Vera Godfrey
Practically Family
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State Fair (1945) One of my favorites that I rewatch often. With Jeanne Crain, Dick Haymes, Dana Andrews, and Vivian Blaine. Even a small part with Henry Morgan.
In the original book "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson, the bad-guys/creatures were vampires, not zombies. They couldn't stand mirrors or garlic, and could only be killed with a wooden stake in the heart. However, these vampires are that way due to germ infection, not supernatural causes. (They can't turn into flying bats, etc.)Yes, one creative change that put a whole new frightfulness into the zombie genre (for me) is the speed in which they moved in I Am Legend (2007). Traditionally, zombies moved at a speed that one could sort of walk away from, but in this film they were as fast as fock, and just about impossible to escape from if they got too close. Of course, the CGI enhancements made them even more frightening.
Yes, a great film and perhaps Ganz' best work"Downfall," the definitive Hitler-In-The-Bunker movie, made in Germany in 2004.
I have dim memories of seeing this film once before, around when it first came out, but over the years since then those memories have been buried under an avalanche of You Toob "Hitler Rants About..." parody videos that have managed to turn the whole picture into something approaching a wacky sitcom. And I don't have a problem with that -- I think the most effective way to cut Nazis down to size, aside from sending Zhukov after them, is to laugh in their faces at their strutting, preposterous Herrenvolk arrogance, and I'm a big fan of any such deliberate trivialization of, not what the Nazis did, but of exactly the kind of people, the kind of low-grade mediocre pisswipes, that they actually were.
And, viewing the original "Downfall" again, and trying to divorce it from the context of a thousand parodies, the film seems to do exactly that. These Nazis -- and especially the recently-late Bruno Ganz's extraordinary portrayal of Hitler -- are a gang of nonentities. Scrabbling, grubbing, pathological little men who have somehow wormed their way to power and have exercised it in the manner of a bunch of inadequate teenagers. There are no Colossi of Evil here, no comic-book supervillians, no monsters. Ganz plays Hitler exactly as he really was -- a short, bad-natured, flatulent malcontent from the gutters of Austria with a peculiar gift for inflaming the passions of halfwits. And that's who surrounds him -- his vain, blubbering, delusional generals, his groveling, sycophantic staff, and a few so-called "good Germans" who stick to him thru some ridiculous idea of "honor."
The film is based on Joachim Fest's short, eloquent book "Der Untergang," which stands as the definitive study of the Fuhrerbunker and its occupants, and also on the memoirs of Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge, who is here portrayed as a wide-eyed innocent who only dimly grasps the situation in which she finds herself. The rest of the bunker entourage is well-portrayed by an assortment of fine German film and television actors, but it's Ganz who dominates every frame of the film. Hitler's been played on screen by everyone from Anthony Hopkins to Moe Howard, but never have I seen, nor will there ever be a portrayal to equal this one -- Ganz gives you a Hitler who's spent his whole life denying his own incompetence, blaming everyone but himself for his failures, and giving no one but himself credit for his accomplishments, and you find yourself wondering how it was possible that such a creature could ever exist. And then you look at the grovelers and the climbers and the petty nothings that surround him and it all comes into focus and you see how easy it would be for history to repeat itself.
This is a great film. If you've never seen it, make a point of doing so.
"Downfall," the definitive Hitler-In-The-Bunker movie, made in Germany in 2004.
I have dim memories of seeing this film once before, around when it first came out, but over the years since then those memories have been buried under an avalanche of You Toob "Hitler Rants About..." parody videos that have managed to turn the whole picture into something approaching a wacky sitcom. And I don't have a problem with that -- I think the most effective way to cut Nazis down to size, aside from sending Zhukov after them, is to laugh in their faces at their strutting, preposterous Herrenvolk arrogance, and I'm a big fan of any such deliberate trivialization of, not what the Nazis did, but of exactly the kind of people, the kind of low-grade mediocre pisswipes, that they actually were.
And, viewing the original "Downfall" again, and trying to divorce it from the context of a thousand parodies, the film seems to do exactly that. These Nazis -- and especially the recently-late Bruno Ganz's extraordinary portrayal of Hitler -- are a gang of nonentities. Scrabbling, grubbing, pathological little men who have somehow wormed their way to power and have exercised it in the manner of a bunch of inadequate teenagers. There are no Colossi of Evil here, no comic-book supervillians, no monsters. Ganz plays Hitler exactly as he really was -- a short, bad-natured, flatulent malcontent from the gutters of Austria with a peculiar gift for inflaming the passions of halfwits. And that's who surrounds him -- his vain, blubbering, delusional generals, his groveling, sycophantic staff, and a few so-called "good Germans" who stick to him thru some ridiculous idea of "honor."
The film is based on Joachim Fest's short, eloquent book "Der Untergang," which stands as the definitive study of the Fuhrerbunker and its occupants, and also on the memoirs of Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge, who is here portrayed as a wide-eyed innocent who only dimly grasps the situation in which she finds herself. The rest of the bunker entourage is well-portrayed by an assortment of fine German film and television actors, but it's Ganz who dominates every frame of the film. Hitler's been played on screen by everyone from Anthony Hopkins to Moe Howard, but never have I seen, nor will there ever be a portrayal to equal this one -- Ganz gives you a Hitler who's spent his whole life denying his own incompetence, blaming everyone but himself for his failures, and giving no one but himself credit for his accomplishments, and you find yourself wondering how it was possible that such a creature could ever exist. And then you look at the grovelers and the climbers and the petty nothings that surround him and it all comes into focus and you see how easy it would be for history to repeat itself.
This is a great film. If you've never seen it, make a point of doing so.
I've long maintained that fast zombies would be less scary in real life than slow zombies, because the fast ones will kill you in seconds and then it's over before it really starts, whereas the slow ones will keep coming and kill you eventually, someday. Remember, you need to sleep but they don't. You need to take a rest and they don't. You need to heal from injuries but they don't. You need to find food and supplies but they don't. It's very much a tortoise & the hare thing. Of course on the silver screen slow doesn't have the same zing.Yes, one creative change that put a whole new frightfulness into the zombie genre (for me) is the speed in which they moved in I Am Legend (2007). Traditionally, zombies moved at a speed that one could sort of walk away from, but in this film they were as fast as fock, and just about impossible to escape from if they got too close. Of course, the CGI enhancements made them even more frightening.
I just watched (again) The Italian Job (2003).
This movie is stop-n-watch for me mainly because of the MINI Coopers, and was a big influence on me purchasing a 2005 model in that year.
The pacing of this movie is noticeably different than typical heist/car chase movies. More laid back and way less frenetic, even during the chase sequences. The acting is just so-so from all concerned (I have never been a Mark Wahlberg fan). Everyone else is either one-dimensional and/or sort of sleepwalks through the film. But it kind of works, and as I said, I watch it for the three trademark cars in action.
Watched a 2008 movie "The Other Bolyn Girl".....Portman and Johannsen. I thought it a good companion piece to "Wolf Hall". Not sure of the historical accuracy but it certainly showed in more detail the family intrigue and how when it falls apart the entire family suffers the consequences. Interesting to watch a much younger Mark Rylance from a time when he was unknown to me. Portman as Anne and remembering her from 'Black Swan' has the evil woman role locked down very well.
The Dead Don't Die (2019). In the small and quiet town of Centerville, police Chief Cliff Robertson (Bill Murray), his officers (Adam Driver, Chloë Sevigny), and the town residents slowly realize they're in the midst of a zombie invasion. Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, whose movies often attain "cult" status, he seems to be a little out of his element in the zombie genre. "Slowly" is the key word here, as Jarmusch seemed to be in no hurry to tell this story and, once he finally got started, didn't seem to know how to end it. I enjoyed it, but can't say I'd recommend it to anyone unless I knew they liked character driven movies with a deliberate (i.e., slow) pace.
Really? As my username implies I have seen a few zombie movies, and beyond the basic plot (i.e., humans become aware that the dead have somehow been reanimated and have to figure out how to survive that) I'm not sure I agree. Then again, there are some "Easter eggs" that are directly connected to the zombie movie genre (and others that aren't), so I'm probably wrong.
That being said, unless it was a direct sequel I haven't seen any zombie movies that required a whole lot of familiarity. Like most "horror" movies the writers tend to take liberties with the established "rules" of the monster du jour so they can tell the story they want to tell, but modern zombies (i.e., beginning with George Romero's 1968 movie Night of the Living Dead) are pretty simple creatures--they're dead people who have somehow been reanimated, and they want to eat the living. Beyond that, the writers (the good ones, that is) usually tell you everything you need to know about how their zombies work.
Yes, one creative change that put a whole new frightfulness into the zombie genre (for me) is the speed in which they moved in I Am Legend (2007). Traditionally, zombies moved at a speed that one could sort of walk away from, but in this film they were as fast as fock, and just about impossible to escape from if they got too close. Of course, the CGI enhancements made them even more frightening.
In the original book "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson, the bad-guys/creatures were vampires, not zombies. They couldn't stand mirrors or garlic, and could only be killed with a wooden stake in the heart. However, these vampires are that way due to germ infection, not supernatural causes. (They can't turn into flying bats, etc.)
The 2007 movie apparently REALLY changed things if it had zombies as the villains.
As a great fan of the book, the best movie version was the one that stuck closest to the original plot: "The Last Man on Earth" with Vincent Price (1964). However, it was made in Italy, and the production values seem to indicate that the producer and director pooled their pocket change to finance the movie. However, since Richard Matheson wrote the screenplay it is quite "authentic" with respect to the book, and is pretty good if you watch it for the ideas and look beyond the production quality.
Charlton Heston made "Omega Man" as a second version of the book/movie in 1971. More of an action movie and with less fidelity to the book...
"Downfall," the definitive Hitler-In-The-Bunker movie, made in Germany in 2004.
I have dim memories of seeing this film once before, around when it first came out, but over the years since then those memories have been buried under an avalanche of You Toob "Hitler Rants About..." parody videos that have managed to turn the whole picture into something approaching a wacky sitcom. And I don't have a problem with that -- I think the most effective way to cut Nazis down to size, aside from sending Zhukov after them, is to laugh in their faces at their strutting, preposterous Herrenvolk arrogance, and I'm a big fan of any such deliberate trivialization of, not what the Nazis did, but of exactly the kind of people, the kind of low-grade mediocre pisswipes, that they actually were.
And, viewing the original "Downfall" again, and trying to divorce it from the context of a thousand parodies, the film seems to do exactly that. These Nazis -- and especially the recently-late Bruno Ganz's extraordinary portrayal of Hitler -- are a gang of nonentities. Scrabbling, grubbing, pathological little men who have somehow wormed their way to power and have exercised it in the manner of a bunch of inadequate teenagers. There are no Colossi of Evil here, no comic-book supervillians, no monsters. Ganz plays Hitler exactly as he really was -- a short, bad-natured, flatulent malcontent from the gutters of Austria with a peculiar gift for inflaming the passions of halfwits. And that's who surrounds him -- his vain, blubbering, delusional generals, his groveling, sycophantic staff, and a few so-called "good Germans" who stick to him thru some ridiculous idea of "honor."
The film is based on Joachim Fest's short, eloquent book "Der Untergang," which stands as the definitive study of the Fuhrerbunker and its occupants, and also on the memoirs of Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge, who is here portrayed as a wide-eyed innocent who only dimly grasps the situation in which she finds herself. The rest of the bunker entourage is well-portrayed by an assortment of fine German film and television actors, but it's Ganz who dominates every frame of the film. Hitler's been played on screen by everyone from Anthony Hopkins to Moe Howard, but never have I seen, nor will there ever be a portrayal to equal this one -- Ganz gives you a Hitler who's spent his whole life denying his own incompetence, blaming everyone but himself for his failures, and giving no one but himself credit for his accomplishments, and you find yourself wondering how it was possible that such a creature could ever exist. And then you look at the grovelers and the climbers and the petty nothings that surround him and it all comes into focus and you see how easy it would be for history to repeat itself.
This is a great film. If you've never seen it, make a point of doing so.
Men In Black International - well within the MIB eco-system, dazzling CGI, self-deprecating humor, and fun twists'
I've long maintained that fast zombies would be less scary in real life than slow zombies, because the fast ones will kill you in seconds and then it's over before it really starts, whereas the slow ones will keep coming and kill you eventually, someday. Remember, you need to sleep but they don't. You need to take a rest and they don't. You need to heal from injuries but they don't. You need to find food and supplies but they don't. It's very much a tortoise & the hare thing. Of course on the silver screen slow doesn't have the same zing.
Dunkirk from 1958 (not 2017)
In 1942's Mrs. Miniver, the Dunkirk evacuation scene is emotionally and patriotically pitch perfect - any Englishman with any kind of motorboat selflessly risks his life and property joining a heroic flotilla of civilian ships evacuating the trapped-on-the-French-coast British Expeditionary Force allowing it to live to fight another day for an on-its-heels England. In '42, a lift-your-spirits story was the right movie at the right time.
By 2017, some movies had become like avant-garde food - deconstructed so much so that they lost the point of the meal. 2017's Dunkirk brought you pieces of a great war movie - incredible in-the-action cinematography, gut-wrenchingly pointless loss of life, moments of heroism and moments of selfishness and the feeling that something big was going on - but if you didn't know the historical facts and context of The Battle of Dunkirk, the movie was like walking into the middle of a video game where you didn't understand who was fighting whom and why.
Sandwich between these two efforts is 1958's Dunkirk - a traditional movie more than a decade removed from the war and thus able to step back from Mrs. Miniver's pure propaganda. To be sure, it's an English film (from the wonderful Ealing Studios) with England's military and civilians as heroes, but with the honesty to show some war profiteering, small mindedness and senseless loss of life as well.
Employing an almost documentary style, the movie moves back and forth between the soldiers trapped on the French coast (almost reversing a future "Saving Private Ryan" by showing a small unit, under fire, retreating from inland France to the beach redoubt) and the civilians back at home slowly absorbing the news of the potential colossal loss of its expeditionary force while realizing that any hope lies with a quick marshaling of its civilian boats and owners in an unprecedented effort to save its trapped soldiers.
The movie shines at "small" moments - soldiers selflessly sacrificing themselves to allow the larger unit to safely retreat and boat owners - hours ago safely eating dinner at home - under fire from German Stukas but still motoring into battle. It also provides a moral / religious context - normal for the time - for the the battle and sacrifice that defined the 20th Century. It only lacked that one touch-you-to-your-core moment of the armada sailing into view that Mrs. Miniver delivered perfectly - but heck, you can always watch both movies.
N.B., For time travel, the movie's military equipment, architecture, cars, boats and clothes (the Navy sweaters and duffle coats are still being copied today) are pure joy.