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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 14th, 2011, 4:14 pm
by moira finnie
MichiganJ wrote:
moirafinnie wrote: I wonder if they will cast the ubiquitous Robert Pattinson in this one?
Should I be embarrassed that I had to look up exactly who Robert Pattinson is? (He would certainly take the film in a different direction.)
Pattinson is that anemic looking guy in those Twilight movies who apparently is someone's idea of a "dreamy guy." The only reason I know him is because my sister has a subscription to People. He appears to be in every freakin' issue. James Franco might be okay, though I don't believe he suggests anything like danger with just a look. Maybe I'm wrong, but I bet it will be another pretty boy.

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 15th, 2011, 7:08 am
by moira finnie
You've given me another reason to check out Short Cut to Hell: it stars Georgann Johnson in the Veronica Lake role?? I remember her playing the good wife and mother on Somerset and can't imagine her ever playing a sexy part like Veronica.
Veronica Lake was no Georgann Johnson. Thank goodness.

I think the appreciation of the Twilight movies probably requires some kind of cult membership. I have a friend whose two teen daughters live and breathe the books and movies. Their Mom has gotten sucked into this mania too. It is spreading. Beware.

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 15th, 2011, 8:52 am
by MikeBSG
Yesterday I watched "The Brotherhood" (1968) directed by Martin Ritt and starring Kirk Douglas as a doomed mafioso.

I was really impressed. Douglas is simply terrific. This is one of his best performances. He doesn't just project an attitude but makes us believe he is a gangster torn between the old and new ways, being American and staying true to his roots. The movie is tough, swift and to the point.

Did the makers of this film sue "The Godfather"? Once you get past the frame story, the earliest event in the film is a wedding in which one of the characters is wearing his army uniform. Douglas plays with a little boy in one scene, and he talks about killing a guy with a gun he had to repair in a men's room. It seemed like every fifteen minutes there was something that made me think of the "Godfather."

The biggest drawback to the film was the music, which would have been better suited for a spaghetti western.

One of the great underrated gangster films.

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 15th, 2011, 8:54 am
by MikeBSG
My kids are immune to "Twilight," and they have the impression that its popularity peaked about a year or so ago.

Apparently when Universal remade "The Wolf Man," they got letters from angry "Twilight" fans denouncing them for defaming werewolves, which (as all Twilight readers know) are good and noble creatures who never do wrong.

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 15th, 2011, 12:55 pm
by charliechaplinfan
moirafinnie wrote:
You've given me another reason to check out Short Cut to Hell: it stars Georgann Johnson in the Veronica Lake role?? I remember her playing the good wife and mother on Somerset and can't imagine her ever playing a sexy part like Veronica.
Veronica Lake was no Georgann Johnson. Thank goodness.

I think the appreciation of the Twilight movies probably requires some kind of cult membership. I have a friend whose two teen daughters live and breathe the books and movies. Their Mom has gotten sucked into this mania too. It is spreading. Beware.
I've lost count of the amount of times they've been recommended to me, our next door neighbours, that's teenage daughter, Mum and Grandma are absolutely addicted. The recommendation usually comes on the back of 'you like movies/books, you should watch/read these......' and they think I'm barmy that I've not sucumbed especially since I have lots of spare time at the moment.

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 15th, 2011, 8:25 pm
by Lzcutter
King,

I thought I was the only one who watched Somerset. Glad to know I wasn't the only one!

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 16th, 2011, 10:45 am
by MikeBSG
Yesterday my daughter and I saw Woody Allen's latest, "Midnight in Paris."

She liked it a lot more than I did. It's a good film, but I can't see why it's getting so much praise. "Vicky Cristy Barcellona" was far better. "Midnight" is clever, but it also put me in mind of "Play it Again, Sam" and Allen's short story "The Kugelmass Episode." (from around 1979 or so.)

Still Rachel MacAdams is radiant as the hero's fiancee. Owen Wilson was okay as the hero. Again, I don't see why he has gotten so much praise.

There are several very funny scenes, including one involving Luis Bunnel. if you get the chance to see "Midnight in Paris," I'd recommend taking it.

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 16th, 2011, 11:06 am
by Gary J.
Whenever Owen Wilson tries to act outside of his comfort zone
of the Valley Boy Surfer Dude he loses me.....

Whenever he stays inside of his comfort zone of the
Valley Boy Surfer Dude he has already lost me.....

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 17th, 2011, 1:54 pm
by charliechaplinfan
I watched Intermezzo starring Gosta Ekman and Ingrid Bergman and directed by Gustaf Molander, the story wasn't new to me having seen the Hollywood version but it felt very fresh, Ekman as the Professor, a maestro violionist is a revelation, he was everything I thought he be since seeing and admiring his performance in Faust some years before, he puts across the lover torn between his young accompanist and his realisation of how he misses his family. The tale could have been far more mawkish but the performances here keep it from falling into the sentimental, despite two very cute children in the cast. Ingrid Bergman is billed only third and shines as the natural screen performer she is, it is Ekman though that holds the true honours. Well done to Kino for releasing these.

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 17th, 2011, 4:14 pm
by MikeBSG
Yesterday I watched the Special Edition of the 1994 "Wyatt Earp" directed by Lawrence Kasdan and starring Kevin Costner.

I had never seen the film before, and I have to say I liked it very much. I thought Costner did a good job with the character, showing him change from a young idealist to a hardnose to a tired old man. Dennis Quaid was incredible as Doc Holliday. The film itself covers a great deal of ground, almost the whole post-Civil War frontier experience, yet remained clear and interesting. I'd consider this one of the great westerns and a hugely underrated film.

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 17th, 2011, 9:26 pm
by movieman1957
You are one of the few that really like "Wyatt Earp." Most that I have read or heard find it too long (on that I am in agreement) and that it suffers compared to "Tombstone" which covered similar ground only a year or two before.

I agree that Costner did a fine job and that Quaid gives an unusual interpretation of Doc. I don't love it but I do enjoy it but it does go on a bit.

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 18th, 2011, 3:59 pm
by movieman1957
Watched the WWII drama "Hell To Eternity." It stars Jeffrey Hunter, David Jansen with a cameo by Sessue Hayakawa. It is based the real life story of Guy Gabaldon who when orphaned at about 13 was taken in and raised by a Japanese family. Ten years later comes WWII and it all changes. His new family is sent off to internment camps and the boys are later allowed to join the military.

This story follows Guy through his Pacific tour of duty and how his growing up in the Japanese culture affects his dealing with Japanese soldiers and the civilian population on Saipan. Jeffrey Hunter gives a fine performance in the lead role. He is sympathetic to his adopted way of life but no so much that he can't do what needs doing. The film also gives a good idea of his life before the war that gives the ground work for his attitudes.

The one major drawback for me was about a twenty minute segment that deals with the men having a pass while training. This is pretty much between the two major segments of the film. It is too long and too unnecessary. It's just three couples getting hammered and two of the women seeing who can out "stripper" the other. They should have just lost that segment.

Directed by Phil Karlson. Available from Netflix instant viewing.

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 20th, 2011, 8:38 am
by MikeBSG
Watched most of "Stagecoach" last night on TCM's "Essentials Jr." (Was interrupted by a long-distance phone call about a half-hour in.)

Watching the movie this time, I was struck by how "Stagecoach" is always associated with John Wayne, "the movie that made John Wayne," etc., but while watching it Claire Trevor and Thomas Mitchell seem as important as Wayne if not more so. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Also, I was struck by how much of the Lordsburg scenes (Ringo vs. the Plummer brothers) foreshadows/would be expanded on in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance."

The host of "Essentials Jr." struck me as okay. Not great, but not lousy either.

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Posted: June 20th, 2011, 9:53 am
by moira finnie
I caught the end of Stagecoach last night too. I kept seeing expressionism in all the Lordsburg scenes with shadows and lines (especially when Wayne went forth to face the men after him on the street and Clair Trevor listened to the sounds of the gunfight on the bridge amid a welter of sharp angles from the roofs of the shacks) that would not have been out of place in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. I guess the great Bert Glennon was getting ready to light all those noirs he photographed (not to mention the future Ford films).
I am assuming that the darkness of the town was a commentary on creeping civilization's claustrophobic aspects. I really liked this image of the bad guy, Luke getting up from his card game after hearing that Ringo was in town. Of course, I suppose some of the stygian gloom could be one more reason why the film needs a restoration--though much of it looks planned for dramatic effect.
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