What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Zombie_61]

IMHO, that is one of the best "sex" scenes in any movie ever. A great example of not needing to show the act itself which would only have diminished the impact. And for all of Bogie's skills - and they are on display in this scene - Malone is the jet fuel for this one / she runs Bogie around that store on a leash that he doesn't even know is on.

I think that's the brilliance of the scene--Bogart playing it relatively cool in response to Malone's obvious flirtation. Considering he was more than twice her age, if he'd laid it on as heavy as she did it could have seemed predatory. But I think he knows he's on a leash; he just doesn't mind because he wants to see where she'll lead him. Sure, it's implied they took it much further, but it was smart of Howard Hawks to not show that and allow the audience to decide for themselves.

 

[Zombie_61]

Loaded "Basic Instinct 1", right now. My 13 years old original DVD. It's my former favorite movie (scenery, soundtrack!!, talking, Michael Douglas!)...Man, the movie still looks totally fresh!

Can't say the same for the actors.

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

Seabiscuit (2003), based on our reading the Hillenbrand book. We preferred the book.

 

[Fading Fast]

In 1946, this was a big deal.

Watching that dance scene for the one-billionth time, it struck me that Hayworth has a very Gene Kelly style of putting over a song and dance - it's a full-force, muscular, get-out-of-my-way approach. Astaire was all fluidity and grace / Kelly power and presence - Hayworth is much more in the Kelly camp.

Seabiscuit (2003), based on our reading the Hillenbrand book. We preferred the book.

The book is a sports classic IMHO in that it rises above the genre to tell multiple stories of human tragedy and redemption. The movie, while not bad, is too Hallmark-like to be anything more than okay entertainment (and very pretty entertainment as its scenery / settings / architecture / period details are all beautiful).

 

[3fingers]

Astaire was all fluidity and grace / Kelly power and presence - Hayworth is much more in the Kelly camp.

I do not disagree, but Fred Astaire's admitted favorite dance partner was Rita Hayworth.

 

[2jakes]

Astaire made the difficult look so easy and had to sense to know the
value of teamwork.

I find myself watching her and realizing how great she was
dancing with Fred.
I feel like I’m peeking through the window at a very erotic
scene climaxing with the question...

“Cigarette?"

 

[Fading Fast]

I do not disagree, but Fred Astaire's admitted favorite dance partner was Rita Hayworth.

That's interesting. Did he go into any detail on why?

 

[3fingers]

That's interesting. Did he go into any detail on why?

I don't know. I have read several times that after dodging the question for decades by naming Bing Crosby or Gene Kelly as his favorites to avoid offending any of his female partners he finally named Rita in an interview in the 1980's as his favorite.

 

[Fading Fast]

Astaire made the difficult look so easy and had to sense to know the
value of teamwork.

I find myself watching her and realizing how great she was
dancing with Fred.
I feel like I’m peeking through the window at a very erotic
scene climaxing with the question...

“Cigarette?"

Your video got me to thinking about my favorite Astaire-Rogers dance scenes and with no research (I didn't Google them to refresh my memory), these are the two that popped into my mind.

What works most for me is how happy they both seem dancing in these scenes - there's an unbridled joy (true or not) that just makes the scenes incredibly fun to watch.

 

[Fading Fast]

I don't know. I have read several times that after dodging the question for decades by naming Bing Crosby or Gene Kelly as his favorites to avoid offending any of his female partners he finally named Rita in an interview in the 1980's as his favorite.

It would be cool to know why, but easy to see why he stayed away from answering the question. It's amazing how many partners he teamed up so well with. And while he gets the lead billing, in many of them, his partner is as strong or stronger a dancer (alone, just based on the shoes she sometimes has to wear) as he is.

 

[2jakes]

Fred Astaire appeared in two pictures with Hayworth. Though he liked dancing with Hayworth, he didn’t want to do any more pictures with her. He wanted to get away from being associated as a team with any particular actress, such as Ginger Rogers, according to “Encyclopedia of American Cinema.
-Astaire said Hayworth danced with “trained perfection and individuality,” according to his autobiography “Steps in Time: An Autobiography.

 

[LizzieMaine]

WIth the possible exception of "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" there isn't a single Fred-Ginger movie I won't stop in my tracks to watch.

I remember reading somewhere that Astaire liked Ginger fine, but was not exceedingly fond of her mother Leila. Astaire himself was a man who expected his authority to be followed at all times on the set, and he wasn't all that happy about having to deal with Leila -- who was the stage mother to end all stage mothers, and was never far away when Ginger was working.

 

[2jakes]

“Mama knows best!"

"Rogers refuses to criticize her mother for pushing too hard, too fast.
'My mother was not Gypsy,' snaps Rogers. 'One writer wrote she was
a tyrant.
My mother was no tyrant. She never whipped me, maybe slapped me
a couple of times because I was naughty, but what mother doesn’t?
I didn't mind.
'But she was not on the set everyday knitting and watching me.
No way. No way.'
-- John Logan Rogers.

Btw: If it hadn't been for Walter Brennan, I would’ve fallen asleep
watching, “The Story of Vernon & Irene Castle”.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Lela was a piece of work. She had an affair in the late thirties with J. Edgar Hoover -- but she was too tough for him and they broke it off. Which is probably just as well, Astaire had enough problems to deal with without ending up on the Custodial Detention list.

 

[Fading Fast]

Lela was a piece of work. She had an affair in the late thirties with J. Edgar Hoover -- but she was too tough for him and they broke it off. Which is probably just as well, Astaire had enough problems to deal with without ending up on the Custodial Detention list.

That might just have knocked Sherman Billingsley and Ethel Merman out of my mind as the most odd historical star couple I don't want to picture together.

 

[LizzieMaine]

After Lela gave him the brush he hooked up with Dorothy Lamour. Or maybe he just wanted her sarong.

 

[Fading Fast]

After Lela gave him the brush he hooked up with Dorothy Lamour. Or maybe he just wanted her sarong.

Quite a nice trade up for J. Edgar, but what was the appeal of J. Edgar for the fetching Ms. Lamour? Power / Status / Protection or was she just insane?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Dottie took that secret to her grave -- she refused to discuss her relationship with Hoover in any detail even after his death, and no one will ever know what was really going on. Some claim she was his very conspicuous beard -- but other say they genuinely cared about each other. In Richard Hack's Hoover bio of some years back, the author makes the claim that not only were they intimate, but that Lamour was the love of Hoover's life.

I dunno, you tell me.

 

[Fading Fast]

Dottie took that secret to her grave -- she refused to discuss her relationship with Hoover in any detail even after his death, and no one will ever know what was really going on. Some claim she was his very conspicuous beard -- but other say they genuinely cared about each other. In Richard Hack's Hoover bio of some years back, the author makes the claim that not only were they intimate, but that Lamour was the love of Hoover's life.

I dunno, you tell me.

With hands clasped firmly over ears - "NaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNa!!!!!!!!!!"

 

[The Fedorable]

As of right now, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs the World for the... nth time. I don't know the exact number.