WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

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movieman1957
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by movieman1957 »

Uncle Stevie, My wife (The Bride) has 10 of those currently living on our DVR. She has also watched several by now. She says she can always watch them later and still have it feel like Christmas.

Red, I'm sure people are busy. Glad to see some more on here. Tatum could have played a cabinet secretary. I couldn't have told you who Channing is before this movie either.

Lomm, are you about Cary Grant-ed out? "Mr. Blandings" is the best of the bunch.
Chris

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Lomm
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

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movieman1957 wrote:Lomm, are you about Cary Grant-ed out? "Mr. Blandings" is the best of the bunch.
That could never happen to me! :) He's my favorite actor of the classic era, and one of my favorites period. I haven't even gotten around to revisiting the best stuff yet. I still have a lot of early films to wade through, which will undoubtedly not all be gems. Some of them are from before he was CARY GRANT and just Cary Grant, the new guy. I agree that Mr Blandings is the best of those I've mentioned above, by a long shot.

I remembered another one I watched as well, 1950's Crisis, which has Grant as a doctor forced to operate on a third world dictator who has kidnapped his wife in the middle of a rebel uprising. It sounds better than it is, with (in my opinion) hammy acting from Jose Ferrer as the dictator and some poor pacing. Decent enough though.
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movieman1957
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by movieman1957 »

I've seen "Crisis" a time or two. It is an interesting enough premise but agree with you. It took me a little to warm up to it and Grant's role, or more him in it. A change of pace for sure.
Chris

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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

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Crisis, which has Grant as a doctor forced to operate on a third world dictator

Wow! I don't know this one at all. This sounds like an unusual role for the actor. But there was no typical role for Cary Grant. The man could do anything!
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Professional Tourist »

I came across a small, independent film from Peru this weekend, and was surprised at how good it is. Undertow, or Contracorriente (2009) is an unusual "ghost story" -- although more than that -- set in a small fishing village. Here is a trailer that doesn't give away too much of the story:

[youtube][/youtube]

If anyone is intrigued enough to watch this little ghost story, it's currently available to watch for free on Hulu (in the US):

http://www.hulu.com/watch/414575

It can also be streamed for a fee from sources such as Amazon and YouTube.
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Rita Hayworth »

I watched North by Northwest for the 5th time in 10 years and it's one of my favorite Cary Grant movie ... Great Drama!
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

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I wish I had time for details, but I'm at work. I'll just say PRIDE (2014) is an absolutely wonderful British film. 1984, gay rights group offers support to striking miners, issues come up. Bill Nighy is in it, so it has to be good! Tremendous movie.
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Lzcutter »

I was trying to get caught up on some of my DVR watching the last couple of weeks. Made it through all of Ken Burns' masterful series on the Roosevelts, this season of NCIS and most of Major Crimes -have two eppys left- and for Christmas Day and that Friday, got all caught up on this season of The Walking Dead. I guess nothing says the holidays around our house like zombies. Still have many shows to go -(Person of Interest, The Blacklist and Justified starts in a couple weeks.

We did see The Grand Budapest Hotel another wonderful, quirky and heart-warming film from Wes Anderson. We enjoyed it very much and recommend it highly.

As for films in the theater, MrC and I went to the movies for New Year's weekend and saw The Imitation Game which we both loved. Benedict Cumberbatch is SUPERB as Alan Turing and though the character is hardly the most likable of people, BC makes you care about him and by the end I was in tears. I would love for BC to win the Oscar this year for this role but I suspect Michael Keaton or Eddie Redmayne may get in the way of that. The supporting cast is terrific and the entire movie is well worth watching.

We also saw Into the Woods. We've never seen the stage musical and really enjoyed Meryl Streep's performance and the actors who play the baker and his wife but the film felt about four songs too long (blasphemy for a Sondheim musical, I know). Great art direction and production design.

Last night, we watched The Theory of Everything another film about a British genius. Stephen Hawking is much more likable than Alan Turing and Redmayne and Felicity Jones as his wife, Jane, are the center of the film Redmayne does a terrific job of capturing Hawking's physical decline as Lou Gehrig's disease ravages his body and it helps that Hawking has such a good sense of humor which Redmayne captures very well. Jones is every bit as good as Jane struggles to keep Hawking focused on his writing and keep her family together all while dealing with his disease. MrC liked it much more than I did- I kept thinking it hit all the right notes of the old "disease of the week" made for tv movies that used to be popular about thirty years ago or so. And Redmayne didn't move me nearly the way Cumberbatch did with his performance.

Up next, this Wednesday we are off to see American Sniper.

On the classic film front, I saw David Copperfield back in the early 1970s for the first time and Edna May Oliver and Lennox Pawle have always been my two favorite characters in that film.
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Lomm
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Lomm »

I second Grand Budapest Motel as a film worth seeing. I enjoyed it far more than I expected to.
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by RedRiver »

I believe my local grocery has a copy of "Grand Budapest" at a pretty low price. Any Wes Anderson film has potential.
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

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Last night I watched the Palm Beach Story, with Claudette Colbert and Joel McRea. I thought I had seen it before, but I must have confused it with another film. Colbert decides to leave her husband (McRea) because she believes she is holding him back. So she goes off to Palm Beach to get a divorce and find a rich benefactor to pay for her husbands dream project. Along the way she meets some interesting characters, including the potential benefactor, who falls head over heels for her. There is a particularly cringe-worthy (for our times) scene involving the black bartender on the train, and another similar - though less offensive - one with a black train porter, but otherwise this movie holds up quite well, and is very funny.

The night before I watched John Wick, a modern action movie starring Keanu Reeves. While cliche ridden and highly improbable like most films of the genre, it was refreshing to see an original project not based on a comic book or a remake of something else. I quite liked it. I wish that when I'm 50 I'm as fit as Keanu Reeves. :)

Finally, the other day it was Predestination, with Ethan Hawke. I left it with a "what the heck did I just watch?" feeling. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but the premise was just mad. :lol: I would not recommend wasting your time. Some good acting, but there are other, better movies that have good acting.
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by RedRiver »

I like Busby Berkely extravaganzas. Fun and then some!
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by RedRiver »

I bought a DVD of ten W. C. Fields classics for $20.00. That's a lot of money to part with at one time. But it's $2.00 a movie! That's not bad. I watched THE OLD FASHIONED WAY again. That's one of my favorites. THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE is not quite as good. But I enjoyed it. This weekend, I'll watch some more!
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