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I would say y'all nailed it. Not sorry I have seen it, but not one I would recommend.
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What Was The Last Movie You Watched?
- Thread starter Amy Jeanne
- Start date
Worf
I'll Lock Up
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WWI Aviation Double Feature:
"The Eagle and the Hawk" - Cary Grant, Fredrick March fight each other and the Germans. Grant and March were early on in their respective careers here and not at the top of their game. Pretty good flick with a strong anti-war theme in the end. One wonders if the spate of anti-war films after WWI reflected the mood of most who believed it to be a sham and a waste or did these films promote and help give rise to this sentiment.
"Hells Angels" - Howard Hughes' 4 million dollar epic about the air war over France. Stiff and stiodgy overall, with many reshoots to add sound since production started in the silent era and ended after sound was in. Good fight scenes but the acting by the male leads was wooden at best. Jean Harlowe provides the sizzle as she helped the world learn to despise platinum blondes with her loose ways. Pre-code and quite racy... I'd never seen it before and now I can say I have.
Either version of "Dawn Patrol" is far superior to either film.
Worf
"The Eagle and the Hawk" - Cary Grant, Fredrick March fight each other and the Germans. Grant and March were early on in their respective careers here and not at the top of their game. Pretty good flick with a strong anti-war theme in the end. One wonders if the spate of anti-war films after WWI reflected the mood of most who believed it to be a sham and a waste or did these films promote and help give rise to this sentiment.
"Hells Angels" - Howard Hughes' 4 million dollar epic about the air war over France. Stiff and stiodgy overall, with many reshoots to add sound since production started in the silent era and ended after sound was in. Good fight scenes but the acting by the male leads was wooden at best. Jean Harlowe provides the sizzle as she helped the world learn to despise platinum blondes with her loose ways. Pre-code and quite racy... I'd never seen it before and now I can say I have.
Either version of "Dawn Patrol" is far superior to either film.
Worf
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A role she returned to time and again in contrast to the nice person she seemed to actually be, albeit, beset by parasitic family and "friends" throughout her short life which included a couple of bad marriages - one which ended when her husband killed himself only a few months in (with rumors that he did so despondent at his inability to consummate the marriage - maybe true, or not, but man is life always more complex than, for example, the surface image of a movie "sex goddess").
Based on the many comment of her costars, she seemed like a nice kid (she died at 26) who was forced to pull way too much baggage in the cart behind her in what should have been a fun life (including the fun fact that she never seemed to wear a bra on or off screen, i.e., she had a real inner spark, good for her).
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"Phantom Thread" 2017, Daniel Day Lewis
The story, the actors, even Day Lewis' (announced) final performance is outshined by the movie's beyond-beautiful cinematography and period sets. Taking place in both 1950s London and the English countryside, the use of mildly muted, but deep-and-rich colors draws you into a world that looks like Old Masters museum paintings* quietly coming alive where the clothes, cars, furniture, architecture (especially the architecture) and details (a toast rack is perfect, a wool throw feels warm) prepossess to the point of distracting you from the story.
And the story is a narrow character study that unfolds slowly. Day-Lewis plays a fictional fashion designer who, with his laconic-and-severe sister, runs a top London couture fashion house - when couture was a central part of high-society. Their lives are uncomfortably insular with the household - a blend of their private and business lives - tightly ordered until all is slowly but powerfully disrupted when Day Lewis finds a new muse in a high-spirited young woman who is awed but frustrated in his overly structured and bent world.
From there, the three form a push-pull triangle of passions and wills with control and dominance always in play. This tri-part dynamic is fragile but works as drama because it feels human - odd, off, but real - but it won't be everyone's cup of tea. More description would require both spoiler alerts - as lives get battered and bruised in surprising ways - and a discussion of the "things just got much weirder" ending.
While the story holds together - based on its noted humanity and all three leads deeply intense performances - the star of this movie is the visual - 1950s high-society London coming richly and evocatively alive through a warped and uncomfortably narrow inside-out view.
*Smart observation stolen from SGF
N.B. - Lizzie, I have to believe this one would play well with your film-to-boost-one's-self-esteem audience.
The story, the actors, even Day Lewis' (announced) final performance is outshined by the movie's beyond-beautiful cinematography and period sets. Taking place in both 1950s London and the English countryside, the use of mildly muted, but deep-and-rich colors draws you into a world that looks like Old Masters museum paintings* quietly coming alive where the clothes, cars, furniture, architecture (especially the architecture) and details (a toast rack is perfect, a wool throw feels warm) prepossess to the point of distracting you from the story.
And the story is a narrow character study that unfolds slowly. Day-Lewis plays a fictional fashion designer who, with his laconic-and-severe sister, runs a top London couture fashion house - when couture was a central part of high-society. Their lives are uncomfortably insular with the household - a blend of their private and business lives - tightly ordered until all is slowly but powerfully disrupted when Day Lewis finds a new muse in a high-spirited young woman who is awed but frustrated in his overly structured and bent world.
From there, the three form a push-pull triangle of passions and wills with control and dominance always in play. This tri-part dynamic is fragile but works as drama because it feels human - odd, off, but real - but it won't be everyone's cup of tea. More description would require both spoiler alerts - as lives get battered and bruised in surprising ways - and a discussion of the "things just got much weirder" ending.
While the story holds together - based on its noted humanity and all three leads deeply intense performances - the star of this movie is the visual - 1950s high-society London coming richly and evocatively alive through a warped and uncomfortably narrow inside-out view.
*Smart observation stolen from SGF
N.B. - Lizzie, I have to believe this one would play well with your film-to-boost-one's-self-esteem audience.
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"Sleeping with other People" 2015 (with spoiler alerts, but the best advice is to just not watch the movie)
- There is no story here as there is no honest conflict because, in the real world, the two protagonists would have recognized they were in love which each other in the first ten or so minutes of the movie and, then, the credits could have started to roll
- I miss my movie-loving grandmother but am glad she died before she saw this one, not because she was a prude (she wasn't and was ahead of her time with an open-minded view of sex), but because the crude, cheap, nobody-respects-themselves-or-others dehumanizing sex in this movie is degrading to all and reflects a not-serious, not-proud and not-confident culture
Benzadmiral
Call Me a Cab
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The new Murder on the Orient Express. I remember very little about the 1974 film, except that Albert Finney as Poirot seemed to be bustling everywhere on screen at once. Kenneth Branagh's Poirot, in contrast, is brisk, low-key, and more believable. The film is indeed a treasure for Loungers, and a good adaptation and entertaining to boot, with modern film techniques such as intercutting Poirot's interviews with the suspects with each other, for instance. The novel has always been my least favorite Agatha Christie, with a solution that when I was 15 made me want to toss the library book across the room (though I would never do that to any book). This adaptation at least emphasizes the motivation behind that solution and makes it a little more believable.
Full disclosure: I have not reread MotOE in more years than I care to recall. Perhaps I should.
Full disclosure: I have not reread MotOE in more years than I care to recall. Perhaps I should.
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Sounds like one I sat through many years ago called "About Last Night". That was the first time that it really struck me that we were collectively going off the rails in any moral sense. Maybe it had happened long before, but the popularity of the movie put it on my radar.
vitanola
I'll Lock Up
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"Wings" is also a superior film, though silent.
The air battle scenes approach the beauty of those in "Hells Angels", but thsle story and dramatic acting are far superior. Clara Bow gives Harlow a real run for her money, playing a better rounded, more sympathetic character. The death scene is one of the most touching on film.
HadleyH1
One Too Many
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GOD...I haven't been to the movies for so long....years really...
(living in my vintage protective cocoon)
(living in my vintage protective cocoon)
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Watched "A Hole in the Head" from '59 again
(I saw it in September and commented here http://www.thefedoralounge.com/thre...ovie-you-watched.20830/page-1198#post-2298570)
Only two new thoughts:
(I saw it in September and commented here http://www.thefedoralounge.com/thre...ovie-you-watched.20830/page-1198#post-2298570)
Only two new thoughts:
- The ending is horrible - no real idea what is suppose to happen - I can guess and fill in the blanks, but watching all of them dance on the beach tells me nothing
- Eleanor Parker is wasted in the movie - she's given weak material and still brings it to every scene she's in
Julian Shellhammer
Practically Family
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Hidden Figures - well done and engaging all the way through. Recommended.
...and chapter 6 of Red Barry, "The Human Target." (chapter title, not a nick name for Red); TCM runs a chapter once a week. One character is a Russian singer, so when we drop in to her scenes at a theater (away from car chases, fist fights, and gun fire), on stage is a juggling team, who put on a good show. The producers must have figured running a novelty act at some point in each chapter would beef up the entertainment value. This is of course based on viewing spaced a week apart so that hopefully serial fans wouldn't catch on it's one performance edited into multiple episodes.
...and chapter 6 of Red Barry, "The Human Target." (chapter title, not a nick name for Red); TCM runs a chapter once a week. One character is a Russian singer, so when we drop in to her scenes at a theater (away from car chases, fist fights, and gun fire), on stage is a juggling team, who put on a good show. The producers must have figured running a novelty act at some point in each chapter would beef up the entertainment value. This is of course based on viewing spaced a week apart so that hopefully serial fans wouldn't catch on it's one performance edited into multiple episodes.
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Watched about half of "A View to a Kill" on cable yesterday which had a minute of commercials for every minute of movie. I was waiting for someone to show up and thought I'd have it on for five minutes, but my friend got stuck in traffic and I just kept watching as, normally, I reflexively shut off Roger Moore Bond movies (except for "The Spy Who Loved Me").
Having not seen it in at least twenty years, I was surprised at how low budget it seemed versus the Brosnan efforts ten years later. Also, it was formulaically similar to "Goldfinger" even down to the the villain killing the member of his syndicate who wouldn't participate in his plan (that scene was a pure ripoff of the "Goldfinger" scene, but nowhere near as good).
The clothes were ugly but expensive and well tailored - what you would expect from '80s clothes in a Bond film. It's a shame, as the clothes in the '60s Bond movies still, overall, look darn good. More impactful, Moore was just too old and looked creepy hitting on women half his age while their immediate swooning was not believable. Regardless of that, though, Alison Doody as Jenny Flex was beautiful.
I plan to continue not watching post-Connery and pre-Craig Bond films, but from memory, both Dalton and Brosnan Bond movies were a step up from aging-Moore ones.
Having not seen it in at least twenty years, I was surprised at how low budget it seemed versus the Brosnan efforts ten years later. Also, it was formulaically similar to "Goldfinger" even down to the the villain killing the member of his syndicate who wouldn't participate in his plan (that scene was a pure ripoff of the "Goldfinger" scene, but nowhere near as good).
The clothes were ugly but expensive and well tailored - what you would expect from '80s clothes in a Bond film. It's a shame, as the clothes in the '60s Bond movies still, overall, look darn good. More impactful, Moore was just too old and looked creepy hitting on women half his age while their immediate swooning was not believable. Regardless of that, though, Alison Doody as Jenny Flex was beautiful.
I plan to continue not watching post-Connery and pre-Craig Bond films, but from memory, both Dalton and Brosnan Bond movies were a step up from aging-Moore ones.
KY Gentleman
One Too Many
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Tonight I dug through my DVD’s and picked Judge Roy Bean starring Paul Newman for tonight’s entertainment.
I first saw this film at a drive-in as a small kid. Over the years I have continued to enjoy it, though I found it much funnier as I grew older and understood the humor...
Paul Newman plays The Judge. He attains this position by killing the outlaws who rob and try to kill him in a West Pecos saloon.
The movie is the story of the taming of a lawless country by men who were basically tired of living the outlaw life and preferred to be Marshalls for the Judge and play poker.
A big city lawyer (Roddy McDowell) comes to town and tries to unseat Roy Bean as the towns de facto Mayor/ Chief Law Man and Judge.
He claims he was given ownership of the city property through a land grant he gained as payment from a client. His claim goes unrecognized by the Judge.
Roy Bean is an enamored fan of the actress Lily Langtry and while he is on a trip to see her perform, the Lawyer arranges a coup against Roy Bean.
The ending is very poetic, and the story I’ve described is filled with many side stories and quotable lines and memorable characters.
Appearances by Anthony Perkins, Tab Hunter, Stacey Keach, Ava Gardner and John Houston make for a lot of fun along the way. A large bear named Zachary Taylor makes for an interesting tale as well.
This movie introduced the movie world to Victoria Principal who plays a young Mexican girl who is a very influential part of the movie, and Jacqueline Bisset makes an appearance in a very early role in her career.
If you haven’t ever seen this one, it is worthy of a look. I have literally enjoyed this movie pretty much my whole life!
I first saw this film at a drive-in as a small kid. Over the years I have continued to enjoy it, though I found it much funnier as I grew older and understood the humor...
Paul Newman plays The Judge. He attains this position by killing the outlaws who rob and try to kill him in a West Pecos saloon.
The movie is the story of the taming of a lawless country by men who were basically tired of living the outlaw life and preferred to be Marshalls for the Judge and play poker.
A big city lawyer (Roddy McDowell) comes to town and tries to unseat Roy Bean as the towns de facto Mayor/ Chief Law Man and Judge.
He claims he was given ownership of the city property through a land grant he gained as payment from a client. His claim goes unrecognized by the Judge.
Roy Bean is an enamored fan of the actress Lily Langtry and while he is on a trip to see her perform, the Lawyer arranges a coup against Roy Bean.
The ending is very poetic, and the story I’ve described is filled with many side stories and quotable lines and memorable characters.
Appearances by Anthony Perkins, Tab Hunter, Stacey Keach, Ava Gardner and John Houston make for a lot of fun along the way. A large bear named Zachary Taylor makes for an interesting tale as well.
This movie introduced the movie world to Victoria Principal who plays a young Mexican girl who is a very influential part of the movie, and Jacqueline Bisset makes an appearance in a very early role in her career.
If you haven’t ever seen this one, it is worthy of a look. I have literally enjoyed this movie pretty much my whole life!
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Twenty minutes of "Catalina Caper" 1967 on TCM which is twenty minutes too much.
The dialogue, plot and acting are all painful. I have enough stupid-guy DNA in me to appreciate a movie chockablock with nubile young blondes in bikinis who do nothing but run, swim, bounce around and look wonderful in their bikinis, but there are enough
'60s-era beach-blanket movies with modestly better acting, dialogue and plotting to make this one not worthy of one minute of your time.
TCM should know better.
The dialogue, plot and acting are all painful. I have enough stupid-guy DNA in me to appreciate a movie chockablock with nubile young blondes in bikinis who do nothing but run, swim, bounce around and look wonderful in their bikinis, but there are enough
'60s-era beach-blanket movies with modestly better acting, dialogue and plotting to make this one not worthy of one minute of your time.
TCM should know better.
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Actually, this is one of the things I like about TCM--they aren't overly "snobbish" about the movies they show, acknowledge there were a lot of "bad" movies mixed in with the "good", and present them all in the name of movie history. I didn't watch Catalina Caper and have never seen it, but it fit in with the "60s beach movies" mini marathon they were airing, so why not? Besides, by comparison it makes those "Frankie and Annette" movies look better than they were.
Continuing along those lines, we just finished watching Having a Wild Weekend (1965) starring The Dave Clark Five. This was clearly not much more than an attempt to cash in on the success of the previous year's A Hard Day's Night starring The Beatles (which just started here), and even though both movies share an obviously contrived "just hanging out with the boys" format Hard Day's Night does it better.
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Actually, this is one of the things I like about TCM--they aren't overly "snobbish" about the movies they show, acknowledge there were a lot of "bad" movies mixed in with the "good", and present them all in the name of movie history. I didn't watch Catalina Caper and have never seen it, but it fit in with the "60s beach movies" mini marathon they were airing, so why not? Besides, by comparison it makes those "Frankie and Annette" movies look better than they were.
Continuing along those lines, we just finished watching Having a Wild Weekend (1965) starring The Dave Clark Five. This was clearly not much more than an attempt to cash in on the success of the previous year's A Hard Day's Night starring The Beatles (which just started here), and even though both movies share an obviously contrived "just hanging out with the boys" format Hard Day's Night does it better.
Fair points. And I do like that they show some not-great movies that I still find I enjoy a lot, but "Catalina..." was so bad I was cranky about it.
Since it was beach-blanket day at TCM, I did catch a small amount of "Where the Boys Are," which is a much more serious and almost-dour movie versus its reputation as "another '60s beach movie."
DanH
New in Town
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The Wizard Of Oz
LizzieMaine
Bartender
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Wes Anderson's "Isle of Dogs"
Obnoxious, offensive anti-cat propaganda, and insufferably selfsatisifed to boot. Anderson is fast becoming the twee Noah Baumbach.
Obnoxious, offensive anti-cat propaganda, and insufferably selfsatisifed to boot. Anderson is fast becoming the twee Noah Baumbach.
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The title "Isle of Dogs" is clearly a play on the phrase "I love dogs", so I'm not too surprised by your review. I didn't care for Anderson's previous animated movie Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) at all, so Isle of Dogs is very low on my list of movies I want to see.
Julian Shellhammer
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I do believe MST3K did their magic on this one.
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