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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 15, 2016 12:58:04 GMT -5
I watched The Harvey Girls again. It's a 1946 musical that I saw for the first time a year or so ago and I love it!
Judy Garland, Virginia O'Brien, Cyd Charisse, Ray Bolger, Marjorie Main, Chill Wills, John Hodiak.
And 21-year-old Angela Lansbury as the leader of the dance hall girls!
The Harvey Girls are a real historical subject. A guy named Fred Harvey opened a chain of restaurants - The Harvey Houses - alongside railroads in the Old West in the late 1800s. They recruited girls to act as waitresses and the restaurants were supposed to be a wholesome alternative to saloons and dance halls as the West opened up.
I have my doubts that the movie is particularly historically accurate but it is incredibly entertaining! The musical highlights are "The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" (which won the Oscar for Best Song), Virginia O'Brien singing "Wild Wild West" in Ray Bolger's blacksmith shop (this is my favorite scene) and "It's a Great Big World" with Judy, Virginia and Cyd.
But make no mistake. The Harvey Girls is non-stop entertaining, with lots of great songs and musical performances and is frequently very funny. The story is a bit thin and predictable, but you may not notice that until it's over and you've had a chance to reflect.
One of my favorite musicals from Hollywood's Golden Age. It's not quite Singin' in the Rain. But it doesn't miss by much.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Feb 16, 2016 1:21:59 GMT -5
Doctor Doolittle (1967) Rex Harrison, Anthony Newley, Samantha Eggers
Animal doctor Doolittle has a parrot who teaches the good doctor how to communicate with 500 species of animals. His neighbors get fed up with all the vermin and beasts hanging around his house. Doolittle comes upon a 2-headed llama and sells it to a circus. A seal in the circus is heartbroken because it misses its husband who is still at sea. Doolittle sneaks the seal out of the circus, dressing it in women's clothing and throws the seal into the ocean. He's arrested for suspicion of murdering a woman. Intermission. Doolittle's friends breaks him out of jail and they set sail to find a giant sea snail. They land on a floating island and are about to be killed because the natives think he brought cold weather with him. Doolittle convinces a whale to ram the island southward. The giant snail happened to be under the island and comes up to the surface to see whats going on. Movie ends as we all sing to If i Could Talk To The Animals and chuckle over a horse wearing glasses
You now have no other reason to watch this 150 minute butt numbing musical. Do something constructive instead
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Feb 17, 2016 13:44:38 GMT -5
The Next Karate Kid (1994) Pat Morita, Hilary Swank, Michael Ironside
Mr. Miyagi becomes a mentor for a troubled teen who is being bullied and reluctantly teaches the art of self defense will emphasizing that violence should be avoided. Lessons include on how to wax a car and being blindfolded but still detect danger
This sounds very, very familiar. Oh wait, this time it is a female that gets the training. Gee-then that makes it okey doke to repeat everything from the first Karate Kid film. That first film made $91 million for Columbia Pictues. The sequel netted $115. But the third film only generated $39 million so Ralph Macchio was shown the door and headed to Marvel Comics to become an editor/writer. Thankfully America showed a little amount of taste because this entry in the franchise only earned.....$9 million. Morita would appear years later in a TV movie called Karate Dog. It would be another 15 years before a decent reboot would arrive in the theaters
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Feb 17, 2016 22:45:50 GMT -5
I Shot Jesse James (1949) Written/Directed by Sam Fuller John Ireland, Preston Foster
Jesse's friend and fellow outlaw, Bob Ford, shoots him in the back for the reward money and amnesty so to be able to marry the woman he loves.
First film by Sam Fuller and shot within 10 days. Its a modest and fair western dealing with the aftermath of the notorious assassination. It gets the names and some facts correct. However the love interest with a woman never played a part in the true story. Ireland is pretty good as Ford, dismayed at how people looked upon him as a coward. The more recent pic, 2007's The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford is unquestionable a far superior movie but as a quickie B film this is OK
So ends my viewing of the 3 movie Criterion box set of the early films of Sam Fuller-an entertaining movie auteur.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Feb 18, 2016 1:59:01 GMT -5
The Last Gangster (1937) Edward G. Robinson, James Stewart, Lionel Stander, John Carradine, Edward Brophy
Organized crime gang boss Joe Krosac marries a naive young woman right before he gets convicted for income tax evasion. He serves 10 tears in Alcatraz as she gives birth to his son. But his wife soon learns about Joe's murderous legacy and divorces him as he languishes behind bars. She remarries with James Stewart who bears a cheesy mustache and raises the young boy as his own son. Finally Krosac gets out of prison, looking to pay back his ex-wife and take the kid
An MGM film that tries real hard to feel like an old time Warner's gangster flick. Its 6 years since Robinson's Little Caesar and at this point he's trying to get away from that stereotype with little success. It's entertaining. Jimmy Stewart doesn't have much to do. That mustache thankfully disappeared after this was filmed. John Carradine is great as an inmate who's determined to pay back Krosac for all the times he was mistreated by the mob boss. Lionel Stander starts off as a humorous type of henchman but soon turns into quite a brutal mobster
Very much worth a look-see
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 18, 2016 9:28:48 GMT -5
The Last Gangster (1937) Edward G. Robinson, James Stewart, Lionel Stander, John Carradine, Edward Brophy Organized crime gang boss Joe Krosac marries a naive young woman right before he gets convicted for income tax evasion. He serves 10 tears in Alcatraz as she gives birth to his son. But his wife soon learns about Joe's murderous legacy and divorces him as he languishes behind bars. She remarries with James Stewart who bears a cheesy mustache and raises the young boy as his own son. Finally Krosac gets out of prison, looking to pay back his ex-wife and take the kid An MGM film that tries real hard to feel like an old time Warner's gangster flick. Its 6 years since Robinson's Little Caesar and at this point he's trying to get away from that stereotype with little success. It's entertaining. Jimmy Stewart doesn't have much to do. That mustache thankfully disappeared after this was filmed. John Carradine is great as an inmate who's determined to pay back Krosac for all the times he was mistreated by the mob boss. Lionel Stander starts off as a humorous type of henchman but soon turns into quite a brutal mobster Very much worth a look-see Sometimes it seems like John Carradine was in every other movie made between 1935 and 1980. He's one of my favorites. I haven't seen this one. He's in Bride of Frankenstein!
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Feb 20, 2016 5:24:08 GMT -5
Regalo di Natale (AKA Christmas Present) (1986) Carlo Delle Piane, Diego Abatantuono, Gianni Cavina, George Eastman.
Pupi Avati's forgotten masterpiece. Mostly known outside of Italy for his atmospheric horror (The Hous with laughing Windows, The Mysterious Enchanter), Avati displayed great versatility throughout his carreer, and this movie is a great testimony of that. Four old friends that life pulled appart band together for a poker night where they intend to sting a rich industrialist. As soon as the game starts, hidden agendas surface, nerves crack, and the victim becomes eerer by the minute, squirming into a loosing streak. But when dawn breaks, mercy and christmas spirit could save the day, for whom? Intense and eerie movie about poker and broken relationships with stellar performance from Carlo Delle Piane in the role of the victim. Highly recommended.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Feb 21, 2016 2:36:56 GMT -5
5 Criterion Films in a row-did you think I was running out?
The Long Good Friday (1979) Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren
Hoskins as an organized crime boss is attempting to grow and legitimize his business with negotiations with the American mafia and enterprises in Europe. But just as his endeavors are at a critical point, his partners start getting stabbed or blown to bits with car bombs. Whose the mystery opponent?
Hoskin's first starring role. Pierce Brosnan also makes his screen debut and says one word. Pretty good British crime story. Great original soundtrack.Also a memorable scene where Hoskins rounds up all the subjects and hangs them on hooks upside down in a meat packing facility.The producers were worried that the American audience wouldn't understand Hoskins' thick accent and began to overdub all his dialogue until Hoskins threatened a lawsuit. That idea was then dropped. I had no problem understanding Hoskin's lines
The Last Days Of Disco (1998) Kate Beckinsale, Chloe Sevigny
New York City Yuppies go to their favorite high class disco, worry about their love life and advanements in their line of work
If you like disco, there are lots of songs in the background. Otherwise its a lot of yuppies and their problems
The King Of Kings (1927) Directed by Cecil B. DeMille H.B. Warner
Faithful Gospel version of the story with, as is DeMille's trademark, a cast of thousands and huge set pieces. Criterion gives you 2 versions, the 2 hour general release and the 152 minute version shown at it's premiere-the first movie played at the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. The first 15 minutes and 5 minutes towards the end is in beautiful Technicolor. Strange seeing that with a silent film. Author Ayn Rand was an extra in the film
Jesus always has a halo of light on his head.
The Last Temptation Of Christ (1988) Directed by Martin Scorese William Dafoe, Harvey Keitel
A much more superior version, but rather than based on the Gospel's it's based on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel. Here Jesus is filled with doubts about his mission. Keitel's hair is bleached red. Those older will remeber all the controversy surrounding the movie's release . It was banned in over a dozen countries, there where organized picket lines and threats from the religious right and even Blockbuster Video refused to carry the movie in it's stores when it came out on VHS.
At least there were no beheadings or gunmen massacre's but the Christian zealots acted ridiculously in trying to block people from watching the film
The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp (1943) Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr
40 years in the life of British General Clive Candy, rising in rank from his soldiering days in the Boer War thru WWI and WWII and unable to see how modern warfare has changed
I loved a bunch of Powell/Pressberger films. They are visually stunning. Examples are The Red Shoes, Stairway To Heaven, 49th Parallel,Black Narcissus and on and on. This 150 minute Technicolor film is visually opulent as well, remarkable for the year that it was filmed. But its very long and tedious and proper and very much belonging to when it was made and for the British audience. I'm also not a big fan of Roger Livesey and has nasally voice. Well, it does look very good at least
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Feb 21, 2016 4:25:09 GMT -5
I absolutely adore The Long Good Friday. Bob Hoskins is amazing in this film. I especially love the last few minutes of the film. When he gets in the car at the end his face is a smorgasbord of emotion, alternating from shock, to anger, to resignation, eventually settling on acceptance. He even offers a wry smile, in response to Brosnan’s smirk. Resigned to his fate, he deals with it like a true Englishman – the best man has won, and Harold accepts it. The wealth of facial expressions that he displays in this sequence is notable, but what exactly is he thinking during this rather unfortunate turn of events? It’s nice to provide your own answer, but in actual fact the reality is quite interesting too. While filming this scene, which was one continuous five-minute take, John Mackenzie sat in the front seat barking direction at Hoskins. Later on, he revealed that his primary message to the actor was to relive the events of the preceding film in his mind – as he faces his untimely end, his life flashes before his eyes. Undoubtedly the scene would not be remotely as memorable without Francis Monkman’s brilliant score, which is played at such a loud volume because all of the ambient noise was muted due to Mackenzie’s vocal directing. The music, in combination with the superbly poignant denouement of Hoskins’ character, creates a fitting end to a thoroughly brilliant slice of British cinema. Another good lesser known Hoskins film is Mona Lisa which also stars Michael Caine. Recommended. Absolutely agree with your writeup cooper. It is a one-of-a-kind ending to a movie. And the weird thing was, it was one of the first scenes shot for the movie.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2016 7:49:15 GMT -5
I absolutely adore The Long Good Friday. Bob Hoskins is amazing in this film. I especially love the last few minutes of the film. When he gets in the car at the end his face is a smorgasbord of emotion, alternating from shock, to anger, to resignation, eventually settling on acceptance. He even offers a wry smile, in response to Brosnan’s smirk. Resigned to his fate, he deals with it like a true Englishman – the best man has won, and Harold accepts it. The wealth of facial expressions that he displays in this sequence is notable, but what exactly is he thinking during this rather unfortunate turn of events? It’s nice to provide your own answer, but in actual fact the reality is quite interesting too. While filming this scene, which was one continuous five-minute take, John Mackenzie sat in the front seat barking direction at Hoskins. Later on, he revealed that his primary message to the actor was to relive the events of the preceding film in his mind – as he faces his untimely end, his life flashes before his eyes. Undoubtedly the scene would not be remotely as memorable without Francis Monkman’s brilliant score, which is played at such a loud volume because all of the ambient noise was muted due to Mackenzie’s vocal directing. The music, in combination with the superbly poignant denouement of Hoskins’ character, creates a fitting end to a thoroughly brilliant slice of British cinema. Another good lesser known Hoskins film is Mona Lisa which also stars Michael Caine. Recommended. Absolutely agree with your writeup cooper. It is a one-of-a-kind ending to a movie. And the weird thing was, it was one of the first scenes shot for the movie. Really? Wow I did not know that. Also Pierce Brosnon was originally not going to have any dialog at all. The 1 word he does say was ad libbed.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 21, 2016 11:30:51 GMT -5
The Last Temptation Of Christ (1988) Directed by Martin Scorese William Dafoe, Harvey Keitel A much more superior version, but rather than based on the Gospel's it's based on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel. Here Jesus is filled with doubts about his mission. Keitel's hair is bleached red. Those older will remeber all the controversy surrounding the movie's release . It was banned in over a dozen countries, there where organized picket lines and threats from the religious right and even Blockbuster Video refused to carry the movie in it's stores when it came out on VHS. At least there were no beheadings or gunmen massacre's but the Christian zealots acted ridiculously in trying to block people from watching the film Acting ridiculously is what all religious extremists do. I love Jesus movies. Both versions of The King of Kings, The Greatest Story Ever Sold - er - Told, The Robe, Ben Hur, Jesus Christ Superstar, on and on. My favorite is Life of Brian. But The Last Temptation of Christ is a close second.
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Feb 21, 2016 16:32:11 GMT -5
The Last Temptation Of Christ (1988) Directed by Martin Scorese William Dafoe, Harvey Keitel A much more superior version, but rather than based on the Gospel's it's based on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel. Here Jesus is filled with doubts about his mission. Keitel's hair is bleached red. Those older will remeber all the controversy surrounding the movie's release . It was banned in over a dozen countries, there where organized picket lines and threats from the religious right and even Blockbuster Video refused to carry the movie in it's stores when it came out on VHS. At least there were no beheadings or gunmen massacre's but the Christian zealots acted ridiculously in trying to block people from watching the film Acting ridiculously is what all religious extremists do. I love Jesus movies. Both versions of The King of Kings, The Greatest Story Ever Sold - er - Told, The Robe, Ben Hur, Jesus Christ Superstar, on and on. My favorite is Life of Brian. But The Last Temptation of Christ is a close second. Not just threats! On October 22, 1988, a French Christian fundamentalist group launched Molotov cocktails inside the Parisian Saint Michel movie theater while it was showing the film. This attack injured thirteen people, four of whom were severely burned.The Saint Michel theater was heavily damaged. I remember this vividly since my parents went to see it there two days before....
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Feb 21, 2016 16:36:13 GMT -5
Just saw Missing (1982) by Costa Gavras for the first time... Man, what a great movie and great performances. Jack Lemon and Sissy Spacek really felt close to home today A great third party view on the chilean coup and how the US and Kissinger more than helped it and the tens of thousands of murders that occured under the scrutiny of department of state and CIA monitoring. I hope the world has changed...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2016 16:41:49 GMT -5
Last Night - I watched on TCM the Seven Days of May Movie starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Ava Gardner, and host of other great actors as General James (Burt Lancaster) Mattoon Scott, A Congressional Medal of Honor Winner, and holder of two Distinguished Service Crosses had threaten to overthrow the US Government by Military Means in form of an outfit called ECOMCON (Emergency COMmunications CONtrol) will seize immediate control of the country's telephone, radio, and television networks, while Congress is prevented from implementing the treaty. He (Scott) was forced to resign and was disgraced for wearing the uniform that he wears. It was battle of wills between March and Lancaster in this movie.
It was a great movie and I always get to watch this movie when I can ... I have seen this movie a dozen times and never, ever get tired of it.
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Feb 21, 2016 16:52:08 GMT -5
Last Night - I watched on TCM the Seven Days of May Movie starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Ava Gardner, and host of other great actors as General James (Burt Lancaster) Mattoon Scott, A Congressional Medal of Honor Winner, and holder of two Distinguished Service Crosses had threaten to overthrow the US Government by Military Means in form of an outfit called ECOMCON ( Emergency COMmunications CONtrol) will seize immediate control of the country's telephone, radio, and television networks, while Congress is prevented from implementing the treaty. He (Scott) was forced to resign and was disgraced for wearing the uniform that he wears. It was battle of wills between March and Lancaster in this movie.It was a great movie and I always get to watch this movie when I can ... I have seen this movie a dozen times and never, ever get tired of it. This is an amazing movie, Akin to Frankenheimer's Seconds, true paranoic thriller that borders on SF, even in its aesthetics. Did you notice who wrote it? Twilight Zone street cred
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