What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[lolly_loisides]

Rififi.
I'm a big Jules Dassin fan.

 

[Lady Day]

I agree, John C. Reilly was brilliant in that part - the standout in a movie that mostly didn't live up to its hype. He's such a wonderfully versatile character actor, sometimes scary (Gangs of New York), sometimes touching (Chicago, The Good Girl), and often hilarious (Walk Hard and many others).

He won me over in Magnolia. There is so much in that movie that I love.

LD

 

[Feraud]

Magnolia is an amazing film. Great performances from the cast. Philip S. Hoffman, Tom Cruise, and William H. Macy's (Quiz Kid Donnie Smith!)performances stick out in my mind. Julianne Moore is as always wonderful and gorgeous on film.
This is the kind of film that piece of garbage Crash only wished it could be.

 

[StetsonHomburg]

At noon I watched the untouchables... Great movie! a bit sad thought.

 

[Feraud]

Drag Me to Hell. Amazingly bad! :eusa_doh:
Sam Raimi should be ashamed to have made this film at this time of his life. This effort was pure "just out of film school" drek.
Actually, the comment above might be an insult to people who graduate film school and wouldn't think of creating such a trite, cliche excuse of a horror film.

 

[dhermann1]

TCM showed "GoldDiggers of 1933" for the zillionth time last night. I always enjoy it, though. I was focusing on the lush deco interiors this time.
BTW, the big final number, "My Forgotten Man", is aphrase often associated with the depression. I had assumed it came from this movie, but reading the bio of FDR, "The Democratic Roosevelt", by Rex Tugwell, I'm reminded that the phrase came from an important speech of FDR's from 1932, during his first presidential campaign.
Then they showed Ginger Rogers' first starring role, "Professional Sweetheart", from 1933. Very cute little film. Lots of great second banana guys of the era. like Guy Kibbee, Allan Jenkins, Sterling Holloway, Gregory Ratoff, etc. Watch for Akim Tamiorff as a waiter. IMDB says that Betty Furness and Edward Everett Horton were in it, but I didn't catch them.
Theresa Harris has an excellent turn as Rogers' black maid. She really gets some good lines and gets to glam it up and even sing at the end. Harris specialized in African American characters that had real personality and spunk in an age where that was completely unheard of in Hollywood. In spite of having an important role in the movie, she is not credited at the end. But we know who she was now.

 

[Lady Day]

Just watched (Zombieland) for the first time.. its a hoot!!!

"Im not good with farewells, so...that'll do pig."


LD

 

[LizzieMaine]

Then they showed Ginger Rogers' first starring role, "Professional Sweetheart", from 1933. Very cute little film. Lots of great second banana guys of the era. like Guy Kibbee, Allan Jenkins, Sterling Holloway, Gregory Ratoff, etc. Watch for Akim Tamiorff as a waiter. IMDB says that Betty Furness and Edward Everett Horton were in it, but I didn't catch them.
Theresa Harris has an excellent turn as Rogers' black maid. She really gets some good lines and gets to glam it up and even sing at the end. Harris specialized in African American characters that had real personality and spunk in an age where that was completely unheard of in Hollywood. In spite of having an important role in the movie, she is not credited at the end. But we know who she was now.

I love this picture, and for a long time I thought I was the only person who'd ever heard of it. Aside from the elements you mention, it's also a rather lacerating parody of early thirties network radio -- one of the best films to use such a setting. It's also a very pre-code type of picture, which may explain why it never got a theatrical reissue, even after Rogers had become a top star.

You left out Franklin Pangborn, in his definitive fussy-swishy-sissy performance. The whole thing is the closest RKO would ever come to making a Warner Brothers picture.

 

[John in Covina]

Watched "The Quiet Man" for St. Patrick's Day.

 

[dhermann1]

re: Professional Sweetheart

Yes, Lizzie. I did forget to mention Pangborn in a clearly gay role, a not unknown thing in pre code flicks. But the really interesting thing is the attitude toward sex. Clearly sex is "out there", but all in coded terms of the day. The word "morality" explicitly/implicitly meant sex. She uses the word discussing her contract. And her reaction to Zazu Pitts saying "I've slept with them . . ." is hilarious.
The meal she orders, except for the three gooey desserts, would be considered more healthy today than the bland chicken and a glass of milk she was forced to order.
It certainly shows that the vulgarity and trashiness in some of the current "reality" shows is nothing new.
I really wanted to see her opposite Bill "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd, in "Carnival Boat", but couldn't stay up, and I don't have a recorder. Oh, well, another time.

 

[The Good]

I recently saw the film "Farinelli," and it was interesting, but I wasn't too impressed with it. The subject matter made me somewhat uncomfortable, as it is about an 18th century castrato, and it had a number of unnecessary and raunchy "bed time" scenes. It could have been something great, but something was stopping it short...

 

[Doctor Strange]

All I remember being impressed with in Farinelli is its depiction of Handel as a musical badass, and the interesting sonic effect used to recreate the sound of a castrato voice.

Anne Rice's novel Cry To Heaven is a much more interesting treatment of similar material, though her castrati also exhibit way more sexual behavior than you'd expect. But it's a compelling story, and the detailed imagining of 17th-century Italy is fascinating.

 

[Shangas]

I'm watching the live-action 101 Dalmations.

 

[Wally_Hood]

Impact (1949), with Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, Charles Coburn, Helen Walker, Anna May Wong, and in a small role, Philip Ahn. Noirish, but also courtroom drama, and sort of manhunt-thriller. Directed by Arthur Lubin, who allows a couple of actors some extended shots of them processing some information, telling us a lot with just their facial expressions and their eyes. Fun rent.

The dvd company parks their logo in the right hand corner for the whole movie. It's unnecessary, annoying, and made me worry about plasma burn-in.

 

[KY Gentleman]

I watched Kiss of Death the other night starring Victor Mature. I enjoyed it and found out later it was also Richard Widmark's film debut. (He was very good in the movie as well).

 

[ukali1066]

HARRY BROWN with Michael Caine...great film....dark and gloomy but very well done

If any non-Brits want to see how bad it can be living in our inner cities they should see this...

And who doesn't want to see Michael Caine killing drug dealers ?

 

[Feraud]

One of the local public access channels was showing the excellent Fritz Lang film Dr. Mabuse the Gambler.

 

[Harry Street]

Went to see Shutter Island, finally.

It was nicely put together, but a little bit predictable. Still the cinematography was excellent, the costumes and locations very well done.

I admit to enjoying DeCaprio of late. I couldn't stand him when he was young, but I have liked him in Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, Blood Diamond, etc.

 

[Mahagonny Bill]

Impact (1949),

The dvd company parks their logo in the right hand corner for the whole movie. It's unnecessary, annoying, and made me worry about plasma burn-in.

GAACK! Which company was the disk from? I've got it on my "to buy" list, but there are a couple of versions to look for. Any company that puts a screen bug on a DVD does not deserve my business.

 

[patrick1987]

Adventureland. Takes place the year of my birth. I liked it.