I Just Watched...

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

Post by TikiSoo »

Cuthbert wrote: January 15th, 2023, 7:35 pm Metropolitan (1990)
This movie is on my ten-best list. It’s one of the great New York movies and is my favorite New York Christmas movie.
(snipped)
At the various dances and after parties in lovely New York apartments during the holiday break, they talk about philosophy (particularly Fourier), romance, literature (particularly Jane Austen) and what they see as the decline of the debutante society in which many of them were raised.

(Like two of the lead characters, I took a cab to the Hamptons once, in an extravagant mood.)
Haha thanks for describing a little about this movie-I had recorded it based on your recommendation but haven't watched it yet. I was brought up in "society" so it sounds right up my alley.

I have to say my most extravagant cab ride was transporting myself & a carousel horse from Hartford CT to NYC's Yale Club to demonstrate painting restoration. I was completely smashed upon arrival, picked up a 90 year old friend as my date & had an unforgettable evening!
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HoldenIsHere
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by HoldenIsHere »

Cuthbert wrote: January 15th, 2023, 7:35 pm Metropolitan (1990)
Directed by Whit Stillman
TCM On Demand

This movie is on my ten-best list. It’s one of the great New York movies and is my favorite New York Christmas movie. Shot on location, it has the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, great shots of Manhattan neighbourhoods and buildings, and even a trip to the Hamptons.
Thanks for the reminder that METROPOLITAN is on Watch TCM. I watched it last night. I really like this movie as well as Walt Stillman's later THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO.

Stillman's dialogue is comic brilliance. The actors don't play it for laughs, but it's hilariously funny (more so because it's played seriously).

The part that always makes me laugh is Chris Eigeman's character Nick Smith's response when a female character tells him: "You’re a snob, a sexist, totally obnoxious and tiresome. And lately you’ve gotten just weird.”
Nick responds: "I am not tiresome."

I also love the cab's driver's response when Taylor Nichols's character Charlie Black pays him for the cab ride from Manhattan to the Hamptons: "What is this s***?"
Thompson
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Thompson »

I just watched a couple episodes of Breaking Bad. More to come. Impressed.

Hope this is not off topic.
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Swithin
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Swithin »

:lol:
TikiSoo wrote: January 16th, 2023, 8:38 am
Cuthbert wrote: January 15th, 2023, 7:35 pm Metropolitan (1990)
This movie is on my ten-best list. It’s one of the great New York movies and is my favorite New York Christmas movie.
(snipped)
At the various dances and after parties in lovely New York apartments during the holiday break, they talk about philosophy (particularly Fourier), romance, literature (particularly Jane Austen) and what they see as the decline of the debutante society in which many of them were raised.

(Like two of the lead characters, I took a cab to the Hamptons once, in an extravagant mood.)
Haha thanks for describing a little about this movie-I had recorded it based on your recommendation but haven't watched it yet. I was brought up in "society" so it sounds right up my alley.

I have to say my most extravagant cab ride was transporting myself & a carousel horse from Hartford CT to NYC's Yale Club to demonstrate painting restoration. I was completely smashed upon arrival, picked up a 90 year old friend as my date & had an unforgettable evening!
:)
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Swithin
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Swithin »

HoldenIsHere wrote: January 16th, 2023, 3:20 pm
Cuthbert wrote: January 15th, 2023, 7:35 pm Metropolitan (1990)
Directed by Whit Stillman
TCM On Demand

This movie is on my ten-best list. It’s one of the great New York movies and is my favorite New York Christmas movie. Shot on location, it has the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, great shots of Manhattan neighbourhoods and buildings, and even a trip to the Hamptons.
Thanks for the reminder that METROPOLITAN is on Watch TCM. I watched it last night. I really like this movie as well as Walt Stillman's later THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO.
I love The Last Days of Disco. Barcelona is good, though perhaps not as good as the other two (haven't seen it in a while, I should take another look). It does have some sublime moments, like Taylor Nichols' dance to "Pennsylvania 6-5000" as he's reading the Bible. Chris Eigeman walks in unexpectedly and asks: "What is this, some strange Glenn Miller-based religious ceremony?"

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jamesjazzguitar
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by jamesjazzguitar »

kingrat wrote: January 16th, 2023, 6:48 pm We watched the first three Torchy Blane movies and thought they were fun. The Adventurous Blonde has a particularly neat mystery plot. Glenda Farrell deserves a more appealing leading man than Barton MacLane, however. He's like the B-Movie Pat O'Brien, who has never seemed like a leading man, either.
Barton MacLane was under contract with WB (like Farrell), and these were "B" pictures (films shown before the main attraction). I can't think of another actor in the "class" of MacLane, WB had under contract, that Hal Wallis could have cast, other than maybe Bogart (who at the time was in the same "class" as MacLane as far as Jack Warner was concerned). Patrick Knowles, Ian Hunter, or Jeffery Lynn, didn't have that tough guy screen persona.
Cinemaspeak59
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Cinemaspeak59 »

Cuthbert wrote: January 15th, 2023, 7:35 pm Metropolitan (1990)
Directed by Whit Stillman
TCM On Demand

This movie is on my ten-best list. It’s one of the great New York movies and is my favorite New York Christmas movie. Shot on location, it has the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, great shots of Manhattan neighbourhoods and buildings, and even a trip to the Hamptons. (Like two of the lead characters, I took a cab to the Hamptons once, in an extravagant mood.) It has the Plaza and Waldorf hotels, and the last Automat, which closed shortly after the movie was shot. It has Christmas Eve in Saint Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue, which I know well, because the only time in my life (what was I thinking?!) that I took communion was in Saint Thomas Church on Christmas Eve. But most of all it has a charming group of young people and one of the great scripts. Director/screenwriter Whit Stillman, who knew the milieu he was writing about, has a Rohmer-esque respect for the value of dialogue. His brilliant script was Oscar-nominated.

Tom Townsend, a middle-class Upper West Sider, accidentally falls in with a group of Upper East Side preppies, who call themselves UHB’s (Urban Haute Bourgeoisie). At the various dances and after parties in lovely New York apartments during the holiday break, they talk about philosophy (particularly Fourier), romance, literature (particularly Jane Austen) and what they see as the decline of the debutante society in which many of them were raised. Relationships develop, there is bitchiness, and there is real warmth and affection. I saw this movie when it was released, and later on TCM, when RO interviewed Whit Stillman. I just watched it on TCM On Demand. I love this movie.

Metropolitan was the first movie for most of the young cast members. Particularly noteworthy are Chris Eigeman and Taylor Nichols, who went on to work with Whit Stillman on his other movies.

(In 1998, I had dinner at the Old Town Bar, one of New York's oldest pubs, then went around the corner to see Stillman's The Last Days of Disco. The bar was in the film! We had no idea.)



Christmas Eve scene, Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue at 53rd Street


Image

Image
Taylor Nichols and Edward Clements in the cab to the Hamptons

Image
Chris Eigeman (center)
Excellent review. Metropolitan is a delight, and gets better with repeat viewings. I like all of Whit Stillman's films. After The Last Days of Disco in 1998, Stillman's next movie was Damsels in Distress (highly recommended) in 2011. Stillman said the long gap was not self-imposed, but due to not being able to secure backing.
Cinemaspeak59
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Cinemaspeak59 »

Knives Out (2019). Rian Johnson recognized the charm of the drawing room murder mystery, popularized by Agatha Christie. Johnson tweaks the formula through its narcissistic characters, who are not aristocrats, but are well-to-do thanks to their family patriarch, a rich mystery writer played by Christopher Plummer. Daniel Craig plays Benoit Blanc, an American offshoot of Hercule Poirot, eccentricities and all. Craig’s southern accent is thick but goes down easy. Also part of the stellar cast are Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Toni Collette and LaKeith Stanfield. The movie is very funny, and the ending is not so much out of left field, but still quite satisfying. I’m looking forward to the follow-up, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
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TikiSoo
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Re: I Just Watched...

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Last night I watched 1947's OUT OF THE BLUE with the strong cast of George Brent, Virginia Mayo, Turhan Bey, Ann Dvorak & Carole Landis!

This screwball comedy seemed kind of forced and less believable than those from a decade earlier, not sure why. But once I accepted it as such, found it pretty funny and enjoyed all the performances, even Dvorak's one note portrayal of a lush was entertaining.

Most notable is George Brent playing the milquetoast who can't rid himself of Dvorak looking for a drink before his wife comes home. I've never seen him attempting comedy and his Coke bottle glasses help the image. And there are several scenes we get to see his famous wide rear end as he attempts to hide Dvorak in a steamer trunk. (the mic boom makes a few appearances too)

Virginia Mayo is delightful as usual, and between Carole Landis & Ann Dvorak you see several gorgeous costumes.
I had never seen Turhan Bey in a movie before and he reminded me of Orson Welles a bit in looks & demeanor. The high point of Bey's appearance was seeing him in white shorts, socks & sandals looking as if cast from a Village People video as the "Tennis Player"
Image

The story had a few cute running gags about spinster neighbors seeing Dvorak passed out in a drunken stupor and thinking she's been murdered and of course the Brent charactor trying to get rid of her any way possible.
This under 90 minute romp may be predictable, but because it's perfectly cast & acted and fun to watch-recorded from TCM last month.
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Swithin
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Swithin »

TikiSoo wrote: January 18th, 2023, 7:53 am Last night I watched 1947's OUT OF THE BLUE with the strong cast of George Brent, Virginia Mayo, Turhan Bey, Ann Dvorak & Carole Landis!

This screwball comedy seemed kind of forced and less believable than those from a decade earlier, not sure why. But once I accepted it as such, found it pretty funny and enjoyed all the performances, even Dvorak's one note portrayal of a lush was entertaining.

Most notable is George Brent playing the milquetoast who can't rid himself of Dvorak looking for a drink before his wife comes home. I've never seen him attempting comedy and his Coke bottle glasses help the image. And there are several scenes we get to see his famous wide rear end as he attempts to hide Dvorak in a steamer trunk. (the mic boom makes a few appearances too)

Virginia Mayo is delightful as usual, and between Carole Landis & Ann Dvorak you see several gorgeous costumes.
I had never seen Turhan Bey in a movie before and he reminded me of Orson Welles a bit in looks & demeanor. The high point of Bey's appearance was seeing him in white shorts, socks & sandals looking as if cast from a Village People video as the "Tennis Player"
I wasn't familiar with Out of the Blue but it sounds like fun and has two of my favorite actors in it: Ann Dvorak and Turban Bey. I've never seen Bey in that sort of outfit!

I first saw Turhan Bey in The Mummy's Tomb, in which he plays the Mummy's keeper. If you want to see a fun film in which Bey is the star, try A Night in Paradise, his film which precedes Out of the Blue. He plays Aesop. It was a big, expensive flop but I find it enjoyable.
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by nakanosunplaza »

Re Out of the Blue- Dvorak is excellent,playing a role not usual for her,she is the best act in the film imho.
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Detective Jim McLeod
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Detective Jim McLeod »

My Friend Flicka (1943) TCM On Demand 6/10

A young boy (Roddy McDowall) yearns to have a colt of his own.

An OK family film about a child and an animal, not as good as Lassie Come Home (1943) and The Yearling (1946) but made watchable for Roddy's performance and some beautiful color scenes of horses galloping on green fields. Although the film is very short (89 min) it takes a long time to get the boy and the colt Flicka together. After Flicka is injured, it gets more interesting and touching. Final scene seems kind of abrupt but it works pretty well. Roddy had some stories to tell about the filming, saying Flicka was a real nasty horse who would kick and step on his feet.
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HoldenIsHere
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by HoldenIsHere »

Cuthbert wrote: January 16th, 2023, 4:42 pm
HoldenIsHere wrote: January 16th, 2023, 3:20 pm
Cuthbert wrote: January 15th, 2023, 7:35 pm Metropolitan (1990)
Directed by Whit Stillman
TCM On Demand

This movie is on my ten-best list. It’s one of the great New York movies and is my favorite New York Christmas movie. Shot on location, it has the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, great shots of Manhattan neighbourhoods and buildings, and even a trip to the Hamptons.
Thanks for the reminder that METROPOLITAN is on Watch TCM. I watched it last night. I really like this movie as well as Walt Stillman's later THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO.
I love The Last Days of Disco. Barcelona is good, though perhaps not as good as the other two (haven't seen it in a while, I should take another look). It does have some sublime moments, like Taylor Nichols' dance to "Pennsylvania 6-5000" as he's reading the Bible. Chris Eigeman walks in unexpectedly and asks: "What is this, some strange Glenn Miller-based religious ceremony?"

I haven't seen BARCELONA, but now I want to. Thanks for posting that clip.

Apparently Edward Clements, who had the lead role in METROPOLITAN, did not appear in many other movies. In fact, the only other movie credit I can find for him is the role of Young Crewman in STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY.
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