What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Fading Fast]

Artists and Models from 1955 with Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Dorothy Malone, and Shirley MacLaine


Martin and Lewis movies – a mashup of vaudeville, 1930s screwball, musicals, farce, slapstick, and, most importantly, the magic between Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis – are their own genre, as there are no other movies to compare them to.

Artists and Models, considered by some the pair’s best movie, came toward the end of Martin and Lewis' partnership but shows no diminished energy or effort, as Lewis is his usually hyperkinetic self and Martin is fully committed to his mainly straight-man role.

The plot, not that it really matters, is a bunch of storylines and craziness revolving around Martin playing a struggling artist and Lewis playing a fan of comic books, The Bat Lady series, specifically.

Coincidentally, the artist who writes and draws The Bat Lady, played by Dorothy Malone, lives in Martin and Lewis' apartment building. This also brings the model, played by Shirley MacLaine, for the Bat Lady herself into Martin and Lewis' orbit.

What really matters is that playboy Martin falls for Malone, but she wants no part of him at first. At the same time, MacLaine – against any logic in the universe – falls for Lewis, who is smitten in his crazy Lewis way with The Bat Lady.

Much silliness ensues, including Malone quitting comic books because she won't make her stories gory enough for her editor. Martin, effectively, replaces her with ideas he gets from Lewis talking in his sleep.

As that and more of the silly plot unfolds, comic books themselves, congressional hearings on the "evils" of comic books, television, advertising, astrology, Eisenhower's golf game, the space race, the Cold War, and almost everything else get satirized to death.

There's more if you try to follow it all with the Russians and the CIA getting involved as they believe Martin's comic book stories contain a covert rocket fuel formula. Eva Gabor even shows up playing a Mata Hari type for the Russians – it's that sort of movie.

As all this is going on, the cast occasionally breaks out into musical numbers. Martin's performances in these scenes lift the entire movie up – his version of "Innamorata," even though it's truncated here, is a particular highlight.

With Lewis doing all his usual physical comedy – falling down stairs, getting tangled up like a pretzel in a masseuse skit, and more – the scenes with Martin alone give you a chance to catch your breath.

MacLaine, in only her second movie, comes across like an old pro that somehow fits into the boy's world comfortably. Malone, like Martin, provides a chance to breathe out as her scenes are usually calmer, but steamy as – well – it's Dorothy Malone, often showing her midriff.

You'll probably either love or hate this movie, as it goes full force in several screwy directions. Plus Lewis, with his almost-always-on slapstick loudness, demands you take sides for or against him.

Today, Artists and Models, filmed in bold Technicolor and shot on obvious but charmingly mid-century modern sets, feel like time travel to a loud and colorful make-believe version of the 1950s. Like all Martin and Lewis movies, you'll have to watch all its craziness to decide if it works for you.

 

[Trenchfriend]

In the mood for ALIEN (1979), right now!

Old DVD on CRT!
Theatrical Cut, NOT 2003's Director's Cut.

 

[Edward]

Just back from an early evening screening of Nosferatu - one of two versions I've seen recently. There's one on Amazon Prime in the UK (I think - unless it was Netflix?) I watched a few weeks ago. Also made in 2024, that version aims to have the feel of a 1930s, talkie remake of the 1922 original (which would of course not have been possible in those days after the court case). It's okay, if not quite as successful at pulling off the trick of appearing to be a genuine old piece as the masterwork of that ilk, David Lynch's The Elephant Man.

The more well known cinematic release is interesting. Dark brooding and gothic, it feels something akin to what a Hammer Horror picture might be like in 2025, evolved beyond the high camp into something more serious, but still fun. It's interesting how it has mostly followed Murnau's lead, but with some characters added back in (under alternative names, though) and other bits that are pure Stoker, and yet others that are of its own invention. I particularly enjoyed the tabby cat called Greta - felt like a cosmic nod to my own, dear departed Greta cat who ascended to Kitteh Valhalla in 2022. The bit that intrigued me perhaps most was actually the look of the nosferatu itself, which while it remained ugly throughout (consistent with Murnau and earlier vampire literature), in the early stages it is probably the closest I've seen depicted in film to Stoker's description of Dracula. It's not the definitive version of Dracula by any means, but as a piece which draws from both Stoker and Murnau, and adds its own spin on the lore, it has its place in the vampire cinema canon imo.

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

After an extended hiatus, thanks in part to the birth of a new grand baby, here is an-ever-so-quick update on movie-watching with The Missus and I.
The Big Chase (1954) co-directed by Arthur (Cat Women of the Moon) Hilton and Robert L. Lippert, Jr. , with Glenn Langan, Lon Chaney, Jr. , and big Jim Davis. Good guy cop Langan must deal with an armored car robbery. Most of the story is actually a long chase, shot all around southern California. Elements of a Lippert, Jr. 3-D short are edited in flat, with folks shooting right at the camera, and big Jim Davis karate-chopping right at the camera. Joe Flynn, pre-McHale's Navy, is a reporter, to whom the story is told.
The Great Lie (1941) tells about Bette Davis and George Brent and Mary Astor and George Brent, who deliver the soap-opera goods under the direction of Edmund Goulding. If you were to hear the plot, you might not believe it, but, sure enough, virtuoso pianist Astor and aviation whiz Brent aren't married like they thought, so he bails on prima donna Astor and seeks solace with former fiancee Davis. There's a pregnancy involved, and tense competition between Davis and Astor over Brent, and WW2 looms ahead which makes Brent valuable to Uncle Sam's air defense, so he's gone, and then disappears somewhere in the Amazon and-- look, just watch this with a tub of popcorn, and see Astor win an AA for Best Supporting Actress.
And Then There Were None (1945) re-titled screen version of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians, with Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, and Louis Hayward. Seven folks are invited to an isolated island by a mysterioius "host." Each guest, plus two servants, and a secretary have dubious pasts, and as the movie unfolds we find that no one is who they seem. Telling anything about the story would spoil it for those who've never seen it.
I Forgot the Name of This Movie (1930s) about some convicts who plan to make a break, but the young kid who was sent up wrongly knows if there's a break all the other convicts lose their honor work gang privileges, so he determines to stay behind even though his sweetheart tries to get him to join her on the outside. From a stage play, I think.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Edward, I dragged myself to a theater to see Nosferatu and I was underwhelmed.

Don't get me wrong, I like Robert Eggers' films, especially The VVitch, but I didn't think he brought enough new/interesting aspects to this version. I've been a huge Dracula fan forever (I had a Bela Lugosi poster over my bed as a kid), so I felt I had to see this on the big screen. I found it too long, much too darkly shot, and apart from Willem Dafoe's typical scenery chomping, I though the performances weren't anything special. I mean, making Ellen/Mina more the hero of the story than previous versions is a nice touch, but I won't be rushing to rewatch this one.

(Oddly, Nicolas Hoult plays Hutter/Harker here after having recently played Renfield in Renfield - he must be a Dracula fan too!)

I also saw A Complete Unknown. Though I am usually unimpressed with Timothee Chalomet, he was very good in this, as was the rest of the cast - especially because they do their own singing. I'm impressed that James Mangold (who'd directed Walk the Line 20 years ago) managed to avoid all the musical biopic cliches that were demolished in Walk Hard (whose primary target was Walk the Line). The film's early sixties production design is great, and if you haven't been a student of Dylan and the folk revival forever like some of us, there's a lot of interesting stuff to be glened here.

But what I really liked is that the film takes its title seriously: it doesn't reveal anything about Dylan before he arrives in NYC, and it keeps him opaque. There's no attempt to explain his genius or unique personality. He remains an enigma even to his closest collaborators. And he's a total a-hole to everyone - other musicians, the women he loves, even dear Pete Seeger (an Oscar-worthy turn by Edward Norton.)

Anyway, I recommend it. It's the best Bob Dylan biopic we're likely to see...

 

[Fading Fast]

Baby Face from 1933 with Barbara Stanwyck, Thelma Harris and George Brent


"Face life as you find it – defiantly and unafraid. Waste no energy yearning for the moon. Crush out all sentiment." – Nietzsche


You can't get much more pre-code Hollywood than Baby Face, as the entire movie has Barbara Stanwyck's character selling her sexuality, literally prostituting herself out, either against her will for others or by her choice for her own material gain. While no actual sex is shown, it's still seventy-one minutes of non-stop on-screen naughty.

Stanwyck's character, the titular Baby Face, endures a vicious start in life. Her detestable father has whored out his daughter from his depressing Pennsylvania steel town speakeasy since she was fourteen.

When he is thankfully killed in a fire, a local cobbler and follower of Nietzsche advises Stanwyck to use her sexuality to get what she wants from men because he says, claiming to quote Nietzsche, "All life, no matter how we idealize it, is nothing more nor less than exploitation."

With that horrible start in life and having been taught pieces of callous philosophy, Stanwyck "rides the rails" to New York City, even sleeping with a train employee when she gets caught to "persuade" him not to turn her in.

Stanwyck also brings the speakeasy's cleaning girl – and her sort-of friend, a black woman played by Thelma Harris – with her to New York.

Lost in the big city, but with a drive to get something for herself, Stanwyck sleeps her way into a job at a big bank and then proceeds to sleep her way up the corporate ladder getting better jobs and pay as she moves to a succession of higher floors.

It couldn't be clearer she's sleeping her way to these better jobs in the bank as we see Stanwyck using her sexuality to get ahead – leaning into men, letting them smell her, and even taking one boss into the bathroom for a quickie – it's very raw and very pre-code.

It almost becomes hokey as she is so blatant about it, she'd probably have been fired in 1933, but exaggerating sexual shenanigans is one of Hollywood's oldest go-to moves.

Now approaching the top floor, Stanwyck changes her tactics a bit: She becomes the kept woman - fancy apartment, jewels, furs, money, etc. - of the bank's president until a scandal blows up her cushy situation.

From there, it's off to Paris and a job with a branch of the same bank as part of a "deal" to quiet the scandal and hush up Stanwyck. The climax has Stanwyck, once again, riding high, but facing a decision that brings into question her Nietzschean ideas.

Stanwyck could escape another messy situation with her large cache of money, bonds, and jewels, or use them to help a man, played by a very young-looking George Brent, who has been nothing but kind, good, and loving to her.

Can a woman, abused in her youth and fed the twisted morality of Nietzsche, who has spent her entire adult life looking out for number one, find love and kindness in her heart or has life's brutality burned all that out of her?

Director Alfred E. Green moves Baby Face along at such a quick pace that you feel Stanwyck's character is responding to events she can't control, often more by instinct than making conscious decisions. In 1933 or today, an audience can relate to the feeling that a person's life is moving too fast to control.

When Stanwyck makes her Nietzschean climb at the bank, her maid/friend Harris constantly serves as a reminder to Stanwyck of her humble past while often acting as her conscience.

Harris' subservient role is insulting by modern standards, but it is also more nuanced and impactful than the cookie-cutter maid roles that black actresses would have to endure shortly under the restrictive Motion Picture Production Code.

Harris shows acting (and singing) chops in this one, which, sadly, Hollywood would not allow to flourish in the coming era.

Baby Face is a jarring and powerful movie, even for modern viewers inured to seeing arrant greed, violent sexual abuse, and vicious retribution on screen.

In just over an hour, a young abused woman, operating under a warped philosophy, turns her sexuality into a weapon for personal gain only to have all her beliefs in greed questioned when faced with a heartbreaking decision that might require a selfless act.

Pre-code Hollywood is rightfully lauded today as a more realistic look at life in the 1930s than the movies that would follow under the full enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code by the end of the second half of 1934.

Baby Face isn't always easy viewing, and it has some early "talkies" clunkiness to its style and production quality, but its raw, honest, and philosophical exploration of one woman's brutal life during the Depression makes it an important and still engaging movie today.

 

[Trenchfriend]

The Final Countdown (1980)

On my NEW LG VHS-recorder!

 

[Worf]

The Final Countdown (1980)

On my NEW LG VHS-recorder!

Man you watch some "ahem" "Interesting stuff". "Final Countdown"? Whazamatta "Das Boot" out on loan?

Worf

 

[Trenchfriend]

Man you watch some "ahem" "Interesting stuff". "Final Countdown"? Whazamatta "Das Boot" out on loan?

Worf

Nope, just checkin out my "new" VHS-recorder. Everything seems fine! The german tone VHS, of course.

"Boot" is still on DVD, same "Red October".

PS:
How would you have decide? Attacking the japanese carrier force, heading for Pearl or not?

 

[Trenchfriend]

National Geographic - The search for battleship Bismarck (1989)

The horrible german synchro, of course, haha. Original tone is great!

 

[Trenchfriend]

Aladdin (1992)

 

[Edward]

Edward, I dragged myself to a theater to see Nosferatu and I was underwhelmed.

Don't get me wrong, I like Robert Eggers' films, especially The VVitch, but I didn't think he brought enough new/interesting aspects to this version. I've been a huge Dracula fan forever (I had a Bela Lugosi poster over my bed as a kid), so I felt I had to see this on the big screen. I found it too long, much too darkly shot, and apart from Willem Dafoe's typical scenery chomping, I though the performances weren't anything special. I mean, making Ellen/Mina more the hero of the story than previous versions is a nice touch, but I won't be rushing to rewatch this one.

I think it's an interesting part of the Dracula canon. I did like that it brings its own spin to it - it's a vastly superior picture to Werner Herzog's version of Nosferatu (though to be air I've only seen the English language cut - I'm told the German language alternatives were much better performances from the same actors). I know what you mean about the darkness; I'd have loved a clear sight of the vampire, but on the other hand, I also enjoyed the effect of the darkness. A demonic rather than charming take on old Vlad.

I think the definitive version of Dracula has yet to be made - though that said FFC probably came closest to the book for me. I do hope it revives the genre a little, though. Aside from the marvellous television redux of Anne Rice's vampire ore of recent years, I don't think there's been an exciting new vamp take for some time. I loved early True Blood - read all the books and saw the show for the first two seasons til it disappeared from accessibility here. I loved the whole concept as it started, but once it got all into the faeries and the rest as time progressed I think it lost what made it great for me - the simple alternate reality where we tweak one thing - "vampires are real" and play that out.

What the world needs now, though, imo is a long-form streaming series of Kim Newman's Anno Dracula books. Between the main novels and the novellas attached to them, I reckon there's enough material for five really solid, dense seasons - one per book and a series of one to two parters (or specials) covering the novellas in the in-between. It's also a world that could support so much more expansion. My favourite character was the Irish female vampire - lots of stuff could be done with her, including expanding on elements that are only referred to in passing - her involvement i the Irish Revolution, and later on - in the 50s - her clashes with Teddy boys. (In Newman's world, their racism in ours reflected by anti-Vampire sentiment.)


Newman has long been keen on screen adaptation, but seemed to reckon that shows like Penny Dreadful weren't helpful in that regard - a 'beaten to the punch' thing. I don't tend to agree, but... Anyhow, if Nosferatu can help that sort of thing it's all to the good...

(Oddly, Nicolas Hoult plays Hutter/Harker here after having recently played Renfield in Renfield - he must be a Dracula fan too!)

I noticed that too. I need to see Renfield still, must check again if it's hit my streamers.

I also saw A Complete Unknown. Though I am usually unimpressed with Timothee Chalomet, he was very good in this, as was the rest of the cast - especially because they do their own singing. I'm impressed that James Mangold (who'd directed Walk the Line 20 years ago) managed to avoid all the musical biopic cliches that were demolished in Walk Hard (whose primary target was Walk the Line). The film's early sixties production design is great, and if you haven't been a student of Dylan and the folk revival forever like some of us, there's a lot of interesting stuff to be glened here.

But what I really liked is that the film takes its title seriously: it doesn't reveal anything about Dylan before he arrives in NYC, and it keeps him opaque. There's no attempt to explain his genius or unique personality. He remains an enigma even to his closest collaborators. And he's a total a-hole to everyone - other musicians, the women he loves, even dear Pete Seeger (an Oscar-worthy turn by Edward Norton.)

Anyway, I recommend it. It's the best Bob Dylan biopic we're likely to see...

I rather liked I'm not there as a sort of Dylan biopic, but yes - this one I'm really excited about seeing - maybe at the weekend. I've been very impressed with the clips and bits I've seen. Of course with so many of the players still alive, it's going to be a careful version of the truth as much as anything for legal reasons, but Dylan has been so mythologised and self-mythologising for so long, perhaps that's appropriate anyhow. I also like that they're sticking to the early period. With most artists, that's the interesting bit of the story, the bit we're not already familiar with... I did love Walk the Line too. Cash I'm a fan of anyhow, and I felt it captured him well, for good and ill (though I'm well aware it didn't cover all the..... naughtiness.... that happened). I think it did particularly well in capturing that he had issues, that he wasn't perfect and simultaneously he believed in something bigger and tried to be better. I think the only thing that could have been explored more maybe was how he credibly maintained the duality of his religious faith while also being 'outside' and a rebel - not two things that then or to a great extent now are often considered bedfellows by the mainstream. I imagine though that's was a theme to be delved into in a different film for another audience. Ultimately, I enjoyed that it dealt with his humanity as much as the myth. A very different animal than the more recent Elvis picture. Which I also enjoyed, but it was very much a version of the Elvis story, of the myth rather than feeling it got anywhere to the 'truth'. I still enjoyed it, though.

Walk Hard was another animal - I hated it! I got what they were trying to do, but it just... meh. Another one of that era when there was a flood of parody pictures of almost anything that was big... I got what it was trying to do, but it just felt silly and lazy to me. Wouldn't have it on the same shelf as Spinal Tap.... I'm nervously awaiting the Tap sequel; I want to see it, but I just hope it matches up.

Aladdin (1992)

I saw that in the cinema - NOW I feel old!

 

[Trenchfriend]

I saw that in the cinema - NOW I feel old!

I don't know if it's unique, but I still love the adult adressed one-liners, kids probably not really get. And the german synchro is simply top-notch. Unbelievable perfect!
But I never got, why it's non-age restricted. A little too hard stuff for little kids, in my opinion.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Ballermann 6 (1997).

The german prolls, sorry...