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What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

Feraud

Bartender
Messages
17,190
Location
Hardlucksville, NY
The Shape of Water. A beautiful, unique film that smooshes together a half-dozen ideas that shouldn't even be in the same movie... but it works wonderfully. An instant classic, and finally another Del Toro masterpiece to put next to Pan's Labyrinth. It pretty much deserves all the praise and award nominations its received.
Agreed. I just saw the film and loved it.
 
Messages
17,215
Location
New York City
"Born Yesterday" 1950, Judy Holiday, William Holden and Broderick Crawford
  • Far from my favorite movie (Holiday's voice irritates me to no end), but a good, solid early '50s one
  • The scene where Crawford slaps Holiday is so horrible by today's standards that it jars you out of the movie's flow
  • Holden is miscast here (as he was, IMHO, in "Sunset Blvd -" which is so great a movie that it overcomes this mistake) as he's just not a nerdy writer, intellectual-looking guy
    • When Crawford chokes him and he cowers away, you don't believe it as Holden looks like he would take Crawford out in an instant
  • Crawford's character isn't consistent, IMHO, as he goes from dumb brute to shrewd up-from-the-streets guy time an again - pick one, he can't be both
  • The time-travel to 1950 Washington DC is outstanding
 

KY Gentleman

One Too Many
Messages
1,881
Location
Kentucky
If you liked "Last Angry Man" -- which is an excellent portrait of the sleazy manipulativeness of late-fifties television -- you need to see "A Face In The Crowd," which is an even more disturbing look at the Boys and their manipulation of mass media. Anyone who has an image of Andy Griffith as a lovable salt-of-the-earth type will be astounded by his performance in that film -- and keep in mind that he made it *before* he became the "Andy Griffith" everybody remembers today.

Along the same line as A Face In The Crowd the film An Ace In The Hole is another example of sleazy media manipulation. It’s a good movie though.
 

scottyrocks

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,178
Location
Isle of Langerhan, NY
I watched, again, Fourteen Hours (1951).

Considering the set limitations necessitated by the locale (a precipice of a high rise building), this is an excellent film. The only movie with limited sets that I can think of at the moment that surpasses it is 12 Angry Men (1957).

Great performances by Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart, et al.
 

KY Gentleman

One Too Many
Messages
1,881
Location
Kentucky
I’m watching Southern Comfort tonight starring Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe.
Peter Coyote, Fred Ward and Lewis Smith were good in this and this was the first movie where I ever saw Brion James.
Ry Cooder wrote and performed the soundtrack.
Pretty good story placed in very interesting surroundings.
 
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Doctor Strange

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,252
Location
Hudson Valley, NY
Blade Runner 2049

I went on the record a couple of days ago as never having liked the original Blade Runner, not even back in the eighties. Sure, I admired its visual style and importance as an influence, but I thought its story and characterizations were pretty weak.

Well, now I think it's a near-masterpiece compared to the new film. Beyond just being yet another sequel we didn't need, it's much too long, even more downbeat, and much more confused about what it's trying to say about humanity than the first film. Sure, it looks good - it was shot by favorite DP, the brilliant Roger Deakins - but I found it an exhausting slog. Where Harrison Ford was wooden and distant in the original, Ryan Gosling is worse. At least the original had a protagonist who might be human, might be a replicant, which added some juice to his profession being hunting down replicants. Having a replicant blade runner right from the get-go means that I care even less about the question of his "humanity". I don't blame Gosling for the performance - no doubt he was directed to be so closed off - but it's the worst performance I've ever seen from him. (And he can play a very repressed character who's still interesting and sympathetic, e.g., Lars and the Real Girl.)

I'm a lifelong SF fan, and I thought the director's previous film, Arrival, was a masterwork that raised all kinds of interesting questions about language, time, experience, love, etc. This film postures itself as being about big questions too... but it's just another attempt to revive an old "brand" and make some bucks. Ugh.
 

Benzadmiral

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,815
Location
The Swamp
Agreed, plus outstanding performances by Robinson, Barrymore, Bacall (one of her few) and a particularly notable outstanding performance by Claire Trevor.
Much as I've always wanted to like Key Largo, somehow for me the excitement factor that should be there, isn't. Don't get me wrong: It's light-years ahead of most films of today, and the cast is indeed outstanding. But it's always left me a little cool. Dunno why.
 
Messages
17,215
Location
New York City
Much as I've always wanted to like Key Largo, somehow for me the excitement factor that should be there, isn't. Don't get me wrong: It's light-years ahead of most films of today, and the cast is indeed outstanding. But it's always left me a little cool. Dunno why.

We all have movies like that. "Key Largo" has grown on my over the years, so you might, overtime, change your view.

I'm less of a fan of "To Have and Have Not" than a should be. Good movie, but always feels a bit forced and too much of a "Casablanca" rip off for me to love it.
 
Messages
17,215
Location
New York City
"This Could be the Night" 1958 with Paul Douglas, Jean Simmons and Anthony Francis
  • Entertaining but odd entry in the "Battle of the Sexes" movies as the usual plot of these movies is some Lothario wants to bed a virgin innocent, but the virgin innocent is only interested in the Lothario for marriage first then said bedding, but here the construct is somewhat off as the virgin innocent (Simmons) seems (kinda) willing to reverse the bedding-marriage order; whereas, the Lothario just wants her out of his life because he's too moral to bed her (but not every other woman that moves) and not interested in marrying her
  • The above subtext takes place in the movie's plot outline of a young sheltered girl from rural Massachusetts - who moved to NYC to teach during the day - deciding to get a night job as a secretary in a shady nightclub where the Lothario is one of the owners - Anthony Francis (my guess, one studio's attempted answer to Tony Curtis)
  • Paul Douglas, the other nightclub owner, serves as Simmons' surrogate dad playing the "gruff on the outside / good on the inside" guy he had perfected by then - his talent rises above the stereotype and the modest material
  • A bunch of quirky and, overall, interesting characters populate the nightclub to round out the cast, give the movie some side stories and move everything along
  • The other odd thing (beside the contorted "Battle of the Sexes" storyline) is that this light movie has a few dark moments as if the director could feel that movies were moving in a different direction in '58 ("Sweet Smell of Success" had come out the year before), but didn't have the guts or permission to take this one there
  • Anything else would be spoilers for this fun, light, not-challenging "good way to pass an hour and a half" ball of fluff
 

scottyrocks

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,178
Location
Isle of Langerhan, NY
This morning on TCM I caught some glimpses of a 1932 film with a very young, pre-tough-guy Bogart. It was kind of funny to watch him before he began his climb into legendary status.

Anyone know the name of the film?
 
Messages
17,215
Location
New York City
This morning on TCM I caught some glimpses of a 1932 film with a very young, pre-tough-guy Bogart. It was kind of funny to watch him before he began his climb into legendary status.

Anyone know the name of the film?

My guess "Three on a Match" or (and this is more likely) "Love Affair." True tough-guy Bogie didn't show up until '36's "The Petrified Forest."
 

HanauMan

Practically Family
Messages
809
Location
Inverness, Scotland
Tried watching Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. What a load of .....whatever. Gave up within five minutes of the start. It was the same with Batman Begins, though I only gave up about half an hour before the end.

Funny thing is, while I don't enjoy all the recent Marvel / DC film adaptations, I still enjoy reading about the self same characters in old comics. Go figure....
 

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