What was the last movie you saw?
- Thread starter Tabitha
- Start date
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
The Wild Ride (1960)
After all the 1950's flicks about young folks racing on various vehicles I've been watching lately, this one came as a bit of a surprise. Among an otherwise obscure cast, Jack Nicholson stars as a arrogant punk of a dirt track racer. He plays the part very Nicholsonish, too, unlike the way he played early roles in things like The Little Shop of Horrors and The Terror.
Nicholson plays the kind of guy who forces a motorcycle cop off the road when he's chasing him for speeding, and who later forces a competitor off the track when he's racing. Along the way he see him get money (with the laconic declaration "Gimme a ten spot") from the older married woman he's been fooling around with.
Nicholson's got a gang of admirers, the most decent of whom has starting going with a Nice Girl. (She even wears pearls and white gloves to the racetrack, unlike the other women in the group, who favor tight capri pants.) The main plot of the movie deals with Nicholson's attempt to break up the romance between these two, since the Nice Girl is turning the decent fellow into a chicken. (The evidence for this is that he drove off the road instead of running into a truck that was heading for him.)
Notable for its short running time (just under an hour), its complete lack of comedy relief, the cool West Coast jazz on the soundtrack, and the fact that it's possible to interpret Nicholson's actions as a sign of homoerotic jealousy.
After all the 1950's flicks about young folks racing on various vehicles I've been watching lately, this one came as a bit of a surprise. Among an otherwise obscure cast, Jack Nicholson stars as a arrogant punk of a dirt track racer. He plays the part very Nicholsonish, too, unlike the way he played early roles in things like The Little Shop of Horrors and The Terror.
Nicholson plays the kind of guy who forces a motorcycle cop off the road when he's chasing him for speeding, and who later forces a competitor off the track when he's racing. Along the way he see him get money (with the laconic declaration "Gimme a ten spot") from the older married woman he's been fooling around with.
Nicholson's got a gang of admirers, the most decent of whom has starting going with a Nice Girl. (She even wears pearls and white gloves to the racetrack, unlike the other women in the group, who favor tight capri pants.) The main plot of the movie deals with Nicholson's attempt to break up the romance between these two, since the Nice Girl is turning the decent fellow into a chicken. (The evidence for this is that he drove off the road instead of running into a truck that was heading for him.)
Notable for its short running time (just under an hour), its complete lack of comedy relief, the cool West Coast jazz on the soundtrack, and the fact that it's possible to interpret Nicholson's actions as a sign of homoerotic jealousy.
WinterLight
In the marshes
Non-Stop
Liam Neeson once again embraces his role that requires a very particular set of skills that he has acquired over a long career, well, since Taken actually. Good on him, I like this character.
In this version, he is an air marshall being laid siege to through his phone from a hidden hacking terrorist using all sorts of techno tricks and mind games to bamboozle Neeson and the authorities and steal away a grand sum of dosh.
The fact that the budget is set low (the entire film takes place on a plane), is made up for in tension and keeping you guessing to the point of blind pointing fingers by the end ('It's the little girl with the teddy bear!!').
An easygoing attitude recommended with this one, by the end of the film I realised I enjoyed it.
Liam Neeson once again embraces his role that requires a very particular set of skills that he has acquired over a long career, well, since Taken actually. Good on him, I like this character.
In this version, he is an air marshall being laid siege to through his phone from a hidden hacking terrorist using all sorts of techno tricks and mind games to bamboozle Neeson and the authorities and steal away a grand sum of dosh.
The fact that the budget is set low (the entire film takes place on a plane), is made up for in tension and keeping you guessing to the point of blind pointing fingers by the end ('It's the little girl with the teddy bear!!').
An easygoing attitude recommended with this one, by the end of the film I realised I enjoyed it.
Hermit the frog
Active Member
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2012
- Messages
- 39
My ex is bringing a film over tomorrow night, the deal is I cook. Okay, so I haven’t seen it yet but, she showed me the first couple of minutes to wet my appetite. It was hilarious. So, has anyone seen The Guard? I’ll tell you how I got on later, but I do have high expectations.
J Riff
The Ants are my friends..
Then we have the long non-forgotten 1941 classic, Ball of Fire, whereinst a clutch of rather intellectual professor-types are assembling an encyclopaedia when Barbara Stanwyk bursts into their midst, straight from sharing the stage with Gene Krupa and orchestra. Boogie! Da-da-da-dat-da-daaa-dah. *
She is the head gangster’s gal, now on the run, hiding out, and the innocent Profs. are studying her lingo, and other people’s slang, in order to effectively update the slanguage. Dig?
That’s all you need to know, word fans. There is love interest and some fairly advanced doubletalk at one point from Cooper. Hard to resist a movie with character names like Prof. Oddly, Duke Pastrami, Horseface, Benny the Creep. Some may call this movie ‘corny’ but corny was a new word at that time, apparently, so is it? For the non-etymologically concerned, it may well be so. The combination of sesquipedalianism and 40s jive talk kept this periphrastic hepcat interested, lemme tell ya.
She is the head gangster’s gal, now on the run, hiding out, and the innocent Profs. are studying her lingo, and other people’s slang, in order to effectively update the slanguage. Dig?
That’s all you need to know, word fans. There is love interest and some fairly advanced doubletalk at one point from Cooper. Hard to resist a movie with character names like Prof. Oddly, Duke Pastrami, Horseface, Benny the Creep. Some may call this movie ‘corny’ but corny was a new word at that time, apparently, so is it? For the non-etymologically concerned, it may well be so. The combination of sesquipedalianism and 40s jive talk kept this periphrastic hepcat interested, lemme tell ya.
JunkMonkey
Lord High Vizier of Nowt
I now have Drum Boogie going round in my head. (Not that I am complaining.) I fell head over heels in love/lust with Ms Stanwyk when I first saw this film. Took me years to recover.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
Try to take a look at the old movie Zero Hour!. Airplane! is a direct parody of it, often scene for scene, and many of the character names and dialogue are taken directly from it.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
The She Beast (1966)
Written and directed by Michael Reeves.
Don't expect an early masterpiece from the noted creator of Witchfinder General. This EuroGothic flick shows a bit of imagination and some interesting filming techniques, but suffers from a low budget, a confused plot, and odd changes in mood.
SPOILERS AHEAD, although the story is so familiar and straight-forward that there are no real surprises.
We begin in "Transylvania -- Today" as a helpful opening title card informs us. A nattily attired older gentleman is driving along in a nifty bright yellow 1920's or 1930's style roadster. He stops at a wooden gate leading down into a cave or catacomb of some kind, where he finds a huge old book and begins reading aloud.
This leads us directly into our opening flashback, set a few centuries ago, although things don't look too different from "today." No doubt this is a result of the limited funds available. A funeral is in progress. A boy runs in to announce that the local witch has claimed his brother as another of her victims. The priest and the mourners rush out and grab the witch at her lair. The term "she beast" is actually a better description. Played by a man, the witch seems hardly human, with huge fangs and a hideous face. The makeup used here is fairly gruesome, although not terribly convincing.
The good folk of the village tie the witch to a wooden contraption, stab her to death, and toss her body in a lake. Naturally, while this is going on, she promises to return to destroy their descendants. In some ways, The She Beast is an amateurish version of Black Sunday.
Which is a nice way to lead up to the fact that the star of this thing is the great Barbara Steele. She and her husband (Ian Ogilvy) are on vacation in Romania, lost in their black Volkswagen, and wind up in a dreary hotel run by a sleazy character, played by cult favorite Mel Welles. Along the way they meet up with the older gent, who turns out to be a descendant of Dracula's old nemesis Van Helsing, a rather silly touch. The odd touch of comedy that occurs throughout this movie begins here, too, with some joking remarks about the Communist government.
The young couple start to get intimate in their hotel room when Steele sees Welles peeking in the window. Ogilvy beats up the creep and the couple leaves. Apparently Welles did something to their car, since they have trouble starting it. Once on their way, something goes wrong with the steering and they wind up in the lake we saw a few hundred years ago. Ogilvy gets out OK, but there's no sign of Steele.
We eventually find out that the witch has somehow taken possession of Steele, but still looks like a "she beast" (and is still played by a man.) Sadly, Steele disappears from the movie until the very end. The story goes that she was paid one thousand dollars for one day's filming, but that she had to work for about eighteen hours.
As expected, the witch starts killing folks, particularly Welles. In the film's most outrageous joke, after killing him with a sickle, the witch tosses the weapon on the ground, where it lands on a hammer in such a way that it looks exactly like the famous Communist symbol.
With one thing and another, Ogilvy (who doesn't seem too upset by the way things are going) and Van Helsing (who seems to have been responsible for bringing the witch back to life by reciting a spell, apparently in a twisted attempt to save Steele's life) capture the witch and drag her (dead?) body away from the local cops. (This may be a very inaccurate synopsis; it's all very confusing.)
The movie makes a wild shift in tone, from horror with a touch of comedy, to out-and-out farce, as the Kommie Keystone Kops set off on a slapstick chase after the two heroes. It winds up back at the lake, where the witch is tossed into the water again, and a very wet but otherwise perfectly fine Steele emerges. The three head off for the West, and there's a very minor little twist where Ogilvy says he's glad to get away from that place, and Steele says that she'll be back.
The She Beast is of some interest for fans of Barbara Steele and/or Michael Reeves, who died very young. Otherwise, it's just a slightly odd failure.
Written and directed by Michael Reeves.
Don't expect an early masterpiece from the noted creator of Witchfinder General. This EuroGothic flick shows a bit of imagination and some interesting filming techniques, but suffers from a low budget, a confused plot, and odd changes in mood.
SPOILERS AHEAD, although the story is so familiar and straight-forward that there are no real surprises.
We begin in "Transylvania -- Today" as a helpful opening title card informs us. A nattily attired older gentleman is driving along in a nifty bright yellow 1920's or 1930's style roadster. He stops at a wooden gate leading down into a cave or catacomb of some kind, where he finds a huge old book and begins reading aloud.
This leads us directly into our opening flashback, set a few centuries ago, although things don't look too different from "today." No doubt this is a result of the limited funds available. A funeral is in progress. A boy runs in to announce that the local witch has claimed his brother as another of her victims. The priest and the mourners rush out and grab the witch at her lair. The term "she beast" is actually a better description. Played by a man, the witch seems hardly human, with huge fangs and a hideous face. The makeup used here is fairly gruesome, although not terribly convincing.
The good folk of the village tie the witch to a wooden contraption, stab her to death, and toss her body in a lake. Naturally, while this is going on, she promises to return to destroy their descendants. In some ways, The She Beast is an amateurish version of Black Sunday.
Which is a nice way to lead up to the fact that the star of this thing is the great Barbara Steele. She and her husband (Ian Ogilvy) are on vacation in Romania, lost in their black Volkswagen, and wind up in a dreary hotel run by a sleazy character, played by cult favorite Mel Welles. Along the way they meet up with the older gent, who turns out to be a descendant of Dracula's old nemesis Van Helsing, a rather silly touch. The odd touch of comedy that occurs throughout this movie begins here, too, with some joking remarks about the Communist government.
The young couple start to get intimate in their hotel room when Steele sees Welles peeking in the window. Ogilvy beats up the creep and the couple leaves. Apparently Welles did something to their car, since they have trouble starting it. Once on their way, something goes wrong with the steering and they wind up in the lake we saw a few hundred years ago. Ogilvy gets out OK, but there's no sign of Steele.
We eventually find out that the witch has somehow taken possession of Steele, but still looks like a "she beast" (and is still played by a man.) Sadly, Steele disappears from the movie until the very end. The story goes that she was paid one thousand dollars for one day's filming, but that she had to work for about eighteen hours.
As expected, the witch starts killing folks, particularly Welles. In the film's most outrageous joke, after killing him with a sickle, the witch tosses the weapon on the ground, where it lands on a hammer in such a way that it looks exactly like the famous Communist symbol.
With one thing and another, Ogilvy (who doesn't seem too upset by the way things are going) and Van Helsing (who seems to have been responsible for bringing the witch back to life by reciting a spell, apparently in a twisted attempt to save Steele's life) capture the witch and drag her (dead?) body away from the local cops. (This may be a very inaccurate synopsis; it's all very confusing.)
The movie makes a wild shift in tone, from horror with a touch of comedy, to out-and-out farce, as the Kommie Keystone Kops set off on a slapstick chase after the two heroes. It winds up back at the lake, where the witch is tossed into the water again, and a very wet but otherwise perfectly fine Steele emerges. The three head off for the West, and there's a very minor little twist where Ogilvy says he's glad to get away from that place, and Steele says that she'll be back.
The She Beast is of some interest for fans of Barbara Steele and/or Michael Reeves, who died very young. Otherwise, it's just a slightly odd failure.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
The St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959)
Excellent heist movie starring a very young Steve McQueen. The robbery is based on a real one that took place a few years before the film. Filmed on location, including the bank where the holdup took place, the movie also features locals in the cast, including some cops who were present during the real crime. All of this realism lends the film a documentary feel, but the most interesting parts of it are clearly fictional.
McQueen is a college athlete, kicked out of school for some reason. The claustrophic, jailbird brother of his ex-girlfriend talks him into being a getaway driver. The other two hoods are a coldblooded, woman-hating older man and a weakwilled, twitchy fellow. These two are former cellmates, and the film implies that, if they weren't exactly lovers, they have an uneasy relationship.
The plot thickens when McQueen has to ask the ex-girlfriend for fifty bucks for her brother, who is supposedly in Chicago. (As you might imagine, this is a very awkward reunion.) When she spots her brother in town near the bank, she figures out what's going on, even going so far as to scrawl a warning on the bank's window in lipstick one drunken night.
A very grim film noir caper flick with an unusual amount of psychological insight into its characters.
Excellent heist movie starring a very young Steve McQueen. The robbery is based on a real one that took place a few years before the film. Filmed on location, including the bank where the holdup took place, the movie also features locals in the cast, including some cops who were present during the real crime. All of this realism lends the film a documentary feel, but the most interesting parts of it are clearly fictional.
McQueen is a college athlete, kicked out of school for some reason. The claustrophic, jailbird brother of his ex-girlfriend talks him into being a getaway driver. The other two hoods are a coldblooded, woman-hating older man and a weakwilled, twitchy fellow. These two are former cellmates, and the film implies that, if they weren't exactly lovers, they have an uneasy relationship.
The plot thickens when McQueen has to ask the ex-girlfriend for fifty bucks for her brother, who is supposedly in Chicago. (As you might imagine, this is a very awkward reunion.) When she spots her brother in town near the bank, she figures out what's going on, even going so far as to scrawl a warning on the bank's window in lipstick one drunken night.
A very grim film noir caper flick with an unusual amount of psychological insight into its characters.
dask
dark and stormy knight
THE BIG GUNDOWN. Leonard Maltin called this "The best non-Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western" and I'm inclined to agree with him. Beautifully photographed with never a dull moment the real star of this film, however, isn't Lee Van Cleef who's great as a bounty killer running for the Senate, Sergio Corbucci's expert directing, or Corbucci's and Sergio Donati's writing skill, but Ennio Morricone's knock-your-socks-off score. It's just stunning. Morricone said in an interview when composing a score for a western not directed by Leone he would avoid making it sound like a Leone western, but THE BIG GUNDOWN is just a original and edgy as anything done for the Man With No Name. If it didn't push the envelope like THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, it certainly put a first class stamp on it.
Just watched this film last night, for the first time.
I was actually expecting a feel-good family film, so was very surprised by the actual content!
Totally captivating.
JunkMonkey
Lord High Vizier of Nowt
Van Helsing (2004) - as crap as I had been led to believe: a real candidate for the definitive 'GCI has killed the movies' prize. Another 49p (including postage and packing) wasted on eBay.
I just saw the 1956 "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" for the first time.
It was a good story - I can see why it started a whole "sub-genre" of alien life forms taking over human bodies. It has clearly influenced many other works.
It was a good story - I can see why it started a whole "sub-genre" of alien life forms taking over human bodies. It has clearly influenced many other works.
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