What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[AmateisGal]

Eye in the Sky - A gritty, tense drama starring Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman (his final film) about using drones to take out suicide bombers in Islamist Kenya. The whole film takes place in a single day. It was a hard one to watch, not because it was poorly done, but because it was so well done that it really makes you think about the consequences of war in this day and age when so much of it relies on technology, i.e. drones. Highly recommend it.

 

[Zombie_61]

...RE Amateisgal, I have "Hail Caesar" coming from Netflix - got it for the period sets, etc., but disappointed that the story sounds so weak.

I wouldn't go so far as to say the story is weak. The movie is essentially a day in the life of Hollywood "fixer" Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) in the 1950s, who is pulled in one direction or another as needs be at any given moment. As such, I think the movie's real problem is that it tries to tell too many stories at once and never quite finds the right balance between them. I enjoyed it, but ultimately found it somewhat unsatisfying.

 

[Benzadmiral]

One of my favorite movies... I remember seeing this at a theater when I was just a kid!

~shoes~

Like the best of SF, it leaves you thinking about something other than pure action or explosions. What books did The Inventor ("George") take back with him to the far future? What 3 would YOU take?

A similar detail in Forbidden Planet as Morbius shows the starship captain and doctor the Krell compound: He points out a doorway, which looks like a rather squashed pentagram, and says, "I suggest you consider it in light of one of our functionally-designed human doors." Imagination takes over: I immediately visualized the Krell as large, wide crablike creatures!

 

[AmateisGal]

I wouldn't go so far as to say the story is weak. The movie is essentially a day in the life of Hollywood "fixer" Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) in the 1950s, who is pulled in one direction or another as needs be at any given moment. As such, I think the movie's real problem is that it tries to tell too many stories at once and never quite finds the right balance between them. I enjoyed it, but ultimately found it somewhat unsatisfying.

Yes. This is exactly right.

 

[Redshoes51]

What books did The Inventor ("George") take back with him to the far future? What 3 would YOU take?

I KNOW!!!!!

That could be a thread of its own!

~shoes~

 

[Fading Fast]

From TCM last night, "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini." I can enjoy a good, mindless '60s comely girls and boys at the beach movie as much as the next guy, but the twenty minutes I could stand of this one was awful.

You don't ask for much in the way of dialogue in these movies, but it felt as if they let the "actors" make it up it was so bad - not only cheesy, but almost gibberish. You also don't ask much from the music in these movies - generic '60s bubble gum rock and roll is expected - but the two songs I heard were several notches below that and, like the dialogue, felt as if they made it up as they were going along.

And there were some real names (for the time) in this movie - Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, as well as, some true old timers like Buster Keaton and Mickey Rooney - but they had no chance, no chance at all, of pulling this material out of the garbage can. Clearly the variation-on-a-theme beach-movie ideas factory was bankrupt at this point.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Don't kid yourself, those AIP beach movies were NEVER good. They were junk from day one. Quickie teen exploitation films for audiences that barely watched them... they were too busy necking in the balcony.

 

[Stearmen]

From TCM last night, "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini." I can enjoy a good, mindless '60s comely girls and boys at the beach movie as much as the next guy, but the twenty minutes I could stand of this one was awful.

You don't ask for much in the way of dialogue in these movies, but it felt as if they let the "actors" make it up it was so bad - not only cheesy, but almost gibberish. You also don't ask much from the music in these movies - generic '60s bubble gum rock and roll is expected - but the two songs I heard were several notches below that and, like the dialogue, felt as if they made it up as they were going along.

And there were some real names (for the time) in this movie - Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, as well as, some true old timers like Buster Keaton and Mickey Rooney - but they had no chance, no chance at all, of pulling this material out of the garbage can. Clearly the variation-on-a-theme beach-movie ideas factory was bankrupt at this point.

Even when the bikini movies got good musicians to play, they were still terrible! Bikini World (1967) somehow managed to get The Animals, and that was the only high point in the movie! Spoiler alert.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Getting ready to screen a brand new 20th Century Fox vault archive 35mm print of the 1957 potboiler "Peyton Place," which was filmed in this area and features a lot of locals as background extras, who will be showing up in force to see themselves sixty years ago. There will be a representative of the Motion Picture Academy in the house, so I've got an assistant working with me in the booth in case I fall off the stepstool or something.

It's a brand new print, so the picture looks better than it ever has -- but the script is still as much of a goofy soap opera as it ever was. Tell me again why Lana Turner was a star? Oh, wait, I see, there were two good reasons. I'm glad this picture wasn't made in 3D.

 

[Fading Fast]

Getting ready to screen a brand new 20th Century Fox vault archive 35mm print of the 1957 potboiler "Peyton Place," which was filmed in this area and features a lot of locals as background extras, who will be showing up in force to see themselves sixty years ago. There will be a representative of the Motion Picture Academy in the house, so I've got an assistant working with me in the booth in case I fall off the stepstool or something.

It's a brand new print, so the picture looks better than it ever has -- but the script is still as much of a goofy soap opera as it ever was. Tell me again why Lana Turner was a star? Oh, wait, I see, there were two good reasons. I'm glad this picture wasn't made in 3D.

I know it's a soap opera, but I enjoy the movie a lot. Glad there is an improved print out there as the Maine scenery will only look prettier.

I never got Lana Turner either - found her boring and the weakest character in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and am never engaged with her as an actress. And, to you point (or points), many actresses have those - hard to believe they couldn't find one with a bit more acting ability.

Not only wouldn't I have murdered to be with her in TPMART, but I would have rather stayed a bachelor than married her in PP.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The things that bug me about the picture most are that (1) it absolutely strips away pretty much the whole point of the novel, which is that beneath the surface of this picture-postcard town not only are there scandals, but that the residents themselves take great delight in exploiting those scandals for their own backbiting, gossiping pleasure. And (2), the only one of the lead characters who rings true as a real New England type is the doctor played by Lloyd Nolan. The other leads look and act like they just got off an excursion bus for the weekend and can't wait to get home to Pomona. Compare any of them to the real locals you see in the background and you'll see what I mean.

I forget how many times I've screened this picture over the years, but it always gets a huge laugh when the "bus to New York" heads toward Bangor.

 

[Fading Fast]

The things that bug me about the picture most are that (1) it absolutely strips away pretty much the whole point of the novel, which is that beneath the surface of this picture-postcard town not only are there scandals, but that the residents themselves take great delight in exploiting those scandals for their own backbiting, gossiping pleasure. And (2), the only one of the lead characters who rings true as a real New England type is the doctor played by Lloyd Nolan. The other leads look and act like they just got off an excursion bus for the weekend and can't wait to get home to Pomona. Compare any of them to the real locals you see in the background and you'll see what I mean.

I forget how many times I've screened this picture over the years, but it always gets a huge laugh when the "bus to New York" heads toward Bangor.

to your points

1) As you note, that theme is suppressed but kinda there as the doctor calls the town out on it at the trial and some in the crowd at the trial clearly display it - so the director did try to put it in there, but not with the power or directness of the book.

2) He also rings very true as a "Wonder Years" style neighborhood doctor where I grew up in the '60s. He was good, cared, but also called the balls and strikes and made judgements in ways we would never let a doctor do today.

The good with those guys is that if they are genuinely decent and reasonably intelligent then they make the right decisions most of the time without a billion hours of analysis and mountains of documentation (and can bring nuance and sensitivity to a problem that a big "system" can't), but if they are ill-intended (think "King's Row"), then they can cause a lot harm and get away with a lot of bad things.

For better or worse, our society has decided we don't want the "I know what is best" individuals like the doctor - I also knew teachers and cops like that - and prefer a system that documents, analyzes and controls everyone because the bad actors ruined it for the good ones. For example, it doesn't matter if 100 priests with great care, thoughtfulness and concern made life better for 10,000 boys, if the 101st one molested a boy and got away with it because we had a system that left too much judgment and power in the hands of the individual.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Quite true. My childhood doctor -- who was also my mother's childhood doctor -- was very much a "Dr. Swain" type, beloved by all the town, etc. And then ten years after he died, we found out he accidentally killed my older brother on the delivery table and covered it up. Oopsie.

 

[Fading Fast]

Quite true. My childhood doctor -- who was also my mother's childhood doctor -- was very much a "Dr. Swain" type, beloved by all the town, etc. And then ten years after he died, we found out he accidentally killed my older brother on the delivery table and covered it up. Oopsie.

I unfortunately remember that happened - but it probably happened a lot more than we ever knew. Hence, we built the world we have today where everyone is afraid to make a decision that isn't the safe, approved and documented to death. I guess on net we are better off, but the bureaucracy and "process" can wear you out.

 

[belfastboy]

Watched "Royal Affair" last night, a Danish film about the reign of Christian VII. A brilliant period drama, well written, stellar acting and as far as I can glean, historically accurate. Highly recommended.

 

[Doctor Strange]

As part of TCM's celebration of Olivia de Havilland's 100th birthday(!), I watched The Snake Pit last night. I thought I had already seen it decades ago, but quickly discovered that I hadn't.

It's essentially the 1948 version of Girl, Interrupted, with a very worthy Oscar-nominated performance from Olivia, who completely commits to being de-glammed and gives a harrowing portrayal of a woman going through a major nervous breakdown. Apparently, the film had a huge impact on the understanding of mental illness among the general public, and its then-shocking portrayal of things like large open wards overstuffed with patients at all levels of difficulty, forced hydrotherapy, and shock treatments led to numerous reforms.

I thought it was excellent, though like all treatments of psychological issues back then (for example, Spellbound), it was quite a bit off base in a lot ways re today's understanding. For example, its assumptions that Olivia's character had to be cured in order to become a good subservient wife to her clueless husband. And you don't see doctor's offices decorated with framed pictures of Freud on the wall anymore. But it remains very worth seeing for Olivia's brave performance and those of a sterling supporting cast, including Leo Genn, Celeste Holm, Betsy Blair, Beulah Bondi, Celia Lovsky (later Star Trek's T'Pau!), etc.

 

[SurfGent]

3 days of the Condor

 

[SurfGent]

 

[SurfGent]

 

[SurfGent]