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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Amph What was the last movie you saw? (Ver. 2)

Discussion in 'Community' started by Violent Violet Menace, Nov 17, 2017.

  1. Thena

    Thena Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    May 10, 2001
    I have finally finished watching all 4 of the Bob Hope - Lucille Ball movies, which I've wanted to do for a long time. I feel Sorrowful Jones and Fancy Pants are the better ones, perhaps because they are also the earlier ones. You'll have to overlook Hope's deliberately dreadful (I think) imitation of a big-time British Earl, probably among the worst I've ever seen. Both movies are also hindered a bit by the fact that they are remakes or adaptations of much better earlier classics.
    The Facts of Life and Critic's Choice are less satisfactory from my perspective, though they do have their moments, I'm sure folks who are big fans of Hope or Lucille will enjoy them a bit more.
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2020
  2. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    Personally, I think Connery himself is a big problem with this movie. Compared to his other performances as Bond, including in "Diamonds are Forever", he pretty much sleepwalking through the picture. At that point, he was sick of the character, the grind, and the press, and it shows.
     
  3. gezvader28

    gezvader28 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2003
    The Constant Husband . 1955.

    Rex Harrison plays a man who has lost his memory and discovers that he was a bigamist 7 times over ! light-hearted comedy , but it looks terrific , there was something about the color process in the 50s that just looks great . And the women ! all the wives are gorgeous and look fabulous in their 50s outfits , it's like an Andrew Loomis drawing come to life.

    [​IMG]
     
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  4. PCCViking

    PCCViking Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2014
    Speaking of Diamonds are Forever, the actor who would play Blofeld in that film, has a cameo in You Only Live Twice.
     
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  5. Master_Lok

    Master_Lok Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 18, 2012
    An Ideal Place to Kill - Umberto Lenzi's tale of a hippy couple using printed forms of porno to fund their travels across Europe. :rolleyes: When a lonely wife invites the free-loving couple into her home, things get ugly very fast. Made shortly after Lenzi's quartet of Hitchcockian gialli with Carroll Baker, this reeks of sleaze (so much more than Orgasmo and So Sweet, So Perverse do.

    This revisit confirms, every character is unlikable and does some bad, skanky things.

    After the Tate-LaBianca murders, hippies were now mostly evil characters in Italian-European cinema (with the exception of my favorite zombie film, The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue. In that movie the young hippie-like couple are innocent, good people who wind up in the wrong place at the worst time.)

    So, yeah, this movie. Not my cup. I'd seen it a couple of times during my giallo-Italian thrillers deep dive, and the mean spiritedness and skanky vibe have always turned me off. I told myself, yeah, buy the blu ray, it's Ray Lovelock. Well, sorry Ray.

    I think the pandemic has lowered my patience with mean spirited horrors, gialli, certain Hong Kong action films etc.

    I can roll with monster horror, but almost everything else is a turn off lately. There's so much bad in the world and more that keeps being exposed on a daily basis, I do not want to go there in my escapes.

    ---

    So to wash that off, I watched Mr. Vampire again. :) I think I have to check the UK English dub as the American English dub is not the insanely funny dialog I remember from 20 years ago.
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2020
  6. Dagobahsystem

    Dagobahsystem Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2015
    The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse 1938

    The plot of this crime comedy is interesting in that it involves a high society New York doctor temporarily turning to a life of crime in order to conduct a science experiment in which he will collect data on the health effects of crime upon the perpetrators.

    Edward G. Robinson plays Dr. Clitterhouse and he owns this movie.
    His work is very impressive, subtle, and also humorous at times. He is always one step ahead of everyone.

    The entire cast is good as well.

    Humphrey Bogart plays the gangster "Rocks" Valentine and steals some scenes playing a jealous, no good, double crossing blackmailer. Apparently Bogie said "Rocks" was one of his least favorite parts. I can see why he might say that, but he did an amazing job with it anyway.

    This was a very entertaining way to spend 87 minutes. I was really impressed with Edward G. Robinson in this and the whole cast really makes this unique gangster comedy worth watching.
     
  7. pronker

    pronker Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2007
    It was great fun. I do hope you get to enjoy Robinson in A Slight Case Of Murder and Larceny, Inc., two more gangster comedies with the inimitable man.
     
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  8. Dagobahsystem

    Dagobahsystem Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2015
    @pronker
    Thank you for the recommendations.
    I shall watch them.
    Edward G. is inimitable.
    Good choice of word. :)
     
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  9. Thena

    Thena Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    May 10, 2001
  10. Master_Lok

    Master_Lok Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 18, 2012
    The Proud Youth (1978)
     
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  11. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2015)
    I haven't seen the original since it came out, so I was a little fuzzy on the returning characters and their relationships, but that wasn't an issue. Production values were excellent, and I love the way Michelle Yeoh is totally controlled and serene in her action scenes.
     
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  12. Dagobahsystem

    Dagobahsystem Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2015
    I've not yet seen Midsommar, but I found your comparisons amusing.

    Eraserhead made me laugh quite a few times on my first viewing.
    "I'm on vacation." [face_laugh]

    Maybe it was the way the clerk's hand was trembling when he rented me the DVD that overhyped it as he said "You've never seen Eraserhead? Whoa, I envy you." [face_tee_hee]
    True story.

    I like that movie and it's definitely weird or out there or whatever but it's not really scary is it? Granted, some scenes are disturbing.

    And Chinatown? The 1970s hard boiled detective story about corrupt, shady water dealings in the valley?
    I never saw that as a horror flick. I guess real life horror in that sick family.

    But I must be missing the comparison as I've never seen Midsommar as I said.

    And I've heard of Naked Lunch but that's not a film on my watch list.

    Sorry for the random post, I just feel I'm missing out having not seen Midsommar.
     
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  13. AndyLGR

    AndyLGR Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 1, 2014
    I really hate the fact that they did that. Only 2 films later and they use the same actor to portray a different character in the franchise, and not just any old character either but the main villain. Ridiculous decision.
     
  14. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Glory. I thought Matthew Broderick would be one of those actors who pulls you out of a period film, but he did fine. I understand why they did it — Shaw’s letters were the main historical record — but it would have been nice for the film to be a bit less about him, since he’s one of the less interesting characters in the film. He’s got the good hook initially of having to remind everybody that they’re in the Army and instill the discipline and training, but for obvious reasons the black characters are far more compelling. But that’s really the only criticism. Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, and Andre Braugher all give great performances. The story is compelling and stirring, the battle sequences solid. You can’t argue with a story like this.
     
  15. Master_Lok

    Master_Lok Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 18, 2012
    I wound up constantly thinking of Midsommar despite feeling iffy about it. The opening sequence and the climax are very disturbing. Florence Pugh cements that she is a very talented actress whose career will soar (and not because her character Yelena will replace Black Widow in the MCU).

    It’s basically a psychological horror (with a bit of gore) on rebounding from a tragedy and bad breakup.
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2020
  16. gezvader28

    gezvader28 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2003
    Joe Don Baker was a baddie in Living Daylights , coupla movies later he's Bond's pal in Goldeneye.
     
  17. Mortimer Snerd

    Mortimer Snerd Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 27, 2012
    I agree that Florence Pugh is fantastic. Anyway I included Chinatown in my quick, off-the-cuff list of disturbing films because of the one character...the daughter and her true identity revealed at the end which was, for its time, really damn disturbing. And "a bit of gore"?! I mean...it's not Dead Alive-level gore (which is hilarious) but jesus...when gore is used as a horror tactic, if it can be argued that it is, this movie definitely nails it.

    It's still screwing with me.
     
  18. Master_Lok

    Master_Lok Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 18, 2012
    I agree with the comments about the gore and Chinatown (That revelation you allude to :eek:), but with Midsommar so much gore was left off camera that the two instances that rankled me were done very, very well. The opening sequence felt very real and upsetting, also the
    ritual suicide moments were bonkers, particularly the failed attempt and resolution.
    The fates of some characters did not phase me though.

    For me, the true horror is how Dani (Ms. Pugh) adapts and rises above the utterly awful tragedy and relationship she leaves behind, fully aware that her
    new, surrogate ‘family’ is messed up in other ways. She trades one type of madness for another. Dani is fortunate she wins the primary position in her new home, but jeez...

    Out of the frying pan and into the fire...

    I think the acceptance of madness transposed
    to and from an entire community was the thing that I still think about.That nails the cultish elements of the village perfectly.

    Yes, I bought Midsommar after seeing it twice last year and my conflicting thoughts about it.
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2020
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  19. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    Baahubali: The Beginning (2015)
    An epic Bollywood blockbuster, an Indian Hercules fantasy story with LotR pretensions. I've probably seen cheesier movies, but I can't think of one at the moment. If you really miss 80's MTV, watch the musical love scenes. :rolleyes: Still, it kept me entertained for a couple of hours.
     
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  20. Thena

    Thena Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    May 10, 2001
    Just wait until you watch Baahubali 2
     
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  21. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Niagara. In this color noir, Marilyn Monroe gets a rare dramatic turn, not as a ditzy bombshell but a dangerous femme fatale. She’s married to the older Joseph Cotten, and while on vacation at Niagara Falls, she decides to have her lover do away with him. Pulled into the plot are a gloriously boring all-American couple vacationing at the same spot. It’s a promising concept, though the execution doesn’t go in the most interesting direction. The film could have used more focus on Monroe, or for that matter Cotten as the wronged man. Instead, with its focus split between both of them and the couple — who are agreeably acted, but without this being a Hitchcockian take from their perspective, as innocents stumbling into a web of murder, largely a distraction from the better half of the narrative — neither Cotten nor Monroe get as well developed as they deserve to be. The result is a handsome-looking, functional, but unexceptional thriller that feels like it scants its main conflict.
     
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  22. Arwen Sith

    Arwen Sith Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 30, 2005
    GoldenEye. The first Bond movie I saw in theater. Alec Trevelyan must be the most charming Bond villain ever... But I'm really not happy that the forced kissing is back. It was a realief not to sit through that in the two Timothy Dalton movies.
     
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  23. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Uncertain Glory. In this wartime drama, Errol Flynn plays a condemned French criminal who escapes execution thanks to an air raid. When inspector Paul Lukas recaptures him, they hear that the Germans will kill one hundred hostages if the Resistance saboteur who blew up a train doesn’t turn himself in. Flynn hits on the idea of earning a better execution by posing as the saboteur, and he and Lukas reconnoiter the nearby town to learn as much as they can about the incident before he turns himself in. Of course, he falls in love with a local girl, and the question hangs whether he will go through with it, try to escape, or earn a reprieve. It’s a solid moral drama with an interesting hook, and Flynn is compelling in it.
     
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  24. Ahsoka's Tano

    Ahsoka's Tano Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2014
    A Simple Favor (2018)
    Anna Kendrick stars as a single mother who befriends another mom at her kid's school by offering to watch the boys when she's not home; but one day the friend goes missing. An interesting movie based on a novel with a certain twist to it. Kendrick is as adorable as ever. If there's one thing I notice all too often, however, is that she seems to be obnoxiously typecast. It's hard not to notice that she's usually the vulnerable, hard luck case that gets taken advantage of. I think it's her size that these directors automatically pick her for these roles.
     
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  25. pronker

    pronker Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2007
    Reveille With Beverly (1943) starring Ann Miller, Duke Ellington's Take the A-Train, Bob Crosby's Big Noise from Winnetka, Ella Mae Morse's Cow Cow Boogie; directed by Charles Barton. Frank Sinatra's Night and Day was just so-so, IMHO, and these performers got into the movie interestingly by DJ Beverly placing their record onto the spindle, the camera zooming in through the spinning record and then we see a filmed performance of each song. That was fun and so was learning that Jean Ruth Hay obtained the 5:30 a.m. spot near Fort Logan CO early in the war; her DJing produced a Time magazine article and formed a RL basis for the movie. The plot was quite like Abbott and Costello's Buck Privates, which featured a love triangle between recruits Rich Guy and His Former Chauffeur and "Girl", none of whom were Bud or Lou. The romance was meant to show how serving your country levels the playing field re $ in Buck and in Reveille, too, and it's the least interesting bit about either film.

    Back to the performances, wow, seeing the Mills Brothers, Bob Crosby, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Ella Mae Morse perform was spectacular and humor arose with the penultimate musical segment featuring Radio Rogues. OTR is a passion of mine so they are familiar names, but the three guys of RR parodied radio names such as Kate Smith, Red Skelton and H. V. Kaltenborn by mimicking their peculiar style of diction or singing in short bits, often with props such as ladies' veiled hats. Well, I laughed, anyway.[face_blush] Ann gets a wonderful big number at the finale, tapping perfectly to "Thumbs Up and V for Victory". If you weren't paying attention throughout, you'd say, "Whaaat?" at her talent because Columbia Studios in the film's running time of 1 hr. 18 min. displayed literally 15 sec. of her tapping in a short bit. I liked how the film ended because Beverly watches her two amours march to deployment without "picking" one over the other; she just says, "Like lots of other girls, I'll be waiting for you all," with tears in the eyes. In late 1942, when Reveille was filmed, the world looked pretty dark for the Allies.

    Fun to spot was Irene Ryan, who later played Granny in Beverly Hillbillies, in a medium sized role as Beverly's co-worker; once Irene gets on the switchboard and handles lots of dialogue, you can tell it was Granny right away with that voice. :)
     
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2020
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