What was the last movie you saw?

[hardsciencefanagain]

er
I've rewatched You Got mail.
Still liked it second time around.
whatever happened to Meg's career?
And how come there so preciously little of Lubitsch's movies around??(cinefiles will get this,I'm sure)
I turned Spanglish off,just now.
Tea Leoni,Adam Sandler,no way,Jose.Tea no star quality,Sandler looking bemused,inane
and somehow miscast
No chemistry(that magical word),no dialog worth repeating,crap supporting roles

 

[Jesse412]

Freaks (1932)

Easily my favorite Tod Browning film which is no small task given his body of work. Watching Prince Randian, a man with no arms and no legs, take a match from a matchbox and light a cigarette using only his mouth is still one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen.

 

[hardsciencefanagain]

You know your Classics,Jess.
Enjoyed HOW to Tame Your Dragon.
No genius work,but the animation is very good,and i enjoyed the characters

 

[ratsy]

We watched Sinister staring Ethan Hawke. It was okay, but really was missing something. He was living in the house of a murdered family, trying to write a true crime book about it, and never left once to interview anyone....it felt too small. The Sinister being left super 8 film strips of murders, dating back 40 years and Ethan's character drinks his way through all the gruesome footage.

I can't say I'd recommend it to everyone, but since Netflix has it, it is worth a look.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Freaks (1932)

Easily my favorite Tod Browning film which is no small task given his body of work. Watching Prince Randian, a man with no arms and no legs, take a match from a matchbox and light a cigarette using only his mouth is still one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen.

I would seriously avoid the gender swapping remake She Freak.

As evidence, here is what I thought the most interesting shot in the whole film....

Untitled by the_junk_monkey, on Flickr

 

[Jesse412]

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

One of the interesting things about this film is Rouben Mamoulian's use of first person perspective shots and clever transitions. It really is filled with incredible visuals and inventive film techniques. The Wally Westmore special effects make-up for Hyde is subtle but very effective both gruesome and animal like. Fredric March plays Mr. Hyde brilliantly and he nails the villain's mannerisms perfectly. The scene where Hyde first looks into the mirror and says "Free! Free at last!" is one of my favorites. Miriam Hopkins looked stunning and she gives a tremendous performance as Ivy Pearson. This is arguably the best adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel on film.

 

[Vince W]

Ant-Man.

This film was a joy to watch. Funny, charming, and a lot of heart. There was CGI, but not to exclusion of all else (Avengers). The entire cast was great, but Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas were simply perfect. I wasn't expecting it to be much, especially since I knew nothing about the Ant-Man character, but wow. I left the cinema with a huge grin and if I didn't have previous plans I would probably have went right back in and seen it again.

If you have any interest in the Marvel universe then you should see Ant-Man.

 

[Jesse412]

El Dorado (1966)

John Wayne had some great lines in this movie. He also had excellent on screen chemistry with Robert Mitchum and James Caan. I don't think I've ever seen James Caan so young. Michele Carey looked incredible as Joey. Nice to see Ed Asner show up as Bart Jason. A classic Western with tons of exciting action and some genuinely funny bits.

 

[Foxbat]

Stonehearst Asylum
This movie got good reviews in some places. It was well filmed but I found it plodding, predictable and lacking any real form of tension.

 

[Jesse412]

Scarface (1932)

One of the greatest gangster films ever made and a must see for any fan of the genre. Howard Hughes and Howard Hawks create a fascinating and thrilling look at the rise of notorious gangster Al Capone in this pre-Code crime film. Paul Muni is excellent as Tony Camonte as was Boris Karloff as the rival gangster Gaffney. The pacing of the film remains exciting throughout and I thought the ending was incredibly satisfying.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Murder by Television (1935)

Dull, talky, and dreary murder mystery with a few notable elements.

1. The inclusion of science fiction themes (mostly just talked about) from the plausible (a nation-wide television broadcast) to the ridiculous (studying the structure of somebody's brain to see if the person is capable of murder.) The futuristic television equipment is actually pretty groovy; according to IMDB, it was the real thing, borrowed for use in the film, and was worth twice the movie's budget.

2. More than the usual amount of ethnic stereotyping, with an Irish watchman, a Chinese houseboy who quotes fortune cookie wisdom (even from Charlie Chan), and Hattie McDaniel as a maid or cook who says things like "Lordy! Lordy! I see'd a ghost!"

3. Bela Lugosi as (in a shocking plot twist about ten minutes from the end) twin brothers, one a sneaky character who is the second murder victim and the other, amazingly, the good guy who solves the murder.

Less than an hour long, but not worth it except for Lugosi completists.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Colossus and the Amazon Queen (1960)

This is the "wacky comedy" version of a sword and sandal epic. Rod Taylor, fresh from The Time Machine, has top billing as a trickster who manages to get himself and his musclebound buddy trapped aboard a ship bound for an unknown destination. This turns out to be the land of the Amazons, and out heroes are being sold to the ruling women as one-night lovers and then slave workers. There's a minimum of typical muscleman stuff and a maximum of slapstick and low comedy. Along for the ride is an Egyptian scientist who has not only invented the telescope, but all kinds of Rube Goldberg stuff. (One of the best throwaway gags is the scene where he makes use of a wildly elaborate gizmo to start a fire. This device is started by holding a torch to it!) There's also a talking parrot to provide commentary who has the last words. The soundtrack combines modern jazz and "comedy" music. Taken in the right mood, it's amusing enough. The sets and costumes are just as elaborate as anything in this genre, and there are tons of gorgeous, scantily clad Amazons to provide the cheesecake along with the usual beefcake.

 

[J Riff]

Sounds good. ) I watched Night of the Blood Beast, but not attentively enough to review. It was okay. Night of 1000 Cats has much more promise. Oh, King of the Zombies 1941, is a lighthearted zombo-romp of the day. Probably Victoria has full reviews of these somewhere, probably more entertaining than the movies themselves. *)

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Thank you for the kind words. I have not seen the latter two films, and the first one only in the MST3K version (which would make a review superfluous.)

 

[Jesse412]

The Trial (1962)

This certainly feels like a Franz Kafka novel brought to life right from the start and it's definitely the strangest and most visually stunning Orson Welles film I've watched. One of Anthony Perkins strongest performances. The last half hour of the film is absolutely bizarre. A must watch for fans of Orson Welles and Anthony Perkins.

 

[hardsciencefanagain]

And for fans of Kafka?
Clint Eastwood's The Changeling
somewhere between good to excellent
AJ puts in a thoroughly convincing performance as the mother of a missing child,Malkovitch enjoyable and on form.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark - with my proto-goth teenage daughter. It's a lot funnier than I remember.

 

[Jesse412]

The Thin Man (1934)

An excellent comedy and one hell of an intriguing murder mystery. The pacing of the film is near perfect, never lagging and always keeping your interest. William Powell's comedic delivery is superb and his chemistry with costar Myrna Loy really makes them a believable and endearing couple. The reveal during the dinner party scene is both exciting and unexpected. One of those rare films that makes me want to read the novel that it's based on.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Vulcan, Son of Jupiter (1961)

Particularly nutty sword and sandal epic which plays fast and loose with mythology. The main characters are the gods of Olympus (a cardboard set with fog.)

Venus goes to Earth for a quick romance with Adonis. He quickly disappears from the story. It seems this opening scene was just to establish the fact that Venus (played pretty much as a blonde California beach bunny) likes the boys. Up on Olympus this displeases Jupiter, so he decides that she's going to marry Mars or Vulcan and settle down.

Vulcan (not crippled in this version of the story, but in fact a muscleman) seems more interested in forging swords and a shield for Achilles (so why are we using Roman names?) but gets into a fight with Mars (an Aryan type, not as muscular as our hero.) Vulcan kicks his tail pretty easily, so Mars and Venus, with the aid of Pluto (also a muscleman, although he doesn't do anything with it) go to Earth to rebel against Zeus. Vulcan intends to follow them to stop their plan. Pluto "helps" him get to Earth by stabbing him with a trident. Vulcan winds up on the beach surrounded by dark-haired bathing beauties, one of whom will be Vulcan's love interest.

Next we have an odd subplot in which Vulcan and the ladies are captured by lizard men in very bad costumes. They escape by having a midget hide in a basket of garbage and get thrown into the sea so he can contact Neptune for help. The little fellow will turn out to be Vulcan's sidekick and comedy relief. Neptune sends up some tritons who free the prisoners. Back down under the sea the love interest has the mandatory dancing girl scene, and rivals Venus in her degree of undress.

Meanwhile Mars and Venus are plotting with the king of Thrace to build a tower to lay seige to Olympus. This seems like a bad idea for a couple of reasons. For one thing, by the end of the movie this flimsy wooden tower is maybe the height of a one story building. For another, Jupiter is a god, after all, and can not only zap folks with badly animated lightning bolts, but can send Pluto down to the Underworld with a wave of his hand.

Anyway, Vulcan and his sidekick and his girlfriend go to Thrace to stop Venus and Mars, and we get our big battle scene, as well as the catfight between Venus and Vulcan's paramour. Along the way they're attacked by some mutant/cavemen types, in another irrelevant subplot. Somewhere in there you also have a rather fey Mercury and a couple of other gods who show up to say a line or two then disappear. It's all quite silly and amusing.

 

[hardsciencefanagain]

Paul,with Pegg and Frost.
Not their best work together,but still good fun.
With another duo in the lead,this might have failed dismally.