[Have you seen these 10 classic films..?]

I don't know what #102 or #106 are, but I've seen the others.

[Classic Film Confessions - Name a Classic Film you've no interest in seeing]

I could never scorn a fellow Laurence/Lawrence.

[Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman’ to premiere at New York Film Fest]

I gave it a 9/10. My favorite movie of the year, but that ain't sayin' much.

[Have you seen these 10 classic films..?]

12 minutes ago, sewhite2000 said:

My fellow posters are being coy, but since it's already been my habit to come in and spoil everything I already know:

I'm actually not certain what Joan Crawford movie that is, but I've seen everything she was in from 1930 onward.

I think #94 is The Man Who Watched Trains Go By aka The Paris Express.

[Have you seen these 10 classic films..?]

I've seen them all.

[I Just Watched...]

6 minutes ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

I haven't see this mini-series myself, and it's hard to believe that a program with such talent could be a snoozefest, but then again 1963's CLEOPATRA had a great cast too, and that movie bored me silly, so anything is possible.

 

Yikes...you quoted something I deleted. Guess I wasn't fast enough.  

[Explain why you like/dislike 31 Days of Oscar programming]

The schedule is so late because TCM is going off the air at the end of January, to continue on as a "channel" on the new HBO Max/WarnerMedia streaming service.

(I'm kidding, but some day....)

[Virginia Leith R.I.P. (1925-2019)]

Actress Virginia Leith passed away on November 4th at the age of 94.

She got her start in Stanley Kubrick's feature directing debut, 1953's Fear and Desire.

She went on to appear in Black Widow (1954), Violent Saturday (1955), On the Threshold of Space (1956), A Kiss Before Dying (1956), and Toward the Unknown (1956). She then moved into television guest spots, before starring in what would become her most remembered role in 1962's The Brain That Wouldn't Die, playing a bitter woman who survives as a decapitated head in a laboratory. After that she went into semi-retirement, only returning for a handful of TV appearances from 1977-1980, after which she retired from the screen forever.

[I Just Watched...]

1 minute ago, Hibi said:

OMG! Winger must've been desperate.

She got an "introducing" credit. She was in a few episodes, and the producers planned a spin-off series starring her, but Winger didn't like working on the show, and used her paycheck to buy herself out of her Warner Brothers contract so she wouldn't have to appear in any more. 

[Criterion cartoon]

New cartoon today. My guess is The Great Escape, which would be a day-one buy for me if it happens.

 

 

[I Just Watched...]

I forgot a couple of other shows I've watched recently:

The Immortal, which lasted all of 15 episodes in 1970/71, as well as a pilot movie in 1969, featured Christopher George as a test driver for a major corporation who discovers that he has a mutation in his blood making him immortal, as well as immune to disease and allowing fast healing from injury. Old Howard Hughes-like billionaire Barry Sullivan gets a transfusion of George's blood and gets invigorated, but only for a short time. He needs periodic transfusions to continue feeling the effect, so he tries to have George kidnapped and kept captive as a source, leading George to go on the run. The show turned into a dull clone of The Fugitive.

 

Star Trek: The Animated Series, which ended up being much better than expected, thanks to the participation of most of the original show's cast (Walter Koenig's Chekov wasn't included) and a good pool of writers.

 

Wonder Woman season one, set during WWII, which tries a little for 60's-TV Batman camp but doesn't go crazy enough to match that show's appeal. The highlight for me was seeing Debra Winger as Wonder Girl, Wonder Woman's teenage sister/sidekick.

 

Now I'm watching the brief first season of the notoriously awful The Amazing Spider-Man, with Nicholas Hammond as Peter Parker. I did perk up a bit when one of the guest stars was JoAnna Cameron from The Secrets of Isis.

 

[TCM Premieres]

5 minutes ago, cmovieviewer said:

There are actually two possible premieres for TCM Underground coming up this Friday:

 - 2 am ET: The Pyramid (1976)
 - 4 am ET: Drug Stories (2019)

The Pyramid (1976) is listed on IMDB at https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131549/

Unfortunately there is no information for a 2019 film Drug Stories on the TCM web site or on IMDB.

There is a 2018 collection of government anti-drug film clips that may fit the bill - with the long title Drug Stories: Narcotic Nightmares and Hallucinogenic Hellrides.  Here’s some information on this film:

https://drafthouse.com/dfw/show/fantastic-fest-drug-stories-presented-by-agfa-and-something-weird

Perhaps the TCM Underground twitter account will provide more information on the film later this week - https://twitter.com/tcmunderground

This is the first time I've really regretted losing TCM since Comcast pulled their shenanigans with the price increase. I hope someone watches/records those and leaves a review somewhere. That second one (Drug Stories) is from AGFA and Something Weird, so it'll probably get released on disc next year. If so, it's a day-one purchase for me!  

[TCM will become obsolete]

9 minutes ago, Sepiatone said:

I'm not sure, but.......

Didn't movies in the silent era arrive at theaters with an accompanying score for the theater's pianist to play along with it?  Seems I recall reading that somewhere.....

Sepiatone

Only in some cases. For the majority of the silent era, theaters just played whatever their accompanist knew or wanted to play.

[Have you seen these 10 classic films..?]

I haven't seen It's a Date.

[The 100 Best Films of the 2010's?]

On 11/20/2019 at 9:43 PM, LawrenceA said:

I wouldn't have included any of these on my personal list:

• Roma
• Moonlight 
• High Life 
• Carol
• Tangerine
• Zero Dark Thirty 
• Mudbound
• Eighth Grade
• The Loneliest Planet 
• Support the Girls 
• Paterson 
• Elle
• Before Midnight 
• Toni Erdmann 
• Certified Copy 
• Holy Motors 
• Boyhood
• The Florida Project

Of the above movies that were listed in the article, and were ones that I would not have included on my own list, the only ones that I would consider "arthouse" are The Loneliest Planet, Certified Copy, and Holy Motors. I don't necessarily dislike all of the movies above (most of them I found only passable), but I genuinely disliked those three.

However, I know what CinemaInternational (ironic name in this case?) is getting at. Many people will heap reverence and profundity on a movie simply because it's in another language, and I think his thoughts on Elle are accurate - if it had been filmed in America and in English, it wouldn't have made as much impact.

[I Just Watched...]

3 minutes ago, kingrat said:

Lawrence, how was Space 1999? I loved Barbara Bain on Mission: Impossible. She had a beautiful low-pitched voice to go with her classic beauty.

It was okay, at least the first season. It played things very straight, with little to no levity, and things could get portentous and dull. Martin Landau seemed to have trouble saying his lines with a straight face occasionally. There was also very little character development (I think it was several episodes in before Barbara Bain's character was even given a first name). Third-listed co-star Barry Morse complained about the lack of humanity and left the show after season one. A new co-producer came in on season two and tried to jazz things up with scripts focusing more on action and aliens-of-the-week, as well as adding several new "sexier" young co-stars, most notably Catherine Schell as the shape-shifting alien Maya. It got very silly. The production values were good for the time and the format, though, and there are several notable guest stars from British film and television (the series was filmed in the UK).

[HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM]

Or Dracula vs Frankenstein?

Or Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter???

Or The Day Time Ended?!?

I once informed a friend that I was watching The Day Time Ended, and he responded, "So, it's about evening time?"

[Uh... The Paramount Decree Might Come Tumbling Down In a Few Years]

Netflix Takes Lease For NYC’s Paris Theatre

With the Paramount consent decrees being struck down, Netflix looks like it is taking its first step into the theatrical exhibition business.

Following the reopening of the Paris Theatre in New York City in order to release Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” on the big screen, the streaming service is ready to keep going and has signed a lease that will keep the Paris Theatre open.

The location gives Netflix a place to host screenings, premieres, and also theatrical releases for its films in New York City. The Paris Theatre, opened in 1948, is now the only single-screen theater in the city.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, says in a statement: “After 71 years, the Paris Theatre has an enduring legacy, and remains the destination for a one-of-a-kind movie-going experience. We are incredibly proud to preserve this historic New York institution so it can continue to be a cinematic home for film lovers.”

With the famed location shuttering in August this year, the deal now keeps it alive and running – albeit only for Netflix films.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/netflix-takes-lease-for-nycs-paris-theatre/

[The Post an Interesting Pic thread]

Old Hammer horror pals Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee both showed up in episodes of Space: 1999, playing unrelated characters but both seemingly visiting the same hairdresser:

 

[The Post an Interesting Pic thread]

[Have you seen these 10 classic films..?]

I've not seen Jitterbugs (not a L&H fan) or Support Your Local Sheriff. 

[Recent Buys]

15 minutes ago, speedracer5 said:

Well I got two films at the B&N Criterion sale: “The 39 Steps” and “Ride the Pink Horse.” 

Good choices! I have both of those, as well.

[The 100 Best Films of the 2010's?]

2 minutes ago, cigarjoe said:

I was turned on to the Man In the High Castle by my son it's a sort of alternate universe or would be know as parallel time to Dark Shadow fans. In this Germany and Japan won WWII and have split the USA between them. There is a nice twist at the end of season one. Which is as far as I've gotten. Surprisingly well made. The only star that I've known before was Rufus Sewell from Neo SiFi Noir Dark City (1998)

It's based on the Philip K. Dick novel from 1962, considered one of the most influential science fiction books of all time, and one of the originators of the alternate history sub-genre.

Main star Alexa Davalos is the granddaughter of Richard Davalos from East of Eden. I've seen her in a handful of movies. I also know Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa from a lot of TV and films.

[I Just Watched...]

Since finishing my Alfred Hitchcock marathon, I've watched Star Trek season 3, aka "the bad one"

 

Two Doctor Who serials featuring the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) - Spearhead from Space and Death to the Daleks

 

Three Doctor Who serials featuring the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) - The Ark in Space, The Sontaran Experiment, and The Brain of Morbius 

 

A couple of episodes of The Starlost, a Canadian series featuring Keir Dullea that has justly been ranked as one of the worst sci-fi shows ever made

 

The first season of Space: 1999, a show I'd managed to miss for the past 44 years

 

The pilot movie of Wonder Woman, with Lynda Carter, Lyle Waggoner, Cloris Leachman, Stella Stevens, Henry Gibson, and Red Buttons

 

The much-vaunted BBC series I, Claudius

 

and now season 2 of Space: 1999, featuring new addition Catherine Schell as shape-shifting alien Maya

[I Just Watched...]

3 minutes ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

Just curious, what is it about ALL ABOUT EVE you don't like?  Personally, I think it was the perfect choice for Best Picture that year.

I prefer Sunset Boulevard, although All About Eve is still in my top ten for that year.