Last Movie You Watched.

as a huge Monkees fan, I really want to see Head. Preferably drunk or stoned.

well, on Halloween I watched Psycho

probably the third or fourth time I've watched it. There's something that makes this quite unique in Hitchcock's oeuvre and how. Black and white seals the deal for this film. But what I was struck by this time round, was what chilled me was not the usual bits but that panning out shot that starts on Leigh's lifeless eye after it all settles down and reveals her lying dead in the shower. Something about that eye that just made me shudder. Perkins is of course utterly delightful but I must take joy elsewhere. Character actors or certain actors are my must and here we have two. Chiefly, Balsam. Though the fall down the stairs sometimes jars with me, anything Balsam in isn't entirely bad. My first film I saw him in was Tora! Tora! Tora! and anything after that is a plus.
Then, at the very end, Simon Oakland. First film was Bullitt as McQueen's crusty captain. Both seem to have been given a certain rope by Hitch and go with it.

When I read that, when this came out, audiences were running like nutters in the aisles and whatnot, I cringe but then I realise in 1960 this would've been expected much like how audiences jumped sky high at moments in Jaws. It's a shame this kind of cinema isn't here anymore. Where a director could leave posters in the lobby saying, look don't bother coming in after it starts or watch out, this film will scare you shitless. Or have a trailer that is 6mins of the director walking about the set etc.

These were films.

And so, differently tonight an old chestnut, Airport

a film I grew up with. It's useless, it's poor in its way but it's a fun watch otherwise. The first Burt Lancaster film I ever saw and a film he utterly loathed. He has some of the best moments in the film and then the likes of Dino, George Kennedy, Helen Hayes and my favourite, Whit Bissell. It's likely via watching Time Tunnel, Time Machine and Trouble with Tribbles when I was very little but always like seeing him in any film, be it a few moments in Magnificent Seven or here.
I always like seeing the workings of the airport. Though Arthur Hailey specialised in soap, the book is good for these details here and the film does its best. The split screen stuff might seem dated today but it works here. The crash landing scene, well Newman's score has been slated elsewhere as being inferior to his usual fare and so forth but that staccato as the runway appears through the snow and how the 707 seems to keep going once down and music builds...

The downside, personally, is the damn sequels.

Hilly wrote:

as a huge Monkees fan, I really want to see Head. Preferably drunk or stoned.

n

being a huge fan I think you will absolutely love it. I did and I'm not even all that familiar with the band

I recommend pot but then again I always do

Sarai wrote:

Hilly wrote:

as a huge Monkees fan, I really want to see Head. Preferably drunk or stoned.

n

being a huge fan I think you will absolutely love it. I did and I'm not even all that familiar with the band

I recommend pot but then again I always do

I shall see what I can do.

Dark City - visually striking blend of fantasy and film noir. With Rufus Sewell, Richard O'Brien and William Hurt.

Raiders Of The Lost Ark - there's probs nothing new to say about this action-adventure classic. Fun, fun, fun.

The Good Liar - nicely twisty drama/thriller, headlined by those class acts Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren. When lifelong con-man Roy meets wealthy widow Lily online, he fully intends to 'fleece' her. But things aren't quite that simple ...

The Rock - hugely enjoyable slam-bang actioner, from a time before Michael Bay's overblown directorial style had worn thin and before Nic Cage would just agree to be in any old crap. Also features Mr Connery in a sort of 'pensioner Bond' part and Ed Harris as a disillusioned military veteran who's the 'big bad'.

I've been into the concert videos lately and a few chemicals

Monterey Pop...excellent, I had no idea there was a 4 hour long version featuring Hendrix full set.

The Pink Panther

I don't get it. It was quite well directed, beautifully shot and the score was nice but I can't figure out why it's called a comedy. I don't think I smiled once much less laughed but I didn't dislike it. just an odd viewing experience

OK, Life of Brian isn't the least bit funny either and these are the same meat balls that did that movie with the knight getting his arms cut off. I can't remember the name of it but I watched it years ago with my cousins, they laughed their heads off and I just sat there in disbelief that anyone could find it funny.

Dr.Strangelove is another one...I just don't get it. Must be British thing.

Strangelove was filmed in the UK, but I'm pretty sure it's an American movie.

The Anderson Tapes - interesting thriller in which fresh-out-of-prison burglar 'Duke' Anderson (Connery) decides to burgle the entire apartment block where his old girlfriend (Dyan Cannon) lives, and assembles a team to carry out the robbery. Directed by Sidney Lumet, this was the first major film to point out the pervasiveness of electronic surveillance and was Christopher Walken's movie debut to boot.

Le Mans '66 - a touch overlong, but still an entertaining (the race sequences pack real punch) account of the real-life rivalry between Ford and Ferrari as they prepare to compete in the famous titular 24 hour endurance race. With Christian Bale, Matt Damon and Josh Lucas.

It's Peter Sellers brand of comedy I'm not tuning into but I find him so likable I am going to continue.

A Shot in the Dark tonight

The first Panther film is more like an old fashioned farce that is completely stolen by Sellers and makes it special. You enjoy it for being old fashioned and charming but the series quickly did away with the characters meant to be important to focus on the Inspector.
ALL of the Clouseau-isms and even the voice and all the iconic bits are in the second film. A Shot In The Dark is not only the best of the series, but also one of the best comedies and also best films ever made.
The 70's films are well intentioned and deservedly adored but never quite live up to the magic spark that is ASITD. The later films are more about the setpieces instead of the entire story.

Glad to see mention and positive talk about Anderson Tapes which is a really underrated Lumet-Connery collaboration full of lovely whimsy and a film made on the UA-DAF deal. Sean seems to enjoy going without his toupee and poking fun at himself.

Ah yes ... the deal terms were that Connery said he'd do DAF for a million (an unheard-of fee at the time) and also get to do either 2 or 3 other movies of his own entirely personal choice, if memory serves.

Sarai wrote:

It's Peter Sellers brand of comedy I'm not tuning into but I find him so likable I am going to continue.

A Shot in the Dark  tonight

you must one day tap into the Goon Show. Sellers' genius started there.

Ronin - a team of mercenaries are assembled in Paris to retrieve a case which contains something of interest to both the IRA and the Russian mob. An action-thriller lifted several notches by its stellar cast (De Niro, Jean Reno, Sean Bean, Stellan Skarsgard and 2 Bond villains ... Michael Lonsdale and Jonathan Pryce) and absolutely superb car chases.

So, it's 1975 and one dark morning a 747 is involved in a mid-air collision with a small aircraft and it's down to an unqualified, scared stewardess/air hostess/flight attendant/woman to fly it...

Airport 1975

as a kid, I must've seen '77 a hundred times -likely responsible for my flying fears back in the day and yet I vaguely if ever remember seeing '75 at all. We abandoned '79 halfway, I do recall that.

It's so bad it's good in a way. It feels sometimes like a glorified TV movie. The draw is that it has a quality cast in places, or at least some reasonable big names that you wonder why all but three are doing this film. Indeed, I swiftly came to the conclusion that Norman Fell, Conrad Janis and Jerry Stiller (again, quality names in my book) should've had their own movie: Airport '76 The Flying Rat Pack.

This is Gloria Swanson's last credited movie. What is it with these great actors/actresses who just ended up winding down the career in some turkeys?

George Kennedy is good but there's something lacking. Like Heston probably too soon after filming Earthquake or maybe the film wasn't right for him. Patroni was the real star of the first Airport and worked as, for one he was quite similar to the novel's Patroni, but Kennedy just tore into the role. There's almost parody to this Patroni in '75 and it doesn't feel like he's the same character (something true as the role goes into '77 and '79).

Heston, again when I was little the movies I chiefly ever saw him in were either Earthquake or Planet of the Apes, so '75 is hardly top of his pile I'm sure. He presses on with the attitude of a man who, probably like Burt Lancaster in Airport itself, doesn't want to be there but has to. Karen Black gets through the film by giving some incredible expressions and isn't too bad acting wise.

Then you have Sid Caesar (why Sid, why?), Sharon Gless (what a knockout in the day) and yet hardly any proper look at Laurette 'Cassie from Galactica 78' Spang.

But then of course this film is ripe, beyond ripe, for parody. The singing nun, the sheer over the top acting that goes on after the collision (all right, the plane's been hit and people are scared but check out the woman in blue who stands and just screams at the top of her lungs as if auditioning for something, the Asian lady, Sid Caesar's expressions and so on), the acting and the plot...

Get past the fact that surely a chopper can't fly ahead of a 747 like that (I'm no expert, speed, etc) and the stunts involved are top notch (aped by Air Force One in '97). I do like how after he boards, there's a shot of Heston in the cockpit that is real (in the sense, he's of course one side of the cockpit from what must be the actual pilot out of shot and you see rolling landscape behind him).

On the quiet it's surprising how many of the actors are still with us albeit mostly in their 80s and 90s now (Thinnes, Janis, Stiller, etc) and brief thumbs up for Bob Hastings and the recently departed Kip Niven. Kind of faces you like to see in films.



"He can't stop her!"

The November Man - perhaps a still-undimmed yearning for Bond led to Brosnan starring in and exec-producing this passable espionage actioner, who knows? Something similar might also be why Olga Kurylenko accepted her part. The only other cast member I recognised was Will Patton.

Rambo Last Blood

More like 'Taken' starring Sylvester Stallone

Blunt Instrument wrote:

The November Man - perhaps a still-undimmed yearning for Bond led to Brosnan starring in and exec-producing this passable espionage actioner, who knows? Something similar might also be why Olga Kurylenko accepted her part. The only other cast member I recognised was Will Patton.

Indeed it's grittier which is what he'd have liked to have done with Bond, but I feel the smaller budget achieves this more efficiently than the story demands. Apparently a sequel has been in the works since 2014 but it's not listed on IMDB, so it may have been shelved.

Art Critic Claims ‘Revenge of the Sith’ is “The Greatest Work of Art” In the Past 30 Years

https://screencrush.com/revenge-of-the-sith-work-of-art/


I agree with her.

Maps to the Stars

boring unoriginal plot, unlikable if not repulsive characters and totally sterile in feel but I loved it, was mesmerized 9/10

I have no idea how Cronenberg always manages that.

Knives Out - a stellar cast get a clever, twisty and funny script to work with in this spiffy 'whodunnit'. A lot of fun.

How was McMumbles?

A hoot. As Southern-drawlin' private investigator 'Benoit Blanc', he's clearly enjoying himself.

I just googled it and saw my arch enemy directed it.