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I have to be careful with this one.

I watched and then rewatched most of (with some skipping of the OJ scenes) THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974)- which is a film that reminds of the YOGI BERRA quote about PIZZA and SEX, both being pretty good even when they're bad...but while this film is entertainingly bad at (MANY) moments, there is an undeniable something to it, it compels you, it drags you in- it's a brilliant premise and there are genuinely affecting scenes.

sad that STERLING SILLIPHANT (and I imagine any number of others) came up with such a dumb script, where even intelligent moments of obvious research on the part of the makers are shoehorned in clumsily (STEVE McQUEEN'S speech about TENNIS BALLS to OJ comes immediately to mind.)

i still bet this was ONE HELL OF A GOOD TIME at THEATERS in 1974.

and i tell you what, if I had the chance, I'd remake this baby in a hot minute and every time i see it, my mind becomes fevered with how much better this movie needs to be.

also, I have said this before but, the interior decoration is SO TACKY, that it is HARD NOT TO ROOT FOR THE FIRE. **seriously, what THE HELL was UP WITH THE 1970'S??? The trellising and the lime green and the urns filled with sea oats and RUBBER ****ING TULIPS!!!!!

I'm not a STEVE McQUEEN fan, but I like him in this, and I enjoy his scenes with PAUL NEWMAN, which are structured well within the story, which is such a hopscotch from GENUINELY SOLID MOMENTS OF THRILL to LAUGH OUT LOUD idiocy.

I think PAULINE KAEL describes FAYE DUNAWAY in this film as A GODDESS STRUTTING ABOUT THE WRECKAGE IN PUCE** CHIFFON, I LOVE EVERY MINUTE FAYE DUNAWAY IS ON SCREEN IN THIS FILM. it's hard for me not to stand up and wave my claw in the air GLORIA SWANSON STYLE while screaming out "THAT IS WHAT A GOD DAMNED MOVIE STAR LOOKED LIKE!!!!!"

**- note, I cannot find the color PUCE in the color palette here.

[HEAVY METAL (1981) on TCM at 1:45am EST Tonight!]

17 hours ago, mr6666 said:

maybe whole movie will be on WATCH TCM

I found AMERICAN POP on WATCH TCM and watched about 45 minutes of it...

I hate to be JOHN HEARD in the boardroom scene in "BIG"...

but I DON'T GET IT.

[HEAVY METAL (1981) on TCM at 1:45am EST Tonight!]

About 20 mins in to AMERICAN POP.

It’s like Watching a Richard Linkletter version of an Elia Kazan film.

very odd., but extremely similar animation style to HEAVY METAL. 
 

ps- Of all the tragic events in American history that needed to be told via animation, I’m not really sure the triangle shirt factory fire was even in the top 10, but you have to admire the gumption of the animators I suppose.

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1 hour ago, CinemaInternational said:

Yes.

I’m not sure if that means there is hope for us all or no hope for us all…

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3 minutes ago, CinemaInternational said:

Oh, God exists. But Rex Reed is still employed too. 

Seriously? She’s still at it? 
(Rex Reed, I mean, not God.)

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16 minutes ago, King Rat said:

 

 

Rex Reed wrote "If Diane Keaton doesn't win the Oscar for Looking for Mr. Goodbar, there is no God." She did win the Oscar, but for another film, so I'm not sure what that tells us about the existence of God! Quite a few Oscar winners have been helped by another performance the same year.

By the way, we all seem to be on the same page about Looking for Mr. Goodbar.

 

I think the mere fact that Rex Reed was paid for years by a major publication to review films is enough proof that there is no God.

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6 minutes ago, Hibi said:

DITTO. Once was enough! (I had read the book too)

The book is incredibly frustrating because it has NO chapters. It’s over 200 pages and NO chapterS, just one long narrative. For some reason that bothered me a lot and I was unable to finish 

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1 hour ago, CinemaInternational said:

 I' m still recovering in a respect from watching Looking for Mr Goodbar late last night. Such a woozy film of endless excess capped by one of the most horrifying endings I have ever seen, right up there with Star 80. I really only watched it to fill one more Oscar-oriented gap. And this film has big problems (horrible editing and a script that is a bit sloppy), but its made up for in part because it is very well acted and a it is a great showcase for Diane Keaton's most daring and fearless role. She doesn't even care about always having audience sympathy; she goes for broke in creating this woman inside and out, without sweetening anything. The editing isn't so kind to anyone else, but the rest are mostly formidable: Tuesday Weld as her similarly self-destructive sister (even if she sounds a lot like Lesley Ann Warren), William Atherton as a bit of an odd duck who is still likely the best bet for Keaton's character out of the men depicted here, Richard Kiley as her angry father, Richard Gere as a charismatic sadist, and Tom Beringer who is terrifying in the final scene. And even though the endless excess is wearying, it is that superior acting and air of gritty reality that keeps the film watchable and effective.
PS: As for those thinking TCM has gone too woke, the print shown last night still has Richard Gere and Tom Beringer using slur words against blacks and gays. So, The French Connection hangup must be on Disney's end.

Oh Honey, I’m sorry. 
MR GOODBAR is a rough one. Don’t operate any heavy machinery and stay away from sharp objects for the next 48 hours.
 

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Dang you guys, this thread has hit ONE MILLION VIEWS!

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12 hours ago, AndreaDoria said:

Thank God all around!  "Remains of the Day," is in my top ten, along with other Merchant/Ivory productions. It's perfect the way it is. 

I was just thinking the other day that THE REMAINS OF THE DAY is very much like an updated Douglas Sirk film, “nothing happens” in it and yet at the same time, SO MUCH is occurring right before our eyes.

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16 minutes ago, txfilmfan said:

My Dad was also 6'7",

Everything's bigger in Texas.

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10 minutes ago, mkahn22 said:

I'm a big fan of his too. "The Winslow Boy" is wonderful as is his "Separate Tables," a movie, IMHO, that should be more well known. I'm not familiar with "The Final Test," but will, like you, start looking for a copy. 

from the plot entry for the film on wiki (spoilers omitted):

Plot

The film is a light drama, set around elderly leading cricketer Sam Palmer's last appearance for England.

 

(NOTE: the above image is NOT from the 1953 film)

Action jumps between various elements: an Englishman (Richard Wattis) explaining to an American the rules and terminologies of the game from the audience; Jim's home life; the pub listening to cricket on the radio; Sam's interactions with players and family; and Reggie's attempts to meet his theatrical hero Alexander Whitehead (Robert Morley). This is interspersed with documentary footage of real cricket games.

Sam desperately wants his son Reggie to be there at The Oval to witness his last match, but Reggie has a developing passion for poetry and instead of attending the game has a ‘once in a lifetime’ chance of meeting a leading poet, Alexander Whitehead. But when Reggie meets Whitehead, it turns out he is a huge fan of cricket.^[3] Whitehead takes Reggie along to the match, in time to see Sam's innings, and persuades Reggie that there is more to cricket than he had previously thought.

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51 minutes ago, mkahn22 said:

The Browning Version from 1951 with Michael Redgrave, Jean Kent, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Nigel Patrick

 

 

Writer Terence Rattigan specializes in showing the agonizing pain of "ordinary" lives of quiet failure. In Rattigan's The Browning Version, a middle-aged teacher (a "master"), Michael Redgrave, at an English boys school is leaving owing to a heart condition requiring him to take a less-demanding position elsewhere.

 

We see in Redgrave's final days at the school that he is out of touch with his students. They know he is a brilliant scholar, but they also see him as an aloof disciplinarian, who, to their eyes, is devoid of human emotion and sympathy.

 

The oleaginous headmaster, perfectly portrayed by Wilfrid Hyde-White, says all the right things to and about Redgrave, but is obviously happy he is leaving even as it becomes clear Redgrave has, without recognition, helped the headmaster improve the school's curriculum. 

 

In a final parting shot, the headmaster tells Redgrave his request for a pension exception owing to his illness - he is short the required number of years for eligibility - has been denied by the School Board. 

 

Worst of all, Redgrave's younger wife is carrying on an all but open affair with a bachelor science teacher at the school. Even with that setup, Redgraves so perfectly fits the role of cold, distant and arrogant teacher that our sympathies initially lean with his antagonists. 

 

Then a series of events reveals a more human and painful understanding of the man. One of the rare students he reached brings Redgrave a touching going away present. Redgrave then learns his nickname is "the Himler of the lower fifth" (his class) at the same time his wife's affair comes fully out in the open. These incidents cause Redgrave to think back to the beginning of his academic career. 

 

Eighteen years ago, when Redgrave came to the school, he and his wife thought his talents as a scholar would lead to a successful teaching career. But he didn't have the personal skills to reach his students or interact with his peers, which caused him to pull in on himself and others to pull away. 

 

Had he asked for help or had others offered it, perhaps he could have turned his career around, but instead, eighteen years later, we see an outwardly hardened, but inwardly broken man. 

 

Clearly not helping is his status-conscious wife who, instead of trying to lift him up, belittles him at every opportunity. Redgrave himself is understanding seeing their failed marriage as equally his fault owing to his unsuccessful career. Maybe, but watching his wife constantly and viciously undermine his confidence and self respect leaves us less forgiving of her than Redgrave is.

 

Finally, we see Redgrave's deep hurt at his "Nazi" nickname as he thought he was a bit of a "comical" figure to his students and teaching peers, but did not think they viewed him as mean and heartless. 

 

Processing all this information in his last remaining days at the school, Redgrave's epiphany moment comes, unfortunately, too late to save his career or marriage (the latter is better off not saved). Yet, in his final actions and parting speech, we see a man who could have been a better version of himself if he himself, his wife, his peers and his headmaster had tried to help him. 

 

A common theme of writer Terence Rattigan's work is that many good people are broken because they are square pegs trying to fit into the rigid round holes of the British class system. A system which, with its social and cultural structure that admires conformity, quietly but ruthlessly ostracizes those who are unique or different or perceived as "not quite up to snuff."

 

In The Browning Version, we meet a seemingly cold and antisocial teacher who appears to "deserve" the scorn and disdain others publicly and privately feel toward him. But director's Anthony Asquith's powerful interpretation of Rattigan's play reveals a more nuanced and heartbreaking story of an awkward man whose potential is destroyed early by an inflexible system, an unforgiving wife and unsympathetic peers. 

 

The Browning Version has no special effects, no bombast and only some melodrama. Instead, it's just a poignant tale about a fully drawn "regular" man whose life has sadly, quietly and unnecessarily failed. 

 

 

N.B. Michael Redgraves' performance here is impressively nuanced and poignant, especially considering he is playing a man who keeps his emotions and, even, thoughts inside. 

 

  

 

 

TERRENCE RATTIGAN is one Hell of a writer, I love THE WINSLOW BOY and I've lately been searching high and low for a copy of THE FINAL TEST- a 1952 version of his play about the game of cricket.

[I Just Watched...]

8 minutes ago, Hibi said:

Was the film ever released on DVD? I guess hey figured Meryl with her accents could pull it off!

HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS? I dunno. It deserves to die in anonymity.

at the start of the film,Meryl’s character is a teenager. A Chilean teenager. it is on a par with JOHN WAYNE as GHENGIS KHAN level miscasting 

It also asked us to believe that Jeremy Irons is also Chilean and that he and Meryl Streep are the parents of Winona Ryder- Chilean as well. 

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6 minutes ago, CinemaInternational said:

 I thought The River Wild was pretty flimsy plotwise. She missed out on Remains because she was pregnant with her last child. Mike Nichols was originally going to direct that, and he wanted her and Jeremy Irons to star. She came in for a reading about 7 months pregnant. Nichols became depressed and angry, then forfeited the whole production to Merchant Ivory. . Never saw House of the Spirits, know that the novel was greatly praised though.

I kinda liked THE RIVER WILD but I don't think I've seen it since 1994. it's kinda surprising she didn;t get nominated for it as 1994 was a weak year for women, but it was middling at the box office.

I did not know all that in re: REMAINS. Thank you.

THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS- the novel by ISABEL ALLENDE is WILD!!!!!! It's a long rambling slightly supernatural story about a Chilean family and their struggles, it would have to be a miniseries to adequately tell the story, which the 2 hour movie does not

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1 hour ago, speedracer5 said:

Lol. I’ve never seen Mamma Mia. There’s just something about it that doesn’t look appealing. 

Re: Meryl. It seems like in the last decade or so, she’s just appearing in everything and anything. I suppose with 3 Oscars under your belt, there probably isn’t a whole lot more to prove; but Meryl has made some very *interesting* choices in the last few years. Choices that made me wonder if the movie would have even been made had she not agreed to appear. The last thing she did that I loved I think would be The Devil Wears Prada. 

I saw MAMMA MIA with some friends and their kids when there was nothing else to do, some night (i think) in the dead of winter YEARS AGO

it is a hazy memory, but I seem to recall that various facts are given throughout the film from which one can extrapolate that STREEP'S character in MAMMA MIA is supposed to be- I kid you not- 38 years old.

IN 2008.

and nothing against MERYL now, mind you, ....

but Honey....

EDIT- I EVEN GOOGLED IT, SHE WAS 58 AT THE TIME!

 

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also, MAMMA MIA ate ****.

(to the surprise of all of you, I am sure, I despise ABBA with the HEAT OF A THOUSAND SUNS.)

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I apologize for making things so MERYLCENTRIC, but I feel compelled to note, an interesting, very rare unsteady period in STREEP'S CAREER began with SHE-DEVIL, shortly thereafter she was nominated for POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE (1990) and then did not get another nomination until 1995, for THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, in the years 1991-1994, I remember reading some thinkpieces that pondered whether or not she was finally "done for..." (I also know she fired her agent when she lost REMAINS OF THE DAY to EMMA THOMPSON)

This culminated in the UTTER NADIR that was 1994's HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS, a film which I will be kind and not post any clips from here, but it is worth checking out to see that even MERYL has had some MISSTEPS (also worth seeing is GLENN CLOSE'S SOUTH AMERICAN FRAU BLUCHER IMPRESSION in the same film)

I think this "dry period" affected her, and resulted in a change- both willing and not- on her part wherein she became the PERENNIAL NOMINEE...and some would say backstabbing, role-stealing, COW, but...you know...that's just FAYE DUNAWAY screaming at the ceiling.

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I’m genuinely surprised no one has attempted a remake of “she devil” that sticks closer to the BBC/British novel original.

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1 minute ago, King Rat said:

 

The Ricky Gervais comment about James Corden went something like this: "This year James Corden was a big *****. He was also in the Cats movie."

Before the She-Devil movie, there was a British mini-series called Confessions of a She-Devil (the title of the novel), starring Patricia Hodge and Annette Badland. It was much better and worth seeking out. As you can see from the clips, Meryl has to do a fair amount of acting to get the accent which Patricia Hodge could take for granted.

 

I thought it was LIFE AND LOVES OF A SHE DEVIL…?

(I think we were posting at the same time, read my above post)

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59 minutes ago, txfilmfan said:

The BBC did a mini-series before the movie came out.  I've not seen it.  It follows the book more closely than the film did.  It was nominated for CableACE awards here in the US, so some cable channel showed it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_and_Loves_of_a_She-Devil_(TV_series)

I saw it as a kid when it aired in America on PBS over the summer of 88 (I think?)

it. Is. WILD.

Seriously the Hollywood film doesn’t even scrape the surface of some of the wacky, depraved stuff the book/ BBC series gets into- and the She Devil and Mary Fisher characters have DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT FATES.

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1 hour ago, CinemaInternational said:

I know they filmed the original stage version at some point in the late 80s. It aired on PBS in 1991, and the DVD of that is out there somewhere. I guess, with Into the Woods, i was disappointed because I knew the music from the cast recording, and I had the actual script of the original musical, and it never fully pulled together like the Broadway version did, and quite frankly the Broadway cast recording was a livelier take on the music.

I think this 1991 PBS version to wit you refer is on YouTube in full.

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42 minutes ago, King Rat said:

Understood. Can't think of the guy without remembering the Ricky Gervais comment from the Golden Globes. Haven't seen the Meryl version of Into the Woods, only the PBS filming that CinemaInternational mentioned. That was good, though I had seen an amateur production which had stronger actors in a few roles, especially the Baker.

WHAT DID GERVAIS SAY?

I honestly think there are entire chat rooms and communities on the Internet dedicated to speculating aloud as to just why James Corden has been forced on us as a People, Speculation ranges from a deal with the devil to agreeing to betray us to the robot overlords who run the matrix.

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1 hour ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

Ugh, could not stand SHE-DEVIL. Not a fan of Meryl Streep, and Roseanne was never one of my favorites.

The scene where she lashes out at the kids and fires her young stud of a butler was a hoot though, I must admit.

The British novel on which it is based is MUCH DARKER and even SUPERNATURAL (The character of Ruth *literally* becomes a devil in order to avenge herself on Mary Fisher. ) 

another story ripe for a remake.

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MERYL AT HER FINEST STARTS AT 1:36