What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Fading Fast]

Decision Against Time (1957) In the UK it was titled Man In The Sky. The funny part was, they were testing a new cargo plane, a Bristol 170 Freighter, which in actuality had already been in service for a decade!

I caught about thirty minutes of the middle of it last night and, now, want to see the entire movie. I'm far from an expert, but even to me that the plane was a prop job and looked to have older lines seemed odd.

 

[Doctor Strange]

The Company, a very late Robert Altman film. A near-documentary about the Joffrey Ballet that's about half performance and rehearsal sequences, with a weak romance between Neve Campbell and James Franco threaded through. Only really notable for a scenery-chomping performance by Malcolm McDowell as the Company's dictatorial director.

Third-rate Altman, but interesting enough if really you dig him - or ballet.

 

[Harp]

... A drill sergeant has to be fierce and hated by his trainees, but is Ryan the monster he is thought to be?

I like this quote because it shows both sides of the question: the positive and negative of the Puritan ethos. Therefore it's real history rather than propaganda.
I have a feeling that there was a blazing schoolyard-style literary row between William Buckley and Gore Vidal on television in which Vidal called Buckley a fascist and Buckley called Vidal a f*g. Sounds a bit like some of the recent political debates on both sides of the Pond. ...

A drill sergeant is more often admired as man and soldier. My basic training infantry cadre at Ft Polk, LA during Vietnam were all excellent and I learned survival.
__________

Buckley and Vidal had a terrific row and Buckley's Firing Line and a series of interviews testified their dislike; which was as unfortunate as it was childish.

 

[Stearmen]

The Autobiography of a 'Jeep' (1943) Not a movie, but a short shown before the movie. Kind of funny, the Jeep narrates the film.

 

[2jakes]

St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967)
TCM
I’ve seen this several times. Just noticed a very young Jack Nicholson.
Wearing the fedora and has one line.

 

[Zombie_61]

The Autobiography of a 'Jeep' (1943) Not a movie, but a short shown before the movie. Kind of funny, the Jeep narrates the film.

I saw that too. Light on actual information about the development of the Jeep, but enjoyable as a short promotional film.

Also enjoyable was another short aired on TCM: The Battle of Midway (1942). As the story goes, the U.S. knew Midway Island would be attacked by Japanese forces but didn't know exactly when, so they sent Lt. Cmdr. John Ford U.S.N.R. to the island to film the attack when it happened. Most of the actual attack footage was obviously filmed while Ford and cinematographer Joseph August were behind some form of cover (to protect themselves during the attack), but they were still wounded by enemy fire and shrapnel. In fact, at two or three points during the short the film jumps the camera sprockets and goes out of frame due to shrapnel hitting the camera; Ford included the footage to show the intensity of the attack.

 

[Worf]

"The Negro Soldier" - A WWII documentary showing Black and White Americans at the time that Blacks had always defended this country, even though it neither loved nor wanted them. Seems almost ironic in light of recent events.

Worf

 

[Stearmen]

"The Negro Soldier" - A WWII documentary showing Black and White Americans at the time that Blacks had always defended this country, even though it neither loved nor wanted them. Seems almost ironic in light of recent events.

Worf

One of the documentaries on WWII, was the building of the Al-Can highway through Canada and Alaska. It was built in no small part by 97th Engineer General Service Regiment (colored). They were told not to have contact with the indigenous people, but of course that wasn't always easy. One bulldozer operator accidentally came upon a village, later a documentary crew was sent out to get the reaction of the villagers on first contact. One of the native men was asked what he thought of meeting the African American man, he said, "I don't know, I have never meant a white man before!" Kind of ironic, that all lower 48 people looked the same to him. That part of the film was hidden away needless to say.

 

[frussell]

The Autobiography of a 'Jeep' (1943) Not a movie, but a short shown before the movie. Kind of funny, the Jeep narrates the film.

Cool! As a kid, I learned to drive on our weekend place in the Texas Hill Country in one of those old Army jeeps. It had a gear so low my dad could walk as fast as it ran, so he'd put me behind the wheel and tell me to drive in front of the house and holler when I was done. I couldn't touch the pedals, so he'd come out and stop it for me. That old thing would not die. It got flipped a few times, and if the battery was dead from disuse, we'd just pull start it behind the tractor, and it was good to go. None of the gauges worked, so we would use a tree branch jammed in the gas tank to see if we had enough to go play. I can still hear the roller coaster going uphill clickety clack it made if you turned real sharp. Great machines, thanks for that video. Frank

 

[AmateisGal]

The Mortal Storm (1940) with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullvan. Such a powerful film.

I found this review of it in The New York Times when it came out in 1940.

http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D06E3DC1E30E53ABC4951DFB066838B659EDE

 

[Stearmen]

The World's End (2013) Simon Pegg and Nick Frost save all of humanity, in a way that only they can!

 

[Touchofevil]

Free State of Jones
Much better than I thought it would be from the
bad promos on tv.

 

[Fading Fast]

The Mortal Storm (1940) with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullvan. Such a powerful film.

I found this review of it in The New York Times when it came out in 1940.

http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D06E3DC1E30E53ABC4951DFB066838B659EDE

Definitely an under-rated masterpiece. From the early charm of their lives in the quaint village to the totalitarian hell they end up in, the movie engages you from the first scenes, packs a ton of timely political philosophy in, doesn't name names (Nazis) but leaves you with no doubt who the bad guys are (Nazis) and keeps you passionately involved as you care about Stewart and Sullivan's characters (and Morgan's and others') on both a political and personal level.

I get it isn't "Casablanca," but "The Mortal Storm" deserves a wider audience today than it seems to have. Perhaps being an MGM production hurt it as Warner Brothers would probably have given it a bit less gloss and bit more bite - but in truth (and as that really cool review you dug up says), this picture doesn't hold back in its denunciation of totalitarianism.

 

[Worf]

"Arrival" - Long, slow, with a vaguely interesting premise. How do you communicate PEACEFULLY with an advanced alien race that shows up on your doorstep? I left neither moved, nor entertained. Perhaps it was my mood upon entering the theatre...

Worf

 

[Touchofevil]

True Confessions

 

[Trenchfriend]

Alien.

 

[Fading Fast]

...How do you communicate PEACEFULLY with an advanced alien race that shows up on your doorstep?...

First, make sure they don't have a book titled "To Serve Man."

 

[Touchofevil]

First, make sure they don't have a book titled "To Serve Man."

Or the book "What's for Dinner?"

 

[Formeruser012523]

Iron Man.

Really surprised to see this turn up on television, but it is a holiday weekend, so... Nice bit of forshadowing in a line from Jarvis. "Perhaps, if you intend to visit other planets, we should improve the exosystems."

 

[MisterCairo]

^^^

Funny, we just watched Iron Man 2 with the girls as we explore the Marvel universe with them!