Last Movie You Watched? the 8th

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Though I wonder why MI6 can't shut down a YouTube channel.

That's probably the only part of the film that I truly dislike.

Lazenby summed it up pretty well:

Lazenby. wrote:

Yep, it's the kind of thing that would turn up in some half-assed fanfiction. Villain taunts M on YouTube. Way to go to have the law kicking down your door straight away. Why not just have Silva go on Facebook and click "like" on Bin Laden, Al Quaida, then post his status as "about to blow up half the world" while he's at it. Shame he couldn't have taken over MI6 Community while he was surfing.

If CASINOROYALE had a villain using YouTube to taunt M, everyone would have laughed their f*cking arses off at it and slated the poor kid. FACT.

(https://bondandbeyond.forumotion.com/t1725-spoilers-mi6-agents-on-youtube)

I guess they needed some way for M herself to essentially pull the trigger on releasing the names...?

Good thing Silva didn't also upload his old Sting albums or something. His channel would get shut real fast and there goes his plan.

Spirit of the People (a.k.a, Abe Lincoln of Illinois)

film based on a play starring, as does the film, Raymond Massey who truly appears to encapsulate Lincoln. It feels obvious that it was once a play in some of its scenes but it's mainly a film for curiosity I guess. Those interested in Lincoln. The main draw is Massey, damn fine actor.

Shaun Of The Dead/Hot Fuzz - 'double-billed' these tonight ahead of going to see The World's End tomorrow. Love them both, particularly Hot Fuzz - spot-on 'skewering'-but-affectionate parodies.

Control wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Though I wonder why MI6 can't shut down a YouTube channel.

That's probably the only part of the film that I truly dislike.

Lazenby summed it up pretty well:

Lazenby. wrote:

Yep, it's the kind of thing that would turn up in some half-assed fanfiction. Villain taunts M on YouTube. Way to go to have the law kicking down your door straight away. Why not just have Silva go on Facebook and click "like" on Bin Laden, Al Quaida, then post his status as "about to blow up half the world" while he's at it. Shame he couldn't have taken over MI6 Community while he was surfing.

If CASINOROYALE had a villain using YouTube to taunt M, everyone would have laughed their f*cking arses off at it and slated the poor kid. FACT.

(https://bondandbeyond.forumotion.com/t1725-spoilers-mi6-agents-on-youtube)

I'm fine with it, because I see it as Silva's way of making a mockery out of MI6. The YouTube channel can be shut down easily, but once the names are released on the internet it's too late. That's why she immediately calls for the agents to be recalled.

The World's End - hugely enjoyable and fitting end to the Pegg/Frost/Wright 'Three Flavours Cornetto' trilogy. A little more laid-back and mellow than Shaun/Hot Fuzz (in keeping with the overall theme of letting go and moving on), this is still very funny and boasts impressive special effects and action sequences; the 'OK, the stakes have been upped ... but this is still ENGLAND' vibe from the previous films is taken to its ultimate conclusion :D .

Hansel and Gretel.

Gory, violent, vicious, blood thirsty action and great fun. I loved it. As much gore as your average zombie film. And two Bond girls. Brilliant.

THE CONJURING (2013, dir. James Wan)

The most fun I've had at the movies all year.

Hooper (1978)

one of those movies that's just a blast and to Hell with the rest. It's Burt Reynolds for one. Back in the day Burt. Also the sighting of Adam West outside of Batman ditto Jan Michael Vincent for one out of Airwolf. This sort of spawned The Fall Guy...you know, that guy who fell from above...

Hilly wrote:

Hooper (1978)

one of those movies that's just a blast and to Hell with the rest. It's Burt Reynolds for one. Back in the day Burt. Also the sighting of Adam West outside of Batman ditto Jan Michael Vincent for one out of Airwolf. This sort of spawned The Fall Guy...you know, that guy who fell from above...

STROKER ACE is also amusing.

I watched Sinatra in Tony Rome (1967) and Lady in Cement (1968).  Both fun, breezy movies.  LADY IN CEMENT sorta falls flat as it goes along, but TONY ROME is terrific all the way through.  I'd say Jill St. John probably gets a bad rap from Bond fans for appearing in DIAMONDS but she really plays well with Sinatra.  I really like the vibe of these movies.  They're very entertaining and full of humor without joking for big jokes. Well, a few big jokes, but it's mostly understated.  The humorous quality just simmers there, and so does Sinatra's charimsa.  All in all, easy going stuff with a story that works to fascilitate the whole experience.

Parker

Fairly typical blowing shit up with Jason Statham and booty call by Jennifer Lopez. A truly awful Texan accent attempt from the Stath. Pretty average really.

The Karate Kid

The remake.

Quite good, surprisingly. Although the fact that Jackie Chan doesn't kick arse at the end is a trifle disappointing. It led to a fairly typical discussion about who would win between Jackie Chan and Chuck Norris. 'Imself reckons Chan, but my money is on Norris.

Hilly wrote:

Hooper (1978)

one of those movies that's just a blast and to Hell with the rest. It's Burt Reynolds for one. Back in the day Burt. Also the sighting of Adam West outside of Batman ditto Jan Michael Vincent for one out of Airwolf. This sort of spawned The Fall Guy...you know, that guy who fell from above...

Boy, that's a serious drive-in movie memory for me ... THE STUNTMAN with a lobotomy, maybe.

Don't they have a pretty good Bond guitar riff during one of the stunts? I remember a scene where they're driving a truck down the highway in reverse and get stopped by the police, and the excuse is, 'we were only going 55mph"

I just remembered another movie from that era, Richard Lynch and Robert Forster and Bruce Glover, called THE STUNT or STUNTS. Was a murder mystery I think, but not terrible. Then again, I also love most ABC TV movie of the weeks from that era as well (even have the David Janssen copter one on DVD!)

Saw the edited for TV version of REPO MAN, which is almost as funny as I remembered with all the dub ins of 'Melon Farmer' (which my wife thought might be considered more offensive than the original cuss words, depending on who is being addressed.) Some extra bits of dialog too.

Also finally watched the Lancaster version of THE KILLERS. Had watched the other part of this Criterion disk with the Don Siegel/Gene Coon version and liked it, but really really enjoyed this version. Also noticed that a pair of actors (one of the killers and the cook) besides Lancaster appeared with him again over 30 years later in TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING.

trevanian wrote:

Also finally watched the Lancaster version of THE KILLERS. Had watched the other part of this Criterion disk with the Don Siegel/Gene Coon version and liked it, but really really enjoyed this version. Also noticed that a pair of actors (one of the killers and the cook) besides Lancaster appeared with him again over 30 years later in TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING.

Charles McGraw.  Have you seen NARROW MARGIN from 1952?  He stars in it.  Excellent B-movie.

On the Hooper 'Bond guitar riff' - yep, there's a stunt where he's dropping from a helicopter onto an airbag (clad in a white tux, if memory serves) and the music accompanying the scene is 'dangerously' close to the Bond theme.

trevanian wrote:

Hilly wrote:

Hooper (1978)

one of those movies that's just a blast and to Hell with the rest. It's Burt Reynolds for one. Back in the day Burt. Also the sighting of Adam West outside of Batman ditto Jan Michael Vincent for one out of Airwolf. This sort of spawned The Fall Guy...you know, that guy who fell from above...

Boy, that's a serious drive-in movie memory for me ... THE STUNTMAN with a lobotomy, maybe.

Don't they have a pretty good Bond guitar riff during one of the stunts? I remember a scene where they're driving a truck down the highway in reverse and get stopped by the police, and the excuse is, 'we were only going 55mph"

.

Yep, a fairly convincing Bond riff. It did the job.

A double of films the likes of which never again...

...Appointment in London

at times tense and atmospheric film about a bomber pilot who's on the verge of his 90th sortie but also on the verge of cracking (being stamped LMF -Lack of Moral Fibre). Dirk Bogarde does his solid, solemn schtick admirably and gets on fairly well with the late Dinah Sheridan whose Wren is the unlikely intelligence officer to the 188th. A fair few familar faces crop up, the late Bryan Forbes, Richard Wattis (of Sykes fame), Bill Kerr (of Hancock fame, still with us) and so on. Oddly, the love story doesn't detract too much and the whole thing's helped by using actual Lancasters (three of whom reappear in Dambusters later that year).
In some respects it's a typically British stiff-upper film. Curiously the music is composed by the co-writer John Woolridge who himself was a bomber pilot (same squadron as Guy Gibson VC). The music is broody and helps, before surging into triumphant uplift at the end as Bogarde and Kerr with their ladyfolk go off to the Palace to collect their DFC's, their 'appointment in London'.

The Maggie

small-beer Scotsmen take on big American capitalism in this Ealing comedy which is no Whiskey Galore but is nonetheless entertaining. Sort of a 1950s Local Hero minus the Kopfler soundtrack.

A Night in Casablanca (1946)

It may have been the last true Marx Bros film but imo it is one of the best, some great one liners, a hilarious fight sequence and the musical interludes feel less distracting than they did in Big Store or Day at the Races.

1. Duck Soup
2. A Night at the Opera
3. A Night in Casablanca
4. Go West
5. A Day at the Races
6. The Big Store (I still love it mind)

It's been too long since I saw the others to confidently rank them but that is a task I will enjoy putting right soon.

TRUE LIES (1994, directed by James Cameron). Arguably the best Bond film of the 1990s.

Loomis wrote:

TRUE LIES (1994, directed by James Cameron). Arguably the best Bond film of the 1990s.

I'll agree on that, and it's the last Cameron film I'd ever want to watch again.

DON'T LOOK NOW

Found this on Netflix and gave it another viewing. Great film. And Julie's got a great face.

Donnagio's score works well with this one.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

a blast and made so by Danny Kaye who is pure dynamite throughout. Such a versatile actor and comedian. On top of this the lightning that shows Mitty's transition from reality to fantasy, that ghostly blue completing his transformation.

Apparently there's a Ben Stiller directed remake coming out this year.

One of my all-time favourite films. Danny Kaye is a childhood hero who stayed just as magnificent and memorable as I grew older. He was incredibly talented. I normally don't mind Ben Stiller, but I can't bear the thought of anyone touching this classic film. It would be like re-making Gone With The Wind or Casablanca.

For years I had only seen Kaye in White Christmas and maybe the odd repeat of some comedy programme but over time I get to see him in more and he's infectious. You get the feeling he could make the most dour of people laugh.

As for the remake, I fear I won't touch it. It's not out until Christmas anyway and even then I'll avoid it.

The Court Jester is sheer undiluted genius. "The chalice from the Palace has the brew that is true."

Blade II in thumping DTS sound, Guillermo del Torro's installment is easy the best of the Blade trilogy. To bad they stopped on a low even if I am hardpressed to call Jessica Biel a low.

The Bourne Ultimatum - WHy does a competing movie show all the strenghts of the EON 007 series, they use the locations very well in the movie. The Waterloo station encounter is brilliantly done, Tangiers is when it comes to chases and excitement sheer brilliance. Overal this movie makes the personal experience and back to his beginning in SF by 007 look like a bit of a repeat only not as exciting. On the basis of the first three movies I would expect Bourne to take out 007 easily.