What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Fading Fast]

I watched this this afternoon and enjoyed it. I also think she chose the wrong guy! Reagan's character was a pompous, brash guy who threw temper tantrums. The lawyer was much better for her.

I hate when they choose the wrong man or women (see Ray Milland in "The Lost Weekend" and Gregory Peck in "A Gentleman's Agreement"). Lynn seemed like a genuinely good guy; whereas, your comments on Reagan are spot on.

I loved when Lane gave the banker a hard time - how much have you wanted to do that in your own life at some point?

Also, how enjoyable was May Robson as the older eccentric? She carried the movie in several spots.

 

[Fading Fast]

The Gay Bride from 1934 with Carole Lombard, Chester Morris, Zasu Pitts and Ned Pendleton

• A quirky '30s romcom about a gold-digging woman, Lombard, marrying or trying to marry several mob men for their money while sparring with a mob factotum, "office boy," Morris, who sees completely through her act, but falls for her anyway

• Morris does work for the mob, but only on legitimate business (it's that type of movie, so you just go with it) as he's staying clean while saving up to buy a gas station so that he can get out and lead a normal life

• Lombard, initially, laughs at Morris and his "small life" ambition as she wants money and possessions (and, literally, steals from her mob boyfriends and husbands to get them)

• But as riches come and go for her (mob money is tenuous), she begins to see the limitations of "stuff," the downside of being with men you don't care for and the appeal of an honest man - Morris

• It's pretty predictable, and the mob stuff - and body count - is treated pretty callously here, but for a '30s romcom, they keep the screwball comedy to a minimum

• Morris and Lombard have real chemistry with, surprisingly, Morris stealing several scenes from Lombard as she comes off shrilly at times, while he's in the enviable role of being the only person in the room with both integrity and who gets the joke

• It's nothing more than a hour-and-twenty-minute romcom, but Morris and Lombard make it work

The Joker from 2019 with Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro and Zazie Beetz

• Outstanding performance by Joaquin Phoenix

• Because of the incredible hype, I found I liked this very good movie less than I thought I would / also, good as it is, it's depressing as heck

• You can see it as an alternative Joker-origin story in the Batman oeuvre or, more as I did, a story about an isolated, lonely, broken and mentally ill man slowly being broken further by a society with limited resources that hasn't figured out how to consistently help people like him

• As with most movies today, the visuals are incredible, which, in this case, includes a pretty-accurate time capsule of NYC in the '70s - meaning much garbage, graffiti and disorder - just as it was when I first started coming to the city as a kid

 

[belfastboy]

Watched Borat's new one.......and I am sorry I did........I have to give S B Cohen props though as he has taken the Borat idea, which at best is a comedy sketch, and turned it into a franchise. However, this movie milks it waaaay past its best before date. Not sure of the correct word for it but Cohen takes the incredible hospitality and grace of the American people and uses it as a prop for his gotcha comedy which I find abusive and not funny at all.

 

[AmateisGal]

I hate when they choose the wrong man or women (see Ray Milland in "The Lost Weekend" and Gregory Peck in "A Gentleman's Agreement"). Lynn seemed like a genuinely good guy; whereas, your comments on Reagan are spot on.

I loved when Lane gave the banker a hard time - how much have you wanted to do that in your own life at some point?

Also, how enjoyable was May Robson as the older eccentric? She carried the movie in several spots.

I loved May Robson's character! In fact, I want to be friends with a lady like that!

 

[AmateisGal]

View attachment 275243
The Gay Bride from 1934 with Carole Lombard, Chester Morris, Zasu Pitts and Ned Pendleton

• A quirky '30s romcom about a gold-digging woman, Lombard, marrying or trying to marry several mob men for their money while sparring with a mob factotum, "office boy," Morris, who sees completely through her act, but falls for her anyway

• Morris does work for the mob, but only on legitimate business (it's that type of movie, so you just go with it) as he's staying clean while saving up to buy a gas station so that he can get out and lead a normal life

• Lombard, initially, laughs at Morris and his "small life" ambition as she wants money and possessions (and, literally, steals from her mob boyfriends and husbands to get them)

• But as riches come and go for her (mob money is tenuous), she begins to see the limitations of "stuff," the downside of being with men you don't care for and the appeal of an honest man - Morris

• It's pretty predictable, and the mob stuff - and body count - is treated pretty callously here, but for a '30s romcom, they keep the screwball comedy to a minimum

• Morris and Lombard have real chemistry with, surprisingly, Morris stealing several scenes from Lombard as she comes off shrilly at times, while he's in the enviable role of being the only person in the room with both integrity and who gets the joke

• It's nothing more than a hour-and-twenty-minute romcom, but Morris and Lombard make it work

View attachment 275244
The Joker from 2019 with Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro and Zazie Beetz

• Outstanding performance by Joaquin Phoenix

• Because of the incredible hype, I found I liked this very good movie less than I thought I would / also, good as it is, it's depressing as heck

• You can see it as an alternative Joker-origin story in the Batman oeuvre or, more as I did, a story about an isolated, lonely, broken and mentally ill man slowly being broken further by a society with limited resources that hasn't figured out how to consistently help people like him

• As with most movies today, the visuals are incredible, which, in this case, includes a pretty-accurate time capsule of NYC in the '70s - meaning much garbage, graffiti and disorder - just as it was when I first started coming to the city as a kid

Phoenix totally deserved the Oscar for his performance in this. It is incredible. But yeah, this movie is depressing as all hell.

 

[MisterCairo]

Sleepy Hollow, the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp/Christina Ricci (sigh) film as part of the Cairo Family Hallowe'en Cavalcade of Horror.

We are playing catch up as we have our blu-ray player fixed and back!

 

[Touchofevil]

Sleepy Hollow, the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp/Christina Ricci (sigh) film as part of the Cairo Family Hallowe'en Cavalcade of Horror.

We are playing catch up as we have our blu-ray player fixed and back!

We too just watched Sleepy Hollow (for the umpteenth time). Still find it to be one of the more entertaining Tim Burton movies.

 

[Trenchfriend]

 

[MisterCairo]

The video you posted is sadly "not available in (my) country" owing to copyright rules. What is it may I ask?

 

[Trenchfriend]

The video you posted is sadly "not available in (my) country" owing to copyright rules. What is it may I ask?

 

[MisterCairo]

The other night I finally got around to Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem. I have heard good and bad about it, the bad mainly along the lines that it is not particularly scary.

This is more creepy than horror, and frankly I find it his best film of those I have seen (31 is next on the list, then his two Halloween remakes).

Great roles for folks like Dee Wallace (the mum in ET), Meg Foster and Judy Geeson. And, amazingly, Sherri Moon Zombie can actually act!

 

[AmateisGal]

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

The 'Burbs

Arsenic and Old Lace

Gotta watch 'em all on Halloween while eating my Boo Berry cereal!

 

[Edward Reed]

Young Frankenstein (1974) as that's my personal annual halloween film, then I watched Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man ( 1943 ) on Svengoolie (Me-TV)

 

[Bushman]

Started the night with "Zodiac" from 2007, about the Zodiac Killer, who slashed through central California in 1970s. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr, and Mark Ruffalo, ironically all of whom would star in Marvel superhero movies at some point or another across this last decade or so; the latter of the two being main line Avengers Iron Man and the Hulk respectively. The movie follows Gyllenhaal, a newspaper cartoonist, as his obsession with Zodiac ruins his career, his family, and almost his life. The movie presents several key suspects to who Zodiac may be, but we never get a definitive answer, and we never will. Although inactive, the case remains open to this day. Perhaps Zodiac may return to kill again one day.

Then I watched the classic Universal monster flick, "The Wolf Man" starring Lon Chaney Jr. Although I enjoy this one every Halloween, I must admit that I prefer the Joe Johnston remake. The original has, by today's standards, a rather simplistic story, and other than Chaney, and Lugosi, the movie's cast is rather light on big name talent. I much prefer the on-screen familial drama between Benicio del Toro and the venerable Sir Anthony Hopkins. And although the original is high on atmosphere and tone, it is generally low on actual scares. I find the remake much more terrifying.

Now I'm bringing it full circle, and moving on to "The Most Dangerous Game" starring the original scream queen Fay Wray pre-King Kong. Purportedly, this movie inspired Zodiac's bloodlust for human lives. I'd read the original short story when i was in high school, and though the movie diverges quite a bit, adding enough fluff to make a feature length film, I still feel like it retains the original spirit of the story. I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Up next will be the classic radioactive creature feature "Them!"

 

[Fading Fast]

Born to Kill from 1947 with Claire Trever, Lawrence Tierney, Elisha Cook Jr. and Walter Slezak

A handsome sociopath, a man who kills at the smallest provocation, manages to worm his way into the life of a wealthy society family in San Francisco.

Tierney, the sociopath, is chilling as a cold blooded killer whose hair-trigger anger at even small slights can cause him to take a life. The real mystery is how this man made it to middle age without being caught by the police or killed by somebody.

He is aided by a sycophant sidekick, Elisha Cook Jr, whose slavish devotion to Tierney has him covering up Tierney's murders. No explanation for Cook's loyalty is given, but my wild guess is that, in the novel the movie is based on, something homosexual is going on or implied. Nobody is that devoted to someone who treats him as horribly as Tierney does Cook, without something more than a warped friendship driving the relationship.

Clair Trevor, the poor relative of the wealthy San Francisco family, provides Tierney's entry to the family and society as she is infatuated with him despite knowing he is a killer. She stumbled upon two of Tierney's victims early on and, even though she hardly knew him at that point, somewhat covered up for him anyway, which immediately makes us question her mental stability.

But this is Trevor's movie, as she owns it, drives it, centers it and saves it as her anger issues and emotional baggage are slowly revealed. She greatly resents being the poor relative, but hides her resentment from everyone but, eventually, Tierney. In some perverse way, she is attracted to Tierney, yes, sexually, but also because he is someone more willing than she is to show his anger to the world.

In classic noir fashion, these are two people whose worst instincts destroy all the opportunity and good that does come into their lives. Trevor is engaged to a decent society man, but risks it all by (implied, but we get it) having an affair with Tierney. Worse, Tierney - a human wrecking ball - begins courting Trever's wealthy half sister, which infuriates Trevor who employs a crazy "I can cheat, but you can't" kind of logic.

From here, the story ramps up as Tierney marries the half sister while Trevor and he continue to canoodle behind everyone's back. Meanwhile, a private investigator, Walter Slezak, shows up to investigate an earlier Tierney murder. At this point, you know it's all going to come crashing down; the fun is seeing it happen.

Despite Cook Jr's best efforts to protect his friend Tierney, Slezak - in a pitch-perfect role as a greedy but effective investigator - slowly tightens the noose around Tierney. Simultaneously, Trevor bounces back and forth between protecting Tierney and hurting him because he married her sister. Meanwhile, psychotic Tierney simply plows ahead by forcing his will on everyone while having intense spasms of anger at the slightest pushback.

Finally, Tierney takes one too many chances that neither Cook nor Trevor can cover up. It ends how most noirs end, with a reasonably large body count and the bad guys not winning, but somehow, it doesn't feel as if right and justice won either. Instead, you're left believing the world is a bit uglier, greedier and unjust than you thought it was before.

 

[Edward]

Halloween has been rather a bust this year, but we watched a few bits. I spent most of Saturday watching the original Indiana Jones trilogy on a whim after the news broke of Sean Connery's death. I still maintain than in Crusade Connery not only provided the highlight performance of his career, but displayed a subtlety and comic timing few would have credited him with. His throwaway comment "She talks in her sleep." and that look thereafter is priceless. Would have watched #4 too, but I got caught up in The Hallow, a British-Irish co-production film about an English couple who move to a remote Irish village and face off against daemonic changelings and such. Good fun; if you watched and enjoyed The Ritual, it has something of that atmosphere about it.

Last night, I watched Overlord on Netflix. Nazi zombies, what's not to love? The only sour note was the shock of the historical revisionism - not played for laughs or satire, just pure revision - which showed not only a black private in the 101st Airborne, but also - briefly - a black commanding officer. I mean, I get that Hollywood doesn't necessarily want to keep digging up segregation, but it just was so jarring. It would have sat easier with me if they'd fictionalised a supposedly hitherto unknown secret mission by the 555th Parachute Infantry or something. Great film otherwise, a lot of fun and great performances all round, but just that niggle.

 

[Worf]

Last night, I watched Overlord on Netflix. Nazi zombies, what's not to love? The only sour note was the shock of the historical revisionism - not played for laughs or satire, just pure revision - which showed not only a black private in the 101st Airborne, but also - briefly - a black commanding officer. I mean, I get that Hollywood doesn't necessarily want to keep digging up segregation, but it just was so jarring. It would have sat easier with me if they'd fictionalised a supposedly hitherto unknown secret mission by the 555th Parachute Infantry or something. Great film otherwise, a lot of fun and great performances all round, but just that niggle.

I mentioned this inaccuracy in my review of this movie months ago. And again last month when there was a rather lively discussion of including minorities in historic events when they were never there. I agree with you, it shouldn't have been done. They should've totally fictionalized the units involved. But, truth be told, we ARE talking about Nazi Zombies... NOT "Saving Private Ryan". Still as a Vet it bothered me as well.

Worf

 

[Worf]

Puddin' and I went on a pre-Halloween/Halloween night "Were Fest"! We watched about 5 Werewolf movies in that time. We concentrated on movies we hadn't seen. The best were:

"Wer" - A recent film set in rural France in modern times. The beast is more man than wolf and his condition is more medical than mystical but it doesn't stop the film from being frightening and action filled almost from beginning to end.

"The Wolf of Snow Hollow" - Put out this year, this film centers around a small Utah Ski village beset by a ravenous creature that preys on youngish women and girls. The beast however is not the primary focus of the story. The main character is the Sheriff of the town who's battling alcoholism, an ailing father who still thinks he's Sheriff, a pissy teenaged daughter, an ex-wife from hell and anger management problems. Slaver on top of that a monster killing his townfolk and you have a portrait of a man who's not on the edge but falling down the other side. Excellent low budget thriller with a great ending.

Worf

 

[Zombie_61]

..."Wer"..."The Wolf of Snow Hollow"...

Oh, good, two more werewolf movies I'll have to look for now.

 

[AmateisGal]

It's been years since I've watched Wallace and Gromit's The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and my daughter and I didin't manage to get it on Halloween, so we watched it last night. It's such a great film.

Tonight daughter and I are watching some Indiana Jones. We watched The Last Crusade in tribute to Sean Connery and I agree with @Edward about Connery's comedic talent. He is just an absolute gem in that film. It's my favorite of the Indiana Jones films.