What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Lean'n'mean]

' Goldstone' (2016) .....Intense, slow paced outback thriller. Nothing original but gripping from start to finish. Always great to see David Gulpilil on the screen even in a small role but he did look painfully thin.

 

[Touchofevil]

Thank you. And ladder or “hire out” for me from now on.

 

[Fading Fast]

Crime Wave (1954) on TCM. Nice and crisp black and white cinematography. A lot of neat shots of city and real life from the time. Even though it receives only a two-star rating, it is worth a watch.

Agreed - we watched it last night (TCM On Demand, another TCM gem) - it is better than a two-star movie with, as you note, wonderfully crips B&W and "time travel," plus, a decent story with a ridiculously young Charles Bronson.

Wishing you the best for a speedy recovery.

 

[MissMittens]

Christmas Vacation (after seeing this house decorated as the Griswald's)

 

[LizzieMaine]

Damn you, TCM. Some nerve you've got running a Busby Berkeley marathon in the middle of the night. I flip around the TV for a few minutes after checking the weather and I get sucked into "Footlight Parade" yet again. A definitive Cagney performance, ditto Joan Blondell, Dick Powell in his lascivious crooner phase, an all-out production number with Ruby Keeler as a dancing Chinese prostitute, solid comedy relief by Frank McHugh, the expected presence of Guy Kibbee and Hugh Herbert, and Billy Barty as the creepy baby.

Plus there's some of Warners' top pre-code moments. "Miss Bi--uh, Rich." "As long as there's sidewalks, YOU've got a job!"

I must have seen this picture two hundred times over the last forty years, and I never get tired of it.

 

[MissMittens]

Damn you, TCM. Some nerve you've got running a Busby Berkeley marathon in the middle of the night. I flip around the TV for a few minutes after checking the weather and I get sucked into "Footlight Parade" yet again. A definitive Cagney performance, ditto Joan Blondell, Dick Powell in his lascivious crooner phase, an all-out production number with Ruby Keeler as a dancing Chinese prostitute, solid comedy relief by Frank McHugh, the expected presence of Guy Kibbee and Hugh Herbert, and Billy Barty as the creepy baby.

Plus there's some of Warners' top pre-code moments. "Miss Bi--uh, Rich." "As long as there's sidewalks, YOU've got a job!"

I must have seen this picture two hundred times over the last forty years, and I never get tired of it.

LOVE that picture! Of course, TCM plays it when I'm asleep

 

[Fading Fast]

...Plus there's some of Warners' top pre-code moments. "Miss Bi--uh, Rich." "As long as there's sidewalks, YOU've got a job!"...

I saw it recently and that is a top-ten body-slamming line. It doesn't get much better than that.

 

[belfastboy]

Watched "The Giant" a Spanish production, Basque language movie that turned out not close to what I thought it to be. The synopsis led me to believe it was comedic but it was a sad and touching film. Well worth my time.

 

[bluesmandan]

Last Supper. A new movie streaming on Amazon Prime. A hitman tries to talk another hitman, over supper, out of killing him. The ending took me a bit by surprise. No spoilers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Fading Fast]

"Two Smart People" from 1946 starring Lucille Ball, John Hodiak and Lloyd Nolan

It's a quirky movie of a con man and con woman (Hodiak and Ball) as rivals who end up falling in love, just as one, Hodiak, is being "escorted" across country by a detective (Nolan) who is bringing him back East to jail and who agrees to Hodiak's offer to pay for an all-first-class train trip for them with stops for upscaled partying as this will be Hodiak's last "fling at fun" before spending time in the hoosegow.

Okay, so the plot isn't believable - at all (not a first for a movie). Add in Elisha Cook Junior playing the same sniveling, weaselly character he plays in all his movies, this time, pursuing Hodiak over some bearer bonds he claims Hodiak cheated him out of in a joint swindle and, unfortunately, nothing in the movie really improves. However and thankfully, this is not a plot-driven movie - it's all about the chemistry between Hodiak and Nolan and Hodiak and Ball.

For an early "cop and criminal respect each other as rivals and form a bond, even a friendship" effort, it's pretty good. Hodiak and Nolan play well off each other and adumbrate the more aggressive pairings - like that of Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in "48 Hours -" that followed.

Unfortunately, the pairing of Hodiak and Ball is less auspicious. The good and surprising thing about Ball is that, pre "Lucy," she was a serious and talented actress who, in general, I enjoy seeing pop up in movies. But she might be the least sexy screen star ever (maybe it's because I can't get TV's Lucy out of my mind, the least sexy TV star ever), but the movie depends on her being a smoldering seductress - It. Doesn't. Work.

Still an okay movie with some absolutely incredible Golden Era train travel scenes - club and dining cars, sleeper cabins and additional train minutia - plus other fun Fedora Lounge time travel. It's worth the viewing for that and some okay story telling, but fails overall as the Hodiak-Ball paring is a bust.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There's an Eddie Cantor picture from 1933, "Roman Scandals," which is basically typical Cantor hijinx in Ancient Rome. Lucy is one of the "Goldwyn Girls" in that picture, and turns up in a slave-market scene nude except for a long blonde wig. The effect is very unsettling.

 

[Bushman]

Started off my Christmas marathon this year with "Rudolph The Rednosed Reindeer" earlier this week. I gotta admit, I forgot how mean everybody is to poor Rudolph. Even Rudolph's own Dad and Santa are mean to him. Definitely not how I remembered this one as a kid.

Then I caught "Adam Sandler's 8 Crazy Nights" on ABC Family. I have no idea how or why Disney got ahold of this one, but it's far dirtier than I remember, and a lot funnier too, though obviously there were some parts of it that were censored or outright trimmed away for a obvious reason (though they kept the herd of deer licking away at a poop-cicle?) Very crass humor, yes, but fun for the rare Adam Sandler fan such as myself. Don't watch this one with the kiddies.

Then it was on to the ever classic "Miracle on 34th Street" from 1947. Not that I mind the 1994 remake with Richard Attenborough, but this one is an absolute classic and a pleasure to watch every year. I just find it unfortunate that stations only seem to air the colorized version now. It's not the worst colorization I've ever seen, but you can still definitely tell and some scenes look outright half colored. Still doesn't detract from the story and the wonderful moral of putting others before yourself.

The next night I watched a mini marathon of Christmas movies. First two starred Tim Allen in a Chicago backdrop, these being "Christmas with the Kranks," and "The Santa Clause." I really enjoy both. For the former, there's a great cast including Jamie Lee Curtis, M. Emmet Walsh, Erik Per Sullivan, Dan Aykroyd, and Cheech Marin. For the latter, it's been a Christmas classic to me since I was a child, and I enjoy it annually. I just find it a shame that the sequels were such garbage.

Next one that same night were "The Polar Express." This one didn't fare too well with audiences, but I personally love it. Then again, I love anything with Tom Hanks, who voices just about half the characters in this one. The book was a childhood Christmas favorite of mine, and I was ecstatic when they turned it into a movie. I loved the additions to the story, which was not at all very long in the book, and they all worked wonderfully towards the movie.

I finished off the night with the Christmas horror flick "Krampus." I took German in high school, and the horror fan in me has since been endeared by the tale of a scary alternate to Santa Claus. Enter "Krampus" in 2015. A great movie with some great usage of practical effects. I think what really makes the film for me, though, is the family dynamics. I imagine this family dynamic as what Christmas would be like if I ever hosted both sides of my family one one night. The main family reminds me of my mother's side of the family, and the other family reminds me of my Dad's side. I think it's because many people can relate to the set up here that this movie works so well. We all know people like the characters in this movie, and if you don't you're probably one of them. Last year I intended to add a Krampus bell from Weta Workshop to my tree, but they were unfortunately sold out, but this year I was successful!

Then last night I continued my Christmas marathon with "Elf." I'm not usually a Will Farrell fan, but for this one I can make an exception. An endearing story with hilarious antics. I didn't use to like it, but it's grown on me and I've since added it to my annual watch list.

 

[Fading Fast]

There's an Eddie Cantor picture from 1933, "Roman Scandals," which is basically typical Cantor hijinx in Ancient Rome. Lucy is one of the "Goldwyn Girls" in that picture, and turns up in a slave-market scene nude except for a long blonde wig. The effect is very unsettling.

Well, at least I have a sense of what to expect going in and, heck, she was 22 in '33, whose body didn't look at least half good at 22.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Rudolph" bothered me a lot as a kid, and this was long long before there was any such thing as Internet memes. I'd watch that and it would strike me very emphatically that Santa was, in a fundamental way, a complete dick to everybody. He treats the elves like serfs, in a way that suggests more than a little racism on top of his general dickishness, he's cold and hostile to his wife, and he has no respect for the reindeer other than for what they can do for him. He has the unmitigated gall to treat Rudolph like dirt from the moment of his birth, and then *expects* him to pull him out of trouble like he was in some way obligated to him. And on top of that, consider the "Island of Misfit Toys," which is basically an enforced ghetto for those who don't fit Santa's exacting standards of physical purity. No wonder Donner tried to hide his son's "deformity."

Even as a little kid, I had the sense that Mr. Rankin and Mr. Bass were trying to say something much darker than "Ho ho ho." No other Christmas special ever had that kind of disturbing, unsettling effect on me.

 

[Worf]

Thank you for the greatly appreciated “best wishes.” Clumsy me, I fell off of the garage roof just as I was finishing cleaning the gutters: finished sooner than expected. I landed heel first on cement and shattered my heel. Dummy me. No walking on/with this foot for 10 to 12 weeks. Christmas vacation started early for me although this is no vacation.
Fortunately, I have the Fabulous Lady ToE to take care of me.

Cleaning gutters? Yeah.... right! Tell the truth! You'd tied a red towel around your neck and decided to give it a try! Who knows you MIGHT be a Kryptonian orphan! All kiddin' aside. Sorry for your mishap... I sincerely hope you heal fast and full! In the future... ahem... HIRE someone younger and perhaps more agile to do the second story work! Just sayin'.

Worf (Still doing my get well dance!)

 

[Worf]

"Sister Kenny" - I'd never heard of this one so I DVR'd it and found it to be quite entertaining. A nurse in Australia encounters Polio for the first time and lacking any instructions other than "observe and treat" developed a way to truly help acute cases. Of course the medical establishment hates her, despises and dismiss her for 30 plus years. But she gets results. Only in America and not fully there does she get some recognition and support. Interesting story BUT I'll have to find out how much was true and how much was whitewash.

Worf

 

[Fading Fast]

"Hard to Get" 1938 staring Dick Powell and Olivia de Havilland

• There's a good movie in here that's been beaten up by the production code with the instrument of abuse being too much slapstick and screwball comedy

• Powell as a struggling architect now working as a gas station attendant in the depression and de Havilland as the rich girl falling for, but fighting with, Powell have good chemistry

• From there, it's all screwball family, misunderstandings, physical comedy, too-much yelling and too many coincidences

• There's nothing new or fresh here - even for '38 - but a few good lines, the aforementioned Powell-de Havilland pairing and some fun Fedora Lounge time travel make it an okay 82 minute diversion - just a shame that a better movie wasn't allowed to push through

 

[Doctor Strange]

Pandora's Box, a silent classic that's been on my mental to-see list for about fifty years now, via DVR and (of course!) TCM.

While there's a lot of silent melodrama in this flick that doesn't play that well these days, there's no question that Louise Brooks had stunning beauty and charisma that still burns off the screen. I'm glad I finally saw it.

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ Haven't seen it (I keep an arm's length from silent films, I wan't to like them, but...) but did read this historical fiction novel based on Ms. Brooks' early life when it came out:

 

[Worf]

Pandora's Box, a silent classic that's been on my mental to-see list for about fifty years now, via DVR and (of course!) TCM.

While there's a lot of silent melodrama in this flick that doesn't play that well these days, there's no question that Louise Brooks had stunning beauty and charisma that still burns off the screen. I'm glad I finally saw it.

View attachment 147607

As the boys on the block would say...

"DAYUM!!!!!!"

Ralph Cramden would opine....

"A Humina Humina Humina Whoa!"

Good lord what a beauty! I suddenly feel.... so very old!

Worf