What was the last movie you saw?

[Droflet]

Ooops.

 

[Alex The G and T]

"500 channels and nothing on" department:

I stumbled on Arsenic and Old Lace tonight, with Carry Grant and Peter Lorre.

Must be 50 years since I actually watched this. My memory contained but a basic synopsis.

I had quite forgotten what a riotous farce this is. A delightful romp.

 

[Droflet]

You forgot the wonderful Raymond Massey as the chief bad guy. But yes, a brilliantly funny movie. "I'm the son of a Chinese sea captain," always breaks me up.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

You forgot the wonderful Raymond Massey as the chief bad guy. But yes, a brilliantly funny movie. "I'm the son of a Chinese sea captain," always breaks me up.

Casting Massey in that part, unfortunately, ruins the play's funniest line, one that always brought the house down during its original run. The line? "He said I looked like Boris Karloff." Why it was so funny? Karloff played the role on Broadway.

 

[Dave]

I stumbled on Arsenic and Old Lace tonight, with Carry Grant and Peter Lorre.

Must be 50 years since I actually watched this. My memory contained but a basic synopsis.

I had quite forgotten what a riotous farce this is. A delightful romp.

My parents did amateur dramatics and as a child I saw a lot of American comedy plays from that era. Things like The Odd Couple and Everyone Loves Opal. It seems to me that they are a forgotten genre. Everything on in theatres in the West End is musical theatre, and these films are so old they have more dust on them than picture.

 

[KGeo777]

DANGER: DIABOLIK 1967 -- the film that shows Mario Bava is one of the most influential genre filmmakers of the 60s. Planet of the Vampires inspired ALIEN and might have even inspired the ending of Planet of the Apes--I don't know if the Serling script drafts matches up with the US release of this film but it's not impossible. For sure this one inspired DEATH RACE 2000--the costume of Frankenstein and the humorous news broadcasts--and that film influenced ROBOCOP. There's the ol photo placed in a front of a camera to trick security gag--if it did not originate it, it certainly helped make it popular.
His underground lair and using his girlfriend to stop a convoy truck--SUPERMAN THE MOVIE used that gimmick. And the last 20 minutes must have been an inspiration for the Abominable Dr. Phibes. Organ pipes, the assistant in a parka, and him in suspended animation--and the diabolical laugh over the credits.

 

[Droflet]

Thanks for the warning, KG. Brrrrrr.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Not to mention the usual brilliance of Enio Morricone's groovy score. And some great in camera non-special effects; like the moment where the Jag enters the lair, or they climb into the plane. Done with models in the foreground - like a glass painting and the actors disappearing behind (into) the model. And Marisa Mell is as sexy as hell - apparently, to make sure nothing showed during the sex scene, she had money strategically glued to her in interesting places.

As you may have gathered, I like this film,

 

[Ellizze]

I watched Andrei Tarkovski's Stalker (1979) yesterday. Masterpiece - 10/10 for me!

 

[Toby Frost]

Have you ever seen Triangle, @Judderman? That's another slightly obscure horror film with a very interesting premise. Worth a look.

 

[hitmouse]

Rewatched Watchmen after a number of years. Better than remembered. A very precise adaptation of the comic ( which I first read in the 1980s.)
Really well worth it. The story is 30+ years old, and still has a lot to say.

 

[svalbard]

Henry VIII and his Six Wives was an adaptation of the excellent BBC drama series 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII', a series of 6 tv programmes which concerned the time periods of each of his wives. The movie tried to condense this into 120 minutes and introduced bigger name actors into some of the roles such as Donald Pleasance as Cromwell.

Keith Michell is brilliant as both young and old King Henry, and along with A Man For All Seasons is the best and probably most accurate depiction of the king on tv or film.

I think Damien Lewis does a great Henry in Wolf Hall, although he may have studied Robert Shaw in A Man for All Seasons. Always liked Keith Mitchell as an actor.

 

[Judderman]

Have you ever seen Triangle, @Judderman? That's another slightly obscure horror film with a very interesting premise. Worth a look.

Thanks Toby! I will check it out. Actually has good reviews overall too.
Was not released in the cinema in the US. I suppose there is some Australian or UK accents they weren't keen on..

 

[KGeo777]

Not to mention the usual brilliance of Enio Morricone's groovy score. And some great in camera non-special effects; like the moment where the Jag enters the lair, or they climb into the plane. Done with models in the foreground - like a glass painting and the actors disappearing behind (into) the model. And Marisa Mell is as sexy as hell - apparently, to make sure nothing showed during the sex scene, she had money strategically glued to her in interesting places.

As you may have gathered, I like this film,

Yeah that was a neat effect with the entrance--forced perspective or something.
They used a variation of that technique on the Lord of the Rings movies to make Gandalf seem much larger than Frodo etc.

Marisa Mell had a severe car accident and facial damage--she underwent painful surgeries to repair it. They sure did a good job because I have never seen the scars. She also turned down a high $$$ Hollywood contract.

 

[KGeo777]

THE LAST STAND 2013 -- Why did I watch this? It was so bad and depressing. The washed out cinematography with the orange yellow tint--Arnold Schwarzenegger looking very tired and old despite his dyed hair--villains that were so non-threatening that an elderly Harry Dean Stanton in an uncredited role came across as more dangerous. There's a masked woman who guns down a group of police and goes off like a ninja but she disappears from the movie--they don't explain where she went or bother to unmask her. There was so much weakness in this film--I had to douse the experience with a couple of Batman episodes starring Roddy McDowall as the Book Worm--I enjoyed it much more.

 

[Droflet]

Thanks for another warning, KG.

 

[KGeo777]

Thanks for another warning, KG.

The opening action sequence with the prisoner escape was pretty good--I had higher hopes as I watching--thinking maybe this is a good one as it had been suggested as his last decent action movie. ESCAPE PLAN I may watch sometime. Stallone's face looks like it is melting but I think Arnie came off better in the Expendables films so maybe it won't be so bad with Stallone there too but I need some time to prepare myself to watch that.
It's a lack of intensity I notice in movie characters and performances in recent times. A mildness that didn't exist 30-40-50 years ago. But some would say that was overacting--I don't agree. The bad guy in this one was hard to hear in a car scene--his voice wasn't strong enough.
It's the weirdest thing because I can walk on a street or be in a store and sometimes hear more classic-type voices among staff people than I find in recent movies.
There was one minor actor in this who appears briefly as a prisoner being interrogated who had a brightness in his face that suggested old-fashioned screen charisma--they are still around but harder to find when I watch something newer. But voices are so weak in movies--lack of intensity and dramatic modulation.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Last film I watched? Carry-on Matron.
Why? good question. ...really really good question.

 

[Parson]

Finished watching the 1999 BBC remake of Oliver Twist. Okay, but nothing to write home about.

 

[KGeo777]

ENTER THE DRAGON 1973- "Boards don't hit back."