on TV, then make sure it's the 'widescreen' version.  Dave

 

Many thanks for the information!

A similar widescreen technique was also tried in the early 1930's for a film called Danger Lights (Jean Arthur and Robert Armstrong) which featured a tug-of-war between locomotives!  (I saw this on a Saturday morning in the late 1950's on our massive 19-inch black-and-white T.V. set!)

From Wikipedia:

Danger Lights was filmed during a period when some movie studios were experimenting with various widescreen film formats. As part of this trend, two versions of the film were created. One used standard 35mm film and Academy ratio, the other used an experimental 65mm widescreen format at a 2:1 aspect ratio. This latter process was called "Natural Vision" and was invented by film pioneers George Kirke Spoor and P. John Berggren. The Natural Vision print of the film was reportedly screened at only two theaters (the only two with the equipment necessary to show the film), the State Lake Theater in Chicago and the Mayfair Theater in New York, and no copies of it are known to exist today. Danger Lights would be the only film created using this process, and the entire effort to move to wide screen would be shelved for several decades due to the increased costs of both production and presentation.

So if anyone comes across the widescreen version at an auction or antique shop, you could become a part of film history!    Also, beware of a 50+minute version that cut about 20 minutes from the movie.

[listener]

I have a 73 minute VHS copy of DANGER LIGHTS but I don't remember any unusual framing.   Tonight it's THE ARIZONA EXPRESS from 1924 with a 1924 Louise Fazenda short, Her Torpedoed Love
.

[André]

Pickpocket (dir. Robert Bresson)

Based on Dostoievsky's novel Crime and Punishment. One of Bresson's most inscrutable yet elating works. From the lower depths to the most luminous heights - but only if you have 5-D (Bresson) spectacles. A movie of endless delights, precisely because of its impossibly deadpan, demure way with the character's emotional journey.

[SonicMan46]

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) w/ Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, et al - superb blu-ray restoration (ratings shown below from HERE); the colors are radiant, sharp, and realistic - plus, the sound is superb, so important in this film based on the Tennessee Williams play (of course w/ some 'watering down' of the screenplay) - still a powerful movie - as usual, Ives bigger than life in his role as Big Daddy - nominated for a half dozen Oscars - Burl Ives won Best Supporting Actor but for his excellent role in The Big Country (another film that I own on BD - also recommended!).

 

Addendum:  If not nominated for Supporting Actor in The Big Country, I assume that Burl Ives would have been nominated for his role in Cat......., so was curious about the rule which states below that in a given category, an actor can be nominated for only one role (Rule 6, item #5- Source) - however, the following item #6 states that an actor can be nominated for 'Best Actor/Actress' and 'Best Supporting Actor/Actress' (which has happened 11 times since 1938, but no 'double winners' - Source) - Dave

In the event that two achievements by an actor or actress receive sufficient votes to be nominated in the same category, only one shall be nominated using the preferential tabulation process and such other allied procedures as may be necessary to achieve that result.

[SonicMan46]

They Were Expendable (1945) w/ Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, & Donna Reed; John Ford, director - synopsis of the film below - Montgomery was a 'real' naval Lt. Commander and was in command of a PT boat during WW II - the B&W restoration is superb - ratings below from HERE - highly recommended in this blu-ray version.  Dave

In December, 1941, a squadron of PT Boats under the command of Lt. John "Brick" Brickley (Robert Montgomery) is sent to Manila to help defend the Philippines against a potential Japanese invasion. However, upon their arrival, instead of a welcome, they are ridiculed by the local military commanders. One of Brick's men, Lt., J.G. "Rusty" Ryan (John Wayne) becomes disgusted when his superiors refuse to see the small boats as viable naval craft and is in the process of writing his request for a transfer to destroyers when news arrives of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which makes transfer at that time impossible (Source).

 

[Karl Henning]

I checked out Die Brücke from the BPL, oh, weeks ago.  I was given to understand that it is the sort of movie, I should be ready to watch and experience (I know, sounds pretty basic).  So I kept watching other things, and letting the library auto-renew this title for me.

Time passed.

The limitation on renewals (not complaining) meant that I needed to return the DVD today.  That was all right;  I was ready to watch last night.

It is, as expected, somber, heart-breaking, forehead-smacking.  There is the odd flash of humor (which I am not going to spoil for anyone).  I don't know that I will watch it again (I might), but I am very glad to have watched it.

On a lighter note, when returning the DVD this morning, I checked out In a Lonely Place.

[Ken B]

They Were Expendable (1945) w/ Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, & Donna Reed; John Ford, director - synopsis of the film below - Montgomery was a 'real' naval Lt. Commander and was in command of a PT boat during WW II - the B&W restoration is superb - ratings below from HERE - highly recommended in this blu-ray version.  Dave

 

I saw this a few weeks ago. Not bad. A bit flat in places.

RM was second in command on a destroyer at the D-Day landing. That was probably the most senior operational post of any Hollywood star (Jimmy Stewart flew a bomber).

[SonicMan46]

I saw this a few weeks ago. Not bad. A bit flat in places.

RM was second in command on a destroyer at the D-Day landing. That was probably the most senior operational post of any Hollywood star (Jimmy Stewart flew a bomber).

Hi Ken - knew about Stewart, Gable, et al, but not that Montgomery was part of the D-Day invasion - just looked up his military bio - he was on the destroyer shown below which was less than a year-old at the time - became the victim of 'target practice' -

Also agree w/ your comments on the film - did get a little slow in parts and the Donna Reed role might have been better?  Dave
.

[James]

Manhunter
1986 ‧ Drama film/Slasher ‧ 2h 4m

FBI criminal profiler Will Graham (William L. Petersen) is called out of early retirement to assist on a serial murder case involving a killer known as the "Tooth Fairy" (Tom Noonan). Graham enlists the help of imprisoned serial killer -- and cannibal -- Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox), who is the reason Graham took an early retirement. Soon, Graham and the FBI are entangled in a deadly cat-and-mouse game between the Tooth Fairy, Lecktor and an interfering journalist (Stephen Lang).

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[Bogey]

Born on this day in 1899:

[Bogey]

Disappointed with Suicide Squad?  Then watch this classic and see how this type of story is done right.