What was the last movie you saw?

[JunkMonkey]

The She Beast (aka Revenge of the Blood Beast 1966) Directed my Mike Reeves who, two years later, made the brilliant Witchfinder General with Vincent Price. During the shooting of Witchfinder General Reeves apparently made a suggestion on the set to which Price objected.
"I've made 87 films. What have you done?" said Price.
Reeves responded: "I've made three good ones."

He was lying.

 

[JunkMonkey]

I think I have seen this.

I have seen this and am trying to forget it.

 

[Jeffbert]

Avalanche Express (1979) Gen. Marenkov (Robert Shaw; died during the filming) is a Soviet wanting to defect to the West. So, they put him on a train, while the other soviets attempt to bury in under an avalanche. Among the good guys is Col. Harry Wargrave (Lee Marvin), while one of the bad guys is Col. Nikolai Bunin (Maximilian Schell).

supporting cast/characters:
Elsa Lang (Linda Evans); Leroy (Joe Namath); & Haller (Mike Connors)

8/10

 

[Jeffbert]

Rio Bravo (1959) Ben M & the other guy compared this to High Noon, critiquing the latter because Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) was attempting to recruit deputies from the townspeople, none of whom had much experience with firearms. The Marshall in Rio Bravo not only made no attempts to recruit such help, but rejected offers from such men. Neither Marshall attempted to get help from Deputy Dawg.

So anyway, a killing occurs in the saloon, Joe Burdette (Claude Akins) murders a man who objected to his abusing some other guy. The Burdette family is large & wealthy, having access to its own cowboys as well as many others who will gladly join for the pay. Marshall John T. Chance (John Wayne) has two, count 'em 2 deputies. Dude (Dean Martin) is all but worthless, since he became a drunkard. Stumpy (Walter Brennan), is rather old, and walks with a limp. Pat Wheeler (Ward Bond), a competent with a gun guy, offers to help, and is murdered minutes later.

Holding Joe Burdette in the town jail until more help arrives nearly a week later, is not a job with a promising retirement plan. One more man, competent with guns joins, though rather late, Colorado Ryan (Ricky Nelson) obviously cast to attract young viewers, etc.

Supporting cast/characters:
Feathers (Angie Dickinson) dance hall floozie; Nathan Burdette (John Russell); Carlos Robante (Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez) runs the hotel; Burt (James B. Leong) the undertaker.

8/10

 

[KGeo777]

EARTHQUAKE - 1974 - started shaking 50 years ago today.
"Earthquakes bring out the worst in some guys, that's all." George Kennedy

 

[THX1138]

Hectors Search for Happiness.

Very Zen in approach, but I can relate. Been there, and not by choice, but by domestic survival. OK, and by current choice too (from the medical point)
I enjoyed the RC airplane bit very much as I have been there in RC airplane and RC sailboats worlds myself, and in model rocketry too.
Reminded me of my Renaissance Festival days and all the traveling and people I met. In the end, no different than where I started from...

 

[alexvss]

City of Life and Death (2019). An account of the invasion of Nanking, the capital of China, by Imperial Japan.

Superb movie. It’s filmed in black-and-white to make it “more real”. It’s got the perfect mood and tone: it’s not super-nationalistic (as those movies tend to be) and it doesn’t demonize the Japanese soldiers as individuals.

Highly recommended.


Never Let Go (2024). After “the end of the world”, a mother and two children live in a secluded house that protects them from exterior evil, or at least that’s what the mother says.

Directed by Alexandre Aja, one of my favorite directors. He gained notoriety in the New French Extremity movement with High Tension (2003), which gave him the opportunity to direct the remake of The Hills Have Eyes (2007). Everything he did after that is very well directed.

And that’s also the case with Never Let Go. Although the premise is not original (Goodnight Mommy and 10 Cloverfield Lane are good examples), the direction keeps the suspense high, stages good jumpscares, puts violence in key moments and, more importantly, keeps you guessing.

Highly recommended.


Gladiator II (2024). Lucius, now a slave, returns to Rome after sixteen years of exile, and the Empire is now ruled by crazy twins.

Mixed feelings with this one, mostly because of the early reviews. Everyone was saying that this one was “epic”, and if you’re going into it with this in mind, you’ll be disappointed.

It’s greatly directed, with amazing action scenes. The acting by Denzel Washington is superb, but that goes without saying. The surprise is the twin emperors. They’re great villains; you hate them as soon as you put eyes on them. The protagonist, however, is mid.

Another thing that bothered me were the deus ex machinas: people get convinced too easily.