What was the last movie you saw?

[AllanR]

I'm a sucker for newspaper stories.

Have you seen Newsfront (Australian '78). A great ensemble cast depicting the transition from Newsreel to TV.

 

[AllanR]

Salvage 1 ('79) Held up to my childhood memory. Andy Griffith is a junk dealer and builds a rocket to go salvage the Apollo equipment left on the moon. Overall it's a fun ride. Isaac Asimov was the science advisor for the film.

 

[KGeo777]

I have been meaning to revisit Salvage 1. I watched it when it premiered.

 

[Mouse]

Just watched Ron's Gone Wrong. Very good but if you want a best friend just get a dog.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Have you seen Newsfront (Australian '78). A great ensemble cast depicting the transition from Newsreel to TV.

I will take your recommendation and see if I can find it. It has the great Bill Hunter in it - so it must be worth a look!

I saw Salvage One for the first time a few years ago. Even without an overlay of nostalgia it still holds up as better than average.

 

[Jeffbert]

City Beneath the Sea - awful Irwin Allen TV movie/pilot. Too dull and stupid to be any kind of funny.

I had been looking for this film, but always ended-up with a 1953 film about salvage guys diving to sunken ships, instead. I remembered the part about gold bars being the only thing that could shield from a certain type of radiation. It apparently could only go sideways, as there was no gold on the ceiling.



MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974) My 1st time seeing this, & found it very satisfying. All star casts were by then, becoming rare, but this one is an exception. Set in 1920s, a simple train ride from one nation through others, becomes the setting for a murder mystery.

Spoiler

The solution to the mystery involved two potential theories, one rather simple, the other, rather complicated. No mention of OCCAM'S RAZOR, which states that given two plausible explanations, the simpler one is usually the correct one. The complex one, which seems to have been the real one, involved all 12 suspects stabbing the corpse in the chest, as all 12 had motives, and none had alibis. Poirot dismissed the latter and concluded that the murderer had fled the scene; perhaps in part, because the corpse, Ratchett (Richard Widmark) got what he deserved

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

My Tale is Hot (1964)

More amusing than usual nudie cutie. Satan (whose full name, we find out, is Lucifer U. Devil) tries to tempt the fellow awarded the title of the world's most faithful husband (whose full name, we find out, is Ben-Hur Ova) with a series of naked women. These brief segments are presented in a series of goofy ways. Placing "girlie relish" on a hot dog, for example, gives Mister Ova the power to see through walls. The very short, rotund fellow (sort of a Lou Costello type) tries to watch the "Walt Disley Show" [sic] and Satan replaces it with footage of notorious stripper Candy Barr. There are lots of groan-worthy puns in the dialogue, and, since this is the mid-1960's, it ends with several naked women doing the Twist. Speaking of twist, the surprise ending is that Satan can't tempt the fellow to be unfaithful because he's a sultan with 365 wives. Satan is played by a tall fellow with a voice like Orson Welles. Satan's wife (called Saturna) is played by an actress in Goth makeup (who keeps her clothes on) calling herself Ima Ghoul. Extremely cheap, with cardboard sets and Hallowe'en-level costumes, but provides some very silly fun.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Gambling with Souls (1936)

Slow-moving exploitation melodrama. A brain surgeon's wife is lured into a gambling den by a supposed friend. The place lets her win at first, but later she owes the joint more than ten thousand dollars. (Before this even started, we saw somebody lose $125.00 at a friendly game of bridge. Big stakes back in those days!) To pay back what she owes, she is forced into (implied) prostitution. The place has lots of such victims it seems; they are known only by numbers. Her first assignment is the only creatively filmed scene in the movie, as we see her clothing tossed on the floor and her silhouette cast on the wall. The whole story is told as a flashback, as we learn why she shot a man dead at the gambling den. (In a plot development I wasn't expecting, it was because her innocent young sister falls into the same trap and dies from an [implied] abortion.) Lots of stock footage to kill time with boxing, wrestling, and nightclub acts. Lots of scenes of women in slinky lingerie, too. The lead actress isn't bad, for this kind of cheap and disreputable film.

 

[CupofJoe]

Booksmart [2019]
Two high achieving students discover that after 4 years of hard work and no parties they realise the other students that partied all the time had done just as well. So they decide on one wild night.
It keeps moving in a light way, never veering into gross-out comedy or becoming too obvious in making its points. The cast is engaging and believable. It hits a few quiet good moments, highs and lows. And all on the night before graduation...
The evening looks beautiful on film. It was Olivia Wilde's feature film directorial debut. I was more than pleasantly surprised.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

A Name for Evil (1973)

Reportedly, this film had a greatly checkered production history, which explains why it's such a confusing mess. The basic plot is simple enough. Not-very-happy married couple (Robert Culp and Samantha Eggar) leave the city to move into the very badly dilapidated home of Culp's remote ancestor. Maybe the ancestor is haunting the place, maybe Culp is having a mental breakdown. A tragic event occurs. The end.

In between, however, we have New Age style aphorisms spoken by Culp and scenes that seem pointless, despite the nearly constant "scary" music. Most of all, we have a very long sequence in which Culp rides a white horse into the local bar, where gigantic plates of spaghetti are served. Line dancing and a lousy soft country/rock song follows. Suddenly, everybody is naked, including Culp. He fools around with one of the women. Apparently all of this is fantasy or hallucination, as his wife tells him he was gone just ten minutes. Mind you, this lengthy sequence doesn't seem to have anything to do with the supposed haunting, although maybe it's just another sign of Culp's mental breakdown.

Maybe some hints of the confusion that reigns here are offered by the fact that the story takes place in the Deep South, but was filmed in very un-Southern places in Canada; and that the ancestor was a Captain in the Confederate Army, but is always referred to as the Major.

 

[Rodders]

Booksmart [2019]
Two high achieving students discover that after 4 years of hard work and no parties they realise the other students that partied all the time had done just as well. So they decide on one wild night.
It keeps moving in a light way, never veering into gross-out comedy or becoming too obvious in making its points. The cast is engaging and believable. It hits a few quiet good moments, highs and lows. And all on the night before graduation...
The evening looks beautiful on film. It was Olivia Wilde's feature film directorial debut. I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Billie Lourd totally stole her scenes in that movie.

 

[hitmouse]

Have you seen Newsfront (Australian '78). A great ensemble cast depicting the transition from Newsreel to TV.

Superb film.

 

[hitmouse]

Salvage 1 ('79) Held up to my childhood memory. Andy Griffith is a junk dealer and builds a rocket to go salvage the Apollo equipment left on the moon. Overall it's a fun ride. Isaac Asimov was the science advisor for the film.

Didn’t this become a TV series as well?

 

[AllanR]

Didn’t this become a TV series as well?

It did, I watched it as a kid, though don't remember much. I suspect it suffers from them getting the biggest possible prize in the pilot.

 

[Randy M.]

In the Heat of the Night (1967) dir. Norman Jewison; starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates

With my predisposition toward mystery stories, this is probably my favorite Poitier movie. Mr. Tibbs (Virgil -- literary allusion, anyone?), a Philly cop, trying to get to Memphis has to change trains in Sparta, Mississippi just when a murder takes place. At first a suspect, and then reluctantly drawn into the investigation, he has to face racial prejudice from all directions, not least from Steiger's Gillespie, the local police chief. Absolutely first rate cast with bits from William Schallert, Lee Grant, Beah Richards and a very early role for Scott Wilson (In Cold Blood; Hershel on The Walking Dead, among other roles).

Great movie that, even after 55 years still feels contemporary in its depiction of race relations. If there's a misstep, its that the ending, the rapprochement between Tibbs and Gillespie, feels a little overly optimistic now.

 

[CupofJoe]

In the Heat of the Night (1967) dir. Norman Jewison; starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates

With my predisposition toward mystery stories, this is probably my favorite Poitier movie. Mr. Tibbs (Virgil -- literary allusion, anyone?), a Philly cop, trying to get to Memphis has to change trains in Sparta, Mississippi just when a murder takes place. At first a suspect, and then reluctantly drawn into the investigation, he has to face racial prejudice from all directions, not least from Steiger's Gillespie, the local police chief. Absolutely first rate cast with bits from William Schallert, Lee Grant, Beah Richards and a very early role for Scott Wilson (In Cold Blood; Hershel on The Walking Dead, among other roles).

Great movie that, even after 55 years still feels contemporary in its depiction of race relations. If there's a misstep, its that the ending, the rapprochement between Tibbs and Gillespie, feels a little overly optimistic now.

I agree, but I think it was meant to be. This was at the height of American civil right movement and things did look like they were changing. I think Gillespie's action echoes this. He has many flaws but his not a fool. Rod Steiger does a great job of showing a man wrestling with his heritage, upbringing and culture and the obvious fact that Tibbs is the better Homicide detective. His character is constantly wavering between waring emotions and his cop-ly nature. Eventually his cop-ly nature wins out. Rationality and not emotion wins...
And lets not forget he is putting Tibbs on the train out of town...

 

[Jeffbert]

Sydney Poitier's films ran Saturday night through Sunday morning on TCM. I intend to watch a few during the coming week.



THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971) Ben M's intro included a comparison to BULLET's chase scene, noting that here, no permits were obtained, etc! I cannot understand just how they actually made such an intense scene involving more than a few collisions, without cooperation from the local authorities.

Lately, I have been looking to see name brand products in scenes & wondering if there was indeed a deal between such as COCA-COLA & the film's producers, etc. I had heard or seen something to the effect that scripts were shown to would - be advertisers etc., & they would say in which scene they wanted their products shown. Here, COKE, PEPSI, ROYAL CROWN COLA, HERTZ, CANADA DRY, SCHAEFER BEER, M&MS, & I think MILLER BEER, though I am relying on the shape of the neon sign, as it is at a distance & angle making it impossible to read. There were several others, also. Cars are too many to include in such a count.

L&M cigarettes! The good ol' days when such was allowed! Though I quit 40 years ago, I do prefer less govt. regulation.

COKE was all over the place; making me wonder if those shots deliberately placed it in view, if only partially. When Popeye & Cloudy are across the street looking through binoculars at the restaurant, in this one scene, only the view of the restaurant is seen. We hear their voices, but see only what they see. I thought this odd, because the star wants to be in front of the camera! COCA-COLA | SAL & ANGIE'S | COCA-COLA clearly in view most of the time. In another scene the labels on beer cans were deliberately rotated such that the name could not be seen in its entirety.

! Even when the one guy brings more beer, he is holding the cans in the same way, such that the view of the label is as above.

Anyway, I thought that far too many others were killed, & no scene of the Chief of Police chewing out these two for the body count.

Spoiler

The part that leads to the car chasing the train leave a mother who was pushing a stroller shot by the assassin (from 'hashishin'), the train driver, and one other guy shot, without any mention of their condition made. Seemed strange to me, given that the film ran, including Ben M's intro, about 1:45. I think they could have included a brief scene, without making the film too long.

 

[Randy M.]

I agree, but I think it was meant to be. This was at the height of American civil right movement and things did look like they were changing. I think Gillespie's action echoes this. He has many flaws but his not a fool. Rod Steiger does a great job of showing a man wrestling with his heritage, upbringing and culture and the obvious fact that Tibbs is the better Homicide detective. His character is constantly wavering between waring emotions and his cop-ly nature. Eventually his cop-ly nature wins out. Rationality and not emotion wins...
And lets not forget he is putting Tibbs on the train out of town...

I agree with you about Steiger's performance. I thought it was interesting that Gillespie carried TIbb's suitcase.

Yes. That is what I thought might be overly optimistic. Rationality vs. emotion and, on a personal level, decades of conditioning and a social environment not conducive to change.

 

[Randy M.]

Lately, I have been looking to see name brand products in scenes & wondering if there was indeed a deal between such as COCA-COLA & the film's producers, etc.

In In the Heat of the Night I noted Coke, Dr. Pepper (bottles) and Bubble Up (vending machine).

 

[Randy M.]

I agree with you about Steiger's performance. I thought it was interesting that Gillespie carried TIbb's suitcase.

Yes. That is what I thought might be overly optimistic. Rationality vs. emotion and, on a personal level, decades of conditioning and a social environment not conducive to change.

And I rather missed your point there. I agree it was intended to be optimistic. With 20/20 hindsight, it was a naive hope and the battle for rationality is still going on.