|
Post by Prince Hal on Dec 11, 2015 12:33:47 GMT -5
Brando abstained from a full frontal nudity shot because he thought his penis shriveled to peanut size in front of a camera . TMI...
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Dec 11, 2015 12:38:12 GMT -5
River's Edge (1986) Keanu Reeves, Crispin Glover, Dennis Hopper, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck
Washington State. Lifelong group of friends now teenage stoners. One of the boys chokes to death a girl from the group and leaves her body by the river's edge. He doesn't care. Does any of them?
First time I've seen it and it blew me away. I'm not revealing any more. I was absolutely mesmerized. 4 stars. I'd add more if I could. That's it, see it
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Dec 11, 2015 12:39:32 GMT -5
River's Edge (1986) Keanu Reeves, Crispin Glover, Dennis Hopper, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck Washington State. Lifelong group of friends now teenage stoners. One of the boys chokes to death a girl from the group and leaves her body by the river's edge. He doesn't care. Does any of them? First time I've seen it and it blew me away. I'm not revealing any more. I was absolutely mesmerized. 4 stars. I'd add more if I could. That's it, see it Glover is eerily, creepily effective in this. But since seeing him in interviews, etc. since, I wonder if he was even acting a little bit.
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Dec 11, 2015 12:51:50 GMT -5
River's Edge (1986) Keanu Reeves, Crispin Glover, Dennis Hopper, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck Washington State. Lifelong group of friends now teenage stoners. One of the boys chokes to death a girl from the group and leaves her body by the river's edge. He doesn't care. Does any of them? First time I've seen it and it blew me away. I'm not revealing any more. I was absolutely mesmerized. 4 stars. I'd add more if I could. That's it, see it Glover is eerily, creepily effective in this. But since seeing him in interviews, etc. since, I wonder if he was even acting a little bit. Usually its Dennis Hopper that is the eerie and creepy one. He is here as well but even he gets creeped out by these teens
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Dec 11, 2015 13:27:42 GMT -5
Where the Sidewalk Ends is a very good movie about a very bad cop.
I was surprised when they arrested him when he confessed to the murder. I thought they were going to yell at him for forcing them to bust him down to traffic cop.
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Dec 11, 2015 13:29:26 GMT -5
River's Edge (1986) Keanu Reeves, Crispin Glover, Dennis Hopper, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck Washington State. Lifelong group of friends now teenage stoners. One of the boys chokes to death a girl from the group and leaves her body by the river's edge. He doesn't care. Does any of them? First time I've seen it and it blew me away. I'm not revealing any more. I was absolutely mesmerized. 4 stars. I'd add more if I could. That's it, see it I saw this for the first time earlier his year and I also was very impressed.
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Dec 11, 2015 14:55:50 GMT -5
TCM has been showing Esther Williams a lot lately. I love her, especially Million Dollar Mermaid and Fiesta. (I know that Wrath of Khan is supposed to be my favorite Ricardo Montalban movie. It's a great movie. But he's also in Fiesta! No contest!)
Some of her movies are kind of dumb, but they all have their good points! In the last few months I've seen Hoodlum Saint, On an Island With You and Thrill of a Romance, and they were all kind of silly, but sometimes you get William Powell, and sometimes you get Cyd Charisse or Jimmy Durante or an opera singer practicing "Pagliacci" on the balcony of his hotel room.
I DVRed Pagan Love Song this morning and I haven't watched it yet. All I know is that Howard Keel is in it. I can hardly wait to see what insanity the filmmakers have cooked up for Esther this time!
|
|
|
Post by Farrar on Dec 11, 2015 15:55:39 GMT -5
...One must see the 1928 silent movie The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (one of the greatest silent films) for the definitive version of Joan's trial. I finally watched Dreyer's film last year, on YouTube. Falconetti lives up to the legend (hers and Joan's) and the cast includes Michel Simon and a young, angelic-looking Antonin Artaud. The version I watched had an added, somewhat jarring instrumental score, but it worked for the film IMO. There's also a version on YouTube without a soundtrack.
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Dec 12, 2015 13:16:27 GMT -5
Two Hollywood bio pics :
Lust For Life (1956) Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn
Douglas plays Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh who flunks out of Catholic Ministery in the late 1800s and takes up the paintbrush. Befriends Anthony Quinn's Paul Gauguin but soon sinks into mental illness and self mutilation. Beautiful Technicolor and many fine examples of Van Gogh's work. Douglas looks and plays the role convincingly. Interesting to know that Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime.
At least he never met Vincent Colletta
Love Me Or Leave Me (1955) Doris Day, James Cagney
Fictionalized account of the life of jazz singer Ruth Etting
I was unfamiliar with Etting, but after viewing this and reading online the real story, it is quite fascinating. Etting during the Roaring Twenties in Chicago was struggling to make it as a singer. Mobster Marty "The Gimp" Snyder is infatuated with her and becomes her manager and later husband. He's a total control freak and violently jealous. He does have show biz connections and gets her career rolling. She was a superstar in the late 20s/ early 30s with a few dozen top 10 hits including Ten Cents A Dance, Love Me Or Leave Me, Button Up Your Overcoat, Shine On Harvest Moon and more. She appeared in many movie shorts and a few films as well. Her marriage was traumatic, she began having an affair with a married piano player. There was a shoot out between her husband and her lover. A murder trial shook the entertainment world. The scandal was more complicated than the movie version and a remake should be quite interesting
As is, Day is looking great and in fine voice for this movie. Cagney gets a chance to play an over-the-top mobster which is his specialty. A musical drama, much better than what is norm for this genre
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Dec 15, 2015 19:02:36 GMT -5
Birth Of A Nation (1915) Lillian Gish, Miriam Cooper, Ralph Lewis, Walter Brennan
The South is a paradise before the civil war with happy slaves and their masters. But after the South's defeat and Lincoln's death, radicals want to install a new southern government run by blacks to punish the whites. They pass laws approving intermarriage which leads to interracial rapes, blacks are armed as miltia to control the streets and they are consuming much too much fried chicken. Finally the white southerners can't take any more of this embarrassment and organize into an avenging army, the Ku Klux Klan. The heroic Klan restores order, the blacks are re-introduced to their places with reserved seating in the back of buses when they are invented and alls well that ends well
I guess I will never experience a move with such diametrically opposed feelings
Technically the film was a masterpiece with so many effects now taken for granted being credited here for their first use. Panoramic long shots, night photography, Still shots , detailed battle sequences, use of tinted color frames, use of unique background music for dramatic effects..the list is long. At 192 minutes the public had never seen a film of this epic proportion before. The battles and action scenes still retain interest, just the fact I'm looking at 100 year old film is remarkable. It was the biggest grossing movie of all time until Gone With The Wind came out in 1939. And the most controversial film of its time. Which is a good thing
The depiction of blacks as racial stereotypes are cartoonish. The Ku Klux Klan as the Cavalry come to the rescue is very uncomfortable and the film was used as a recuiting tool by the group. States and cities tried to ban exhibitions, the public protested loudly where it was shown. The film was edited down into many different lengths and fell into public domain. I have the Kino 3 Disc DVD which has the 2011 restoration to its full length and in HD, also included is a 1990s restoration version and a 3rd disc of DW Griffith shorts and background info
I agree with Hoosier's assessment- it is very watchable but you might want to break it up over 2 nights like I did. You cannot be considered a true cinephile if you never tried it. All those responsible for the making of this movie and the views expressed have been dead a long, long time. Even Milton Berle claimed he was in it as a little baby and he's just a bag of bones now as well.
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Dec 15, 2015 19:19:25 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Dec 16, 2015 14:33:04 GMT -5
Scream (1996) Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard Director-Wes Craven
Teenage girls in the suburbs are getting disturbing phone calls from a stranger and are then disemboweled by knifepoint
By this time, there was nothing original to be done with a teenage slasher film after the onslaught of them throughout the 80s. So this film takes the tact of acknowledging all the stereotypes of the genre such as those teens that have sex will die, that drink or do drugs will die, that say "I'll be right back" will die etc. What I find amusing is that the teen guys die pretty easily and without a struggle. But when the killer attacks a girl, he gets kicked in the nuts innumerable times. The girls put up a much better fight. Every 2 minutes seems to have a false scare, every 10 minutes has a real scare. Matthew Lillard as the video store movie geek reminds me of Quentin Tarrentino. Looks a little like him too. OK film but not a fan of this genre
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Dec 17, 2015 14:44:06 GMT -5
Unforgiven (1992) Directed and starring Clint Eastwood w/Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Saul Rubinek,
Clint Eastwood, baddest man in the west, has changed his ways after quitting drink, marrying and raising a family. In need of money he takes up the gun once more for a bounty on a man who cut up a town whore. He calls in his old partner Morgan Freeman for help. The town is run by a ruthless sheriff, Gene Hackman, who has a strict "no firearms, no bounty hunting" policy
One of the best, if not the best, Westerns of the last 35 years. The cast is flawless, the characterization is compelling, the story is direct. Eastwood and Hackman are both giving iconic performances here. Richard Harris and Morgan Freeman back them up splendidly as well. I really can't find a flaw with this movie. Not a bit. Oscar agreed and bestowed Best Picture award upon it. 4 stars from me. The boots Eastwood wore in the film was the same pair he wore on the Rawhide TV show. What a man.
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Dec 17, 2015 14:50:34 GMT -5
Big Daddy (1999) Adam Sandler, Joey Lauren Adams, Jon Stewart, The Sprouse Brothers, Rob Schneider, Steve Buscemi
Directionless, immature slacker assumes custody of a young boy to impress his girlfriend
Some decent chuckles, some very silly scenes like the trial at the end, some sentimental crap, lots of annoying kid acting. Sandler has done some better films and has done many that were much worse. Why they used 2 brothers for the same role, I don't know. They both sucked. Steve Buscemi was under-used. Jon Stewart played it straight
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Dec 18, 2015 9:56:45 GMT -5
I saw quite a few movies while I didn't have a computer and I may write about more of them a little later. But I got very lucky and saw two GREAT movies almost back to back and I wanted to recommend them to the fans of the films of the 1930s and 1940s.
The Bitter Tea of General Yen is one of the best films I've seen for a while. It was made in 1933, directed by Frank Capra and stars Barbara Stanwyck. I don't want to say too much about it because I think one of the things that made it so enjoyable was that I didn't know that much about it. I've heard it was one of Stanwyck's better films, so I've wanted to see it for some time. It's set in China in the 1930s and there's a "General Yen" in the title. Since it's not "General Tso," it's not about food, so you can probably guess that it's one of those movies Hollywood made in the 1930s about what an awful place China is. But that can't possibly prepare you for The Bitter Tea of General Yen. I would never have guessed it was a Frank Capra film.
And I also saw Nightmare Alley, a 1947 film with Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Colleen Gray and Helen Walker. Yeah, wow, this is another one I don't want to say too much about. I don't think any other film has ever tried to combine film noir with a psychological thriller and set most of it at the circus. This film makes it look easy. I'm not really much of a Tyrone Power fan, but between Nightmare Alley and The Mark of Zorro, I'm starting to change my mind about him.
(Added bonus, Nightmare Alley has a George Chandler cameo! It's getting to the point where every time I see a movie from the 1930s, the 1940s or the 1950s, I wonder if George Chandler is going to be in it, and I saw him in three movies in a week! Nightmare Alley, Double Dynamite and Lady on a Train. And it hasn't been that long since I saw him in Missing Persons Bureau.)
|
|