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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 29, 2016 18:16:35 GMT -5
I saw Robert Bresson's A Man Escaped (1956) this morning. It's great! I can see why many people think it's his best movie even though I would pick Au Hasard Balthasar. A Man Escaped is a very simple film at its heart. Fontaine has been detained and imprisoned by the Nazis and is kept at the infamous Montluc prison in Lyon. He immediately starts thinking about escape, and the film is his methodical and yet bold preparations to get away. It's not quite as simple as that, although it can easily be watched and enjoyed as a prison escape movie. But it's Bresson, and it's a bit philosophical, but it doesn't beat you over the head. I've seen a bunch of sub-titled movies in the last four or five days. I'm going to take a break and watch some English language movies. (But not too long a break because I still have Bergman's Sawdust and Tinsel and Kurosawa's High and Low on the DVR.) |
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 30, 2016 8:58:05 GMT -5
I watched The Singing Nun last night. I've become a Debbie Reynolds fan over the last two or three years and I decided to give this a try, partly because of Miss Reynolds and partly because I vaguely remember this movie being on TV when I was a kid.
It's quite a bit better than I thought it would be. It's based on a true story about a Belgian nun who liked music and wrote catchy little songs about her faith. I'm sure most of us remember "Dominique"?
Here's the version from the movie:
The movie bounces along quite joyfully for almost 100 minutes. It has a great cast! Agnes Moorehead, Greer Garson, Katharine Ross, Ricardo Montalban, Juanita Moore, Chad Everett and Ed Sullivan as himself.
I also love nun movies! The Singing Nun is right up there with my favorite nun movie, Almodovar's Dark Habits.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 30, 2016 10:12:32 GMT -5
That song was #1 in the USA for 4 weeks during December, 1963. Right after Christmas it started its drop from the charts.
I'm pretty sure it was the inspiration for the later TV show The Flying Nun starring Sally Fields
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 30, 2016 10:41:16 GMT -5
The Front Page (1931) Pat O' Brien, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Brian, Edward Everett Horton, George E. Stone, Mae Clarke, Slim Summerville
Classic Broadway stage play by Ben Hecht regarding the press room of a city jail and it's gathering of reporters awaiting the execution of an anarchist convicted of murder. One reporter plans to quit his job to leave the city with his new bride.
Hilarious script where the dialogue hits you rapid fire-like. The cast here is quite good, the supporting group of reporters are memorable. Even though the film is 85 years old it still satisfies. Well, maybe not the sound quality. I own it via KINO DVD and the picture quality is excellant for it's age but sound was still a developing technology in the movie business and there's problems with echoes and drop-outs. Certainly not bad enough to deter my enjoyment
The play was remade for film in 1974 starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. If an old b&w movie does not suit your sensibilities, then the more modern version is recommended as well. Its just about the same exact script
The movie was to end with the Adolphe Menjou character uttering son-of-a-bitch. Even though this is a pre-code film, censor boards were highly outraged and the producers went back and used the sound of a typewriter to mask the offending utterance
I also cracked up watching Pat O'Brien at the typewriter. He was using one finger of each hand pounding the same two keys over and over ad infinitum while he was taking dictation.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 30, 2016 11:32:29 GMT -5
The Perfect Storm (2000) George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane, John C. Reilly, William Fichtner
Clooney has been on a cold streak of late with his captaining a sword-fishing vessel. He attempts to go way out of normal range with his crew to find a big haul. A confluence of 2 hurricanes and a cold front resulting in the storm-of-the-century is awaiting his return
Director Wolfgang Peterson helms a film that will rock your boat. The lurching waves and storm drenched skies might bring up last night's dinner as you watch. The dangers of the seas due to weather conditions have never been portrayed any better than this. Kudos to the actors portraying the crew.
Based on a real incident during the early 1990s. No fish were harmed during the making of this movie
This film is also a perfect prologue to the next boxset I'm about to reel in. That should bait you
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 30, 2016 11:47:54 GMT -5
The Perfect Storm (2000) George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane, John C. Reilly, William Fichtner Clooney has been on a cold streak of late with his captaining a sword-fishing vessel. He attempts to go way out of normal range with his crew to find a big haul. A confluence of 2 hurricanes and a cold front resulting in the storm-of-the-century is awaiting his return Director Wolfgang Peterson helms a film that will rock your boat. The lurching waves and storm drenched skies might bring up last night's dinner as you watch. The dangers of the seas due to weather conditions have never been portrayed any better than this. Kudos to the actors portraying the crew. Based on a real incident during the early 1990s. No fish were harmed during the making of this movie This film is also a perfect prologue to the next boxset I'm about to reel in. That should bait you The whole thing seems kind of fishy to me. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 30, 2016 17:40:27 GMT -5
The Perfect Storm (2000) George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane, John C. Reilly, William Fichtner The whole thing seems kind of fishy to me. You can tune a piano but you can't tuna fish |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 30, 2016 17:57:44 GMT -5
The whole thing seems kind of fishy to me. You can tune a piano but you can't tuna fish I lobster, but then I flounder. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 30, 2016 18:23:03 GMT -5
You can tune a piano but you can't tuna fish I lobster, but then I flounder. What did the fish say when posting bail? ' "I'm off the hook" |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 30, 2016 23:01:54 GMT -5
The Prince And The Pauper (1937) Errol Flynn, Claude Rains, Barton MacLane, Alan Hale, The Mauch Twins
In merry olde England circa 1557, there were 2 lookalike young boys, the Crown Prince to the Tudor King and a beggar boy. The 2 look-a-likes meet and exchange clothes as part of a game. The beggar boy is assumed to be a Royal by the guardsmen and the Crown Prince is thrown out of the castle. Then the King of England drops dead. Will England now be lead by someone not tainted by in-breeding?
Adapted from a Mark Twain novel-someone known for his legendary Americana stories and I would never had guessed he was the author of this classic. The Mauche Twins play the look-a-likes quite well. Errol Flynn does not appear until halfway through the movie. But when he does, he's his usual dashing, devil-may=care self as the protector for the displaced prince
The film has wit. Gives Flynn an opportunity to show off some swordplay. Costumes and sets are quite impressive. A fine Warner Bros costume piece
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 31, 2016 2:39:28 GMT -5
Ahoy there. Time to set sail with a 4 movie DVD collection titled Pirates Of The Golden Age
Yankee Buccaneer (1952) Jeff Chandler, Scott Brady, Suzan Ball, David Janssen, Jay Silverheels
Shortly after American independence, pirate vessels are raiding merchant ships in the Caribbean. An American naval ship is ordered to disguise themselves as pirates to learn the whereabouts of these brigands
Technicolor modest programmer loosely based on actual events. Chandler plays the American captain and Scott Brady is 2nd in command as David Farragut. Suzan Ball is a stunning brunette, a Jane Russell type. David (The original fugitive) Janssen has a small part with just a few lines. Jay (Tonto) Silverheels has an even smaller role as a native islander chief. Typical movie that was probably part of a double bill in the theaters. A 2 goldfish rating. Hope the collection gets a bit better.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 31, 2016 9:07:54 GMT -5
I saw Kiss of Death (1947) last night. I saw it more than 20 years ago at a revival house. I remembered liking it and I remembered Richard Widmark as Tommy Udo pushing the lady (in a wheelchair, no less!) down the stairs. I also remembered a little bit about Victor Mature. I think it was the first Victor Mature movie I saw, and I thought he was pretty bad! But other than that, I couldn't remember anything specific about the plot. Over the last few years, I've come to appreciate Victor Mature a lot more. I still don't think he was a very good actor. When he's well cast, I think he can be quite good. I think he's great in Million Dollar Mermaid. I love that movie because of Esther Williams! I've seen it a few times, and though I'm watching it for Esther Williams, I've noticed that it's a really good movie for Victor Mature. His character is a rather slick showbiz operator who's not nearly as good as he thinks he is. So he's real theatrical and a bit shallow, but not without his charm. So it's perfect for Mature. Another very good Victor Mature role is After the Fox, with Peter Sellers. Mature plays a washed-up American actor looking for acting work in Europe. And he's very good at playing himself! But I've come to appreciate Mature's raw, transparent theatricality. I've learned to find him very entertaining, despite his bold, broad technique, which is both hammy and ham-handed. (He kind of reminds me of Richard Dix.) So I've been wanting to see Kiss of Death again lately. Victor Mature is Nick Bianco, a New York criminal who's been to prison a few times. He can't get a job because of his record. He has to return to crime to support his wife and two daughters. But he gets caught because they rob a jewelry store on the 23rd floor and get slowed down by the elevator, giving the clerk time to get out of his bonds and hit the alarm. (Nick is pretty dumb.) The assistant DA (Brian Donlevy) says he'll get Nick a shorter sentence if he'll turn in his accomplices. But Nick's no squealer. At least, not this early in the movie; they have to give him a little character so you can root for him. But a year or two into his sentence, his wife kills herself and the two daughters are sent to an orphanage. He calls the DA's office and soon he's back on the street as an informant.  In his adventures, he comes across Tommy Udo, played by Richard Widmark, and he's the real reason to watch the movie. He's a giggling psychopath right out of Dick Tracy or Batman. (I was picturing Widmark with white skin (easy to do since it's a black and white movie), red lips, green hair and a purple wardrobe. He would have made a great Joker in the Batman serial the following year.) Udo is a contract killer. When he's looking for one of his victims, he goes to the guy's house and questions the wheelchair-bound mother, who says she doesn't know where he is but he'll probably be home late. Udo searches the house and finds the guy's bedroom with an empty closet and an empty clothes drawer, so he knows the guy has left town in a hurry. Which means Mama is lying. So he wraps a telephone cord around her arms and pushes her down the stairs! This is the famous scene. It's pretty chilling. That telephone cord is icing on the cake. Just pushing her down the stairs will probably kill her, but that telephone cord means she has no chance at all to try to break her fall. Yeah, Tommy's a piece of work. Nick and Tommy know each other, and they run into each other on the street. Tommy persuades Nick to hang out with him for a while, and he brags about the people he's killed. Nick tells the assistant DA, setting up the rest of the movie as Tommy seeks revenge when he finds out Nick is a dirty squealer. It's a great little thriller. And I'm glad I watched it again. Not only for Richard Widmark's evil portrayal of Tommy Udo, but also to get the full effect of how great this movie is now that I've learned to appreciate Victor Mature. (He's actually pretty good in this. There was no laughing out loud on my part like when I saw Samson and Delilah.) |
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Post by Batflunkie on Mar 31, 2016 16:24:23 GMT -5
Been re-watching Last Action Hero and it's amazing to me how poorly understood this movie was upon release and Charles Dance as Benedict Arnold has to be one of my favorite film villains of all time
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 31, 2016 20:03:48 GMT -5
I think I'm going to watch The General tonight. I've only seen it once, 25 years ago! It seems strange to me that I've only seen it once because I'm such a fan of the silent comedies and I've seen some of them - The Gold Rush, City Lights, Safety Last - five or ten times or more. I think it's partly because I prefer Seven Chances and Sherlock Jr. and I've seen both of them three or four times each. But The General is a great movie and I've been meaning to see it again for 25 years! |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 1, 2016 10:12:41 GMT -5
Can't You Hear the Wind Howl (1998) Dir. by Peter Meyer
Short, but compelling documentary about the life of Robert Johnson, arguably the most influential blues musician of all time. While it didn't tread a lot of new ground, what was important was that there were extensive interviews with Robert Lockwood, Jr. and Johnny Shines. Lockwood was Johnson's only direct student, Johnson teaching him when he lived with Lockwood's mother off and on. Shines traveled and toured with Johnson for at least two years before they went their separate ways in 1937 shortly before Johnson's death. The interviews with Shines were likely taken from somewhere else, given that he died in 1992.
Danny Glover is a pretty unassuming narrator. And it dwells a bit more on the legend of Johnson than the facts of his life and his music, though that legend is important. Well worth a look, and it's available...here.
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