I Just Watched...

Discussion of programming on TCM.
Cinemaspeak59
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Cinemaspeak59 »

Servant (2019-2023) This 4 season slow burn thriller about cults, supernatural powers, and trauma was, at times, confounding. Portentous events failed to deliver payoffs, until the next cliffhanger. But Servant managed to stick the landing with its satisfying conclusion. Not all questions were answered, but I liked ending with just enough ambiguity as fodder for discussion, in case anyone wants to go that route.
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TikiSoo
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by TikiSoo »

Detective Jim McLeod wrote: May 5th, 2023, 7:15 am Head (1968) Youtube- 7/10
First time viewing for me and I liked it more than I thought. I was only a casual fan of their TV show but I liked their music. This was a plotless counter culture film but now is an enjoyable time capsule of the 1960s.
Thanks! I recorded that from TCM and only saw about 15 minutes and had the same impressions. I much preferred their songs to the TV show and enjoyed watching this as a time capsule of my youth, haha.
I have also been noticing streamed movies are usually lower quality versions than what TCM shows.
MissWonderly
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by MissWonderly »

TikiSoo wrote: May 6th, 2023, 9:59 am
Detective Jim McLeod wrote: May 5th, 2023, 7:15 am Head (1968) Youtube- 7/10
First time viewing for me and I liked it more than I thought. I was only a casual fan of their TV show but I liked their music. This was a plotless counter culture film but now is an enjoyable time capsule of the 1960s.
Thanks! I recorded that from TCM and only saw about 15 minutes and had the same impressions. I much preferred their songs to the TV show and enjoyed watching this as a time capsule of my youth, haha.
I have also been noticing streamed movies are usually lower quality versions than what TCM shows.
TikiSoo, I love your avatar! Are you "channeling" Harpo Marx ?
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Detective Jim McLeod
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Detective Jim McLeod »

TikiSoo wrote: May 6th, 2023, 9:59 am
Thanks! I recorded that from TCM and only saw about 15 minutes and had the same impressions. I much preferred their songs to the TV show and enjoyed watching this as a time capsule of my youth, haha.
I have also been noticing streamed movies are usually lower quality versions than what TCM shows.
The version on Youtube is excellent, great color and sound.
Cinemaspeak59
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Cinemaspeak59 »

Dust Be My Destiny (1939) John Garfield and Priscilla Lane make a fine pairing as unlucky lovers on the run. Along the way they are helped by good people (proof the world isn’t all bad). Eventually, the law catches up to them. There’s a great courtroom scene at the end. The chemistry between Garfield and Lane make this an enjoyable WB melodrama.
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BagelOnAPlate
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by BagelOnAPlate »

I'm a fan of movies set in New York City in 1890s, but I did not become familiar with The Strawberry Blonde until recently.
A restoration of this Warner Brothers movie was screened at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festiva last month, which I attended, but I was at the Looney Tunes At The Oscars presentation when The Strawberry Blonde was shown at the Chinese Multiplex.
Signage with James Cagney and Oliva de Havilland was on display outside the Roosevelt Hotel. I did a double take when I saw it because I wasn't aware that James Cagney and Oliva de Havilland had played a romantic couple in a movie! (I knew they were both in Max Reinhardt's bizarre Warner Brothers production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.)

I watched the movie on Watch TCM today and I highly recommend watching it before it leaves that platform in the next 4 days. A great introduction by Wes Anderson is aired before the movie.

The title of the movie is taken from the lyrics of "The Band Played On," a song that plays an important part in the movie's plot. The strawberry blonde is played by Rita Hayworth. Warner Brothers intended for Ann Sheridan to play the part (it would have been a perfect role for her), but Rita Hayworth is fantastic.
James Cagney's character falls for the glamorous Hayworth character but his "friend" (I use the term loosely) played by Jack Carson marries her. Cagney's character ends up with the more serious character played by Olivia de Havilland.

At the end of the movie, there is an opportunity to sign along to "The Band Played On." The lyrics appear on the screen. One of the verses references "Biff Grimes," which was the name of James Cagney's character in the movie. I don't think those were the original lyrics from the 1890s. I wonder if the audience watching at the TCM Film Festival sang along?
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txfilmfan
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by txfilmfan »

BagelOnAPlate wrote: May 7th, 2023, 11:39 pm I'm a fan of movies set in New York City in 1890s, but I did not become familiar with The Strawberry Blonde until recently.
A restoration of this Warner Brothers movie was screened at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festiva last month, which I attended, but I was at the Looney Tunes At The Oscars presentation when The Strawberry Blonde was shown at the Chinese Multiplex.
Signage with James Cagney and Oliva de Havilland was on display outside the Roosevelt Hotel. I did a double take when I saw it because I wasn't aware that James Cagney and Oliva de Havilland had played a romantic couple in a movie! (I knew they were both in Max Reinhardt's bizarre Warner Brothers production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.)

I watched the movie on Watch TCM today and I highly recommend watching it before it leaves that platform in the next 4 days. A great introduction by Wes Anderson is aired before the movie.

The title of the movie is taken from the lyrics of "The Band Played On," a song that plays an important part in the movie's plot. The strawberry blonde is played by Rita Hayworth. Warner Brothers intended for Ann Sheridan to play the part (it would have been a perfect role for her), but Rita Hayworth is fantastic.
James Cagney's character falls for the glamorous Hayworth character but his "friend" (I use the term loosely) played by Jack Carson marries her. Cagney's character ends up with the more serious character played by Olivia de Havilland.

At the end of the movie, there is an opportunity to sign along to "The Band Played On." The lyrics appear on the screen. One of the verses references "Biff Grimes," which was the name of James Cagney's character in the movie. I don't think those were the original lyrics from the 1890s. I wonder if the audience watching at the TCM Film Festival sang along?
I was not familiar with this film before the 2023 festival. I attended the screening there. They also showed a cartoon and short before this film, all from the same year as this film's release. There was no newsreel, as WB didn't have a newsreel department until 1947, when they bought RKO-Pathe News, and they were recreating a Warner Bros. night at the movies for 1941. It was an entertaining film and I wondered why I'd never come across it before.

Raoul Walsh directed and the cinematographer was the celebrated James Wong Howe. George Reeves (TV's Superman) has a supporting role as a mustachioed college jock who irritates James Cagney's character. Also look for Bewitched's George Tobias as Cagney's best friend.

As far as the song goes, no those lyrics aren't the original ones. For one thing, the original song is a hybrid 2/4, 3/4 song, with the chorus (the only part anyone knows these days) in 3/4 waltz time while the verses are in 2/4. So what is sung at the end of the movie is just the chorus. Being the chorus, there's only one set of lyrics, about Matt Casey, and not BIff.

The song also features prominently in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, sung by another future-Bewitched alum (Kasey Rogers) & "friends" while riding the carousel. It's also heard throughout the amusement park scenes, along with "Ain't We Got Fun", "Ain't She Sweet" and "Oh, You Beautiful Doll". Hitchcock had a warped sense of humor.

And yes, we sang along!
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Swithin
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Swithin »

BagelOnAPlate wrote: May 7th, 2023, 11:39 pm I'm a fan of movies set in New York City in 1890s,
Raoul Walsh was born in NYC in 1887 and a natural to direct films set in the City. I guess his most famous of that genre was The Roaring Twenties (1939), but one that should not be overlooked is the pre-code film The Bowery (1933), which you can find on YouTube. It's based on two real New York characters of the 1890s and has a great feel for the period, including the music. It stars Wallace Beery, George Raft (who actually has a brief dance scene), Jackie Cooper, Fay Wray, and perhaps most wonderfully, Pert Kelton. The Bowery is not widely shown today, due to its rather stark stereotypes and total political incorrectness (from the first frame), but it's a fun, evocative film.

Here's Pert Kelton's first song, near the top of the movie:

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Allhallowsday
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Allhallowsday »

THE WHALE (2022) an uncomfortable film I could not stop watching.  Imperfect script?  Hateful characters?  Probably yes.  
BRENDAN FRASER's performance was riveting.  I can't say I liked the film, but I won't forget it.  
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BagelOnAPlate
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by BagelOnAPlate »

txfilmfan wrote: May 8th, 2023, 10:04 am
BagelOnAPlate wrote: May 7th, 2023, 11:39 pm I'm a fan of movies set in New York City in 1890s, but I did not become familiar with The Strawberry Blonde until recently.
A restoration of this Warner Brothers movie was screened at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festiva last month, which I attended, but I was at the Looney Tunes At The Oscars presentation when The Strawberry Blonde was shown at the Chinese Multiplex.
Signage with James Cagney and Oliva de Havilland was on display outside the Roosevelt Hotel. I did a double take when I saw it because I wasn't aware that James Cagney and Oliva de Havilland had played a romantic couple in a movie! (I knew they were both in Max Reinhardt's bizarre Warner Brothers production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.)

I watched the movie on Watch TCM today and I highly recommend watching it before it leaves that platform in the next 4 days. A great introduction by Wes Anderson is aired before the movie.

The title of the movie is taken from the lyrics of "The Band Played On," a song that plays an important part in the movie's plot. The strawberry blonde is played by Rita Hayworth. Warner Brothers intended for Ann Sheridan to play the part (it would have been a perfect role for her), but Rita Hayworth is fantastic.
James Cagney's character falls for the glamorous Hayworth character but his "friend" (I use the term loosely) played by Jack Carson marries her. Cagney's character ends up with the more serious character played by Olivia de Havilland.

At the end of the movie, there is an opportunity to sign along to "The Band Played On." The lyrics appear on the screen. One of the verses references "Biff Grimes," which was the name of James Cagney's character in the movie. I don't think those were the original lyrics from the 1890s. I wonder if the audience watching at the TCM Film Festival sang along?
I was not familiar with this film before the 2023 festival. I attended the screening there. They also showed a cartoon and short before this film, all from the same year as this film's release. There was no newsreel, as WB didn't have a newsreel department until 1947, when they bought RKO-Pathe News, and they were recreating a Warner Bros. night at the movies for 1941. It was an entertaining film and I wondered why I'd never come across it before.

Raoul Walsh directed and the cinematographer was the celebrated James Wong Howe. George Reeves (TV's Superman) has a supporting role as a mustachioed college jock who irritates James Cagney's character. Also look for Bewitched's George Tobias as Cagney's best friend.

As far as the song goes, no those lyrics aren't the original ones. For one thing, the original song is a hybrid 2/4, 3/4 song, with the chorus (the only part anyone knows these days) in 3/4 waltz time while the verses are in 2/4. So what is sung at the end of the movie is just the chorus. Being the chorus, there's only one set of lyrics, about Matt Casey, and not BIff.

The song also features prominently in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, sung by another future-Bewitched alum (Kasey Rogers) & "friends" while riding the carousel. It's also heard throughout the amusement park scenes, along with "Ain't We Got Fun", "Ain't She Sweet" and "Oh, You Beautiful Doll". Hitchcock had a warped sense of humor.

And yes, we sang along!

George Tobias had a very interesting hairstyle in The Strawberry Blonde . . .

Image

I meant to mention in my previous post that I saw Olivia de Havilland's hand prints and foot prints outside the Chinese Theatre when I was at the TCM Film Festival.
I was surprised at how small her hands and feet were!
Cinemaspeak59
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Cinemaspeak59 »

The Imperialists Are Still Alive! (2010) Writer-director Zeina Durra creates quite a character in Asya, (played fantastically by Élodie Bouchez). Asya is a Middle Eastern conceptual artist living in post 9/11 New York. When her ex, and first love, goes missing, she thinks the CIA may have put him on a rendition plane. Perhaps Asya is under surveillance. Don’t worry, this is not a political thriller, even though serious subjects play in the background. The mood has a delightful lightness, and is very funny. We get to visit underground nightclubs, experimental theaters, and avant-garde art galleries as Asya and her boyfriend try to unravel the mystery. Whit Stillman of Metropolitan fame makes the most of a wordless cameo.
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CinemaInternational
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by CinemaInternational »

Just have to say that Matinee (1993), which was on TCM yesterday afternoon was some of the most fun I've had at the movies for quite a while. Don't let the Cuban Missile Era part of the plot scare you all, its an affectionate comedy that doubles as both a coming of age film and as a spot-on parody of the old monster B-movies. It's blissfully charming, and the script and direction are ideal. Also want to make note that Cathy Moriarty's performance here is comic genius; almost every line she has is hilarious.
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Detective Jim McLeod
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Detective Jim McLeod »

Image

Mr Wu (1927) Youtube 7/10

Set in China, Mandarin Mr. Wu (Lon Chaney) has been schooled in the ways of the West, he has arranged a marriage for his daughter Nang Ping (Renee Adoree) but she falls in love with visiting Englishman Basil Gregory (Ralph Forbes).

A very good silent film, a bit slow to start but the pre code moments are jaw dropping. When Nang Ping becomes pregnant, Wu must take vengeance according to ancient Chinese law. It builds to a lurid and shocking climax as Gregory's mother is given a horrible choice. Well worth seeing for Chaney fans. Another interesting thing is Anna May Wong as Nang Ping's servant girl.
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Hibi
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Hibi »

BagelOnAPlate wrote: April 30th, 2023, 11:55 am
Fedya wrote: April 29th, 2023, 11:40 am
Masha wrote: April 28th, 2023, 11:51 pm
I have read that some people believe that it is over-the-top. It is Audrey Hepburn wearing Givenchy clothes and Cartier jewels. It is Peter O'Toole in a comedy role. It is set in the Paris art world of the 1960s. It is Hugh Griffith and Moustache in supporting roles.

What sane and sensible person would ever have the slightest hint of an idea that it is not extravagantly over-the-top?
Surprisingly, Hepburn isn't wearing Givenchy in Green Mansions.
I wonder how this costume would have looked if it had been designed by Givenchy.

Image
But someone did design it. Dorothy Jeakins.
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