What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Benzadmiral]

Julia, the 1977 Oscar winner about Lillian Hellman's undertaking of a dangerous mission into pre-war Nazi Germany at the behest of her old friend Julia. All the blurbs make it sound much more thriller-ish than it really is, though it is always fascinating. In the film Jane Fonda looks nothing like the real Lillian Hellman, but that's a minor quibble. We get Jason Robards as Dashiell Hammett and we get Meryl Streep's first film role. Plus, we 1930s buffs get all the clothes and sets, and some nice details like Rosemary Murphy as "Dottie" (never mentioned as Dorothy Parker, but it's clearly her, as Hal Holbrook's character is named Alan Campbell, Dottie's 2nd [and 3rd] husband). As Dottie, Murphy has one good line that might well have come from the real Parker: She says about Alan, "Way down deep, he's very superficial."

ETA: I did wonder who two of the characters were supposed to be: Meryl Streep's Anne Marie, and John Glover's Sammy, her brother, who hints at an incestuous relationship between Anne Marie and himself (and gets clobbered by Fonda's Hellman in that scene). Were they supposed to be real people like Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell?

 

[2jakes]

Four Days in November (1964)
This film brings back memories of the times and events surrounding
the assassination of President John F. Kennedy when I was a kid.
I recall the repetative sounds of the funeral drums, bagpipes as the
family walked the street funeral procession, the horse with the
boots in the saddle, the bugler's broken note when he played taps
at Arlington National Cemetery for the President.

Sitting in front of the TV by habit since we didn't have remotes to change
channels and watching Oswald get shot by Ruby.
I remember how sad it was to see Mrs. Kennedy with her children.
It was just for a few seconds but I caught a glimpse of the President and
the First Lady as the motorcade drove by on Houston St. in San Antonio
on Thursday. Next day, I was in school and around lunch time we heard
the sad news.

 

[scottyrocks]

A couple of days ago, I watched Gilda (1946).

What a perfectly cast picture. The tension between Gilda (Rita Hayworth) and a Johnny (a young Glenn Ford) was palpable.

Hayworth: beautiful, sultry, but evilly flirty, and treacherous, and non-chalant about it all. Ford: tough, but sympathetic and loyal to his employer (George Macready) despite his feelings for the boss's wife (Gilda).

A must-see, afaic.

 

[AmateisGal]

A couple of days ago, I watched Gilda (1946).

What a perfectly cast picture. The tension between Gilda (Rita Hayworth) and a Johnny (a young Glenn Ford) was palpable.

Hayworth: beautiful, sultry, but evilly flirty, and treacherous, and non-chalant about it all. Ford: tough, but sympathetic and loyal to his employer (George Macready) despite his feelings for the boss's wife (Gilda).

A must-see, afaic.

Gilda is a wonderful movie. I saw it for the first time last year and now own it on DVD. Worthy of watching again and again.

 

[Fading Fast]

A couple of days ago, I watched Gilda (1946).

What a perfectly cast picture. The tension between Gilda (Rita Hayworth) and a Johnny (a young Glenn Ford) was palpable.

Hayworth: beautiful, sultry, but evilly flirty, and treacherous, and non-chalant about it all. Ford: tough, but sympathetic and loyal to his employer (George Macready) despite his feelings for the boss's wife (Gilda).

A must-see, afaic.

And the best entry by a woman in a movie ever:

 

[Fading Fast]

"Trouble In Paradise" 1932

• Solid pre-code (plenty of implied bed hopping, jewel thieves are sympathetic characters) showing that stylish movies with plodding plots worked as far back as the early talkies
  • You watch this one now (and then) for its panache, its spirit and the fun its actors seem to be having / the obvious and needlessly complicated-at-the-end story is just a construct to support the movie's elan

• Fun to see a thin and youngish Herbert Marshall (I would have bet he was always a stocky guy, but not so, he had his thin period)

• Kay Francis is as atypical a movie star as you'll get - weak chin, bit of an overbite, helmet hair, awkwardly square shoulders and a small chest - but somehow her glowing skin, piercing eyes and powerful confidence make it all work in an off-beat way

• Some really good Art Deco decors (always nice to see Art Deco at its peak an not just reproduced in a well-done modern period piece)

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ah, Kay Fwancis. Proof positive that a speech impediment was not necessarily a block to talkie success. And she took no crap from Zanuck or Warner, which are always points in someone's favor.

I always thought casting her in "Animal Crackers" with the Marx Brothers was extremely bizarre, but she actually came off quite well.

 

[Fading Fast]

Ah, Kay Fwancis. Proof positive that a speech impediment was not necessarily a block to talkie success. And she took no crap from Zanuck or Warner, which are always points in someone's favor.

I always thought casting her in "Animal Crackers" with the Marx Brothers was extremely bizarre, but she actually came off quite well.

Good catch - I forgot to mention the lisp. A most improbably star, but as you note about her performance in the Marx Brothers movie, she somehow pulls it off.

In "Trouble in Paradise," she stole the light from Marianne Hopkins - who normally has no trouble shining. It doesn't hurt that Francis looks twice Hopkins' size - in a scale not weight way. First time I remember Hopkins not projecting a "star" feel - Francis just overwhelmed her.

 

[Worf]

"Air Force" - Howard Hawks' propaganda masterpiece about the crew of the "Maryanne". Great action flick despite all the outright lies told about pre-attack sabotage by Japanese American "5th Columnists". And a good deal of the story is fictionalized but we were at war so that's to be expected I suppose.

"You look like you know how to handle that gun...."

"What do you think we use in the Marine Corps? A bow and arrow?"

"Well I wouldn't put it past ya."

Worf

 

[scottyrocks]

There was another AF movie on yesterday, similar to Air Force (1943), starring Van Johnson, I believe. I forget the title.

Anyway, what bothered me about it was the view out of the cockpit front window. Lots of abrupt up-and-downs, when the plane doesn't alter course that quickly. Other than that I did enjoy the low-level flying sequences.

 

[Fading Fast]

There was another AF movie on yesterday, similar to Air Force (1943), starring Van Johnson, I believe. I forget the title.

Anyway, what bothered me about it was the view out of the cockpit front window. Lots of abrupt up-and-downs, when the plane doesn't alter course that quickly. Other than that I did enjoy the low-level flying sequences.

I think you're referencing "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," I caught a few minutes of it yesterday, but wrote about it when I saw the full movie last year: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/thre...ovie-you-watched.20830/page-1175#post-2257040

It, eventually, rises above standard propaganda to become a real and good movie.

 

[OldStrummer]

I'm not much of a movie watcher, much less modern movies. But somehow my cable provider is granting me access to HBO, and I saw Hidden Figures listed. Based on the true story (stories?) of three mathematician women of color who were key figures in enabling the American space program to leap ahead of the Russians. Humor, pathos and good character development. I wasn't aware that Kevin Costner was one of / the leading man. I don't watch "Big Bang Theory," but Jim Parsons from it is also in a key role.

 

[Trenchfriend]

National Geographic: "The search for battleship Bismarck"

My beloved 21yo VHS-cassette, hooray.

 

[belfastboy]

Just done watching Mudbound.

Thoughts???

 

[belfastboy]

Watched "The Florida Project" last night. It appeared on many best of 2017 lists and both I and my wife were decidedly underwhelmed. Elaine, always the tougher critic gave it a 4 while I was a bit more generous at a weak 5. Not sure what constitutes a "best of" anymore. Anyone else sat through this mongrel?

 

[Doctor Strange]

Blade Runner: The Final Cut for a film group discussion along with Blade Runner 2049 (which I haven't watched yet) next week.

Okay, let me put this right out there: I didn't think Blade Runner was the masterpiece it was considered back in the eighties, and I still don't. Sure, its visually brilliant. Sure, it was the first gasp of future-noir-cyberpunk whatever. Sure, it was amazingly influential. Sure, Phillip K. Dick was way ahead of everyone else. Sure, Roy's final speech is something. Yada yada yada.

So it's been recut several times by Ridley Scott and others, but whether it has the voiceover narration and unicorn dream or not... it still leaves me cold.

Whether he's supposed to be a replicant or not, Harrison Ford sleepwalks through the part. There's no trace of his usual easy audience identification, he's a total cypher with zero characterization (what comes after "alcoholic ex-cop"?) Sean Young can't act. The other actors - Edward James Olmos, Joanna Cassidy, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson, James Hong - are all too familiar from other things to easily accept in these parts. As amazing as the futuristic cityscapes are, for really gutsy visionary imagination I'll stick with Metropolis from way back in 1926. The then-cool electronic score is damn annoying. Nothing about this future makes sense, and now that reality signifiers like Atari are long gone - and L.A. isn't turning into an overcrowded half-Asian city with massive pyramid buildings anytime soon - it's all just window dressing. Most importantly, whatever the film is trying to say about the reality of human experience is totally confused.

For me, neither time nor editorial changes have improved a film that looks tremendous, but has always been pretty disappointing otherwise.

(Ducking in advance of avalanche of angry replies.)

 

[Trenchfriend]

I think, in the end, the whole real plot of "Blade Runner" could be to just show the depressive post-market economies-world and nothing else.

What does it mean to be human?

 

[Worf]

"Travels With My Aunt" - How this thing got 4.5 stars I'll never know. I love a good British farce but this one to me fell flat. Not titillating enough to be erotic and not broad enough to be hilarious. Lou Gossett was miscast, the role would've been better served with a young Richard Pryor. The "nephew" would've been better done by Peter Sellers or a young Dudley Moore. Not awful, just not GREAT! And Cindy Williams proves she couldn't really act even BEFORE "Laverne and Shirley"!

Worf

 

[Fading Fast]

"Logan's Run" now on AMC

• Couldn't place her, but knew I recognized the female lead Jenny Agutter - fast forward 40+ years and she's Sister Julien of "Call the Midwife" (same face just computer aged)

• Michael York's voice has a weak echo of James Mason's

• Apparently, there are no bras in the future

• Overall, it's uneven, but holding up okay (but did steal a big moment from the original "Planet of the Apes")

 

[PeterGunnLives]

The Petrified Forest, the movie that turned Bogie into a tough guy.