What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Fading Fast]

... I think Hopkins and Thompson give more interesting and moving performances in MI's next film, The Remains of the Day.)

IMHO, that is the superstar movie from that period of that type. But, as usual, the book is even better.

 

[belfastboy]

Watched "The Tenth Man" a quirky Argentine movie. A very good small movie. Also watched "The Book of Eli", Denzel Washington is usually worth watching and this is no exception but damn what a crap movie.

 

[Touchofevil]

Another viewing of Bad Day at Black Rock on TCM.
It is one of those movies where I have to stop and watch when I find it on.
Great cast.
Really nice cinematography.
Very good story.
Worth my time every time.

 

[Fading Fast]

"The Promise" 2016

Basically, if you cut "Doctor Zhivago" into pieces, altered a few of those pieces here and there and reassembled them into a story about the Ottoman Empire's treatment of the Armenians in WWI, you'd have "The Promise."

All the parts are there - a young, brilliant and idealistic medical student who ends up in a love triangle with two engaging women as his country is torn apart by war / a career interrupted by forced conscription / forced labor / remote hideouts / refugee trails / family wealth expropriated / gov't mass murder / and on and on.

While this is no "Doctor Zhivago," it works overall as the leads are engaging, the story sweeping (having a little knowledge of the relevant history going in is helpful) and the scenery breathtaking (and not CGI'd to death). If this is your cup of tea, this one's a reasonably entry in the genre.

 

[belfastboy]

A Netflix oldie from 1991, "Daughters of the Dirt". It is a wonderfully atmospheric movie about the Gullah culture in Georgia/Carolina in the early 1900's as the post slavery generation begins to leave the island for the "north". Not your typical movie by a long stretch but a good one.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Kingsmen: The Secret Service
Hacksaw Ridge
Neighbors 2

 

[MikeKardec]

Kingsmen: The Secret Service

While I can't say I was the least enthralled with the film, other than the extreme pleasure of getting to see Colin Firth play James Bond, it was amusing to get fitted for a Bookster suit right upstairs from the still Kingsman badged Huntsman shop on Savile Row. Bookster is still a good deal and very accommodating. They aren't located in London but do borrow facilities occasionally.

 

[green papaya]

MOBY DICK (1956) starring Gregory Peck as "Capt Ahab"

Set in 19th-century New England, the story follows the whaling ship Pequod and its crew. Leading them is Captain Ahab, who was almost killed in an encounter with the "great white whale", Moby Dick. Now he is out for revenge. With the crew that has joined him, Ahab is out to destroy the huge sea mammal, but his obsession with vengeance is so great that he cannot turn back, eventually leading to the death of Ahab and all of his crew, save his newest able seaman, Ishmael.

 

[MikeKardec]

MOBY DICK (1956) starring Gregory Peck as "Capt Ahab"

Set in 19th-century New England, the story follows the whaling ship Pequod and its crew. Leading them is Captain Ahab, who was almost killed in an encounter with the "great white whale", Moby Dick. Now he is out for revenge. With the crew that has joined him, Ahab is out to destroy the huge sea mammal, but his obsession with vengeance is so great that he cannot turn back, eventually leading to the death of Ahab and all of his crew, save his newest able seaman, Ishmael.

View attachment 80711

Interestingly written by Ray Bradbury who later wrote a biographical novel, "Green Shadows, White Whale" which, if I remember correctly, is about living in Ireland with John Houston while writing "Moby Dick." Even further afield and at the bare edges of my memory, is that the title of the book is actually a play on another title, "White Hunter, Black Heart" which is about John Houston's elephant hunt just preceding the production of "African Queen" where the director is performing sort of a "method acting experience" of hunting a majestic and innocent animal under the excuse of emotional research into his upcoming project "Moby Dick."

Bradbury also wrote another novel that touched on his work with Ray Harryhausen, the Special Effects pioneer ... I think that one was called "A Graveyard for Lunatics." I'm not sure if the graveyard mentioned was supposed to be the studio where he worked or Hollywood cemetery next door where he and the other Ray would go to hide from their bosses and get drunk. Typical of Bradbury, both books are sort of rambling yet beautifully written ... he was really at his best with short stories.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Torn Curtain" 1966, Hitchcock

• All the classic Hitchcock elements are here, but the sum is less than the parts and even the parts feel stale

• Newman and Andrews never click and are far from Grant and Kelly or even Taylor and Hedren

• Hitchcock, at his best, balances levity with suspense - here that balance feels off as, for example, the scene toward the end with the Polish aristocrat in the coffee house - Newman looked pained as if he didn't even know how to respond to her exaggerated buffoonery

• And there was just too much not-believable going on - the entire escape from East Berlin was silly as was the immediate exposure of all the physics knowledge Newman needed to steal from just one five minute meeting with the Russian professor

• The usual and impressive Hitchcock style elements were there - many scenes looked beautiful, but that couldn't save this gloomy effort that never gelled

 

[Bolero]

I recommend to all Sci Fi folks a new movie...
"Ghost in the Shell" Scarlett JoHanson
Special effects used to show City Scenes is outstanding and a lot like those in "Blade Runner"
Ghost is the Brain/Soul & Shell is a Cybernetic Body...

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Another movie I recently saw was Hell Harbor (1930) which featured Jean Hersholt and Gibson Gowland. Being a big fan of the movie Greed, it was interesting to hear what they actually sounded like in Hell Harbor.

 

[Touchofevil]

The Legend of Tarzan
Some quality actors. I wish the actor Simon Russell Beale (Egyptologist Ferdinand Lyle og Penny Dreadful)
had a larger part in the movie.
A better Tarzan than I expected.
Some "huh?" moments for sure, but better than a few movies I did go to the theater to see this year.

Lawless
It had been a while since I last saw this.
It was still entertaining.
A great cast.
Nicely filmed.
Good story.

 

[Fading Fast]

The Legend of Tarzan
Some quality actors. I wish the actor Simon Russell Beale (Egyptologist Ferdinand Lyle og Penny Dreadful)
had a larger part in the movie.
A better Tarzan than I expected.
Some "huh?" moments for sure, but better than a few movies I did go to the theater to see this year....

Like you, I thought it was decent for what it was. My comments on it from a week or so ago:

"The Legend of Tarzan" 2016

• I discovered the '30s Tarzan movies as a kid in the early '70s watching them on Sunday afternoon TV - they were fun, escapist movies set in an exotic local with incredible animals and a quasi superhero at the center of some story about right and wrong (Ivory traders, saving Jane, etc.) where you quickly knew whom to root for (Tarzan - always on the side of good) and you just went along for the ride

• This new movie is a 2016 version of that formula (with an annoying twitch to show piety to every modern Hollywood liberal proclivity) - exotic, fun, good vs. evil, quasi-superhero, amazing animals, etc. - taken that way, it was enjoyable escapism (perfect for a Sunday) and nothing more

 

[MisterCairo]

We went out to see Spiderman: Homecoming last night. We really enjoyed it, and I was surprised by how good I thought it was. An interesting take on how Spiderman starts to become Spiderman.

I think it helped that I have watched exactly NONE of the prior films!

 

[Touchofevil]

Like you, I thought it was decent for what it was. My comments on it from a week or so ago:

"The Legend of Tarzan" 2016

• I discovered the '30s Tarzan movies as a kid in the early '70s watching them on Sunday afternoon TV - they were fun, escapist movies set in an exotic local with incredible animals and a quasi superhero at the center of some story about right and wrong (Ivory traders, saving Jane, etc.) where you quickly knew whom to root for (Tarzan - always on the side of good) and you just went along for the ride

• This new movie is a 2016 version of that formula (with an annoying twitch to show piety to every modern Hollywood liberal proclivity) - exotic, fun, good vs. evil, quasi-superhero, amazing animals, etc. - taken that way, it was enjoyable escapism (perfect for a Sunday) and nothing more

I thought of this post when we watched the movie.

 

[Benzadmiral]

"Torn Curtain" 1966, Hitchcock

• All the classic Hitchcock elements are here, but the sum is less than the parts and even the parts feel stale

• Newman and Andrews never click and are far from Grant and Kelly or even Taylor and Hedren

• Hitchcock, at his best, balances levity with suspense - here that balance feels off as, for example, the scene toward the end with the Polish aristocrat in the coffee house - Newman looked pained as if he didn't even know how to respond to her exaggerated buffoonery

• And there was just too much not-believable going on - the entire escape from East Berlin was silly as was the immediate exposure of all the physics knowledge Newman needed to steal from just one five minute meeting with the Russian professor

• The usual and impressive Hitchcock style elements were there - many scenes looked beautiful, but that couldn't save this gloomy effort that never gelled

I've only seen it once, when it was brand-new and spy stories were all the rage in films and on TV. All I can recall is an early scene where Paul Newman and Julie Andrews are in bed together, under a lot of covers because the room is cold. I think.

 

[Fading Fast]

I've only seen it once, when it was brand-new and spy stories were all the rage in films and on TV. All I can recall is an early scene where Paul Newman and Julie Andrews are in bed together, under a lot of covers because the room is cold. I think.

Good memory sir, they were and for that reason and (I assume) an even better one.

That said, even in that scene, there is no chemistry between the two which is just one of the many problems with this movie.

 

[Edward]

Saw War for the Planet of the Apes last night. It could stand to be more tightly edited by anywhere between ten and twenty minutes, and there are, if anything, one too many lingering "they have emotions just like us!" shots, but all done and dusted a fine addition to the canon, and a logical point to leave the story to be picked up by the Charlton Heston original. It would be kind of interesting to see the original five films remade by this same team, but largely superfluous as the original still work. Serkis is wonderful, and Woody Harrelson yet again pulls another great performance as a military psycho. The tension and chemistry between those two is wonderful.

 

[AmateisGal]

The Major and the Minor.
Dial M for Murder

I must say, since I now belong to that unenviable category of "betrayed spouse" or "victim of infidelity", whichever you prefer, now when I watch Dial M for Murder I actually have some sympathy for Ray Milland's character. He's a betrayed husband! His wife and her affair partner are lovey dovey and pretending to only be friends right in front of his eyes! And the husband knows the entire time...

Yep. I understand his rage and I understand his need for revenge.