Roquefort Raider
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Modus omnibus in rebus
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 4, 2015 11:53:36 GMT -5
Ironing clothes for our family of four, I usually put an old movie on... and yesterday's The day Mars invaded Earth, from 1963, did not disappoint: it was a surprisingly mature and spooky film.
The tense relationship between the main character and his wife is amazingly accurate; instead of theatrical histrionics about how his job keeps him from playing his proper role as a father, we get excellent, quiet dialogs between two people who try to make their marriage work, but are apparently failing despite their obvious caring for each other.
"Where do the martians come in?" may you ask. Oh, they're there. In typical 1960s fashion, when the red scare-inspired "they are among us" theme proved so fertile a soil, our neighbours from the red planet take on human shape. The interesting twist here is that despite the film's title, the Martians aren't here to conquer Earth: they are here to defend Mars from our own invasion, since that is how they view our sending robotic probes to their world. They don't mean to hurt us, really, but are ready to do what it takes for us to leave them alone.
The ending is a real shocker. Honest.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 4, 2015 14:27:54 GMT -5
Ironing clothes for our family of four, I usually put an old movie on... and yesterday's The day Mars invaded Earth, from 1963, did not disappoint: it was a surprisingly mature and spooky film. The tense relationship between the main character and his wife is amazingly accurate; instead of theatrical histrionics about how his job keeps him from playing his proper role as a father, we get excellent, quiet dialogs between two people who try to make their marriage work, but are apparently failing despite their obvious caring for each other. "Where do the martians come in?" may you ask. Oh, they're there. In typical 1960s fashion, when the red scare-inspired "they are among us" theme proved so fertile a soil, our neighbours from the red planet take on human shape. The interesting twist here is that despite the film's title, the Martians aren't here to conquer Earth: they are here to defend Mars from our own invasion, since that is how they view our sending robotic probes to their world. They don't mean to hurt us, really, but are ready to do what it takes for us to leave them alone. The ending is a real shocker. Honest. It sounds very interesting. I've never heard of it. And I've been watching sci-fi since I was a kid in the 1960s. (I remember watching "The Deadly Mantis" on TV when I was four or five years old.)
Last night I watched "Bersek." I was looking at the On Demand choices, looking for a thriller or a comedy, and I saw the description for "Bersek": A ringmaster (Joan Crawford) takes advantage of a series of murders to publicize her circus.
Yeah, I had to watch that! A circus movie! With Joan Crawford! And a series of murders!
It also has several circus acts (and you never know when someone's going to die before it's over!) and a nifty musical number performed by the dwarf, the bearded lady, the living skeleton and the strong man.
The ending was just stupid enough to be as good as an ending that made sense.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 4, 2015 16:04:27 GMT -5
It sounds very interesting. I've never heard of it. And I've been watching sci-fi since I was a kid in the 1960s. (I remember watching "The Deadly Mantis" on TV when I was four or five years old.)
Last night I watched "Bersek." I was looking at the On Demand choices, looking for a thriller or a comedy, and I saw the description for "Bersek": A ringmaster (Joan Crawford) takes advantage of a series of murders to publicize her circus.
Yeah, I had to watch that! A circus movie! With Joan Crawford! And a series of murders!
It also has several circus acts (and you never know when someone's going to die before it's over!) and a nifty musical number performed by the dwarf, the bearded lady, the living skeleton and the strong man.
The ending was just stupid enough to be as good as an ending that made sense.
Just the sight of Joan in a pseudo-Black Canary outfit is enough to move the Schlock-o-Meter to at least a 9. |
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Post by Jesse on Jan 4, 2015 18:28:26 GMT -5
Just watched And Then There Were None (1945) on TCM On Demand and really enjoyed it. It's an excellent 'whodunit' that keeps you guessing until the end and it definitely made me want to read the Agatha Christie novel it's based on.
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Post by DE Sinclair on Jan 5, 2015 12:13:21 GMT -5
Just watched And Then There Were None (1945) on TCM On Demand and really enjoyed it. It's an excellent 'whodunit' that keeps you guessing until the end and it definitely made me want to read the Agatha Christie novel it's based on. Good movie. Not surprisingly, the book is better. (I've actually seen T-shirts for sale that say "The book was better". I know one or two people that would be right for.) |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 5, 2015 13:18:26 GMT -5
Just watched And Then There Were None (1945) on TCM On Demand and really enjoyed it. It's an excellent 'whodunit' that keeps you guessing until the end and it definitely made me want to read the Agatha Christie novel it's based on. I've seen it two or three times over the years. Love Walter Huston and Barry Fitzgerald.
But mostly I love June Duprez!
I watched None But the Lonely Heart for two reasons: It's one of Cary Grant's two Oscar nominations but mostly because it has June Duprez!
None But the Lonely Heart may not ROOL! but June certainly does.
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Post by gothos on Jan 5, 2015 17:30:37 GMT -5
Ironing clothes for our family of four, I usually put an old movie on... and yesterday's The day Mars invaded Earth, from 1963, did not disappoint: it was a surprisingly mature and spooky film. The tense relationship between the main character and his wife is amazingly accurate; instead of theatrical histrionics about how his job keeps him from playing his proper role as a father, we get excellent, quiet dialogs between two people who try to make their marriage work, but are apparently failing despite their obvious caring for each other. "Where do the martians come in?" may you ask. Oh, they're there. In typical 1960s fashion, when the red scare-inspired "they are among us" theme proved so fertile a soil, our neighbours from the red planet take on human shape. The interesting twist here is that despite the film's title, the Martians aren't here to conquer Earth: they are here to defend Mars from our own invasion, since that is how they view our sending robotic probes to their world. They don't mean to hurt us, really, but are ready to do what it takes for us to leave them alone. The ending is a real shocker. Honest. It sounds very interesting. I've never heard of it. And I've been watching sci-fi since I was a kid in the 1960s. (I remember watching "The Deadly Mantis" on TV when I was four or five years old.)
Last night I watched "Bersek." I was looking at the On Demand choices, looking for a thriller or a comedy, and I saw the description for "Bersek": A ringmaster (Joan Crawford) takes advantage of a series of murders to publicize her circus.
Yeah, I had to watch that! A circus movie! With Joan Crawford! And a series of murders!
It also has several circus acts (and you never know when someone's going to die before it's over!) and a nifty musical number performed by the dwarf, the bearded lady, the living skeleton and the strong man.
The ending was just stupid enough to be as good as an ending that made sense.
I tend to think of BERSERK as a one-off from 1964's STRAIT JACKET, written by Robert Bloch-- who was arguably riffing on his own PSYCHO. That's not saying anything against BERSERK. Sometimes a derivative movie can even be more fun than the original source-work. |
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Post by berkley on Jan 5, 2015 23:53:27 GMT -5
Just watched And Then There Were None (1945) on TCM On Demand and really enjoyed it. It's an excellent 'whodunit' that keeps you guessing until the end and it definitely made me want to read the Agatha Christie novel it's based on. Good movie. Not surprisingly, the book is better. (I've actually seen T-shirts for sale that say "The book was better". I know one or two people that would be right for.) Haven't seen the movie, but yeah, the book was one of my favourite Christies. A bit different from her usual cosy, domestic mysteries. I remember finding it very chilling, especially towards the end. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 6, 2015 0:30:15 GMT -5
Good movie. Not surprisingly, the book is better. (I've actually seen T-shirts for sale that say "The book was better". I know one or two people that would be right for.) Haven't seen the movie, but yeah, the book was one of my favourite Christies. A bit different from her usual cosy, domestic mysteries. I remember finding it very chilling, especially towards the end. The book is definitely better than any of the many movie versions. But the book doesn't have June Duprez! Or Elke Sommer! |
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Post by Pharozonk on Jan 6, 2015 2:00:50 GMT -5
I re-watched the 1982 Swamp Thing movie again tonight. I actually liked it more this time around. I think it's because I've been watching a lot more B-movies lately and have come to appreciate some of the schlocky elements. In fact, as far as B-movies, it's actually a pretty solid movie and an underrated move in Wes Craven's career.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2015 9:34:59 GMT -5
I re-watched the 1982 Swamp Thing movie again tonight. I actually liked it more this time around. I think it's because I've been watching a lot more B-movies lately and have come to appreciate some of the schlocky elements. In fact, as far as B-movies, it's actually a pretty solid movie and an underrated move in Wes Craven's career. I just saw that movie too and you are so right here. I just surprised how well its hold after all these years. I find it more entertaining this time around than the last time I saw this about 5-7 years ago. |
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Post by dupersuper on Jan 6, 2015 23:40:53 GMT -5
I bit the bullet and did a New Year's marathon of the first 4 Leprechaun films (I'd never seen them and got the set for $1.98). I like the consistency that the Boom mike makes an appearance (at least once) in every film -- tho it does show up 4-5 times in Leprechaun IV: In SPACE (the same film he gets blown up in, not once, not twice, but THREE times). the first one and 3rd one have the best acting, but over all they really are awful. And not near as bloody as I was expecting (for what I always thought were slasher films, they're actually pretty bloodless). the winner, by a long shot, is Leprechaun III, set in Las Vegas. They knew exactly what they were making by this point and had some fun with it. The setting is great, the acting is actually above average to good (in most cases), and the story makes the most sense of all of em (other than how he ends up in Vegas as a statue in the first place). You need to watch the 5th movie so you can see Warwick Davis' rap scene.  Funny, I just saw Warwick Davis get ribbed about those movies on the Big Fat Quiz Anniversary show. |
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Post by Dizzy D on Jan 7, 2015 10:13:12 GMT -5
You need to watch the 5th movie so you can see Warwick Davis' rap scene. Funny, I just saw Warwick Davis get ribbed about those movies on the Big Fat Quiz Anniversary show. I was glad that we got the Anniversary show after the 2014 Big Fat Quiz was incredibly terrible. |
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Post by dupersuper on Jan 8, 2015 3:20:42 GMT -5
Funny, I just saw Warwick Davis get ribbed about those movies on the Big Fat Quiz Anniversary show. I was glad that we got the Anniversary show after the 2014 Big Fat Quiz was incredibly terrible. How can you call anything with David Mitchell and the IT Crowd guy terrible??? If nothing else we got to see Posh Spice being kinda' bitchy. |
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Roquefort Raider
CCF Mod Squad
Modus omnibus in rebus
Posts: 17,433
Member is Online
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 8, 2015 16:21:22 GMT -5
Two recent Youtube viewings:
The warrior and the sorceress, with David Carradine. It's the illegitimate child of the Kung Fu TV series and the first Conan movie, a child that didn't try too hard to succeed in life but managed to provide an hour and a half of goofy fun. The sets are cheap, the weapons are cheap, the puppets are cheap, but hey... at least, the protagonists don't pretend to be anything else than cheap: there are two gang leaders fighting over a well in a run down village, a priestess of some kind from some kind of cult that's lost all relevance, and a wandering "holy warrior" now without a job. Oh, and some cool-looking ophidian slavers, whose chief always laughs for some reason. (Maybe he's read the script!)
The sorceress from the title is actually rather pretty, and for some reason she goes almost naked for the entire movie. It might make sense if other characters did the same, but no. Maybe it's cultural. Or it's pandering to teenage boys.
David Carradine gets a magic sword at one point, and the first time it's introduced its might is demonstrated when the hero not only cuts an anvil in two, but also the rock it stands on! Too bad that in following scenes, the same sword fails to cut through enemy weapons or even through ordinary flesh. But then, the fights are so poorly choreographed that nobody seems to be in any danger at any time.
The changeling, from 1980: an excellent haunted house story, one of the best I've seen. it's not gory nor jump- out- of-your-seat scary, but is very spooky because of its deliberate pace and great mood. The ending might have been a little stronger, but the first hour and a halh is really good.
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