Matteo
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My first encounter with Crunchy Frog was on the LP. I actually think it works better.
Which reminds me, mmm...lark's vomit.
What was the last movie you saw?
- Thread starter Tabitha
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Which reminds me, mmm...lark's vomit.
pogopossum
Swamp Critter
One of the best films that I have seen in some time. The name artists are Dev Patel, Rooney Mara and, returning to her Australian roots, Nicole Kidman. It received six Oscar nominations including Best Picture and (for Kidman) Best Supporting actress in 2016. Sunny Pawar, playing the protagonist as a 5 year old, deserved an Oscar. It describes the accidental loss of a poor Hindu kid from his home and family and his eventual adoption in Australia and search for his roots. Cinematography, particularly showing the wanderings of the boy, was enthralling. The second half detailing Saroo's search as an adult was slower, but still dramatic in its development.
Not surprisingly given its award nominations (it also won awards around the world including every Australian award) it was hugely well received. In addition to standard critics, Salmon Rushdie said that it was the one western film that he thought was true to India. One Critic said that the tension and emotion of the story was manipulative' but that you didn't care. It was that good. Watched it on Kanopy but it is available elsewhere,
Lady of Winterfell
Foxy Lady
Kung Fu Panda 4. Not quite as charming as the original, but a worthy entry in the series.
Jeffbert
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Hmm., I wonder if the makers of Ranma get royalties?
LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES - 1974 - Has a bad reputation due to it being chopped up into different versions but I think it is a blast. If you are going to do a mashup of vampires in the East, this is the way to do it. The kung fu action is well-choreographed and unlike most Hammer films, it has a pretty large cast on screen and extensive outdoor location shooting. A few things might be goofin' it up but overall I like it.
A couple of movies on Prime
Appointment With Death (1988) dir. Michael Winner; starring Peter Ustinov, Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, Piper Laurie, David Soul
One of the '80s Agatha Christie adaptations, with Ustinov as Hercule Poirot. Not an awful way to spend a couple of hours, but also not the best of the lot. Piper Laurie is a tyrannical matriarch, wielding the wealth inherited from her husband get her family to do as she wished. Lauren Bacall plays an ugly American, whose path crosses with the family and Poirot while all are holidaying in the Middle East; Hayley Mills tags along with her.
Ustinov is his usual funny, charming self with a dash of French accent added; Soul is good as a caddish lawyer; Fisher comes across well, but is a bit underused, and the movie would have benefited a lot from Bacall and Laurie having some scenes together. John Gielgud shows up, no doubt getting a good paycheck for a police role most any middle-aged actor could have played, but to which he adds a touch of class. And, for '80s B-movie fans, there's a decent role for John Terlesky, as well.
Man from Reno (2014) dir. David Boyle; starring Ayako Fujitani, Pepe Serna, Kazuki Kitamura
Very good thriller. Aki is a writer of mystery stories who gets wrapped up in a mystery after a fling with a man she meets while vacationing (hiding out, really, trying to figure what she wants to do now she doesn't want to write any more mysteries) at a luxury hotel.
I'd suggest going in without knowing too much. Good direction, good acting, there are some odd little twists and turns, and it sticks the ending.
Appointment With Death (1988) dir. Michael Winner; starring Peter Ustinov, Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, Piper Laurie, David Soul
One of the '80s Agatha Christie adaptations, with Ustinov as Hercule Poirot. Not an awful way to spend a couple of hours, but also not the best of the lot. Piper Laurie is a tyrannical matriarch, wielding the wealth inherited from her husband get her family to do as she wished. Lauren Bacall plays an ugly American, whose path crosses with the family and Poirot while all are holidaying in the Middle East; Hayley Mills tags along with her.
Ustinov is his usual funny, charming self with a dash of French accent added; Soul is good as a caddish lawyer; Fisher comes across well, but is a bit underused, and the movie would have benefited a lot from Bacall and Laurie having some scenes together. John Gielgud shows up, no doubt getting a good paycheck for a police role most any middle-aged actor could have played, but to which he adds a touch of class. And, for '80s B-movie fans, there's a decent role for John Terlesky, as well.
Man from Reno (2014) dir. David Boyle; starring Ayako Fujitani, Pepe Serna, Kazuki Kitamura
Very good thriller. Aki is a writer of mystery stories who gets wrapped up in a mystery after a fling with a man she meets while vacationing (hiding out, really, trying to figure what she wants to do now she doesn't want to write any more mysteries) at a luxury hotel.
I'd suggest going in without knowing too much. Good direction, good acting, there are some odd little twists and turns, and it sticks the ending.
THE IMPERSONATOR- 1960 -- Has the makings to be a Hitchcockian thriller but as it is shot on a shoestring, it is a decent one-hour story. John Crawford stars as a US sergeant from a military base in a small English town, who gets friendly with a local school teacher but is then accused of murdering a woman. His only hope is that the victim's child remembers that he saw another man in the diner, but the kid is more concerned about a Mother Goose pantomime where a man plays a woman and a woman plays a man (Crawford asks if it is alright for children to watch).
The child actor (must be around 6) has a pretty large role--you have to feel sorry for him--his father was already dead, he loses his mother, and then when he takes a letter to give to Mother Goose, the teenage ballet dancers tease him until he starts crying. The involvement of the child adds something to the resolution of events.
DJURADO - 1966 - Italy made a number of interesting westerns, some completely obscure. This one is obscure for a good reason, it's terrible. The direction is incoherent, the writing is the same, and the acting.... The star is not your typical Eastwood clone of the era, instead he seems to be more of a Fabian clone. Big hair, pretty-boy looks, and irritating smirk. Most of the cast is amateur excluding Scilla Gabel and Margaret Lee.
How bad is this film?
In one scene a woman who works for the evil land baron (the banality of evil is well presented by the indifferent acting of the character), and dressed as a gunfighter, is talking to the hero in a saloon, while she leans against the counter. He is told to see the boss, who is in a locked poker room. The camera follows him in and the same woman is now inside the room leaning against a column.
Later, when the evil land baron is talking tough in a rocking chair, she is leaning on it behind him, and moving it back and forth in boredom which does not help to make the moment serious.
Also, this is the first time I have seen people light the fuse on dynamite by aiming a gun from a few feet away, and shooting the wick when it is only four inches from the bundle of dynamite sticks. There's so much wrong with that method.
The child actor (must be around 6) has a pretty large role--you have to feel sorry for him--his father was already dead, he loses his mother, and then when he takes a letter to give to Mother Goose, the teenage ballet dancers tease him until he starts crying. The involvement of the child adds something to the resolution of events.
DJURADO - 1966 - Italy made a number of interesting westerns, some completely obscure. This one is obscure for a good reason, it's terrible. The direction is incoherent, the writing is the same, and the acting.... The star is not your typical Eastwood clone of the era, instead he seems to be more of a Fabian clone. Big hair, pretty-boy looks, and irritating smirk. Most of the cast is amateur excluding Scilla Gabel and Margaret Lee.
How bad is this film?
In one scene a woman who works for the evil land baron (the banality of evil is well presented by the indifferent acting of the character), and dressed as a gunfighter, is talking to the hero in a saloon, while she leans against the counter. He is told to see the boss, who is in a locked poker room. The camera follows him in and the same woman is now inside the room leaning against a column.
Later, when the evil land baron is talking tough in a rocking chair, she is leaning on it behind him, and moving it back and forth in boredom which does not help to make the moment serious.
Also, this is the first time I have seen people light the fuse on dynamite by aiming a gun from a few feet away, and shooting the wick when it is only four inches from the bundle of dynamite sticks. There's so much wrong with that method.
Vladd67
Stake Holder
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the Hidden - 1987 A classic 80s sci fi film I remember first seeing after renting it from the video van that visited the village weekly. This film, directed by Jim Kouf under the pseudonym Bob Hunt, stars Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri, with Claudia Christian as a stripper. Ordinary people suddenly going on crime sprees robbing banks and murdering people for no apparent reason. MacLachlan's FBI agent seems to know what is going on and why these ordinary people sudden become resistant to gun shots. The coroner calls out the police for making his job extra grim, "I don't mean to tell you guys how to do your job, but this guy had fifteen gunshot wounds in him," The reason for the personality change is quickly revealed and I feel this would make a good start to a Call of Cthulhu game.
I just watched Conclave, a movie about electing a (fictional) pope. Excellent performances by an excellent cast. Stunning cinematography. Everyone refers to it as a thriller, which I don't quite get. The stakes are high, but there is little in the way of action.
Jeffbert
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Wake Island (1942) Major Geoffrey Caton (Brian Donlevy) is assigned to a very small island in the Pacific, that is in a very important location, halfway between Gaum & Midway. In the weeks before the attack at Pearl Harbor, the men were at ease, even hosting a delegation from Japan. After the attack, defend at all costs.
Bravery & sacrifice.
Supporting cast / characters:
Private Aloysius K. Randall (William Bendix; nice to see him in a role as other than a criminal).
Shad McClosky (Albert Dekker), who is a civilian construction contractor who frequently clashes with the military. Private Joe Doyle (Robert Preston; 76 trombones, etc.).
Bravery & sacrifice.
Supporting cast / characters:
Private Aloysius K. Randall (William Bendix; nice to see him in a role as other than a criminal).
Shad McClosky (Albert Dekker), who is a civilian construction contractor who frequently clashes with the military. Private Joe Doyle (Robert Preston; 76 trombones, etc.).
Jeffbert
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Murder, He Says (1945) Pete Marshall (Fred MacMurray) works for a small opinion poll, & is sent to locate the last guy who went to a certain backwoods address, expecting to get opinions. However, that backwoods address is occupied by hillbillies who do not like city slickers, etc.
The mother, Mamie Fleagle Smithers Johnson (Marjorie Main) is the most cantankerous of all, who runs her household like a madhouse.
Really funny! 8/10
The mother, Mamie Fleagle Smithers Johnson (Marjorie Main) is the most cantankerous of all, who runs her household like a madhouse.
Really funny! 8/10
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
At home during my time away from the computer, we've been continuing to dive into documentaries.
Grey Gardens (1975) and The Beales of Grey Gardens (2006)
Records the lives of an eccentric mother and daughter in a decaying mansion. They would be lost to history if they were not the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who paid to have the home improved from unlivable (the government condemning the place) to messy but legally inhabitable. The 2006 sequel is just outtakes from the original.
Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives (1977)
Interviews with twenty-six gay women and men. Groundbreaking at the time, maybe increasingly relevant at this moment.
A Grin Without a Cat (Le fond de l'air est rouge, "The essence of the air is red," 1977; revised 1993)
French film examining the New Left movement from 1967 to 1968, as well as a bunch of other political stuff around the world. The revision takes it as far as the fall of the Soviet Union. Hard to pin down a single theme, but it might be something to the effect that the leftist movements of the time were more symbolic than effective.
Best Boy (1979) and Best Man (1997)
The film maker records the life of his mentally disabled cousin, a fiftyish man with the intellectual capacity of a five year old (or so it is said) who lives with his elderly parents. During the course of the film, his father dies and he moves into a group home. The sequel finds him about the same at about seventy years of age, and shows how he undergoes his Bar Mitzvah.
Grey Gardens (1975) and The Beales of Grey Gardens (2006)
Records the lives of an eccentric mother and daughter in a decaying mansion. They would be lost to history if they were not the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who paid to have the home improved from unlivable (the government condemning the place) to messy but legally inhabitable. The 2006 sequel is just outtakes from the original.
Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives (1977)
Interviews with twenty-six gay women and men. Groundbreaking at the time, maybe increasingly relevant at this moment.
A Grin Without a Cat (Le fond de l'air est rouge, "The essence of the air is red," 1977; revised 1993)
French film examining the New Left movement from 1967 to 1968, as well as a bunch of other political stuff around the world. The revision takes it as far as the fall of the Soviet Union. Hard to pin down a single theme, but it might be something to the effect that the leftist movements of the time were more symbolic than effective.
Best Boy (1979) and Best Man (1997)
The film maker records the life of his mentally disabled cousin, a fiftyish man with the intellectual capacity of a five year old (or so it is said) who lives with his elderly parents. During the course of the film, his father dies and he moves into a group home. The sequel finds him about the same at about seventy years of age, and shows how he undergoes his Bar Mitzvah.
DR. SYN ALIAS THE SCARECROW - 1963 - Feature made from episodes of the Disney tv show. I have to assume that the decision to make tv's Batman was partly inspired by the existence of this and Disney's Zorro. I have not read the book but Patrick McGoohan has a couple of helpers who also wear masks--and the younger of them has a bird mask (a robin is a bird too). Mr. Mipps is something of an Alfred.
Because it is American, there's reference to escaping to "the New World," and it doesn't shy away from pointing out things like the violently enforced Navy service at the time. Compared to the Hammer version--where Patrick Allen faithfully works for the King and Peter Cushing as the parson is downright murderous to traitors, this is more hostile to King George while not presenting the Scarecrow as a killer. It looks a bit more expensive than the Hammer version although the locations aren't all that different. The beach scenes in both versions could have been shot at the same place, they look about the same to me.
Because it is American, there's reference to escaping to "the New World," and it doesn't shy away from pointing out things like the violently enforced Navy service at the time. Compared to the Hammer version--where Patrick Allen faithfully works for the King and Peter Cushing as the parson is downright murderous to traitors, this is more hostile to King George while not presenting the Scarecrow as a killer. It looks a bit more expensive than the Hammer version although the locations aren't all that different. The beach scenes in both versions could have been shot at the same place, they look about the same to me.
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Alita Battle Angel (2019): a robot (or possibly cyborg, it's hard to tell) girl in a futuristic city gets involved in a violent roller derby in order to defeat criminals (or something).
This is a real oddity. Adapted from a manga comic, it has the massive lurches in tone that I associate with anime: fairly intense violence for a 12-rating mixed in with cheerful teen romance, cartoony props (Christoph Waltz runs around with a ridiculous mallet) with (mild) body horror. A lot of robot limbs get lopped off. The plot feels a bit awkward: a lot of time is spent duffing up cyborg thugs in alleyways, and it just sort of stops instead of having a satisfying ending. The action scenes are good despite being pure CGI, and the city where it's set has an interesting brightly-lit cyberpunk feel, which makes a change.
Rose Salazar is very likeable as the huge-eyed title character, who resembles a robot body with the head of a Disney princess. Overall, not bad, although it could have done with some editing.
This is a real oddity. Adapted from a manga comic, it has the massive lurches in tone that I associate with anime: fairly intense violence for a 12-rating mixed in with cheerful teen romance, cartoony props (Christoph Waltz runs around with a ridiculous mallet) with (mild) body horror. A lot of robot limbs get lopped off. The plot feels a bit awkward: a lot of time is spent duffing up cyborg thugs in alleyways, and it just sort of stops instead of having a satisfying ending. The action scenes are good despite being pure CGI, and the city where it's set has an interesting brightly-lit cyberpunk feel, which makes a change.
Rose Salazar is very likeable as the huge-eyed title character, who resembles a robot body with the head of a Disney princess. Overall, not bad, although it could have done with some editing.
Jeffbert
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I recall a Disney program called The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, Patrick McGoohan had the title role.
The Conclave excellent film about the chosing of a new pope, with many twists and turns. A bit like 12 angry men with priests
I got the feeling that they were going for a (film) series but it never happened. It definitely needed a good ending.
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