|
|
Post by Jesse on Jun 22, 2014 22:13:39 GMT -5
Read it! It's outstanding. I'd be happy to have DC give the DCU to Cooke as his personal playground. It's fantastic! The actual comic series is even better. To me, it's the definitive Hal Jordan story. I definitely plan on reading it when I get the chance. Then why are people still drawn to these? If you're looking for straight shock and gore, both have come a long way since the mid 1960s. True but I think schlock has it's own appeal like Troma or Ed Wood movies. One thing I'd like to point out is that the stories in Herschell Gordon Lewis movies are usually excellent and often the highlight of the films. I personally prefer style and tone in my horror films. It's why I'll still choose the Universal Classics over anything made today. Yeah I much prefer atmosphere in horror to anything else. Gore in film is certainly an art form though and I think it pretty interesting how the special effects are done. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed Two Thousand Maniacs, but I'm not sure I'll be checking out anything more from Hershall Gordon Lewis. I'd recommend Wizard of Gore. The story is pretty good and the ending is just bizarre. I think my favorites from Fellini are La Strada and Nights of Cabiria. Those films really show the range of Giulietta Masina as an actress. The first Fellini movie I watched was Amarcord and it was hysterical. Did you watch the supplemental feature where he is reunited with his crush? It's pretty much the culmination of the entire story. I don't recall but it may not have been part of the version I caught on IFC or Sundance Channel I can't remember which. Currently watching Zombies of Mora Tau for the first time, and it's rocking my world. Forgot to mention this one in the new horror thread. It's one of my favorite pre-Romero zombie films and definitely a lot of fun. I love the underwater scenes. |
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 22, 2014 22:30:26 GMT -5
One member of Bogart's gang is black! It is so awesome! There's one scene where somebody starts pouring drinks for the hostages and the black chauffer asks his employer if he can have a drink. The black gang member mocks him and says, "Ain't you heard? We been emancipated!" I haven't seen it for a loooong time, but I remember it very well. Excellent movie. You're right. The black gangster was treated with more respect within his group than the chauffer.The gangster called the chauffer "his brother" a few times |
|
|
|
Post by MDG on Jun 23, 2014 11:05:07 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed Two Thousand Maniacs, but I'm not sure I'll be checking out anything more from Hershall Gordon Lewis. I'd recommend Wizard of Gore. The story is pretty good and the ending is just bizarre. Two Thousand Maniacs actually has hign production values compared to what he did after he split with Dave Friedman. I just re-watched Something Weird and it has some interesting ideas, but you'd think after making a dozen or so movies, HGL might want to step up the game a little by, oh, I don't know... composing and lighting the shot for effect? Recording the sound adequately? Hiring actual actors? My problem with Lewis is that, for a smart guy, he really didn't seem to give a damn and seemed to hold his audience in contempt. Currently watching Zombies of Mora Tau for the first time, and it's rocking my world. Forgot to mention this one in the new horror thread. It's one of my favorite pre-Romero zombie films and definitely a lot of fun. I love the underwater scenes. IYou should check out The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake, by the same director--I think they were originally co-features. |
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 23, 2014 21:26:01 GMT -5
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938)
Edward G. Robinson,Claire Trevor,Humphrey Bogart,Allen Jenkins,Donald Crisp,Ward Bond
D-Anatole Litvak
Black comedy about a brilliant Park Avenue doctor (Robinson) who becomes a criminal in order to do research into the criminal mind.
The most amazing thing is how the title of this movie got past the censors and remains unchanged to this day.Dr Clitterhouse (don't pronounce it too fast) wants to fully analyze the biological measurements of crime in the act. So of course he has to join a gang headed by "Rocks" Valentine (Bogart) and the fence Jo Keller (Trevor). Everyone is impressed by Clitterhouse and his debonair wit and intellect except Rocks who is itching to double-cross the doc.As the criminals pull their heists,the doc quickly takes their blood pressure,checks pupil dilation and holds their testicles and asks for a cough. Rocks draws the line there and plans to give Clitterhouse the brush-off
An amusing movie,Robinson is entertainingly humourous. Bogart is dead serious but thats what they hire him for.And wherever Bogart is,Alan Jenkins is never far behind at this stage of Bogart's career. The DVD includes the wonderful Warner Night at the Movies extras including a Racket Buster trailer,newsreel,a musical short and a weird Your True Adventure episode hosted by some guy in an eye patch. Also an Egghead cartoon about boxing and 2 radio show adaptations. 7 of 10 stars
|
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 24, 2014 11:41:01 GMT -5
Skipping past my recently viewed Angels With Dirty Faces,we come upon
Dark Victory (1939)
Bette Davis,George Brent,Humphrey Bogart,Ronald Reagan,Geraldine Fitzgerald,Henry Travers
D-Edmund Goulding
Judith Traherne (Davis) is a happy-go-lucky young socialite when Dr. Frederick Steele (Brent)diagnoses a brain tumor. After surgery she falls in love with Steele. The doctor tells her secretary (Fitzgerald) that the tumor will come back and eventually kill her. Learning this, Judith becomes manic and depressive. Her horse trainer Michael (Bogart), who loves her, tells her to get as much out of life as she can. She marries Steele who intends to find a cure for her illness.
After many gangster films,a 3 hankerchief weeper is a good change of pace.Dark Victory was nominated for Best Picture and Davis for Best Actress and she certainly puts on a bravura performance. Davis said many times this was her favorite role and its easy to see why.She goes thru all the different stages of coping with illness during the movie:Denial,Fear,Acceptance. After the intial operation comes Elation. Learning there will be a fatal recurrence causes Depression,Anger,Self-Destruction and finally back to Bravery,Acceptance and Love
Bogart is miscast as an Irish horse trainer with a on-and-off Irish brouge.Bogart does not do accent shtick and hopefully this is the last time its called for. Ronald Reagan's character as an alcoholic playboy is puzzling. Was he a former boyfriend of Bette's. He's always just hanging around with a drink in his hand and very much sloshed
Bette Davis supposedly started an affair with George Brent during the production.He had a great 1940's style mustache
8 of 10 stars
|
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Jun 24, 2014 12:05:16 GMT -5
Bogart is miscast as an Irish horse trainer with a on-and-off Irish brouge.Bogart does not do accent shtick and hopefully this is the last time its called for. He's a Mexican bandit in Virginia City. He's terrible, but in an interesting way. Bogart is the least of this movie's problems.
I like the first two-thirds of Virginia City a lot. But it turns into a pointless mess by the end. I've seen it three or four times over the last few years because so much of it is so good, but I always dread the last 20 or 30 minutes.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 24, 2014 12:10:28 GMT -5
Bogart is miscast as an Irish horse trainer with a on-and-off Irish brouge.Bogart does not do accent shtick and hopefully this is the last time its called for. He's a Mexican bandit in Virginia City. He's terrible, but in an interesting way. Bogart is the least of this movie's problems.
I like the first two-thirds of Virginia City a lot. But it turns into a pointless mess by the end. I've seen it three or four times over the last few years because so much of it is so good, but I always dread the last 20 or 30 minutes.
Thanks for the warning.I have 2 other films before I get to Virginia City.Ay caramba! |
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 24, 2014 21:30:15 GMT -5
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
James Cagney,Priscilla Lane,Humphrey Bogart,Gladys George,Paul Kelly
D-Raoul Walsh
Three men attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I.
One of the great ganster flicks of the 30s.This one stands out for it's sense of nostalgia and epic style of storytelling.Beginning with the final days of WWI we watch Eddie Bartlett (Cagney) struggle to fit back into society after his army discharge.Prohibition gives him an opportunity to work with bootleggers and distribute alchohol around NYC. He falls in love with nightclub singer Jean Sherman (Lane) but she only loves his army pal,lawyer Lloyd Hart.Bartlett's 3rd army friend,gangster George Hally (Bogart) provides the ruthless strongarm muscle to propel Bartlett into the top echelon of the city's big-shots.The years pass,prohibition is repealed,money gets tight,the cops crack down and Bartlett and his army partners all have a falling out
The movie covers a 20 year period in the history of the syndicates complete with narration and newsreels of world events.Once again,Bogart is called on to play a most despicable villian.For example,during WWI he takes pleasure in shooting the Germans
George Halley: [the men are taking cover in a bombed-out farmhouse, shooting at German soldiers somewhere off-screen. Lloyd takes aim at a German soldier, but hesitates, then lowers his rifle] Whatsa' matta', "Harvard," did you lose the Heine?
Lloyd Hart: No... but he looks like a kid, about 15 years old.
George Halley: -
[Aims his rifle and without any hesitation shoots the young German soldier]
George Halley: He won't be sixteen.
[Seconds later, a fellow soldier rushes in to tell them the war is over, the Armistice has been signed]
Halley is quick to pull the trigger,bristles against following orders and ultimately sets up Bartlett to get rubbed out by a competing mob.The plan fails and for the 3rd time in 2 years of movies,Cagney guns down Bogart.This will be the last gangster film for Cagney until 10 years later and White Heat
The movie ends with Cagney dying on the church steps in the arms of Panama Smith,the girl who stuck with him for the ups and downs.The final lines are movie classics
Panama Smith: He's dead.
Cop: Well, who is this guy?
Panama Smith: This is Eddie Bartlett.
Cop: Well, how're you hooked up with him?
Panama Smith: I could never figure it out.
Cop: What was his business?
Panama Smith: He used to be a big shot.
Another packed DVD with a 20 minute behind the scenes doc,a newsreel,an Each Dawn I Die trailer,a musical short-All Girl Revue,an hysterical comedy short called The Grouch Club-Great Library Misery starring the man who was the voice for Porky Pig and a gangster-parody cartoon "Cartoon Thugs With Dirty Mugs"
9 0f 10 stars
|
|
|
|
Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jun 24, 2014 22:37:07 GMT -5
I watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind and I thought maybe pre to early teen me just didn't appreciate the movie. But at 36 it's still a boring movie that has a whole lot of stuff that happens without any explanation, resolution, disclosure or any resemblance of structure. It's like a hippie answer to Alien. I couldn't care for the characters again, because I had no indication of the motive for their actions. It's two hours of some stuff. I feel like I just watched two hours of random YouTube videos about alien abductions/contacts.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,871
|
Post by shaxper on Jun 24, 2014 22:45:35 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2014 23:22:57 GMT -5
Favourite classic car stunt?
Hands down, mine is from a Roger Moore James Bond film - The Man With The Golden Gun. The old Rog is why I became a James Bond fan...
This involved a real car, a real stunt, no horrid CGI which is prevalent today including the Bond movies...
|
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 25, 2014 10:44:27 GMT -5
 The Return Of Doctor X (1939)
Wayne Morris,Rosemary Lane,Humphrey Bogart,Dennis Morgan.John Litel,Lya Lys
D-Vincent ShermanNew York newspaper reporter Walter Barnett (Morris) claims to have found actress Angela Merrova (Lys) dead in her apartment - only the next day she showed up alive and threatened to sue the paper. Determined to investigate he discovers her involvement with a strange doctor (Litel) and assistant (Bogart) who are experts on human blood. Barnett then finds a connection to a series of gruesome murders where the victims were all found drained of blood. A classic of breaking the sterotype. Bogey got the bride of Frankenstein hair streak,a clammy complexion and a subdued manner as a killer returned from the grave who works with a mad scientist.The movie itself is decent,only an hour in length. According to Bogart,he had no choice in making this film since he was just a contract employee but kept insisting for more money.Claimed it was really for his bunny. Seriously,not a bad movie-within the first 3 minutes you get a woman with a monkey and a murder. You see a reporter stumble on the crime scene and calls his editor but doesn't report the murder to the police. Its a 5 of 10 star flick.Extra points for monkeys,bunnies and Zombie Bogies |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Jun 25, 2014 11:17:53 GMT -5
I love The Return of Doctor X. Bogart gives us a mad scientist interpretation that's unlike any other. And there is so much insane craziness going on that you have to love this movie!
The DVD I got from Netflix had commentary from the director! He was in his 90s and he had a lot of interesting things to say about making this film. The other commentator (a film historian) reads from a letter Bogart wrote to the studio where he expresses his displeasure with the assignment.
Great movie.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 25, 2014 21:11:55 GMT -5
Virginia City (1940)
Errol Flynn,Randolph Scott,Miriam Hopkins,Humphrey Bogart,Alan Hale,Frank McHugh
D-Michael Curtiz
Union officer Kerry Bradford (Flynn) escapes from Confederate Prison commanded by Vance Irby (Scott).Later Irby is sent to Virginia City in Nevada to transport $5 million in gold to save the Confederacy.Bradford is sent by the North,determined to stop this from happening.Julia Hayne (Hopkins) is a Southern sympathizer helping Irby but falls in love with Bradford.The villianous Mexican bandito John Murrell (Bogart) assists Irby as well but is looking out for his own interests
Lots of plot to this film but plenty of action as well.A thrilling stage coach robbery,lots of shoot outs,dance hall girls,covered wagon treks,and a big finale battle that throws in the U.S. calvary.Funny,but not an Indian in sight. Coincidentally,I had just finished reading a novel (Never The Twain by Kirk Mitchell) that was also set in Virginia City during the Civil War and focused on the infamous Comstock Mines. The novel and the movie coincide well (except the movie made no mention of all the whorehouses)
Flynn and Scott are on opposite sides of the struggle but both are honorable men. Olivia de Havilland was originally signed for this film but was replaced by the lesser Hopkins,alas. 90 minutes into the film there's a brief cameo by George (Superman) Reeves as a telegraph operator.
And then you have the Mexican bandit played by Humphrey Bogart with his bad man pencil mustache and accent. Its funny,whenever I see him in roles that are miscast,he acts a bit subdued no matter how evil the character might be-like he doesn't want to draw too much attention to himself. But like so many movies that he's been in up to this point,he always doubles crosses his partner
Abe Lincoln appears at the end like the Ultimate Nullifier and makes a tidy,happy ending
7 of 10 stars
The DVD has that great Warner at the Movies package with a trailer for Dispatch From Reuters,an Admiral Byrd newsreel,2 technicolor shorts-Cinderella's Fella & The Flag of Humanity and 2 vintage cartoons-Cross Country Detours & Confederate Honey.Also a making of feature of The Charge Of The Light Brigade and a historian doing a commentary
|
|
|
|
Post by Jasoomian on Jun 26, 2014 0:55:34 GMT -5
Classic film: Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse, Der Spiegler (The Player): Part One (1922). I watched part of this on an offline Kindle, an old blurry public domain print downloaded from the Internet Archive. I watched some of it on the 2002 Berlin restoration (combined supercut of both Parts) on Netflix; which is a beautiful print. Mabuse is a master criminal, hypnotist and disguise artist working all the angles against a German prosecutor who is also quuite bright and adept with costumes. Part One ends on a faceoff like Kill Bill. Thumbs up.
Modern future classic film: Duplass bros' poetic Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011). Thumbs up.
Modern never-will-be-classics: Friedberg & Setzer's obvious The Starving Games (2013); action nonsense Olympus Has Fallen (2013). Thumbs down.
|
|
