What was the last movie you saw?

[J Riff]

Jungle Book. Good story, great analogy. Plus, human beings, who live in the man-village, do not appear in the movie much, which gives the cgi animals a chance to show their acting skills.

 

[aThenian]

An example of what she means can be seen in Ran where two of Hidetora Ichimonji's sons take his castle from him in an act of treachery. The battle is viewed with only a melancholy musical score for accompaniment. ... It is haunting, memorable and mesmerising.

It is years since I saw Ran and I can still visualize that scene in my mind...absolutely stunning. And yes, the accompanying music is so much part of it.

 

[Rodders]

Thirded. I too hoped that this would be a watchable movie, but was bitterly disappointed. I also think that I confused this with Carpenter's Ghosts Of Mars, which I still want to see.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

You Gotta Stay Happy (1948)

We only watched this because we happened to see the 1952 television remake "Ten Thousand Horses Singing" as part of our DVD set of the early TV appearances of James Dean. (He has a tiny part as a bellhop and has two words of dialogue.) While watching the remake, I happened to make the wisecrack "John Forsythe is Jimmy Stewart!" because I thought the part Forsythe was playing was so much like something Stewart would have done. Darned if I wasn't right. Stewart plays the lead role in this screwball comedy with Joan Fontaine. This movie seems to have been made at least a decade too late, as it reminds me of a 1930's movie like Bringing Up Baby. Fontaine, cast as a wacky heiress running away from her husband after being married to him for only a few hours, reminded me so much of the leading lady in the older film that I had to make the wisecrack "Joan Fontaine is Katherine Hepburn!" Along for the ride is Eddie Albert as Stewart's buddy, who keeps saying the title. It's not as famous as many other screwball comedies or Jimmy Stewart movies because it's not very good.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The Yellow Teddy Bears (1963)

Interesting British movie which deals seriously with issues of premarital sex among Sixth Form girls (we Americans would say High School seniors) at a "New Town" (planned suburban community) private school. (A little research reveals that this has been released on DVD, with a misleading image of a seductive adult woman dressed as a schoolgirl on the cover, as part of the Jezebel ["sexy retro from the saucy seventies"] series. Nothing could be further from the true nature of this film. The alternate title, Gutter Girls, is also wildly inappropriate.) It deals frankly (for 1963) with pregnancy, abortion, and prostitution. The film has its campy aspects, particularly an early scene at a rock 'n' roll party (at which the girls hilariously scream in unison at certain points during the title song) but overall it's a worthwhile drama. (The odd title comes from the fact that those girls who have had sex wear little yellow teddy bear pins as a sort of secret code.) Interesting bit of trivia: The Beatles were invited to have a cameo in this film, but turned it down.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Ikarie XB-1 (1963)

I was delighted to find the original version of this Czech science fiction film, with English subtitles, on Internet Archive.


Ikarie Xb 1 ( Voyage To The End Of The Universe) Engsub : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
It also exists as the dubbed and edited American version, but I wouldn't bother.

Ikarie = Czech Sci Fi : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive

In any case, this is a fine early SF film, with an intelligent screenplay and depth of characterizations. Some of the external shots of the starship are obviously models, but the interior sets are striking. The fact that it's in black and white may add to the somber mood. There are nice little futuristic touches. Very highly recommended.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Ikarie XB-1 is great. In the UK the original was released a couple of years ago (Reg 2 DVD) on the Second Run Label.
Second Run DVD - Ikarie XB 1

 

[J Riff]

Watched Jungle Book again, and it is good with the sound off. MAinly because I am a jungle fan, and it is a mougty swell and believable jungle, somewhere I'd be interested in living, if there was wifi.

 

[Droflet]

The Witch (2015). Boring and unintelligible. Avoid.

10 Cloverfiled Lane. Hmm, if you like a movie that's dominated by John Goodman playing crazy then this is for you. It was okay, I guess.

The Survivalist. It could be brilliant. Stark. Dark. But the very understated writing worked for me. More than another post apocalyptic jaunt. Recommended. I think. Yeah, it's an odd one to pin down.

 

[Vince W]

Captain America: Civil War. A very strong offering from Marvel. Much better than the latest DC film. If you like this sort of thing it is well worth watching.

 

[Randy M.]

Captain America: Civil War. A very strong offering from Marvel. Much better than the latest DC film. If you like this sort of thing it is well worth watching.

I enjoyed this, too. Captain America is a relatively bland hero, but I think Chris Evans does a good job with him and the friction between him and Robert Downey's Ironman works really well.


Randy

 

[Vince W]

I enjoyed this, too. Captain America is a relatively bland hero, but I think Chris Evans does a good job with him and the friction between him and Robert Downey's Ironman works really well.


Randy

Spoiler

What really excited me was Spider-Man. They finally got it right! I am really looking forward to his film next year now.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Mission Mars (1968)

Pretty lame low-budget space adventure. Full of scientific nonsense (spacesuits with helmets that don't connect to the rest of the suit, so the chin and neck are fully exposed) and poor special effects. The first half is very slow, as we see the astronaut's wives worry about them coming home, typical blastoff stuff (lots of stock footage) and such. The second half is a little more interesting, as our trio of heroes finally reach the red planet and run into some weird alien artifacts. The soundtrack features some really inappropriate jazz/rock, and there's even a completely irrelevant song over the opening titles called "No More Tears." The bright colors, the groovy music, and the look of one of the wives, who seems to have stepped right off the set of Laugh-In with her mod outfits and heavy eye makeup, mark this as late Sixties; otherwise, it feels like something from early 1950's television.

 

[J-Sun]

Saw Captain America: Civil War a few days ago, myself. Not as enthusiastic as Vince and Randy, though. Granted, I'm kinda casual on the superhero movie front and I missed Age of Ultron and Winter Soldier. That couldn't have helped but I don't think it hurt much either - I was familiar with the general outlines, I think, and they dropped a recap-line here and there. It was more that the movie seemed to have two speeds, both wrong: it was too slow or too fast. Several cycles which alternated between now... we... will... talk... and... do... the... character... thing andnowwewillfightalotandblowstuffup! It was okay, but I didn't love it.

Spoiler

Plus, it seemed backwards: Captain America should have been the dudley do-right play-by-the-rules guy and Iron Man should be the screw-bureaucratic conformity guy, right? I get that things had happened to each in the movie sequences to make this plausible in a short-term sense but it still seemed backwards to me.

 

[J Riff]

Wow... a vintage movie with the word Mars in the title that I haven't ravaged yet. Thanks Victoria, I'm on that turkey. I watched The Day the Sky Exploded last night, while doing other things, and it has faded already... I recall that John the astronaut was laid up.... aaaand... uh... errr...

 

[Starbeast]

He Never Died (2014)

Exceptional movie!!! I found another gem. This is a great horror film that was recommended to me. This is an independent movie that had a limited release in the theaters. Now, I've been recommending this flick to horror fans.

I'm so glad I didn't see any preview trailers for it.

 

[2DaveWixon]

Captain America: Civil War - not having seen Captain America, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Iron Man (1, 2, or 3), The Avengers, Avengers Assemble, Avengers: Age of Ultron, or Ant Man and not having read any Avengers or Captain America comics since the 1980s, not surprisingly I was a little lost as to what the f*ck was going on for the first hour or so. (Though I do pride myself on knowing who The Black Panther was well before the script told us.) So what did I think? - It was ok. Another huge slab of American pop culture with sh*tloads of fist fights. At the end of it I felt like I had watched a whole TV series in one sitting. Daughter Number One thought it was "Awesome" but slightly annoyed that her favourite character from the first Two Captain America movies (Cap's boyfriend Bucky) had been reduced to a mere MacGuffin.

And Please, Mr Hollywood, get over your obsession with parental loss. The whole plot (three major characters) in this show where motivated by revenge for the loss of their murdered parents - four if you count Spiderman. One Hamlet at a time please!
.

I take it you have not seen Batman versus Superman? I saw that (several times, because I liked it) before Civil War had been released, and I was already contemplating referring to that movie as "The PTSD Movie," or some such thing... Frankly, it makes the latter's "obsession with parental loss," as you call it, look pedestrian.
Rather, I'd say that the plot of Civil War was political -- Government control-freaks vs. libertarians, or something like that. But then, I've only seen it once; maybe I'll change my mind. (I changed my mind about Batman v. Superman several times already, which is why I keep going back -- I keep seeing new things in it...I like that in a movie!)
(Aside: I was interested to see the new take on Spiderman -- much more a kid than the previous versions, much less a geek than this one has come to think of Peter Parker...)

Thank you for sparking some new thoughts in me...

Dave Wixon

 

[J Riff]

Well Mission Mars is done, over... of course I'd seen it. How could I forget such inanity? Up next are some new ones, Time Lapse? and Predestination. I am prepared to be disimpressed but who knows?

 

[Droflet]

Actually JR they both have some good points. Not classics but pretty good movies.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Well Mission Mars is done, over... of course I'd seen it. How could I forget such inanity?

Very easily. I've seen it and all but forgotten it - but doesn't Darren McGavin listen well? I remember very little about this film other than I though he did some great 'listening' acting.