WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[CineMaven]

Whew! Good. So you do know the difference.

[movieman1957]

But they both often wear brightly colored socks to bring attention to their feet - as if it were needed.

[feaito]

This film piqued my interest Kingrat. Thanks for posting this review.

[movieman1957]

I watched Robert Mitchum in "Thunder Road." What a mess. About the only thing that was any good about it were the car crashes and the explosions. Even that isn't enough to recommend it.

I can't remember the last time I saw a collection of more wooden performances than here. I know it's James Mitchum's first role but could anyone have a face that shows less emotion than his. Frankly, I'm surprised he ever had another acting job. Even the likes of Gene Barry give anything more than pedestrian performances.

The dialogue is stiff. The camera movement is static. It almost feels as if every scene of dialogue that doesn't show both characters was obviously done alone later. There is one scene where Barry talks to the younger Mitchum (who is playing Robert's younger brother) that goes from an outdoor set to an indoor set that is so "painted" that it doesn't even look close to being real.

Some other things that are just clumsy don't help. Oh, the music score is so all over the place that it's funny. Maybe this is one of those bad movies people love.

Didn't care for it but you gathered that by now.

[charliechaplinfan]

Two franchot Tone movies, Pilot No 5 with Gene Kelly was good, a pilot who volunteers for a fatal mission and we see his life in flash back and how he changed from a high flying lawyer to defender of the common man, Gene Kelly played his partner in the law firm who later joined the airforce with him. It showed how good both men could be at straight acting. An even better Franchot Tone movie was Five Graves to Cairo, I've never seen it before, I was gripped although did Von Stroheim, great as he was as Rommel, looked rather overweight an old to effectively look like him but he's so good to watch. Anne Baxter was great in her role, Peter Van Eyck, he's very nice, almost had me rooting for the Germans. A brilliant performance from Tone, perhaps his best.

A change but the same era, this time Paul Henried in Conspirators with the lovely Hedy Lamarr, couldn't help thinking that they'd borrowed from the Casablanca story a little too freely but it had Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, I wasn't complaining.

[movieman1957]

My family is from northeast TN and while there is no indication anyone was ever involved in it I know the region has a history to it. That was one of the reasons why I thought I'd check it out. I thought the basic story could have been interesting enough they just didn't carry it off that well.

[RedRiver]

Interestingly, I like everything about the ultimate drive-in feature, THUNDER ROAD. Those elements that lack production quality simply add to the fun. It's a popcorn movie! Detriments aside, I find the concept intriguing, the chase exciting, the backwoods Kentucky culture familiar, at least by hearsay if not experience. This is not Mitchum's best performance, but he rarely turned in a bad one. He's OK here.

[RedRiver]

This is a soft, intimate movie by a talented director. One doesn't look for impressive visuals (though you have admirably found some), or epic storyline. This drama takes place in a smaller, more personal world. Like the one we live in. Extremely well played, thoughtfully staged, this is yet another Sirk love story that gets right to the heart. When I see ads for IRON MAN 12, FAST AND SUPERFLUOUS and ABRAHAM LINCOLN EATS ZOMBIES, I run right to the library and get a movie like this. Thank God they're still around!

[sandykaypax]

Catching up here with a grab bag of thoughts from me--

I recorded There's Always Tomorrow, because I'm always on the lookout for Stanwyck films. Not only have I never seen it, I had never even heard of it. Sounds good from what was posted here.

The Great Gatsby--this is one of my favorite books of all time, so I am very eager to see this one! Plans to see it last weekend fell through, so hopefully it will happen this weekend. So glad to read Wendy's wonderfully written review! I love Baz Luhrman's films--always a visual feast. I approve of the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby--a fine, fine actor. I'm very interested to see Carey Mulligan as Daisy. I absolutely loved her performance in An Education, and I've always been extremely disappointed in Mia Farrow's turn as Daisy in the 1974 version (although I like Robert Redford as Gatsby).

The thing that has always resonated with me about the novel is that feeling of being an outsider. Who hasn't felt that at one time or another? I love that the narrator, Nick Carraway, is an insider, in terms of being born into that world of wealth and society that Gatsby longs to be part of, yet he also sees himself as an outsider.

I've been listening to the soundtrack on spotify, and I look forward to seeing how it's used in the film. I think the use of Jay-Z as the producer was sort of brilliant. The world of rap and hip hop is also a world where great wealth can be amassed quickly, yet doesn't necessarily buy one entree into high society, as it were. It's still about old money vs. new money.

I've been on a Steve Martin film fest here at home. It started by watching The Big Year, then I moved on to Cheaper By the Dozen, Three Amigos, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, The Lonely Guy and The Jerk.

Three Amigos on blu-ray looks gorgeous! I laughed and laughed. So nice when a fondly remembered film still holds up. It's silly, and slight, but charming. But Chevy Chase--ugh. He really has VERY limited range and appeal as an actor. Martin Short is delightful and so is Steve Martin.

Cheaper by the Dozen--of course, it's nothing like the Clifton Webb film or the original book. So, I just let that go. Side note: I was in the play in junior high at my school, so it's long been a favorite. In the remake, Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt are both so likable and believable as parents. But the movie suffers from ridiculous comedic bits that are sooooo tired. My beef with so many current family films--let's include stuff that kids will find funny! A frog gets loose! Hilarious. Bratty kids are funny! NO, they aren't. So, this wasn't terrible, but could've been so much better.

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid--this one is fun for classic film fans. Martin looks great as the noir detective, Rigby Reardon. I had fun trying to name the old film clips interspersed throughout.

The Jerk--I've seen this one many times before, but always in pan and scan on tv. Great to see it in widescreen. Martin's first film still made me laugh, and Bernadette Peters is adorable.

The Lonely Guy--ugh. Labored. Maybe it was funnier in 1984. The only parts that I laughed at were several scenes between Martin and Charles Grodin that seemed improvised.

Sandy K

[CineMaven]

Catching up here with a grab bag of thoughts from me--

The Great Gatsby--this is one of my favorite books of all time, so I am very eager to see this one! Plans to see it last weekend fell through, so hopefully it will happen this weekend. So glad to read Wendy's wonderfully written review! I love Baz Luhrman's films--always a visual feast. I approve of the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby--a fine, fine actor. I'm very interested to see Carey Mulligan as Daisy. I absolutely loved her performance in An Education, and I've always been extremely disappointed in Mia Farrow's turn as Daisy in the 1974 version (although I like Robert Redford as Gatsby)...

I've been listening to the soundtrack on spotify, and I look forward to seeing how it's used in the film. I think the use of Jay-Z as the producer was sort of brilliant. The world of rap and hip hop is also a world where great wealth can be amassed quickly, yet doesn't necessarily buy one entree into high society, as it were. It's still about old money vs. new money.

Sandy K

Sandy, I hope your plans come through to see "THE GREAT GATSBY." I'm curious as to your take on it. Good point about the nouveau riche. Poor Jay Gatsby. All his money and yet he was still uncomfortable in his own skin.

[feaito]

I wouldn’t be spoiling THERE’S ALWAYS TOMORROW (1956, dir. Douglas Sirk) if I told you exactly what happened, because given the premise and the times, there’s only one way the story can play out. Cliff (Fred MacMurray) is a successful toy manufacturer who lives in Pasadena with his wife Marion (Joan Bennett) and three children. Back into his life comes a former girlfriend, Norma (Barbara Stanwyck), now a successful dress designer in New York. The old flame is re-kindled, though neither of them deliberately sets out to do this. Cliff’s wife is too busy being a mother to devote much time to him. All three points of the triangle are honorable people, so the ending is inevitable.

But that still wouldn’t give you the experience of the film, for Douglas Sirk’s direction shapes the way we perceive the situation. The opening scenes are directed with particular skill, and noticing where Sirk puts the camera and the characters enhanced my enjoyment of the film considerably. One of the toys in Cliff’s factory, Rex the Robot Man, seems to stand for the kind of mechanical life Cliff leads and, in the end, accepts. In one interesting shot toward the end of the film, Cliff and Norma are talking in the workroom about their situation as they stand behind the table where the robot is. Cliff inadvertently turns the robot on, and Rex walks at an oblique angle toward the viewer, but the cut comes before he inevitably walks off the table. I have been doubtful about the claims made for Sirk’s mise-en-scene in certain other films, but not here.

We see Norma as a busy executive in one scene where she sharply orders around various employees, all female. What’s interesting is that a couple of her comments are that the employee should have made the decision herself—“You’re a manager, that’s what I pay you for. You decide.” Yes, Barbara Stanwyck inevitably has the big speech where she wishes she had the life Joan Bennett has, with husband and children, etc. Does the film endorse this point of view, or do we think that these are the regrets anyone might have about the road not taken, but that Norma would have ultimately been unhappy without her career? The film is as explicit as a 1956 American film can be that Marion avoids having sex with Cliff—that is, the subject is never raised directly, but adults understand what’s going on (or not going on). The ending of the film is fairly ambiguous. Cliff does the right thing—of course he does—but the limitations of his life seem all too clear.

Incidentally, this film has inspired the most intelligent comments at the TCM site of any movie discussed there lately.

PERHAPS MY FAVORITE SIRK MOVIE. SUPERIOR.

[feaito]

On Sunday revisited Merchant-Ivory's "A Room with a View" (1985) for the nth time; such a well done, exquisite film, filled with subtleties and finesse; nuanced characterizations by top actors, especially the tremendously talented Maggie Smith and Daniel-Day Lewis who can play a stuffy, affected, pretentious man like Cecil Vyse, a daring hero like the lead character in "The Last of the Mohicans", etc. Helena Bonham-Carter and Julian Sands are perfect as the young lovers. Judi Dench as the authoress, Rupert Graves as Lucy's mischievous brother, Simon Cowell as the likable vicar and Denholm Elliott as George's father, are all superb. A great character study. 10/10 Probably my favorite Merchant-Ivory production.

The film is available on youtube:

[youtube][/youtube]