What was the last movie you saw?

Rhinoceros (1974)

Another from the American Film Theatre. This one is based on the play by Eugene Ionesco, which is a Theater of the Absurd allegory about conformity, I think. Anyway, Zero Mostel is an elegant, stylish fellow and Gene Wilder is his sloppy, hard-drinking buddy. This Odd Couple's relationship is interrupted by the fact that people are turning into rhinoceroses and causing chaos. Third-billed Karen Black pretty much plays the Girl. Although the film resembles the play in that the rhinoceroses are never actually seen, it is dissimilar in the fact that there's a lot of destructive chaos, in the style of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The combination of intellectual satire and Wacky Comedy is odd and awkward.
 
Before Star Wars, The Last Jedi (reviewed under Star Wars) I watched Fahrenheit 451 - the 1966 version with Oskar Werner and Julie Christie. I've had the DVD for over 10 years, so when I saw the trailer for the new version, I had to pull out the original and re-watch it.

I've read Ray Bradbury's book and have always liked how director Francois Truffaut stayed close to the novel. Oskar Werner as book burning fireman Montag is both distant and distraught. He's distraught over his wife's drug use and subsequent indifference toward him, and he's become bored over the tedium of his life. And then into his life walks Clarrise (Julie Christie) who subtly charms him toward widening his horizons and reading a book. One book leads to another and fairly soon he's got them stashed all over his house. His wife (also played by Julie Christie) gets fed up with his law breaking and turns him in. On the run, he meets with Clarrise and they decide to flee separately and join a colony of book lovers up north. When he arrives, he's called over to watch his own execution on TV (staged by the government to save face and placate the public.)

The book colony is one of those atmospheric scenes that has all but disappeared in modern cinema, and in my opinion, it's one of the best resolves in science fiction film. In fact the slowish pace of this film wouldn't be done at all now for fear of losing the masses. I'm not sure how the new Fahrenheit 451 will fare, but I really like Truffaut's version.
 
Quatermass Xperiment (1955). I thought I had seen this before, & probably did, but I must have been thinking of the 2nd film when I watched this yesterday. A rocket crashes in the countryside, & all but 1 of the 3 crewmen are missing. Police assume the 3rd murdered the other two. QM is the scientist in charge of the mission, & takes a different approach to the missing men. The 3rd man is in no condition to speak. This was really good! Hammer films.

Five Million Years to Earth / Quatermass and the Pit (1967, Hammer films). I know I have seen this more than once before this morning's viewing. They are building an extension to a London subway line, & find among other things, skulls, not from modern men. Also, an object they first assume is an UXB. Yet, after fully uncovering it, find that it bears little resemblance to a V-weapon. The thing most resembles some kind of vehicle. QM believes it is of extraterrestrial origin, but the military guy ridicules his opinion, & insist that the Germans made it for the purpose of causing confusion, etc. While they are arguing, one of those in the excavation, has a fit. He says he saw demons. Looking at the newspaper morgue, they find reports of eerie events in that area, which btw, has more than a few abandoned bldgs. (But why the subway extension in this all but abandoned area? Nobody asks why.) So, they attempt to open the thing with a torch, but it has no effect, and the surface is not even warm, after 5 minutes. Obviously an unknown material, but the military guy still insists the Germans made it. Also very good film!
 
Two of my favorite Hammer films, Jeff. Especially Quatermass and the Pit.


Randy M.
 
Another Noir Alley film, Hollow Triumph (1948) Paul Henreid as a newly released ex-con, who immediately rejoins his gang, and just as swiftly robs a gambling house. Things go south, & he must flee. By chance, he meets a psychiatrist, or, rather, is mistaken for the man, because other than a scar on the left cheek, they are identical. So far, I had not realized that I had seen this film before, but when assuming the other man's identity :ROFLMAO:
he carves on his own cheek a similar scar. Yet, the enlarged photo he uses, is :LOL::D or, was printed mirror-imaged! :ROFLMAO::p Nobody notices, and things seem to go o.k., until, he learns that the guys who sought his life are in prison, but, similar unsavory characters come looking for the psychiatrist!
Very satisfying film, indeed.

Escape from Fort Bravo (1953) William Holden, Eleanor Parker, and John Forsythe. Holden is a Union Army Captain stationed in the title place in Arizona, around 1863. William Demarest & William (Trelane) Campbell are among the Confederate prisoners who escape. Holden pursues them, & they all must fight as one against the Indians. Good film!

I really enjoy seeing actors whom I likely first saw in Star Trek in other shows or films. Trelane is among my favorites!

The Wrong Box (1966), despite its 4 star rating, I fell asleep watching it. I may have been sleepy after dinner. Currently running it in the PIP, though not paying much attention to it. Two elderly brothers are trying to eliminate each other, to gain the 100,000 that the sole survivor is to receive. Rather, their sons are trying to knock off their uncles. :LOL: M. Caine, P. Sellers, & a cast of others whose names are unfamiliar to me.
 
Avatar (2009); i WATCHED this because of having also watched James Cameron's Scifi program; whose 1st episode was about aliens. at over 2.5 hours, it might have become tedious, but did not. I do not suppose there are too many here who have not already seen it, so I will skip the description. I did enjoy it, though found myself looking for ways to scrutinize it.

HANG EM HIGH (1967) I enjoyed seeing Sarek (Mark Lenard) as mentioned earlier. It has been a very long time since I last saw this film. So CE buys cattle from the guy he believes owns them, but it turns out the guy had just murdered the owner. Just as CF finishes driving the cattle across a river, a posse overtakes him, assumes he is a rustler, & lynches him, leaving him for dead. Another guy comes along, cuts him down, & he becomes a Marshall. Goes out to capture those who lynched him. !st US film since before Dollar trio. Did not know that. Very good film.
 
Anon (2018) Clive Owen, Amanda Seyfried

A look at a future in which privacy doesn't exist. The Leads save a film that tried to go too far with an excellent story concept. Well, that and a good ending.

This is one of those movies that prove you shouldn't accept the opinions of "professional" critics as gospel. Two reviews I saw said it was "mediocre" (one adding "at best"). I say you should check out this Netflix offering. I think most will enjoy it. It's not a 5-Star Offering, but it ain't bad!
 
well, i still havent made it to the theatre for Infinity wars, so i watched War for Planet of the Apes on tv (again) yesterday.
whats everyones opinion on the new 3. i rather like them.
 
Target for Killing (1966)

Austrian-German-Italian spy flick, one of the zillions made to cash in on the Bond craze. Stewart Granger (hero) and Karin Dor (the Girl) are on a plane flirting (never mind the fact that he's a quarter of a century older) when the stewardess and the pilots bail out. It's all a plot to kill the Girl; everybody else on the plane is secondary damage. Hero and Girl get the plane down safely, multiple attempts on her life follow. The super-villain behind all this is the Giant, who runs this vast international criminal organization from his headquarters, a monastery full of killers in yellow robes and brainwashed young women. Weirdly, he also has a telepath working for him. Turns out he's just doing the killing (not very effectively) for the Girl's uncle, who paid him half a million bucks for the job. Confusingly, the uncle works for the Giant, but the Giant abducts him and tortures him so he can find out the motive for the attempted killing. (It turns out to be a obvious one. He doesn't want her to inherit seventy million dollars so he can get his hands on it.) The typical spy stuff ensues. Gadgets hidden in objects (including a transmitter inside a hard-boiled egg), fights, shootings, scantily clad young women, etc. Some nutty stuff, too, like when Hero lies and says his profession is "snake enthusiast" to the cops. Turns out the cop really is one, so he brings out a big snake from his office to call his bluff. It's a bad movie, but somehow entertaining.
 
Victoria, that sounds like a fun bad movie, something Granger seemed to specialize in late in his career. I recall his turn as Sherlock Holmes in a made-for-TV version of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1972), also starring Bernard Fox channeling Nigel Bruce, and William Shatner between high points in his career.

I looked up Target for Killing in IMDB because the name Karin Dor was familiar (the question of why I'd remember the name at all ... got nuthin'). She was a graduate of the James Bond school of acting, appearing in You Only Live Twice. Several of the cast also appeared in Bond movies: Curd (Curt) Jurgens was later in The Spy Who Loved Me; Adolfo Celi was in Thunderball as was Molly Peters (in one of the most sexist and possibly misogynistic sequences in early James Bond movies, which is kinda saying something). Makes me wonder how many other movies featured multiple actors from the Bond movies.


Randy M.
 
The Duchess, in spite of the fact that I'm not at all a fan of Keira Knightly. It was pure fluff but I watched it for the costumes and in that respect was not disappointed.

The Big Sick, which was amusing. On the surface it was also fluff, but looking at it a little more closely it did cover some more profound themes.
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
The Duchess, in spite of the fact that I'm not at all a fan of Keira Knightly. It was pure fluff but I watched it for the costumes and in that respect was not disappointed.

The Big Sick, which was amusing. On the surface it was also fluff, but looking at it a little more closely it did cover some more profound themes.
Click to expand...
My Cousin Rachel is one i watched recently ..another period film, which i always watch whether good or not, for the costumes as well!
 
Molly's Game

Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba star. This is quite fun and based on the life of Molly Bloom who ran high stakes poker games for Hollywood stars, heavy rollers etc. In the end she ran afoul of the FBI and the Mob. It is fun attempting to identify the Hollywood stars with one of them coming out of the story quite bad.
 
Jumanji - 2018 - well not bad. People are drawn into a jungle video game called Jumanji, they become the avatars, with their abilities, which is a fun premise. One girl chooses a guy avatar - so time to take a leak, ha ha. They don't overdo the stupid stuff, so this one was okay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
AnRoinnUltra The last days of the Lóntuisteach Promotions 0
The Judge DISTAFF -- Last Chance to Buy!! Promotions 0
HareBrain Avatar: the Last Airbender live action (Netflix) General TV Discussion 18
Extollager Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn (1968 novel -- not movie) Classic SF&F 11
N Y: The Last Man, movie or telly series? Graphic Novels & Comics 3

Similar threads


Back
Top