I Just Watched...

[JamesJazGuitar]

I got a funny story I watched this with my kids after it came out on VHS back in the day, my son said the scariest person in the film was Shelley Duvall  

 

Duvall was one odd egg in that film.   While watching the film I remember thinking that I would have lost it way before Jack did if that was my wife!

[tallhair]

I got a funny story I watched this with my kids after it came out on VHS back in the day, my son said the scariest person in the film was Shelley Duvall  

 

I thought she was very good in the role ... she played a great meek wife to Jack's nut case to a tee IMHO.  I could see how she could be percieved as scary too though

[tallhair]

Well I hope it's as good as Carry On Cleo, which I just watched (again). Here's a short clip, featuring one of the best lines in cinema history:

 

 

 

That was good Swithin ... I love British movies and TV shows too.  

[film lover 293]

"Quo Vadis" (1912, Italian)--I made the dreadful mistake of not reading the 1895 novel before seeing this.  Without knowledge of the plot, it is impossible to tell who is doing what to whom, and why.  English title cards don't help.  Film is Tough to sit through, except for the burning of Rome; here, Nero plays the harp and sings while Rome burns.  

 

The restoration of this film I saw was done by film societies in Milan, London, and Amsterdam.  Recommended for those interested in Silent film history.  Multiple copies on YouTube.

[tallhair]

Going to watch Hail, Caesar! today with Mrs Tallhair.  I'm really looking forward to it thanks to all the positive comments from TCM viewers like you.

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately Hail, Caeser is out of almost all theaters in this area.  I may wait for Red box or netflix now to see it (unhappy face)

 

[LawrenceA]

Christine - (7/10) - John Carpenter's film version of the Stephen King bestseller about an evil car. This bright red 1958 Plymouth Fury doesn't even make it off the assembly line before maiming and killing people. Cut to the present, and awkward, clumsy high school nerd Arnie Cunningham and his jock best friend Dennis. Arnie is a total social failure, the target of bullies and totally ignored by the girls. On the way home, he spots the decrepit wreck of the '58 Fury, and he's instantly obsessed. He buys the car, despite the protests of his friend and parents, and starts working to restore it in a large garage complex owned by the loathsome Darnell. As Arnie spends more and more time with Christine, as he's named the car, his entire persona changes from the sweet, if dorky, nerd to someone more confident and dangerous. And while he's now dating Leigh, the hottest girl in school, his heart truly lies with Christine. And Christine has a mind of her own...

 

This is one of the better King adaptations, and Carpenter's excellent camerawork and pacing keep the film moving along even through the rough patches. His usual great synth scoring works well too, but will no doubt bother some viewers. There are lots of vintage rock hits on the soundtrack, as well. The cast is good, led by Keith Gordon as Arnie and John Stockwell as his worried best bud. Alexandra Paul is fetching, if a little wooden, as Leigh. Roberts Blossom has a great cameo as the disturbing former owner. But it's Robert Prosky, a veteran stage and screen supporting player, who steals every scene he's in as the grotesque Darnell. The great Harry Dean Stanton has a small bit as a cop, too, although his role goes nowhere. William Ostrander, a John Travolta lookalike, plays the lead high school bully, despite looking 35. Look out for Kelly Peston in an early role as another student. Incidentally, both male leads, Gordon and Stockwell, have gone on to successful directing careers in film and television. 

 

The scene of the unstoppable car, engulfed in flames as it slowly closes in on a victim on a deserted road at night, is one the better images in horror films of the time.

 

 

Rewatch.   Source: Blu Ray.

[LawrenceA]

Deathstalker - (8/10)** - Incredibly silly and incredibly entertaining swords and sorcery flick from executive producer Roger Corman. Richard Hill stars as Deathstalker, an oiled-up beefcake of a hero with long blond hair and a lantern jaw, who is tasked by an old witch with finding a trio of magical artifacts before the evil wizard Munkar does and can become all-powerful. Along the way on his quest, Deathstalker meets up with a variety of friends, including a guy who starts off as some kind of goblin in a cave, another happy-go-lucky adventurer, and a warrior-woman who remains shirtless throughout (played by Lana Clarkson, the B-actress who was shot dead by Phil Spector in 2003).

 

The early 1980's were a big time for fantasy films, with the two Conan films with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dragonslayer, The Beastmaster, and The Sword & the Sorcerer. Deathstalker is their trashy exploitation cousin. This film has it all: a bald bad guy with a dumb tattoo on his face, a pig-man with a snotty nose, giants, lots of people with no shirts, a weird puppet monster in a box that eats fingers and eyeballs, a fighters' tournament, lots of people with no pants, gangs of mutants, silly costumes, harem girls, flashy spells, and Barbi Benton. I loved it, but most rational people will find it lurid and dumb. An American-Argentinian co-production.

 

 

First time watched.   Source: DVD.

[Dargo]

tallhair, your earlier post today about THE SHINING, and your final picture of the closing shot in Krubrick's film here...

Last night I watched The Shining with one of the twins in the kitchen while she was baking cookies and fudge.

 

She gave it a 10.  She also said Jack was really creepy looking.

 

 

 

...reminded me of the artist Tina Mion and her husband Allan Affeldt who about 20 years ago now purchased one of the last remaining old Fred Harvey hotels/train stations, The La Posada in Winslow AZ that sits along the old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe rail line. They've since restored this grand old hotel and train station...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winslow_station_(Arizona)

 

However, the reason I brought this up is that Artist Tina...

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

 

...exhibits many of her brightly colored, sometimes humorous and occasionally macabre paintings at her museum within this hotel...

http://www.laposada.org/museum_contemporary.html 

 

...and that final shot in THE SHINING is reminiscent of one of her paintings titled, "A New Years Eve Party in Purgatory for Suicides".

 

Here's a short YouTube video of her and the painting...

 

(...just thought this might interest you and maybe a few other folks around here)

[GregoryPeckfan]

I'm in the middle of an evening of William Holden films on TCM.

 

All films airing are favourites of mine.  Sabrina, Kwai, Picnic....

 

Too bad I have to get up early.  I really should go to bed after Kwai.  I've seen Picnic often.

 

Hmmmm.

 

 

[LawrenceA]

Eddie Murphy: Delirious - (7/10) - Stand-up comedy concert documents Eddie Murphy's style in the early days of his fame. At this point, he was already a big star thanks to Saturday Night Live and the film 48 Hrs, but it was before Beverly Hills Cop made him the biggest (and richest) comedy star of the 1980's. The pros: his talent for impersonation and characterization are on fine display, and a lot of his material regarding mundane things like family cook-outs and ice cream trucks is funny. The cons: a lot of his material is also badly dated, with a string of anti-gay jokes leading into AIDS jokes, wife-beating jokes, and a lot of mockery of Asians. If you are thin skinned (or even medium skinned) this stuff will be wildly offensive. But if you can place his material in the time and place, there are a lot of good laughs here.

 

Oh, and his bright red leather jacket and matching pants are a wonderful ludicrous 80's fashion statement.

 

Rewatch.   Source: DVD

[tallhair]

tallhair, your earlier post today about THE SHINING, and your final picture of the closing shot in Krubrick's film here...

 

...reminded me of the artist Tina Mion and her husband Allan Affeldt who about 20 years ago now purchased one of the last remaining old Fred Harvey hotels/train stations, The La Posada in Winslow AZ that sits along the old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe rail line. They've since restored this grand old hotel and train station...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winslow_station_(Arizona)

 

However, the reason I brought this up is that Artist Tina...

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

 

...exhibits many of her brightly colored, sometimes humorous and occasionally macabre paintings at her museum within this hotel...

http://www.laposada.org/museum_contemporary.html 

 

...and that final shot in THE SHINING is reminiscent of one of her paintings titled, "A New Years Eve Party in Purgatory for Suicides".

 

Here's a short YouTube video of her and the painting...

 

(...just thought this might interest you and maybe a few other folks around here)

 

Thanks for sharing Dargo.  I spent some time after your post checking out that hotel and agree with you about the picture.

[LawrenceA]

Eureka (1983) - (6/10) - Weird, sloppy, self-indulgent, meta-physical, sometimes boring, sometimes hallucinatory: all these things describe this misfire from director Nicolas Roeg. Gene Hackman stars as a gold prospector in Alaska during the final days of the gold rush. Most of the people have given up and gone home at this point, but Hackman refuses. After a strange encounter with a meteor (I think) he receives some kind of lucky rock (I think) that gives him the extra push to find his gold strike. And does he ever. Cut to decades later, and he's fabulously wealthy, with a giant estate named Eureka. His grown daughter (Theresa Russell) has married a European playboy (Rutger Hauer) that dad doesn't approve of. There's also a shady consortium of some sort, headed by Jewish tough guy Joe Pesci (!) and represented by Italian lawyer Mickey Rourke (!), that needs Hackman's financial backing for some new endeavor. 

 

The cinematography is beautiful, as it usually is in Roeg's films, but the plot is a mess of ham-handed symbolism and uninspired dramatics. The terrific cast, which also includes Ed Lauter, Joe Spinell and Corin Redgrave, is good, with Hackman the stand-out, as usual. Rourke looks scared and uncomfortable, which fits with his character, but he comes across more like he's fully aware of how wrong he is in the role. Russell and Hauer are both beautiful, and they both spend much of the film in various states of undress. There's also one of the most brutal, protracted murder scenes I've seen in a film in a long time. It's starts off shocking, but becomes rather ludicrous the longer it's dragged out. I can't really recommend this film to anyone except Hackman fans or fans of bizarro obscurities. 

 

 

First time watched.   Source: VHS.

[tallhair]

Eureka (1983) - (6/10) - Weird, sloppy, self-indulgent, meta-physical, sometimes boring, sometimes hallucinatory: all these things describe this misfire from director Nicolas Roeg. Gene Hackman stars as a gold prospector in Alaska during the final days of the gold rush. Most of the people have given up and gone home at this point, but Hackman refuses. After a strange encounter with a meteor (I think) he receives some kind of lucky rock (I think) that gives him the extra push to find his gold strike. And does he ever. Cut to decades later, and he's fabulously wealthy, with a giant estate named Eureka. His grown daughter (Theresa Russell) has married a European playboy (Rutger Hauer) that dad doesn't approve of. There's also a shady consortium of some sort, headed by Jewish tough guy Joe Pesci (!) and represented by Italian lawyer Mickey Rourke (!), that needs Hackman's financial backing for some new endeavor. 

 

The cinematography is beautiful, as it usually is in Roeg's films, but the plot is a mess of ham-handed symbolism and uninspired dramatics. The terrific cast, which also includes Ed Lauter, Joe Spinell and Corin Redgrave, is good, with Hackman the stand-out, as usual. Rourke looks scared and uncomfortable, which fits with his character, but he comes across more like he's fully aware of how wrong he is in the role. Russell and Hauer are both beautiful, and they both spend much of the film in various states of undress. There's also one of the most brutal, protracted murder scenes I've seen in a film in a long time. It's starts off shocking, but becomes rather ludicrous the longer it's dragged out. I can't really recommend this film to anyone except Hackman fans or fans of bizarro obscurities. 

 

 

First time watched.   Source: VHS.

 

 

I know you're not high on it but that review does make me want to give it a look

 

Thanks Lawrence.

[film lover 293]

"A Foreign Affair" (1948)--Film is bitter comedy, set and partially filmed in Post-WW II Berlin.  Stars Jean Arthur as a Congresswoman conducting an efficiency investigation about the Army in Berlin,  Marlene Dietrich as a cabaret singer, and John Lund the officer involved with both.  Dietrich is marvelous, Arthur is the picture of an unworldly lady, Lund is fair.  Film is a good watch, but an overwhelming mix of regret and cynicism mute the laughs--still, 7.5 stars out of ten.

[cigarjoe]

Beast of the City (1932) Wow what a great stylistic opening sequence, it then settles down to standard Hollywood product but it's entertaining. Chief of Police's brother gets mixed up with Gangsters and Jean Harlow.

 

Directed by Charles Brabin, cinematography by Norbert Brodine, written by W.R. Burnett (story) and , John Lee Mahin (dialogue continuity) Stars: Walter Huston, Jean Harlow, Wallace Ford. 7/10

[Casablanca100views]

Unfortunately Hail, Caeser is out of almost all theaters in this area.  I may wait for Red box or netflix now to see it (unhappy face)

 

It's worth the price to keep it on your DVD shelf.  I have my copy reserved.

[LawrenceA]

Exposed (1983) - (5/10) - Dopey character study/pseudo-thriller from writer-producer-director James Toback. Nastassia Kinski stars as an aspiring pianist who moves to New York to make her dreams come true. When things don't work out, and she starts working as a waitress, she's spotted by a fashion photographer (Ian McShane) who takes her under his wing and makes her a famous model. She then meets an intense violinist (Rudolf Nureyev) who is trying to track down a Carlos the Jackal-type international terrorist (Harvey Keitel), and she agrees to help.

 

Implausible, murky at times, with some bland acting and stupid dialogue, this is definitely one of Toback's lesser efforts. Toback himself appears as an obsessive ex-boyfriend, and I liked seeing Nureyev punch him in the face. Also with Bibi Andersson, James Russo, Janice Dickinson, Iman, and Tony "Paulie Walnuts" Sirico as a shoplifter.

 

 

First time watched.   Source: DVD. 

[LawrenceA]

Paris Asleep (1924) - (8/10) - Cute French short film from Rene Clair. When a man awakens from his nightly sleep and leaves his quarters atop the Eiffel Tower, he discovers all of Paris is empty. After wandering for a bit, he finds that the people haven't vanished, they are all frozen in place like statues. He joins up with a merry band of people that land in an airplane, and they have fun in the empty city. Eventually, though, things start to turn ugly, and they need to get to the bottom of what happened to the city.

 

This is an early version of films like I Am Legend, in the sense that one of the chief joys is seeing a normally bustling city like Paris devoid of movement. Clair managed several impressive shots of empty streets and parks, although the effect is broken occasionally by a moving boat or train in the distance. At only 35 minutes, there isn't a lot of time for things like plot develop or deep characterization. The main point here is silly fun. The version I watched had the title cards in French only, but the story is clear enough from the onscreen action that this doesn't prove much of a problem. This was listed in 101 Best Sci-Fi Films book.

 

 

First time watched.   Source:  YT.

[Fedya]

Sun Valley Serenade. John Payne plays the pianist/arranger for a big band led by Glenn Miller and managed by Milton Berle. They pick up singer Lynn Bari enabling them to get a big contract in Sun Valley, ID, at which point, a past publicity stunt comes back to bite them in the tuchus. They offered to sponsor a war refugee, thinking taking care of a baby would be publicity, and now the refugee arrives... in the form a of fully grown-up Sonja Henie. For Henie, it's love at first sight with Payne, and she vows to break up Payne's relationship with Bari. (And we're supposed to sympathize with her!)

 

There's some good scenery of Sun Valley, at least the best they could do in black-and-white, and some absolutely horrid rear-projection. With Glenn Miller around, you know the music is going to be top-notch; the movie introduced the Oscar-nominated "Chattanooga Choo-Choo". That number also offers a scene for a young Dorothy Dandrige and the Nicholas Brothers, with obvious points where editors in southern states could cut it out.

 

For the story, the movie gets a 5/10; for the music, a 10/10.

[GregoryPeckfan]

Fedya - a 10/10 for the music in a musical is a must see film for me regardless of the storyline.  Even if I have to fast forward through to musical numbers  in a 1/10 for story, it is still a must-see film for me because of the music.

[Casablanca100views]

Sun Valley Serenade. John Payne plays the pianist/arranger for a big band led by Glenn Miller and managed by Milton Berle. They pick up singer Lynn Bari enabling them to get a big contract in Sun Valley, ID, at which point, a past publicity stunt comes back to bite them in the tuchus. They offered to sponsor a war refugee, thinking taking care of a baby would be publicity, and now the refugee arrives... in the form a of fully grown-up Sonja Henie. For Henie, it's love at first sight with Payne, and she vows to break up Payne's relationship with Bari. (And we're supposed to sympathize with her!)

 

There's some good scenery of Sun Valley, at least the best they could do in black-and-white, and some absolutely horrid rear-projection. With Glenn Miller around, you know the music is going to be top-notch; the movie introduced the Oscar-nominated "Chattanooga Choo-Choo". That number also offers a scene for a young Dorothy Dandrige and the Nicholas Brothers, with obvious points where editors in southern states could cut it out.

 

For the story, the movie gets a 5/10; for the music, a 10/10.

 

Ugh, the Jim Crow ordinances concerning movie showings.  That Choo-Choo number is one of the best. 

 

If you haven't seen it yet, look up Orchestra Wives if you get chance.  Great Glenn Miller hits, damn adorable story (that my parents personally would vouch for small town accuracy)  and Cesar Romero too! 

[LawrenceA]

Las Hurdes/Land Without Bread (1933) - (7/10) - Documentary short film from Spain and provocative director Luis Bunuel. The people of the Las Hurdes region of Spain are shown in all of their starving and impoverished misery. Located roughly 60 miles from the well-off Province of Salamanca, Las Hurdes is rampant with disease and malnutrition. The camera captures the look of loss and hopelessness on the emaciated children's faces, and we see as they drink from a filthy river and eat meager portions of bread. This stuff is pretty raw, but there's a dispassionate distance courtesy of the matter-of-fact English-language narrator on the version I watched. There's also a couple of rough animal scenes (a goat falls down a cliff, and a donkey is killed by bees) that may be a dealbreaker for some viewers. It's only 27 minutes long.

 

One of the 1001 Movies to See Before You Die.

 

 

First time watched.   Source: YT.

[LawrenceA]

Les Maitres Fous/The Mad Masters (1955) - (7/10) - French documentary short by ethnographic filmmaker Jean Rouch. It details the bizarre religious practices of the Hauka, a sect of sub-Saharan Africans living and working in Accra, the largest city in Ghana. The Hauka gather at a nearby cocoa plantation to take part in their rituals, which consist of "spirit possession". They flail about as if in an epileptic fit, foaming at the mouth, sometimes bleeding from the mouth, shouting in gibberish, and attacking themselves and others. There's also some grisly animal sacrifices (a goat and a dog) but they're kept mostly off-screen. While I find the rituals ridiculous and depressing, I can respect the filmmaking involved. This has the feel of an early National Geographic piece, and an early version of the type of sensationalist stuff that would come out of Italy in the 1960's, with titles like Mondo Cane. Rouch's implication is that these bizarre rites are a result of a society set into turmoil by the evils of European colonialism, and he has a valid point. It's only about 30 minutes long, and not for the squeamish.

 

One of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

 

 

First time watched.   Source: YT, in two parts. 

[GregoryPeckfan]

THE DARK ANGEL (1935) - first time seen

 

This is part of the Merle Oberon Star of the Month, recorded from TCM and chosen not only because it was her only Academy Award nomination, but also because the circumstances were right for me to be able to watch it without interruptions and have the right mood for it as well as the fact that come next Sunday the Favourite Performances thread will switch to 1935 and I wanted to make sure I saw it before next Sunday.

 

The movie stars Oberon, Frederic March and  Herbert Marshall.

 

I won't give away any spoilers although I do expect people who read this post to know that it is a war time film, and deal with the issues that happen when  war vets come back home and are afraid of becoming civilians again with all of the physical and mental issues that war vets have that people who have never been in battle will ever know. If you have seen any film that fits this  description I may have just given you spoilers.  It is a hazard of being familiar with a genre.

 

 

This is an excellent film and I can see why Oberon was nominated.

 

This movie reminds me somewhat of The Enchanted Castle, but that other film is a fantasy.  This is certainly not a fantasy.  The number of ways chance, circumstance, misunderstandings, and simply deciding to leave five minutes before or after someone else does makes all the difference in the world in a person's life.

 

 

 

 

[MCannady1]

THE DARK ANGEL (1935) - first time seen

 

This is part of the Merle Oberon Star of the Month, recorded from TCM and chosen not only because it was her only Academy Award nomination, but also because the circumstances were right for me to be able to watch it without interruptions and have the right mood for it as well as the fact that come next Sunday the Favourite Performances thread will switch to 1935 and I wanted to make sure I saw it before next Sunday.

 

The movie stars Oberon, Frederic March and  Herbert Marshall.

 

I won't give away any spoilers although I do expect people who read this post to know that it is a war time film, and deal with the issues that happen when  war vets come back home and are afraid of becoming civilians again with all of the physical and mental issues that war vets have that people who have never been in battle will ever know. If you have seen any film that fits this  description I may have just given you spoilers.  It is a hazard of being familiar with a genre.

 

 

This is an excellent film and I can see why Oberon was nominated.

 

This movie reminds me somewhat of The Enchanted Castle, but that other film is a fantasy.  This is certainly not a fantasy.  The number of ways chance, circumstance, misunderstandings, and simply deciding to leave five minutes before or after someone else does makes all the difference in the world in a person's life.

Not a spoiler for me.  I love this film too and can see why Merle Oberon had the acclaim.  Every performance is beautiful and luminous!  I love all of her films!