I Just Watched...

[EricJ]

I really liked that movie.  I partcularily liked the "Sermon on the Mount" segment( "WHAT?.  Blessed are the GREEK?") Whenever I've seen it re-enacted in other "serious" biblical efforts, I wondered at how COULD all those people REALLY hear what was actually being said?

 

Also the segment of the meeting of the zealots where one shouts, "What have the Romans ever given US?"  and  a few  speak up..."Roads"...Architecture"...Sanitation"...and so on. 

 

Yeah, wonder if anyone ever quoted that scene during Brexit?...  

 

There's the old joke that "There's nothing duller than British atheists--They're so confident, they think they've just figured out all the Anglicans."   ("All the angles", get it?  Never mind.)

The Pythons grew up in the British annoyance to associate Church with State (in a country where the only perceptible difference between Catholicism and an almost identical branch of Protestantism comes down to a historical political grudge) and enforced every day in boys-schools, so it's more "ooo!" topic for British comics to say "Bible quotes are silly!", or "Look at them all fight each other!"  Kind of ruins it to think that the "Holy Hand Grenade" scene from Holy Grail came out of the same Michael Palin-John Cleese mentality

And the Big Message of "You don't need anyone to tell you what to do" is pushed with slightly LESS soapboxing than Inherit the Wind, but if you can put that aside--which you're not allowed to by the last reel--the first half is pure Pythonesque mechanics of silliness we very much did not get in "Meaning of Life".  

 

(The scene where Palin as Pilate dares the guards not to break up at his Roman friend's name is pure minimalist comic gold.)

[kingrat]

I really liked that movie.  I partcularily liked the "Sermon on the Mount" segment( "WHAT?.  Blessed are the GREEK?") Whenever I've seen it re-enacted in other "serious" biblical efforts, I wondered at how COULD all those people REALLY hear what was actually being said?

 

Also the segment of the meeting of the zealots where one shouts, "What have the Romans ever given US?"  and  a few  speak up..."Roads"...Architecture"...Sanitation"...and so on. 

 

Sepiatone

"Did 'e say blessed are the cheesemakers?"

 

One of my favorite films.

[Sepiatone]

Y'all will probably like this-------

 

Yesterday, a nephew came over with his kids to visit my bedridden wife( the nephew's favorite Aunt) and his son(now 7) asked ME if I ever saw TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD!

 

Seems an aunt of HIS(on his mother's side) made him sit down with her and watch it.  Apparently, he wound up liking it a LOT!  He too, at his young age( and rare for his age these days) is an avid reader.  So, I told him I have seen the movie, that it's one of my favorites, and then I handed him my paperback copy of the BOOK.  He was ELATED.

 

I CAN'T WAIT for him to report back to me about it.

 

 

Sepiatone

[MarshaKatz]

Y'all will probably like this-------

 

Yesterday, a nephew came over with his kids to visit my bedridden wife( the nephew's favorite Aunt) and his son(now 7) asked ME if I ever saw TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD!

 

Seems an aunt of HIS(on his mother's side) made him sit down with her and watch it.  Apparently, he wound up liking it a LOT!  He too, at his young age( and rare for his age these days) is an avid reader.  So, I told him I have seen the movie, that it's one of my favorites, and then I handed him my paperback copy of the BOOK.  He was ELATED.

 

I CAN'T WAIT for him to report back to me about it.

 

 

Sepiatone

Hi, Sepiatone,

Thanks for your post. "To Kill A Mockingbird" is also one of my favorite films. But I loved reading Harper Lee's novel even more.  It's wonderful to know that your nephew enjoys reading because books to me have always been a gateway to the world.  I remember when I was very young and my mother took my sister, brother and I to the Stone Public Library so that we could get our library cards. One of the greatest days ever in my life! 

[sewhite2000]

Our Mother's House (1967) - I will give the standard Spoiler Alert warning as I will possibly dive into plot revelations below.

 

I found the first half to be painfully slow with all these very, very earnest child actors. Things pick up considerably at roughly the one hour point when charming but rogueish Dirk Bogarde shows up and hams it up all over the place. I thought if that one girl hadn't been so uptight about everything, the kids could have had a pretty kick-butt, bohemian life with Charlie. Car rides in the country. Trips to parks and zoos. Music to wiggle their **** to, Playboys lying around (every heterosexual boy from my generation knew which ones of their friends had easy access to their dad's Playboys) and very little parental supervision, plenty of free time to one's self while Dad was having his parties.

 

But ... this didn't turn out to be a frothy comedy about the return of a long-absent, free-wheeling dad and the positive effect he had on his dour little children. Within five seconds of Bogarde appearing on screen, I was 99 per cent sure what his fate was going to be (not the exact particulars, but a general idea, right down to which kid it was who was going to ... well, you know), and that eventually he would have to be outed as a total louse to make what happens to him more palatable for the audience. So, the film was pretty boringly predictable in that regard.

 

Otherwise, there were a few highlights to recommend here and there: the scenes where the one girl may or may not have been channeling her mother's spirit were effectively creepy. One high-ick factor scene with disturbing incestual implications (or maybe not, if what Bogarde reveals late in the movie was true). An unexpected moment of joy when the kids realize they can access their mother's savings accounts and their lives aren't going to have to be Dickensian after all.

 

I was periodically drifting off during that very slow first half. It was probably 40 minutes into the movie before it dawned on me that two of the children were played by Pamela Franklin and Mark Lester (I missed the opening credits).

 

Edit: The word I used  that got deleted above wasn't the Biblical term for donkey, which I figured I couldn't get away with, but the much milder plural form of the word that rhymes with "Annie" and starts with an "f". I'm rather flabbergasted that this word should be censored. but okay, I wouldn't want to offend anybody.

[Tikisoo]

MovieCollectorOH said: But just to be safe, I’ll put my brain in a jar and bury it in the back yard first.

 

So YOU'RE Abby Normal!

[Janet0312]

The Most Dangerous Game

 

I've seen this picture a bunch of times, but not for a while and decided to forego grocery shopping to sit and watch. I tell ya, Leslie Banks' character here is evil incarnate. He is positively sinister as the Count. I love how he mocks his guests. In the end when he summons the girl, she is still wearing her tattered dress. One would assume he would have had her dressed for whatever plan he had up his sleeve for her. To the victor belongs the spoils shall we say?

 

Can't remember if this came out before or after King Kong.

[EricJ]

MovieCollectorOH said: But just to be safe, I’ll put my brain in a jar and bury it in the back yard first.

 

So YOU'RE Abby Normal!

 

 

Maybe he's Dr. Hfuhruhurr?  ("It's pronounced 'Huh-ferrrrr!'")  

[Classic movie fan]

I just tuned into "Rebel Without A Cause"

[Fedya]

The only reason to watch Rebel Without a Cause is to see James Dean do his "You're tearing me APART!" shtick, and laugh at it like Bette Davis' nervous breakdown in Now, Voyager.

[NickAndNora34]

The Santa Clause (1994): starring Tim Allen and Judge Reinhold. This is the one where there is an accident on Christmas Eve, and Tim Allen's corporate world is turned into one of candy canes and elves. It may be waaay too early to be watching Christmas movies, but I find this one particularly funny. 

[LornaHansonForbes]

The Most Dangerous Game

 

Can't remember if this came out before or after King Kong.

 

I seem to recall reading THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME was filmed on many of the same sets as KONG, not that that answers your question, but it's interesting.

[LawrenceA]

I seem to recall reading THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME was filmed on many of the same sets as KONG, not that that answers your question, but it's interesting.

 

The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

 

King Kong (1933)

 

They were filmed largely at the same time, with Kong filming during the day, and MDG filming at night. The extensive FX work delayed Kong's release until the next year, though.

[LornaHansonForbes]

The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

 

King Kong (1933)

 

They were filmed largely at the same time, with Kong filming during the day, and MDG filming at night. The extensive FX work delayed Kong's release until the next year, though.

 

Bless you, LAWRENCE.

 

You are the Bunny Watson this site would not be the same without.

[Janet0312]

The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

 

King Kong (1933)

 

They were filmed largely at the same time, with Kong filming during the day, and MDG filming at night. The extensive FX work delayed Kong's release until the next year, though.

 

Sweet!

[film lover 293]

"Ghidrah, The Three-Headed Monster" (1965)--Co-starring Mothra, Rodan, and Godzilla.  Featuring hordes of Japanese actors who panic, scream, shout, and run about on cue.  Vocal cameo by the same voice (all over Japan) telling people to evacuate their city, town, village, etc. in an orderly fashion because Ghidrah/Godzilla/Rodan is rampaging.

 

Delightfully stupid, dreadfully dubbed monster movie.  When the monsters are offscreen, the actors recite dreadful dialogue.  These gems are in the movies' first five minutes:

 

Perky girl reporter--"There's no such thing as brainwaves!"

 

Astronomer--"The saucer-men will tell us what to do!"

 

Plot idiocies also help.  A girl opens an airplane door, jumps out without a parachute, and survives a fall of several thousand feet.  A power station is knocked out, and the power goes out in one room--but is working in the adjoining room.

 

There is a love theme eighteen minutes in that has to be heard to be believed.

 

Finally, the special effects are howlingly funny.  At one point, Godzilla and Rodan appear to be playing tennis.  A Ken doll is killed in his toy car, and a toy ship is set afire by Godzilla's breath.

 

Wonderful Saturday nonsense. On the "So Bad It's Good" scale, 3.4/4.

[Fedya]

At one point, Godzilla and Rodan appear to be playing tennis.

Which one is Bruno Anthony watching?

[EricJ]

The only reason to watch Rebel Without a Cause is to see James Dean do his "You're tearing me APART!" shtick, and laugh at it like Bette Davis' nervous breakdown in Now, Voyager.

 

Wait, I thought it was "LOVE ME!!", and "You're tearing me APART!!" was with Frederic March in East of Eden??

Always get them confused.

 

I'd always loved watching Jim Backus as a kid (never mind Mr. Magoo, I can quote the "Bugs Bunny and the genie" cartoon from memory), so even seeing him in a barbecue apron, playing the Younger Generation's Frustration with the Weakness of the Content Suburban Older Generation, when Dean goes into his big, bold method-acting experiment, Dean's clearly going off script and the director kept the take--

I always admired Backus for being enough of an ad-lib comic to go through with the scene, and March seems to handle it pretty well on his own, too.

 

filmlover 293

 

"Ghidrah, The Three-Headed Monster" (1965)--Co-starring Mothra, Rodan, and Godzilla.  Featuring hordes of Japanese actors who panic, scream, shout, and run about on cue.  Vocal cameo by the same voice (all over Japan) telling people to evacuate their city, town, village, etc. in an orderly fashion because Ghidrah/Godzilla/Rodan is rampaging.

 

I always liked Gt3HM for having the "most" of all the Kaiju teamups--

The Martian-prophet subplot, the Mothra twins, an all-Kaiju cage match, and even the leader of the Seven Samurai making his usual Toho appearance as a doctor.

 

Professional dubbing as we know it from anime shows didn't exist back then, so UPA or Amer. Int'l dubbing Japanese movies, spaghetti-westerns or Russian fairytale epics all had to use the same actors, and you start to appreciate the work they had to figure out.

On Classic Media's "Godzilla vs. Mothra" DVD commentary, they interview some of UPA's surviving dub-voiceover actors:  The idea was that it would look ridiculous for people in Tokyo to speak perfect English, so a quick, halting staccato delivery would not only keep up with the mouth movements but also sound more like a realistic "Japanese accent".

(The actor on the commentary demonstrated:  "Godzilla?...But...that's impossible!")  

 

There is a love theme eighteen minutes in that has to be heard to be believed.

 

It's clearly in Japanese, as the Peanuts were a major music act back then (and under Toho contract), but we get "And now, a popular actress will translate, as they sing in their own island language..."

Well, y'know, not too many other ways they could handle it, except rewriting it like the "Smog Monster" song.

[scsu1975]

Wait, I thought it was "LOVE ME!!", and "You're tearing me APART!!" was with Frederic March in East of Eden??

Always get them confused.

Apparently you also get Fredric March and Raymond Massey confused as well.

[EricJ]

Apparently you also get Fredric March and Raymond Massey confused as well.

 

To be honest, I DO.   (Massey was the one in Arsenic & Old Lace, right?)

[scsu1975]

To be honest, I DO.    (Massey was the one in Arsenic & Old Lace, right?)

Correctimundo

[speedracer5]

I watched a few movies these past couple days:

 

Lady Be Good.  After saying on something like two different schedules that I wanted to see this Eleanor Powell film, I discovered that I'd already recorded it! Go me! (That goes to show how many movies I have on my DVR that I need to get through).  This was a really fun film.  I wish it were available on DVD.  It seems that it was at one point, but the film is out of print.  Despite having top billing, Eleanor Powell is more of a supporting character.  This film belongs to Ann Sothern and Robert Young.  I didn't realize that Sothern and Young were such great singers.  Red Skelton also has a role in this part, but it is very supporting, in fact, I don't remember much of what he did in the film.  Virginia O'Brien was there too with her annoying deadpan singing shtick.  However, Powell does two fabulous dance numbers, that in addition to the title song, make the film worth watching.  Powell's first dance is her character rehearsing a dance.  Her dance is set to "Lady Be Good."  Powell wears hilarious palazzo pants that are unflattering even on her svelte figure.  In this number, she dances with a dog.  It's fun.  At the end of the film, Powell performs a dance to "Fascinating Rhythm" and it is amazing.  She was such fantastic dancer and is really fun to watch.  It's a shame that she didn't make more films.

 

Modern Times.  My husband and I are somewhat on a Chaplin kick and this is the latest film of his that we watched.  My husband is now in love with Paulette Goddard--he thought she was adorable in this film.  Chaplin was amazing as always.  It is a bit disconcerting to hear noise come from the Little Tramp's mouth, but I thought his gibberish song was hilarious and it was fun to watch.  I also liked the scenes in the factory.  My husband and I were cracking up in the scene where Chaplin is forced to help demonstrate the feeding machine.  The poor Little Tramp is always getting the short end of the stick, even though he means well.  I was happy that the ending of this film, and the ending of the Little Tramp so to speak, was positive--you feel like he finally got a break. 

 

The Cat and the Canary.  After Modern Times, I found another Paulette Goddard film on my DVR to watch with my husband.  This was a really fun film.  Bob Hope always seems to be playing himself in his films even when he's supposedly playing another character, but he was good in this film.  His sharp quips and jokey demeanor works for his character in this film, as he's supposed to be an ex-vaudevillian.  I also liked seeing Elizabeth "Miss Trumbull" Patterson.  This film was about 12 years before I Love Lucy and she looks and sounds exactly the same! Goddard was fun.  She excels in comedic roles.  I wasn't expecting the ending, so that was also a fun surprise.  

 

Dead Reckoning.  I've seen this film before, but it didn't really make much of an impression on me.  I tried watching it again and I'm sorry to say that I had the same impression the second time around.  I like Bogart, he's excellent as usual and I liked the vibe of the film.  I liked Bogart's narration and the story.  I think Lizabeth Scott is the weak point of the film.  She seems like a poor man's Lauren Bacall.  Perhaps if Bacall were in the part instead of Scott or if original choice Rita Hayworth had gotten the role, then I would have liked the outcome better.  I just don't care for Lizabeth Scott.  She just seems to lack something.  I can't describe what it is. 

[LawrenceA]

La Chienne (1931) - 8/10 - Early French sound film from director Jean Renoir. Michel Simon stars as a meek would-be painter who falls in love with a prostitute (Janie Marese) and gets taken advantage of by her and her pimp (Georges Flamant). If this sounds familiar, it was remade by Fritz Lang in the USA in 1945 as Scarlet Street with Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea. 

 

On the plus side, the cinematography is amazing, especially the use of light and shadow. Many of the carefully designed shots in the film would look good framed by themselves. The performances are all good, and I especially liked Flamant as the sleazy scoundrel that uses everyone around him. The only negatives in the film are due to the state of the art at the time: the sound recording is primitive (although the subtitles solved that issue for the most part), and Renoir was experimenting with camera movements, resulting in the occasional bounced image or loss of focus. The remastering job was very well done, though. 

 

Source: FilmStruck

[Sepiatone]

I saw LADY BE GOOD back when I was young enough to be still in a single digit age.  It did kind of surprise me as my only familiarity with ROBERT YOUNG up to that point was his role in FATHER KNOWS BEST.  That he might have once had dark, slick hair never occured to me for some reason. 

 

I once tried to start a thread about this sort of thing once, but everyone took off in so many irrelevant directions that even I gave it up in short order.

 

Sepiatone

[LawrenceA]

The Docks of New York (1928) - 8/10 - Silent melodrama from Paramount Pictures and director Josef Von Sternberg. George Bancroft stars as Bill the Stoker, a big, burly, tough-as-nails lug who shovels coal on board a large cargo ship. When they dock in New York, he sets out to find a dame and some booze to while away the time. He ends up rescuing a woman (Betty Compson) who has jumped into the water in a suicide attempt. Bill falls for the troubled girl, naturally, but so does the cruel ship's engineer Andy (Mitchell Lewis), angering Andy's wife (Olga Baclanova). The story takes some twists and turns from there. 

 

Von Sternberg does a great job of evoking the seedy waterfront dives and the desperate, drunken exploits of its inhabitants. Everything is smokey, dingy, foggy and squalid, but beautifully so, with much attention to detail in the sets, even viewed through the frequent haze. Two items that I particularly enjoyed: a camera zoom into the heavily tattooed arm of Bill as he shows off his naked woman ink while he flexes his muscles to make "her" squirm and undulate; and the waterfront missionary known as Hymn-book Harry, played by Gustav von Seyffertitz.

 

Source: YouTube (This is one of many Criterion titles not yet available through FilmStruck, in this case perhaps due to the Paramount origin.)