WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

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AMfan
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by AMfan »

I don't know if anyone watched, but Mrs. Parkington was on recently. (It's still on TCM on demand.) It is my favorite Agnes Moorehead movie. I think it is a very good picture in it's own right, but it's even better with Anges in it. :wink: :)
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Fossy
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Fossy »

Annie Oakley (1935)

A well made biopic and a good show to watch. Barbara Stanwyck did a great job as Annie, as did Preston Foster as Toby Walker. Like as all biopics the truth is not allowed to spoil the story.

For instance, at the time of the shooting contest Annie had not yet adopted the name Oakley, which became her professional name. 15 year old Annie did not deliberately lose the shooting contest, but actually won it. The contest was not against Toby Walker, but Frank Butler who she married the following year at age 16 years.

And the bottom line
I enjoy all biopics, no matter how distorted they may be, and this is as good as any.
RedRiver
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by RedRiver »

That is a cute little movie. I don't think I've ever seen a ridiculously non-factual western bio pic I didn't like! Consider DeMille's THE PLAINSMAN!
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movieman1957
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by movieman1957 »

For a lark The Bride and I have been watching the Star War films in prep for finally seeing the new one. We are watching them in order of the stories Episodes 1 and 2 were okay but am rather ambivalent about Ep. 3. Parts of it I thought were quite good but I thought there was too many fighting/battle scenes that went on too long. My favorite part was the end when the kids are born and we meet Darth Vader.

The moral dilemma of Annakin and some of the other parts of the story were interesting but at one point we thought we had been watching it all night and we were 90 minutes in. Now, we go on to the original series.

Yes, we've seen them before but not recently and maybe it was the cold night but I don't remember seeing it that way originally. All three of these could have used some trimming but this episode seemed to benefit most for me.
Chris

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Lomm
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Lomm »

I watched a pair of Carole Lombard films today, unintentionally watching her marry Chester Morris twice in one afternoon. :)

Sinners in the Sun has the pair each going off with the wrong person, she with a rich philanderer and he with a wealthy socialite. The Gay Bride has Carole as a goldigger looking to marry any number of mob bosses to get rich, all the while never realizing that the mob bookkeeper, "Office Boy" was the right man for her all along. In both cases, after a series of misadventures and misunderstandings, the couple go on to live happily ever after. In the latter, I truly thought the film was turning to a tragic ending with Office Boy getting shot and (I believed) killed just as she was almost out of the terrible gangster life she'd gotten herself into. Happily, the next scene has him recovering in the hospital just prior to their wedding. :)

Two very similar, relatively short films which I enjoyed. I didn't know just how many films Chester Morris was in that I have seen until today. He was everywhere!
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Masha
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Masha »

It has become my custom to not watch a full movie in a single sitting. I place a DVD instead in the player and set it on endless repeat and allow it to play as I do other things. It is much nicer than having television programs playing because it does not require attention which is necessary when horrid programs begin.

I have been in this way playing/watching/having as background the movie: Serenity (2005) for several days. I know that some will turn away at once because it is modern movie or because it is action adventure comedy romance set in Dystopian future. I feel that this is a loss as it is a wonderful movie which rises far above its genres in many ways.

The movie is of a whole because it is vision of: Joss Whedon who wrote and directed it. All actors are comfortable and believable in their roles as they were cast of ill-fated, Emmy-winning television program on which the movie is based.

It is a story of a war hero on the losing side who is now: smuggler/freebooter/gun-for-hire/thief leading a crew of damaged people with a ship which has bits falling off of it.

Mal: You told me those couplings would hold for another week!
Kaylee: That was six months ago, Cap'n.

It is a story of a young girl who was subjected to horrific psychological tortures as part of government program to transform her into a specialized soldier. She is played by Summer Glau who was ballerina before becoming an actress. Her waif-like appearance and wonderfully expressive face make her the character. I believe it is quite rare to find a person who so very much becomes their character.

Mal: The government's man says you're a danger to us. Not worth helping. Is he right? Are you anything but a weapon? I've staked my crew's life on the theory that you're a person, actual and whole, and if I'm wrong, you'd best shoot me now ... [she pulls back the hammer of the gun she is pointing at him] ... or, we could talk more.

One aspect which makes this movie perfectly wonderful is that there are many scenes which are normal for this type of movie and the situations within it and the viewer is comfortable that they know how the scene will end. Then there is of a sudden a completely unexpected moment of great intensity which adds layers of complexity to the world and the character. These are not cardboard characters being pushed around the props of standard Dystopian future. These are real people with real pasts and real feelings and real problems.

The Operative: I believe in something greater than myself. A better world. A world without sin.
Mal: So me and mine gotta lay down and die, so you can live in your better world?
The Operative: I'm not going to live there. There's no place for me there any more than there is for you, Malcolm. I'm a monster. What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done.

There are times when revelations are even more personal:

Kaylee: Goin' on a year now I ain't had nothin' twixt my nethers weren't run on batteries!

I freely admit that production values and cinematography are not of highest quality. I find they are sufficient to show the story with no intrusions on viewers identifying with the characters within that world. It is not nearly so cheesy as Doctor Who nor is it refined gosh-wow of current Hollywood blockbusters.

I find quite wonderful that: CGI is limited to those things which it does exceptionally well: space ships and structures. The only animated characters are in advertisement for: Oatey Bars.

This is a movie about love in its many forms. Kaylee's unrequited love for the ship's doctor. The love between the meek pilot and the gung-ho second-in-command. Jayne's love of shooting holes in things. The doctor's love for his damaged sister. Mal's love for a professional companion and his love for his ship.

Mal: You can learn all the math in the 'Verse, but you take a boat in the air that you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
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Lomm
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Lomm »

Firefly is one of my favorite shows of all time. It's always saddened me we only got so few episodes out of such a great concept and cast (I'm assuming you know Serenity is the final act from a TV series. If not, you must watch it!). I'm glad Whedon was able to make Serenity to wrap up the story, for the most part. But Wash... :(
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Masha
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Masha »

Lomm wrote:Firefly is one of my favorite shows of all time. It's always saddened me we only got so few episodes out of such a great concept and cast (I'm assuming you know Serenity is the final act from a TV series. If not, you must watch it!). I'm glad Whedon was able to make Serenity to wrap up the story, for the most part. But Wash... :(
I came to: Serenity (2005) because of: Firefly (2002). I have read Universal made script demands based on actors not being available for a sequel to be made in the next year. It is sad to say that the movie did not do well at the box-office and so sequel was shelved. It is my understanding that there remains possibility but director and lead are contractually committed to other projects for a few more years.
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Fossy
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Fossy »

His Girl Friday (1940)

Rosalind Russell has just divorced Cary Grant and is about to marry Ralph Bellamy. Cary Grant does all sorts of things to stop her remarriage. This was just an ordinary show, but toward the end there was an interesting passage.

The Mayor and the Sherrif, (both dishonest), are trying to block a news story, which is to be printed by Rosalind and Cary.

The Mayor--(To Rosalind and Cary) "Whistling in the dark, well that isn`t going to help you now".

Cary Grant--(To the Mayor), "The last man who said that to me was Archie Leach, just a week before he cut his throat".
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Lomm
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Lomm »

Heh, when I first watched it I wouldn't have gotten that. It was one of the movies that made me a fan of Cary Grant's early work, and I didn't know much about him yet.
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movieman1957
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by movieman1957 »

This is also the one, I'm rather sure, where one of the scenes they mention there is a guy in the waiting area that looks like Ralph Bellamy, which, of course, it is Ralph Bellamy.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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Fossy
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Fossy »

You are correct Movieman. It makes me wonder if there are other "subtle asides" in this movie.
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Fossy
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Fossy »

Tarzan

Today I watched three Tarzan movies.

Tarzan Of The Apes (1918 )

I had always thought that Elmo Lincoln was the first Tarzan, but I found that before he grew up Gordon Griffiths was a young Tarzan. Jane (Enid Markey) was demurely dressed with her legs covered to the ankles. The dress gradually shortened by the end of the move to be just below the knees. Perhaps the best Jane outfit was the one worn by Josephine Mc Kim, (Maureen O`Sullivan`s double) in the swim scene in the movie Tarzan And His Mate (1934).

Tarzan The Fearless(1933)

The usual Tarzan fare, he helps the goodies, knocks off the baddies and ends up in a tree with Mary. I wonder what happened to Jane?

Tarzan`s Revenge

A typical Tarzan movie, but this time he ends up with Eleanor.

And the bottom line--Jane, Mary and Eleanor--It`s enough to make an ape man swing from tree to tree.
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Lomm
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Lomm »

Been a while since anyone bumped this up, and coincidentally I too am posting about a Tarzan film! In this case, it's the latest effort from Hollywood, The Legend of Tarzan. This movie was probably the closest we have seen yet to Edgar Rice Burroughs novel's version of the character. There was some very dodgy CGI in the film, but it didn't affect my enjoyment. Have to recommend this one.
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Fossy
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Fossy »

Occasionally I find in my collection a film I have overlooked. Teacher`s Pet (1958)is such a film.

Doris Day is a professor who teaches journalism. Clark Gable is a self made leading journalist. Doris hates him for his comments in newspaper articles. He enrols in her class. She is impressed by his performance in tests she has set her class.

Ultimately, of course they fall in love by the end of the movie, which is absolutely ridiculous. At the time this picture was made Doris was 36, and looked 26. Clark was 57 and looked every minute of it.

What a mismatch!
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