What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[LizzieMaine]

"Professor Marston and the Wonder Women," a sort of three-cornered soap opera focusing on the rather colorful private lives of Dr. William Moulton Marston -- creator of Wonder Woman -- his wife, and their mutual mistress. Not bad as this type of "some events were compressed or fictionalized for the sake of the drama" picture goes, but the attention to period detail left a lot to be desired, especially in the hairstyles and costuming of the women in the scenes laid in 1928.

Some of the manipulation of chronology was troublesome as well -- there were no organized comic-book burnings in the US until 1948, the year after Marston's death, and these were provoked more by true-crime comics than by any sort of superhero stuff.

The portrayal of Josette Frank, who is shown as Marston's inquisitor, is a bit distorted for story purposes as well. Frank in fact was on the National Comics payroll thruout the 1940s and into the early 1950s as a member of the DC "Editorial Advisory Board," and was in fact a strong supporter of comics and of the idea of Wonder Woman herself. It was Marston himself, personally, that she couldn't stand. And M. C. Gaines would not have appreciated his own portrayal, either -- he was not the rumpled, vulgar fellow he's shown as, but instead always tried to present himself as an extremely high-minded sort of gutter publisher. Marston managed to get away with as much as he did because Gaines was so impressed and dazzled to have a man of such impressive scientific credentials writing for his funnybooks.

Still, a picture with many entertaining moments, especially for those who might not be familiar with Wonder Woman's true backstory. The smarmy Frenchman who runs the "kinky merchandise" store in Greenwich Village is particularly hilarious.

 

[ChiTownScion]

"Marshall," about a trial that former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall was involved in when he was chief counsel for the NAACP. The criminal defense attorney facing a hostile judge and an over-reaching heel prosecutor. on behalf of a somewhat unsympathetic client: a much more intensely dramatic rendition of what I faced - in my own smaller scale way- for three decades, but it was a pretty good film. Of course, where Marshall really shone in his pre- Supreme Court days was as an appellate attorney, but I can appreciate why the trial courtroom is more interesting for purposes of drama. Appellate arguments can be as exciting as watching paint dry compared to nailing a witness on cross, but that really is where law is made.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I saw Blade Runner 2049 last night and to my pleasant surprise, they didn't mess it up. It's actually a decent sequel. They got the tone right, they got the music right, they got the themes right, and not in a exactly the same, repetetive unoriginal way, but with fresh ideas, perfectly weaving new and old. The storytelling I actually like better in this one than in the first one which I still remember watching the first time and and scratching my head afterwards. Cinematography is great, acting is good, sound editing.. mhm I felt it was too loud at first but I grew to like it. For anyone who liked the first one, I can recommend it. It's certainly not for everyone though, I watched it with a bunch of friends and not all liked it. If you're into easy entertainment and fast-paced action, you know, stereotypical hollywood movies for a fun night out, this won't be for you.

I see that one of the two writers from the original film is credited with this one. Thirty-five years later!

 

[MisterCairo]

Monster House, with the girls, as our Hallowe'en film fest continues!

 

[belfastboy]

A new Netflix release, "What We Did on Our Holiday", David Tennant in a comedic role, Rosamund Pike and Billy Connolly. In a sweetly weird comedy. A bit of a treacle ending but overall a wonderful bit of film. Tennant was great but the marvel were the three children. Not sure how the director got such great performances out of such youngactors. I wondered if some of the scenes were improvisation, they really had that feel to them.

 

[AmateisGal]

Hacksaw Ridge (again). This movie is so well done, and it's made even more powerful because it's a true story.

 

[DavidJones]

Just finished watch. "The Professional" great movie.

 

[2jakes]

Bonnie & Clyde (1967)



Rare instance when Hollywood & reality were on the same road!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Just previewed "Lost In Paris," which opens tomorrow for a three-day run.

In a world where comedians and comedy directors either take themselves way too seriously or assume their audiences are stunted frat boys, a picture like this is a real breath of fresh air. It's an eighty minute absurdist tale of a young Canadian woman who goes to France to meet her elderly aunt, and gets lost in Paris. And that's all the plot you need.

The young woman -- and the film's co-director -- is Fiona Gordon, who has drawn comparisons with Jacques Tati, but to me comes across more as the miraculous love child of Edna May Oliver and Harry Langdon. I haven't laughed so hard at a modern movie in many many years, and if this comes to your town drop everything and go see it. Don't expect it to make sense, just go see it.

 

[Fading Fast]

Just previewed "Lost In Paris," which opens tomorrow for a three-day run.

In a world where comedians and comedy directors either take themselves way too seriously or assume their audiences are stunted frat boys, a picture like this is a real breath of fresh air. It's an eighty minute absurdist tale of a young Canadian woman who goes to France to meet her elderly aunt, and gets lost in Paris. And that's all the plot you need.

The young woman -- and the film's co-director -- is Fiona Gordon, who has drawn comparisons with Jacques Tati, but to me comes across more as the miraculous love child of Edna May Oliver and Harry Langdon. I haven't laughed so hard at a modern movie in many many years, and if this comes to your town drop everything and go see it. Don't expect it to make sense, just go see it.

Thank you , just added it to my Netflix queue. Only because the title reminded me of it, Lizzie, did your theater get "Paris Can Wait -" one that seemed right up your theater's demographic alley based on what you've told us in the past. When I mentioned it in this thread earlier, I even noted that:

"Paris Can Wait" starring Diane Lane and Alec Baldwin (who looks like he ate one of his brothers which would explain why it seems like one or more of them has disappeared and why Alec looks like he's twice the size he once was)​

• • Lizzie, this movie was made for your theater's demographic
• • Later-middle-aged and wealthy white woman has later-middle-aged-and-wealthy-white-women-life issues while driving around the gorgeous parts of France (with an quirky and, maybe, charming single man) and eating fantastic meals as she debates the merits of her marriage to her modestly obnoxious husband who buys her expensive gifts

• Scenery was great and Lane held it all together, but it was still flat and all but pointless - serves more as a travel advertisement for France than a movie of any substance or, even, entertainment value

 

[LizzieMaine]

We did get that, but I have only the vaguest memory of it -- except that the audience was exactly as you suggest. "Ohhhhhh, Paris, I love it so." Sacre iliac!

That kind of stuff is continuously subverted in "Lost In Paris:" the climb up the Eiffel Tower is the occasion not for gentle romance to the accompaniment of accordions, but rather for a quick bit of well-executed Harold Lloyd-style thrill comedy.

 

[2jakes]

TCM

First US feature film to show a bathroom with a toilet bowl,
doctor delivering a baby and my favorite scenes....Coney Island.

 

[Bushman]

Cujo. The movie is complex in the fact that you sympathise with the dog, and terrified of it at the same time.

 

[2jakes]

Cujo. The movie is complex in the fact that you sympathise with the dog, and terrified of it at the same time.

The way you put it...reminds me of my ex!

 

[Fading Fast]

The way you put it...reminds me of my ex!

And I think we have the winner of yesterday's "line of the day" award.

 

[Zombie_61]

Cujo. The movie is complex in the fact that you sympathise with the dog, and terrified of it at the same time.

I've saw the movie one time when it was released so I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but in the scene when the dog is first feeling the effects of the rabies virus infecting it (a casual poker game, I think) the producers played with the sound effects to make the voices, the poker chips, the clinking beer bottles and glasses, etc., louder and somehow more annoying than they would normally be. This was done specifically so audiences would feel sympathetic towards the dog, because most of us can relate to "normal" sounds and such somehow being more irritating when we're not feeling well. I didn't care for the movie overall, but I thought that scene was very effective.

 

[Worf]

"Ip Man 3" - I saw the first film and thought it was a great modern Kung Fu film that was actually based on a true character and his exploits. Fast forward 8 years and 2 films later and the franchise is clearly in uncharted territory. Ip Man's claim to fame is that he taught Bruce Lee the "Wing Chun" style of Kung Fu. In the 3 films to date we've seen Bruce's character about 3 times and he's yet to study with his mentor. Instead we learn a lot about competing styles of martial arts etc... the effects of greed and corruption in 1950's Hong Kong. The only reason I watched this film is that one of the lead villains is played by none other than "Iron" Mike Tyson. He's a mob boss who inexplicably wants the real estate beneath the school our hero's son attends. He's never referred to by name only as a "foreign devil" The most hilarious thing is watching Mike Tyson trying to speak Chinese. He does have a thrilling fight with the hero wherein he states that if he can go 3 minutes or one round with him, he'd leave him and his family alone. The fight was great and pretty believable, not much wire work and a pretty fair representation of a fighter/boxer taking on a Kung Fu practitioner. Only watch if you've nothing better to do.

Worf

PS in an interview the actor playing Ip Man said the whole time he was filming with Mike he feared for his life. One blow, he said and he'd have been dead.

 

[Bushman]

Last night I watched "Hocus Pocus", the 90's Disney TV movie classic tale of witches and black cats. Still as fun as the first time I watched it, and considering it's as old as I am, I find it interesting how well the movie has aged. It's not an effects driven movie, so there's not a lot to date in the first place, but nor is it technologically prevalent so there's no VCRs, Walkmans, audio cassettes, or blocky TVs or computers that forces the age of the movie. The fact that much of the movie was filmed in Salem, Mass, which is where it takes place, also adds to the theatricality and the old, Colonial style archetecture ensures there's no "look how 80s/90s that building is!"In fact, I would say that the cheap production values and on location filming lends to a form of realism in the movie that is often overlooked in these LA-filmed Halloween movies. You notice the characters breath condensing in the air, and real autumn trees that you wouldn't have gotten if the movie was filmed in any place other than New England. The only thing that really dates the movie is the clothing worn by the teenagers, which is unequivocally 90s. The movie remains a fun, enjoyable movie for all ages, and the liberal usage of adult humor ensures that the adults have as much fun as the children.

Then I watched Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow" with Johnny Depp as the skittish, but brave Ichabod Crane. The directing is definitely Burton's, with actors hamming it up for the camera and the general workable cliches that one would expect of the tale of Sleepy Hollow. Regardless, the movie still manages to be creepy enough to leave you with a chill up your spine as cold as the late Autumn air. The movie's prevalent usage of fog effects, twisted dark forests, and crooked Colonial archetecture creates this old time All's Hallow Eve feeling that makes you jump at every creepy jackolantern topped scarecrow standing in the middle of an unharvested corn field.

 

[Zombie_61]

The Curse of the Werewolf (1961). Loosely based on the 1933 novel "The Werewolf of Paris", Leon (Oliver Reed) is cursed to become a werewolf because of contrived issues involving his conception and birth. This is one of the better horror movies produced by Hammer Films in my opinion, and one of the few Hammer movies I've seen more than once without being bored to death.

Tarantula (1955). A spider escapes from a desert laboratory where experiments in gigantism are taking place, grows to be ridiculously large while dining on cattle, horses, and the occasional human, and the U.S. Air Force is called in when it starts heading for the local town. Starring John Agar, Mara Corday, Leo G. Carroll, Nestor Paiva, Raymond Bailey, and a number of actors from Universal's stable, it's another in a line of atomic-era "giant creatures wreaking havoc" movies. With it's obvious low budget and cheesy effects it does have it's charm and has gained something of a cult following, but it has one thing no other movie does--the second big-screen appearance of an uncredited Clint Eastwood in a small role as an Air Force pilot.

 

[Jaxenro]

Full movie? Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye 1950 Jimmy Cagney. Available on YouTube for free he is nastier then in White Heat although probably not as good