|
Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2019 7:45:55 GMT -5
After work last night watched 1941's I Wake Up Screaming starring Victor Mature, Betty Grable, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar and a host of familiar faces. I think this is a Noir movie before Noir was coined as a term. Very stylish murder mystery (who would want to kill Betty Grable?) with a dash of romance and thriller atmosphere and a spritz of gangster (is he or isn't he Mature?) all with Somewhere over the Rainbow playing incessantly as the soundtrack through the entire movie. A pleasurable, relaxed pace of a movie for ending a busy day with. Now i will need to watch the remake from 1953 with Richard Boone that is simply called Vicki. I loved that film!
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Oct 4, 2019 7:59:41 GMT -5
After work last night watched 1941's I Wake Up Screaming starring Victor Mature, Betty Grable, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar and a host of familiar faces. I think this is a Noir movie before Noir was coined as a term. Very stylish murder mystery (who would want to kill Betty Grable?) with a dash of romance and thriller atmosphere and a spritz of gangster (is he or isn't he Mature?) all with Somewhere over the Rainbow playing incessantly as the soundtrack through the entire movie. A pleasurable, relaxed pace of a movie for ending a busy day with. Now i will need to watch the remake from 1953 with Richard Boone that is simply called Vicki. I loved that film! I am a Victor Mature fan, so add in Grable, Landis and Cregar and I am hooked. Didn't know it was going to be on MoviesTV Network but while flipping channels caught the commercial it was coming up next so sat up later than necessary on a work night to enjoy. Had to record Vicki showing right after 'cuz i was just too tired. Big Richard Boone fan as well. I love me these old black and whites!!!
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Oct 20, 2019 3:40:09 GMT -5
Detroit 9000 (1973)
That trailer makes it look like one of that era's 'Blaxploitation' films, but it's not - it's more of a noir cop movie. It starts with a heist carried out in a hotel ballroom, when a group of masked, armed and well-organized robbers break into an event in a posh hotel in Detroit, at which a local black congressman announces his bid for the governor's seat and begins collecting campaign donations. The thieves make off with all of the cash, as well as jewellery, gold watches and other valuables from the guests. Obviously, this causes an outcry in the city, esp. in the black community, whose leaders criticize the police for not providing adequate security. The police assign the case to one of the department's most respected investigators, Lt. Dan Bassett, who's quite bitter at this point: he's been passed over promotions because he's basically honest and refuses to play department politics, and he knows he's going to be thrown under the bus if he doesn't crack the case. Plus, he has a sick wife in a sanitarium, with bills piling up. He's joined in the investigation by a detective sgt. in the homicide squad, Jesse Williams, because one of his murder cases ends up being tied to the heist. This isn't a bad movie, but it isn't great, either. At times it's a bit hard to follow the story, and a lot of the whys and wherefores of the heist are explained in this oddly-edited flashback scene in the last third of the movie. However, it's really interesting in that it puts a focus on racial tensions in Detroit, as well as internal politics and corruption in the police department. It's worth watching if you come across it somewhere, esp. if - like me - you enjoy movies from the 1970s.
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Oct 29, 2019 20:24:59 GMT -5
It's the time of year when the new edition of "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" comes out, and those of us working on the List suddenly find ourselves with new movies to look at. Some of them you've seen already, some of them you now have to find. They usually add 10 to 12 movies. This year they added 12 and I had already seen seven. Here are the films they added this year. (I put asterisks by the films I had seen before they were announced.) The Greatest Showman (2017) * Phantom Thread (2017) Avengers: Infinity War (2018) * BlacKkKlansman (2018) * Capernaum (2018) Crazy Rich Asians(2018) Hereditary (2018) The Favourite (2018) * Roma (2018) * Sorry to Bother You (2018) A Star Is Born (2018) * Vice (2018) * I've already seen four of the five I hadn't yet seen. I also came across two of the other films from the List that I was having trouble finding. So I saw six of the films from the "1001 Film You Must See Before You Die" list in October. 1. Man of Iron (1981) - A sequel to 1977's Man of Marble. This one also had Krystyna Janda, and she's great! 2. The Actress (Center Stage) (1992) - Maggie Cheung stars as Ruan Luyang, A Chinese actress of the 1930s who is still an icon in China. Great movie! 3. Phantom Thread (2017) - I was never bored but I have a hard time sympathizing with a main character who cares that much about the way asparagus is served. 4. Crazy Rich Asians (2018) - I liked this a lot! (I'm not sure that it's must-see.) 5. Hereditary (2018) - A great performance by Toni Collette is wasted on a film that I found pretentious, contrived and LOOONG! 6. Sorry to Bother You (2018) - I liked this a lot but I couldn't help thinking of several movies that I would rather see on the List - notably Idiocracy, Bedazzled and Fear of a Black Hat. That only leaves two movies form the List! I'm on a waiting list at the Los Angeles County Library for Capernaum and I think I'll probably be able to see it within a week to ten days. The only other film is Signs and Wonders (2000), but I know a guy in Australia who said he'd send me his copy, since it's my last one. I may take him up on it if it doesn't turn up soon.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2019 20:43:53 GMT -5
Unbelievable dedication on that list of films that you've shared eons ago and I'm shocked that you got 2 more to go. Thanks for this update ... Hoosier X on your progress!
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 11, 2019 15:09:49 GMT -5
Last night's classic movie viewing was the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet While I have been familiar with the movie for a long time and seen many clips form it, and Robbie the Robot is a quintessential icon of classic sci-fi, this was the first time I had seen the movie all the way through. I quite enjoyed it, though some of the interactions between Altaira and the crewmen were cringworthy and got a lot of snarky comments from my wife, especially the prts when Leslie Neilsen was blaming how she dressed making the crewmen blameless in how they reacted to her. -M
Finally got around to seeing this one myself recently. It was cool seeing the secret origin of Robbie, and also Frank Drebin before he got demoted from starship captain to metropolitan police lieutenant and Oscar Goldman before he was promoted to head the OSI. With the caveats mentioned by mrp above, I also found a very enjoyable movie and a solid SF story. One thing that threw me off a bit initially was taking Nielsen seriously in a straight dramatic role - such is the effect of years of conditioning by stuff like Airplane and Police Squad/Naked Gun. Also, there were several points in the film that Ann Francis reminded me of Juliette Lewis.
|
|
|
Post by Mister Spaceman on Nov 11, 2019 16:37:45 GMT -5
I recently acquired Criterion's 15-film Godzilla Showa-era Blu-ray collection. While I already had all but two of these films on DVD, it was my duty to get this set for the sake of my inner-child. While this first Godzilla era stumbles a bit at times ( King Kong vs. Godzilla is just plain bad), they mostly retain a delightful charm (with the exception of Gojira, which remains a dark and powerful atomic-age allegory).
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2019 17:06:50 GMT -5
Mister Spaceman ... Showa Era is basically my favorite ERA of TOHO Films. I seen all of them and I do have that collection that you recently acquired here.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 11, 2019 23:22:54 GMT -5
Last night's classic movie viewing was the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet While I have been familiar with the movie for a long time and seen many clips form it, and Robbie the Robot is a quintessential icon of classic sci-fi, this was the first time I had seen the movie all the way through. I quite enjoyed it, though some of the interactions between Altaira and the crewmen were cringworthy and got a lot of snarky comments from my wife, especially the prts when Leslie Neilsen was blaming how she dressed making the crewmen blameless in how they reacted to her. -M
Finally got around to seeing this one myself recently. It was cool seeing the secret origin of Robbie, and also Frank Drebin before he got demoted from starship captain to metropolitan police lieutenant and Oscar Goldman before he was promoted to head the OSI. With the caveats mentioned by mrp above, I also found a very enjoyable movie and a solid SF story. One thing that threw me off a bit initially was taking Nielsen seriously in a straight dramatic role - such is the effect of years of conditioning by stuff like Airplane and Police Squad/Naked Gun. Also, there were several points in the film that Ann Francis reminded me of Juliette Lewis.
Kind of the opposite, for me; I saw Nielsen in dramatic roles (mostly on tv) for years, before Airplane. Who knew he could be funny? Fun to see Earl Holliman, before he was ordering Angie Dickinson to go undercover as a stewardess or go-go dancer.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 11, 2019 23:24:40 GMT -5
I recently acquired Criterion's 15-film Godzilla Showa-era Blu-ray collection. While I already had all but two of these films on DVD, it was my duty to get this set for the sake of my inner-child. While this first Godzilla era stumbles a bit at times ( King Kong vs. Godzilla is just plain bad), they mostly retain a delightful charm (with the exception of Gojira, which remains a dark and powerful atomic-age allegory). Aw, I love King Kong vs Godzilla! Typical title vs title match, though, with an inconclusive finish.
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Nov 13, 2019 15:35:39 GMT -5
Last week, on our last day on vacation at the Oregon coast, my wife and I stop in at the local public library so she can return a couple of audiobooks that she borrowed. With that done, she goes to the restroom and I wander in the library and find the "for sale" shelf. For $2 I got a DVD, and when my wife joined me, she ended up buying three books. This is what I got: Vitaphone Comedy Collection Volume 2Volume 1 was devoted to Fatty Arbuckle's short films for Vitaphone, made just before his death. One of his frequent co-stars in those films was Shemp Howard, the once and future Stooge. After Arbuckle's death, Shemp continued making short films for Vitaphone, and 21 of them are collected in Volume 2. Seven of the 21 are from the Joe Palooka series, based on the comic strip. Shemp played Joe's manager, "Knobby", and quickly became the comedy focus of the series. In 1937 Shemp left Vitaphone, which was based in Brooklyn, and moved out to Hollywood. He worked steadily for another decade before rejoining the Stooges after Curly's stroke. I haven't watched any yet but I'm really looking forward to it.
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Nov 14, 2019 22:21:45 GMT -5
Last night's classic movie viewing was the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet While I have been familiar with the movie for a long time and seen many clips form it, and Robbie the Robot is a quintessential icon of classic sci-fi, this was the first time I had seen the movie all the way through. I quite enjoyed it, though some of the interactions between Altaira and the crewmen were cringworthy and got a lot of snarky comments from my wife, especially the prts when Leslie Neilsen was blaming how she dressed making the crewmen blameless in how they reacted to her. -M
Finally got around to seeing this one myself recently. It was cool seeing the secret origin of Robbie, and also Frank Drebin before he got demoted from starship captain to metropolitan police lieutenant and Oscar Goldman before he was promoted to head the OSI. With the caveats mentioned by mrp above, I also found a very enjoyable movie and a solid SF story. One thing that threw me off a bit initially was taking Nielsen seriously in a straight dramatic role - such is the effect of years of conditioning by stuff like Airplane and Police Squad/Naked Gun. Also, there were several points in the film that Ann Francis reminded me of Juliette Lewis.
Saw this at a local cinema a couple years ago for the first time in decades and one thing that stood out to me this time around was the soundtrack: I didn't remember it being all that great but I was really impressed with it this time and would like to get it on cd if there is one.
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 15, 2019 4:45:01 GMT -5
Saw this at a local cinema a couple years ago for the first time in decades and one thing that stood out to me this time around was the soundtrack: I didn't remember it being all that great but I was really impressed with it this time and would like to get it on cd if there is one. Yeah, the soundtrack, and really, all of the sound effects in general, really impressed me as well.
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Nov 19, 2019 18:17:48 GMT -5
Last week, on our last day on vacation at the Oregon coast, my wife and I stop in at the local public library so she can return a couple of audiobooks that she borrowed. With that done, she goes to the restroom and I wander in the library and find the "for sale" shelf. For $2 I got a DVD, and when my wife joined me, she ended up buying three books. This is what I got: Vitaphone Comedy Collection Volume 2Volume 1 was devoted to Fatty Arbuckle's short films for Vitaphone, made just before his death. One of his frequent co-stars in those films was Shemp Howard, the once and future Stooge. After Arbuckle's death, Shemp continued making short films for Vitaphone, and 21 of them are collected in Volume 2. Seven of the 21 are from the Joe Palooka series, based on the comic strip. Shemp played Joe's manager, "Knobby", and quickly became the comedy focus of the series. In 1937 Shemp left Vitaphone, which was based in Brooklyn, and moved out to Hollywood. He worked steadily for another decade before rejoining the Stooges after Curly's stroke. I haven't watched any yet but I'm really looking forward to it. This looks great! I always feel kind of bad for Shemp Howard. The best Stooges shorts are from the 1930s and a few in the early 1940s. By the time Shemp took over for Curly after his stroke, the Stooges were past their prime. Not that some of those later shorts aren't kind of funny at times. But they aren't nearly as good as something like "They Stooge to Conga" or "The Woman Haters Club" or "A-Plumbing We Will Go." But Shemp on his own is frequently hilarious, in his grumpy, low-key manner. One of my favorite comedies EVER is The Bank Dick, and Shemp is the bartender at Egbert Souse's favorite institution for an afternoon refreshment, the Black Pussycat Café. He's really very funny without really doing a whole lot. And then there's Africa Screams! With Abbot and Costello, and also future Stooge replacement Joe Besser. Shemp and Besser are both so much funnier here than they were with the Stooges. I'm not that big a fan of Abbot and Costello, but of course Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a classic, and I've been known to give Bud and Lou a chance for something like Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy just because Marie Windsor is in it. But I've seen Africa Screams a few times! I've heard that a lot of Shemp's scenes were cut because Bud and Lou didn't like the competition! This Vitaphone collection looks pretty cool! There's a lot there about Shemp's career that I didn't know about. I'll have to see if any of that stuff's on YouTube or something.
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Nov 19, 2019 18:32:22 GMT -5
Unexpected Bogart sighting! I figured some of the CCF Bogart fans would want to hear about this! I was flipping through the TCM schedule last week and I noticed a Joan Blondell double feature, so I picked something called Big City Blues and set up the DVR to record it. It's a 1932 Warner Brothers New York City flick. I didn't know too much about it, I just love early 1930s movies with Joan Blondell and they're set in New York and they're only 64 minutes. So I get about twenty minutes into it, and the main characters are at a New York party in a hotel room, and Joan Blondell, an invited guest, shows up with five or six uninvited guests, and one of them is Humphrey Bogart. He's the assistant treasurer for a Broadway show and he's cynical and sarcastic and fascinating. He makes the most of his few scenes and five or six lines. He's not credited in the beginning or at the end. I'm still keeping track of all the Bogart movies I've seen with an IMDB list. Big City Clues puts me up to 62!
|
|