What was the last movie you saw?

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Moontrap (1988)

Walter "Chekov" Koenig and Bruce "Ash" Campbell are NASA astronauts who find a huge derelict spaceship in orbit around the Earth. (This wasn't already detected from the ground?) They take back a 14,000 year old human skeleton and a egg-shaped thing. Back home, the egg-shaped thing pops out a little robot that turns into a big robot, making use of parts from the technology around it and parts of the skeleton. After this killer cyborg is defeated (I didn't know that NASA had teams of security agents with military-style weapons) they trace its origin to a spot on the Moon. Our heroes go back and find an ancient structure and a woman in suspended animation. Things go very badly wrong, since there are a whole bunch of the killer cyborgs around.

Melodramatic and made on a very modest budget, I nevertheless found this to be an enjoyable science fiction horror movie. Don't think too hard about the plot and tolerate a few lackluster special effects (although the stop-motion killer cyborgs are very cool) and you'll have a good time.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Death Rage (Con la rabbia agli occhi "With anger in his eyes," 1976)

Yul Brynner's last film sometimes winds up on one of those 50 public domain movie packs, claiming to be horror or science fiction. Nope. It's pure crime film. All you need to know is that retired hit man Yul agrees to one last job because the target killed his brother. Along the way he gets a young apprentice and a young girlfriend. Martin Balsam is the Italian police inspector on the case. Gunfights, car chases, etc. Standard for this kind of thing.

 

[Parson]

Holland (viewed on Prime) Staring Nicole Kidman. This is either an eclectic masterpiece or a hot mess. I lean toward the hot mess side of the spectrum. I should begin by saying the main reason I viewed this because it is set in Holland, Michigan and I lived there for 3+ years in the late 70's and early 80's, otherwise it's unlikely I would have taken the time to watch this.

The good: Nicole Kidman shows an impressive range of acting because she's the main character in what seems to me to be three genres of movies wrapped into one. (Short list)

The Bad:
The setting. (First, for me but not the most important thing.) There is only one scene which I am fairly convinced was actually shot in Holland, MI. There is a windmill scene which is probably shot on Windmill Island in Holland. Second, the young family in this "Dutch" enclave --- actually in 2000 the time of the movie Holland was at least and likely is more now, 30% Hispanic (at night the local Holland AM radio station in 1978 broadcasted in Spanish!) --- begins by saying grace in Dutch. I knew many "Dutch" families in Holland and I don't think there was one of them who could pull off a Dutch prayer in 1980, let alone 2000! Third, only someone from LA or such would see Holland as a quaint small town. It's population in 2000 was 35,000 people and the county was 60,000 people. It is a town filled with light industry, not shop keepers and desperate housewives.

The setup: Kidman is supposed to be a 1950's style stay-at-home housewife whose trapped because of social pressures in a fairly modern setting. There were very, very few stay at home young housewives anywhere in the USA by 2000. It doesn't ring true. Interestingly, after hinting strongly at this, we discover that she is actually a home economics teacher at Holland high school, making the first part of the hint so very, very, unbelievable.

The Action: Here is where the move ultimately fails. The first third or so is a cringy portrayal of a wife who feels trapped and is trying to make the best of her situation. The second third or so is where she's starting to consider that something about her optometrist husband isn't stacking up and starts to think he's having an affair. This is rather humorous as she and the new shop teacher with whom she flirts to recruit to help her break into her husband's office, and it's a kind of comedy break in. She finds this thrilling and finds the man interesting. The last third or so is about the discovery that her husband is actually serial killer. And now it becomes deadly serious.

This movie is getting really poor ratings and it deserves them.

Avoid --- Not Recommended --- Flawed --- Okay --- Good --- Recommended --- Shouldn’t be Missed

 

[Eyeball]

Incidentally I'm surprised people go to the cinema much any more, the last time i went was in the 60's to see 'Mysterious Island'.
It's far less hassle to simply pull a video out of my collection to watch at home..

 

[KGeo777]

Incidentally I'm surprised people go to the cinema much any more, the last time i went was in the 60's to see 'Mysterious Island'.
It's far less hassle to simply pull a video out of my collection to watch at home..

Seriously? You haven't been in a cinema since the 1960s? That is amazing.

 

[Eyeball]

Seriously? You haven't been in a cinema since the 1960s? That is amazing.

"It's a dangerous business going out your door"- Bilbo Baggins
You can go out if you like mate, but I prefer watching one of my vids (below) and sit with my feet up munching popcorn in the peace and quiet of my snug warm home rather than travelling to cinemas on cold dark nights and risk getting mugged..

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) - Overall pretty good, though a bit depressing. And creepy in parts. I enjoyed the stop motion animation which really added to the feel of the film. Some of the score was nice as well. Worth a watch.

 

[Jeffbert]

"It's a dangerous business going out your door"- Bilbo Baggins
You can go out if you like mate, but I prefer watching one of my vids (below) and sit with my feet up munching popcorn in the peace and quiet of my snug warm home rather than travelling to cinemas on cold dark nights and risk getting mugged..

View attachment 131976

View attachment 131977

I always went to the afternoon show. Preferred a place called the Rio, because of the 3 story parking garage. Even in the shade, it was awful hot with all that concrete & asphalt. Later, they made stadium seating; nice. But that was as an adult. As a kid, there were two theaters, Wheaton Plaza & the Aspen Hill twin theaters. The latter was walking distance. Saw Soylent Green there. Would not recognize the neighborhood now.

 

[Randy M.]

Nightmare (1956) Police detective Rene Bressard (Edward G. Robinson) is confronted by his brother-in-law Stan Grayson (Kevin McCarthy), who is extremely upset about a nightmare of the previous night, in which he had killed a man, and, upon awakening, found several small items that he saw in the nightmare, and which he had seen nowhere before. Moreover, he had several bruises that he could not recall where or when they happened, other than during the nightmare. Despite Bressard's reasoning, and reassurances, Grayson is certain he had killed a man.

This was shown as part of TCM's dreams subject, several weeks ago.

What a mystery! Absolutely wonderful!

9/10

Recorded it and watched it this weekend. I thought the early voice-over parts were a bit stiff, but then it picked up and took off. Really, a very good noir. Based on a Cornell Woolrich novel.


Night Nurse (1931); dir. William Wellman; starring Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell

A brand new nurse gets a job caring for two sick kids, only to find the kids are in danger of being killed.

Enjoyable old movie. I've seen Stanwyck in a lot of productions, knew she was a big star for years, but didn't realize she had received top billing so early on. Speaking of stars, Clark Gable has a role in this one as a hard guy; according to IMDB, '31 was the year he broke out after nearly a decade in Hollywood. Blondell is good; her and Stanwyck have a rhythm together. The weak point in this is Lyon, who plays a bootlegger but appears rather preppie for a tough guy, and more so when compared to Gable.

 

[Eyeball]

I always went to the afternoon show. Preferred a place called the Rio, because of the 3 story parking garage. Even in the shade, it was awful hot with all that concrete & asphalt. Later, they made stadium seating; nice. But that was as an adult. As a kid, there were two theaters, Wheaton Plaza & the Aspen Hill twin theaters. The latter was walking distance. Saw Soylent Green there. Would not recognize the neighborhood now.

Our nearest flicks was the dear old Trocadero in Leicester (below). we never had a telly for a few years when I was a kid, so as the next best thing my parents packed me off to see the kids films showing every saturday at the 'Troc', but they were mostly boring..
Got me heart broke real bad when my parents promised to take me to see my hero 'Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier' in a 'proper' film, I said to my schoolpals "Wow, I can hardly wait to see him on the Troc", but they said "He's been and gone, didn't you know?" and I was nearly in tears at being let down by me parents. (sniffle). It was about 40 years before I did see it, (on youtube I think).
PS- the Troc burnt down in a fire in 1967 and was replaced by a filling station.

 

[Jeffbert]

Some things just ought not change.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Come Spy With Me (1967)

Combines a bad beach movie with a bad spy movie. Troy Donahue runs a charter boat company on some Caribbean island. There's going to be a secret peace meeting on a military vessel nearby. Bad guy plans to blow it up. Troy gets involved with a secret agent trying to protect the meeting. She's played by a model/actress who had a very minor career in the movies, but who played a yeoman in the Star Trek episode "Where No Man Had Gone Before." More old TV trivia: The bad guy's henchman is played by the guy who played Roger Collins on the supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows. Swimsuits, dancing, romance, kidnapping, murders, fights, explosions, all a lot less exciting than they sound. The leads are very bland. Random voiceover narration by Troy's buddy appears to have been added later, as it covers up some presumably unnecessary dialogue and some confusing and/or boring scenes.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Terror in the Crypt (La cripta e l’incubo "The crypt and the nightmare," 1964)

Italian Gothic horror. Christopher Lee has an adult daughter who has nightmares of the gruesome deaths of members of her family (cousins who live at some distance) that seem to be true. Meanwhile, Lee hires a young man to investigate his family's history, searching for the truth about a condemned witch who cursed them, threatening to come back and destroy them. Could it be his daughter? Could it be the servant who worships Satan and practices black magic? Maybe even the pretty young servant who is Lee's mistress? To add to all that, there's the woman who comes to stay at Lee's castle after a coach accident, and who becomes extremely close to his daughter.

Structured like a whodunit, it's pretty clear what's going on if you're familiar with the most famous 19th century work of vampire fiction that isn't Dracula. Tons of atmosphere, and some really striking scenes, if a little leisurely.

 

[Jeffbert]

Gun Crazy (1950) Barton Tare (John Dall), a young man with a troubled boyhood, because of his love and fascination with guns, falls for Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins), a sharpshooter in a carnival. He joins the carnival to be with her, but the owner also owns her, because he knows her past. Eventually, the two lovers go on a crime spree. The man learns too late that his new wife places no value on human life, and several times he dissuades her from killing, but eventually she kills two people at a meat packing plant, where the two steal its payroll.

Supporting cast/characters:
Judge Willoughby (Morris Carnovsky), sends Tare to reform school; Ruby Tare Flagler (Anabel Shaw), Barton's mother; Bart Tare, preadolescent (Mickey Little); Bart Tare, teenager (Russ Tamblyn).

NOIR ALLEY, otherwise, having seen it already, might have passed it this time. As usual, Muller's pre & post comments make it that much more interesting.

8/10

 

[Jeffbert]

Count the Hours (1953) NOIR ALLEY. DP: John Altman, who, according to Muller, made this film stand-out.

A double murder is committed, & George Braden (John Craven), the man recently hared by the victim is suspected; especially because his wife Ellen (Teresa Wright), intending to help her husband threw his .32 revolver into the lake. Yet, the police knew he had one, and took her act as an admission of guilt. The court appointed defense attorney Doug Madison (Macdonald Carey) had the top billing; though unfamiliar to me.

supporting cast/characters:
Max Verne (Jack Elam), the mentally-incompetent ex-hired help who had worked for the victim before Braden. Max Verne's girlfriend , Gracie (Adele Mara); D.A. Jim Gillespie (Edgar Barrier).

The title refers to the few hours until Braden is to be hanged.

7/10 - 8/10; because of the false assumption that once Verne had confessed Braden would be cleared, and the new tension from Verne being mentally-incompetent; thus his confession was void.

 

[Jeffbert]

Our nearest flicks was the dear old Trocadero in Leicester (below). we never had a telly for a few years when I was a kid, so as the next best thing my parents packed me off to see the kids films showing every saturday at the 'Troc', but they were mostly boring..
Got me heart broke real bad when my parents promised to take me to see my hero 'Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier' in a 'proper' film, I said to my schoolpals "Wow, I can hardly wait to see him on the Troc", but they said "He's been and gone, didn't you know?" and I was nearly in tears at being let down by me parents. (sniffle). It was about 40 years before I did see it, (on youtube I think).
PS- the Troc burnt down in a fire in 1967 and was replaced by a filling station.
View attachment 132001

My local theater lost it lease; I do not know what took its place. Aspen Hill is where I grew-up; even the house in which I lived is now a business! As I recall, it is a Dentist's office.

The kid parks are unrecognizable; the playground equipment has been modernized. Wheaton Regional Park had Western-themed equipment; rocking horses on think coil springs, a stage coach, etc. There was one modern piece, a real fighter jet, whose cockpit was sealed & engines removed; kids would crawl through the areas where the engines had been. Old MacDonald's Farm petting zoo & the miniature rail road with no legroom are about all that remain of the old stuff. Cabin John's sliding boards are psychedelic:

The petting zoos seem gone from both parks. Wheaton Regional had Old MacDonald's Farm; while Cabin John had Noah's Ark; whose confined pens stank. My sister was married at the flower area, forgot what these things are called.

 

[Jeffbert]

Eraserhead (1977) weird.

David Lynch made it; but, why?

 

[Jeffbert]

Wild Strawberries (1957)

Professor Isak Borg (Victor Sjöström) On a warm summer or spring day, he goes for a ride in his car, picks up hitchhikers, etc.


supporting cast/characters:
Henrik Åkerman, gas station attendant (Max von Sydow).

I would not know how to rate this; it is a highly acclaimed film; though it did not do much for me.

 

[Jeffbert]

The Velvet Touch (1948) Valerie Stanton (Rosalind Russell) a Broadway performer, whose producer, Gordon Dunning (Leon Ames), had hopes of rekindling her love for him, was taken aback [cool word. huh?] when she announced her intentions to marry Michael Morrell (Leo Genn). He felt she was nothing without him, and refuses to let her go. In a flash of anger, and perhaps even self-defense, she grabs a performance award, and conks him on his noggin. Unaware he had killed him, she simply leave. Later, Marian Webster (Claire Trevor) who had unrequited love for Dunning, enters the room and finds him dead on the floor.

Webster is accused of the murder.

supporting cast: Captain Danbury (Sydney Greenstreet; likely not a supporting role, but a costar), seems like a bumbling flatfoot, & is also a great fan of Stanton. Muller's discussion of him, likens his role to being Columbo-like. Ernie Boyle (Frank McHugh), a theater management guy, seems miscast, as he is usually in light comedies.

8/10

 

[KGeo777]

MISSION APOCALYPSE 1966 - Agent 087 has to stop a madman and travels from Switzerland to Yugoslavia to Casablanca to some other place I forgot. He has some nifty gadgets like a pen that is a blowtorch and cuff links that dissolve chains. The finale involves a nuclear rocket and everyone being poisoned by radioactive gas except the hero and heroine who don hazmat suits to make their escape by plane.