What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[AmateisGal]

The Dirty Dozen. Once again, it irritates me to no end that the costumes for the women are so WRONG. 1960s hairstyles, dresses, shoes, and jewelry. Why did they do this, I wonder?

Now I'm watching From Russia with Love.

 

[Fading Fast]

The Dirty Dozen. Once again, it irritates me to no end that the costumes for the women are so WRONG. 1960s hairstyles, dresses, shoes, and jewelry. Why did they do this, I wonder?

Now I'm watching From Russia with Love.

Most of the women in "Dr Zhivago," which was filmed in the '60s, but which takes place in Russia in 1917, have '60s hairstyles (as do the women on "The Big Valley," which also was filmed in the '60s but, putatively, takes place in the 1880s in California). Stuff like that drives me nuts, too, but I guess there was less focus on those details than there seems to be in many (not all) shows / movies today.

"From Russia With Love" is in my top three and, ask me on any given day, is my number one favorite Bond film.

 

[Doctor Strange]

As we've discussed here endlessly, hairstyles are nearly always contemporary to when they were shot, and costumes often are too, in nearly all period stuff.

From Russia With Love is probably the best Connery Bond film, objectively speaking, but I find I like Dr. No more and more as I get older. It's so wonderfully basic and low-budget, the ur-Bond film.

 

[Fading Fast]

My top three are the first three Bond films (I just switch their order around from time to time), in large part, for the reasons you note. Number four is Craig's "Casino Royale."

 

[Doctor Strange]

Oh, I gave up on lists and ranks ages ago. You're may have noticed I don't participate in those kinds of threads. When you've been watching voraciously for over 50 years, there are just too many great ANYTHINGS to make best-of or favorite lists.

But certainly, the first three are wonderful (Thunderball and YOLT are overextended in comparison) and Casino Royale was a big step forward. When it came out a decade ago, it was the first Bond film I actually went to see theatrically since the Roger Moore years. But truthfully, I am over Bond. I haven't even seen Spectre yet.

 

[PeterGunnLives]

To me, FRWL is the quintessential Bond film. Goldfinger was a little too "pop art" for me, and then there was generally too much silliness after that.

As far as Star Trek goes, I'm a millennial, and the original series is the only Trek that I really watch on a regular basis. None of the others fit with a vintage lifestyle.

I'm finally going to watch Cheyenne Autumn this evening, as the DVD arrived in the mail.

 

[Zombie_61]

Interesting...or perhaps I should use "fascinating". I watched Star Trek initially on a black-and-white television, and watched the reruns after we got a color TV in the early-70s. I don't think the color, or lack of it, affected my perception of the show as much as growing older and maturing did. I was five years old when it premiered, and I was enthralled by the real-life Apollo program at the time, so I simply thought Star Trek was fun, even then understanding it was a fictional projection into the possible future of space travel. But as I grew older I was able to better understand and appreciate the societal themes that some of the episodes explored. So, for me, that had far more impact than whether I saw them in black-and-white or color.

 

[green papaya]

Nightmare Alley 1947

Roustabout Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power) joins a traveling carny and unsuccessfully schemes to figure out the mind-reading act of Mademoiselle Zeena (Joan Blondell) and her alcoholic husband, Pete (Ian Keith). But when Pete dies, Zeena is forced to take on Stanton as a partner, and he quickly proves more gifted than his predecessor.

 

[Stearmen]

Watched the end of Beneath The Planet Of The Apes (1970) I finally figured out why these movies, with their low tech special effects and make up, were so much more scary then the new movies with great special effects and make up. Back then, being killed in a blink of an eye, from a missile flying thousands of miles was a real fear! Now, I fear my fellow drivers a lot more!

 

[AmateisGal]

Of the Connery films, From Russia with Love is my favorite followed by Dr. No, Thunderball, and Goldfinger.

I don't watch the Roger Moore ones. Ick. (I know I may be in the minority, but I cannot stand Moore as Bond).

I think Timothy Dalton was a great Bond (again, I'm in the minority). I liked Brosnan as Bond at first, but when I look at those films now, ick again. They just don't hold up over time.

Of course, Daniel Craig is right after Connery in my list. Casino Royale was excellent as was Skyfall. Quantum of Solace was more of a character piece and showed Bond's quest for revenge more than anything, and SPECTRE, well, should have been better.

 

[green papaya]

I only consider Sean Connery as the original James Bond, all the others are imposters especially any Bond movie made after the 1980's, the real James Bond ended in the 80's

all those new actors are not James Bond, I just cant accept them, too many new actors using James Bonds name just doesnt seem right.

 

[PeterGunnLives]

Of the Connery films, From Russia with Love is my favorite followed by Dr. No, Thunderball, and Goldfinger.

I don't watch the Roger Moore ones. Ick. (I know I may be in the minority, but I cannot stand Moore as Bond).

I think Timothy Dalton was a great Bond (again, I'm in the minority). I liked Brosnan as Bond at first, but when I look at those films now, ick again. They just don't hold up over time.

Of course, Daniel Craig is right after Connery in my list. Casino Royale was excellent as was Skyfall. Quantum of Solace was more of a character piece and showed Bond's quest for revenge more than anything, and SPECTRE, well, should have been better.

I think Moore and Brosnan's portrayals both went overboard with the "suave and smooth" schtick, almost venturing into self-parody. To me, Connery was just right. Some find Craig's Bond to be a little too brutal, but I think he works very well as a precursor to the Connery version, still kind of rough around the edges as he just started the 007 assignment. By Skyfall and SPECTRE, he has become more accustomed to the job. I also think SPECTRE should have been better, though.

 

[Fading Fast]

It's interesting that, IMHO, the best Craig Bond - by far - is "Casino Royale -" the only one based on an original Fleming novel.

I don't think that is coincidental at all. There was something "cleaner" or "crisper" or "tighter" (that's it, I'm out of adjectives) to the Bond novels; whereas, the movies based on new scripts feel more generic to me, more like other action adventure movies just grafted onto the Bond franchise.

And I'm with Amateis Gal in that I thought Dalton, while maybe not great, did a very good job as Bond with crummy scripts and amidst the general dishabille of the franchise at the time.

I liked, didn't love, Bronsan's first outing, but after that, they felt more like the Moore ones. And "The Spy Who Love Me," for me, was Moore's only okay outing (giving some latitude to the style horror that was the '70s).

 

[Harp]

... I thought Dalton, while maybe not great, did a very good job as Bond with crummy scripts and amidst the general dishabille of the franchise at the time.

I liked, didn't love, Bronsan's first outing, but after that, they felt more like the Moore ones...

Dalton seemed plausible, a human being. Brosnan slipped and became the caricature.

Fleming's Bond was a Royal Navy officer, WWII vet, and Cambridge graduate-by definition a man with some polish. A difficult character perhaps to capsulize.

 

[Worf]

"The Corsican Brothers" - An average buckswasheler from the golden era with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. doing a role his father could've done better. Musta been tough trying to fill his old man's shoes and never quite doing it. Hard to follow the screens first true "action hero". Good sword fighter though.

Worf

 

[Worf]

In an effort to scratch an itch I rented Bill Murray's version of "The Razor's Edge", All I can say is "maron what were they thinking!" To say that almost everyone in the film was criminally miscast would be putting it mildly. Murray was as our dear Moderator correctly put it, "America's favorite goofball". And he is just that. He's a one trick pony and is still doing that one trick to this day. Every close up you expect him to crack his trademark sideways grin and he does it almost every time. I could never take him seriously. This isn't "Ghostbusters", at some point someone has to believe you've made the transformation from silly callow youth to soul searching adult. And his female opposite Catherine Hicks is even worse. I've never, ever hit a woman, even when they were trying to kill me, but I would be sorely tempted by her portrayal. The whole thing was an awful, awful mess, but his career survived it to say the least. They must have lost a ton of caish making this turd, filmed on location in France and India. Wow.... just plain WOW!

Worf

 

[Doctor Strange]

Crimson Peak, the recent period ghost flick directed by Guillermo del Toro. Starts promisingly, with great gothic production design and a solid cast - Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska - and suitably creepy stuff and ghostly visitations. But it eventually goes off the rails and devolves to two characters chasing each other around with kitchen knives. I expected better from del Toro.

 

[Fading Fast]

In an effort to scratch an itch I rented Bill Murray's version of "The Razor's Edge", All I can say is "maron what were they thinking!" To say that almost everyone in the film was criminally miscast would be putting it mildly. Murray was as our dear Moderator correctly put it, "America's favorite goofball". And he is just that. He's a one trick pony and is still doing that one trick to this day. Every close up you expect him to crack his trademark sideways grin and he does it almost every time. I could never take him seriously. This isn't "Ghostbusters", at some point someone has to believe you've made the transformation from silly callow youth to soul searching adult. And his female opposite Catherine Hicks is even worse. I've never, ever hit a woman, even when they were trying to kill me, but I would be sorely tempted by her portrayal. The whole thing was an awful, awful mess, but his career survived it to say the least. They must have lost a ton of caish making this turd, filmed on location in France and India. Wow.... just plain WOW!

Worf

I suggest you immediate find a copy of the '46 version of "The Razors Edge" and watch it in its entirety to wipe clean the slate and erase all memory of the '84 one.

I remember when Murray was picked to star in the '84 version, there was some pushback from critics, etc., at the time, but he was a big star who wanted a "serious" role and had the power to get what he wanted.

 

[PeterGunnLives]

I'm finally watching John Ford's Cheyenne Autumn, separating it into a few viewing sessions as it is rather long and ponderous. Midway through the movie, there's a shift to a humorous tone with James Stewart as Wyatt Earp and some comical happenings. I find this kind of odd.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

' Mortdecai' (2015)......Since IMDB had such a lot of negative reviews (I rarely agree with IMDB reviews ) for this movie I thought it might be worth a watch.
It's a fun movie, fast paced with good performances & quite a lot of silly humor. Depp's & Paltrow's upper class English accents were pretty damn goo too.