What was the last movie you saw?

Rear Window (1954) -- TCM (Turner Cable Movies) replays this occasionally and my wife and I decided to watch it once again; it's a little nostalgia trip for us. My wife, not a huge Hitchcock fan except for Psycho and The Birds, was dubious when it was back in theaters in the 1980s after years of being in some legal limbo. This was not long after we were married and she no longer felt obliged to go along with all my decisions on which movie to go see, but I dragged her along all the same and she ended up liking it a good deal. I think I see why now: It's a crime story, which she enjoys, but one of Hitchcock's mostly lighthearted ones; the give and take between James Stewart and the others, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter and Wendell Correy, is great fun and delivered with impeccable timing, especially from Ritter. And, as Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin brought up in the movie's intro, it's also the story of Lisa, Kelly's character, proving there's more to her than her "perfection." I imagine by this time, Kelly had had about enough of that attitude; she remains one of the loveliest, most elegant women to appear in movies, and while that may bestow advantages, it can also lead to other qualities being undervalued or ignored. She's very good at displaying the wounding that comes from Stewart's jibes and implied criticism. In turn, Stewart is always good at playing a likeable stinker, someone you'd enjoy having around even when you'd want to smack him for having an unjustifiable attitude or two. This is still one of the best movies based on a work by Cornell Woolrich, and as he sometimes did with other literary works, Hitchcock improved on the original.


Randy M.
 
"Breaker Morant" (1980) - Bruce Beresford (D), Edward Woodward, Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson

During the South African Boer War at the turn of the 20th century, Three Australian soldiers are court-martialled and the threat of execution, and all because they murdered, rather than killed enemy soldiers and a German Spy. And to compound their woes is that behind the scenes the British Government want the soldiers killed anyway, in order to smooth out possible peace talks between all the warring factions.

Harry "Breaker" Morant (Edward Woodward) is one of those convicted men, who finds it incredible that they should be facing such tenuous charges during a war where the whole purpose of conflict is to kill as many of the enemy by whatever means in order to win.

Their inexperienced defence lawyer, Major Thomas (Jack Thompson), does his best to extract as much contradictory evidence as possible against the jumped-up charges but is constantly undermined by the Prosecution and a very biased Court.

Its a tough, shocking film that doesn't play the sympathy card too much. Woodward, Thompson & Brown give stunning performances, fighting their own war of (in)justice against the whims of British colonialism & the Crown of the King.

5/5
 
The Black Abbot (1963)

One of the many German krimi films adapted from the works of Edgar Wallace. This one has a plot which is difficult to follow, due to many characters, most of whom have motivations which are not entirely benign. Let's see; we've got the lord of a castle where a treasure in gold is rumored to be hidden; the young woman he wants to marry (and who is willing to marry him, but not for love); her brother, a lawyer who forged the lord's signature for financial gain; the lawyer's assistant, who is blackmailing the lawyer and who wants to marry the young woman; a not-so-young woman who wanted to marry the lord, and who works with the assistant; the lord's assistant, whom the young woman loves and who is our default hero; a couple of cops, one of whom is the goofy comedy relief; and a very young Klaus Kinski as an ex-felon now working as the lord's butler. Given this complexity, it's no surprise that the first part of the film is talky, but it eventually becomes a Gothic chiller with the title figure killing people, folks skulking through hidden catacombs, and so on. Moderately entertaining.
 
"The Guns of Navarone" (1962) - J.Lee Thompson (D); Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn

During the Second World War, a small but well-organised Anglo-American/Greek team are sent on a seemingly impossible mission to infiltrate and destroy a huge German gunnery complex on the island of Navarone. The reason? To prevent six British Royal Navy destroyers from being sunk during a scheduled rescue mission to pick up over 200 stranded British soldiers from nearby islands.

Led by top mountain climber & Captain, Keith Mallory (a stoic Gregory Peck), and his cohorts including a beguiling David Niven as an explosives expert; the late Anthony Quinn as Colonel Stavros - a solider whom is privately seeking revenge against Mallory; Stanley Baker as the mechanic and knife expert. And finally Anthony Quayle, the instigator and organiser of the entire mission.

My favourite character would have to be Niven's Corporal Miller. A happy-go-lucky soldier who refuses to become an officer because he likes what he does and wants to keep it that way; yet he has that typical English charisma that makes Niven the perfect choice for the role.

Peck is also good, although he does seem just a little too stiff and 2 dimensional at times as if he doesn't know what to do in order to expand in his character and therefore plays it safe and just goes through the motions.

Quinn & Quayle are always good value:Quinn especially, adds a certain Greek charm & emotion that again makes the movie far more accessible and entertaining.

It is quite a long film at 150 odd minutes, but it doesn't feel like it. There is too much going on to make you drift for a second. It may look a little dated as it celebrates its 55th birthday this year, but again, don't let that put you off.

4/5
 
Hellzapoppin' (1941)

Inspired by the smash hit Broadway show of the same name (but without the apostrophe.) By all reports the live version was pure anarchy which changed every night (and it ran for well over one thousand performances.) Inevitably, the movie version can't capture that aspect. It also adds an actual plot. But besides that, there's a lot of breaking the fourth wall and surrealism. The starring comedy team of Olsen and Johnson talk to the audience as well as to the projectionist showing the film (Shemp Howard!) and also argue with the director and the screenwriter (Elisha Cook, Jr.!) about the making of the movie.

The opening sequence gives some of the flavor of this thing. After an on-screen warning that "any similarity between HELLZAPOPPIN' and a motion picture is purely coincidental" we see the projectionist struggle with his equipment. He finally gets it going, and we see a typical musical scene of showgirls walking down a set of stairs. The stairs turn into a ramp and they fall into Hell. After some acrobatic devils prance around (and turn three of the showgirls on spits over a fire) a taxi arrives with Olsen and Johnson. Some gags follow, then they shoot the taxi, which explodes into a charred wreck. The comics ask the projectionist to run the film back. They shoot the taxi again, and it turns into a horse (which happens to have a tic-tac-toe game drawn on its rump.)

Things settle down after a while after the boys agree to have a plot in their movie. (They watch scenes from it while sitting down in front of a projection; it looks a lot like MST3K.) We get some song and dance numbers in the stage show within the movie within the movie. Third-billed Martha Raye turns out to have a killer set of gams. Frankenstein's monster shows up for a few seconds. A woman keeps showing up yelling "Oscar!" A man keeps showing up with a potted plant yelling "Mrs Jones!" There are some nifty camera tricks. (The comics have half their bodies turn invisible.) It's all like an ancestor of Laugh-In.
 
Paranoiac (1963)

One of the black-and-white mini-Hitchcocks from Hammer. Eleven years before the movie begins the parents of three children were killed in a plane crash and the kids were taken in by their aunt. A couple of years later one of the sons apparently committed suicide, although the body was never found. The two remaining siblings are an emotionally fragile woman and her completely rotten brother (Oliver Reed in an intense performance.) Brother wants sister proclaimed mad so he can inherit her share of the family wealth. Suddenly sister sees her dead brother. Ghost, faked suicide, impostor, or part of a gaslighting plot? We find out pretty quickly, but this film has plenty of revelations yet to come. Playing a part are the sister's sexy French nurse, the family lawyer, and the lawyer's son. It builds quite slowly, with only a couple of shock scenes that come pretty late in the movie, but builds a lot of suspense. Beautifully filmed and nicely acted.
 
Avengers Assemble was on the goggle box last night. Still a really enjoyable movie.
 
All the Hobbit movies, extended. Good action for fans of swords, dragons, treasure hordes and whatnot. Wondering if it is worth looking at The Hunt for Gollum?
 
"Dr. Strange" last night on Netflix. Not a cinematic masterpiece, but the eye candy was good, it had a decent plot and of course, Benedict Cumberbatch. All in all, a good addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I did notice the soundtrack was very derivative of the scores written for the rebooted star trek movies. Not terribly surprising being that it's the same composer, but it got to the point in a couple places that I thought I was watching Doctor Khan. :)
 
Victoria Silverwolf said:
Paranoiac (1963)

One of the black-and-white mini-Hitchcocks from Hammer. Eleven years before the movie begins the parents of three children were killed in a plane crash and the kids were taken in by their aunt. A couple of years later one of the sons apparently committed suicide, although the body was never found. The two remaining siblings are an emotionally fragile woman and her completely rotten brother (Oliver Reed in an intense performance.) Brother wants sister proclaimed mad so he can inherit her share of the family wealth. Suddenly sister sees her dead brother. Ghost, faked suicide, impostor, or part of a gaslighting plot? We find out pretty quickly, but this film has plenty of revelations yet to come. Playing a part are the sister's sexy French nurse, the family lawyer, and the lawyer's son. It builds quite slowly, with only a couple of shock scenes that come pretty late in the movie, but builds a lot of suspense. Beautifully filmed and nicely acted.
Click to expand...

Ooo... you'll have to mention this at the appropriate time.

The Young Traveler and I watched Panic in Year Zero (1962) a week ago (before the release date, but it was a good day for it). Excellent stuff, and we'll definitely have a review up soon.
 
I'm sure you realize that Panic in Year Zero is an unauthorized adaptation of "Lot" and "Lot's Daughter" by Ward Moore. It's quite a good film.

Next:

The Kiss of the Vampire (1963)

Non-Dracula vampire film from Hammer. Set in the early 20th century. There's a nifty motorcar of the period which brings our honeymooning couple to someplace in German-speaking Europe. They find a hotel that has only one other guest, a hard-drinking, grumpy fellow. They get invited to the castle of a local doctor. Well, since you're watching a vampire movie, it's no big surprise that the elegant host and his equally charming adult son and daughter are not as nice as they seem. It all plays out very slowly (after a striking open sequence which I won't spoil here) but it's beautifully filmed. The climax is quite unusual, making use of the last thing in the world you would think of using against vampires.
 
"Carry on Cleo" (1964) - Gerald Thomas (D); Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Joan Simms

Feeling rather nostalgic for some good old non-pc British humour. And what better way to enforce that than by digging out some old "Carry On" films from yesteryear!

"Cleo" is one of my favourites, not least because it stars most of the principle Carry On actors - James, Williams, Charles Hawtrey etc.

Nearly all of the Carry On films carry heavy hints of sexism, racism, homophobia and a whole lot more that probably wouldn't see the light of day if any were remade for a 21st century viewing audience. But despite these drawbacks, Cleo remains a very funny film in its own right. And of course contains one of the best quotes in film history....

"Infamy! infamy! They've all got it in for me!" - Julius Caesar (Ken Williams)

3/5
 
That one is quite amusing. The famous quote you mention is one of the greatest puns of all time.

Next:

Really Weird Tales (1987)

This "movie" consists of the only three episodes of HBO's failed attempt at a series making fun of Twilight Zone style anthologies. A lot of the folks from the classic Canadian sketch comedy series SCTV are involved. Joe Flaherty, in a variation on his role as Count Floyd, host of Monster Chiller Horror Theater, serves as the Rod Serling.

"Cursed with Charisma" -- John Candy is a guy who shows up in a sleepy little town with a can-do, cockeyed optimist attitude which gets everybody involved in buying and selling and rebuying and reselling real estate in a mad frenzy. It seems to be a satire on the financial schemes of the time. The "weird" element doesn't come until the end, and it's totally random.

"I'll Die Loving" -- Catherine O'Hara is a woman who causes everything and everybody she loves to explode. She was sent to an orphanage shortly after birth since she killed her mother this way, and the nuns deliberately treated her cruelly so she wouldn't kill them. She leaves the orphanage after finding out about her strange power and deliberately lives a miserable life among things and people she hates so she won't destroy them. As you can see, this could be the source of a very dark comedy, but there's a lot of silliness too. The best of the three stories, but no classic.

"All's Well that Ends Strange" -- Martin Short is a lounge singer working at the luxurious mansion of a girlie magazine publisher clearly based on Hugh Hefner. He finds the secret behind his harem of lovely young women. Pretty predictable twist.

Overall, not very good.
 
The Brides of Dracula (1960)

Sequel to Hammer's Dracula/Horror of Dracula. Instead of bringing back Dracula, who does not appear at all (and who is presumed to have been destroyed permanently in the first film), they bring back Van Helsing. Before he shows up, however, we get a Gothic Romance plot with a pretty young Frenchwoman on her way to be a teacher at a girl's school in Transylvania. (Surprisingly, the students do not go on to become "brides," probably because they are too young.) On the way she is deserted by the coach driver, and has to spend the night at the castle of the local Baroness. Told that the Baroness lives alone, with the exception of a single servant, she is surprised to spot a young man in another part of the castle. It turns out that he is the son of the Baroness, and is kept prisoner, literally shackled in his part of the castle. He seems gentle and kind, and claims that his mother just imprisons him so she can control the estate. Of course, there's more to it than that.

Pretty typical vampire movie stuff ensues, with fake fangs, fake bats, and way too much white makeup on the "brides." However, there are some quite interesting things as well. Twice we have a very effective scene of a newly created vampire coming out of a coffin. We have a woman in the Renfeld role. (This is very much a film dominated by its female characters, even though Hero and Villain are male.) We have the unusual relationship between mother and son. We have a climax which turns Van Helsing into an Action Hero. We have an ending which destroys the vampire entirely through religious symbolism. Overall, pretty enjoyable.
 
The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

Hammer's loose adaptation of the Guy Endore novel The Werewolf of Paris (although the setting is moved to 18th century Spain.) About the first third of the film is spent establishing why the werewolf bears his curse. It has the flavor of a very dark fairy tale. (Beggar comes to the castle of a cruel aristocrat, is mocked and locked in a dungeon for many years, a mute servant girl rejects the advances of the now elderly aristocrat, is thrown in the dungeon with the beggar, who has degenerated into a beast-like state, he rapes her [only implied, thank goodness], she is released and goes back to the aristocrat, murders him and runs off, is found by a kindly fellow and his servant, she gives birth on Christmas Day. This last factor, by the way, seems to be the most important one in inducing lycanthropy.) The child grows into a gentle child who has nightmares. Animals have their throats torn open by an unseen creature. About halfway through the movie the adult werewolf finally shows up, played by Oliver Reed. The first attack of the werewolf on a human being doesn't occur until about two-thirds through the film. Reed plays the role as one who is tortured by his curse, and everyone who knows about him is in sympathy with his plight. Its all played very seriously, even grimly.
 
Just watched "Genius." Based on the 1979 novel "Max Perkins: Editor of Genius."

There are not many films from today's Hollywood that leave me moved and thoughtful. This is one of those few. Colin Firth and Jude Law's portrayal of Max Perkins and Thomas Wolfe respectively was brilliant. Ostensibly about Max Perkins, the film focuses on Thomas Wolfe and his relationship with his editor. This is a film I would recommend to anyone who appreciates the artistry of writing, be it other writers, editor's or Stephen King's Constant Reader.
 
Baby Driver (2017)
Not perfect, and a bit ridiculous at times, but an excellent film. One I recommend seeing at the cinema. The opening scene is superb, as well as the way scenes flow with the music throughout.
 
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