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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2018 21:58:06 GMT -5
Watch the original King Kong (1933) starring Fay Wray just for the heck of it and it's always a joy to watch these movies over and over again ... It's on TCM tonight and they pretty much have it on every year! ... A Classic will endure the test of time ... Fay Wray as Ann Darrow
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Post by brutalis on Jan 31, 2018 8:00:23 GMT -5
On CometTV last night I watched a Hammer film (never before seen by me) from 1971 called Twins of Evil. A combo flick witch hunter versus vampire movie with Cushing as the Witch Hunter General forced to combat the rampant evil vampire slaying in his town. Cushing is caretaker to orphaned twin teenage girls, 1 who is meek, mild and loving and the other who is outspoken, mischievous and daring. Of course naughty niece ends up attracted to the wicked man Count who is the vampire terrorizing the town. Most of the film plays with the good versus evil attraction and the beauty of the young nubile twins.
Fairly entertaining film and of course it has the Hammer style and luxurious atmosphere and costumes. Well worth a watch if you haven't seen and nice to have some vampire fun without Dracula.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 1, 2018 2:16:32 GMT -5
In January, I saw 11 movies from the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" list. 1. The Baker's Wife (1938) - These old classic French films are so old and so classic and so French! I liked this a lot, despite the rather minimalist English sub-titles on the version I watched on YouTube. I laughed out loud quite a few times just because of facial expressions and body language. I hope to see it in the future with better sub-titles. 2. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (1939) - You know how much I love old Japanese movies! The main characters in this are Kabuki actors and there are some extensive scenes from Kabuki theater. It gets a lot of points just for that! 3. Bigger than Life (1956) - Somebody at one of the studios decided they needed to remake Reefer Madness, replacing marijuana with cortisone. And James Mason should star. And Walter Matthau is his best friend. And it's directed by Nicholas Ray. This movie is pretty great, in it's way. 4. La notte (1961) - Everyone wanders around at a party and is sad. This Italian film stars Marcello Mastroianni, Jeanne Moreau and Monica Vitti. I must be getting accustomed to the work of director Antonioni because I loved this movie! 5. Vij (1967) - A trippy Russian horror movie that you should see because it's free on YouTube and it's only 72 minutes. 6. The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978) - Another great film from Italy! Warning, this is Italian neo-realism. There are some scenes involving butchering livestock that might be a bit upsetting to some viewers. 7. El norte (1983) - Rosa and Enrique flee Guatemala, cross into Mexico and then finally make it to the US despite nearly being eaten by rats. A very powerful film that should probably be seen by all those people who think that illegal immigration is "the easy way." 8. Salvador (1986) 9. King of New York (1990) 10. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990) 11. Fast, Cheap and Out of Control (1997)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2018 14:05:09 GMT -5
Saw the Shadow Movie starring Alec Baldwin and Penelope Ann Miller and I've not seen it for awhile and I was surprised how fast pace from beginning to end and it's was a very stylish, romantic, action, drama, and suspenseful all the same time and it's has that elegant Comic Book appeal that I've liked so well. Too bad, no sequels made and I find this movie just done just right ... it's also starred Jonathan Winters, Tim Curry, Peter Boyle, and John Lone as Shiwan Khan ... his rival to the Shadow and they all played their part beautifully.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 1, 2018 20:57:45 GMT -5
Saw the Shadow Movie starring Alec Baldwin and Penelope Ann Miller and I've not seen it for awhile and I was surprised how fast pace from beginning to end and it's was a very stylish, romantic, action, drama, and suspenseful all the same time and it's has that elegant Comic Book appeal that I've liked so well. Too bad, no sequels made and I find this movie just done just right ... it's also starred Jonathan Winters, Tim Curry, Peter Boyle, and John Lone as Shiwan Khan ... his rival to the Shadow and they all played their part beautifully. I've always liked it, for the most part; but, it's pretty tame, for a Shadow movie. I wish Sam Raimi had been able to do it (he tried to get the property; but, it was sewn up, so he made Darkman). He has that pulp sensibility, while creating fun characters. Mulcahy gets bogged down in his video tropes (the blowing curtains, shattering glass). It would have been nice to have some wilder stunts. As it stands, it's a good, mostly fun movie; though it could have been great. Love Taylor Dane's "Original Sin," which plays over the end credits. I did think Tim Curry was overdoing it, even for a pulp film. John Lone got the tone right. Baldwin was good, just wanted more action with him. Nice to see Jonathan Winters ina more straightforward role. Much better than the George Pal Doc Savage.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 1, 2018 21:25:38 GMT -5
Here's a series to check out. Over at Atomic Junkpile, Frasherman has done an intro to the Dr Mabuse series, from Germany and is going to be going over the films. The Fritz Lang films are classics, capturing the corruption of Weimar Berlin, before the fall to the Nazis. Mabuse, The Gambler introduces Norbert Jacques' take off on Moriarty and Fantomas, as he is the spider at the center of gambling, vice, and corruption. This silent film was epic, shown in other part of the world in two large segments, filled with the German Expressionism beauty and plenty of social commentary. Testament of Dr Mabuse is a cautionary allegory of the Nazis, which helped spur Lang into leaving Germany and got the film banned, despite the director being a favorite of goebbels and Hitler. There, the mad doctor is supposed to be dead; but, the writings of a lunatic, in an asylum, plus a series of criminal acts suggest otherwise. The film returns Otto Wernicke as Inspektor Lohmann, the police detective he played in Lang's M, as he searches for the leader of the criminals. Lang was enticed to come back to it in the 60s, by German producer Arthur Brauner, with the 1,000 Eyes of Dr Mabuse, as we look at pot-war Germany and old evils rearing their head. Lang refused to do more; but, Brauner commissioned a whole series of Mabuse films. Gert Frobe appears as another character in 1,000 Eyes, but takes over as Lohmann in The Return of Dr Mabuse and the remake of Testament of Dr Mabuse. Lex Barker (Tarzan) appears as an American agent, who factors into several of the films. Wolfgang Preiss plays Mabuse in a few of the films. You see actresses like Daliah Lavi (Casino Royale, The Silencers), Senta Berger (Ambushers, Cast a Giant Shadow) and Karin Dor (You Only Live Twice) and actors like Frobe, Preiss and Peter Van Eyck. The series kind of goes downhill as it progresses; but, each film has moments, especially the earlier Brauner films (with Frobe and Van Eyck) and the Lang ones are classics.
Fittingly, the German tv series, Babylon Berlin is now on Netflix, which is set in Weimar Berlin, with a criminal investigation that crosses into Mabuse-like conspiracies, political turmoil, decadent nightclubs, scarred veterans of the trenches, women pulled into prostitution to survive, drugs, the all-night partying to hide from reality; all of the elements which helped lead to the rise of the Nazis. The series was co-created by Tom Tykwer, director of Run, Lola, Run (with Franka Potente). Great stuff if you like mystery and crime stories, history, and stylish drama.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2018 21:29:35 GMT -5
Saw the Shadow Movie starring Alec Baldwin and Penelope Ann Miller and I've not seen it for awhile and I was surprised how fast pace from beginning to end and it's was a very stylish, romantic, action, drama, and suspenseful all the same time and it's has that elegant Comic Book appeal that I've liked so well. Too bad, no sequels made and I find this movie just done just right ... it's also starred Jonathan Winters, Tim Curry, Peter Boyle, and John Lone as Shiwan Khan ... his rival to the Shadow and they all played their part beautifully. I've always liked it, for the most part; but, it's pretty tame, for a Shadow movie. I wish Sam Raimi had been able to do it (he tried to get the property; but, it was sewn up, so he made Darkman). He has that pulp sensibility, while creating fun characters. Mulcahy gets bogged down in his video tropes (the blowing curtains, shattering glass). It would have been nice to have some wilder stunts. As it stands, it's a good, mostly fun movie; though it could have been great. Love Taylor Dane's "Original Sin," which plays over the end credits. I did think Tim Curry was overdoing it, even for a pulp film. John Lone got the tone right. Baldwin was good, just wanted more action with him. Nice to see Jonathan Winters ina more straightforward role. Much better than the George Pal Doc Savage. For most part, you were right about Tim Curry and I think that John Lone and Alec Baldwin should had more screen time and the Shadow done more strikingly ... otherwise it was much better than Doc Savage by a Country Mile. The curtains and shattering glass was an overkill ... they should cut about about a couple minutes and gave that screen time to Baldwin and Lone in a more intense setting.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 1, 2018 22:36:22 GMT -5
I've always liked it, for the most part; but, it's pretty tame, for a Shadow movie. I wish Sam Raimi had been able to do it (he tried to get the property; but, it was sewn up, so he made Darkman). He has that pulp sensibility, while creating fun characters. Mulcahy gets bogged down in his video tropes (the blowing curtains, shattering glass). It would have been nice to have some wilder stunts. As it stands, it's a good, mostly fun movie; though it could have been great. Love Taylor Dane's "Original Sin," which plays over the end credits. I did think Tim Curry was overdoing it, even for a pulp film. John Lone got the tone right. Baldwin was good, just wanted more action with him. Nice to see Jonathan Winters ina more straightforward role. Much better than the George Pal Doc Savage. For most part, you were right about Tim Curry and I think that John Lone and Alec Baldwin should had more screen time and the Shadow done more strikingly ... otherwise it was much better than Doc Savage by a Country Mile. The curtains and shattering glass was an overkill ... they should cut about about a couple minutes and gave that screen time to Baldwin and Lone in a more intense setting. It's in everything Russel Mulcahy ever did: his music videos, Highlander, this, etc......... I know he got his start working in tv, editing footage from Vietnam; I wonder how he worked it into that footage....
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 1, 2018 23:56:44 GMT -5
Here's a series to check out. Over at Atomic Junkpile, Frasherman has done an intro to the Dr Mabuse series, from Germany and is going to be going over the films. The Fritz Lang films are classics, capturing the corruption of Weimar Berlin, before the fall to the Nazis. Mabuse, The Gambler introduces Norbert Jacques' take off on Moriarty and Fantomas, as he is the spider at the center of gambling, vice, and corruption. This silent film was epic, shown in other part of the world in two large segments, filled with the German Expressionism beauty and plenty of social commentary. Testament of Dr Mabuse is a cautionary allegory of the Nazis, which helped spur Lang into leaving Germany and got the film banned, despite the director being a favorite of goebbels and Hitler. There, the mad doctor is supposed to be dead; but, the writings of a lunatic, in an asylum, plus a series of criminal acts suggest otherwise. The film returns Otto Wernicke as Inspektor Lohmann, the police detective he played in Lang's M, as he searches for the leader of the criminals. Lang was enticed to come back to it in the 60s, by German producer Arthur Brauner, with the 1,000 Eyes of Dr Mabuse, as we look at pot-war Germany and old evils rearing their head. Lang refused to do more; but, Brauner commissioned a whole series of Mabuse films. Gert Frobe appears as another character in 1,000 Eyes, but takes over as Lohmann in The Return of Dr Mabuse and the remake of Testament of Dr Mabuse. Lex Barker (Tarzan) appears as an American agent, who factors into several of the films. Wolfgang Preiss plays Mabuse in a few of the films. You see actresses like Daliah Lavi ( Casino Royale, The Silencers), Senta Berger ( Ambushers, Cast a Giant Shadow) and Karin Dor ( You Only Live Twice) and actors like Frobe, Preiss and Peter Van Eyck. The series kind of goes downhill as it progresses; but, each film has moments, especially the earlier Brauner films (with Frobe and Van Eyck) and the Lang ones are classics. Fittingly, the German tv series, Babylon Berlin is now on Netflix, which is set in Weimar Berlin, with a criminal investigation that crosses into Mabuse-like conspiracies, political turmoil, decadent nightclubs, scarred veterans of the trenches, women pulled into prostitution to survive, drugs, the all-night partying to hide from reality; all of the elements which helped lead to the rise of the Nazis. The series was co-created by Tom Tykwer, director of Run, Lola, Run (with Franka Potente). Great stuff if you like mystery and crime stories, history, and stylish drama. I love the Mabuse movies! It's been a while since I saw the original Lang film but I saw The Testament of Dr. Mabuse within the last year or so and it's one of the reasons I love early 1930s German films so much! I also saw one of the 1960s Mabuse movies many years ago, but I don't really remember it that well, except that Daliah Lavi is SO FREAKIN' HOT!
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 2, 2018 0:02:00 GMT -5
Sometimes I think I've seen all the great westerns made before 1960. But then I see something like Forty Guns (1957)! OMG! It was on the MOVIES! channel and I sort of remembered hearing (somewhere) that it was really good, so I DVRed it. I mean, it's got Barbara Stanwyck! And it's directed by Samuel Fuller! I didn't know that until I was watching it and saw the credits. So I was expecting it to be good.
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Post by Jesse on Feb 2, 2018 19:19:10 GMT -5
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1947) I watched this on TCM within the last few years and thought it was brilliant. You were quite lucky to see it on the large screen.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 11, 2018 13:42:10 GMT -5
Twelve O'clock High, with Gregory Peck.
Great war movie that's probably one of the first dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, without naming it as such.
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Post by berkley on Feb 11, 2018 18:24:45 GMT -5
Twelve O'clock High, with Gregory Peck. Great war movie that's probably one of the first dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, without naming it as such. George Carlin has a funny bit about how the terminology for the condition has changed over time.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 12, 2018 0:57:41 GMT -5
Twelve O'clock High, with Gregory Peck. Great war movie that's probably one of the first dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, without naming it as such. It's also more than that. It is one of the best films about leadership. After I was commissioned in the US Navy (after 4 years of the ROTC program, as a midshipman), I went to 6 months of training for the Supply Corps. At one point, we went through a week long training seminar about leadership. Mostly it is designed for the regular Supply Corps newbies: the guys who come out of Officer Candidate School. Supply Corps is what is known as "restricted line," you will never command a vessel, but can progress through a service specialty career. because of the complexity of naval supply and logistics, Supply Officers are professional specialists, rather than a short-term assignment, as in the Army or Air Force (where the non-coms are the professionals). They only have weeks of training in leadership compared to our months and years. Anyway... The film was part of the curriculum of the leadership seminar. because it demonstrates how poor leadership can cripple a command and how good leadership can remold it. At the start of the film, the bomber squadron is suffering from heavy losses and low morale. Their effectiveness is near zero. Their commander has lost sight of the bigger picture. Peck comes in and takes over. He starts forcing change. He makes the officers start leading and take responsibility for their missions and for the entire unit's performance. he finds the leaders and starts pushing them to demonstrate it. he gets them to start thinking and working as a team. Their morale improves as their skill improves. Soon, even their doctor and adjutant are hopping rides on missions. Then, the fateful mission, where Peck cracks up. he is frozen while they wait for the squadron return from a mission predicted to have high casualties. One by one they come in and only when the last plane is home, all safe and sound does he recover. It is one of the finest films you will ever see about real leadership. It is also a tremendous piece of cinema, with a terrific cast of mostly character actors, and one hell of a leading man.
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Post by brutalis on Feb 13, 2018 8:53:26 GMT -5
Grey, windy and sprinkling dreary evening after work so perfect weather for sitting back and watching a pair of Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan's. Put on Tarzan and his Mate from 1934 and Tarzan Finds a Son from 1939. These are good old fashioned thrill's of the black and white kind and Tarzan and his Mate while mild by today's standards was sexy and risque with Jane's open thigh and exposed belly loin cloth outfit and her nude swim ballet in the river with Tarzan. Raised eyebrow's is about all this evokes now but truly sexy and outspoken to place such scenes in a Hollywood production at the time. Not a lot of action until the end lion fights but the search for the elephant's graveyard makes for a interesting story. A plane crashes with a single child surviving and suddenly Jane and Tarzan get to play mom and dad of the jungle! What boy wouldn't want to grow up wild with your dad the Lord of the Jungle? Swimming the wild rivers, swinging through the tree's, playing with the beasties of the land. Adventurous entertainment with the Tarzan family
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