What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Zombie_61]

Hemingway and Gellhorn.
The mix of real footage of the Spanish Civil War etc digitalised to include the actors was a strange combination of good and sometimes obviously added.
Had to watch it to the end though.

I know the feeling. A few years ago I watched a documentary about Abraham Lincoln on one of our cable channels. For shots in which they didn't show Lincoln's face they used a human double, but for shots including his face they used a not-believable CG character for some reason. It was a little odd watching a live-action documentary with a cartoon Lincoln, so I had some difficulty taking it seriously.

 

[rocketeer]

El Mariachi

Amazing what you can do with $7000 if you really try.
I wondered, how safe are Mexican towns like this for tourists? A lot of it was filmed in the border town of Ciudad Acuna.

 

[Worf]

99 Homes, a drama of the 2010 forclosure crisis, with Michael Shannon as a vicious real estate shark whose performance made me want to send the screen out to be boiled in tetrachloride.

That Madam.... is high praise indeed!

Worf

 

[Touchofevil]

The French Connection and Gone Girl. Hated the ending of Gone Girl.

 

[Bushman]

Bridge of Spies. Wow, this was a good one! I could see a lot of subtle "1950's era machismo" that Spielberg utilized in the movie, and a lot of interesting contrasts done between the Soviets and the US. It was also interesting to see how the East Germans were portrayed as just as Fascist as the Nazis had been. It was almost propaganda like in nature, which was a new and interesting take from Spielberg. You could sense a lot of 1950's machismo coming from Tom Hanks. The way he stood, highlighting broad shoulders and strength, and almost always had his fists clenched. Meanwhile, the Germans were shown to be either pushy, dressed in Nazi like stone grey uniforms, or as skinny and weak. Like I said, it was something interesting and new, something you don't see a lot of from Spielberg.

 

[Fading Fast]

Bridge of Spies. Wow, this was a good one! I could see a lot of subtle "1950's era machismo" that Spielberg utilized in the movie, and a lot of interesting contrasts done between the Soviets and the US. It was also interesting to see how the East Germans were portrayed as just as Fascist as the Nazis had been. It was almost propaganda like in nature, which was a new and interesting take from Spielberg. You could sense a lot of 1950's machismo coming from Tom Hanks. The way he stood, highlighting broad shoulders and strength, and almost always had his fists clenched. Meanwhile, the Germans were shown to be either pushy, dressed in Nazi like stone grey uniforms, or as skinny and weak. Like I said, it was something interesting and new, something you don't see a lot of from Spielberg.

We had an "international" day or "diplomat" day or something at my high school in the mid-70s. Gov't representatives from several countries came and visited classrooms and gave speeches at assembly, etc. I don't remember that much about it, but this I do remember: most countries sent one representative who looked, dressed and spoke very professionally. I particularly remember the French and English reps being impressive. However, the USSR sent two (the rumor was that they were to keep an eye on, and report back on, each other - no idea if that is true). The USSR guys were rough looking, had ill-fitted suits (and believe me, I had very little idea about his stuff in high school, but it was obvious that they were badly dressed versus the very sophisticated reps from the other country) and they were very uncomfortable in their interaction with us. Some (not all, again, not all) stereotypes come from something. For years in movies and TV shows, the USSR officials were shown as poorly dressed, uncomfortable and suspicious of each other and I'd always think back to my very narrow experience with them in high school.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Operation Pacific" with Patricia Neal and John Wayne. A basic WWII sub movie that telegraphs its plot, plots twists and conclusions right from the start. Every pitch was a slow one over the plate. Once you accept that this is not going to be a complex or multi-layered story, it works okay at the surface level it is on. The only really good thing was, as almost always, Patricia Neal who has, IMHO, that ability, like Spencer Tracy, to make any roll, any material better than it should be because they are actors through and through. While Wayne felt a bit wooden to me in this one - especially in the romantic scenes - Neal carried it all off with ease.

 

[Touchofevil]

The Glass Key (1942) on TCM. A nice little story for a rainy Sunday morning with a cup or two of coffee. I love my TCM.

 

[Fading Fast]

The Glass Key (1942) on TCM. A nice little story for a rainy Sunday morning with a cup or two of coffee. I love my TCM.

That and "This Gun for Hire" are, as you said, nice little stories and great Ladd - Lake vehicles. And, yes, I do not want to live in a world without TCM.

Edit Add:
While I was a fan of old movies long before TCM - back to the late '60s / '70s as a kid watching them on Saturday and Sunday afternoons - "This Gun for Hire" and "The Glass Key" were on TCM as a double feature or some marketing angle right after I got TCM in the early '90s and, since I had never seen either before, I knew I was going to love TCM (and have loved it ever since).

Ladd and Lake also made "The Blue Dahlia" together - another good one and another one I saw first on TCM.

 

[Bushman]

We had an "international" day or "diplomat" day or something at my high school in the mid-70s. Gov't representatives from several countries came and visited classrooms and gave speeches at assembly, etc. I don't remember that much about it, but this I do remember: most countries sent one representative who looked, dressed and spoke very professionally. I particularly remember the French and English reps being impressive. However, the USSR sent two (the rumor was that they were to keep an eye on, and report back on, each other - no idea if that is true). The USSR guys were rough looking, had ill-fitted suits (and believe me, I had very little idea about his stuff in high school, but it was obvious that they were badly dressed versus the very sophisticated reps from the other country) and they were very uncomfortable in their interaction with us. Some (not all, again, not all) stereotypes come from something. For years in movies and TV shows, the USSR officials were shown as poorly dressed, uncomfortable and suspicious of each other and I'd always think back to my very narrow experience with them in high school.

Now, interestingly enough, the uniforms the East Germans wore weren't ill-fitting at all. They actually fit the actors just fine. It was interesting how the usage of color and style of the uniforms was meant to make the mind connect with Fascism.

 

[AmateisGal]

I really like The Glass Key and the Blue Dahlia. Terrific classic movies!

 

[Zombie_61]

"Operation Pacific" with Patricia Neal and John Wayne...

I saw this on TCM not long ago, and the thing that struck me most was the complete lack of chemistry between Neal and Wayne. Considering their characters are supposed to have been divorced from each other that may have been intentional, but in my opinion it made the scenes between them uncomfortable to watch.

 

[Fading Fast]

I saw this on TCM not long ago, and the thing that struck me most was the complete lack of chemistry between Neal and Wayne. Considering their characters are supposed to have been divorced from each other that may have been intentional, but in my opinion it made the scenes between them uncomfortable to watch.

Could not agree more. She tried, but he was so wooden, so passionless that it was, as you said, painful to watch. He seemed to coast through the entire movie while she was animated, and sparked more with Wayne's captain than Wayne. Normally, great actors can make it work, but sometimes they just don't pair well. I remember thinking a similar thing with Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall in "Designing Woman -" those two seemed uncomfortable, passionless and awkward together.

 

[AmateisGal]

To Have and Have Not. I love the chemistry between Bogart and Bacall. To be honest, though, the ending was pretty abrupt. They have to escape and get off Martinique, plus go get this resistance leader off Devil's Island, and we have no idea if they accomplished it or not. We're just left wondering.

 

[MisterCairo]

SPECTRE at the theatre with my wife. Great film, not Skyfall good but an excellent sort of return to the more traditional Bond film. Nice to be able to see in at the theatre while home on leave!

 

[Worf]

Could not agree more. She tried, but he was so wooden, so passionless that it was, as you said, painful to watch. He seemed to coast through the entire movie while she was animated, and sparked more with Wayne's captain than Wayne. Normally, great actors can make it work, but sometimes they just don't pair well. I remember thinking a similar thing with Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall in "Designing Woman -" those two seemed uncomfortable, passionless and awkward together.

Funny you should say that... Otto Preminger teamed them up again as romantic leads in "In Harms Way" many years later. I thought their chemistry was great then. Strange isn't it? But Wayne was much less a totem pole by then....

Worf

 

[Worf]

"SPY" - Gotta give it a "B". Ridiculous premise of course but we all laughed our heads off. Something about Ms. McCarthy in full foul mouthed glory is just soooo funny at times... She can be hilarious! I'd pay good money just to see the outtakes...

Worf

 

[AmateisGal]

"SPY" - Gotta give it a "B". Ridiculous premise of course but we all laughed our heads off. Something about Ms. McCarthy in full foul mouthed glory is just soooo funny at times... She can be hilarious! I'd pay good money just to see the outtakes...

Worf

LOVE this movie! I watched it on the plane ride home from England. I usually don't like her movies (but I do love Mike and Molly), but Spy was pretty darn good.

 

[AmateisGal]

SPECTRE at the theatre with my wife. Great film, not Skyfall good but an excellent sort of return to the more traditional Bond film. Nice to be able to see in at the theatre while home on leave!

Yay! Glad you liked it. I can't wait to watch it again. I agree - probably not as good as Skyfall, but that one is going to be really hard to top.

 

[Panadora]

Chris Petit "Radio On" (Beautiful British cult classic from 79)