What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Fading Fast]

TCM is destroying my work day (one of the dangers of working form home), but providing some outstanding pre-code entertainment.

Watched the last hour or so of "When Ladies Meet" with its outstanding, smart and intense dialogue (basically, just four people talking at a critical point - a husband, wife, his mistress and a friend of all three) which could give any of these well-written TV shows or movies of today a run for their money.

People cheat, people get hurt, marriage can be hard, love can be fickle, what to do is not easy to know or, to say it succinctly, adult life and relationships are hard. It's all there in 1933 and it's fresh and applicable to today.

Now watching Robert Montgomery and a glowingly young and breezily lithe Maureen O'Sullivan trying not to fall in love which each other in "Hide-Out."

Lizzie, what do you think: Edward Arnold could be Eugene Pallette's meaner, slightly older brother?

 

[Benzadmiral]

. . .
Lizzie, what do you think: Edward Arnold could be Eugene Pallette's meaner, slightly older brother?

He played Rex Stout's overweight, orchid-fancying private detective Nero Wolfe in Meet Nero Wolfe in '36, and I've always thought he had the right look and manner. You could easily imagine him dominating a room full of suspects at the climax, or any room, for that matter. Apparently the movie was nothing special, and Stout himself didn't like the casting; but Arnold was a screen presence to be reckoned with.

 

[DavidJones]

Just finished watching the movie "Them". Great cast with James Whitmoore, and James Arness taking on the giant ants.

 

[Zombie_61]

Just finished watching the movie "Them". Great cast with James Whitmoore, and James Arness taking on the giant ants.

Them! is one of those movies that could just as easily have been another hokey "atomic era produces giant creatures" story, but the performances by Whitmore, Arness, and the rest of the cast, really help to sell the premise. It's one of my favorites from that era.

 

[KY Gentleman]

Them! is one of those movies that could just as easily have been another hokey "atomic era produces giant creatures" story.

I liked Them!
We saw it at a school assembly when I was in high school.
Another good one in this genre was Tarantula.
I watch it probably about once a year and never tire of the cameo appearance of a young Clint Eastwood at the end.

 

[Worf]

"Fahrenheit 451" - Wow did this thing suck. The casting for Montag was awful, the dirty sell-out of a girlfriend was awful and the premise is indistinguishable from the book I read as a kid. It stunk. Don't waste an hour plus of your precious time on this one. The whole society without books works fine pre-internet... less so now. What a fricken' mistake this was.

Worf

 

[Worf]

Just finished watching the movie "Them". Great cast with James Whitmoore, and James Arness taking on the giant ants.

One of the greatest Sci-Fi films of the 50's. Masterful from opening title sequence to last flaming ember.

"Look at these walls... held together by saliva."
"Spits all that hold me together too."

Worf

 

[HadleyH1]

kill me


I do not go to the movies anymore.....do not like the movies they make anymore...Golden Age is dead


that is the truth...for me at least.

Sorry

 

[AmateisGal]

The Grapes of Wrath. I have NO idea why this is the first time for me to watch this movie, but that's the truth. And boy, is it ever depressing. It's great - don't get me wrong - but depressing.

 

[Fading Fast]

The Grapes of Wrath. I have NO idea why this is the first time for me to watch this movie, but that's the truth. And boy, is it ever depressing. It's great - don't get me wrong - but depressing.

Yes great, yes depressing. We had to watch it in 7th or 8th grade after we read the book - that was one depressing period in school.

The next movie that depressed me as much was almost twenty years later when I saw "Leaving Las Vegas."

 

[ton312]

LOL...I keep it decidedly low brow. I enjoyed the second installment. Thanks to Infinity War, Deadpool and the coming SOLO I will likely be the cause of bankruptcy for movie pass. It's like an all you can eat buffet aboard a cruise ship.

 

[Zombie_61]

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957). "The first spaceship to visit Venus crash lands in the sea off the coast of Sicily, freeing a small native Venusian creature called the Ymir. Eventually growing to enormous size, it threatens the city of Rome." That pretty much says it all, except that the creature is never referred to as "the Ymir" even once in the movie. Creature design and decent special effects by Ray Harryhausen, but the rubber and metal Ymir puppet is the best actor in the movie. It's worth seeing at least once, especially if you're a fan of 1950s sci-fi, as long as you don't take it too seriously.

 

[Bushman]

Caught a late night showing of "Casablanca" on TCM last night. Always a pleasure to stop in at Rick's.

 

[1mach1]

"Fahrenheit 451" - Wow did this thing suck. The casting for Montag was awful, the dirty sell-out of a girlfriend was awful and the premise is indistinguishable from the book I read as a kid. It stunk. Don't waste an hour plus of your precious time on this one. The whole society without books works fine pre-internet... less so now. What a fricken' mistake this was.

Worf

I would add something, but you pretty much summed it up perfectly. Horrendous.

 

[Worf]

I would add something, but you pretty much summed it up perfectly. Horrendous.

That's alright... we finish each other's thoughts AND sentences here...

Worf

 

[Worf]

"Confessions of a Nazi Spy" - Edward G. Robinson stars as an FBI agent assigned to crack the first major Nazi spy ring discovered in America prior to its entrance into WWII. Unlike the Japanese who were falsely accused and interned for mostly imagined acts of espionage and disloyalty, the German American community had many that were actively rooting and working for the Fatherland. Mostly hyperbolic pre-war "America good... Nazi Germany bad" propaganda but pretty brave stuff to put out BEFORE Pearl Harbor. Warner Bros. pull no punches and mince no words about Germany's designs on America AND the world. Not great but a solid spy flic.

Worf

 

[KY Gentleman]

Last night I watched The Dirty Dozen, I have seen it many times before but it’s still entertaining to me. I really like big collaboration pictures where the actors work together to tell a big stories. Too often when a large group of “movie stars” are in a film it’s just for a novelty effect.
Lee Marvin was perfect for his role having been a combat veteran in real life, he brought a confidence to the role that given the men he was given to lead was crucial.
John Cassavettes as Franco served as the barometer of Lee Marvin’s influence among the men, being the most rebellious in the beginning to the final celebration of the missions success.
The first time I saw this movie I was probably 11 or 12 and I thought Franco was the coolest of the Dirty Dozen.
Telly Savalas was creepy, Charles Bronson was the quiet leader and Jim Brown was simply someone not to be trifled with. Donald Sutherland brought some needed comic relief.
The cast was loaded from top to bottom.
Through telling a war story they demonstrated lessons of redemption, equality and cooperation between people of all backgrounds and the effect of strong leadership.
I’m sure I’ve missed some of the more subtle nuances of the film, but what’s most important is how the story builds and draws you in to cheer for this group of misfits to do what seems impossible. I already can’t wait to see it again.

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster, directed by Robert Wise. Whatta great movie. Even Mrs. Shellhammer, who had never seen it, was totally drawn in.

 

[Bushman]

"Fahrenheit 451" - Wow did this thing suck. The casting for Montag was awful, the dirty sell-out of a girlfriend was awful and the premise is indistinguishable from the book I read as a kid. It stunk. Don't waste an hour plus of your precious time on this one. The whole society without books works fine pre-internet... less so now. What a fricken' mistake this was.

Worf

Tried getting through this one. I just couldn't. I ended up turning it off a half hour in.

 

[Edward]

It being travel season, I've watched a bumper crop of movies of late, including:

Black Panther - en joyed it much more this second time on the plane than in the cinema, chiefly because this time I didn't fall asleep halfway through and miss most of the plot!

LadyBird a cute coming of age tale; I imagine if you liked Juno you'd appreciate this. A wonderful turn by Laurie Metcalf as the mother, and also the actress who plays the nun that finds having her car done over with the "Just Married to Jesus" sign hilarious. For all the church and organised religion more broadly has deserved at least a measure of the criticism flung its way in recent years, it's a refreshing change to see the 'human' side of the church depicted in a real way without agendas of any sort.

The Post - excellent period thriller about the Washington Post and its battle to publish certain material regarding Vietnam. Less about the politics of Vietnam, more about the politics of the First Amendment. Meryl Streep on top form as ever.

Vacation - not so much a remake of the original National Lampoons' Vacation, more a late extension to the tales of the Griswold family's travels. In this case, the family is that of Rusty, the son from the original films, as he tries to give his own family the vacation he remembers so well from being a kid, when dad took the family on a roadtrip to WallyWorld. Captures the spirit of the originals - all-the-family-fun without drowning in schmaltz.

Lights Out - a nice little horror picture. Original enough - it works on the gimmick that the big bad cannot only be seen in the dark, but can only really 'exist' in the absence of light. Keeps its concept tight and consistent, does it well, and comes to an ending with a level of happy ending but also not without its tragedy. Well written and engaging.

"Fahrenheit 451" - Wow did this thing suck. The casting for Montag was awful, the dirty sell-out of a girlfriend was awful and the premise is indistinguishable from the book I read as a kid. It stunk. Don't waste an hour plus of your precious time on this one. The whole society without books works fine pre-internet... less so now. What a fricken' mistake this was.

I was intrigued when I heard they were remaking this. I had mixed feelings about the original; as a transfer from novel to screen, it was more a 'could do better' than, say, A Clockwork Orange's noble but nonetheless notable failure. I think though to set it in the present day the internet does present a significant problem. Not an insurmountable one: I could see the printed, physical copy being presented as a revolutionary format against the backdrop of a technological world where one's every move is recorded and the digital encouraged for its trackablity - also its lack of permanence / ease with which the record can be altered if it only exists on an official server which can be centrally controlled and is what all can access. Alas, it seems that (much like with the miscasting of Franknfurter in the recent Rocky Horror remake), they thought they were doing something radical but they didn't rewrite it sufficiently to make it work.

The only other way it might work now would be as a period piece - rejig it, set it more explicitly within Stalin's USSR or Hitler's Nazi regime. Which would of course, lose all the subtlety of the original. Sometimes you have to accept the limits of a work: Romeo and Juliet doesn't work if you have a reliable mobile phone signal.

The next movie that depressed me as much was almost twenty years later when I saw "Leaving Las Vegas."

Dark, but what a bravura performance from Cage - a real poke in the eye for anyone who denies he can act!

Last night I watched The Dirty Dozen, I have seen it many times before but it’s still entertaining to me. I really like big collaboration pictures where the actors work together to tell a big stories. Too often when a large group of “movie stars” are in a film it’s just for a novelty effect.
Lee Marvin was perfect for his role having been a combat veteran in real life, he brought a confidence to the role that given the men he was given to lead was crucial.
John Cassavettes as Franco served as the barometer of Lee Marvin’s influence among the men, being the most rebellious in the beginning to the final celebration of the missions success.
The first time I saw this movie I was probably 11 or 12 and I thought Franco was the coolest of the Dirty Dozen.
Telly Savalas was creepy, Charles Bronson was the quiet leader and Jim Brown was simply someone not to be trifled with. Donald Sutherland brought some needed comic relief.
The cast was loaded from top to bottom.
Through telling a war story they demonstrated lessons of redemption, equality and cooperation between people of all backgrounds and the effect of strong leadership.
I’m sure I’ve missed some of the more subtle nuances of the film, but what’s most important is how the story builds and draws you in to cheer for this group of misfits to do what seems impossible. I already can’t wait to see it again.

Have you ever seen Inglorious Bastards - the film to which Tarantino purchased the rights in order that he could repurpose the title for his own Inglorious Basterds? It's basically a Dirty Dozen pastiche, but quite fun with it. I rather enjoy the anti-hero aspect of this sort of thing.