I Just Watched...

[DownGoesFrazier]

BLUE PRINT FOR MURDER with Joseph Cotton and Susan Peters. Very good mystery, Cotton was NOT wimpy.

That's Jean Peters. Nobody bothered to correct me. I guess they just rolled their eyes.

[LawrenceA]

TRUE CONFESSIONS - (7/10) - Excellent drama about an L.A.P.D. detective trying to solve the murder of a would-be actress found cut in two and dumped in a vacant lot (based on the Black Dahlia case). The investigation leads him to his celebrity Catholic priest brother, who is himself involved in political machinations both inside the church hierarchy and with a notorious gangster. Solid performances and good period detail keep you interested. Robert Duvall and Robert DeNiro star as the cop and priest, respectively, with a great supporting cast including Charles Durning, Burgess Meredith, Cyril Cusack, Kenneth McMillan, Ed Flanders, Dan Hedaya, James Hong, and Jeanette Nolan. The script is by John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion.

[Janet0312]

Captain Kidd 1945. I didn't think this was an especially good film. Laughton

seemed to be playing the character for laughs. I couldn't get past Randolph

Scott supposedly being a British citizen with a southern drawl. The sword fight scene was pretty dark, probably didn't want to show off how much the actors

stunk at it, but I enjoyed Gilbert Roland being backed out of the window to the sea below. Don't believe I ever saw that in a sword fight before.

[LawrenceA]

URGH! A MUSIC WAR - (8/10) - Live performance clips from 33 new wave, punk, and post-punk bands from both sides of the Atlantic. The sound quality is great, and the filming is superb. Each act is given the best possible platform to make an impression. Some do, some don't. Among the better known acts are The Police (who open and close the film), OMD, Oingo Boingo, Echo & the Bunnymen, XTC, Klaus Nomi, The Go-Go's, Dead Kennedys, Gary Numan, Joan Jett, Magazine, the Cramps (my favorite act), Pere Ubu, X, UB40, and Devo. For many years, this was very hard to get a hold of. It was one of the first DVDs I bought from the Warner Archive Collection.

[scsu1975]

BLUE PRINT FOR MURDER with Joseph Cotton and Susan Peters. Very good mystery, Cotton was NOT wimpy.

 

 

That's Jean Peters. Nobody bothered to correct me. I guess they just rolled their eyes.

Well, for that matter, it's Cotten and not Cotton.

[LawrenceA]

VENOM - (5/10) - Rather shoddy suspense thriller about a botched kidnap and ransom scheme that leaves the perpetrators and the victims trapped in a house with an escaped deadly black mamba snake. The police have the place surrounded, so it becomes a game of rising tensions. Who will live and who will die, and at the hands of the criminals, the police, or the snake's fatal venom?

 

The only real draw here is the big cast, including Sterling Hayden, Klaus Kinski, Susan George, Sarah Miles, Nicol Williamson, Michael Gough, Cornelia Sharpe, and Oliver Reed as Dave. The snake is usually a silly plastic prop, but there are distorted POV shots from the snake's perspective to liven things up.

[Tikisoo]

LA said: I know my method is stupid, and maybe a little OCD, but it's a hobby.

 

Wow that IS crazy....if that's your "hobby"

Actually, watching that many movies is not out of the ordinary, but what is your reasoning for keeping a notebook?

 

URGH! A MUSIC WAR

 

Wow I've never even HEARD of this movie.

I'll bet it IS hard to find. 

 

Revisiting the punk bands of my youth is fascinating-seeing who really was a trendsetter & who's just sloppy or lip-synching. I've taken out old Saturday Night Live and Midnight Special DVDs from my library-a hoot!

[Bogie56]

 

Wow that IS crazy....if that's your "hobby"

Actually, watching that many movies is not out of the ordinary, but what is your reasoning for keeping a notebook?

 

While I cannot speak for Lawrence, the film diary that I have been keeping since age 12 provides me with lots of things.  One of which is to solve arguments such as when Mrs. Bogie says "we saw this film two years ago," to which I can reply "no we didn't.  We saw it on Sat. Feb, 3, 2001."

[DownGoesFrazier]

Well, for that matter, it's Cotten and not Cotton.

Keep those eyes rolling.

[LawrenceA]

LA said: I know my method is stupid, and maybe a little OCD, but it's a hobby.

 

Wow that IS crazy....if that's your "hobby"

Actually, watching that many movies is not out of the ordinary, but what is your reasoning for keeping a notebook?

 

 

 

The notebooks help me keep track of what I've watched. At one point I kept that info on a computer, but I lost it all. Notebooks don't crash and erase their pages.

 

Another bonus of watching films from the same year together is that it makes it easier to appreciate a film within the time period it was made. Watching three 1975 movies together, you see trends and understand the tech and style of the times. Watching a 2013, then a 1943, then a 1973, can be jarring, and I found I would be less likely to appreciate the older films within their context. If you watch one movie a day, or every other day, this isn't really an issue. But I watch 3 to 5 movies in a day.

[scsu1975]

Abraham Lincoln (1930)

 

Slow going, but picks up near the end. Walter Huston is good as Abe, but in the early scenes, he looks too much like The Joker:

 

 

Una Merkel is a bit irritating as his first wife. Ian Keith is appropriately villainous as John Wilkes Booth. It is a bit jarring to see Henry B. Walthall, the star of Birth of a Nation, in a bit role. I didn't realize how short this guy was.

[LawrenceA]

WOLFEN - (6/10) - After a series of grisly, unexplained murders take place that bare traces of an animal attack, NYPD homicide detective Albert Finney and psychologist Diane Venora team up to solve the case. Incredibly, evidence suggest a werewolf is loose in the city. Or could it be something stranger and far more deadly? Co-starring Gregory Hines, Edward James Olmos, Tom Noonan, and Dick O'Neill. Directed by Michael (WOODSTOCK) Wadleigh. The film has a nice professional gloss, but it never really engages, and the lengthy "wolf-vision" POV shots get old. This is supposedly the only film role that was ever refused to Dustin Hoffman, who lobbied for the lead. Director Wadleigh insisted on Finney. Based on the bestseller by Whitley Strieber.

[Fedya]

While I cannot speak for Lawrence, the film diary that I have been keeping since age 12 provides me with lots of things.  One of which is to solve arguments such as when Mrs. Bogie says "we saw this film two years ago," to which I can reply "no we didn't.  We saw it on Sat. Feb, 3, 2001."

Your couch must get a lot of use.

[LawrenceA]

THE ONE ARMED EXECUTIONER - (6/10) - Filipino action movie about a Manila supercop, hot on the trail of a drug smuggling ring, who witnesses his wife's murder and has his left arm cut off in retaliation by the druglord. After a period of hopeless drunkenness, he decides to train with a one armed martial arts master and get revenge. Unlike most Filipino action films of the era, this one is pretty good, and a little better made, although it has some serious limitations (the lead actor's attempts to hide his left arm fail quite often). I also enjoyed the cheese-funk theme music.

 

This was my final 1981 film. See ya soon for 1982!

[cigarjoe]

The notebooks help me keep track of what I've watched. At one point I kept that info on a computer, but I lost it all. Notebooks don't crash and erase their pages.

 

Another bonus of watching films from the same year together is that it makes it easier to appreciate a film within the time period it was made. Watching three 1975 movies together, you see trends and understand the tech and style of the times. Watching a 2013, then a 1943, then a 1973, can be jarring, and I found I would be less likely to appreciate the older films within their context. If you watch one movie a day, or every other day, this isn't really an issue. But I watch 3 to 5 movies in a day.

understandable 

[MCannady1]

The notebooks help me keep track of what I've watched. At one point I kept that info on a computer, but I lost it all. Notebooks don't crash and erase their pages.

 

Another bonus of watching films from the same year together is that it makes it easier to appreciate a film within the time period it was made. Watching three 1975 movies together, you see trends and understand the tech and style of the times. Watching a 2013, then a 1943, then a 1973, can be jarring, and I found I would be less likely to appreciate the older films within their context. If you watch one movie a day, or every other day, this isn't really an issue. But I watch 3 to 5 movies in a day.

I like that!   When I was a teen in the 60's I kept a log of all the movies I saw on TV.  There were many.  Almost every day I would watch something when my big sis and I got home from school (sometimes while doing homework, which was taboo).  THere was a great old movie station (a UHF Channel)  that played 30's and 40's films all the time.  We first saw Deanna Durbin films and many others.  So, that's how we started out.  I remember seeing The Bishop's Wife on there the first time and Guest in the House with the lovely and talented Anne Baxter and the underrated Ralph Bellamy.

 

   LAter I branched out and watched more current  things, but the lovely roots of our beginning  sojourns to many countries (on film) and meeting with many superb actors and actresses made it all worth while.  My sister still loves classic films and we send them to

each other as well as TV Series.  For Christmas she sent me the Perry Mason boxed set.  I sent her THe Alfred Hitchcock Presents sets.

 

I lost the list somehow over the years but now keep a new one of what I recall.  It is pretty much comprised of my film collection which is extensive by now.  In fact, I am currently transferring the pencilled changes in my movie recordng records to our computer - little by little. 

IT is a fun hobby for me, as I am housebound from my spinal operation.(s).  THough the Scoliosis which collapsed my spine was removed by surgery 5 years ago, the walking is extremely difficult.  At present it is hard to stand with my walker, so I don't go out much.  My old hobby comes in handy and now I watch a few films every day.   THe surgeon thinks the walking element came into jeopardy between the first and second operation.  Now he orders me to exercise which I try to do daily.   Sadly, I walked fine until 2010.

Exercise is all I got left, so I try 3 times a day.  Can't complain, though.  He saved my life.

 

THere I go with more hobbies too!  I have a wonderful collection of 50's and 60's rock music and listen while exercising.  A great

inspiration.  Today it is the Beatles on my hit parade.  I pick a different group every day.  They are my favs., of course.

 

Today I appreciate the older films more and more with profound elements and timeless stories of romance, Film Noirs,  etc.  When I say older I mean the 30's and 40's.  (If they are older than me I used to say they were old movies- smile).  Anything before '51...).

But of course the newer things come into play as well.  So now and then will try the  50's, 60's  and maybe the 70's and 80's and more recentl  So I have some more current favorites.  I was very sad to hear of the recent passing of Alan Rickman, David Bowie and Natalie Cole, among other other talents.

 

I respect and like the viewers who prefer the newer films as a rule as well as those that prefer the Black and Whites as a rule.

But I have gotten more than one person to change their minds - a friend out of state with whom I trade films just transitioned to

black and whites versus color.  I always tell my friends that what we prefer as worthwhile elements in our quest for a good film are the key thing in watching a film, regardless of the mode - Black and White or Color.  Also, everyone has their own preference when viewing a film.

[MCannady1]

While I cannot speak for Lawrence, the film diary that I have been keeping since age 12 provides me with lots of things.  One of which is to solve arguments such as when Mrs. Bogie says "we saw this film two years ago," to which I can reply "no we didn't.  We saw it on Sat. Feb, 3, 2001."

I like to revisit my youth too, as I was saying earlier.  Even before my teens I was inspired with the classics by my parents who absolutely loved the 30's and 40's,  So I was out there loving rock music like other teens in the 60's  but I had my special hobby with wonderful and exciting elements.  I really think that they shaped my future in some way.  Wish I could find my earlier notes!  I ask my sister about older  films we saw  and  she calls me and asks who was in a film.  Lately she says I am the expert, simply because I answered an obscure question from a film and another from a TV Show we loved..!    Who was that guy in Twilight Zone who read all the books and then broke his glasses just as books magically cropped up everywhere!  Burgess Meredith,  I recalled.

 

THe film I recalled was Sunset Boulevard and the man who payed Gloria Swanson's ex-husband was Eric Von Stroheim.  Well, she was staggered by that one too.  Now I've got a rep. - Her kids and mine are consulting me!   THat's ok,  ...My notes would have furnished the info. I needed even better;   I started my little book like this:

THe Bishop's Wife       Christmas Day,  1965   and down the pages with two columns in each all in pencil.  

 

Well, for that matter, it's Cotten and not Cotton.

I like BLueprint for Murder too!  Joseph Cotten always a great pick and I like Jean PEters.  I like Susan too.  Sadly, she was paralyzed in an accident when still quite young in the 40's.  She played a part or 2 in a wheelchair written into the script.

[speedracer5]

I saw a couple movies this past weekend while visiting my friends over the three-day weekend:

 

Creed.  This movie stars Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone and Phylicia Rashad.  It featured Jordan as Adonis Creed, the son of Apollo Creed who appeared in the first four Rocky films.  Adonis Creed was the result of an extra-marital affair that Creed had.  Rashad portrays Creed's widow who takes his son in after he ends up in juvenile hall.  Adonis Creed aspires to be a boxer like his father, but he wants to make it on his own.  He doesn't want people to think he's riding his father's coattails.  Adonis ends up moving to Philadelphia where he seeks out his father's old friend and rival, Rocky Balboa.  Adonis wants Rocky to train him to be a champion boxer.  Rocky is hesitant at first, but ultimately agrees to train Adonis.  I liked that this film contained many homages to the original Rocky franchise, however, it stands alone as its own film.  The famous theme song is only heard in a short snippet toward the end of the film.  I was most surprised by Stallone's performance.  When I think of great actors, Stallone's name doesn't immediately come to mind.  I don't think he's horrible, but I typically think of him as more of a personality, rather than a great acting presence.  However, in Creed, I thought that Stallone was excellent.  He was very skilled in showcasing Rocky's struggle with the effects of aging and other health problems that he endures.  Rocky is no longer physically able to box like he had in the previous Rocky films.  The scene where Rocky visits a cemetery was very touching.  Stallone deserves his Oscar nomination, if not the award itself. 

 

The Wrestler.  This movie came out a few years ago and was hailed as Mickey Rourke's comeback.  I thought Rourke was excellent in this film.  I really like watching the old-school wrestling (I have no idea why, it's so absurd).  My friends and I had just watched the WWF Royal Rumble 1990 (Hulk Hogan wins!) and my friends decided to follow that spectacle with this film.  This was an interesting film to feature alongside Royal Rumble.  The Wrestler features Rourke as a former world-class wrestler who used to be at the top of his game back in the 80s.  Fast forward 20 years and Rourke is still at it, however, both he and the sport has changed.  Rourke's star is fading fast and he's forced to sign up for horrendous matches where participants actually harm each other and themselves with things like mousetraps, glass, staple guns, thumb tacks, etc.  The physicality of these matches proves to be too much for Rourke's body and he's forced to pursue a different career.  This film showcases Rourke trying to deal with the consequences of his actions over the years while also coming to terms with the idea that he cannot wrestle his whole life.  Marisa Tomei co-stars as Rourke's stripper friend.  

[LawrenceA]

Speed, glad to see the good review for CREED. I really liked THE WRESTLER, and I'm not a fan of the sport(?), although I used to hear about it all the time from family and coworkers. That's hilarious that you guys watched Royal Rumble from 26 years ago!

[MCannady1]

Abraham Lincoln (1930)

 

Slow going, but picks up near the end. Walter Huston is good as Abe, but in the early scenes, he looks too much like The Joker:

 

 

Una Merkel is a bit irritating as his first wife. Ian Keith is appropriately villainous as John Wilkes Booth. It is a bit jarring to see Henry B. Walthall, the star of Birth of a Nation, in a bit role. I didn't realize how short this guy was.

Good film and what an actor!  No, I had not realized this guy was short either.  He had a really wide range of talent.  I recently read a Book about Silent Film stars and Henry was mentioned as Alessandro, the handsome Indian in the romantic film with Mary Pickford as the heroine.  (Well, having enjoyed some of Mary's films I read that she was thought to be younger because of her diminutive height.).

 

That's how I watch 'em.

 

I keep movies of the same year together, and watch them in alphabetical order when I get to said year, so when I write 'em in my "I've seen" notebooks, they are easier to refer to. Then I move on to the next year. I'm on 1981 now. About half of what I'm watching are rewatches of movies I've purchased on dvd or blu ray, so I'm watching the new copy; the other half are ones I've never seen before.

 

This is all a loose guideline. I make exceptions when I watch a theatrical release, or something strikes my fancy like the Thy Kingdom Come doc on YT, or if I DVR something that I want to watch in HD, I'll watch "out of order".

 

These aren't just reviews of all the films from a given year that I've seen either. If it was, I've seen 152 films from 1981...that would be a substantially longer list of reviews than what I've done on here.

 

I know my method is stupid, and maybe a little OCD, but it's a hobby.

 

Hey, that's a neat idea!  A lot of mine are re-watches too.  Last night I watched The Seventh Veil with the great James Mason again and also Guest in the House I had seen long ago.  What I will do is indicate (for reference) if something is new - to me.

 

In an earlier post I mentioned that I started my collection in '81.  My hubby got me a VCR for Christmas and wouldn't you know it, the first thing I taped was A Christmas Carol with Alistair Sim.  I never had so much fun in my life.  I taped so many things and still have the VHS tapes  from 30 years ago..  Most of them held out well.  A little before I had surgery my hubby transferred all of my VHS tapes onto DVD.  (from 2008 - 2010).  What a job!  Good thing he did.  It is easier to manage my collection now, with the direct transfers.  (Methinks he did not want to have bookcase after bookcase with the tapes in our den).  WE still have bookcases with the DVDs, but nearly so many!

 

On Christmas Day 1981,

I started with a system where I usually taped 3 films on a VHS.  (Since that time I have met people who say - Standard Play, please!).  But in the 80's tapes were expensive.   So I usually gave the tapes a number, going by the first item on the VHS.  That meant I needed another book as a Cross Reference to locate the other films.  THat worked out well, except they are in 4 big notebooks now.  I started out with one and it looked like this:

 

Al        A Christmas Carol  '51

           A Christmas Carol  '38

           THe Little Shop Around the Corner

 

(One month later approximately, our second son was born, January 27th.  Soon we will celebrate his 35th birthday which is strange, as I am only 39  myself!  and our other son will be 37 soon and our daughter will be  25 this summer!-- LOL).   Time is strange, but great movies are timeless.

 

THe one above is the "legend" which basically describes the main recordings which I called "Non-Commercial Tapes".  I have page after page now. (Every time I would start a new VHS, I would put it under the first entry on the tape and so on).

 

When I printed it up in 2008, I had 356 pages in the Cross Reference book alone (Triple spaced to allow for new entries).  In about 8 years, though, I have a lot of changes pencilled in and referred to.  I did interject quite a few in both files, but since last year a bunch more came up.  So I am taking a few pages a day to update my list on the computer.  I used to be a secretary and miss the work, I guess.  It is really fun for me and I love the films.  Today it is easier to integrate "new" films added to my collection, as now I put just one film on a DVD.

 

 

So it is fun to have your own system.  Not really tedious when you are having fun!  (Sorry for getting wordy here.  Movies are the most fun hobby I have ever had.  MY hubby will watch now and then, but really prefers Mystery! with Agatha Christie Mysteries, SHerlock Holmes, etc.  The "kids" will usually take a little time to watch something newer with me).. .

 

Thanks for bearing with me!

 

Our daughter will watch TV movies with me and recently loved the tele-film  The Other Man  '70 with Roy Thinnes and Joan Hackett.  A lot of those films were great.  This one in particular is well worth watching.  I had seen it in the early 70's and never saw so many plot twists.

[speedracer5]

Speed, glad to see the good review for CREED. I really liked THE WRESTLER, and I'm not a fan of the sport(?), although I used to hear about it all the time from family and coworkers. That's hilarious that you guys watched Royal Rumble from 26 years ago!

Lol.  It's a highly choreographed show, though I believe that they do use some real wrestling moves.  Even in the Royal Rumble, the outcome is already pre-determined.  They already determined that Hulk Hogan was going to win.  The whole thing is so ridiculous, between all the outfits, the theatrics, the "managers" and the fake feuds.  Royal Rumble is funny because each wrestler draws a number (1-30) which determines the order of who enters the ring.  #1 of course is at a disadvantage because he has to be in the ring first.  #30 spends the least amount of time in the ring.  The whole point is to "wrestle" your opponent and ultimately toss him over the ropes and out of the ring.  The "winner" is the last one standing.  It's funny when someone is tossed out of the ring and they'll pop back in to sabotage the person who eliminated them and then they'll run away.  In one match, someone was disqualified for hitting someone with a chair.  Lol.  I don't think I'd ever watch this wrestling on my own, but with friends and a few cocktails or beers, it can be very funny and entertaining. 

 

I thought Creed was a great movie.  Highly recommended.  I love sports movies, but that didn't factor in to my liking of the film.  I thought this was an overall great film.  Re: The Wrestler.  I liked the movie, but it was depressing.  It was one of those films that I'm glad that I saw and I thought it was really good, but I don't think I would need to see it over and over again.  

[Tikisoo]

Well, looks like I'm the odd man out in this conversation....Bogie, McCannady & L.A. are all "list keepers", thanks all for responding to my question. 

 

Movies are just a past time for me- I can enjoy the story, enjoy the contributions of all involved in creating them. If a movie is forgotten, I just see it again and often because I've changed, my opinion of the movie can change too.

 

I'm a member of this group to hear about movies I may have missed (thanks Bogie) or should revisit because possibly missed elements that could help my enjoyment of them (thanks speedy)

Conversation is far more valuable than "facts" for me.

 

With the internet offering blogs, databases of factoids, keeping a notebook of movies seen confounds me.

It's like "collecting". I don't quite understand the concept of that either.

[AndreaDoria]

Ooooh, I love all this list keeping, you can't be too OCD for me. Friends come to my house and say they're uncomfortable because it's so "sterile."  I take it as a compliment. 

 

I never thought of keeping a movie list, but I used to keep a notebook of the books I read.  Now I go to Amazon with my books, write a short review, and Amazon keeps them all for me.  I just click on 'see all reviews by this person," and up comes all the books I've read, what I thought of the writer, and a picture of the cover to jog my memory.  It's handy to look at before going to the library because it reminds me of which authors to look out for and which to avoid.  it includes DVD's of the movies I've reviewed, too, but I rarely do that.  I would rather talk about movies here and get  feed back from you guys.

[scsu1975]

Good film and what an actor!  No, I had not realized this guy was short either.  He had a really wide range of talent.  I recently read a Book about Silent Film stars and Henry was mentioned as Alessandro, the handsome Indian in the romantic film with Mary Pickford as the heroine.  (Well, having enjoyed some of Mary's films I read that she was thought to be younger because of her diminutive height.).

 

 

 

 

Here he is with Hobart Bosworth, who was 6' tall. Walthall was around 5'7". He just looks so tiny in comparison.

 

[DownGoesFrazier]

Here he is with Hobart Bosworth, who was 6' tall. Walthall was around 5'7". He just looks so tiny in comparison.

 

Wow. Six feet tall!. Anyone would look tiny in comparison to such a behemoth.