[Actors/actresses' swan songs.]

5 hours ago, sewhite2000 said:

Ghost Story I haven't seen, but I remember the trailers looking quite creepy on HBO when I was barely a teenager. I hope to check it out some day. It was the final film for both Fred Astaire and Melvyn Douglas.

And for Douglas Fairbanks Jr too. I kind of find it darkly amusing that it was Astaire's last. I have a book at home about Irving Berlin, and it contains a page near the end where, in a letter to Berlin, Astaire bemoans all the nudity in modern films, and his final film ends up showing tons of nudity from Alice Krige and an infamous scene where Craig Wasson does the full monty with his member flapping in the breeze.

[Actors/actresses' swan songs.]

Lillian Gish and Ann Southern went out well with The Whales of August.

[Off-Topic: Favorite TV Shows]

6 minutes ago, chaya bat woof woof said:

Wasn't Joan in Here Come the Brides (David Soul - Starsky and Hutch and Salem's lot and Bobby Sherman (became a teen idol).  Sort of a takeoff on Seven Brides...

That she was.

[Off-Topic: Favorite TV Shows]

9 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

sadly, THIS is the ONLY CLIP I could find, and the quality is terrible (which, in an odd way, adds a certain charm):

MAN the 70's were ****IN NUTS!!!!!!!

 

I know it exists ( I have the DVd copy) but it sure looks strange in retrospect that Alice Cooper was in something with Helen Hayes, Mildred Natwick, and Joan Blondell.

[Off-Topic: Favorite TV Shows]

Just now, TopBilled said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snoop_Sisters

I thought Carney was delightful in the pilot of The Snoop Sisters and played off the ladies rather well. I was disappointed that his character was dropped and he didn't continue with the rest of the series.

I have the set of that show. I think its plausible that one reason why Carney did not appear in the remaining four episodes is that the first one was broadcast as a TV movie in late 1972, while the remaining four were aired in late 1973/early 1974.... at precisely the same time that Art Carney would have been filming Harry and Tonto.

[Off-Topic: Favorite TV Shows]

After a rewarding trip to Big Lots over the weekend resulting in hauling home 3 seasons of The Streets of San Francisco, 4 seasons of Dynasty, and 5 seasons of I Love Lucy (all of these combined for a shade under $50), it made me to begin to think about TV shows over the years. We've all seen many. Many have become personal favorites. While we almost always talk about movies here, i thought it might make a nice change of pace to have a place to talk at lengthabout TV shows we've enjoyed over the years or are just getting into. So, let's dig into it and see what we can talk about here.

[TCM Programming Challenge #43: British Invasion]

There. My schedule is completed.  Only one programming note to make: There are no American films in the whole week's schedule. The challenge was called British invasion, and that is what I went with. Although there is one Irish film (next door neighbors), each and every one of the remaining films is of United Kingdom heritage. This prompted a bit more of a tilt toward the 70s, 80s and beyond than I would typically  go with in one of these challenges, but the end result i think shows the dynamic quality of the British film industry.

[Women Make Films: Thursday Night Theme running September through December]

2 minutes ago, jamesjazzguitar said:

I'm not following you;   How was the film "given the shaft"?

 

The film was given the greenlight by British producer David Puttnam during his short tenure (one year) at Columbia Pictures. He was forced out of the studio about 6 to 8 months before the film was released. Most of the 22 films he gave the greenlight to were buried by the new regime, not so much released as let out the back door to die.  Zelly and Me was so minimally released that there are no existent box-office records of its release, and, aside from a stint buried on Amazon's streaming platform last year,  it has never been reissued since a late 80s videotape release.

[Women Make Films: Thursday Night Theme running September through December]

And if we are comparing how many we've seen, I've seen 14 of them:

Merrily We Go to Hell

Harlan County USA

Daughters of the Dust

Mikey and Nicky

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Daisies

Dogfight

Children of a Lesser God

Girlfriends

Lost in Yonkers

The Hurt Locker

Yentl

My Brilliant Career

Crossing Delancey

[Women Make Films: Thursday Night Theme running September through December]

Perhaps it was a pipe dream, because it was truly given the shaft, but I wish that 1988's Zelly and Me was showing here. Such a haunting little film about an orphaned girl traumatized by a manipulative grandmother (Glynis Johns) who finds the nanny she relies on for kindness (Isabella Rossellini) is being driven away. It was a near perfect portrait of loneliness and it truly touched my soul.

[TCM Programming Challenge #43: British Invasion]

Completed.

Star of the month: Margaret Rutherford (Challenge #1)

TCM Spotlight: Music by John Barry (Challenge #5)

Challenge #2: Based on a Book by Agatha Christie

Challenge #3: England Remembers World War I

Challenge #4: Kenneth Branagh

TCM Import: Hedd Wyn (1992)

Silent Sunday: The Farmer's Wife (1929)

TCM Underground: Smashing Time (1967) & I'll Never Forget What'isname (1967)

Noir Alley: Stormy Monday (1988)

Premieres:

1. Madame Sousatzka (1988)

2. The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

3. The Mirror Crack'd (1980)

4. The Tamarind Seed (1974)

5. March or Die (1977)

6. The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)

7. The Railway Children (1970)

8. The Raging Moon (1971)

9. Comfort and Joy (1984)

10. Dreamchild (1985)

11. Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971)

12. Cal (1984)

13. Melody (1971)

14. The Long Day Closes (1992)

15. Shirley Valentine (1989)

16. High Season (1987)

 

Exempt premieres:

1. Hedd Wynn (1992)

2. Curtain Up (1952)

3. Miss Robin Hood (1952)

4. Innocents in Paris (1953)

5. Chaplin (1992)

6. The Public Eye (1972)

7. 1917 (2019)

8. The Blue Max (1966)

9. Secret Agent (1936)

10. Love's Labor's Lost (2000)

11. Smashing Time (1967)

12. I'll Never Forget What'isname (1967)

13. Stormy Monday (1988)

Decade breakdown:

1920s: 1

1930s: 3

1940s: 13

1950s: 21

1960s: 16

1970s: 13

1980s: 13

1990s: 4

2000s: 1

2010s; 1

Sunday, November 8, 2020

The Archers

6 AM A Matter of Life and Death (1946)  David Niven & Roger Livesley D; Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger  Eagle Lion 104 min p/s

7:45 AM The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) Roger Livesley & Deborah Kerr D; Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger UA 163 min p/s

10:30 AM I Know Where I'm Going (1945) Wendy Hiller & Roger Livesey D; Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger Universal 88 min p/s

12 PM  The Red Shoes (1948) Moira Shearer & Anton Wolbrook D; Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger Eagle-Lion 133 min p/s

2:15 PM Gone to Earth (1950) Jennifer Jones & David Ferrar D; Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger British Lion 110 min p/s

4:15 PM  The Spy in Black (1939) Conrad Veight & Valerie Hobson D; Michael Powell Columbia 82 min p/s

5:45 PM 49th Parallel (1941) Richard George & Eric Portman D Michael Powell Columbia 123 min p/s

---------------------------

John Schlesinger Double Feature

8 PM Billy Liar (1963) Tom Courtenay & Julie Christie D; John Schlesinger Anglo-Amalgamated 98 min p/s

9:45 PM Madame Sousatzka (1988) Shirley MacLaine & Navin Chowdhry D; John Schlesinger Universal/Cineplex Odeon 125 min Premiere #1

Silent Sunday

12 AM The Farmer's Wife (1929) Jameson Thomas & Lillian Hall-Davis D; Alfred Hitchcock British International Pictures 129 min p/s

TCM Imports

2:15 AM Hedd Wyn (1992) Huw Garman & Catrin Fychan D Paul Turner Northern Arts 123 min Imports-Exempt premiere

4:30 AM Rembrandt (1935) Charles Laughton & Gertrude Lawrence D; Alexander Korda UA 85 min p/s

 

Monday, November 9, 2020

Starring Glynis Johns

6 AM The Magic Box (1951) Robert Donat & Margaret Johnson D; John Boulting British Lion 118 min p/s

8 AM An Ideal Husband (1947) Paulette Goddard & Michael Wilding D; Alexander Korda 20th Century Fox 96 min p/s

9:45 AM No Highway in the Sky (1951) James Stewart & Marlene Dietrich D; Henry Koster 20th Century Fox 98 min p/s

11:30 AM Miranda (1948) Glynis Johns & Googie Withers D; Ken Annakin Eagle-Lion 80 min p/s

1 PM Mad About Men (1954) Glynis Johns & Margaret Rutherford D;Ralph Thomas Rank 90 min p/s

2:30 PM The Card (1952) Alec Guinness & Glynis Johns D; Ronald Neame Rank 85 min p/s

4 PM The Adventures of Tartu (1943) Robert Donat & Valerie Hobson D; Harold S Bucquet MGM 111 min

6 PM Vacation from Marriage (1945) Robert Donat & Deborah Kerr D; Alexander Korda MGM 102 min

 

Star of the Month: Margaret Rutherford (Challenge #1)

8 PM Passport to Pimlico (1949) Stanley Holloway & Margaret Rutherford D; Henry Cornelius Ealing 84 min p/s

9:30 PM The Importance of Being Ernest (1952) Michael Redgrave & Edith Evand D; Anthony Asquith UI 95 min p/s

11:15 PM The Runaway Bus (1954) Frankie Howerd & Margaret Rutherford D; Val Guest Rank 78 min p/s

12:45 AM Curtain Up (1952) Robert Morley & Margaret Rutherford D; Ralph Smart Rank 82 min SOTM-Exempt Premiere #1

2:15 AM Miss Robin Hood (1952) Margaret Rutherford & Richard Hearne D; John Guillerman Associated British 76 min  SOTM-Exempt Premiere #2

3:45 AM Innocents in Paris (1953) Alistair Sim & Claire Bloom D;Gordon Parry Romulus 102 min SOTM-Exempt Premiere #3

5:30 AM Castle in the Air (1952) David Tomlinson & Margaret Rutherford D; Henry Cass Pathe 89 min p/s

 

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

ITC Entertainment

7 AM The Great Muppet Caper (1981) Jim Henson & Frank Oz D; Jim Henson Universal/AFD/ITC  97 min.  Premiere #2

8:45 AM Voyage of the Damned (1976) Max Von Sydow & Oskar Werner D; Stuart Rosenberg AVCO Embassy/ITC 182 min p/s

12 PM The Mirror Crack'd (1980) Angela Lansbury & Elizabeth Taylor D; Guy Hamilton AFD/ITC/EMI 105 min Premiere #3

1:45 PM The Tamarind Seed (1974) Julie Andrews & Omar Sharif D; Blake Edwards AVCO Embassy/ITC 119 min Premiere #4

3:45 PM Gregory's Girl (1980) John Gordon Sinclair & Dee Hepburn D; Bill Forsyth Samuel Goldwyn Co/ITC 91 min p/s

5:30 PM March or Die (1977) Gene Hackman & Catherine Deneuve D; Dick Richards Columbia/ITC 107 min Premiere #5

7:30 PM MGM Parade 28 min

-----------------------

TCM Spotlight: Music by John Barry (Challenge #5)

8 PM Chaplin (1992) Robert Downey Jr & Moira Kelly D; Richard Attenbourough TriStar/Carolco 145 min. Music-Exempt premiere #1

10:30 PM Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) Kim Stanley & Richard Attenbourough D;Bryan Forbes Rank 115 min p/s

12:30 AM The Public Eye (1972) Topol & Mia Farrow D; Carol Reed Universal 93 min Music-Exempt premiere #2

2:15 AM The Ipcress File (1965) Michael Caine & Nigel Green D;Sidney J Furie Universal/Rank 109 min p/s

4:15 AM The Wrong Box (1966) John Mills & Ralph Richardson D; Bryan Forbes Columbia 105 min p/s

 

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

50s British Films with Oscar-Nominated Scripts and Stories

6 AM Seven Days to Noon (1950) Barry Jones & Olive Sloane D; Roy Boulting British Lion 94 min p/s

7:45 AM The Sound Barrier (1952) Ralph Richardson & Ann Todd D; David Lean British Lion 109 min p/s

9:45 AM The Man in the White Suit (1951) Alec Guinness & Joan Greenwood D; Alexander MacKendrick Ealing 85 min p/s

11:15 AM The Horse's Mouth (1958) Alec Guinness & Kay Walsh D; Ronald Neame UA 97 min p/s

1 PM Room at the Top (1959) Laurence Harvey & Simone Signoret D; Jack Clayton British Lion 115 min p/s

3 PM The Ladykillers (1955) Alec Guinness & Katie Johnson D; Alexander MacKendrick Ealing 97 min p/s

4:45 PM Genevieve (1953) Dinah Sheridan & John Gregson D; Henry Cornelius UI 86 min p/s

6:15 PM The Captain's Paradise (1953) Alec Guinness & Celia Johnson D; Anthony Kimmins Lopert/British Lion 93 min p/s

----------------------

England Remembers World War I

8 PM Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) Laurence Olivier & Maggie Smith D; Richard Attenbourough Paramount 144 min p/s

10:30 PM 1917 (2019) George MacKay & Dean-Charles Chapman D; Sam Mendes Universal/DreamWorks 119 min History-Exempt premiere #1

12:45 AM King and Country (1964) Dirk Bogarde & Tom Courtenay D; Joseph Losey Allied Artists 88 min. p/s

2:15 AM The Blue Max (1966) George Peppard & James Mason D; John Guillerman 20th Century Fox 156 min History-Exempt Premiere #2

5 AM Secret Agent (1936) Peter Lorre & Madeleine Carroll D; Alfred Hitchcock British International 86 min History-Exempt Premiere #3

 

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Triple Threat: Kenneth Branagh

6:30 AM Hamlet (1996) Kenneth Branagh & Julie Christie D; Kenneth Branagh Columbia/Caste Rock 242 min p/s

10:45 AM Love's Labor's Lost (2000) Kenneth Branagh & Allesandro Nivola D; Kenneth Branagh Miramax 93 min Triple-Exempt premiere #1

12:30 PM Much Ado About Nothing (1993) Kenneth Branagh & Emma Thompson D; Kenneth Branagh Samuel Goldwyn Co 110 min p/s

2:30 PM Henry V (1989) Kenneth Branagh & Paul Scofield D; Kenneth Branagh Samuel Goldwyn Co. 137 min p/s

---------------------

British Comedy Double Feature

5 PM The Mouse That Roared (1959) Peter Sellers & Jean Seburg D; Jack Arnold Columbia 83 min p/s

6:30 PM The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) Stanley Holloway & George Relph D; Charles Crichton Ealing 84 min Premiere #6

---------------------

Based on a Book by Agatha Christie

8 PM Death on the Nile (1978) Peter Ustinov & Mia Farrow D; John Guillerman Paramount/EMI 138 min p/s

10:30 PM Murder on the Orient Express (1974) Albert Finney & Lauren Bacall D; Sidney Lumet Paramount/EMI 137 min p/s

1 AM Evil Under the Sun (1982) Peter Ustinov & Maggie Smith D; Guy Hamilton Universal/EMI 117 min p/s

3 AM Murder She Said (1961) Margaret Rutherford & Stringer Davis D; George Poll o c k MGM 88 min

4:30 AM Murder at the Gallop (1963) Margaret Rutherford & Stringer Davis D; George Poll o c k MGM 81 min

 

Friday, November 13, 2020

EMI Films

6 AM The Boy Friend (1971) Twiggy & Christopher Gable D; Ken Russell MGM-EMI 137 min

8:30 AM The Railway Children (1970) Jenny Agutter & Dinah Sheridan D;Lionel Jeffries Universal-EMI 110 min Premiere #7

10:30 AM The Raging Moon (1971) Malcolm McDowell & Nanette Newman D; Bryan Forbes MGM-EMI 110 min Premiere #8

12:30 PM Comfort and Joy (1984) Bill Patterson & Eleanor David D; Bill Forsyth Universal-EMI 106 min Premiere #9

2:30 PM Dreamchild (1985) Coral Browne & Ian Holm D; Gavin Millar EMI 94 min Premiere #10

4:15 PM Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971) The Royal Ballet D; Reginald Mills MGM-EMI 90 min Premiere #11

6:00 PM  The Go-Between (1971) Julie Christie & Alan Bates D; Joseph Losey Columbia-EMI p/s

-----------------

Produced by David Puttnam

8 PM The Duellists (1977) Harvey Keitel & Keith Carradine D; Ridley Scott Paramount 100 min p/s

9:45 PM Cal (1984) Helen Mirren & John Lynch D; Pat O'Connor WB 102 min Premiere #12

11:30 PM Local Hero (1983) Peter Reigert & Burt Lancaster D; Bill Forsyth WB 111 min p/s

1:30 AM Melody (1971) Jack Wild & Mark Lester D; Warris Hussain British Lion 103 min Premiere #13

-----------------

TCM Underground; Swinging London Double Feature

3:15 AM Smashing Time (1967) Rita Tushingham & Lynn Redgrave D; Desmond Davis Paramount 96 min Underground-Exempt premiere #1

5 AM I'll Never Forget What'isname (1967) Oliver Reed & Orson Welles Michael Winner Universal 97 min Underground Exempt Premiere #2

 

Saturday, November 14, 2020

Selections from Time Out Magazine's List of the Best British Films Ever Made

6:45 AM This Sporting Life (1963) Richard Harris & Rachel Roberts D; Lindsay Anderson Rank 134 min p/s

9 AM The Long Day Closes (1992) Leigh McCormick & Marjorie Yates D; Terrence Davies Sony Pictures Classics 85 min Premiere #14

10:30 AM The Fallen Idol (1949) Ralph Richardson & Michele Morgan D; Carol Reed British Lion 95 min p/s

12:15 PM Went the Day Well? (1942) Leslie Banks & Valerie Taylor D; Alberto Cavalcanti Ealing 94 min p/s

2 PM The Innocents (1961) Deborah Kerr & Martin Stephens D; Jack Clayton 20th Century Fox 99 min p/s

3:45 PM Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Dennis Pryce & Alec Guinness D;Robert Hamer Ealing  106 min p/s

5:45 PM The Servant (1963) Dirk Bogarde & James Fox D; Joseph Losey Landau Releasing 115 min p/s

----------------------------

the Essentials: Kitchen Sink Cinema from a Female Point of View

8 PM A Taste of Honey (1961) Rita Tushingham & Murray Melvin D; Tony Richardson British Lion 100 min p/s

9:45 PM The L-Shaped Room (1963) Leslie Caron & Brock Peters D; Bryan Forbes Columbia 126 min p/s

--------------------------

Noir Alley; A Touch of Neo-Noir

12 AM Stormy Monday (1988) Sean Bean & Melanie Griffith D; Mike Figgis Atlantic 94 min Noir-Exempt Premiere

--------------------------------------

Greek Holiday!

1:45 AM Shirley Valentine (1989) Pauline Collins & Tom Conti D; Lewis Gilbert Paramount 108 min Premiere #15

3:45 AM High Season (1987) Jacqueline Bisset & Irene Papas D; Clare Peploe Hemdale 91 min Premiere #16

-----------------------

5:30 AM MGM Parade 28 min.

[Legally prevented from airing on TCM]

23 minutes ago, TikiSoo said:

According to whose opinion?

Methuselah the movie critic, still writing away at the age of 115. Saw it on its first run.  

[Legally prevented from airing on TCM]

Just now, midnight08 said:

Also  " Escapade"  (1935) with William Powell and Luise Rainer in her first American film.  This MGM  film is in legal limbo too.

i think I read where there is only one print of that remaining. It was in the possession of Miss Rainer herself for many years.

[September 2020 Schedule]

1 minute ago, TopBilled said:

Thanks for mentioning those two.

There's another one that seems to have legal issues-- the MGM comedy REMAINS TO BE SEEN (1953). And Dorothy Dandridge has a role in it.

According to MovieCollector's database, it only aired once on TCM, back in 1995.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remains_to_Be_Seen

Also Where Were You When the lights Went Out. Based on a French play, its the rare MGM film that has never been on TCM and has been AWOL since an early 90s VHS release. Ditto 1959's Ask Any Girl, but I don't know what that was based on.

[September 2020 Schedule]

Just now, TopBilled said:

Earlier I created a thread about films that are legally prevented from being shown on TCM. One of the titles I mentioned is PORGY AND BESS (1959). Undoubtedly TCM would have aired it in September if they had been able to do so. It's one of her most important showcases as a lead actress.

Absolutely. But its been held in a sort of limbo for years. Two more to add to your thread of films that cannot be seen: The blue Veil (1951) and Death of a Salesman (1951)

[September 2020 Schedule]

Only 8 films for Dandridge... with that type of yardstick, we could have had Mae West as an SOTM by now......

[September 2020 Schedule]

On 7/4/2020 at 7:59 PM, skimpole said:

Huh.  So TCM finally decided to premiere All that Jazz.

I'd also say that Postcards from the Edge is a long overdue premiere. Early 90s Columbia title, obviously the story of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, and had played at a TCM film Festival. it's a natural for the channel and its a surprise it didn't turn up already like many other early 90s Columbia/TriStar  titles have (River Runs Through It, Prince of Tides, Remains of the Day, Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia, Awakenings, etc.) 

[I Just Watched...]

9 hours ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

By now you've probably all heard my spiel about how I mostly avoid films made since 2000, but every now and then, I am either by force or my own free will compelled to watch something made in the past 20 years.

On that note, I watched GET OUT (2017)- which I have been meaning to see since it came out. There are not a lot of people making movies/tv nowadays who get my interest or admiration, but JORDAN PEELE absolutely has both.

Imagine if someone left DJANGO UNCHAINED and (the original) WICKER MAN alone in a moldy cellar one night and they mated in UNGODLY union to spew forth something so UTTERLY discomfiting that MY DAY AND POSSIBLY MY WEEKEND IS RUINED. This film got in my brain and laid eggs.

[EVERYTHING I just said is a compliment of the highest order btw.]

I noted similarities to The Stepford Wives and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner myself when I saw it. It definitely is a creepy film.

[I Just Watched...]

11 hours ago, TikiSoo said:

I have this on DVD after reading favorable impressions like yours. I was puzzled by it, didn't seem to gel for me. This may be the kind of movie another viewing might strike the viewer wholly differently.

And I loved Kubrick's THE SHINING. It's a cerebral horror story, very dreamlike, a nightmare. The visual impact is from the sets & actors-no need for gore.

That is one thing I admired about The Shining too. Very little gore. And actually only one murder.  I'm not one for a lot of violence in films. This sequel had a lot more (although frankly the scene where the villainess gets hers at the end was rather worth it), and that one sadistic scene I mentioned where young Jacob Tremblay  (or Room and Wonder) gets bumped off by the vampiric ones really goes too far, even though I have heard it was toned down  from the original cut ( I shudder to imagine the longer cut). But if you leave out that scene, (plus a scene where a lot of the vampires get shot) its not too bad (plus if you see it on a DVD or on  HBO like I did, its very easy to fast forward quickly and painlessly if a scene gets to be too much). The Kubrick though is still the better film.

[BAD MOVIE ALERT!!! - THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE]

1 minute ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

What is ITC Entertainment? 

The company behind Joel Delaney. Brought up back there somewhere. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Entertainment

[BAD MOVIE ALERT!!! - THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE]

15 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

Seriously though, Topics this thread has brushed upon just off the top of my head: 

Quarantine hair, Mel Gibson, sexual assault on screen, Perry King, children eating dog food, TITANIC, SEINFELD, SOAPDISH, DOOL’s XANDER, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, Iggy Pop’s uncanny resemblance of Jennifer Aniston, Films that should not be, RAMBLING ROSE, Bette Midler’s 1991 Oscar gown and some other stuff I can’t remember right now.

It’s been one of our more fascinating derailments.

American Beauty, 1991, Braveheart, The posession of Joel Delaney, ITC Entertainment.....

[BAD MOVIE ALERT!!! - THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE]

9 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

Seriously though, Topics this thread has brushed upon just off the top of my head: 

Quarantine hair, Mel Gibson, sexual assault on screen, Perry King, children eating dog food, TITANIC, SEINFELD, SOAPDISH, DOOL’s XANDER, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, Iggy Pop’s uncanny resemblance of Jennifer Aniston, Films that should not be, RAMBLING ROSE, Bette Midler’s 1991 Oscar gown and some other stuff I can’t remember right now.

It’s been one of our more fascinating derailments.

The film itself (Lylah Clare) was a bit of a derailment, so really it seems approriate.

[I Just Watched...]

Doctor Sleep (2019)-- Otherwise known as the sequel to 1980's famed horror film The Shining. -- 8/10 

Doctor Sleep faces a task that is hard for any film to face. It has to face the fact it is a sequel to one of the best known and best regarded horror films in screen history, The Shining (1980). Like the earlier film, this too is drawn from a book by Stephen King, and it too makes changes from the book it is based on (I kind of feel after reading the difference that one part of the book's ending would have a better idea than one element of the movie's ending, but that's a small quibble).

So how does it hold up? Well, Doctor Sleep is a very solid, very creepy and disturbing film, a superior horror film... even if it link to the earlier film seems somewhat tenuous (in spite of Ewan McGregor playing a grown up Danny Torrence and a prologue which recreates the look of one famous scene) until the final act of the film returns us to the notorious Overlook Hotel. 

It is sort of interesting in a way as a semiotic experiment to see how film content has changed since 1980. This film is much gorier than the original film, but then again that can be somewhat expected. The Shining was very much a film in a tight, claustrophobic atmosphere in spite of the vast size of the hotel. That was a virtue as the tension kept rising, and by the end it was going at full steam. The film was taut, elegant, refined, and very effective. Doctor Sleep on the other hand is earthier, more rough and ready, and much more diffuse in its storyline.

That diffuse quality is probably the one thing that makes this not quite as good as the earlier film. It takes a little over an hour into this two and a half hour film for two of the three main characters to actually interact on screen, having given us so much backstory. The backstory helps us to understand how Danny has reconstructed his life from rock bottom, how the teenage Abra (Kyliegh Curran) has a very strong sense of the shining, and how disturbing Rose (Rebecca Ferguson) and her pack of vampiric, soul-sucking, child-killing reprobates are. But it also feels like all of this could have been slightly tightened as well. And a sadistic scene where the immortals bump off one of their prey really goes on too long, even though it is of critical importance to all in the film that comes after it.

But after that, the film hits its stride building as it goes, back to the places nightmares are made of. Even before this though, the film benefits from good acting all around, especially from McGregor and Curran (Kudos too to the casting director for finding somebody who emulates the late Scatman Crothers perfectly, and for the hairraising spectacle of seeing Henry Thomas look like a ringer for 1980 Jack Nicholson) and a general air of being carefully well-made.

is this a classic like the earlier film, no, but for what is is, its still a good journey into the macabre and a fine example of its genre.

[I Just Watched...]

On 6/26/2020 at 4:07 PM, Det Jim McLeod said:

Scent Of Mystery aka Holiday In Spain (1960) TCM 4/10

An English photographer (Denholm Elliott) uncovers a murder plot while vacationing in Spain.

I saw this because I am a big Peter Lorre fan and wanted to add this to my list of his films that I have seen. It was pretty bad, Lorre does appear in most of the scenes but merely drives Elliott around and has a few quips here and there. Mike Todd Jr produced and seems to want to do a smaller scale version of his late father's Around The World In Eighty Days. The color and scenery are beautiful but the script is ridiculous. However it is almost worth it to see the surprise cameo at the end. 

Yeah, just finished it up today, and its very blase, even though Spain looks like a treat in it. Nifty end credits though, and the curved screen gives it some novelty value. Still, I needed to dip back into the classic era after three straight up experiments with 2019 cinema, so it served its purpose.

[I Just Watched...]

On 7/1/2020 at 5:33 AM, YourManGodfrey said:

Hopscotch (1980)

I’ve been watching a good handful of films from this era recently. I noted in my previous post that I usually don’t care for this period of film, but a few interesting films have popped up over the past handful of months; Atlantic City, Hardcore, and Hopscotch. Atlantic City Hardcore Hopscotch would be a good name for something. I’m not sure what that something is, but it’s a good name. Anyway, as far as I know, this was my introduction to Walter Matthau. It’s not an over-the-top Peter Sellers-style performance, but it’s an amusing performance in this spy comedy, which is how I would describe the entire film; amusing. The plot is absurd, comedy is found throughout, and it’s not a difficult film to follow. I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next, which I can’t say about every film I watch. The only thing I dislike is Ned Beatty. He fits his role perfectly, but I can’t stand him as an actor. 

 

On 7/1/2020 at 8:21 AM, TikiSoo said:

I've tried finding pictures of Mustin as a young man to no avail.

Thanks for the review. I'm just discovering movies from the 70's-80's, since I was too much a wild child to watch movies at the time. My remember my Mom loved HOPSCOTCH when she saw it in a theater and always wanted to see it. Skipped the TCM broadcast finding the library has a copy.

I remember Hopscoth warmly. I only saw it once, but it was a playful, fun film  and Walter Matthau was wonderful. Plus Glenda Jackson was fun in her smaller part as Matthau's immorata. Regarding Ned Beatty, the character really was something else. I remember that the film decided to make a sly comment by making Beatty's character, the villain,  the only one in the film to use strong swear words, and indeed he is the only reason for the film's R rating.