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What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

greatestescaper

One of the Regulars
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293
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Fort Davis, Tx
I watched Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur earlier; now I'm watching Desperate Journey with Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan.
I was just talking about Desperate Journey this weekend, but could not remember the name of the film. I've got that as part of an Errol Flynn war movie set.

A little over a week ago I broke out the projector and large screen for Hobbit Day, which we celebrated by having 7 meals, and watching a Lord of the Rings movie marathon. Following that I've left the screen up as we get ready for Halloween, horror and noir. There's nothing quite like an actual screen for black and white film.

And yesterday I discovered that my wife had never seen the original Frankenstein, even though I'd shown her Son of Frankenstein (to show her some of the origins of Young Frankenstein). So, I set up the projector and fired up the movie, and, just as the storm started cranking up on film a great storm with fantastic flashes of lightening illuminated the mountains we live in. What a great way to watch that film, projector running, lightning flashing, and candle light about the room casting shadows on the wall. Tonight, after the sun sets we're going to watch Bride of Frankenstein, which my wife also has not seen.
 

Doctor Strange

I'll Lock Up
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5,246
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Hudson Valley, NY
I've owned a 16mm print of Bride of Frankenstein since the 1970s. I have it (and some of the others in the series) on VHS and DVD too. Friend good!

But the point I wanted to make about Desperate Journey is the classic scene where Reagan "explains" their new high-tech equipment to their German captors... and it's totally meaningless doubletalk to keep the secrets secret. It is scarily prescient, very much the sort of really-good-sounding-but-meaningless verbiage he excelled at later on when he had his big starring role as president!
 

AmateisGal

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6,126
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Nebraska
I've owned a 16mm print of Bride of Frankenstein since the 1970s. I have it (and some of the others in the series) on VHS and DVD too. Friend good!

But the point I wanted to make about Desperate Journey is the classic scene where Reagan "explains" their new high-tech equipment to their German captors... and it's totally meaningless doubletalk to keep the secrets secret. It is scarily prescient, very much the sort of really-good-sounding-but-meaningless verbiage he excelled at later on when he had his big starring role as president!

That is probably my favorite scene. And then his line after he clocks the Nazi commander: "The iron fist has a glass jaw." :D:D:D
 
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17,196
Location
New York City
I don't own a DVR! I know, I know, I absolutely need to remedy that. I miss far too many movies on TCM.

It is part of our cable package and some of the best $8 a month we spend. That said, it is a rip off as, at nearly $100 a year as, I'm sure, the box could be bought for much less, but Time Warner makes more renting it, so they aren't going to let the customer buy them.

Regardless, for $8 a month, I no longer pay attention to the when something is on (other than to record it), so the entire cable offering is effectively a library that I watch when I want.
 

Bigger Don

Practically Family
I believe that really depends on whether you watch the original American version of the movie or the restored version, and how you interpret what you see.

For anyone who doesn't know, in the original version as filmed (now referred to as the "restored" version) there is a scene in which the "Monster" has escaped and is wandering through the wilderness, where he encounters "Little Maria" playing by the side of a lake. She sees him, approaches him unafraid, takes his hand, and leads him to the lakeside where she shows him the wildflowers growing nearby will float if you toss them into the lake. She hands him a couple of flowers, and he mimics her actions by tossing the flowers into the lake one by one, smiling when he sees they float just like hers. When he realizes he's run out of flowers, he picks up Little Maria and tosses her into the lake. When she disappears below the surface, the Monster steps into the lake and begins pawing at the water trying to find her. When he can't find her he walks out of the lake confused, then goes back into the woods still confused and visibly distraught.

Unfortunately, the censors objected to the violent end of Little Maria, so Universal edited the American version of the movie so that the scene ends with the Monster reaching for Little Maria, leaving the audience to assume he tossed her into the lake. In a subsequent scene Little Maria's father is seen carrying her wet and lifeless body through the center of the village, and it's very noticeable that her stockings have somehow been pulled down to some degree. This scene verifies that she drowned but, more importantly, without seeing what actually happened it implies the Monster molested her as well, which to me is far more offensive than the way the scene originally played out.

It's also important to remember that the Monster at this point has the mental development of an abused child. He is born/re-animated, almost immediately chained to a wall in a dark dungeon where he's abused by Dr. Frankenstein's hunchbacked assistant Fritz, and when he's finally taken out of the dungeon he's rejected by his "father" and, moments later, assaulted simply because he reacted in fear to the fire on Fritz' torch. He seems to understand when spoken to, but otherwise shows no signs that his brain has retained any of the memories from it's previous life. Yes, he kills Fritz and Dr. Waldman before he escapes the castle, but that was in response to their violence towards him. Little Maria is the first person he meets who responds to him with kindness instead of brutality, so his act of throwing her into the lake isn't malicious--it's an act of ignorance because he doesn't know better. This doesn't excuse him from being responsible for her death, but it does explain his actions. He didn't intend to kill Little Maria, he simply thought she would float like the flowers did.

As for his brain, the responsibility for that rests on Dr. Frankenstein. He sends his somewhat incompetent assistant Fritz to steal the brain from the University, and fails to notice (before putting it into the Monster's skull) that the brain Fritz returned with is clearly labeled "abnormal".

And, yes, perhaps I have put too much thought into this. But Frankenstein is my favorite "classic horror" movie and I long ago lost count of the number of times I've seen it, so I've had plenty of time to think these thoughts. :D
Thanks for sharing all of that. Well thought through and written.

A sentence comes to mind, from one of my favorite TV series (Law & Order: Criminal Intent): Art is about context.

From what I've read tonight, the Frankenstein creature in 1931 is presented with a basic difference from the creature seen in the book or the three previous movies. This is the introduction to the possibility that the brain would be behind what the creature did. It's nature (biology) versus nurture (the creature had no memory but learned violence).

Back to context, this movie was made in the shadow of the eugenics movement. I'm not saying it has the racist overtones of Hitler and Sanger, only that society was looking to hard science for explanations.

That said, organ-based psychopathy would therefore hinder acceptance the little girl's life was worth more than a flower, without relying on memory of past deeds.
 

Stearmen

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7,202
The Wizard Of Oz (1925) I completely forgot that Larry Semon was considered a rival of Charlie Chaplin. Unfortunately for Larry, it all went down hill with this movie, bankruptcy and then oblivion! On a bright note, a young Oliver Hardy minus the mustache. Even though the movie was silent, I could hear Oliver's voice in my head every time he spoke!
 

Lean'n'mean

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4,086
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Cloud-cuckoo-land
'Spy' (2015)...... drole spy spoof a la 'Johnny English' for adults, even had a pretty good James Bond-ish title sequence. The humor hits in right from the start & doesn't let up until the end. All the cast were great & deliberately clichés of clichés. It wasn't hilarious but I had a smile on my face throughout the movie & even caught myself giggling a few times. The exotic locations; Paris, Rome & Budapest were suprisingly well filmed. Melissa McCarthy was great although she reminded me of Dawn French........I don't know how well it did at the box office but it's calling out for a sequel. :D
 
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12,009
Location
East of Los Angeles
The Revenant (2015). A largely fictionalized account of the survival of frontiersman Hugh Glass after having been mauled by a bear and left for dead by his hunting team in 1823. Interesting, but I sat through all 2 hours and 36 minutes of it thinking about how miserable it must have been to make this movie.

Edit 10-07: A friend and I were discussing The Revenant during dinner this evening, and he said he saw an interview with Leonardo DiCaprio in which he said making the movie was just as miserable as it looked. :D
 
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2jakes

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9,680
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Alamo Heights ☀️ Texas
TCM tonight.

Film by F.W. Murnau
2exskqx.jpg

Based on the 1897 Bram Stoker Gothic novel Dracula.
When Bram Stokers widow received word that a German film
company
made a movie based on her husbands novel.
She filed a class-action lawsuit and won.

All copies of the film including the negatives were destroyed.

Some prints survived.
This version has been restored to the original
directors cut from 1922.
 

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