|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Apr 28, 2016 16:48:38 GMT -5
Today on YouTube Theatre, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964)! This so crazy! Dream-like and primitive. Chaotic and beautiful. In the Carpathian Mountains of southern Ukraine, we find the Huzul people, sheepherders and farmers who live in cabins and are likely to hit each other with axes over reasons that might seem trivial to us. And they worship God in a very pretty little wooden church decorated with wonderful icons of Jesus and the devil and various Bible figures. They dance a lot and have festivals. (I want to celebrate Huzul Christmas so I can wear the Triceratops suit.) Honestly, I don't have much context for this movie. It was a unique and wonderful experience. It's a Russian film from the 1960s and it's one of the best Russian films I've ever seen. Recommended for people who like diving into critically acclaimed international masterpieces and aren't too concerned about having a clue what's going on. |
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Apr 29, 2016 1:07:37 GMT -5
Once Upon A Time In America (1984) Robert DeNiro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Joe Pesci, Tuesday Weld, Burt Young, Treat Williams, Danny Aiello, Jennifer Connelly Directed By Sergio Leone
Decades spanning epic tale of a group of Jewish youths from Manhattan's lower east side evolving from a street gang to an organized mob controlling the liquor racket during Prohibition to infiltrating the teamster's union
One of my all time favorite mob movies ever made. Sergio Leone put his heart and soul into making this movie. The way it captures the feeling of the 1920s and 1930s is breathtaking. It feels so right, it convincingly portrays the nuances of life in that time, in that location and it's ethnicity. DeNiro and Woods make a dynamic team of life long friends challenging the local entrenched mob to take over the business for themselves. And just look at that cast that supports them. Just a wonderful lineup. And to top it all off, you get a movie scored by the genius Ennio Morricone. What could possibly go wrong?
The idiot producers almost killed it. This was destined to be Sergio Leone's final film and he wanted a masterpiece. Adapted from a novel by Harry Grey and based on real people, Sergio shot enough footage for an 8 hour film. Sergio offered to trim it down and release it in 2 parts, 3 hours each. The producer's balked. So Sergio again cut it down to 3 hours 49 minutes and exhibited it at the Cannes Film Festival. It was acclaimed unanimously.
And that still wasn't good enough for the producers for it's American theatrical run. They chopped another 1 hour 25 minutes away and re-edited all the sequencing to be strictly chronological. The movie had gaping holes and was incoherent and suffered critically as well as in the box office. It received no Oscar nominations and paperwork was not filed in time for Morricone's soundtrack to be considered for the Academy Awards as well
Thankfully the 228 minute version was restored for it's home video release and critics re-valued the film and praised it. It's now highly thought of by many cinema lovers. And here, on this director's cut DVD another 25 minutes of film has been found and inserted. We now see Louise Fletcher's role as a hospital doctor among other bits
I just love this film. The Godfather, Goodfellas and Scarface score higher but this might be my #4
|
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Apr 29, 2016 1:21:11 GMT -5
Anchors Away (1945) Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Greyson, Dean Stockwell
Sailors Kelly and Sinatra are on shore leave and head for Hollywood. They get involved with a little boy who left home to join the navy. Ah, how cute. They take the child back to his guardian aunt who is a sweet hot number (Greyson) and the two take turns falling in love with her
Big technicolor musical, 143 minutes of it. The songs are OK, the city sets are very fake looking, the plot is ..well, at least there are no tuxedos and ocean liners. Whats interesting is that at this point, Frank Sinatra has been in just a few films and still learning is craft. Gene Kelly completely dominates the movie with his charisma and acting ability. And of course his dancing. Sinatra is just a foil, sings a few sings in a higher pitched voice then what we are accustomed to. This is Kelly's movie by far
And it has that famous dance routine of Gene Kelly with Jerry The Mouse from Tom and Jerry. Jerry actually has some rare dialogue. Story goes that the movie producers asked Walt Disney if they could use Mickey Mouse for the sequence bit Walt's brother Roy put the kibosh on that, adamant against loaning out Disney property to another studio
|
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Apr 29, 2016 1:39:43 GMT -5
Evita (1996) Madonna, Antonio Bandaras, Jonathon Pryce
Don't Cry For Me Argentina
There is no dialogue in this adaptation of the Broadway play. All singing. And the Don't Cry song comes up every half hour. Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Weber are quite talented but I got no clue to what the real story was supposed to be based on. Evita is a poor girl, becomes an actress, marries a army man who takes control of the country. She acts like a good-looking Eleanor Roosevelt, very left wing and charitable. But she also acts like an Emelda Marcos with lots of clothes and probably a closet of shoes. Every 10 minutes the people love their government. Every 10 minutes the people hate their government. Back and forth. I have no clue why. They just keep singing, even when demonstrators get arrested or when the peons shower her with affection. Antonio Banderas hangs around like the Greek Chorus always singing and I have no clue what he's about as well
Actually, Madonna is adequate in this film. And adequate means its the best performance she ever gave. I mean, when acting like a character who's not Madonna, unlike what she did in Desperately Seeking Susan.
It also brings to mind that, since I have always lived in NYC, I grew up with constant local TV commercials for plays that were on Broadway. And if the play was successful, you'd see these commercials for years. So, Evita ran on Broadway for over 4 years and I heard snippets of Don't Cry For Me Argentina almost every night during that time frame. And please, don't bring up Cats
|
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Apr 29, 2016 1:59:52 GMT -5
And now the beginning of a boxset, one that I sheepishly admit to owning. Might as well get through it rather then saving all my ,er, challenged viewing material for last
Porky's (1981) A bunch of young kids who will get social security soon, Kim Cattrell, Tony Ganios
1954 small town Florida and a bunch of horny high school boys need sex so bad that they might explode. So they all go down to this naughty little honky tonk with dancing girls run by a fat slob named Porky. They pay Porky $100 if he will provide them some women. Porky rips them off and his good ol' boys kick the shit out of the teens. The horny teens vow revenge but first they have to peek through the walls of the girl's shower room back at school
Let me just mention a fav actor of mine makes a rare appearance, That's Tony Ganios whose first film was the cult classic The Wanderers. He's in all the Porky films as the big teen named Meat. He was also in Die Hard 2, some TV work and that's about it
But the amazing thing is the money this movie made. A budget of $4 million. A U.S. gross of over $120 million. That s insane. INSANE. It was the number 1 movie in America for 8 weeks straight. God knows how much it made outside the USA. God knows how much it made on home video. But soon after, theaters were inundated with horny teenager films. And all the publicity for these other films would boast that it will out-Porky Porky's. For a tear or so it seemed the majority of movies were horny teenage films or slasher movies. Actually a lot where horny teenage slasher films. A perfect marriage
This was a Canadian produced movie. As of this date, its the 3rd highest grossing Canadian movie ever made. When I get a chance, I need to tell duperstuper that piece of trivia
|
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Apr 29, 2016 14:01:20 GMT -5
And now the beginning of a boxset, one that I sheepishly admit to owning. Might as well get through it rather then saving all my ,er, challenged viewing material for last
Porky's (1981) A bunch of young kids who will get social security soon, Kim Cattrell, Tony Ganios 1954 small town Florida and a bunch of horny high school boys need sex so bad that they might explode. So they all go down to this naughty little honky tonk with dancing girls run by a fat slob named Porky. They pay Porky $100 if he will provide them some women. Porky rips them off and his good ol' boys kick the shit out of the teens. The horny teens vow revenge but first they have to peek through the walls of the girl's shower room back at school Let me just mention a fav actor of mine makes a rare appearance, That's Tony Ganios whose first film was the cult classic The Wanderers. He's in all the Porky films as the big teen named Meat. He was also in Die Hard 2, some TV work and that's about it But the amazing thing is the money this movie made. A budget of $4 million. A U.S. gross of over $120 million. That s insane. INSANE. It was the number 1 movie in America for 8 weeks straight. God knows how much it made outside the USA. God knows how much it made on home video. But soon after, theaters were inundated with horny teenager films. And all the publicity for these other films would boast that it will out-Porky Porky's. For a tear or so it seemed the majority of movies were horny teenage films or slasher movies. Actually a lot where horny teenage slasher films. A perfect marriage This was a Canadian produced movie. As of this date, its the 3rd highest grossing Canadian movie ever made. When I get a chance, I need to tell duperstuper that piece of trivia Bob Clark, the director of Porky's was killed with his son when a drunk driver hit their car head-on in 2007. He directed two favorites of mine, Murder by Decree, a Sherlock Holmes adventure featuring Christopher Plummer and James Mason as Holmes and Watson that anticipated Alan Moore's From Hell. He also directed the legendary bomb Rhinestone (1984)with Stallone and Dolly Parton, Baby Geniuses --1 and 2!-- (1999 and 2004), and Turk 182! (1985) and a holiday slasher film, Black Christmas. And oh, yeah, my other favorite Bob Clark movie is another Yuletide movie you might've heard of, A Christmas Story (1983). Quite the ouevre. |
|
|
|
Post by dupersuper on Apr 29, 2016 20:56:20 GMT -5
This was a Canadian produced movie. As of this date, its the 3rd highest grossing Canadian movie ever made. When I get a chance, I need to tell duperstuper that piece of trivia What were the first 2? |
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Apr 29, 2016 21:05:35 GMT -5
This was a Canadian produced movie. As of this date, its the 3rd highest grossing Canadian movie ever made. When I get a chance, I need to tell duperstuper that piece of trivia What were the first 2? Porky's was the highest-grossing movie from Canada for 24 years. As of 2010, it is now third highest, having been beaten by Bon Cop Bad Cop (2006) and Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010). Don't know what's changed since then Now that I think of it, if it was adjusted for inflation, Porky's would still be number 1 |
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Apr 30, 2016 14:11:35 GMT -5
Porky's 2:The Next Day (1983) Pretty much the same group of kids and not worth my typing their names-look it up yourself but why you would is beyond me
Yup, literally the next day in 1954 smalltown, Florida for these high-school kids. The adult establishment and owner named Porky is no where to be found but they still call the film Porky's. Since this was , at that time, the biggest and most profitable movie ever made, a sequel was a no-brainer and hit the theaters within 15 months of the original. Once again Bob Clark was the director. His heart, however , was in creating his classic film, A Christmas Story and he only agreed to do this sequel on condition that A Christmas Story got a green light.
The first Porky's was based on incidents that occurred in Bob Clark's teen years. That well was dry for this one. So the story pretty much makes no sense. The high school kids, when not being horny (and they are not as raunchy as the first film) enjoy performing Shakespeare plays as an after-school activity. A local preacher and his flock think Shakespeare is pornography and pressure the school board to close it down. C'mon-kids fighting for the right to perform Shakespeare? How rebellious, cutting edge and provocative
There's some stuff ridiculing the KKK. A high school girl stirs up a scene in a fancy restaurant by stuffing her bra and speaking loud and raunchy. This doesn't sound so great and I can't make it so
I'm very nervous about how bad the 3rd and final Porky's film will be. Bob Clark is not even involved in it. Wish me luck
|
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Apr 30, 2016 14:35:53 GMT -5
Cleopatra (1963) Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Hume Cronyn, Roddy McDowall, Martin Landau, Carol O'Connor
The epic 4 hour film chronicling Cleopatra's marriage to Caesar followed by her love affair with Mark Antony
Adjusted for inflation, this film's final budget came in at $336 million dollars, possible the most expensive movie in history. 20th Century Fox execs freaked out as the movie continued to go over budget and filming went on and on. At first it was to be 2 separate 3 hour films, Caesar and Cleopatra followed by Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. Instead the extra footage was jettisoned for the version we have now.
This is not the Shakespeare version-no Et Tu Brutus? nor Friends, Romans and Countrymen etc. But it is certainly one of the most lavishly made movies. You can see where all that money went. Taylor's wardrobe throughout the film is fantastically provocative. Cleopatra's procession into Rome is one of the most spectacular scenes in Hollywood history. The battle scenes at the film's conclusion is a bit disappointing compared to the breath taking spectacles that preceded it. Maybe they finally tightened up the budget?
You get to see Roddy McDowall in dyed blonde hair as Casear's would be successor Octavius
You get to see Archie Bunker in a toga as the first Roman senator to stab Caesar and then ask Edith for a beer
In the back pages of Hollywood magazines, stories of the love affair emerging between Taylor and Burton got fans all a-twitter. Even with all that publicity it took until 1973 for the film to break even. 20th Century Fox was in severe financial straits for a few years after the film was completed.
There never was a complete script to this film. Director Richard Mankiewicz was impervious from being fired as he was the only one to know where the film was going.
Elizabeth Taylor was paid, in today's $s, $29 million for this movie. Egads
This was the first time I've seen the complete film. And I enjoyed it. Not as fun as the Claudette Colbert version but, on a big screen TV (which is a must to really get blown away) it's great
|
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Apr 30, 2016 16:20:49 GMT -5
I watched Cleopatra in three separate segments over a weekend a few years ago. It's great at times! The scene at Alexander's tomb is justifiably famous. Cleopatra's entry into Rome is awesome! And I really like the last two hours! I was splitting it into hour-long segments but in the second half I was enjoying myself so much that I just went ahead and watched the rest of it.
I think the second half benefits from throwing Roddy McDowall into the mix. Rex Harrison is a great actor, but somehow the first half of the movie only works in segments, and I found it pretty hard to sit through.
But then I got to the second half and I really loved it! That was when I understood why it was such a must-see film in the 1960s and why so many people in my mother's age group love it so much.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Apr 30, 2016 16:36:53 GMT -5
The Kremlin Letter (1970) was on again! And this time I DVRed it! I started it last night but it was so late and I was so tired that I gave up and went to bed about forty minutes into it. And I didn't feel like watching all that again, so this morning I just started watching it where I left off, and I'm a bit lost. I'm enjoying it! But I'm also definitely not following the narrative. I guess I was kind of sleepy last night and missed a few key lines of dialogue. It seems to be some kind of Cold War spy movie. It's like three or four separate movies and it keeps cutting from one movie to another. One of these movies seems to be an Ingmar Bergman movie because Max von Sydow and Bibi Andersson are having a little trouble in their marriage. (It seems that Max tortured Bibi's first husband to death.) The four movies do intersect at times. But I'm enjoying it nonetheless! Each scene works very well on its own. It's definitely well-written and well-crafted. Directed by John Huston! In addition to Max von Sydow and Bibi Andersson, you also get Orson Welles, Richard Boone, George Sanders and a bunch of very familiar European actors, including the guy who played Hercules in Jason and the Argonauts! So there's a lot to like here. I just don't know what's going on. I'm especially confused by George Sanders. He seems to have made his part of the movie its own little self-sufficient fiefdom with no connection to the rest of the movie. Richard Boone needs to send one of his agents to stop Sanders before he goes all Apocalypse Now on us!
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2016 17:01:46 GMT -5
I watched Cleopatra in three separate segments over a weekend a few years ago. It's great at times! The scene at Alexander's tomb is justifiably famous. Cleopatra's entry into Rome is awesome! And I really like the last two hours! I was splitting it into hour-long segments but in the second half I was enjoying myself so much that I just went ahead and watched the rest of it. I think the second half benefits from throwing Roddy McDowall into the mix. Rex Harrison is a great actor, but somehow the first half of the movie only works in segments, and I found it pretty hard to sit through. But then I got to the second half and I really loved it! That was when I understood why it was such a must-see film in the 1960s and why so many people in my mother's age group love it so much. I know that you loved this movie; but I just can't stand it at all because most of the movie is so deary at times and some of it was a spectacle and grandeur all rolled into one. But, this movie is 5 hours and 20 minutes long and when you add commercials and all that - it's makes it 7 hours plus/minus minutes or so - it's made this viewer very painful to watch and it's a Giant Movie (also starred Elisabeth Taylor) on steroids. Giant Movie was 3 hours and 21 minutes long - FYI. That's why I just stomach watching it anymore because I just can't sit still for more than 3 hours watching a movie and this movie is a 5 hours plus monster. |
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on May 1, 2016 1:03:09 GMT -5
Cleopatra-Not for the Saturday Morning Cartoon Audience
Before finishing off the Porky's Trilogy Saga , I'm delving into the next DVD boxset. Welcome to the Doris Day/ Rock Hudson Trilogy
Pillow Talk (1959) Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter
Strangers to each other, Doris and Rock share the same party line telephone connection and constantly argue over clearing the line for the other to use. Rock, by coincidence, sees Doris at a nightclub and is attracted to her. He assumes the fake identity as a Texas man to start dating her.Doris begins to fall in love. But don't worry. If there's one guy in Hollywood that guarantees Doris keeping her virginity, it's Rock Hudson
I'm extremely tired of films/ TV comedies that hinge on a character telling a little fib that gets bigger and bigger. This film, by today's standards, seems so innocent and definitely would be rated G for General Audiences. But back in 1959 it was thought of as a sophisticated romantic comedy. Even Rock Hudson at first had some trepidation in being involved with the movie because he thought it a bit too risque. And, good god, the film was a winner of an Oscar award for best screenplay. What the hell was in the water back then?
This is the 1st of 3 films pairing Rock, Doris and Tony Randall-each film they played a different character. A scene in the movie had Tony Randall getting punched in the face by a restaurant patron. Mistakenly, the slug actually landed on Tony's cranium and knocked him out. It looked so good that they kept it in the movie.
A major box office smash. Thelma is the brightest spot as an alcoholic housekeeper. There's a good awful song called Roly Poly that Doris sings at a bar. And an opening Pillow Talk theme song. I'm not rushing out to get a Doris Day CD from the library. Even for free
|
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on May 1, 2016 11:06:02 GMT -5
Pillow Talk (1959) Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter I really love Doris Day. I just wish she made a few more movies like Calamity Jane and a few less movies like Pillow Talk. I've not seen the other two Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies (and I probably never will) but I have seen That Touch of Mink, The Glass Bottom Boat and The Thrill of It All, and they are insufferably stupid. Each has its moments (which is why I've watched so many of them) but they are so terribly terribly dated. And so so stupid. ( The Glass Bottom Boat isn't nearly as bad as the others.) I really want to see Midnight Lace. I'm trying to keep my expectations low. |
|
