Last Movie You Watched.

Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom - not quite up there with Raiders of course, but still a ton of action-adventure fun. Although that said, like Raiders this also feels like it's straining the boundaries of what's OK in a PG-rated film.

Quite like Temple, not in the same league as Raiders as you say but got some cracking moments. Always partial to that reveal of Indy in the mines, silhouetted, as John Williams' music kicks in ("Parade of the Slave Children"). Capshaw can be irritating and maybe Shortstop but Shortstop has a funny moment with the cards:

"You cheat, Dr Jones! You cheat!"
And Indy's stern: "Hey, I don't cheat!"

Sure this was the film that the PG-13/PG was created for. Spielberg was told it was going to be a 12/15 (R in States?) and said kids won't be able to see it so they created a new classification. Boots might be able to correct me.

Temple was one of two films that made the MPAA PG-13 rating be created. Gremlins was the other film. I think the first film to get it was Red Dawn.

Temple is a masterpiece and a pure 30's throwback. I adore it and think it almost equals Raiders but is only fleetingly behind it. It is by far the better film compared to Crusade.

I think the film that led to the creation of the 12 (now 12A) rating in the UK was the first Burton/Keaton Batman ... too violent/dark for PG, but not enough for a 15.

The Death Of Stalin - darkly satirical chuckles (courtesy of Armando Iannucci and a brilliant cast) as the acolytes of 'Uncle Joe' scramble, squabble and backstab for power after he turns up his toes.

thanks lads for the info and correction.

It feels sacrilege to say it's better than a Connery featuring film but...well...you might be right, Boots.

Lucky Jim with Ian Carmichael and of all people, Sharon Acker who is mostly famous for her Star Trek guest role but it's a lively enough Film. Terry-Thomas helps though he's not in it too often.

Flight of the Navigator. Childhood favourite. Forget a young Sarah Jessica Parker is in it.

This used to be on the Beeb iplayer often this time of year but seems this year they and C4 have swapped about. C4 now has Indy which used to be a Beeb fave and the Beeb have gone all out getting all sorts of films.

Onto C4 for the Branagh Murder on the Orient Express

the funny thing is, I've never properly read Christie. I tried reading one when I was little, from my mum's shelves but couldn't fathom it. Nonetheless, seen enough adaptations such as Suchet's Poirot.

Thus, you go into it not expecting much (no "well, that isn't in the book"). They say all-star cast and for the day, it is really. Dame Judi seems a Branagh favourite looking at his filmography as director and there isn't enough of her. I think it's a good film but some of it felt more style than substance, chiefly towards the end when Poirot walks towards the tunnel where the suspects are all sat at a series of folding tables facing him with flamelit lamps around them. It looks alright, stylish etc but just felt a bit much. Not massive problem but I winced.

Still, the iplayer has the Lumet one for the next couple of weeks so will check that out tomorrow hopefully. Seen it couple of years back. No film with Connery in is entirely bad.

Even Meteor.

The Connery version is vastly superior. Much more compelling and a superior lead actor. Branagh's alright, I suppose, if not a little caricature; he hasn't embodied the character like Finney or Suchet. Perhaps if he wasn't self directed he may have properly succeeded. Cringeworthy from the off, with that egg scene. Shame, because the supporting cast is, as you say, excellent: Dench, Pfeiffer, Cruz, Colman, Dafoe, Depp, etc.. Finney's version has he, Connery, Bergman, Bacall, Redgrave, Bisset, Perkins... On the face of it, hard to know which is superior.

I enjoyed the Branagh version (I confess I've never seen any others so the victim and why he was bumped off were a surprise to me, which probably helps with a murder mystery). Do remember seeing Evil Under The Sun with Peter Ustinov as Poirot back in the day but that was about it ... when the Suchet series began, I was 17 and I'd no interest in watching what I regarded as a programme aimed at 'older people'.

Recently caught a BBC prog looking at the various Christie movie adaps ... apparently she hated the Margaret Rutherford Miss Marples and the version of The ABC Murders with, erm, Tony Randall as Poirot ... felt they were way too comedic. She was much keener on the Finney Orient Express, although thought his 'tache was disappointing ... perhaps Branagh's magnificent face-furniture would've been more her bag .

I am not surprised she didn't like the Rutherfurd's. I enjoyed them, as Dame Margaret was immensely enjoyable in her roles, even the cameo in Passport to Pimlico. Helps they had a funky Ron Goodwin tune which seemed at odds with the image of Miss Marple.

Never knew Tony Randall played Poirot, god almighty.

Branagh's tash defied gravity I'm sure.

The 'sequel' Death on the Nile is out in September.

Well, a plucking from the iplayer of a film I've only seen once before and indeed, I think now I need to somehow see in its original format:

How the West Was Won

First of all an incredible cast of course. Though like the Greatest Story Ever Told, Wayne's cameos always feel odd. A man of such stature and it's over with some rather forgettable lines. This being said, the rest of the big names are brilliant to see. Envious of Jimmy Stewart getting a fumble with Carroll Baker.

Second of all the locations help, as with John Ford's films and the likes of Big Country, make the film.

The tricky part is the look of it. Cinerama must've been something else in 1962, the curved screen but you suspect on the small screen (and mine's...well, it's no Cinerama) it's lost a little. It took getting used to. Alright it's nothing massive but whenever a character is the focus they're in the middle of the screen as if on a pedestal and the remainder of the scene looks like it's vanishing fast into the distance, or the left and right bits are filmed on another set. It's almost like current film shots where the camera gets right in the face of the actor and background feels far away (you can tell I know nothing).

example:



or



I liked the movie but as I say, it should be best enjoyed in its original format and not on a TV.

The Beastmaster.

I went in with the lowest expectations but I had to check it out to honour Ms Roberts. It's not my genre and it's supremely flawed... but I was never bored! Some very nice angles of our dear Stacey, too.

Pacific Heights - nice yuppie couple Matthew Modine and Melanie Griffith rent an apartment to Michael Keaton, only for him to turn out to be the tenant from hell. Enjoyable entry (of which there were many in the late 80s to early 90s) in the 'home invasion/enemy within' thriller sub-genre.

Been keen to check that out, actually. Keaton is so underrated.

Caught The Kremlin Letter on television this morning. Decent movie, complete opposite of the Bond movies. Enjoyable film from John Huston with a good cast.

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Been keen to check that out, actually. Keaton is so underrated.

That kind of quirkily dark edge he has is well used in it.

I bet!

Moore wrote:

Caught The Kremlin Letter on television this morning. Decent movie, complete opposite of the Bond movies. Enjoyable film from John Huston with a good cast.

If only there was a way of watching that in Oz without it being on YT or GooglePlay.

Well lads I went lowbrow highbrow and some middlebrow.

Before it vermooshed off All4...Young Sherlock Holmes

seen it a few times and each time I enjoy it. It's nothing flash but it bounces along in its way. You're dealing with a film that sort of dodges the fact Watson never met Holmes until the first story so this is sort of a Star Wars Prequel in terms of timeline but that doesn't matter. What helps is the soundtrack. Particularly in the ritual scenes ("Stop! She's alive!"), ramping up the tension. The theme is up there with that of the Jeremy Brett series.
Nicholas Rowe, you suspect to this day gets fan mail about this and thinks: I'm a proper actor. Who am I to know though that Watson, Alan Cox, is the son of the great Brian?

It does the job and being an one off probably helps. Imagine if in 1987 we had a sequel. Cast-wise though it has the great Nigel Stock, the M that never was, Michael Hordern, as the older Watson narrating and the Avengers' Patrick Newell -briefly.
It has made me want to seek out, again, Christopher Plummer's turn as Sherlock in Murder by Decree.

Murder on the Orient Express

Yes, yes, the Brannagh film is all well and good but this one, which is on par with his film, has some fantastic names for the ride. I keep forgetting Michael York's in it, fan that I am of his, the beautiful Bisset, Ingrid Bergman, Connery, the ever great Martin Balsam, Finney, you name it they're in it. All star films often threaten to detract from the film itself. Films like say the Longest Day, Bridge Too Far, even Battle of Britain and many others, where you go "Wow that's so and so" and there's "so and so" and you forget there's a plot somewhere. Occasionally I did on this film, chiefly after the legendary Widmark was bumped off (never get away from the fact the first film I saw him in was The Swarm and then Who Dares Wins, not exactly his best). But it's a solid film and again as I did the Hill lately, admire Lumet.

well in tribute to the late Marion Ramsey, why not..

Police Academy

this and the second one tend to be the ones I like nowadays. Not that 3-6 were outright bad but they felt a little worn after a while. However, let's forget that.
The first has a singular film like all first films of a series, be they huge successful series' like Bond, Trek etc or Carry On, this, whatever. For one the cast, there's a few who don't return ever (Rubin, Donovan Scott and Kim Cattrall), the soundtrack is fairly solid (and thanks to LaLaLaLand Records for bringing that out) and it feels fresh but it also feels late 70s not 1984.

It's an infinitely quotable and still funny film. Apparently there was a fair whack cut from it that would've made it A) over 2hrs and B) X-rated according to the director Hugh Wilson. Mahoney has the lion's share of these lines but others do naturally.

"Is that a wig? That's a wig! Wig alert! Wooo! Wig alert!"

Some visually funny gags like when Tackleberry goes nuts on the gun range ("Come with me!" with a striking piece of music), most involving Callahan (what a woman Leslie Easterbrook was in the day), Harris and so on.

A favourite moment still is the riot. First of all the moment the cadets get the call to turn up in riot gear. Suddenly, the previously comical/slightly martial music becomes strident, urgent, as the LLL liner notes say, like a late 70s cop show and a serious show at that. Music seems to tie well with Tackleberry's "It's time, this cop...met the public!" and another moment is Mahoney haring off to rescue Thompson. As a kid I wanted to be Mahoney, it was a damsel in distress moment. Albeit in a Police Academy movie. Still want to be Mahoney.

"DROP THE STERO BEFORE I BLOW YOUR GODDAM NUTS OFF ASSHOLE!
-Tackleberry, we have to talk."

On this occasion, having the 20th anniversary DVD (and now it's 31 years old), listened for only the second time to commentary. Some of the cast (Winslow, Guttenberg, Easterbrook, Bailey) and the director and producer. Laugh riot unto itself, you get, as Easterbrook says, that they're a family

and hence why Marion Ramsey's passing, like David Graf and Bubba Smith before feels untimely and sad. You grow up with a cast be it Star Trek, Police Academy, whatever and they are family. I still find it striking that her real voice was marked contrast to her Hooks voice but Hooks was cleverer than people gave credit. Always soft voiced which is a feint, because then comes the Harris-barking type voice.

Current and future generations will never know the joy. Films were films back in the day, even this one.



You can be heroes, just for one day.

Nice one, Hilly!

Been many years since my last viewing, but hopefully it's on one of the streaming platforms. One of my all-time favourite comedies, as I alluded to in the obituary thread.

Certainly wouldn't make it past the PC... err, Police in 2021. Not just because of the lewd and "racist" jokes (the jokes are usually at the expense of racists, but there's no such thing as context or nuance in our Cowardly New World). Not to mention the fact that our betters have informed us that All Cops Are Bastards, so can't be having anything that smells like a recruitment play (and, hell, watching it as a kid made me want to be a copper, though I fear real-life police academies are a tad less fun).

Oh and don't forget the Blue Oyster Bar... cue tango music.

One of the things you've touched on is the way the tone of the piece changes nicely with the riots and particularly the scene with Kim C getting suppressed by the loon on the roof.

In addition to the eminently quotable dialogue and zingers, the score is really quite good. For something that will always get dismissed as a silly slapstick comedy, there's a lot to love here.

"Remember, Mahoney, nobody - nobody - screws with me."

"Well maybe one day you'll find the right girl and all that will change."

Kim Cattrall's performance in it certainly has some points of interest ...



Batman Begins - ahh, remember when Chris Nolan made comprehensible blockbusters? For all its more down-to-Earth approach to Bats, willing to bet that this is still a ton more fun than the upcoming Pattinson flick.

The hero we all need, the hero we deserve. Not Pattison though even if I did see some of it being filmed a year ago.

CJB wrote:

Nice one, Hilly!

Been many years since my last viewing, but hopefully it's on one of the streaming platforms. One of my all-time favourite comedies, as I alluded to in the obituary thread.

Certainly wouldn't make it past the PC... err, Police in 2021. Not just because of the lewd and "racist" jokes (the jokes are usually at the expense of racists, but there's no such thing as context or nuance in our Cowardly New World). Not to mention the fact that our betters have informed us that All Cops Are Bastards, so can't be having anything that smells like a recruitment play (and, hell, watching it as a kid made me want to be a copper, though I fear real-life police academies are a tad less fun).

Oh and don't forget the Blue Oyster Bar... cue tango music.

One of the things you've touched on is the way the tone of the piece changes nicely with the riots and particularly the scene with Kim C getting suppressed by the loon on the roof.

In addition to the eminently quotable dialogue and zingers, the score is really quite good. For something that will always get dismissed as a silly slapstick comedy, there's a lot to love here.

"Remember, Mahoney, nobody - nobody - screws with me."

"Well maybe one day you'll find the right girl and all that will change."

Thank ye. I should start off by saying the Harris quote is a fave, Guttenberg's face as he says it. Nothing was beyond Mahoney.

Of course the Blue Oyster is legendary, it has a good show-up in the second film from the moment Procter immediately knows the address to Hightower being surrounded by the patrons.

Too right on it not getting past certain people today. It has some racial expressions and possibly other bits and pieces that today would have certain people scurrying for cover. And yet and yet, Marion Ramsey and Bubba Smith I think would've been first to say it wasn't racist as you have to look at it as a film.

Ha, I wanted to be a copper too through my teens but when I was about 9-10 I had the idea I could be a cop in the States. Few years on, I emailed SFPD and apparently you can so long as you're a US citizen. Very British American cop who knows.

As Hugh Wilson said on commentary, that changing point is Hightower turning over the car. The tone of the film changed then. It was the first serious bit. Up till then it was larking, blowjob gag (forgive the expression) and joyriding cars. Boom.

I think I'll check out PA2 this week. Why not?

Plenty of riff-raff to be cleaned up in SF! No wonder Dirty Harry always had something on his plate.

Anyway, I'll have to pick up a boxed set I think.

2 & 3 are still pretty good (especially Zed and Sweetchuck). The quality takes a tumble thereafter. The less said about Mission to Moscow,  with our very own Scaramanga as a Russian police chief, the better.

Fun fact - speaking of the motherland, George Gaynes was actually born in Tsarist Russia (Grand Duchy of Finland to be precise).

It's like Easterbrook said on the commentary, the man was ageless. Sounded quite the character though, spoke seven languages to boot.

Three is probably the last of the solid films. The boat chase at the end though hardly LALD was quite something when I was younger.

Less said about the seventh. Only seen it the once and that was probably 25 years ago. I would get the PA boxset but it's like my Airport collection. One good film then a couple of questionable quality and the last one's a stinker.

...what happened in the next six days became the Legend of Navarone...

The Guns of Navarone

Turns out it's sixty years old this year and is a steadfast war epic. One of MacLean's few hits as far as adaptations go and fairly faithful though with some tweaking. Struck more and more by how the best moments (and not that there's weak moments per se) come when they're static, where there's no action.
Firstly you have when they watch their boat sink at the foot of Navarone's cliffs. Sure it's in the studio but somehow it conveys deeply the sense they're in the muck now. The way the actors are pictured as well.
Then in the Germans' building when being interrogated. Quinn throwing himself about, the nasty Nazi (the late Theodore Mikel) torturing Quayle's very injured PoW whilst Walter Gotell's 'Good German' protests. And lastly, in the hideout towards the end as they not only root out the traitor but debate the morals of the mission, tied up neatly by Peck's Mallory finally losing his rag with Niven.

Still solid all these years on. A shame is that Peck, Quinn and Niven didn't get to do the sequel as such or that, as a fan, Kenneth More didn't play Miller. Had he had not playfully heckled his boss as such or very important bod from Rank at an awards do, he might have had the role of a lifetime.