Movie Thread

[Tricycle Rider]

Ooooh! I just realized Turner Classic Movies has an Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune marathon coming up starting April 1st. I won't be able to watch all of the films, but I know I will at least record Rashomon. I remember liking that one. And Drunken Angel sounds promising as well.

Now if only TMC would air Citizen Kane so I wouldn't have to pay extra for it online...

 

[Koronin]

I didn't dislike Sunset Boulevard, and there are a lot of interesting trivia tidbits over at IMDb on the film. For example, Gloria Swanson was aware her time as a huge silent movie star was over, but she didn't mind playing a has-been. Other silent movie stars who had been offered the role refused because they were insulted by the notion that their careers were over, not just because of the progression of silent movies to talkies, but because of age as well.

I think it's cool when actresses are able to continue working even after their youthful beauty fades, for this reason I'm thinking Gloria Swanson must have been pretty hip. (And I know roles for older women are very limited even nowadays, it's always been a pretty cruel industry all around.)

My comment about liking Sunset Boulevard was more in reference to my not liking Citizen Kane very well. There are some interesting things about that movie and Gloria Swanson and her story is definitely one of them.

 

[movingtarget]

I didn't dislike Sunset Boulevard, and there are a lot of interesting trivia tidbits over at IMDb on the film. For example, Gloria Swanson was aware her time as a huge silent movie star was over, but she didn't mind playing a has-been. Other silent movie stars who had been offered the role refused because they were insulted by the notion that their careers were over, not just because of the progression of silent movies to talkies, but because of age as well.

I think it's cool when actresses are able to continue working even after their youthful beauty fades, for this reason I'm thinking Gloria Swanson must have been pretty hip. (And I know roles for older women are very limited even nowadays, it's always been a pretty cruel industry all around.)

Actually real life was mirrored in the movie kind of. Swanson was a veteran actress in real life as well while the movie was one of Holden's first movies and was his first starring role while in the movie he was an up and coming screenwriter. Some critics regard it as his best performance. The opening scene in the swimming pool was revolutionary. Nice piece of irony also with the famous film director Erich Von Stroheim playing Gloria Swanson's servant ! Holden won his Oscar later on, deservedly for Stalag 17. Holden made some great movies as well as the above including Network, Bridge Over the River Kwai and The Wild Bunch. He was also supposed to be good in Picnic which I never saw. What a cast Network had : Faye Dunaway, Holden, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty, Peter Finch and so on. The acting was top notch and I think Peter Finch won the only ever posthumous Best Actor Oscar. Heath Ledger later won a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Dark Knight. Holden suffered with alcoholism and it led to his tragic death at a relatively young age after falling and hitting his head while home alone. He looked much older than his real age in his later movies. Finch was also a notorious drinker and was only in his early fifties when he died. One of Holden's party tricks was to get drunk and hang from the ledges of buildings by his fingertips ! 60s rock starJim Morrison also used to do the same !

 

[movingtarget]

Ooooh! I just realized Turner Classic Movies has an Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune marathon coming up starting April 1st. I won't be able to watch all of the films, but I know I will at least record Rashomon. I remember liking that one. And Drunken Angel sounds promising as well.

Now if only TMC would air Citizen Kane so I wouldn't have to pay extra for it online...

Of the Kurosawa movies I have so far seen I think I liked the two Shakespeare adaptations the best : Throne of Blood and Ran. I also liked The Seven Samurai. Yojimbo and Kagemusha were not too bad. Don't think I have seen Rashomon. The Seven Samurai became the basis for the western The Magnificent Seven. Yul Brynner the star of the latter decided to adapt it as a western and of course it worked well.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Of the Kurosawa films I've seen Ikiru is my fave, as well as The Bad Sleep Well in addition to the aforementioned Rashomon. I'm going to record Red Beard and Stray Dog in addition to the two I had mentioned upthread because I don't remember having seen those, I've got a lot of Kurosawa watching ahead of me.

I saw The Magnificent Seven many, many moons ago, but westerns being my least favorite genre I don't really watch or rewatch any now. Except for the odd one like The Unforgiven westerns are more of a miss than a hit for me. (Think they might be just too manly for me or something.)

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Drunken Angel (1948) - I found this movie very confusing, there was a lot going on. Drunken main characters, a river that was exuding toxic fumes, gangs like from The West Side Story... perhaps the whole thing would have been more comprehensible had there been much better translations.

The subtitles were laughably awful, while I don't speak Japanese I'm pretty sure grown men don't use slang that teenagers or surfers would use. I would go so far as to say the translations had ruined the film, hopefully the other Kurosawa films I had recorded and plan on watching are better. For such an iconic filmmaker as Kurosawa he certainly does deserve better.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

The Cassandra Crossing (1976) - Only true veterans of the film industry would be able to tackle this one and make it look even halfway convincing... Burt Lancaster, Sophia Loren, Ava Gardner, Martin Sheen... they don't make horrible (but still fun) high budget disaster flicks like this anymore. Makes me want to watch The Towering Inferno again.

Break (2019) - And yet another bad horror/thriller with additionally very bad dubbing, at least I liked the soundtrack.

The scenery was lovely, but due to lack of any info at IMDb I'm not sure where exactly In Russia it had been filmed. For those 5 of you who had seen it it's very reminiscent of Frozen (2010).

 

[movingtarget]

The Cassandra Crossing (1976) - Only true veterans of the film industry would be able to tackle this one and make it look even halfway convincing... Burt Lancaster, Sophia Loren, Ava Gardner, Martin Sheen... they don't make horrible (but still fun) high budget disaster flicks like this anymore. Makes me want to watch The Towering Inferno again.

Break (2019) - And yet another bad horror/thriller with additionally very bad dubbing, at least I liked the soundtrack.

The scenery was lovely, but due to lack of any info at IMDb I'm not sure where exactly In Russia it had been filmed. For those 5 of you who had seen it it's very reminiscent of Frozen (2010).

Remember seeing The Cassandra Crossing. The 70s disaster movies had much better casts than the current ones, actors didn't turn up their noses being in such movies back then and of course they were well paid. Average movies with a good cast, same with Towering Inferno and even Earthquake which was the worst of the three. Charlton Heston always had to be the hero !
Of more recent disaster movies, Deep Impact was entertaining, 2012 was okay as was The Day After Tomorrow, I thought Armageddon was pretty awful as was San Andreas. So bad they were good ! Helps if they have actors of course and don't collapse into cartoon like events. The Road should only be watched by optimists ! Some people couldn't even handle the book, I liked both but it's slow and downbeat some would say depressing.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Remember seeing The Cassandra Crossing. The 70s disaster movies had much better casts than the current ones, actors didn't turn up their noses being in such movies back then and of course they were well paid. Average movies with a good cast, same with Towering Inferno and even Earthquake which was the worst of the three. Charlton Heston always had to be the hero !
Of more recent disaster movies, Deep Impact was entertaining, 2012 was okay as was The Day After Tomorrow, I thought Armageddon was pretty awful as was San Andreas. So bad they were good ! Helps if they have actors of course and don't collapse into cartoon like events. The Road should only be watched by optimists ! Some people couldn't even handle the book, I liked both but it's slow and downbeat some would say depressing.

Charlton Heston and John Wayne always had to save the world, I don't even know how many wars John Wayne had won single-handedly. Wayne, or his movies, I don't care for at all. At least Charlton Heston had Soylent Green going for him. Ha!

I'll have to put The Road on my viewing list, haven't seen it. But speaking of Viggo Mortensen I'd like to see Eastern Promises (2007) again, it's one of my faves.

But right now I have to rewatch The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (original Swedish version) and 12 Angry Men (1957), both I can catch at Amazon Prime without having to pay extra. That's what bugs me about Amazon though, you never know when they will start charging extra, or when they will lose copyrights to films altogether. One day a movie is available and the next day it's gone - I don't like feeling like I have to watch a flick just because it's available at the mo. (Ok, that last part was just an aside.)

 

[movingtarget]

Charlton Heston and John Wayne always had to save the world, I don't even know how many wars John Wayne had won single-handedly. Wayne, or his movies, I don't care for at all. At least Charlton Heston had Soylent Green going for him. Ha!

I'll have to put The Road on my viewing list, haven't seen it. But speaking of Viggo Mortensen I'd like to see Eastern Promises (2007) again, it's one of my faves.

But right now I have to rewatch The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (original Swedish version) and 12 Angry Men (1957), both I can catch at Amazon Prime without having to pay extra. That's what bugs me about Amazon though, you never know when they will start charging extra, or when they will lose copyrights to films altogether. One day a movie is available and the next day it's gone - I don't like feeling like I have to watch a flick just because it's available at the mo. (Ok, that last part was just an aside.)

Eastern Promises and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo I have yet to catch but I heard good things about them. The book of the latter was a good read as well. Viggo Mortensen rarely puts in a bad performance. One of his early movies directed by Sea Penn was The Indian Runner which I liked very much. Sean Penn has made some interesting movies as a director. Even Mortensen's performance in the Lord of The Rings movies stood out amongst a large cast.

 

[jmdirt]

I just watched Dead Pool. I'm not even sure what to say...it was a crazy mix of everything...I'm leaning toward liking it. The question is do I watch the second one?

 

[movingtarget]

Just watched the 70s cult sci fi movie The Man Who Fell To Earth. David Bowie playing an alien in the 70s.......not such a stretch ! Funny how our memories of movies play tricks on us sometimes and how our tastes change over time. This had more of an impact on me when I was younger. Nicholas Roeg was mainly an arthouse director and maybe not the best choice for such a movie. I read the book recently, but the movie was a missed opportunity as the book was much superior. Some of the acting was hit and miss which didn't help, neither did the script. Not one of Roeg's best movies. His best movie was probably Don't Look Now which was a creepy thriller also made in the 70s which I can recommend. The Man Who Fell To Earth is a cult curiosity at best.

 

[SHAD0W93]

My girlfriend and I just saw The Descent (2005) last night. An alright scary movie that keeps you guessing till about halfway on what kind of horror movie it is going for. They made a second one that we were going to watch. I would liken it to the Lephracuan movies.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I just watched Dead Pool. I'm not even sure what to say...it was a crazy mix of everything...I'm leaning toward liking it. The question is do I watch the second one?

I take it you mean the Marvel Comics movie and not the Clint Eastwood one from 1988? If so I've seen the Dirty Harry one (despite heavily disagreeing with Eastwood's politics I still like his Dirty Harry flicks), but not the Marvel one.

I watched The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009) last night, I already saw it a while back, but had forgotten some major things. It's 2.5 hours long, but it goes by fairly quickly and I might have even picked up a word of Swedish or two. (Well, "skål" anyway.) The scenery was stunning - brrrrrrr, winters in Sweden look really, really cold!

Some parts were pretty brutal, some a bit far-fetched, and the ending was a tad convoluted. But all in all it's a good movie, I will watch the other two as well being Amazon currently offers the whole trilogy at no extra charge. So yay for me!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Just watched the 70s cult sci fi movie The Man Who Fell To Earth. David Bowie playing an alien in the 70s.......not such a stretch ! Funny how our memories of movies play tricks on us sometimes and how our tastes change over time. This had more of an impact on me when I was younger. Nicholas Roeg was mainly an arthouse director and maybe not the best choice for such a movie. I read the book recently, but the movie was a missed opportunity as the book was much superior. Some of the acting was hit and miss which didn't help, neither did the script. Not one of Roeg's best movies. His best movie was probably Don't Look Now which was a creepy thriller also made in the 70s which I can recommend. The Man Who Fell To Earth is a cult curiosity at best.

I saw this about 30 years ago, can't remember much of anything. But being a Bowie fan naturally I had to see it... I might give it another watch now that Amazon Prime offers it. The little I do remember is that it's a movie I'd have to truly be in the mood for.

 

[jmdirt]

I take it you mean the Marvel Comics movie and not the Clint Eastwood one from 1988? If so I've seen the Dirty Harry one (despite heavily disagreeing with Eastwood's politics I still like his Dirty Harry flicks), but not the Marvel one.

I watched The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009) last night, I already saw it a while back, but had forgotten some major things. It's 2.5 hours long, but it goes by fairly quickly and I might have even picked up a word of Swedish or two. (Well, "skål" anyway.) The scenery was stunning - brrrrrrr, winters in Sweden look really, really cold!

Some parts were pretty brutal, some a bit far-fetched, and the ending was a tad convoluted. But all in all it's a good movie, I will watch the other two as well being Amazon currently offers the whole trilogy at no extra charge. So yay for me!

Yes, the new one.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Yes, the new one.

Ach soooooo. I hadn't actually even heard of the Marvel movie till now, so my mind immediately jumped to Dirty Harry and his very big revolver. (Not a very practical gun, btw., my brother had one as a private weapon back when he was in the military, that thing is one heavy, clunky cannon! Think Dirty Harry had sported some other smaller types as well, though.)

 

[movingtarget]

My girlfriend and I just saw The Descent (2005) last night. An alright scary movie that keeps you guessing till about halfway on what kind of horror movie it is going for. They made a second one that we were going to watch. I would liken it to the Lephracuan movies.

I thought the Descent was okay. Might have to watch it again.

Ach soooooo. I hadn't actually even heard of the Marvel movie till now, so my mind immediately jumped to Dirty Harry and his very big revolver. (Not a very practical gun, btw., my brother had one as a private weapon back when he was in the military, that thing is one heavy, clunky cannon! Think Dirty Harry had sported some other smaller types as well, though.)

I liked the first three Dirty Harry movies especially the first two. Of course the original was a classic. The final two, The Gauntlet and The Dead Pool were not of the same quality unfortunately........I'm sure the sale of .357 magnums must have increased in the mid 70s !

Speaking of vigilante movies, the original Death Wish movie with Charles Bronson was pretty good, most of the sequels were simply bad, the second one was watchable ! The first Taken movie with Liam Neeson was also pretty good but only for the action scenes of course.

 

[jmdirt]

I just watched Dead Pool. I'm not even sure what to say...it was a crazy mix of everything...I'm leaning toward liking it. The question is do I watch the second one?

I watched the second one last night. Not as good as the first but still a crazy mix.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I thought the Descent was okay. Might have to watch it again.

I liked the first three Dirty Harry movies especially the first two. Of course the original was a classic. The final two, The Gauntlet and The Dead Pool were not of the same quality unfortunately........I'm sure the sale of .357 magnums must have increased in the mid 70s !

Speaking of vigilante movies, the original Death Wish movie with Charles Bronson was pretty good, most of the sequels were simply bad, the second one was watchable ! The first Taken movie with Liam Neeson was also pretty good but only for the action scenes of course.

I would have to rewatch the original Dirty Harry, with most movies I've seen some time ago they all end up becoming a mixed up blur. But generally speaking my favorite movie era is the 70s, I even sometimes adjust my TV monitor to look a sort of grainy, orangey texture so the movies (especially sci-fi) look like they are older than they really are. Heh, I think that's about the exact opposite of what other viewers like, I actually like the crappy look.

In other news I managed to rewatch the whole The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, the original three Swedish parts were just enough. The case had been solved and there was more absurdity and far-fetchedness, I don't know why they would have made another two or three additional movies that had not been adapted from books by the original author. (He had died at a rather young age.) I won't watch those, I've had enough of Blomkvist and Tattoo Girl.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

The Women of Brewster Place (1989) - I've seen it several times now, I saw it when it first aired as a TV miniseries back in the 80s. But it can be watched as a lengthy movie all in one sitting, that is if you can handle watching Oprah hogging the spotlight for nearly the entire first hour. It never bothered me as much as it did now - she was competent as an actress in The Color Purple, but in Brewster Place it was like she was telling herself that in order to look like a humble, meek woman she needs to look down on the floor and look to the left and then to the right, rinse and repeat, and she'll do that throughout almost the whole movie. It looked so fake and formulaic...

Otherwise I still enjoy watching this miniseries, for me as a white girl it's a very revealing and poignant look into the struggles of Black women living in an urban setting. Jackée did a great job playing the "worldly" woman, and the best acting actually came from Cicely Tyson when she was giving her daughter an intense speech about her pride in her name and her roots when she was being accused of being ashamed of being a Black woman. It felt so genuine, it's truly the best acting I've seen in a very long time because it looked like it came from a very real place. It's too bad Cicely Tyson had such a small role.

Anyhoo, it may not be for everybody, but I occasionally like to revisit this miniseries still.

 

[BlueRoads]

Now if only TMC would air Citizen Kane so I wouldn't have to pay extra for it online...

Citizen Kane is a classic, no doubt, and not a bad one, but the outlook is rather "cold" and technocratic, not exactly a film you will love, I suppose. So if I was you I would watch it, if I came across it, but not specifically pay for it.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Citizen Kane is a classic, no doubt, and not a bad one, but the outlook is rather "cold" and technocratic, not exactly a film you will love, I suppose. So if I was you I would watch it, if I came across it, but not specifically pay for it.

Citizen Kane and Gone With the Wind, both. Neither I have seen, nor care to unless the hype all dies down.

Have you seen Gone With the Wind?

 

[Laplaz]

Happy birthday Al Pacino! 80 years of greatness!

 

[BlueRoads]

Have you seen Gone With the Wind?

I did and loved it. But don't tell anyone.