What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[belfastboy]

Watched "I, Daniel Blake" last night. I think it is Loach's best ever. He managed to make his usual and predictive ideological point without beating the viewer over the head too badly. Was it a polemic? You betcha it was but at the same time it was so damn human and touching. Both lead actors were the usual British amazing.

 

[AmateisGal]

God Is My Co-Pilot. I'm not sure why I never saw this before - I must have missed it when it was previously played on TCM, but thanks to their Summer Under the Stars day of Dennis Morgan, I got to watch it.

Fantastic film that hits all the right notes. Sure, it was more of a war propaganda film, but it was biographical and I always enjoy seeing real people's lives faithfully told on the screen (though whether or not this really followed his memoir remains to be seen as I need to read it - just ordered a copy of his book).

 

[Fading Fast]

"Wife vs Secretary" 1936 Jean Harlow, Clark Gable and Myrna Loy

• And the code effectively neuters another movie as the premise is that Gable, a publishing exec, is possible having an affair with his secretary which is ruining his marriage (the wife-versus-secretary angle), but because of the code, no hanky-panky actually goes on

• Pre-code, there would have been an affair and the conflict would have been if the husband wanted back and if the wife would take him (heck, maybe even throw in a "love" child if it was pre-code) - serious stuff / here, the conflict is, well, nothing other than a bunch of misunderstandings (yawn)

• That said, the movie has serious star power with Harlow (I've come to respect her), IMHO, giving the movie its energy and interest
  • Gable is Gable (marching through another leading man role with two women in love with him) and Loy is atypically sleepy in this one, but Harlow blasts through making you at least feel that an affair could happen and that she would like to push the wife aside (her climatic scene on the ship with Loy was surprisingly subtle and moving)

• And here's an anti-gender stereotype of the period that popped up: Gable and Harlow hire a few temp typists to work on a big contract and they are both men - it's so uncommon (at least in movies of that period) to see men typing that it looked odd. (Lizzie, was it normal for men to be temp typists in the '30s?)

• As with the below movie, some great Art Deco architecture and, just in this one, a scene with an outstanding seaplane

"Pretty Baby" 1950 with Dennis Morgan, Betsy Drake, Edmund Gwenn and Zachary Scott

• The plot is silly in a doesn't-really-work way (another plot brutalized by the code)
  • Single-woman Drake fakes being the mother of a baby (she carries a doll around hidden in a blanket) to get a seat on the subway (connect to our "Rule of Etiquette" thread - some men do and some don't give up their seats to her)
  • This sets off a bunch of preposterous occurrences including a cantankerous CEO (Gwenn) being her patron because she named the baby after him, but she thinks he's a poor nightwatchman
  • Her boss (Morgan) - who runs an advertising agency and whose key client is the same CEO - tries to leverage her relationship to the CEO for his business, but of course he starts to fall in love with her, as does his key business partner (Scott) - cue additional high jinx
  • There's even more plot silliness, but you get the idea

• There's also more general silliness with some late-in-the-movie screwball scenes that further turned me off as people slipping and landing in food just isn't funny to me

• And there's also - and this might be because of our present-day norms - a bit of creepiness between the CEO and Drake - harmless in truth, but felt off

• Unless this goofy, kinda screwball stuff is your type of movie, I'd pass, but, as noted above, it does have some great Art Deco architecture

 

[HanauMan]

Had the choice today between watching Casablanca again for the hundredth time or Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Much as I like Bogart et al, I chose the Disney film for a change.
I first saw this film as a child when it was first released and I hadn't seen a rerun for some years now. It stars a young looking Angela Lansbury. Set in England in 1940, the film follows the adventures of Lansbury, who plays a novice witch, three kids and David Tomlinson as they sing their way from one adventure to another in the search for a magic spell. I found the 'Cockney' accents a hoot as well as the depiction of a 'Merry Old England'. The cartoon sections were the usual Disney fare of the period but the end of the film, where the German U-Boat drops off a raiding party of German soldiers, is still as funny as I recalled it to be from childhood. This sequence is probably the best part of the entire film, as Lansbury conjures up a phantom army to defend the sleeping town from the invaders. I was surprised to see Sam Jaffe starring in the film, a rather pleasant surprise though.
Is it better than Casablanca? No, but then, I never laughed as much watching Casablanca as I did with Bedknobs and Broomsticks!

 

[Bushman]

Last movie I watched was Gilda. The ending was very underwhelming but it was an otherwise fine flick. Understandable considering they were writing the script as they made the movie.

 

[AmateisGal]

Two Guys from Milwaukee. Lots of fun!

 

[Doctor Strange]

Jackie with Natalie Portman. It's well done and she gives a fine performance, but do we really need another movie about Jackie Kennedy?

 

[Fading Fast]

"Jimmy the Gent" 1934 starring James Cagney and Bette Davis

• The plot moves with the same rapid-fire speed that Cagney spits out dialogue - a lot happens in about 70 minutes

• Cagney plays the owner of a firm that finds missing heirs for a large cut of the inheritance / Was this a thing back then - was it as big a business as it's made out to be here? (Lizzie?)

• Davis is Cagney's former employee who left him for a more-reputable (only on the surface) owner of the same type of business

• Cagney, in love with Davis, tries to "class" himself and his business up to get Davis back
  • While Cagney plays tough guys with a '30s exaggeration, as he does here, when he tries to go upmarket, his repressed tough guy pops out here, there and almost everywhere which is the best part of the movie - Cagney seems to be enjoying it as he really can't stay "classy" for long

• (Spoiler alert) That said, the joke all along is that surface-crass Cagney is really the much-more upstanding guy than his surface-smooth competitor, but it takes most of the movie for Davis (ridiculously young here) to notice

• Not great / not bad / but fast and fun and all about Cagney and and Davis being, well, Cagney and Davis - there's a reason people go to the movies to see stars

 

[Fading Fast]

Jackie with Natalie Portman. It's well done and she gives a fine performance, but do we really need another movie about Jackie Kennedy?

That's why we've passed so far despite having it free on streaming and kinda wanting to see how they handled the style of the period. But like you, we felt like it's enough already.

 

[MisterCairo]

Movie night last night. We saw The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies to finish off the trilogy. Then my wife and I watched a rental, The Lost City of Z(ed).

As we had seen Charlie Hunnam's other new release a couple of weeks back, King Arthur, we had a good chance to compare, and there was no comparison. Lost City was excellent. We were quite surprised by Robert Pattinson's performance, and look. He's come a long way from the vampire stuff!

 

[Touchofevil]

Law & Order this fine Sunday morning. I never tire of this show.


Ooops! This isn't the television section. Please, for the moment, just pretend it is.

 

[scotrace]

Finally got around to A League of Their Own.

 

[Fading Fast]

Finally got around to A League of Their Own.

What did you think? I enjoy it, thought it was good but over-rated, i.e., it got more ballyhoo than it deserved.

 

[MisterCairo]

Finally got around to A League of Their Own.

Probably Rosie O'Donnel's best work (and I actually mean that)!

 

[scotrace]

I really liked it, but I'm just sappy enough to cry at the end. Gene Davis was surprisingly suited to the era, and Rosie O'Donnel was fantastic.
I guess the town where much of it was filmed STILL talks about what a jerk Madonna was.

 

[MisterCairo]

On temporary duty, and over two nights so far, I have seen about 3/5 of "Big Night", my second favourite film. I hope to finish it tonight, horrible cold and sinus issues permitting.

"I want to know for who is the spaghetti for?"

"For the lady with the risotto"...

"What? WHY?! Maybe, on the other side, I should a put some mashed potatoes"...

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

"Wife vs Secretary" 1936 Jean Harlow, Clark Gable and Myrna Loy

• And the code effectively neuters another movie as the premise is that Gable, a publishing exec, is possible having an affair with his secretary which is ruining his marriage (the wife-versus-secretary angle), but because of the code, no hanky-panky actually goes on

• Pre-code, there would have been an affair and the conflict would have been if the husband wanted back and if the wife would take him (heck, maybe even throw in a "love" child if it was pre-code) - serious stuff / here, the conflict is, well, nothing other than a bunch of misunderstandings (yawn)

• That said, the movie has serious star power with Harlow (I've come to respect her), IMHO, giving the movie its energy and interest
  • Gable is Gable (marching through another leading man role with two women in love with him) and Loy is atypically sleepy in this one, but Harlow blasts through making you at least feel that an affair could happen and that she would like to push the wife aside (her climatic scene on the ship with Loy was surprisingly subtle and moving)

• And here's an anti-gender stereotype of the period that popped up: Gable and Harlow hire a few temp typists to work on a big contract and they are both men - it's so uncommon (at least in movies of that period) to see men typing that it looked odd. (Lizzie, was it normal for men to be temp typists in the '30s?)

• As with the below movie, some great Art Deco architecture and, just in this one, a scene with an outstanding seaplane

"Pretty Baby" 1950 with Dennis Morgan, Betsy Drake, Edmund Gwenn and Zachary Scott

• The plot is silly in a doesn't-really-work way (another plot brutalized by the code)
  • Single-woman Drake fakes being the mother of a baby (she carries a doll around hidden in a blanket) to get a seat on the subway (connect to our "Rule of Etiquette" thread - some men do and some don't give up their seats to her)
  • This sets off a bunch of preposterous occurrences including a cantankerous CEO (Gwenn) being her patron because she named the baby after him, but she thinks he's a poor nightwatchman
  • Her boss (Morgan) - who runs an advertising agency and whose key client is the same CEO - tries to leverage her relationship to the CEO for his business, but of course he starts to fall in love with her, as does his key business partner (Scott) - cue additional high jinx
  • There's even more plot silliness, but you get the idea

• There's also more general silliness with some late-in-the-movie screwball scenes that further turned me off as people slipping and landing in food just isn't funny to me

• And there's also - and this might be because of our present-day norms - a bit of creepiness between the CEO and Drake - harmless in truth, but felt off

• Unless this goofy, kinda screwball stuff is your type of movie, I'd pass, but, as noted above, it does have some great Art Deco architecture

Wife vs. Secretary is one my favorites; indeed, packed with star power. Your recap of Gable, Harlow, Loy is, as always, spot on~

 

[2jakes]

I need an Advil.

“I insisted on hand-held camera, tripod out of the question.
I’m sorry you got a headache jake...my bad!”

 

[MisterCairo]

I need an Advil.
View attachment 83936
“I insisted on hand-held camera, tripod out of the question.
I’m sorry you got a headache jake...my bad!”

I cannot watch that film - that style of video gives me motion sickness. My dad video taped a trip from Leeds to York, England, from an open top double decker. I threw up...

 

[MisterCairo]

Last night I was putting together a Lego Yellow Submarine (complete with all four Beatles and Jeremy Hillary Boob PhD) my one remaining high school friend gave me for my, um, special birthday we celebrated this year. So, I decide to listen to the limited music I have on my iMac. I forgot that my play list includes video I have watched, so after several songs played, Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows starts up.

So I watched it...