I Just Watched...

[GregoryPeckfan]

Regarding the WII and post WWII era for women working in factories while men were away at war:

 

I really must admit that when I heard last year that TCM was doing a Spotlight on Women In Film, I thought that they were looking at how women have been portrayed  ON film like all the ethnic groups they have done, especially since they were on two nights a week.

 

The documentary ROSIE THE RIVETER was the only film that dealt with this shown that month.

 

I still want TCM to look at how women have been portrayed on film and why REGARDLESS of whether the director or others  behind the scenes were female.

 

Perhaps they could do this theme sometime in the future.

[LawrenceA]

THE NINJA WARS - (7/10) - Strange, hit-or-miss period fantasy from Japan. A power-hungry Lord is told by a wizard that if the Lord marries a beautiful maiden that has caught his eye, the world will be his. The wizard leaves five strange magicians to help the Lord secure the girl, via a love potion. A young apprentice ninja named Jotaro is determined to stop them. Sonny Chiba appears as the Lord's unwilling major domo, with Chiba protege and future major Japanese film star and American tv regular Henry Sanada as the heroic Jotaro.

 

There's a lot of really weird stuff here, like a guy who fights using projectile vomit, lots of flying around like superheros, bloody martial arts battles, and much more. I wasn't expecting much with the silly title, but it was much more ambitious and interesting than anticipated.

 

First time watched. Source: DVD, a 4-film Sonny Chiba set.

[Tikisoo]

about a naive young rookie cop (Robby Benson)

Despite the great cast, this was nearly laugh-free, and painful to watch

 

Whaa?

 

How can you have Robby Benson & "great cast" in the same paragraph?

 

Can anything with Benson "acting" be "laugh free"?

 

"Painful to watch", now that I believe!

[LornaHansonForbes]

 

 

The 1942 version of BASIC INSTINCT is surprisingly ribald for its day.

[DownGoesFrazier]

The format for getting from one film to another on 31 Days of Oscar may have been stolen from our "Name a Celebrity, Name a Movie" game in "Games and Trivia".

[film lover 293]

"The Threepenny Opera" (1931)--Fantastic German Expressionist, film noir musical, in German, with English subtitles.  Arguably the best German sound film made before the Nazis came to power in 1933.  Film is not an opera, but a musical which has a "storyteller" setting up the film during opening titles and dropping in occasionally to comment on the events.  Film boasts a fine score by Kurt Weill, and is well sung.  Film is not all happiness, to say the least.  

 

Film is a 2006 Criterion restoration.  One warning--the translator/subtitler mixed up their "r"s & "n"s: the viewer has to quickly rethink some of the subtitles.  To me, that was just an annoyance.  But otherwise, the restoration was beautiful.  Seen on another website.

[CaveGirl]

I just watched "Konga".

 

Well, it was actually yesterday but is still in my mind.

 

It came on, and I actually did not know what I was watching, but then I noticed the lead was played by one of my favorites, the dastardly British villain extraordinaire, Michael Gough. Sure he can play anything from aristocrat to butler to Shakespearean malcontent to mad scientist, but I like him best when he has to work with the most horrid material.

 

And in "Konga" he does and he does it admirably. He has been in some of the most top drawer films and plays of all time, but no matter what the part, he gives it his all!

 

Too bad at the end after his jilted fiancee gives the growth serum to the ape, Konga decides to take Gough on a ride to Big Ben and around London proper.

 

I think I saw this on Comet, so luckily it might be shown again this month.

[darkblue]

Whenever I think of Michael Gough, it's 'Horrors of the Black Museum' that comes to mind.

 

He's wonderfully crazy in that. I saw it half a dozen times as a kid - on the big screen too. It kept coming around to my neighborhood cheap theatre.

[Bogie56]

Whenever I think of Michael Gough, it's 'Horrors of the Black Museum' that comes to mind.

 

He's wonderfully crazy in that. I saw it half a dozen times as a kid - on the big screen too. It kept coming around to my neighborhood cheap theatre.

 

Have you seen Michael Gough in The Horse's Mouth (1958) with Alec Guinness.  He was never better.  This film allowed him to show off some of his amazing talent.

[LawrenceA]

PORKY'S - (6/10) - The peak/pit of the R-rated teen sex comedy boom of the early 80s was this monster hit about a group of sex-starved Florida high school boys in the 1950s. They chase girls, set up peep-holes into the girl's shower room, visit prostitutes, play pranks on each other, and journey to the title establishment, a backwoods swamp shack strip club and red-neck bar. That sets off a series of battles that escalate to the raucous conclusion. Like a lot of these teen comedies, they take a few moments here and there to address a more serious issue. This time it's antisemitism, giving some characters the chance to "learn and grow."

 

The cast of mostly unknowns remained that way, despite the film's unexpected massive success. The supporting cast features a few familiar faces, such as Alex Karras, Susan Clark, Art Hindle, and Kim Cattrall in a small but memorable part. The jokes are crude, the story is barely there, and only a couple of the characters stand out in any way. But the film definitely struck a chord with audiences in 1982, when it went on to become the fifth-highest grossing film of the year, and the highest grossing Canadian production ever, a record it held until 2006! I recall when it was released here, it played in our theater for nearly 6 months. That may not seem like a lot, but our town only had one theater, and it had only 4 screens at the time. It was the longest I can recall a film playing in our theater until TOP GUN came out in '86 and played for nearly a full year!

 

 

Rewatch.   Source: DVD.

[darkblue]

I like 'Porky's'

 

I'd give it a 7.

[CaveGirl]

Whenever I think of Michael Gough, it's 'Horrors of the Black Museum' that comes to mind.

 

He's wonderfully crazy in that. I saw it half a dozen times as a kid - on the big screen too. It kept coming around to my neighborhood cheap theatre.

Yes, I meant to mention that one as it is my all-time favorite Michael Gough appearances. It is so wacky it is just marvelous. Thanks, DB! Those crazy binoculars that can kill are one fab concept.

[CaveGirl]

PORKY'S - (6/10) - The peak/pit of the R-rated teen sex comedy boom of the early 80s was this monster hit about a group of sex-starved Florida high school boys in the 1950s. They chase girls, set up peep-holes into the girl's shower room, visit prostitutes, play pranks on each other, and journey to the title establishment, a backwoods swamp shack strip club and red-neck bar. That sets off a series of battles that escalate to the raucous conclusion. Like a lot of these teen comedies, they take a few moments here and there to address a more serious issue. This time it's antisemitism, giving some characters the chance to "learn and grow."

 

The cast of mostly unknowns remained that way, despite the film's unexpected massive success. The supporting cast features a few familiar faces, such as Alex Karras, Susan Clark, Art Hindle, and Kim Cattrall in a small but memorable part. The jokes are crude, the story is barely there, and only a couple of the characters stand out in any way. But the film definitely struck a chord with audiences in 1982, when it went on to become the fifth-highest grossing film of the year, and the highest grossing Canadian production ever, a record it held until 2006! I recall when it was released here, it played in our theater for nearly 6 months. That may not seem like a lot, but our town only had one theater, and it had only 4 screens at the time. It was the longest I can recall a film playing in our theater until TOP GUN came out in '86 and played for nearly a full year!

 

 

Rewatch.   Source: DVD.

It definitely was "fifth-highest grossing film of the year, and the highest grossing Canadian production ever" with the operative word being "grossing", Lawrence!

[Swithin]

Whenever I think of Michael Gough, it's 'Horrors of the Black Museum' that comes to mind.

 

He's wonderfully crazy in that. I saw it half a dozen times as a kid - on the big screen too. It kept coming around to my neighborhood cheap theatre.

 

Me too, although I've seen him on stage a few times and in many movies.  I knew Graham Curnow, who played Gough's assistant in Horrors of the Black Museum. Lovely man, died in 1997.

 

Beware of gift binoculars!

[LawrenceA]

Q THE WINGED SERPENT - (7/10) - Fun low-budget throwback to the giant creature features of the 1950s. Michael Moriarty stars as a two-bit loser jazz pianist in NYC who stumbles upon the nest (in the Chrysler building) of a giant winged serpent. The creature has been terrorizing the skies, snatching rooftop sunbathers and window washers. Two NYPD detectives (David Carradine and Richard Roundtree) are on the case, which may be related to a series of grisly murders. Also featuring Candy Clark.

 

Larry Cohen (IT'S ALIVE, GOD TOLD ME TO) wrote, produced and directed this, and it's one of his best. The primitive stop-motion effects harken back to Harryhausen, and there is just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek to not take things too seriously.

 

Rewatch. Source: Blu Ray, with a fine remastered picture, from Shout Factory.

[wouldbestar]

For those who groan over the 31 Days of Oscar:  This is why I love it.  I watched The Magnificent Yankee for the first time this week-end and was delighted.  I'd never seen Louis Calhern as a lead actor before and he was charming.  He made you forget that Oliver Wendell Holmes went from 61 to 90 in this story; what an inspiration to all us old folks. 

 

I just finished finally seeing all of The Mark.  As you might imagine there was some controversy over this movie back in '61 because of it's storyline but I found it very moving.  Stuart Whitman gave the eventual BA Oscar winner that year some stiff competition. 

 

I don't think it could be made today.  Today the general consensus seems to be that such people cannot be rehabilitated; at least that what nearly 50 seasons of Law and Order shows tell us.  I find that hard to believe; it's obviously very difficult but I'd hate to think it impossible.

 

I've several other films lined up to see or see again this month.  For those who find this month a downer "See you in March". 

[DownGoesFrazier]

PORKY'S - (6/10) - The peak/pit of the R-rated teen sex comedy boom of the early 80s was this monster hit about a group of sex-starved Florida high school boys in the 1950s. They chase girls, set up peep-holes into the girl's shower room, visit prostitutes, play pranks on each other, and journey to the title establishment, a backwoods swamp shack strip club and red-neck bar. That sets off a series of battles that escalate to the raucous conclusion. Like a lot of these teen comedies, they take a few moments here and there to address a more serious issue. This time it's antisemitism, giving some characters the chance to "learn and grow."

 

The cast of mostly unknowns remained that way, despite the film's unexpected massive success. The supporting cast features a few familiar faces, such as Alex Karras, Susan Clark, Art Hindle, and Kim Cattrall in a small but memorable part. The jokes are crude, the story is barely there, and only a couple of the characters stand out in any way. But the film definitely struck a chord with audiences in 1982, when it went on to become the fifth-highest grossing film of the year, and the highest grossing Canadian production ever, a record it held until 2006! I recall when it was released here, it played in our theater for nearly 6 months. That may not seem like a lot, but our town only had one theater, and it had only 4 screens at the time. It was the longest I can recall a film playing in our theater until TOP GUN came out in '86 and played for nearly a full year!

 

 

Rewatch.   Source: DVD.

Are you giving Chris Christie an endorsement in the N.H. primary?

[sapphiere]

PORKY'S - (6/10) - The peak/pit of the R-rated teen sex comedy boom of the early 80s was this monster hit about a group of sex-starved Florida high school boys in the 1950s. They chase girls, set up peep-holes into the girl's shower room, visit prostitutes, play pranks on each other, and journey to the title establishment, a backwoods swamp shack strip club and red-neck bar. That sets off a series of battles that escalate to the raucous conclusion. Like a lot of these teen comedies, they take a few moments here and there to address a more serious issue. This time it's antisemitism, giving some characters the chance to "learn and grow."

 

The cast of mostly unknowns remained that way, despite the film's unexpected massive success. The supporting cast features a few familiar faces, such as Alex Karras, Susan Clark, Art Hindle, and Kim Cattrall in a small but memorable part. The jokes are crude, the story is barely there, and only a couple of the characters stand out in any way. But the film definitely struck a chord with audiences in 1982, when it went on to become the fifth-highest grossing film of the year, and the highest grossing Canadian production ever, a record it held until 2006! I recall when it was released here, it played in our theater for nearly 6 months. That may not seem like a lot, but our town only had one theater, and it had only 4 screens at the time. It was the longest I can recall a film playing in our theater until TOP GUN came out in '86 and played for nearly a full year!

 

 

Rewatch.   Source: DVD.

The director of PORKY`S Bob Clark also made A CHRISTMAS STORY 1983 the highly entertaining holiday movie starring Peter Billingsley and Darren McGavin.

[LawrenceA]

The director of PORKY`S Bob Clark also made A CHRISTMAS STORY 1983 the highly entertaining holiday movie starring Peter Billingsley and Darren McGavin.

I read a trivia bit that said the studio only allowed Clark to make A CHRISTMAS STORY if he agreed to make PORKY'S 2 next.

[cigarjoe]

Delusion (1991) Christmas In The Desert Neo Noir

 

A low budget spaghetti western-ish Death Valley Neo "B" Noir with lots of twists. A Cineville production, directed by Belgium born Carl Colpaert, written by Carl Colpaert and Kurt Voss. Starring Jim Metzler (River's Edge (1986)), Jennifer Rubin, Kyle Secor (Sleeping with the Enemy (1991)), Jerry Orbach (Cop Hater (1958)), Robert Costanzo, and Tracey Walter. With a budget of supposedly $1,000,000 Delusion is a bare bones Film Soleil Noir.

 

An embezzler gives a ride to two car wreck victims and straight into a Noirsville Twilight Zone.

 

George (Jim Metzler), in full noir mode, in Larry's Airstream drinking straight from the bottle, 

a pathetic Christmas tree in the b.g.

 

The entire film is dominated by the burnt umber, yellow ochers, and the bleached whites of an immense desert laughingly juxtaposed, whenever we see the barest traces of habitation, with the most minisculely pathetic looking Christmas decorations imaginable. Character actor Tracey Walter is in a nice cameo as the desert rat owner of a Death Valley Junction fly speck-dump. The film has an interesting soundtrack, by Barry Adamson, though in retrospect a soundtrack of Diegetic sounds of say Country-Western Christmas tunes blaring from radio stations would have probably been eerie-er.  For an extremely low budget "B" a 10/10 for effort, it may be a future Neo Noir Detour, needs a widescreen DVD restoration/release. The crappy screencaps are from a Sony Pictures Home VHS tape.

 

Full review with more screen caps see Filn Noir -Gangster Board here on TCM or even more :http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/02/delusion-1991-christmas-in-desert-noir.html

 

[sapphiere]

Last night I watched Leonardo DiCaprio`s first starring role THIS BOY`S LIFE 1993. This film was my first introduction to Leo, and what a impression he made.

 

The movie opens with Caroline Woolff (Ellen Barkin) and her son Toby driving their Nash in Utah while Frank Sinatra sings Let`s Get Away From It All on the radio. Caroline has moved from Florida to escape a abusive relationship with her boyfriend Roy. She thinks that she can make money finding uranium, but soon finds out differently. Roy (Chris Cooper) tracks them down, and he thinks that they can start over again. He buys Toby a rifle.Caroline knows differently, and she and Toby pack quickly and catch the first bus out of town.

 

The bus takes them to Seattle, Washington where Caroline finds rooming with two women. Toby has fallen into a bad crowd at school, and Caroline is at her wits end. She has met Dwight Hansen (Robert DeNiro) a single father of three who is a mechanic. Caroline thinks that it would be a good idea if Toby, who wants to be called Jack after Jack London, goes to live with Dwight for a few months. Jack doesn`t want to leave, but he goes to Concrete, WA. where Dwight lives. It doesn`t take long for Dwight to show what a bully he is. Dwight tells Jack that he isn`t going to be a sissy anymore.

 

A trip to the barber gives Jack a brushcut, and Dwight has lined up a job for Jack. He will deliver newspapers at $55 per week, Dwight will keep all the earnings. Caroline thinks everything is fine, and she marries Dwight. On her wedding night, she soon realizes how verbally abusive Dwight is. His motto is "my way or no way". Jack tells his mother how unhappy he is, but Caroline tells him that "I don`t have another get up and go in me". When Dwight refuses to let Jack buy gym shoes to play basketball in high school, his complaints to his mother fall on deaf ears. She will not act referee. When Jack joins the Boy Scouts, he has to wear his stepbrothers old uniform which is many sizes to large.

 

Dwight`s emotional, verbal, and physical abuse has led Jack to hang out with the wrong crowd again. The only voice of reason is classmate Arthur Gayle a homosexual who tells Jack that he is becoming like Dwight. After a fight Jack and Arthur become friends. Jack enlists Arthur`s help to falsify his school records. Jack wants to be accepted into a prep school like his brother Gregory who lives with his father. The acceptance papers arrive, and Jack discovers them in the garbage where Dwight had thrown them. After a vicious fight over a empty jar of mustard, Dwight shoves the bottle in Jack`s eye. Caroline has seen and heard enough, and she comes to Jack`s aid. Dwight is knocked to the floor, and mother and son soon leave Concrete.

 

Jack is expelled from the prep school. In real life Tobial woolff enters the Army during Vietnam, and he becomes a first lieutenant. After his military service ended,he entered oxford University earning a BA and MA. Tobias also earned a MA at Stanford University, and he taught a various colleges.

 

Leonardo gave a excellent performance along with Robert DeNiro and Ellen Barkin. I have recently heard Leo discuss this movie ast the stepping stone to his twenty plus year career.

 

I watched the film on a vhs tape.The soundtrack is also very good.

[LawrenceA]

RICHARD PRYOR: LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP - (8/10) - Excellent stand-up comedy concert film finds Pryor discussing a number of subjects, including the perks and pitfalls of fame, his trip to Africa, his early career interaction with the Mafia, a great improvised bit as his old comedy album character Mudbone, and finally a lengthy section talking about his then-recent life-threatening freebase accident that left him covered in burns. I really enjoyed a bit about an attempted drug intervention involving Jim Brown. Not quite as electric as his 70s stuff, but still required viewing for fans of stand-up comedy and one of its finest practitioners.

 

 

Rewatch.  Source: DVD.

[LawrenceA]

THE SENDER - (7/10) - Interesting sci-fi/horror drama centers on a young man who awakens in the woods with amnesia, and then promptly tries to drown himself. Rescued and sent to a psychiatric hospital for observation, a doctor (top billed Kathryn Harrold) is determined to help him. However, strange occurrences begin, and it becomes apparent that the new patient, known only as John Doe, possesses powerful, uncontrollable telepathic abilities that force those around him into his dream-world. It soon becomes difficult to tell what is reality and what is dream/hallucination, and things turn deadly.

 

Zeljko Ivanek makes his debut as the troubled John Doe, and he's very good. He would go on to have a very successful career in films, television, and on the stage, garnering multiple Tony nominations and an Emmy. Shirley Knight appears as his strange mother. Paul Freeman also appears as a fellow doctor. Although this was a British production, it was partially filmed in the U.S. (Georgia specifically) as well as taking place here. The film looks nice, with some unsettling moments, but don't expect a thrill-ride; this is more drama in execution than thriller. The dream-world was popular in early 80s films. The following year brought DREAMSCAPE, and the year after had A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, both of which owe a debt to THE SENDER.

 

First time watched. Source: DVD.

[darkblue]

Are you giving Chris Christie an endorsement in the N.H. primary?

 

Are you kidding? He's the maggot that vetoed the bill that would've allowed pigs to be able to turn around in their cages.

 

I'd love to see him confined in exactly that way for a while - see if he thinks someone should veto the idea of letting him get into a more humane condition.

[LonesomePolecat]

For those who groan over the 31 Days of Oscar:  This is why I love it.  I watched The Magnificent Yankee for the first time this week-end and was delighted.  I'd never seen Louis Calhern as a lead actor before and he was charming.  He made you forget that Oliver Wendell Holmes went from 61 to 90 in this story; what an inspiration to all us old folks. 

 

I just finished finally seeing all of The Mark.  As you might imagine there was some controversy over this movie back in '61 because of it's storyline but I found it very moving.  Stuart Whitman gave the eventual BA Oscar winner that year some stiff competition. 

 

I don't think it could be made today.  Today the general consensus seems to be that such people cannot be rehabilitated; at least that what nearly 50 seasons of Law and Order shows tell us.  I find that hard to believe; it's obviously very difficult but I'd hate to think it impossible.

 

I've several other films lined up to see or see again this month.  For those who find this month a downer "See you in March".

 

I always enjoy 31 Days of Oscar myself for the same reason--I see lots of fantastic movies for the first time. I never understand why people complain so much about it because to me it's a month of 4 star movies. I have many coming up that I'm looking forward to, suchas SLIPPER AND THE ROSE, which I've never seen in widescreen.