What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Touchofevil]

The Marathon Man. Again.
Makes me want hunt for my old MAD comics magazine. The first time I saw The Marathon Man was in a wonderful parody by MAD.

 

[2jakes]

The Marathon Man. Again.
Makes me want hunt for my old MAD comics magazine. The first time I saw The Marathon Man was in a wonderful parody by MAD.

Thou shall not drill!

 

[Doctor Strange]

Toni Erdmann, a widely praised German film from last year. Essentially a cringe comedy about a tightly-wound executive and the odd relationship with her agent-of-chaos father. It did nothing for me.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Hotel" 1967

• As with "The VIPs" and other '60s "ensemble" soap opera movies that throw a bunch of people in one place and, then, flush out their life problems - just watch the original and best, "Grand Hotel" from '32
• At least this one doesn't have Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and their stupid/annoying/obnoxious real-life relationship playing on in the background
  • Why anyone would want to be with the 1960s Taylor or Burton is beyond me; guess you had to be of the right age at that time to appreciate whatever it is they had
• Best part, FL eye candy of some pretty cool architecture (Rod Taylor's apartment is outstanding, other than the half-mod '60s decor), cars and clothes

"Field of Dreams"

• This movie both works and doesn't work
  • The story is a mishmash that asks you to suspend your belief for way to long
  • The good parts are definitely better than the whole
  • But the touch to baseball lore is just enough to keep you going
• Loved the old baseball uniforms - you could feel the heavy wool
• "Bull Durham" is still the better Costner baseball movie

 

[Doctor Strange]

If you build it, I will vomit.

Boy, I hate that movie. I mean, I hate all movies about team sports... though ones about baseball slightly less than others. And there are definitely some okay scenes and performances in Field of Dreams. But overall, this movie is so confused and manipulative, and the whole coming to terms with your dead dad by bringing his ghost out of the cornfield is just... no.

 

[Touchofevil]

View attachment 84662
Thou shall not drill!
View attachment 84663

Thank you very much for this posting 2jakes. I really enjoyed MAD Magazine as a kid. Fun art and stories and hours of entertainment.

 

[Touchofevil]

Last night, Hellboy II: The Golden Army

 

[Edward]

We spent most of our recent holiday in Oloron Sainte Marie in the Pyrenes area of la France (home to France's last remaining beret factory, which we also had the chance to visit). We were there for the wedding of some dear friends; as part of their celebration, we watched La Grande Vadrouille (as best as I can manage, this translates into English as "The Great Mop"??), a French 1966 farce about a British bomber crew, captained by Terry Thomas, who crashland in occupied Paris and must escape into the South of France, away from the Nazi-controlled North. Very funny - reminiscent of the better British comedy films of the era too. I especially enjoyed the sequence when one of the Brits - inevitably - ends up in drag, and then, posing as a streetwalker, lures would-be punters over a manhole, into which they fall - allowing his comrades to pinch their clothes in order to pass as French civilians.

 

[AmateisGal]

Confessions of a Nazi Spy with George Sanders and Edward G. Robinson.

 

[2jakes]

Confessions of a Nazi Spy with George Sanders and Edward G. Robinson.

I found out that George Sanders committed suicide leaving
behind this note that is so typical of the man.

"Dear World,
I am leaving you because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough.
I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool.
Good luck."

 

[2jakes]

Thank you very much for this posting 2jakes. I really enjoyed MAD Magazine as a kid. Fun art and stories and hours of entertainment.

AS A KID....I ALWAYS REGARDED DON MARTIN’S ENDING AS THE BEST !

 

[Touchofevil]

Giant on TCM.

 

[green papaya]

DIE HARD (1988) starring Bruce Willis

 

[AmateisGal]

Lured with George Sanders and Lucille Ball with an appearance by Boris Karloff!

 

[AmateisGal]

I found out that George Sanders committed suicide leaving
behind this note that is so typical of the man.

"Dear World,
I am leaving you because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough.
I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool.
Good luck."

Yes, I read about that. It doesn't surprise me at all.

 

[Benzadmiral]

"Hotel" 1967

• As with "The VIPs" and other '60s "ensemble" soap opera movies that throw a bunch of people in one place and, then, flush out their life problems - just watch the original and best, "Grand Hotel" from '32
• At least this one doesn't have Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and their stupid/annoying/obnoxious real-life relationship playing on in the background
  • Why anyone would want to be with the 1960s Taylor or Burton is beyond me; guess you had to be of the right age at that time to appreciate whatever it is they had
• Best part, FL eye candy of some pretty cool architecture (Rod Taylor's apartment is outstanding, other than the half-mod '60s decor), cars and clothes

. . .

That one was filmed on location in New Orleans, probably in early 1966. The exterior of the "hotel" that Rod Taylor visits to retrieve the black doctor (?) who has been turned away from the St. Gregory is the semi-famous "haunted" apartment building at the corner of Dauphine and Orleans Streets, a block from where I lived at the time. Though I have no memory of seeing them filming. The novel it was based on was by Arthur Hailey, the fellow most famous for Airport: he'd found a niche, writing semi-soap operas set against detailed research of how major businesses or industries worked.

Karl Malden, as hotel thief Keycase Milne, is what sticks in my memory. The little smile on his face as he rifles through his latest victim's hotel room, and then pads off down the hall, tells you without a doubt he enjoys what he does.

 

[Benzadmiral]

DIE HARD (1988) starring Bruce Willis

The moment when we first realize that Hans Gruber is not your average terrorist or criminal:

Hans: The following people are to be released from their captors: In Northern Ireland, the seven members of the New Provo Front. In Canada, the five imprisoned leaders of Liberte de Quebec. In Sri Lanka, the nine members of the Asian Dawn movement...

Karl: [mouthing silently] Asian Dawn?

Hans: [covers the radio] I read about them in Time magazine.

 

[Fading Fast]

That one was filmed on location in New Orleans, probably in early 1966. The exterior of the "hotel" that Rod Taylor visits to retrieve the black doctor (?) who has been turned away from the St. Gregory is the semi-famous "haunted" apartment building at the corner of Dauphine and Orleans Streets, a block from where I lived at the time. Though I have no memory of seeing them filming. The novel it was based on was by Arthur Hailey, the fellow most famous for Airport: he'd found a niche, writing semi-soap operas set against detailed research of how major businesses or industries worked.

Karl Malden, as hotel thief Keycase Milne, is what sticks in my memory. The little smile on his face as he rifles through his latest victim's hotel room, and then pads off down the hall, tells you without a doubt he enjoys what he does.

I had the exact same thought about Malden and it was fun to see him play a different kind of character than his usual fare.

Any idea which hotel they used for the interior shots - a very classic design form the early 1900s (reminds me of several hotels I've been in, but funny enough, not the one I stayed in when I was in New Orleans)?

 

[Benzadmiral]

I had the exact same thought about Malden and it was fun to see him play a different kind of character than his usual fare.

Any idea which hotel they used for the interior shots - a very classic design form the early 1900s (reminds me of several hotels I've been in, but funny enough, not the one I stayed in when I was in New Orleans)?

The hotel was supposed to be modeled on the Roosevelt, which has been in its block for a very long time. Some years back it got renamed the Fairmont, and then back to the Roosevelt again. I don't know if the crew filmed any interiors there. (Been a while since I last saw the film, too.) But the hotel is worth checking out, even if you don't stay there. It runs through the entire block from Baronne to (what is now) Roosevelt Place; you can walk in from one street and go right through the lobby to the other street. Very FL eye-candy, for sure.

 

[Fading Fast]

The hotel was supposed to be modeled on the Roosevelt, which has been in its block for a very long time. Some years back it got renamed the Fairmont, and then back to the Roosevelt again. I don't know if the crew filmed any interiors there. (Been a while since I last saw the film, too.) But the hotel is worth checking out, even if you don't stay there. It runs through the entire block from Baronne to (what is now) Roosevelt Place; you can walk in from one street and go right through the lobby to the other street. Very FL eye-candy, for sure.

Funny, there's a Roosevelt Hotel in New York City that has a similar design (ornate large lobby with second floor balcony and you can pass through the lobby to exit on the other side of the block) - could have been in the same hotel family or, in truth, so many hotels were designed that way in the early 1900s it could just be because of that.

But as you said, FL eye-candy galore. Unfortunately, a recent renovation to "upgrade" and "modernize" the hotel took some of the original look, feel and vibe out of the lobby (not as bad as some renovations, but it felt much closer to the black and white photo than it does now as seen in the newer colored photo). I'm so glad I got to NYC in the '80s and was still able to see so much of how pre-war NYC look. From the later '80s on (when the city's economy came back), many of these old gems were torn down or "modernized" away.