What was the last movie you saw?

[BAYLOR]

The Terrornauts (1967)

Goofy British science fiction film. Our protagonists -- two science guys (one of whom, in flashback, reveals how, as a child, his archeologist dad dug up a black cube full of green crystals that gave him dreams of a planet with two moons), the Girl, and no less than two comedy relief characters (older Cockney woman who supplies the place with tea and coffee, and an auditor, who is played by the thin, wispy, bespectacled guy who shows up in a bunch of Carry On movies) hear signals from an asteroid and get their entire building picked up by a spaceship that carries them there. They meet a non-humanoid robot, an incredibly silly-looking monster than turns out to be an illusion, and eventually figure out they've been taken there to defend Earth from invaders. Along the way the Girl gets accidentally teleported to a planet full of spear-wielding guys with green skin who try to make her a human sacrifice, so one of the science guys can rescue her with a zap gun.

The sets are pop art wackiness, the special effects are at kiddie matinee level (toy spaceships, two moons that are just painted on the background), and the scenes in which the folks wear white rubber skullcaps full of wires connected to cones on black cubes (which provide information directly into their brains so they can fight the bad guy aliens) are worthy of giggles. It's all very childish. Written by the great SF author John Brunner, who must have had tongue firmly in cheek.

The robot looked like a very bad looking mod Lamp. Definitely a film done on the Cheap . Ive seen this one several time, It good old fashioned B movie fun.

 

[BAYLOR]

I had mixed feelings about it especially after reading the book--but despite things I don't like, the general idea is well presented, especially in the opening half hour.
And what a fantastic score it has.

"One creature, caught. Caught in a place he cannot stir from in the dark, alone, outnumbered hundreds to one, nothing to live for but his memories, nothing to live with but his gadgets, his cars, his guns, gimmicks... and yet the whole family can't bring him down from that, that..."

"Honky paradise brother."

This film is actual a pretty good film take on Richard Matheson's I am Legend . Heston , Zerbie and the rest of the cast are pretty good.

 

[Matteo]

Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) - Stars Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos & Jeremie Renier. Based on the true story of the Beast of the Gevaudan that terrorized France in the eighteenth century. A biologist and his Iroquois Native American partner arrive to see how to stop this giant creature that is attacking people. I highly recommend this monster/action

I can second that!

 

[Starbeast]

Octopussy (1983) - Stars Roger Moore, Maud Adams & Lewis Jourdan. Another favorite James Bond movie of mine. This one begins when a Faberge Egg is discovered with a dead British agent next to him. The egg has a strange link between a circus and a Russian officer who wants to start a war by detonating a nuclear device inside an Air Force Base.

Dreamscape (1984) - Stars Dennis Quaid, Max Von Sydow & Christopher Plummer. A government funded project uses psychics to enter other people's dreams in order to help them cure their mental problems. However, there are sinister government officials that want to use the program for nefarious reasons.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) - Astonishingly brilliant movie about an alien ambassador with his robot companion who arrive on Earth to offer peace and friendship to our world. Unfortunately our paranoid planet doesn't trust him. Fantastic eerie theremin soundtrack adds great atmosphere to this wonderful sci-fi flick. I highly recommend this film.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Curse of the Doll People (Muñecos infernales "Infernal dolls," 1961)

Mexican horror film. Before the movie starts, some guys stole an idol from a voodoo temple. Naturally, the voodoo priest is out for revenge. After one of the guys dies of what seems to be a supernaturally induced heart attack (or something), the real horrors begin.

The voodoo priest uses black magic to create dolls the size of ventriloquists' dummies with the faces of previous victims. Played by midgets in very effective masks, they kill people with long needles. There's also a zombie servant around.

After a slow, talky start, it becomes interesting. The dolls are genuinely creepy, and we've got a beautiful female physician who is also an expert on the occult as our hero. Not bad for this sort of low budget south-of-the-border shocker, even in its dubbed and edited English language form.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Graveyard of Horror (Necrophagus, 1971)

Confusing Spanish shocker. Guy returns to his family castle to discover that his wife has died delivering a stillborn child. Present are his niece, his wife's two sisters, his wife's mother, and his brother's wife. Absent is his brother. Also around are a doctor, a police investigator, a creepy graveyard keeper, and other folks.

Guy digs up his wife's grave only to find an empty coffin. He then gets attacked by a couple of people in masks and robes who drag him off to some place where something growls at him. He then vanishes from the film until the very end. There's also a monster, unseen until the very end (and it looks really goofy.)

Multiple flashforwards and flashbacks add to the bewildering, rambling plot. Last minute voiceover narration explains something about the Mad Science involved. A mess, but not without some interest.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Devil's Harvest (1942)

A little late in the day for this kind of marijuana exploitation film. Pot is sold from a hot dog stand (!) across the street from a high school. Our heroine lies to her extremely Irish parents about going to a dance recital, when she actually goes to a party held in a coal storage facility (?) to perform. She doesn't know it's a pot party. Jealous woman pushes her around, and a hilariously over the top fight breaks out, everybody attacking everybody. In a scene that seems to have been filmed elsewhere, a woman gets high on pot and strips down to her underwear. Somehow a woman gets killed at the party. Somehow (this thing is hard to follow) our heroine becomes a decoy for the cops, getting hired as a dancer at a nightclub (lots of dancing in this thing) and the pushers get sent to jail. Pretty bad. Barely over fifty minutes long, and a real slog.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Too Scared To Scream (1984)

Mixed up mystery/suspense/slasher/giallo, maybe because it was supposed to be a made-for-TV crime film, then had profanity, nudity, and gore added for theatrical release.

Anyway, classy call girl is murdered in her fancy New York apartment. Male/female team of cops are on the job. More murders in the building follow. Eccentric doorman with paralyzed mother is prime suspect, because they all happen during his shift. Female cop goes undercover as tenant in an attempt to trap the killer, leading to our Shocking Twist Ending.

We spend a lot of time with the Shakespeare-quoting, theatrical makeup-wearing doorman. Obviously, he's a big red herring. The final revelation is pretty hard to swallow. Not a great film.

 

[Starbeast]

Goldfinger (1964) - Stars Sean Connery, Gert Frobe & Honor Blackman. James Bond is back to investigate a man who is making huge gold investments. MI6 believes it's for a nefarious reason. One of the great highlights for me is to see that beautiful classic Aston Martin spy car in the movie.

Alien (1979) - Stars Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt & John Hurt. Space miners in hyper-sleep are awakened to an alien signal and must be investigated or face penalties. Unfortunately the crew (great cast) encounter and discovers that they are dealing with a highly dangerous creature. Magnificent film production, including film direction by Ridley Scott.

Kingdom of Heaven (2005 Director's Cut -194 mins.) - Stars Orlando Bloom, Eva Green & Liam Neeson. Inspired by a true story about the crusades into Jerusalem to see who will rule the area. I wanted to see the "director's cut" because it helps to fill in a few gaps making this highly detailed production a better story. Director, Ridley Scott does another astounding job in this film. I highly recommend the extended version of the movie for excellent continuity.

 

[Jeffbert]

Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) When A&C went into business for themselves, this was the film C made, with A as an employee.

TCM is showing films with dream sequences on Friday nights; this was among them.

Two, count 'em, 2 unemployed losers are sent as babysitters to a house where the kid is an absolute terror.
Jack Strong (Lou Costello) attempts to read a bedtime story to the boy, but cannot read as well as he can. He falls asleep, & dreams of himself in the lead role. When mother gives him a simple job of selling their cow to the local butcher Mr. Dinklepuss (Bud Abbott), he convinces Jack that better than money are these magic beans. ...
eventually Jack climbs the beanstalk, rescues the princess, etc.

Rather funny, and holds-up well after having seen it several times before. Apparently, A&C decided to omit their classic gags from both this, & Abbott's film, A&C Meet Capt. Kidd, both of which seem to have worked well without them.

Of the songs, only the one I really liked was sung by the villagers about Jack's stupidity. The others were too serious.

supporting cast/characters:
Animal sounds: Mel Blanc; no other names are familiar to me.

8/10

 

[Jeffbert]

Rain (1932) On a tropical island, a ship of passengers descends include a couple of holier than thou busybodies
Alfred Davidson (Walter Huston) & wife (Beulah Bondi), the latter who takes offence that Sadie Thompson (Joan Crawford) is playing a phonograph and [shock] dancing to its music on a Sunday. What is more, Davidson decides that Thompson has loose morals, and so must leave the island. Even though the Davidson's are only visiting the island, they make it their business to act as judges, and interfere with the lives of those who actually live there. As everyone is quarantined because of a disease, these busybodies are there for weeks.
supporting cast/characters:
Joe Horn (Guy Kibbee) runs the hotel, and empathizes with Thompson, but is sheepish around the busybodies. Sergeant Tim O'Hara (William Gargan) falls in love with Thompson. Dr Robert MacPhail (Matt Moore).

8/10

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Watched Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015). I haven't read the books, but it was a fine sequel to the first film. My daughter says they made quite a few changes from the book in this one. I won't say much because I don't want to spoil anything, but I was underwhelmed with the portrayal of the 'Cranks.' Not very original.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Sons of the Desert - the best Laurel & Hardy 'long'. At just over 60 minutes in length, it doesn't overstay its welcome and is genuinely laugh out loud funny from start to end. There are a few elements in there of some of the funniest bits from their 'shorts' and this makes it a resounding success. The only shame is that we don't get to see James 'D'oh!' Finlayson, although we do get a nice cameo from Charley Chase.

 

[BAYLOR]

Sons of the Desert - the best Laurel & Hardy 'long'. At just over 60 minutes in length, it doesn't overstay its welcome and is genuinely laugh out loud funny from start to end. There are a few elements in there of some of the funniest bits from their 'shorts' and this makes it a resounding success. The only shame is that we don't get to see James 'D'oh!' Finlayson, although we do get a nice cameo from Charley Chase.

I can never get enough of Laurel and Hardy .

My favorite film with them is Bades in Toyland that film is psychotic

 

[Randy M.]

The Yakuza (1974) dir. Sydney Pollack; staring Robert Mitchum, Ken Takahura

A kind of love story masquerading as a Japanese mob story. Strong, principled American former G.I. returns to Japan after 20 or so years to find a friend's daughter, kidnapped by a rogue Yakuza boss. Strong, principled Japanese former soldier, also former Yakuza, hates him, but also owes him since his sister was saved by the American's generosity, pitches in to help and saves his life while putting his own at risk. Naturally, there's more to it than that as the two men come to an understanding. Nice turns by Richard Jordan, Herb Edelman and James Shigeta. Trigger warning for those who need it: There is some fairly realistic violence. Based on a Paul Schrader script, a neo-noir well worth watching. I'm happy I finally got a chance to watch it on Turner Cable Movies.

 

[Jeffbert]

Sons O' Guns (1936) Stage performer Jimmy Canfield (Joe E. Brown), in an attempt to convince his sweetheart Mary (Beverly Roberts), and her father, General Harper (Joe King), that he is a "real man" goes out to march along with the troops wearing his soldier costume & is swept along with those troops. Later in France, he goes from one mishap to another.

Supporting cast/characters:
Yvonne (Joan Blondell) the barmaid in a small café; Hobson (Eric Blore; in his usual role as a butler), but he too had joined the army, & is now Canfield's superior.

8/10

really funny!

 

[Jeffbert]

Tom, Dick and Harry (1941)
Working girl Janie (Ginger Rogers) dreams of marrying a rich guy. She already has a boyfriend, Tom, whom she eventually realizes prioritizes his job as a car salesman, above his relationship with her. By chance, she is standing on the sidewalk, when a man pulls up in a fancy car. She literally leaps in and introduces herself, and drives away, hoping to marry him. But, the joke is on her, as he is a mechanic, delivering the car to its owner. in tow behind the fancy car, is a motor trike with the business name on its rear. Then, she meets Tom, a real rich guy.

This is one of the films TCM showed this month on Friday nights, and it has its dream sequences, in which she imagines herself married to each of these three guys.

Supporting cast/characters:

Tom (George Murphy) the car salesman; Dick (Alan Marshal), the rich guy, & Harry (Burgess Meredith; The Obsolete Man; Mr. Dingle, the Strong; The Printer's Devil; & Time Enough at Last; 4 Twilight Zone stories!), the mechanic. The very annoying Ice Cream Vendor (Phil Silvers), who interrupts the couples parked on Lovers' Lane.

Very entertaining!

8/10

 

[Jeffbert]

The Magician (1926) Margaret Dauncey (Alice Terry) is abducted by a madman, who hopes to use her blood & such, to create a ling being of his own. Oliver Haddo (Paul Wegener) the Magician is obsessed with the idea of creating life, & has a book on Medieval magic & it requires the heart blood of a maiden.

When he finally has her, the film has more in common with Universal Films' Frankenstein than anything resembling magic. Test tubes, Bunsen burners, etc., a well-equipped mad scientist's lab.

8/10

 

[HareBrain]

The Magician (1926) Margaret Dauncey (Alice Terry) is abducted by a madman, who hopes to use her blood & such, to create a ling being of his own. Oliver Haddo (Paul Wegener) the Magician is obsessed with the idea of creating life, & has a book on Medieval magic & it requires the heart blood of a maiden.

When he finally has her, the film has more in common with Universal Films' Frankenstein than anything resembling magic. Test tubes, Bunsen burners, etc., a well-equipped mad scientist's lab.

8/10

Based on a book by Somerset Maugham. I didn't realise it had been filmed. In the book, too, the swerve at the end to mad-scientist lab is quite a surprise, as it's relatively subtle and psychological to begin with.

Maugham based Haddo on Aleister Crowley, whom he once met.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Psychopathia Sexualis AKA On Her Bed of Roses (1966)

Psychological shocker disguised as a nudie. Young man holds a rose in his bloody hand, walks into a swimming pool fully clothed, walks into a storage room, collapses, gets up to caress and rock back and forth a cello case, takes it with him into a station wagon, drives like a maniac, smashing into things and nearly running over people, gets out at a cliff overlooking a highway, takes a rifle and shoots people driving by, then shoots himself as the cops run after him.

After this opening scene, we switch to a young woman and her psychiatrist. She faints when he tries to give her a rose as a symbol of their first year working together. Flashbacks give us her messed up relationship with her parents. She freaks out, Electra complex style, when Dad smooches a woman other than Mom. Dad leaves and she goes man-crazy, but seductive Mom steals all her boyfriends. The boy next door is the fellow destined to become a sniper and a suicide. He's smothered by his overly protective Mom, leading to the tragedy that sends him over the edge.

Cheap trash that aims to be arty. Gratuitous topless dancing by belly dancers during the party where Dad kisses the other woman. Not a good film, but odd enough to hold one's interest.