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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2020 14:04:33 GMT -5
Was 1968’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD the first zombie film to move away from voodoo/mind control?
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Post by brutalis on Aug 5, 2020 12:00:20 GMT -5
Enjoyed a Bogart tour de force in acting; 1950's In a Lonely Place co starring the exquisite Gloria Graham. Our man Bogie plays Dixon Steele (is that a comic book hero/detective name or what?) a despondent and violent tempered movie screenwriter who is a suspect in a murder case of a young woman. Dixon falls in love with his neighbor and they plan to marry but the tension and tempers increase quickly in their fast moving romance. The movie displays the intensity and wickedly hot/cold Hollywood relationships in the tumultuous movie city.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 16, 2020 14:02:29 GMT -5
Krull (1983) Watched this for the first time since I was a kid and thought it wasn't great but did have some entertaining moments. It's low budget sci-fi/fantasy story about a quest to rescue a princess from a space devil. The action sequences are decent and I like the design of the Glaive even though it's not really a practical weapon. I'm surprised more wasn't done with this given it sets itself up for a sequel. There are some interesting concepts but not something that I will likely watch again though. Finally got around to watching this one all the way through recently (I saw part of it on TV in high school, a few years after its theatrical release). And I was mostly only mildly entertained. I found it a pretty mediocre film, with most of the best moments provided by the supporting cast (which was noted in the comments upthread). I can't help but think that this could have been a much better movie than it was, since - contrary to Jesse's claim above - it was actually a pretty high-budget production for the time. But many of the effects and sets did in fact look low-budget. (And for some reason, there were times when its visuals reminded me of Zardoz.) Otherwise, the guy playing the lead, Ken Marshall, kept reminding me of that Cucumberpatch guy that played Dr. Strange...
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Aug 22, 2020 21:08:27 GMT -5
So I received Deer Hunter (1978) from my Netflix DVD service. It’s been so far down on my list (partly for being unavailable for so long) that I don’t remember what prompted me to put it in my queue. What am I in for?
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 24, 2020 11:47:52 GMT -5
So I received Deer Hunter (1978) from my Netflix DVD service. It’s been so far down on my list (partly for being unavailable for so long) that I don’t remember what prompted me to put it in my queue. What am I in for? Not as much deer hunting as the title suggests. Two words: Russian Roulette. Michael Cimino is at his height and he had a tremendous cast of young actors who would dominate Hollywood for the next several decades. Deniro, Walken, Streep..... It was controversial in its day, as Vietnam was still controversial and reporters who covered Vietnam and soldiers who served attacked the Russian Roulette scenes, while others criticized the depiction of the Vietnamese. Pull the politics out of it and it still earned tons of praise for the script, the acting and the story. It won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor, for Walken (Deniro and Streep were nominated for Best Actor and Actress, but didn't win). It's part of a slate of films from the end of the 70s that start to address Vietnam with some depth, along with Apocalypse Now, and Coming Home. Those would help pave the way for films like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. I'd also recommend the Australian film The Odd Angry Shot, which shows Vietnam from the Australian perspective, as Americans tend to forget that they had troops there, as did South Korea and New Zealand.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 24, 2020 12:15:12 GMT -5
So I received Deer Hunter (1978) from my Netflix DVD service. It’s been so far down on my list (partly for being unavailable for so long) that I don’t remember what prompted me to put it in my queue. What am I in for? Keep in mind that John Cazale was dying of lung cancer (and knew he was) while filming The Deer Hunter. He was also in a romantic relationship with Meryl Streep at the time. Cimino filmed all of Cazale's scenes first and he died before the film was completed. Cazale only appeared in five feature length films (six if you include archive footage in Godfather III). Every one of them was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
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Post by berkley on Aug 24, 2020 13:43:30 GMT -5
So I received Deer Hunter (1978) from my Netflix DVD service. It’s been so far down on my list (partly for being unavailable for so long) that I don’t remember what prompted me to put it in my queue. What am I in for? Keep in mind that John Cazale was dying of lung cancer (and knew he was) while filming The Deer Hunter. He was also in a romantic relationship with Meryl Streep at the time. Cimino filmed all of Cazale's scenes first and he died before the film was completed. Cazale only appeared in five feature length films (six if you include archive footage in Godfather III). Every one of them was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Without looking them up to check, Dog Day Afternoon is always the one that sticks in my mind when it comes to Cazale.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 24, 2020 14:07:18 GMT -5
Keep in mind that John Cazale was dying of lung cancer (and knew he was) while filming The Deer Hunter. He was also in a romantic relationship with Meryl Streep at the time. Cimino filmed all of Cazale's scenes first and he died before the film was completed. Cazale only appeared in five feature length films (six if you include archive footage in Godfather III). Every one of them was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Without looking them up to check, Dog Day Afternoon is always the one that sticks in my mind when it comes to Cazale. The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather, Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Deer Hunter.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2020 15:01:19 GMT -5
Man, I haven't watched The Deer Hunter since I was a senior in high school. It was a deeply impactful movie for me then, but not one I wanted to revisit for quite a while. Now however, I am starting to get an inkling to watch it again at some point, but considering how long my cheque of things to watch is currently and how little time I spend actually watching things, I doubt I will get to it any time soon.
-M
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2020 7:34:29 GMT -5
I watched The Old Dark House (1932) on Prime recently.
A man and his wife, along with their friend, break down in Wales during a rainy night. They seek shelter in a house, the door being opened by the butler Morgan (Boris Karloff), a guy who should have had them running as far as possible. They are welcomed by the owner of the house, Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger) and his sister, Rebecca (Eva Moore). Although very welcoming, it soon transpires that Morgan is a drunken brute, Rebecca is crazy - and there’s a pyromaniac in the house.
I found this to be a very atmospheric and engaging movie. The moment where Morgan answers the door was quite creepy, his face peering out as the door is only half-open. Things do take a sinister turn, and I can imagine that a 1932 audience might have found this to be very scary. Horror films from that period are probably tame today, but I found it to be very enjoyable. It was nice to see Karloff playing something other than Frankenstein’s Monster (I have seen him as a villain in a Dick Tracy film, too).
The scene where Morgan answers the door reminded me of something in my own life. Years ago, I had to deliver some shopping to an elderly person who was living in a care home. I arrived at the home around 7pm on a dark winter’s night. Oddly, the warden didn’t appear to be answering the door. As I was about to ring the resident, a scowling face appeared, as if a ghost, in the window, scaring me half-to-death. I don’t think the warden had appreciated being disturbed at 7pm on a winter’s night. But, I tell ya, some people have this uncanny knack of “appearing out of nowhere” almost in a supernatural sense. There was nothing - and then the warden’s face appeared within a nanosecond!
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 1, 2020 16:01:36 GMT -5
We streamed Da 5 Bloods Saturday evening. The last of Chadwick Boseman's films to be released thus far (there appears to be one more in the can) and director Spike Lee's most recent feature film. The film is about four African-American Vietnam vets who return to Vietnam to, ostensibly, retrieve the remains of their squad leader (Boseman) who was killed in action.
There was a lot to like here and there were a number of pretty decent performances. It also wasn't without problems. It tended to be predictable at almost every turn. Part of that was probably because it was at least an homage to Treasure of the Sierra Madre. I don't expect Lee to give me BlacKkKlansman or Do The Right Thing every time. But there were just no real surprises here. There were also a couple of actresses who were just too young to be playing the characters they were playing.
Still it's nice to see something looking at the Vietnam War from the standpoint of black soldiers. Given that almost a quarter of combat troops in Vietnam were black most of the movies don't seem to reflect that.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2020 20:42:25 GMT -5
Bill Sienkewicz celebrating one of his (and my) favorite movies... -M
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Post by brutalis on Sept 9, 2020 16:33:17 GMT -5
Just finished watching 1973 Murder Mystery The Last of Sheila, a star studded affair filled with games of death and deceit (thank you Mr. MOENCH) among a group of rich and not so friendly friends. James Coburn takes his group of frenemies out for a week long cruise on his personal yacht as they play detectives. Each day as they stop in a new port they must play a game. In the start all are given a card with a character they are to play, but the cards are actual individual secrets of each individual that they must discover and put together on the final night.
What the game is truly about though is a personal act of revenge for Coburn. His wife was killed a year earlier in a hit and run when they were all together. Now he has found out the true killer and the role play is all about everyone else exposing who the killer among them is. One problem. Coburn ends up killed during the game. And now a new game of whodunnit begins...
Wonderful cast includes Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, James Mason, Raquel Welch, Ian McShane and Joan Hackett all in a cleverly written cat and mouse game of mystery and suspense. Worth the watching for you others who enjoy playing detective, sorting all of the clues and figuring out the killer...
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Post by Prince Hal on Sept 10, 2020 22:42:48 GMT -5
Just finished watching 1973 Murder Mystery The Last of Sheila, a star studded affair filled with games of death and deceit (thank you Mr. MOENCH) among a group of rich and not so friendly friends. James Coburn takes his group of frenemies out for a week long cruise on his personal yacht as they play detectives. Each day as they stop in a new port they must play a game. In the start all are given a card with a character they are to play, but the cards are actual individual secrets of each individual that they must discover and put together on the final night. What the game is truly about though is a personal act of revenge for Coburn. His wife was killed a year earlier in a hit and run when they were all together. Now he has found out the true killer and the role play is all about everyone else exposing who the killer among them is. One problem. Coburn ends up killed during the game. And now a new game of whodunnit begins... Wonderful cast includes Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, James Mason, Raquel Welch, Ian McShane and Joan Hackett all in a cleverly written cat and mouse game of mystery and suspense. Worth the watching for you others who enjoy playing detective, sorting all of the clues and figuring out the killer... Screenplay by Anthony Perkins and the brilliant Stephen Sondheim!
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Post by brutalis on Sept 26, 2020 11:07:02 GMT -5
1952's California Conquest has stars Cornel Wilde and Tetesa Wright fighting to stop John Dehner's attempt to assist Russia's plot to annex 1840's California. A slight yet entertaining swashbuckler/western that wishes it could be Zorro. A very dull sword fight which could have used more swash and a large finale that would have benefited a lot more gunplay. Wilde is handsome enough but not truly roguish enough as the hero and Wright is a strong stand up and shoot rather than be in distress woman which is a nice change considering this is a 1952 pic.
Pleasing enough Saturday matinee diversion that should have been so much more.
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