What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[3fingers]

I have meant to watch Novitiate but haven't yet. I was raised Catholic, and remember the nuns before the wheels came off. I liked Melissa Leo as Detective Howard in Homicide: Life on the Street back in the 1980s.
Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Worf]

But impressive job on the weight loss - that's not easy. Congrats.

Ah thank you... you've always been kind to poor miserable me... unlike some on here... (Worf gives the Ferengi from the West Coast the Klingon death glare).

Worf

 

[Worf]

Get job on the weight loss. Working out helps, but cannot solve all problems or conquer aging. Still, a push-up vest is not the answer. Nor is an extra tight shirt. Keep up the good/hard work.

Pbbbst! Forget it... don't try and smooth this over! You're on my list (and it ain't the "nice" list either)!

Worf

 

[Worf]

If that one film had never been made, American history would have been drastically different. That said, it's the greatest football movie ever. With the possible exceptions of "Brian's Song" and "Horsefeathers."

Pat O'Brien is perfect in the role -- unless you've seen most of his early Warner films, where he's usually a loud-mouthed, fast-talking Irish con man. Overlaying the O'Brien of "The Front Page," "Page Miss Glory," "Twenty Million Sweethearts" or "Boy Meets Girl" with the O'Brien of St. Rockne gives the viewer a whole different perspective.

Mebbe in your opinion... However, as one who played the sport... in and out of uniform.... the best (most true to me at least) football movie was "North Dallas Forty". It showed the pain, the craziness, the locker room love and hate that comes with such a dangerous and violent game. If I want to laugh at football then "Necessary Roughness" is my meat. Only "Horsefeathers" details the hypocrisy of "amateur athletics" with a more withering eye.

"I'm going downtown to buy some football players!"

Can't put it more plainly than that! And that was in the 30's!

Worf

 

[Ms_Kim]

Watched "Walk, Don't Run" on TCM the other evening. It was such a delightful and playful film!

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

Alexander Nevsky, off of Filmstruck. Propaganda? Yes. Dazzling film-making? Indeed.
Crime Wave, from Noir Alley. At 73 minutes, not a wasted shot in the story, thanks to director Andre de Toth. Personal favorite Timothy Carey (uncredited) plays the crazy thug character, speaking most of his lines through clenched teeth, even blowing his cigarette smoke through a Bob Kane Joker smile.

 

[Zombie_61]

Two movies I hadn't seen before this week:

A Face in the Crowd (1957). If you've only seen Andy Griffith in his usual "nice guy" roles this movie might not be to your liking, but it shows he could play a not-so-nice guy. Co-starring Patricia Neal in her return to acting after a four-year hiatus and a supporting cast that includes Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, and Lee Remick, the movie charts the rise of Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes (Griffith) from manipulative drifter to television star and political career maker. To me the story is a little implausible for it's 1957 setting, but in 2018 when anyone can become a household name by posting the right video on the Internet it seems far more reasonable.

On The Waterfront (1954). On the off chance that there's anyone like me who hasn't seen it yet, ex-prizefighter and longshoreman Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) struggles with the notion of taking a stand against the corrupt Union bosses he works for. Co-starring Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, and a wealth of shady-looking character actors, Brando's performance is a contender but in my opinion Karl Malden's performance as Father Barry, the local Catholic priest, wins the bout.

 

[2jakes]

Two movies I hadn't seen before this week:

A Face in the Crowd (1957). If you've only seen Andy Griffith in his usual "nice guy" roles this movie might not be to your liking, but it shows he could play a not-so-nice guy. Co-starring Patricia Neal in her return to acting after a four-year hiatus and a supporting cast that includes Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, and Lee Remick, the movie charts the rise of Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes (Griffith) from manipulative drifter to television star and political career maker. To me the story is a little implausible for it's 1957 setting, but in 2018 when anyone can become a household name by posting the right video on the Internet it seems far more reasonable.

On The Waterfront (1954). On the off chance that there's anyone like me who hasn't seen it yet, ex-prizefighter and longshoreman Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) struggles with the notion of taking a stand against the corrupt Union bosses he works for. Co-starring Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, and a wealth of shady-looking character actors, Brando's performance is a contender but in my opinion Karl Malden's performance as Father Barry, the local Catholic priest, wins the bout.

On The Waterfront

Rod Steiger
The few scenes he is on, everyone else practically disappears.

“In the Heat of the Night”...is Steiger at his finest!

 

[3fingers]

In the Heat of the Night”...is Steiger at his finest!

Agreed. I also enjoyed the TV series. Carroll O'Connor was as close to Steiger's appearance as anybody they could have found.

 

[2jakes]

Agreed. I also enjoyed the TV series. Carroll O'Connor was as close to Steiger's appearance as anybody they could have found.

Poor Carroll O’Connor...
I will forever think of Archie Bunker..even when he played a general in
Kelly’s Heroes!

 

[Fading Fast]

Two movies I hadn't seen before this week:

A Face in the Crowd (1957). If you've only seen Andy Griffith in his usual "nice guy" roles this movie might not be to your liking, but it shows he could play a not-so-nice guy. Co-starring Patricia Neal in her return to acting after a four-year hiatus and a supporting cast that includes Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, and Lee Remick, the movie charts the rise of Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes (Griffith) from manipulative drifter to television star and political career maker. To me the story is a little implausible for it's 1957 setting, but in 2018 when anyone can become a household name by posting the right video on the Internet it seems far more reasonable.

On The Waterfront (1954). On the off chance that there's anyone like me who hasn't seen it yet, ex-prizefighter and longshoreman Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) struggles with the notion of taking a stand against the corrupt Union bosses he works for. Co-starring Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, and a wealth of shady-looking character actors, Brando's performance is a contender but in my opinion Karl Malden's performance as Father Barry, the local Catholic priest, wins the bout.

I agree on Malden - he is a true actor who ups almost every movie (and scene) he's in.

Also, Patricia Neal is a very underrated / under-appreciated actress.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Goodbye Christopher Robin" 2017

• Solid, if a occasionally plodding, biopic supposedly telling the story of how Winnie-the-Pooh author Alan Milne was inspired to create Pooh owing to a combination of - what today we'd recognize as - PTSD from his WWI experience and exploring the woods with his young son - Christopher Robin - in the 1920s

• I said "supposedly" above because the dreaded "based on a true story" was employed which normally is used to give writers and directors a lot of latitude to be "creative" with the facts to invent a more engaging story

• This ties back to my comment several posts back on the movie "Knute Rockne All American," in which I noted that the biopic style of the '30s/'40s was all flawless hero while today's biopics are all flaw-driven and anti hero

• Right on cue, we get this movie of personal problems and flaws (all with political implications) - PTSD (war is bad), somewhat-distance parenting (children need helicopter parenting), bullying (bad again) and pursing fame or money (even more bad) - driving the narrative and motivations which, taken in total, strip the hero of any heroism but play perfect obeisance to modern political pieties

• Any writer, producer or director who thinks he or she is being provocative / is taking risks / is challenging the status quo this way should recognize that, today, this style of biopic is safely coloring within the accepted political lines - the man is preaching to the man / no risk is being taken / no non-Hollywood-approved politics is being challenged

• That said, it's still a good movie with beautiful period details - cars, clothes, furniture, architecture (the Milne's country home is my image of the ideal English country house - a bit smaller would be better, but still incredible)

 

[31 Model A]

"The San Pebbles", watched it lastnight for the umpteen time. First saw it on big screen in Italy back in the 60s (in Italian). Excellent example of the brown water Navy of that time and Steve McQueen at his finest...IMO, better than The Great Escape.

The gunboat used (San Pablo) was scrapped but the engine that McQueen learned inside/out for the movie was saved and on display at the Port of LA inside the hold of a liberty ship.

 

[Trenchfriend]

"The San Pebbles", watched it lastnight for the umpteen time. First saw it on big screen in Italy back in the 60s (in Italian). Excellent example of the brown water Navy of that time and Steve McQueen at his finest...IMO, better than The Great Escape.

The gunboat used (San Pablo) was scrapped but the engine that McQueen learned inside/out for the movie was saved and on display at the Port of LA inside the hold of a liberty ship.

OOPS, I never saw the movie! I should finally do!

"The gunboat at the Yangtse Kiang", in german title.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

'Annihilation' (2018).....I liked the trailer & as I'm always game for unusual sci-fi flicks I gave it a chance. Some folks will see this film as pretentious garbage while others will find it a thought provoking masterpiece, me......I just think it's a bad movie.
The script & acting were poor, the sets & effects looked like something from a 70's Star Trek episode & the CGI albeit used sparingly, was very unconvincing. Other sci-fi movies have done it all before & better.......there just wasn't enough talent on either side of the camera nor the necessary gravitas to pull this off & Natalie Portman was a bad choice for the lead role since we were unable to forget that she is Natalie Portman. It's usually a bad sign when you watch a movie & you couldn't care less what happens to any of the characters.(I use the term characters lightly)
The only thought it provoked in me is how the hell I managed to sit through it.

 

[Touchofevil]

On The Waterfront

Rod Steiger
The few scenes he is on, everyone else practically disappears.

“In the Heat of the Night”...is Steiger at his finest!

Both are great movies. “In the Heat of the Night” is one of those movies that I stop for when it is discovered on tv. Great cast, with a great story and directing.

 

[Touchofevil]

“Dark Passage” on TCM’s Noir Alley. Always an enjoyable viewing. Based on a novel by David Goodis, it is worth a look. It doesn’t hurt that it stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

 

[Fading Fast]

“Dark Passage” on TCM’s Noir Alley. Always an enjoyable viewing. Based on a novel by David Goodis, it is worth a look. It doesn’t hurt that it stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

It's a really good one that, I think, slides a bit under the radar owing the "big" Bogie-Bacall movies.

 

[2jakes]

“Dark Passage” on TCM’s Noir Alley. Always an enjoyable viewing. Based on a novel by David Goodis, it is worth a look. It doesn’t hurt that it stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

As many times as I have seen it and have it in my library, whenever it airs on TCM.

I will watch the opening scenes just to see
the circus tent carseats on the old jalopy or the woody station wagon Betty is driving along the beautiful San Francisco
Bay area.
I also enjoy taking my paints and canvas
on the road and capture the landscape.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Lean'n'mean, I didn't dislike Annihilation quite as much as you did, but I thought it was pretty undistinguished SF that started off promisingly... and quickly went off the rails. I didn't have a problem with Natalie Portman, per se, but her character, who's presented as a scientist AND an ex-soldier, didn't come off as believable. In fact, pretty much nothing in the film was believable...

And Fading, I think you're being a bit hard on Goodbye Christopher Robin. Despite being a period piece it's a current-day film and it's got current-day observations and storytelling. In the same way that films from the past are products of their time, it's a product of this time. Would you rather it was done forties M-G-M style as the prettied-up tale of a devoted writer and his beloved son… without including his PTSD and how difficult being "Christopher Robin" was for the kid throughout his life?