I Just Watched...

[HoldenIsHere]

I also don't care for The Phantom of the Opera. I think it appeals to a more general audience than to a more discerning one.
There's absolutely wrong with that, but the score is kind of boring to me.
My favorite Andrew LLoyd Webber score is the one for Sunset Blvd.
There's so much variety with the melodies that it seems like there were multiple composers.

You may get a change to see the Sunset revival. I think it may come to Broadway.

I saw an ALW flop that I liked, a few years ago: Stephen Ward, about the Profumo scandal. It was a hard sell. You can't expect tourists to bring their kids to a musical where Act I ends with an orgy and the whole show ends with the eponymous character committing suicide. It has a very good score.

Making a musical out of the British politician sex scandal of the 1960s certainly seems like an odd proposition. I recall that the 1989 film Scandal, about the same story, nearly received an X rating in the United States, and 5 minutes had to be edited out of the film to get an R. It did boast good performances from Joanne Whalley, John Hurt, and Bridget Fonda and also included this memorable Dusty Springfield song written for the film

Mandy's in the papers.
She tried to go to Spain.
She'll soon be in the dock
And in the papers once again . .

Dusty Springfield's recording of "Nothing Has Been Proved" is fantastic!
It was written by Pet Shop Boys (Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe) for the movie SCANDAL with Dusty in mind for the singer.
It was a track on Dusty Springfield's REPUTATION album (with most tracks produced by Pet Shop Boys and Julian Mendelsohn), which revived her singing career.
It's one of my favorite albums of all-time from one of my favorite singers of all-time.

[Lorna]

I also tried watching HOWLS MOVING CASTLE, but checked out 45 minutes in.

The animation was gorgeous, and it was wonderful to hear Jean Simmons and Lauren Bacall voice their characters in what were probably two of their last roles, but holy s*** this movie was WWWWWeeeEeeIiiiIiiirrrrrrrd.

[Allhallowsday]

SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY (1971)

[HoldenIsHere]

“The Voice Of Christmas”
THE BRADY BUNCH
Season 1
Directed by Oscar Rudolph
Witten by John Fenton Murray
Originally aired December 19, 1969

This episode (the only Christmas episode from the series) has become part of my annual winter holiday viewing. It’s the one where Mrs. Brady loses her voice days before she’s supposed to sing a solo of “O Come All Ye Faithful” at a Christmas church service. Watching it reminded me of just how much is packed into a single episode of this show. Besides the main plot, there are scenes featuring the Bradys hiding Christmas presents (Bobby asks his brothers if he should eat the present if he’s caught). Six-year-old Cindy (this is one of the episodes where the age of one of the kids is explicitly stated) tells the department store Santa Claus that the only present she wants from him is for her mother to get her voice back by Christmas. Awww!!! When Mr. Brady finds out, he chastises “Santa” for making promises he can’t keep.

DeVol’s musical score for this episode incorporates traditional Christmas melodies, including “Good King Wenceslas,” “O Christmas Tree,” “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” A somber arrangement of the latter underscores Greg, Marcia, Peter and Jan as they gather at the foot of the stairs to commiserate about how awful Christmas is this year because of Mrs. Brady’s predicament. Since this is a first season episode, Frank DeVol’s theme song (featuring the lyrics by series creator Sherwood Schwartz that tell the story of “a lovely lady” and “a man named Brady”) is sung by The Peppermint Trolley Company. Beginning in the second season, it would be sung by The Brady Bunch Kids.

Favorite moments:
• Alice convincing Mrs. Brady to wrap the cloth soaked with her grandmother’s smelly home remedy for laryngitis around her neck
• Mr. Brady’s response when Alice’s ribbon tying goes wrong
• The little boy in line with Cindy to see Santa, sporting a neckerchief that one would expect to see as part of Paul Lynde’s wardrobe

[Swithin]

Slow Horses (2022)

Slow Horses is based on a series of novels about rejects from MI5, destined to live out their careers in "Slough House," so named because it's so far from the main MI5 headquarters that it might as well be in Slough. The theme song (sung and co-written by Mick Jagger) offers a good summary of the plot:

"Surrounded by losers
Misfits and boozers
Hanging by your fingernails
You made one mistake
You got burnt at the stake
You're finished, You're foolish, you failed.

There's always a hope
On this slippery slope
Somewhere a ghost of a chance
To get back in the game
And burn off your shame
And dance with the big boys again."

I enjoyed the series, though the constant insults and shtick from the rejects' boss (played by Gary Oldman as a big fat slob who farts a lot) become tedious after a while, as do the demeaning ways in which the rejects talk to each other. Jack Lowden, whom I've seen on stage several times, is particulary good as one of the main characters, all of whom are itching to do something useful. They get involved in some serious cases (a kidnapping of a Muslim comedian by a right-wing group who threaten to chop his head off), and, in the second series, a rather complicated mix-up with Russian spies. There is a right-wing politician played by Sam West, and the MI5 "Number Two Desk," played by Kristin Scott Thomas. Although the "slow horses" are, to some extent, blundering idiots, they do help to solve the major cases, although everything needs to be covered up at the end, which is annoying. There are also loose ends and silly plot devices that don't always make sense. Jonathan Pryce is very good in a supporting role. The series has been renewed for more seasons.

Here's Mick singing the theme song:





Christopher Chung is brilliant as a foul-mouthed computer geek



Freddie Fox, Kristin Scott Thomas as the "big boys."

Just finished watching Series 3 of Slow Horses. I liked it even more than the earlier two series. The verbal swordplay between Ingrid Tearney (Sophie Okenedo) and Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) is a highlight. I think there's even more violence and more humour in Series 3. Certainly Gary Oldman farts even more. Looking forward to Series 4, which will drop in late 2024.

[TikiSoo]

I just watched INSOMNIA '97 because of seeing it listed as a TCM Premiere coming up Jan 7th. This movie had been re-made with the Hollywood treatment, so figured the original Norwegian movie would be worth seeing.

It's pretty much a straightforward story of detectives investigating the brutal murder of a teenage girl. The detective are finding clues and piecing together a scenario when their entrapment ambush goes wrong and it becomes a frantic chase in the rugged wilderness.
The scene is beautiful- fog settling around huge boulders with patches of green grass and huge blue mountains in the distance.

But then-something goes wrong. After a cluster of gunfire two police officers are discovered shot, one dead. Detective Engström, the subject of the story is confused-he thought he had been confronted by the killer & shot him in defense. But it was his partner.

Next is the inquiry and Engström instead of just telling the truth figures it's easier to cover his mistake.
This movie takes place within the Arctic Circle, so they are experiencing the 6 months of complete daylight.

The longer the inquiry goes, the more he has to cover up his story. The endless sunlight along with his accelerating guilt take an increasing mental toll as the story unfolds. The colors on the screen shift from cool natural colors in the beginning to harsh yellows & whites as the tension mounts. It's quite interesting that he identifies & discovers the murderer, who explains his "mistake", likening it to Engström's "mistake".
It quietly ends, but rather satisfyingly.

LOL at some of the set dressing, I suspect as visually progressing the story. Detective Engström's apartment was smooth white walls and sparse Ikea type furniture as is expected. When he meets the killer, the walls shown are wood with worn red paint.
But it's the Police Station sets that transitioned from weird to notable to outrageous:
At first you see stark white plaster stucco walls giving a cold, hard, pre-fab structure feeling.
Then there's blank light gray popcorn walls behind the actors-who popcorns a WALL?
Later, an office wall had an art deco fan pattern in the stucco, which was now medium gray & "pebbly" with stone like sidewalk cement.
Lastly, the walls behind the Police Inquiry were HUGE dark gray balls of cement reaching out like stalactites. The wall protrusions were so long, the ends were polished!

[Allhallowsday]

SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY (1971)

This is a movie to think about. It makes an impression in a way that the viewer must think about. Unusual for its time, 50 years on it remains unusual. TCM shows it frequently, but I'd not sat through it. Unexpected and special.

[CinemaInternational]

I also tried watching HOWLS MOVING CASTLE, but checked out 45 minutes in.

The animation was gorgeous, and it was wonderful to hear Jean Simmons and Lauren Bacall voice their characters in what were probably two of their last roles, but holy s*** this movie was WWWWWeeeEeeIiiiIiiirrrrrrrd.

I see what you mean. I liked it (wonderful vocal performances, great animation and musical score), but the story is very odd, often extremely so, and it didn't let up on that front until the last few minutes....

[CinemaInternational]

SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY (1971)

This is a movie to think about. It makes an impression in a way that the viewer must think about. Unusual for its time, 50 years on it remains unusual. TCM shows it frequently, but I'd not sat through it. Unexpected and special.

I think that Glenda's performance here is close to being perfect, just remarkably well modulated..... The film itself is interesting, a film more concerned with the emotions of fractured relationships, rather than sex....

[Swithin]

The Green Knight (2021)

I've been looking forward to seeing The Green Knight since it was released in the midst of the pandemic. I finally watched it yesterday and have rarely been so disappointed in a film. Based on the Medieval Arthurian legend "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," which I read several years ago, the movie diverges to such an extent that it should have had another title. (One critic headed his review "Monty Python and The Seventh Seal.")

The poem was written by an anonymous author, probably (based on the dialect) in the North West Midlands or the North West of England. A contemporary of Chaucer, the author would probably have achieved greater esteem, had he, like Chaucer, been born to a wealthy family in London. Nevertheless, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is one of the best known Arthurian stories.

The poem opens (after a couple of verses about the founding of Britain) with a Christmas feast at King Arthur's Round Table. Gawain is his nephew. In the midst of the festivities, a "Green Knight" appears and proposes a game. Someone should cut off his head, but that someone must come and find him a year's hence, so that he (the Green Knight), can cut off his head. Gawain steps forward and chops off the Green Knight's head. The Green Knight picks up his head and rides off, basically saying to Gawain, see you next year. A year passes, Gawain goes on his mission, meeting many challenges along the way, to which he responds heroically. He meets the Green Knight, who simply makes a little dent in Gawain's neck, as Gawain made one little mistake in his travels. Then Gawain returns a hero, to Camelot.

In the movie, Gawain (well played by Dev Patel), is not heroic at all. He blunders the challenges along the way. In the poem, Sir Gawain rebuffs a married woman who wants to have sex with him. In the movie, Gawain not only has sex with her, YOU ACTUALLY SEE THE SEMEN! I ask you, WHOEVER SAW SEMEN IN A NON-PORNO FILM?!! THERE IS NO CUMSHOT IN THE POEM! Also in the film, when he kneels in front of the Green Knight, who is ready to chop his head off, he chickens out and runs away! Then he has a vision straight out of It's a Wonderful Life, i.e. what his life would be like if he chickened out.

Another egregious change that the director (David Lowery, who's he when he's at home?) makes: Gawain's mother in the film is Morgan Le Fay! Morgan Le Fay is a sister of King Arthur, but Gawain's mother is actually Morgause, who has no part in the film. There is a cute fox in the film, which is actually Morgan Le Fay in disguise, I think. The dialogue is stilted. The quality of the acting varies. I thought Alicia Vikander as Gawain's girlfriend was particularly bad.

I suppose Lowery was trying to give us a modern take on the story, and perhaps dethrone the hero, but it is so unlike the original, that he should have found some other way to tell the story he wanted to tell. The Green Knight may also be one of the slowest movies ever made. Lowery should have his head handed to him.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

Last night I saw some of HOUSEBOAT--news flash! Sophia Loren is gorgeous--and most of FATHER GOOSE. Not only is Leslie Caron gorgeous but her performance is superb. Shot by shot, her reactions and expressions are masterful.

Cary Grant and some children were in those films, too.

Houseboat is one of my favorite Cary Grant films. I agree Sophia Loren was at the height of beauty in that one, especially in that gold dress.

[Lorna]

I also tried watching HOWLS MOVING CASTLE, but checked out 45 minutes in.

The animation was gorgeous, and it was wonderful to hear Jean Simmons and Lauren Bacall voice their characters in what were probably two of their last roles, but holy s*** this movie was WWWWWeeeEeeIiiiIiiirrrrrrrd.

I see what you in re: HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE . I liked it (wonderful vocal performances, great animation and musical score), but the story is very odd, often extremely so, and it didn't let up on that front until the last few minutes....

God Bless you, Mr. International,

In the 11 months I was away, I maybe watched 5 or 6 movies because I COULDN'T BEAR not having anyone to talk about them with- and a subset of that is when you see something that is HIGHLY PRAISED (#158 IN IMDB'S TOP 200?) and you're just like "seriously, what the **** was that about, Alfie?"

ONE so NEEDS to have ALFIE chime in and offer that although he liked it, [WHEN IT CAME TO THE PLOT] frankly, he has no ****ing clue either...
and you feel a little better about the world.

IT IS BEAUTIFUL TO LOOK AT, and I think there might be something of a youth skew in terms of how people react to it (I can see younger people liking it more, while the over 40 crowd shouts at clouds about it)

seriously though, this movie made me really mad though. EVEN MORE SO after i read on WIKIPEDIA that it was meant primarily to be a criticism OF THE THEN-RAGING INVASION OF IRAQ in 2003...now, DON'T GET ME WRONG, I am not now or nor have I ever been a fan of that decision, but that's not why I'm mad. i'm mad because i have no ****ing clue exactly what part of this Victoria Era/steampunk/STAR WARS/dimension traveling through a wall-mounted SIMON GAME bullshit- i'm sorry, I meant to watch my language, but I can't because I'M STILL MAD- sorry- what part of this bull**** was supposed to be about the IRAQ INVASION!!!!!

If you told me with a straight face that FASTER PUSSYCAT, KILL! KILL! is actually advocating for ESPERANTO to be adopted as the UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE I could not be any more GOBSMACKED.

it is truly a powerful movie that can continue confusing you long after you checked out.

[Lorna]

I am so peeved.

I was on vacation at a lake house in the mountains (why, yes- I did stalk the rock-lined shore at dusk pretending to be JOAN CRAWFORD in POSSESSED) and I did not realize until RIGHT BEFORE WE WERE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE that the joint had DISNEY PLUS and so I watched as much of THE BLACK CAULDRON as I could.

just such a lovely, lovely movie, and i had forgotten how hilarious the plot revelation that THE PIG is AN INTERDIMENSIONAL ORACLE is- in any live action remake, you could really milk that for some larfs.

unfortunately, we had to leave RIGHT WHEN THE HORNED KING SHOWED UP, mirroring events some 30 odd years ago when surely theatergoers with small children rushed for the exits themselves.

[Lorna]

as a treat for meself, I ordered a copy of AKIRA KUROSAWA'S THE BAD SLEEP WELL (1960) on CRITERION DVD.

My combo DVD/VCR is about 25 years old and the DVD half still works. just a shout out there.

the DVD has a bonus documentary specifically about its making and conception that opens with a quote from KUROSAWA:

"a truly good movie is really enjoyable, there's nothing complicated about it: a truly good movie is interesting and easy to understand."

now, I have to say, I take umbrage with using this quote if it refers to THIS PARTICULAR FILM because it is NOT easy to understand (but in a good way) and it is EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMELY COMPLICATED, THE BAD SLEEP WELL is also, in my opinion- not an enjoyable film- and I don't mean that in a bad way either- it's a good film, but "enjoyable" is not in my top 100 adjectives for it.

it is a FILM ULTRA ULTRA NOIR, maybe the BLEAKEST film noir I have ever seen; I will also say that you will learn a lot about where JAPAN was at 15 years after WWII.

As with HIGH AND LOW- the other contemporary KUROSAWA NOIR that I watched recently- I do have to take issue with the FIRST ACT.

I have learned by now that AKIRA likes to weed out those of us with short attention spans with some downright lethargic first acts- SEVEN SAMURAI and RAN also have REALLY SLOW STARTS as I recall- but as with those movies, after studying a ROCK ON A HILL for half an hour from EVERY ANGLE- THE BAD SLEEP WELL then metaphorically becomes the tale of that very rock dislodged and hurtling down a steep incline.

the ending is devastating and stays with you.

i really will say that I do wish the opening had been less static and exposition-laden and maybe even less tauntingly cryptic, also from watching the DVD- apparently KUROSAWA wanted to shoot as much of this movie in something I had never heard of called PAN FOCUS which means objects in the forground and background are in focus (apparently this also requires INTENSE LIGHTING and he set one of the actor's hair on fire.)