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Post by berkley on Jan 20, 2023 5:11:57 GMT -5
Big fan of the movie and of McQueen in general. He was called the King of Cool for a reason and being in one of the best car chase scenes of all time and, almost unquestionably, the greatest motorcycle scene ever was one of the reasons. The fact that he could have done the stunt driving for both, but wasn't allowed to, just makes him that much cooler. He did do a good bit of the motorcycle riding in "The Great Escape." He was so good at it that he also played a German chasing himself. He so wanted to do that big jump, especially, but that didn't happen, because insurance. McQueen's pal, Bud Elkins, did the one seen on screen, though McQueen apparently did do it, on film, I guess unbeknownst to the powers that were. Ekins also shared the "Bullitt" chase scenes with McQueen. In "Thomas Crown," McQueen supposedly did all the stunt work, from the polo scenes to the dune buggying. The epitome of cool. Every kid in my neighborhood saw "The Great Escape" in the fall of 1963, when it finally came to our local theatre. I still remember it as one of the great movie-watching experiences of my life. And we all wanted to be McQueen for the moment he appeared on screen. Cool as a bottle of beer in the icebox.
As I often do after seeing a movie that impresses me in some way, I looked up Bullitt and McQueen on wikipedia afterwards and one thing that struck me was what an erratic, insecure upbringing he'd had, partly through his own actions and personality but first and foremost through the environment he was born into and that formed that personality. In this way, I think he was like a lot of the older generation of stars: they had packed lifetimes of experience into their early years and even if some of them weren't great actors, that came through in their onscreen presence.
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Post by Calidore on Jan 20, 2023 18:57:25 GMT -5
I finally bit the Bullitt just a few months ago. My dad had sent me a duplicate blu-ray that he'd accidentally bought. Really good stuff. So I decided to use that as a starter for an unofficial muscle car trilogy also consisting of The Getaway (McQueen & Ali MacGraw) and The Driver (Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani). Turned out Getaway wasn't really a muscle car movie, but a crime thriller, and not a very thrilling one--slow and overlong. The Driver, on the other hand, is terrific. Walter Hill made it the year before The Warriors, and like that movie, Driver has its own unique look and feel. Highly recommended if you've never seen it.
Haven't seen The Hunter, but I still remember my dad coming home from work one day and telling us about walking to the subway and stopping by a crowd watching some movie being made, only to see a car come flying out of the Marina Towers and land in the river.
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Post by berkley on Jan 20, 2023 20:38:39 GMT -5
I finally bit the Bullitt just a few months ago. My dad had sent me a duplicate blu-ray that he'd accidentally bought. Really good stuff. So I decided to use that as a starter for an unofficial muscle car trilogy also consisting of The Getaway (McQueen & Ali MacGraw) and The Driver (Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani). Turned out Getaway wasn't really a muscle car movie, but a crime thriller, and not a very thrilling one--slow and overlong. The Driver, on the other hand, is terrific. Walter Hill made it the year before The Warriors, and like that movie, Driver has its own unique look and feel. Highly recommended if you've never seen it.
Haven't seen The Hunter, but I still remember my dad coming home from work one day and telling us about walking to the subway and stopping by a crowd watching some movie being made, only to see a car come flying out of the Marina Towers and land in the river.
Don't think I heard about The Driver before, I'll definitely keep an eye out for that one. I'm curious to see Adjani acting in an English-speaking part.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 20, 2023 20:49:26 GMT -5
I finally bit the Bullitt just a few months ago. My dad had sent me a duplicate blu-ray that he'd accidentally bought. Really good stuff. So I decided to use that as a starter for an unofficial muscle car trilogy also consisting of The Getaway (McQueen & Ali MacGraw) and The Driver (Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani). Turned out Getaway wasn't really a muscle car movie, but a crime thriller, and not a very thrilling one--slow and overlong. The Driver, on the other hand, is terrific. Walter Hill made it the year before The Warriors, and like that movie, Driver has its own unique look and feel. Highly recommended if you've never seen it.
Haven't seen The Hunter, but I still remember my dad coming home from work one day and telling us about walking to the subway and stopping by a crowd watching some movie being made, only to see a car come flying out of the Marina Towers and land in the river.
Might try Dirty Mary & Crazy Larry, for muscle car chases. Also, the French Connection had a very innovative chase sequence. Really, though, if you have exhausted the Hal Needham movies, then try ole Opie Taylor, himself, as we see him stray from the straight and narrow... Andy is going to have to have a talk with that boy........
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Post by Calidore on Jan 21, 2023 10:59:37 GMT -5
Might try Dirty Mary & Crazy Larry, for muscle car chases. Also, the French Connection had a very innovative chase sequence. Really, though, if you have exhausted the Hal Needham movies, then try ole Opie Taylor, himself, as we see him stray from the straight and narrow... Andy is going to have to have a talk with that boy........
French Connection is of course mandatory. I remember DM+CL just from the snappy title, but I know nothing about it. I'll have to check that one out. Pretty sure I saw GTA at some point, probably on TV, and it was godawful.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 21, 2023 18:34:55 GMT -5
Might try Dirty Mary & Crazy Larry, for muscle car chases. Also, the French Connection had a very innovative chase sequence. Really, though, if you have exhausted the Hal Needham movies, then try ole Opie Taylor, himself, as we see him stray from the straight and narrow... Andy is going to have to have a talk with that boy........
French Connection is of course mandatory. I remember DM+CL just from the snappy title, but I know nothing about it. I'll have to check that one out. Pretty sure I saw GTA at some point, probably on TV, and it was godawful.
DM & CL has Peter Fonda, Vic Morrow and Susan George. Fonda and Adam Roarke are a pair of NASCAR wannabes, who hold up a supermarket (they hold the manager's wife and daughter hostage, in their home and force the manager to open the safe and hand over $150,000, in cash) to fund their shot at joining the circuit. Morrow is the sheriff who pursues them. It's not the best film in the world; but it is a decent one, with some good stunt work and a good cast of actors. It's the usual anti-establishment thing, from the early 70s. One of the stunts in the latter part of the film was used in the opening titles of The Fall Guy.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2023 15:07:57 GMT -5
I'm rewatching the 1938 classic You Can't Take It With You for the millionth time, I just love the message of this movie and wish everyone in the business world I work with would watch it and reflect on it, particularly the executive crowd.
But beyond that, it still floors me that Ann Miller was only 15 years old (unbeknowst to the studio at the time who thought she was an adult). Not just from physical appearance though she really does look very convincingly much older, but she seemed already pretty confident as an actress in addition to her fabulous dance talent. I just saw a bit appearance she had the year before (only 14!) in Stage Door in a scene with Ginger Rogers, the same thing. Already carried herself like an adult aged actress. Obviously there were life circumstances that led to this early professional career for those familiar with her history (and how she faked her age), but even knowing that, it floors me every time.
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Post by berkley on Jan 22, 2023 22:04:13 GMT -5
I'm rewatching the 1938 classic You Can't Take It With You for the millionth time, I just love the message of this movie and wish everyone in the business world I work with would watch it and reflect on it, particularly the executive crowd. But beyond that, it still floors me that Ann Miller was only 15 years old (unbeknowst to the studio at the time who thought she was an adult). Not just from physical appearance though she really does look very convincingly much older, but she seemed already pretty confident as an actress in addition to her fabulous dance talent. I just saw a bit appearance she had the year before (only 14!) in Stage Door in a scene with Ginger Rogers, the same thing. Already carried herself like an adult aged actress. Obviously there were life circumstances that led to this early professional career for those familiar with her history (and how she faked her age), but even knowing that, it floors me every time.
I think I remember her best from Kiss Me Kate, one of my favourite musicals that I saw on tv as a kid. I should probably watch it again sometime soon, since I've been getting back into that genre lately. I see she was also into On the Town, but the focus was so much on the three guys in that one I don't recall the female characters much.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2023 22:23:11 GMT -5
I'm rewatching the 1938 classic You Can't Take It With You for the millionth time, I just love the message of this movie and wish everyone in the business world I work with would watch it and reflect on it, particularly the executive crowd. But beyond that, it still floors me that Ann Miller was only 15 years old (unbeknowst to the studio at the time who thought she was an adult). Not just from physical appearance though she really does look very convincingly much older, but she seemed already pretty confident as an actress in addition to her fabulous dance talent. I just saw a bit appearance she had the year before (only 14!) in Stage Door in a scene with Ginger Rogers, the same thing. Already carried herself like an adult aged actress. Obviously there were life circumstances that led to this early professional career for those familiar with her history (and how she faked her age), but even knowing that, it floors me every time.
I think I remember her best from Kiss Me Kate, one of my favourite musicals that I saw on tv as a kid. I should probably watch it again sometime soon, since I've been getting back into that genre lately. I see she was also into On the Town, but the focus was so much on the three guys in that one I don't recall the female characters much.
Vera-Ellen stole the show for me a bit in On the Town, but Ann's dance number in the museum is definitely a blistering performance, so talented!
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Post by berkley on Jan 22, 2023 23:09:08 GMT -5
I think I remember her best from Kiss Me Kate, one of my favourite musicals that I saw on tv as a kid. I should probably watch it again sometime soon, since I've been getting back into that genre lately. I see she was also into On the Town, but the focus was so much on the three guys in that one I don't recall the female characters much.
Vera-Ellen stole the show for me a bit in On the Town, but Ann's dance number in the museum is definitely a blistering performance, so talented!
Another one I'll have to watch again.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2023 16:11:56 GMT -5
On this day 35 years ago, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera opened in New York City at the Majestic Theatre: I’ve never seen this live at a theatre, but I did see it via DVD. Which I do need to dig out. I really should check out the 1925 film version. I’ve seen some versions.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 26, 2023 17:13:13 GMT -5
On this day 35 years ago, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera opened in New York City at the Majestic Theatre: I’ve never seen this live at a theatre, but I did see it via DVD. Which I do need to dig out. I really should check out the 1925 film version. I’ve seen some versions. I'd rather watch Lon Chaney than listen to Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest rearrangement of Puccini's greatest hits. Well, it was Puccini, in the HBO version, released on VHS, by Polygram, in the US. Seriously; I'd rather read Leroux or watch Lon Chaney or Herbert Lom than see an Andrew Lloyd Webber production. Not a fan. This animated version is a great one....
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2023 17:13:59 GMT -5
And what about Robert Englund?
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 27, 2023 12:48:34 GMT -5
I really should check out the 1925 film version. I’ve seen some versions. You really should. It's outstanding. Piggy-backing on that, I just realized that the Universal/Lon Chaney version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame turns 100 years old in September of this year.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 27, 2023 22:09:11 GMT -5
And what about Robert Englund? Not great; but, not horrible and one of Englund's better genre performances, if you ask me. The Lom one is far better, though it isn't a patch on Chaney. I want to see a new version, where the Phantom of the Opera is, literally, The Phantom! The Ghost Who Walks (Through The Opera House)! The jungle drove him mad and he escaped to Paris, to murder divas and coach young ingenues. Guran helps out Raoul, in place of the Persian. Devil wanders the streets, hunting for food and is mistaken as the Werewolf of Paris. Diana Palmer falls in with Les Vampires and changes her name to Irma Vep. Mandrake gives up the stage and seeks revenge on a crooked banker, becoming Judex. Lothar joins the savate circuit. Flash Gordon becomes Le Flash Gordon (or is that La? never studied French...) They all team up and become the Surrenderers of the Earth!
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