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Post by Ish Kabbible on Sept 30, 2015 12:08:48 GMT -5
Marty (1955) Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair
Marty (Borgnine) is a butcher from the Bronx. Oldest of 6 siblings he's still unmarried at age 34 ("What's the matter with ya, Marty, ain't ya gonna find a girl & get married?). Always rejected by women, he's resigned to a life of bachelorhood with his loser friends ("Whatcha want to do tonight Marty?". I don't know, what you want to do?"). That is until he meets another ugly duckling - a woman just dumped on a blind date.
Marty is a classic of the 1950s-an eternal story of boy meets girl. Written by a great screenwriter, Paddy (Network) Chayevsky . First time director Delbert Mann won an Oscar for Marty. Look for Dick Van Dyke's next door neighbor, Jerry Paris, as Marty's brother-in-law. Great location scenes of NYC too. Ernest Borgnine, for all his roles throughout his career, always kept a touch of Marty in him to me
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 1, 2015 0:37:55 GMT -5
The Snorkel (1958) Peter Van Eyck
A Hammer Film Production
Movie opens with a woman asleep in a room. Her 2nd husband (Van Eyck) enters, tapes shut the windows and door frames, turns on the gas on the old-fashioned lamps and puts on a snorkel to watch her die in the room.Her daughter Candy from her first marriage is sure Van Eyck is the killer but no one believes her
Who named this film? "C'mon Sally, the Snorkel is in town"
I liked Peter Van Eyck both as hero or villian back in the day.A fine actor. This films decent although it meanders in the middle. Very good ending though. Candy has a cute dog named Toto. The credits says Toto's owner is John Holmes. Toto knows how to fetch a boner. In the film Toto keeps going into Peter's closet to bring out the Snorkel. What a mutt!!
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 1, 2015 14:39:08 GMT -5
Wrapping up the Hammer Film collection titled Icons Of Suspense- A 6 movie compilation
Maniac (1963) Kermit Mathews, Nadia Grey
Jeff (Kermie) is an American drifter in France who happens upon a bar out in the wilderness and is attracted by the young waitress. Seems she was raped 4 years prior. The rapist was caught by the girls father who applied a blowtorch to the fiend. French authorities thought a blowtorch was a bit over-the-top revengewise so they sentenced the father to a mental institution. The bar belongs to the father providing the daughter work and is being supervised by his 2nd wife. The stepmother seduces Jeff as well and convinces him to perform something a bit illegal
Decent nourish suspense tale. Good acting and production values. Nice plot twist ending
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Post by Farrar on Oct 1, 2015 14:49:25 GMT -5
...the French film Eyes Without a Face... An unforgettable film. And about 10 years ago Marvel Knights: 4 had a story arc with the same title and premise (written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, guess he was a fan of the film too) featuring the Puppet Master, Alicia and Sue.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 2, 2015 12:29:38 GMT -5
Holiday (1938) Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn
Boy (Grant) meets girl and discovers she's from an ultra rich family with a Manhattan mansion. Money doesn't mean much to him and he soon surmises he has more in common with his fiancée's sister (Hepburn)
Directed by the classy George Cukor, a nice light and breezy comedy that is still effective today. The mansion must be seen with its 30 foot ceilings. Great supporting cast with Edward Everett Horton, Lew Ayers and Doris Nolan. Grant and Hepburn are a classic pairing.
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Post by berkley on Oct 2, 2015 16:54:16 GMT -5
That's two Cary Grant movies I haven't seen that I've been reminded about on this page, Holiday and The Awful Truth.
Eyes Without a Face sounds like it might be a good one to watch for Hallowe'en.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 2, 2015 18:12:50 GMT -5
Eyes Without a Face sounds like it might be a good one to watch for Hallowe'en. And to listen as Billy Idol sings it
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Post by berkley on Oct 2, 2015 21:35:57 GMT -5
Eyes Without a Face sounds like it might be a good one to watch for Hallowe'en. And to listen as Billy Idol sings it One of his better solo songs, IMO.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 3, 2015 8:24:56 GMT -5
That's two Cary Grant movies I haven't seen that I've been reminded about on this page, Holiday and The Awful Truth. Eyes Without a Face sounds like it might be a good one to watch for Hallowe'en. You should fast-track both The Awful Truth and Eyes without a Face. The Awful Truth is tied with Suspicion as my favorite Cary Grant film. I keep my eyes open for Cary Grant movies I haven't seen. If you get the channel called Movies!, then you can see An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr tonight (Saturday). Following that, they're showing Houseboat, with Grant and Sophia Loren. An Affair to Remember is probably the biggest Cary Grant movie I've never seen. I've seen Houseboat, and it's not so great, but it's not without its charm if you have a high tolerance for not-so-great movies. Later in October, TCM is showing Mr. Lucky, another one I've never seen. It sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to it. TCM showed Charade a few days ago and I DVRed it. I've seen it, but it's been a long time. I'm planning on watching it tonight.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 3, 2015 10:31:10 GMT -5
I noticed The Swarm on the TCM schedule and I remember when it came out. It was advertised in the comic books, if I remember correctly, and I remember wanting to see it as a kid, but I never got around to it at any point in the decades since. So I set up the DVR to record it (late tonight) and I'll probably watch it tomorrow night.
And I'm really glad I did! I was just browsing IMDB and I looked at the page for The Swarm and OMG! I cannot believe this cast! It's an all-star cast with favorites like Olivia de Haviland and Patty Duke and Richard Widmark and Michael Caine and Slim Pickens and Ben Johnson and a bunch of others.
Also, the message board has threads with titles like "the greatest piece of crap ever" and "Most awful two hours spent in a cinema" which makes me wonder how it compares to movies I LOVE like Frogs and Night of the Lepus.
If it wasn't on so late, I'd watch it tonight! I can hardly wait!
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 3, 2015 12:08:39 GMT -5
Last night I watched The Diary of Anne Frank. (It's directed by George Stevens, who also directed Shane. I looked at his filmography on IMDB and I was kind of blown away! I've seen a bunch of his rather silly (but fun) 1930s movies but I didn't they were directed by Stevens.)
I read the book years ago (and it's as good as everybody says it is) and I've seen bits and pieces of the movie a few times over the years. It always looked good, largely because of the cast. Millie Perkins (who doesn't seem to be particularly well know for any other role) is great as Anne Frank. A few of my other favorites are here. Shelley Winters is Mrs. Van Daan. (I imagine that if you were trapped in an attic with Shelley Winters, you'd wait until the Nazis marched by, then break the glass and yell "We're up here!" just to get away form her.) Lou Jacobi is her husband. (You may remember him dressed in women's clothes and falling out of a window in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex.) Also, Diane Baker (from Strait Jacket), Ed Wynn (from the famous Twilight Zone episode) and Richard Beymer (from West Side Story).
So I finally watched the whole thing last night. It's very good, but my mind was wandering during the last hour (it's three hours long) but I don't think that would have been a problem in a theater. By the time it was over, it was after 11:00 pm. And that's just a bit too late for me.
So I recommend it, just keep in mind that you might be very depressed at the end. The Franks were discovered in August 1944, just two months after D-Day, and the writing was on the wall for the liberation of the Low Countries. But the Nazis just had to get every last Jew even as their awful awful Third Reich was falling.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 3, 2015 14:50:47 GMT -5
In Which We Serve (1942) Directed by Noel Coward/ David Lean Starring Noel Coward and a small part by Richard Attenborough
A British naval ship is destroyed off the coast of Crete during WWII. About a dozen navy men cling to a small raft as they watch their ship slowly sink into the briny depths. Periodically Nazi planes soar past, strafing the water to pick off the survivors. As they wait for rescue the men flashback to the women they left behind or earlier action they saw at sea.
Obviously a patriotic flag waver for the British audience. David Lean's first directing job as well. Excellent naval action sequences. The drama and nationalistic fervor is dated now but I can see why this was highly regarded when it was made. And its a recent Criterion release as well. How long has it been since I watched a Criterion? Maybe since breakfast?
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Post by berkley on Oct 3, 2015 16:05:11 GMT -5
That's two Cary Grant movies I haven't seen that I've been reminded about on this page, Holiday and The Awful Truth. Eyes Without a Face sounds like it might be a good one to watch for Hallowe'en. You should fast-track both The Awful Truth and Eyes without a Face. The Awful Truth is tied with Suspicion as my favorite Cary Grant film. I keep my eyes open for Cary Grant movies I haven't seen. If you get the channel called Movies!, then you can see An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr tonight (Saturday). Following that, they're showing Houseboat, with Grant and Sophia Loren. An Affair to Remember is probably the biggest Cary Grant movie I've never seen. I've seen Houseboat, and it's not so great, but it's not without its charm if you have a high tolerance for not-so-great movies. Later in October, TCM is showing Mr. Lucky, another one I've never seen. It sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to it. TCM showed Charade a few days ago and I DVRed it. I've seen it, but it's been a long time. I'm planning on watching it tonight. I saw Charade for the first time only a few years ago - which is a bit odd since Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn might be my favourite actors or at least movie stars. I wish they had made more movies together, even though the age difference worked against them. I've seen Mr. Lucky . Bit of war effort propaganda, Grant is great in it.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 5, 2015 14:53:28 GMT -5
Thanksgiving came early at the House Of Ish with 3 straight turkeys served on my viewing screen.
The King Of Marvin Gardens (1972) Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn
David (Nicholson) is a quiet, subdued, boring late night radio talk show host. He goes to Atlantic City at his brother's (Dern) request to help him with his imaginary real estate deals.
Had a preconceived notion that this would be good since I enjoy the cast, they're in their prime and its directed by Bob Rafelson. Nicholson's character is just soooooo boring and lethargic. Not the type you want Jack to portray. Not much of a story going on either. Long stretches of nothing happening and you get to think that they're just making it up as they go along. The conclusion makes little sense, coming out of left field and the consequences are not explored either. The only thing going for it is nice location shots of Atlantic City before Donald Trump and other entrepreneurs tore down all the old hotels. Ellen Burstyn is young and refreshing too. Of all of Nicholson's films of the 1970's, I rate this dead last
Knute Rockne-All American (1940) Pat O'Brien, Ronald Reagan
Knute revolutionizes college football and wants to win one for the Gipper.
I thought the K was silent with Rockne's first name but not according to this film. It starts with Knute attending college as a student, looking like he's 50 years old as a younger man. Pat O'Brien sleepwalks through the first half of the film. If I was his acting coach I'd bench him and send in the second string replacement. Reagan shows up as George Gipp about a half hour into the movie. 5 minutes later he's coughing. 10 minutes later he's dead. That's all he wrote. The history of football is not my specialty. According to the film, Knute is responsible for the forward pass on offense. Really? There was no rule against it so it was OK to use and no one did it before? Knute goes to see some chorus girls at a stage show and also comes up with the idea of the shift which is basically parts of the offensive line moveing a few feet before the ball is snapped. He trains his players like it's a waltz. Very silly looking. Lots of old football footage is displayed. But the film pretty much sucks. And I'm so sick of the continuous Notre Dame fight song throughout the film
Judge Priest (1934) Will Rogers, Hattie McDaniel. Stepin Fetchit, Tom Brown
1890 Kentucky and Judge Priest is a wise town judge. He tries to play matchmaker for his nephew, acts kindly to a black suspect of chicken snatchin' and locks horns against a cantankerous prosecuter.
Creaky, creaky and even more creaky. I don't get the appeal of Will Rogers as an iconic American humorist from this film. Stepin Fetchit does his ridiculous, racist stereotype act. Praise for the Confederacy abounds all through the movie. Even the black folks seem sad that Jefferson Davis lost. The big joke in the movie is a man who can spit into a spittoon from any distance
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 5, 2015 15:00:29 GMT -5
Volver (2006) Penelope Cruz Directed by Pedro Almodovar
Raimunda has to deal with her husband getting stabbed by her daughter during an attempted rape, rumours of people seeing her mother who died in a fire years ago and other people in her family dying from other natural causes.
And yet its not a morbid film. Colorful and engaging. Cruz really impressed me with this film. An original story and quite needed after the turkeys that preceded it. Spanish with English subtitles. Cruz got an Oscar nomination for this and well deserved. Recommended
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