What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Formeruser012523]

Surprisingly watchable fare on TCM a movie I hadn't seen in decades. King Kong. Didn't know it would be Jurassic Park in 1933. Who knew herbivorous dinosaurs also liked the taste of human flesh. (Even the giant door looked the same, you're fooling no one Spielberg.) Hilarious at points and funny in that Ann fell for the hero she just met on the boat and got engaged to him right after he saved her from Kong. They spent no time together at all. Whatever makes a hit. lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

If you're going to have a giant gorilla movie, you can't go wrong with the original. Robert Armstrong is so delightfully cheesy you expect him to be working with a giant mouse.

 

[Fading Fast]

Surprisingly watchable fare on TCM a movie I hadn't seen in decades. King Kong. Didn't know it would be Jurassic Park in 1933. Who knew herbivorous dinosaurs also liked the taste of human flesh. (Even the giant door looked the same, you're fooling no one Spielberg.) Hilarious at points and funny in that Ann fell for the hero she just met on the boat and got engaged to him right after he saved her from Kong. They spent no time together at all. Whatever makes a hit. lol

It's a very engaging movie even today and quite impressive for its time. And as you note, it's been very "influential" on (i.e., it gets ripped off a lot by) subsequent filmmakers.

The other thing you notice when you see it today is how many iconic shots are in that movie that show up either as clips / still directly from it or (once again) have "influenced" advertising images ever since (right up to today).

 

[Fading Fast]

"49th Parallel"

It's propaganda on steroids, yet it works and I'm not sure why. Maybe because it's so honest about, so proud of its propaganda that it disarms you. Maybe it's because the Germans are two-dimensionally bad in every way - book burners, "degenerate" art destroyers, racists, self aggrandizing supermen - but are also humanized enough that they're not all comic-book characters.

And maybe - and this is what I believe - a few of the actors - Leslie Howard and Raymond Massey, in particular - have so much integrity that you go along for the ride because they believe with passion in what they are saying. Lastly, maybe it works because you give the movie wide latitude with the free world fighting an evil, existential threat to its survival (versus today when both political sides scream about ginned-up threats "to our freedom" every other moment).

And, just in case you needed more, the movie wraps a big blob of Marxist propaganda inside the WWII propaganda. The villains of our story are the surviving crew of a sunk-off-the-coast-of-Canada German U-boat trying to get back to Germany. In their hazard-filled trek south through Canada, they stumble into some sort of Canadian commune which is an idealized version of happy communist thought: the farm is prosperous, everyone is upbeat, everyone chooses his or her own job (seemingly without argument, but no mention is made of who raised his hand to clean the backed-up toilets or to be the trash collector), they all eat together cheerfully, sing songs when they work and follow a leader (who is a healthier-looking version of a not-bald Lenin) who makes no rules and works side by side with the others. So, neatly tucked inside this anti-Nazi prop film is pro-communist propaganda reflecting a blissfully perfect version of Marxism - and an alternative to the ancient horrors at the root of Nazism.

Once the now down-to-two U-boat survivors leave utopia - having survived both the workers paradise and Laurence Olivier's (an actor I usually enjoy) horrifically bad performance as a Canadian trapper - the movie powers up for its ending driven by Leslie Howard as the hesitant-to-fight Englishman until his (and, by proxy, England's) freedom is threatened - then its all methodical, liberty defending militancy - and Raymon Massey as the affable quasi-AWOL Canadian soldier who eagerly risks his life when faced with the real German threat. It's all too perfect, but you don't care as you're too busy rooting for Howard and Massey to kill or capture the Nazis.

And that's the movie - it's all too perfect, it's all propaganda - but you don't care as you want the good guys to win. Heck - and this is probably why it still works today - it was World War II, the world needed the good guys to win.

 

[Worf]

Surprisingly watchable fare on TCM a movie I hadn't seen in decades. King Kong. Didn't know it would be Jurassic Park in 1933. Who knew herbivorous dinosaurs also liked the taste of human flesh. (Even the giant door looked the same, you're fooling no one Spielberg.) Hilarious at points and funny in that Ann fell for the hero she just met on the boat and got engaged to him right after he saved her from Kong. They spent no time together at all. Whatever makes a hit. lol

Still one of my fave's:

"Don't go on the roof there'll be shooting!" (Duh you think?)

"Hmmph , thought I was going to see something!" (Well she saw "something" alright eventually...)

"Looky crazy Black Man been here!" (Crazy they might have been but when the wall came down they took up their spears and shields and fought to the death against their living god!)

I love Tarrantino's riff on the nature of Kong during the pub scene in "Inglorious Basterds" noting the parallel between Kong's story and that of the Black slave in America.

Worf

 

[belfastboy]

Watched "Lady Bird" last night on Netflix. The performances were very good, esp the Ronan lady. I thought the Mother character a little too one dimensional and played on the nose. I flirted with cliché but in my mind never strayed to far over the line. A good and engaging little movie.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Worf, do you recall the sixties bumper sticker KING KONG DIED FOR YOUR SINS ?!? That Kong-as-a-symbol-for-slavery interpretation was very popular for a while. But yeah, the old ape is still nearly the greatest movie monster ever made, even if it's now an antique with some terrible lines ("But Jack, I thought you hated women." "Yeah... but you ain't women.") Between Willis O'Brien's animation, those spooky matte paintings and soundstage jungle sets, Max Steiner's three-note-motif score, and the committed (if sometimes cheesy) performances, the original Kong is an outrageously entertaining film, and at less than half the length of Peter Jackson's bloated (but okay) remake.

I have recently posted about both Forty-Ninth Parallel and Lady Bird. Briefly:

Lady Bird - a nice little flick, but I didn't think it was any better observed or deeper than a half-dozen other coming of age movies of the last couple of decades. So I really don't understand the hype. And I think Ms. Ronan has given better performances in several other films, notably Brooklyn, in which she's so luminous you need sunglasses.

Forty-Ninth Parallel - as FF said, an enjoyable, smart propaganda film with highly mixed performances, including Laurence Olivier's worst until his late anything-for-a-paycheck "I hef no son!" period. Like everything made by The Archers (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger), it's unique, interesting, and entertaining. And it's worth remembering that as much as the film was wartime propaganda for Britain and the Commonwealth, it was also squarely directed at the United States, still neutral when it was made (and thus the goal of the Germans escaping Canada, hoping to make it back to Germany from the US.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

Some years ago we made our own version of Kong to advertise a local screening.

 

[Fading Fast]

Some years ago we made our own version of Kong to advertise a local screening.

This ⇧ is freakin' good.

• Kong's facial expressions are fantastic
• The voice over is pitch perfect
• The brunette actress, in a Fay Wray echo role, is outstanding
• Nice mirror of the Empire State-biplane scene at the end

Very well done.

 

[Edward]

Here's one for you Zombie ole friend. There's a flick on Netflix called "Cargo". Besides from some really stupid decisions at the beginning it's a wonderful Zombie flick set in the Outback of Australia. It stars one of the Hobbits, you know the one who played Watson on "Sherlock". Aside from the beginning it's logical, compelling and has a realistic not "happy" ending. I recommend it.

Worf

Cool - I've downloaded that one but not had a chance to watch yet. Sounds good.

Finished Hitchcock's Rope (1948) just now. A fun little adventure about two guys' struggle to cover up a murder in their apartment during a party, until they blow town. Very thrilling and James Stewart's role made it magnificent.

It's surprisingly (if darkly) comedic, something I always forget just before I revisit it. Of course the real-life case on which it was based, the trial of Leopold and Loeb, was no laughing matter on any level. These two kids in their late teens, wealthy students at the U of Chicago, all hopped up on Nietzsche's nonsense, kidnapped and murdered a boy of fourteen in 1924. Clarence Darrow's closing speech for the defence at their murder trial - including the line "It is hardly fair to hang a 19-year-old boy for the philosophy that was taught him at the university." - is one of the most famous of his career. It undoubtedly saved them from the death penalty - a decision doubtlessly resented by the mob, but proven correct in at least Leopold's case: after serving 33 years of his 'life plus 99 years' sentence, Leopold was paroled and went from model prisoner to model citizen. (Loeb was murdered in prison in 1936.) Darrow's humane instincts were still limited by his time, though: in large part, the subtext of his urging that the boys were to be treated as having acted from some form of madness was impliedly attributed to a suggestion that they, or at least the dominant Loeb, were gay and/or sexually predatory (the one being considered to be characteristic of the other).

Hitchcock's film brilliantly uses costume to add to character - note the wide, enhanced manliness of the Loeb cipher in his DB suit, and the weaker, follower in his SB suit which makes him appear physically smaller. Jimmy Stewart is also wonderful in his nuanced performance representing the place of the educator in such a tale of disputed and conflicting liabilities for a tragic/ evil event.

Rock Around the Clock (1956) on TCM. Big band manager Steve Hollis (Johnny Johnston) and his mostly-comic-relief buddy Corny LaSalle (Henry Slate) "discover" rock and roll when they stumble across a small-town Saturday night dance with music provided by a "local unknown" band called Bill Haley and the Comets. Badly written and not particularly well acted, except for the occasional glimpse into Hollywood's idea of what a few early-50s rock and roll performances might have been like it's mildly interesting in a "time capsule" sort of way with a thin premise, stereotypical characters and dialogue ("Say, what do you call that style of music/dance?"), and occasional performances by Bill Haley and the Comets, The Platters, the Ernie Freeman Combo, and Tony Martinez and His Band. Allegedly the first full-length "rock'n'roll" movie, it's mostly pointless and if you ever decide to watch it you might want to have something to read handy.

Certainly much more historically important than it is of artistic quality! (Also in part gives rise to one of my favourite Irish jokes, which dates to the early days of homed video: Two Irish boys sitting at home watching a video they've hired, when one says to the other "Jayz, this film's awful - let's slash the seats!").

Two sides of James Cromwell - both very good:
1) Kind and gentle farmer in "Babe"
2) Evil crooked cop in "L.A. Confidential"

And how! There are few other actors who can match his range in that regard (especially now Kevin Spacey's been blackballed).

"Stand By Me", the other night.

"I never had any friends later like the ones I had when I was twelve.
Jesus, does anyone?"

Wonderful film. Saw it originally when I was fifteen, then again at thirty-eight. Much as I loved it the first time around, it's just not a film that you can fully appreciate I think unless you're an adult looking back on childhood. (c/f the Trainspotting 2 film, which is really about being a man in your forties looking back on your youthful twenties and wondering where it all went wrong).

Sherlock Holmes (1916)

Starring William Gillette who is responsible for creating the look of "Sherlock Holmes" (hat,pipe) which has come
to define the movie character in some later Sherlock films.

Welll..... He is and he isn't. He was the first to take it to the screen, but I would argue that the look was really the creation of the original artist who did the illustrations for the stories on original publication in The Strand. That said, those illustrations did only depict Holmes in tweeds and deerstalkers where such garments were considered appropriate (in the countryside); it was the cinema which put him in them in all contexts, so I supposed in that sense you could say the cinema 'created' the popular image.

I see people post this kind of information on Facebook quite often, and I don't know what they're thinking. "Hey gang, we're leaving on Thursday to visit our relatives half-way across the country, and we won't be back for two weeks." While you're at it, why don't you post your address and leave your doors and windows unlocked while you're gone?

This very topic was much debated among privacy academics in my circles a few years ago. Ultimately, the conclusion was that unless you're prepared to be almost fully invisible (something very much discouraged in our circles nowadays, where it's all about drawing attention to yourself and simply being a good teacher and scholar is often dismissed as almost irrelevant), anyone motivated to find out is going to know anyhow. My parents used to bend over backwards to avoid anyone knowing when we were going on holiday (to the point that we used to drive away at six in the morning so no-one would see us leaving); automatic lights on timer switches, a friend leaving their car outside the house a few times a week, you name it.... they got burgled in 1991 by a guy who worked for the ferryboat company and took details of when folks were away and their addresses from their boat bookings, then did a whole spate of robberies). Nothing more they could have done - save never go on holiday.

I love Tarrantino's riff on the nature of Kong during the pub scene in "Inglorious Basterds" noting the parallel between Kong's story and that of the Black slave in America.

Worf

I wish QT would write a book on these interpretations of films - Top Gun (gay romance), Superman (Clark Kent is his judgement on how he sees humans), King Kong....

I find too comparing the different versions and what they bring to it fascinating. the 79 version updated the story context for its era; Jackson was the first of the three to make it as a period piece - though changing certain elements to play to modern sensibilities on the treatment of animals,for example....

Some years ago we made our own version of Kong to advertise a local screening.

Bravo!

 

[MondoFW]

Cool - I've downloaded that one but not had a chance to watch yet. Sounds good.



It's surprisingly (if darkly) comedic, something I always forget just before I revisit it. Of course the real-life case on which it was based, the trial of Leopold and Loeb, was no laughing matter on any level. These two kids in their late teens, wealthy students at the U of Chicago, all hopped up on Nietzsche's nonsense, kidnapped and murdered a boy of fourteen in 1924. Clarence Darrow's closing speech for the defence at their murder trial - including the line "It is hardly fair to hang a 19-year-old boy for the philosophy that was taught him at the university." - is one of the most famous of his career. It undoubtedly saved them from the death penalty - a decision doubtlessly resented by the mob, but proven correct in at least Leopold's case: after serving 33 years of his 'life plus 99 years' sentence, Leopold was paroled and went from model prisoner to model citizen. (Loeb was murdered in prison in 1936.) Darrow's humane instincts were still limited by his time, though: in large part, the subtext of his urging that the boys were to be treated as having acted from some form of madness was impliedly attributed to a suggestion that they, or at least the dominant Loeb, were gay and/or sexually predatory (the one being considered to be characteristic of the other).

Hitchcock's film brilliantly uses costume to add to character - note the wide, enhanced manliness of the Loeb cipher in his DB suit, and the weaker, follower in his SB suit which makes him appear physically smaller. Jimmy Stewart is also wonderful in his nuanced performance representing the place of the educator in such a tale of disputed and conflicting liabilities for a tragic/ evil event.

Very interesting history on the inspiration of the film. What a bizarre case. I had never considered the wardrobe being used as an instrument of demonstrating the power dynamic of the characters--Has Hitchcock actually discussed this about the movie? All I know is Loeb's allegorical representative's DB navy suit is to die for.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Costuming is one of the great subtle characterization indicators available to filmmakers.

Of course a key thing about Rope is that it was all filmed in very long takes, with only "invisible" cuts at the reel changes every ten minutes. While this was something of a stunt and a perverse act of discipline - Hitch denying himself the most important technique of movie syntax, cutting - it serves to ratchet up the tension, because even audiences who don't actually notice there are no cuts feel that something is just... somehow... weird.

It's not a particular favorite Hitchcock film of mine, but it's carried off with tremendous grace and style. And - until it was outdone by his gigantic apartment house set from Rear Window - it includes one of his great technological sets: the huge painted cyclorama, spun-glass clouds, and miniature buildings seen outside the penthouse, alive with moving clouds, changing lighting, and tiny lights coming on to portray the afternoon-to-night transition.

 

[2jakes]

Stand by Me
"Wonderful film. Saw it originally when I was fifteen, then again at thirty-eight. Much as I loved it the first time around, it's just not a film that you can fully appreciate I think unless you're an adult looking back on childhood. (c/f the Trainspotting 2 film, which is really about being a man in your forties looking back on your youthful twenties and wondering where it all went wrong)." Edward

For me this film simply brings back pleasant memories of my pals and the things we did to have a good time with what we had.
It wasn't much but we made the best of it.

 

[3fingers]

The McConnell Story. Alan Ladd is Joseph McConnell, a knothead in the Army who is always in trouble, but becomes a pilot and Korean War triple ace. June Allyson is his long suffering, perpetually waiting wife, so she reprises most of her well known roles here. The movie is watchable, but formulaic and not historically accurate in any substantial way. I like June and Alan, and they work well together, but this is entertainment/propaganda, nothing deep here.

 

[Formeruser012523]

Still one of my fave's:

"Don't go on the roof there'll be shooting!" (Duh you think?)

"Hmmph , thought I was going to see something!" (Well she saw "something" alright eventually...)

"Looky crazy Black Man been here!" (Crazy they might have been but when the wall came down they took up their spears and shields and fought to the death against their living god!)

I love Tarrantino's riff on the nature of Kong during the pub scene in "Inglorious Basterds" noting the parallel between Kong's story and that of the Black slave in America.

Worf

SO MUCH SHOOTING! LOL! Because, yes, you can shoot a Stegosaurus dead. How gun happy were those guys? And it took them a heckuva long time to get there where the hero got there a lot faster. ???

And I really was expecting more racism (not that there wasn't blatant racism with Charlie or the people on the island) but White Savior trope and all... I did like that Charlie was the first to notice that Ann had been taken. (Did he use a contraction? At all?) And all of them with their bare hands could totally hold the doors closed against a giant rampaging gorilla. That'll work.

As far as "influential" movies from the past there's this:

 

[Edward]

Very interesting history on the inspiration of the film. What a bizarre case. I had never considered the wardrobe being used as an instrument of demonstrating the power dynamic of the characters--Has Hitchcock actually discussed this about the movie? All I know is Loeb's allegorical representative's DB navy suit is to die for.

Yes, I'd love al the suits i the film, especially that DB. I've never read anything with Hitchcock commenting on it; the above are just my own thoughts.

Costuming is one of the great subtle characterization indicators available to filmmakers.

Of course a key thing about Rope is that it was all filmed in very long takes, with only "invisible" cuts at the reel changes every ten minutes. While this was something of a stunt and a perverse act of discipline - Hitch denying himself the most important technique of movie syntax, cutting - it serves to ratchet up the tension, because even audiences who don't actually notice there are no cuts feel that something is just... somehow... weird.

It's not a particular favorite Hitchcock film of mine, but it's carried off with tremendous grace and style. And - until it was outdone by his gigantic apartment house set from Rear Window - it includes one of his great technological sets: the huge painted cyclorama, spun-glass clouds, and miniature buildings seen outside the penthouse, alive with moving clouds, changing lighting, and tiny lights coming on to portray the afternoon-to-night transition.

The set is amazing; I'd have loved that apartment (or the real-life version, at least). Dark sitcom Psychoville, written for the BBC by and starring two of the League of Gentlemen (Reece Sheersmith and Steve Pemberton) had an episode in the first series which paid tribute to Rope, and was shot in only two takes (for the thirty minute duration). Amusing to look up.

 

[GHT]

Cool - I've downloaded that one but not had a chance to watch yet. Sounds good.



It's surprisingly (if darkly) comedic, something I always forget just before I revisit it. Of course the real-life case on which it was based, the trial of Leopold and Loeb, was no laughing matter on any level. These two kids in their late teens, wealthy students at the U of Chicago, all hopped up on Nietzsche's nonsense, kidnapped and murdered a boy of fourteen in 1924. Clarence Darrow's closing speech for the defence at their murder trial - including the line "It is hardly fair to hang a 19-year-old boy for the philosophy that was taught him at the university." - is one of the most famous of his career. It undoubtedly saved them from the death penalty - a decision doubtlessly resented by the mob, but proven correct in at least Leopold's case: after serving 33 years of his 'life plus 99 years' sentence, Leopold was paroled and went from model prisoner to model citizen. (Loeb was murdered in prison in 1936.) Darrow's humane instincts were still limited by his time, though: in large part, the subtext of his urging that the boys were to be treated as having acted from some form of madness was impliedly attributed to a suggestion that they, or at least the dominant Loeb, were gay and/or sexually predatory (the one being considered to be characteristic of the other).

Hitchcock's film brilliantly uses costume to add to character - note the wide, enhanced manliness of the Loeb cipher in his DB suit, and the weaker, follower in his SB suit which makes him appear physically smaller. Jimmy Stewart is also wonderful in his nuanced performance representing the place of the educator in such a tale of disputed and conflicting liabilities for a tragic/ evil event.

How observant of you Edward, the juxtaposition of the fact and the fiction makes me rethink Hitchcock.
Have you had the chance to see, "Darkest Hour," yet? There's a couple of scenes that are so obviously fiction but even so it doesn't detract from what an exceptional film it is. The costumes in it are so good that we, that's my missus and I, had to watch it twice. She kept making notes about Clementine's outfits. Jaqueline Durran is up for an Oscar for her work on the film. The following is a critique from Indiewire.

For Churchill, Durran tried to replicate what he wore at the time by visiting the companies and tailors that the prime minister frequented. Henry Poole made suits for Churchill and the costume designer had him fit Oldman as well.
“He had several suits, but what we found was that from the 1920s to the 1950s he had a slightly different interpretation of the same look,” Durran said. “He had a black suit, white handkerchief, and bow tie. And I think early on he decided on his style and he chose really good things. With his shoes, instead of laces, he had a zip, and I think it was all about ease.”

You will not only enjoy the movie, you will be thinking about making an appointment at Henry Poole.

 

[LizzieMaine]

We're running "First Reformed," director Paul Schrader's uncompromising look at the moral crisis faced by a conscientious minister serving in a church which has fallen under the domination of a so-called evangelical megachurch. You need to have a good understanding of the complex political currents in modern Protestantism to really follow this, but Ethan Hawke is always worth your attention. Although I could do without him wrapping his body in barbed wire beneath his clerical vestments, that's a bit too medieval for my taste.

 

[Fading Fast]

WWII Propaganda Week continued at the Fading Fasts with 1942's "Spitfire" staring Leslie Howard and David Niven

• A propaganda biopic of the inventor - R.J. Mitchell - of the "England-saving" Spitfire fighter plane

• Combining a '40s biopic with WWII propaganda film results in double hagiography as this Mitchell is a cross between Ayn Rand's Howard Roark (won't compromise his design one inch for money or fame) and every hero who died trying to take a hill (Howard's doctor tells him he'll die if he doesn't stop working on the Spitfire, but he "soldiers on" as he knows England will need his plane)

• But heck, it all works if you just go with as, once again, Howard imbues his character, in this case, Mitchell with enough depth, doubt and compassion to makes him a human hero. Additionally, incredible-for-the-time arial footage is still captivating today

• Also making this a better-than-average prop film is a young-and-engaging David Niven as Mitchell's friend, test pilot, and charming playboy (my God he's young here)

• It's all by-the-numbers propaganda - problems come up, but patriotism and individual commitment over come them; a brief visit to Germany in the '30s reveals a country pumped up on ego-driven super nationalism and all but openly defying the Versailles Treaty's military plane restrictions - but the movie's wonderful spirit and enthusiasm works as an example of some of the best of its genre

.
"No Questions Asked"

• A solid noir film that doesn't rise to the level of the great ones, but is all around good entertainment

• The plot - an insurance company lawyer with a gold-digging girlfriend, desperate for cash, carves out a quasi-legal business buying stolen goods back from criminals for insurance companies which puts him in the crosshairs of the police - has a few good twists to keep you engaged

• But the real hook is - as in many good noirs - watching a honest man move to the noir side [] by incremental steps - and all motivated by "the bad girl"

• The movie has beautiful MGM sets, but would have had more realism / more noirism with real street scenes

• The movie works as straight story telling, but adjust your viewing angle and you'll see a "he chose the wrong woman" story staring you in the face
  • While the insurance lawyer throws it all away for a femme fatale who only wants him for what she can get out of him, he ignores the loves-him-for-himself co-worker who, sadly, becomes his doormat. Bad for her but good for us as it adds a layer of depth to this basic noir story

 

[Edward]

How observant of you Edward, the juxtaposition of the fact and the fiction makes me rethink Hitchcock.
Have you had the chance to see, "Darkest Hour," yet? There's a couple of scenes that are so obviously fiction but even so it doesn't detract from what an exceptional film it is. The costumes in it are so good that we, that's my missus and I, had to watch it twice. She kept making notes about Clementine's outfits. Jaqueline Durran is up for an Oscar for her work on the film. The following is a critique from Indiewire.

For Churchill, Durran tried to replicate what he wore at the time by visiting the companies and tailors that the prime minister frequented. Henry Poole made suits for Churchill and the costume designer had him fit Oldman as well.
“He had several suits, but what we found was that from the 1920s to the 1950s he had a slightly different interpretation of the same look,” Durran said. “He had a black suit, white handkerchief, and bow tie. And I think early on he decided on his style and he chose really good things. With his shoes, instead of laces, he had a zip, and I think it was all about ease.”

You will not only enjoy the movie, you will be thinking about making an appointment at Henry Poole.

If only I had the money, I'd have all my suits made at Henry Poole! Not seen the film yet, I'm waiting for it on television. I'm.... not what you'd call a fan of Churchill (I laughed out loud when I heard the film not only showed him taking the tube, but taking the advice of a black gentleman, Churchill having been a terrible racist in reality), so I've been inclined to wait until I can watch it alone and not pay for it. It'll certainly be interesting to see whether Oldman's acting is what got him the Oscar, or the fact that (based on the clips I've seen) it clearly was an outstanding impression of Churchill.

We're running "First Reformed," director Paul Schrader's uncompromising look at the moral crisis faced by a conscientious minister serving in a church which has fallen under the domination of a so-called evangelical megachurch. You need to have a good understanding of the complex political currents in modern Protestantism to really follow this, but Ethan Hawke is always worth your attention. Although I could do without him wrapping his body in barbed wire beneath his clerical vestments, that's a bit too medieval for my taste.

That does sound interesting. I remember such a megachurch moving in to Northern Ireland in the early 90s and taking away people from a lot of other churches. At the time, its pastor, when it was put to him that he wasn't bringing people to the church but taking them away from other churches, shrugged and said "Maybe it's the way I tell them that brings them in." I don't think it's still popular - these sorts of outfits have a tendency to go the way of Ozymandius.