Last Movie you Watched?

If Laura Dern had a nude scene Jurassic Park would be Spielberg's masterpiece.

Should have taken some advice from Lynch.

It's Always Fair Weather (1955) Dir. Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen

Imagine THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, 10 years on, reimagined in luscious cinemascope and as a musical. I'm home.

Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd are 3 GIs at the end of WW2, its their final evening, the war is over, its time to go home. The bar-man's seen it all, he knows in a month they wont know each other. They disagree, and pledge that ten years later, they'll meet in the same bar, at high noon, as friendly as ever. Cue a fantastic montage covering the next ten years, and here we are. And in the finest fashion of the 50s, the dreams are dead. The youth is lost. And each looks at the other as though they've seen a ghost.

First and foremost, its a terrific film - a daring critique of the quiet desperation that so many lived in the 50s, its perfectly offset by a rather humourous plot in which the boys get targeted (without their knowledge) by a TV producer for an appearance on a "where are they now" sort of program, which brings in the dynamite Cyd Charisse and Dolores Gray - neither of whom I can say I find particularly attractive in the face, but boy can they move. And that bruings in the other side of this film - the dancing. When I watch musicals, I dont need iconic music, I just need sublime dancing that just leaves me going wow (naturally though, the best have iconic singing and dancing). Gene Kelly had a way of dancing that looked as if he was floating on air - and he become increasingly daring throughout the years, taking the traditional sort of musical to a new level before it effectively died at the end of the 50s. FAIR WEATHER has an amazing sequence in which Kelly ends up on a manhattan street in roller blades. Coupled with being the sequence in which the film's mood shifts from maudlin to uplifting, its a supreme moment.

I planned to say more, but I'm slightly struggling in what order to say it in - but if you do see it, see it in the full scope ratio. Mine was cropped to 1.85 and some sequences really needed to full expansive screen.

The Alamo (1960) Dir. John Wayne

Solid stuff - owing to tiredness I dont think I found it as stirring as I perhaps would've hoped, but its one well made epic. Looks fantastic too in the 70mm, especially the action scenes, which are fantastically crafted.

I always found John Wayne a somewhat odd choice as Davy Crockett. I think the movie would have been better served with a slightly less iconic actor in that role. You never feel like you're watching Crockett, but just Wayne pretending to be Crockett. It's less of an issue in other movies - especially his many westerns - because those characters don't feel the detriment of being swallowed whole by Wayne's own persona and personality.

Carry on Nurse

the second Carry On follows much the same formula as Sergeant yet still enjoyable in its way. Helps that you have Williams, Connor, Cyril Chamberlain, Sims, Jacques etc. In part it's Norman Hudis who makes this film as the writer. The Wilfrid Hyde-White parts are not really needed but we have in this film the first instance of Leslie Phillips' "Ding dong..." Then again, he was playing Mr Bell.

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Pretty good, not great but a fantastic looking flick with great sets and photography. Lon Chaney was awesome in the role of the Phantom.

The Front Page (1974)

This movie has a lousy reputation, but I found it enjoyable. There's a lot of talent at work: Billy Wilder, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Susan Sarandon, Carol Burnett, Charles Durning, etc. It's not up to HIS GIRL FRIDAY from what I've seen, and I've not seen that whole film yet as I'm waiting for a good quality version. TCM is running it soon thankfully.

Yeah, the energy isn't quite what it should be, but when this film works it works pretty well.

1. SUNSET BOULEVARD
2. THE APARTMENT
3. DOUBLE INDEMNITY
4. STALAG 17
5. SOME LIKE IT HOT
6. THE LOST WEEKEND
7. KISS ME, STUPID
8. ONE, TWO, THREE

Not sure where I'll place THE FRONT PAGE yet. On either side of KISS ME, STUPID I think. ONE, TWO, THREE has Cagney in a hurricane of a performance, but THE FRONT PAGE has Lemmon and Matthau.

Police Academy (1984)

really the one I bother with now and at that some kind of guilty pleasure. GW Bailey's a bit of a legend, Catrall foxy, Guttenberg known, etc. And Mahoney himself, characterwise, well he would have worked in TJ Hooker as Hooker's partner.

Makeshift Python wrote:

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Pretty good, not great but a fantastic looking flick with great sets and photography. Lon Chaney was awesome in the role of the Phantom.

It's the only good Phantom movie IMO. It does have it's flaws, but at least it understands the point of the story.

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

I can't say I've seen too many better films than this. It's up there with the classics for sure. From Giuseppe Tornatore I liked Malena a lot as well, but Cinema Paradiso is the better work. I saw the extended three-hour version and could rarely take my eyes off the screen. The warmth of the actors, especially little Toto and his father-figure Alfredo, is poignant. And who can film better coming of age and love stories then the Italians.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Makeshift Python wrote:

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Pretty good, not great but a fantastic looking flick with great sets and photography. Lon Chaney was awesome in the role of the Phantom.

It's the only good Phantom movie IMO. It does have it's flaws, but at least it understands the point of the story.

Hadn't seen any of the other movies or any other adaption. Just looking at the others I get the impression most have cut off the Phantom's balls. I like that in this 1925 film he is a bit of a romantic but in the end he's very much a dangerous psychotic, none of that female fantasy "I can tame the bad boy" nonsense that's popular these days with movies featuring vegetarian vampires.

Salomé wrote:

I always found John Wayne a somewhat odd choice as Davy Crockett. I think the movie would have been better served with a slightly less iconic actor in that role. You never feel like you're watching Crockett, but just Wayne pretending to be Crockett. It's less of an issue in other movies - especially his many westerns - because those characters don't feel the detriment of being swallowed whole by Wayne's own persona and personality.

I dont know a whole lot about Crockett himself, but I can agree that he gets swallowed by Wayne; I'm guessing some of those early scenes (like the one where he defends the woman's honour) were meant to show Crockett's chivalry and good grammar, but they just come off as rather lame bits at showing at different side to the Duke. Kind of like what his next film NORTH TO ALASKA tried to do, and it sucked.

Plus having all those rampant Tennesseeans made me feel like it was typical Duke - like the guy he has the punching contest with and of course, Chill Wills.

Thought he had decent on-screen chemistry with Widmark though, even if they hated each other off screen.

Watchmen (2009) Dir: Zack Snyder

I've never read the graphic novel, so my opinion is not encompassing how the film measures up in comparison to it's source material. I was bored and mesmerised in equal measure; this is a film which is both insanely pretentious and self-indulgent, and yet rich with the extraordinary imagination and originality.

My biggest problem was that a complex adaptation like this required a high calibre cast and the acting for most stiff and hollow. Malin Akerman though a pretty face was simply awful. She was put in the film for little more than some superfluous sex scenes. I felt particularly Night Owl II should have been given more screentime however we don't seem to get a backstory on him. Matthew Goode fell incredibly flat and I felt that he was a miscast and lacked believability which was disappointing because of the major role that his character plays we end up with a villian that seems inconsequential. I dont think the characters were fleshed out all that well, despite the long running time of nearly 3 hours.

Nonetheless, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian seemed to be an interesting character but the other characters seemed to just exist in a series of events sort of stacked one on top of the other without really drawing me into the story as a whole. Sufficient time is given to elaborate on the background of every individual but Snyder was too focused on his visual style to make me emotionally invest in the characters and didn't help that the cast was mediocre. The other problem I had was the pacing which was slow for the first two-thirds of the movie but went into hyper-kinetic mode in the last 40 mins.

The soundtrack, despite the presence of some great tunes, is often bemusing. Philip Glass's 'Pruit Igoe' is beautiful and gets me every time I hear it; Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence", however, is far too obvious to accompany a funeral scene. Moreover, using Bob Dylan's "Times They Are a Changin'", whilst again a little "on-the-nose" to accompany the opening montage where the audience literally see the 'times-a-changing', is nevertheless an inspired choice; using Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" during an excessively prolonged sex scene really isn't.

Having not read the source material or seen the ostensibly better "Director's Cut" , my criticisms maybe unwarranted. Snyder definitely has an outstanding visual sense and the action scenes are well executed and I believe with a better cast this could have been something great but for most part it thrived on spectacle rather than story.

Makeshift Python wrote:

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Makeshift Python wrote:

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Pretty good, not great but a fantastic looking flick with great sets and photography. Lon Chaney was awesome in the role of the Phantom.

It's the only good Phantom movie IMO. It does have it's flaws, but at least it understands the point of the story.

Hadn't seen any of the other movies or any other adaption. Just looking at the others I get the impression most have cut off the Phantom's balls. I like that in this 1925 film he is a bit of a romantic but in the end he's very much a dangerous psychotic, none of that female fantasy "I can tame the bad boy" nonsense that's popular these days with movies featuring vegetarian vampires.

Check out Brian De Palma's PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE. Grand guignol cinema at his finest.

jmg3116 wrote:

Not to be hating but did Joe Walsh and Truman Capote have a love child?

Salomé wrote:

I always found John Wayne a somewhat odd choice as Davy Crockett. I think the movie would have been better served with a slightly less iconic actor in that role. You never feel like you're watching Crockett, but just Wayne pretending to be Crockett. It's less of an issue in other movies - especially his many westerns - because those characters don't feel the detriment of being swallowed whole by Wayne's own persona and personality.

as I heard it

America had virtually forgotten Davy Crockett until Disney rediscovered him and put Fess Parker in the role

after Wayne saw this he was determined to play him on the big screen, so Alamo is a Wayne pet project, where he takes a stab at directing as well

I agree having John Wayne the legend playing Davy Crockett the legend is a distraction, and he's not the greatest director in the world either, but it's still a decent piece of entertainment

IMO the 2004 version, with Billy Bob Thornton in the role, is pretty good

I thought it was the other way round - that Wayne was determined to make an Alamo pic but was forced to play Crockett because he was a box-office draw.



Tea and Sympathy (1956) Dir. Vincente Minnelli

A very sad, a very 50s melodrama. One that in many ways is more daring and encompassing than REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, but lacking in the true magic of that picture.

A film that tackles the problems of 50s man, boy, woman and society as a whole; John Kerr is a young student living in a host house, but faces a typical problem of young men, in that he's not like everyone else. He doesnt have a crew cut, he walks differently, he plays tennis with the methodical slice instead of a powerful ground stroke, he avoids social situations to go off alone, often to read or listen to phonograph records, he doesn't have a girl - what he does have are "womanly" skills of sewing and cooking taught by a maid when he was young, and the sympathy and friendship of the wife of his host teacher, played by Deborah Kerr. On their own these things might not matter, but as a combination they build and build for J. Kerr to be labeled as a "sister boy" by the more masculine peers.

From there it becomes a tale of J. Kerr, tormented by his peers and his own knowledge of being different, of his father (Edward Andrews) who's dream of his son being one of the regular fellas dies in front of him, of his host teacher (Leif Erickson), who seems to be the epitome of the masculine figure who's a hero to the regular fellas, but struggles with his failure to make J. Kerr a "normal" man, and of D. Kerr, a woman with a great need to love which is avoided by Erickson, and instead finds its outlet in J. Kerr; he's a young lad who because of no mother has a lot of tormented love brewing, she's a lonely woman who's capacity to love takes her beyond the "tea and sympathy" that the host wife is meant to offer. Credit to the makers that is a drawn out process, its an affair of awkward situations and repressed desire, only for it to crack in the climax as first D.Kerr tries to seduce J.Kerr to ward him off from picking up a local tramp to prove his manliness (which inevitably goes horribly wrong), and then in a marvellously gothic scene amongst the bushes and tress of J. Kerr's reclusive hideout, they kiss one last time.

I've barely covered the minefield of ground it covers, I might have to buy it and watch it again - because it's got a lot to chew on.

colly wrote:

I thought it was the other way round - that Wayne was determined to make an Alamo pic but was forced to play Crockett because he was a box-office draw.

your not wrong


"By 1945 John Wayne had decided to make a movie about the 1836 Battle of the Alamo.
As the script neared completion, however, Wayne and the president of Republic Pictures, Herbert Yates, clashed over the proposed $3 million budget. Wayne left Republic over the feud but was unable to take his script with him. That script was later rewritten and made into the movie The Last Command.
Wayne and producer Robert Fellows formed their own production company, Batjac. As Wayne developed his vision of what a movie about the Alamo should be, he concluded he would produce and direct the movie himself, though not act in it. However, he was unable to enlist financial support for the project without the presumptive box office guarantee his on screen appearance would provide
Wayne was to have portrayed Sam Houston, a bit part that would have let him focus on his (first major) directing effort, but the money lenders insisted he play a leading character. He took on the role of Davy Crockett, handing the part of Houston to Richard Boone.

Several days after filming began, Widmark complained he had been miscast and tried to leave. After threats of legal action, he agreed to finish the picture.
Widmark complained that Wayne would try to tell him and other actors how to play their parts, which sometimes went against their own interpretation of characters"

colly wrote:

Tea and Sympathy (1956)

I wanna do that play.



Ace in the Hole (1951)

Wow. Talk about packing a punch. This sucker flopped in '51? Even critically?

Wilder's most acidic, most blisteringly cynical piece of work. I loved it. Strengthens my case for calling Billy Wilder the closest thing I have to an idol, at least off camera. Him and The Lemmon. This film is exactly the kind of thing I'd want to do.

Kirk Douglas F***IN' burns through this flick. Jan Sterling is good too. And pretty hot, in a trash sorta way. But Captain Kirk. His absolute power and ferocity. The way he can sneer out those lines. If only people today who just know him as some old man about to die could see this. Ya know, I saw a tabloid saying he was fighting for his life not a week ago. :roll:

He plays a despicable guy, but I can't help but love those kinds of characters. This makes a nice trilogy with DOUBLE INDEMNITY and SUNSET BOULEVARD. And that ending. Certainly in line with those two films.

Bra-fucking-vo.

1. SUNSET BOULEVARD
2. THE APARTMENT
3. DOUBLE INDEMNITY
4. ACE IN THE HOLE
5. STALAG 17
6. SOME LIKE IT HOT
7. THE LOST WEEKEND
8. KISS ME, STUPID
9. THE FRONT PAGE
10. ONE, TWO, THREE

Yeah, I'm still putting out of the Top 3, but those are so classic and iconic to me.

TAXI DRIVER

Talking to Women 101, with Travis Bickle...

I loved ACE IN THE HOLE.

Everyone, except the poor miner, is so despicable, and they make you feel fucking furious. Even Porter Hall, for not taking some stand and stopping the bloody circus.

Though I can sorta get Jan Sterling in a way. It's not really explored, their marriage. He obviously thinks the world of her, and he would. He's a slob and she's pretty hot stuff for rural New Mexico. I'd almost want to see a seperate film, following her character after.

This is territory I want to make a film about. Tabloid rags, paparazzi. Truth is, they drum up free publicity for stars.

I've already been thinking of writing a sorta SUNSET BOULEVARD meets THE WILD BUNCH and TAXI DRIVER. I'd call it THE FINAL ACT. I'm thinking of co-starring Meryl Streep with an Uzi.

Technicolor title sequence set to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEnGUG_Nhbk#t=7s

Rise of the Planet of the Apes 5 out of 5 stars, simply because its an Apes movie. That's enough in itself for a 5 star rating.
It ranks along with AVTAK for one of the great Golden Gate bridge finales.
It's a little different from the 6 previous films in that the narrative isn't populated by talking apes. Ceasar doesn't really find his voice until the very end.
Apes lovers though will enjoy all the nods and winks to the original film. Some of them are really well done.
I made a list:
1. The primate-shelter ape-keepers have named their lead orangutan, Maurice - a nod to Maurice Evans who played lead Orangutan Dr. Zeus in the original.
2. One of the apekeepers reprises Heston's famous, "It's a madhouse! It's a madhouse" cry when the caged apes go bananas and start shrieking and rattling their cages.
3. A news report on TV reports a couple of astronauts have gone missing in space - no doubt to return to earth 2000 years in the future to find the planet ruled by monkeys.
4. A caged Ceasar pulls a brat young male hard against his cage and shakes him up. It looks like a simple case of ape violence but Ceasar was really after the guy's penknife. A caged Taylor/Heston in the original pulled the same stunt with one his ape jailers, in order to steal his pen.
5. The famous hose-down of the caged Taylor was done in reverse with the mean human ape-keeper hosing down a caged Caesar.
6. And one of the mean human ape-keepers when first accosted by the escaped Caesar reprises Taylor's famous, "get your stinkin paws off me, you damned dirty ape" which were the first words Taylor spoke to his ape captors after he got his voice back. This scene got a great response from the crowd, which recognized the line immediately, but nothing compares with Heston's original iconic defiant utterance. It's my favourite moment in the history of cinema.
7. James Franco nicknames his first intelligent ape, Bright Eyes, - the same name Cornelius and Zera gave to Taylor before they learned he could speak.
8. Another one of Franco's apes is called Cornelia - a combination of Cornelius and Zera's names from the original.
I'll have to see this movie a couple more times, being the Apes fanatic that I am. There might be some more nods to the classic original.
I hope they continue to make more Apes films based on this re-boot. There is potential to keep things going again and rebuild the ape mythology.

I did like this movie but the films are best when the apes rule and the humans have to fight them which is where we should be for a sequel now that the apes are out of their cages and running amok.

Office Space (1999)



Life wisdom from dummies; you gotta love that. Definitely one of those movies in which you totally agree with it, 'cause let's face it: work sucks and you secretly want to punch your boss right in the face. I wish my neighbor was like Lawrence...

9/10


Mike Judge Countdown:
1. Office Space (1999)
2. Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)