What was the last movie you saw?

[AlexH]

I'm not having much luck with films at the moment.

Men & Chicken (2015)
Mads Mikkelsen was the highlight in a weird and mostly unfunny dark comedy with lots of amped-up Bottom-style violence.

The Brand New Testament (2015)
A fantasy/comedy with a promising start, with God, Goddess and their daughter Ea living in present Brussels (Jesus is dead of course), Ea attempting to right the wrongs of her father. Unfortunately, it became boring and repetitive.

God's Own Country (2017)
Decent enough drama/romance with good cinematography set on a Yorkshire farm.

 

[Parson]

My Spy

A light hearted light weight. A kinda cross between The Parent Trap, Kindergarten Cop, and with a splash of Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger thrown in for gratuitous slow motion action. It wasn't bad, but it might not be as good as my blurb makes it sound.

 

[Mouse]

The sequel to Divergent - Insurgent. I think that's what it was called anyway. Pretty dull. I zoned out a few times.

And... Fisherman's Friends. Based on a true story about a bunch of old dudes from Port Isaac in Cornwall who sing sea shanties and got signed. While I was watching I thought to myself... I wonder if any of them are related to @Lobster (although he's an Essex boy, the male side of his family is Cornish and, in particular, from Port Isaac). A quick Google later and yep, there's his surname among the band members.

 

[hitmouse]

My Spy

A light hearted light weight. A kinda cross between The Parent Trap, Kindergarten Cop, and with a splash of Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger thrown in for gratuitous slow motion action. It wasn't bad, but it might not be as good as my blurb makes it sound.

Watched it with my kids on Amazon Prime. Good undemanding fun.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Some stuff I actually watched at home, instead of on the computer at work:

Quite some time ago I saw The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, the 1961 English language version of the 1958 Czech film Vynález zkázy ("Invention for Destruction"), most notable for the very unusual visuals, which combine live action with animation that looks like old woodcuts. Very steampunk.

More recently, I saw This Nude World AKA This Naked Age (1932), one of the earliest nudist camp exploitation films. This one is pretty much a straightforward documentary, with footage shot at nudist camps in the USA, France, and Germany. Along with the expected PG-rated nudity, you learn that nudists exercised a lot.

 

[Randy M.]

The Final Girls (2015) dir. Todd Strauss-Schulson; starring Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, Adam Devine, Thomas Middleditch

Very meta, as a fire in a theater forces several students to escape, slicing their way through the screen and stepping into -- the '80s slasher movie they were attending. Complicating matters, Max was coerced into attending; the movie is 20 years old and stars her dead mother (Akerman).

Farmiga is good as a young woman surviving her mother's death 3 years earlier in a car accident. It's a rather uneven movie, but has some nice humor -- Angela Trimbur provides a doofiness that isn't as wearing as it sometimes is in movies; there are some effective sight gags -- and is relatively non-gory. (There is some, but it's not the focus of the movie, just a symptom of the kind of movie being parodied.) On the whole, a pleasant movie to pass the time.


The Good Liar (2019) dir. Bill Condon; starring Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen

McKellen is a con man with a history. Mirren is his mark. But it isn't as easy as all that.

A slow-burn movie, featuring great actors in a good cat-and-mouse game. And that's all I'll say so I don't spoil anything.


Randy M.

 

[KGeo777]

Project X 1968 --kind of a cheapie sci-fi and yet loaded with ideas as well as some eerily accurate predictions on the present relationship with China. Set in 2118, a Western agent is sent to China to find out about an alleged super weapon of theirs. He comes back with his mind erased due to an emergency measure to protect the agent from being tortured for information. The story, based on the novels The Artificial Man and Psychogeist by L.P. Davies seem to have come out before or at the same time as Phillip K Dick's famous story about memories (though I see an earlier Dick work Time Out of Joint may have inspired the Artificial Man plot .
"The Matrix" also gets referenced in the story--as they implant a new identity and create an artificial environment to make their patient think he is living in 1968 so they can create the conditions for "total recall." Ultimately, the Chinese scheme when revealed is so 2020 relevant--did William Castle have a crystal ball? I'd like to know if the novels had the same China plot against the West. Quarantines, panics over vaccines, even a character named Karen!

 

[AstroZon]

The Venetian Affair 1966 - d: Jerry Thorpe, s: Robert Vaughn, Ed Asner, Roger Carmel, Elke Sommer, Boris Karloff, Karl Boehm

Newspaper reporter and former CIA agent Robert Vaughn is sent to Venice to report on the murder of a group of diplomats. He is immediately suspicious of his assignment as Venice was his last posting while still in the CIA. He is met at the airport by his paper's foreign correspondent and also CIA Station Chief Ed Asner who warns him not to engage in anything suspicious. The main plot involves Boris Karloff threatening to reveal secrets to the world which, in his opinion, will result in world peace. (Of course the CIA, KGB and others would rather not have their secrets relieved.) There is an almost unrelated secondary plot involving the search for communist recruit Elke Sommer. And if that weren't enough, there is yet another subplot involving a drug that allows people to be controlled.

Some directors can take 3 plots and weave them together with interest and intrigue, but sadly that's not the case here. If it were stretched out a bit and allowed to breath, it would certainly make better sense. However it's a 2 hour movie jammed into 89 minutes. Boris Karloff and Elke Sommer both seem miscast as well as the location. Venice the spy capitol of Europe? Hardly. Vienna would have been much better suited. But my biggest disappointment is the total lack of suspense - the defining element of the spy flick genre.

That said I still enjoyed watching it. While filmed in 1966, it somehow evaded the cultural changes of the 60s. It could have been made in 1955 just the same. Robert Vaughn carries the movie well without leaning into The Man From UNCLE cliches. No James Bond gizmos - just government issue .38s for the CIA and Lugars for the enemies. The only nod to James Bond movies are the beautiful women throughout. Robert's Vaughn's ex wife is non other than Elke Sommer, and even homely reporter Roger Carmel has a pretty girl (he was on a roll because later on Star Trek he'll preside over a small harem.) Ed Asner is good at playing the heavy, and boy faced Karl Boehm is downright evil.

 

[KGeo777]

There's a painting by the guy who did the paintings for Roger Corman's House of Usher in one scene when Vaughn is checking out an artist's studio.

 

[MikeAnderson]

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Arguably Tarantino's most subtle piece. An excellent stroll down memory lane. Leo DiCaprio is great as a washed up, struggling former t.v. star, and Brad Pitt's just a beast as a stuntman with P.T.S.D.. Seriously, he's approaching 60, and he STILL looks like he could whoop up on everybody in the room.

The scene with Bruce Lee getting thrown almost through a car door...hilarious.

 

[AstroZon]

There's a painting by the guy who did the paintings for Roger Corman's House of Usher in one scene when Vaughn is checking out an artist's studio.

Thanks, but now I have to watch it again! I checked out the DVD from the library. I'd seen bits of it years ago, but never the whole movie at once.

 

[AstroZon]

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Arguably Tarantino's most subtle piece. An excellent stroll down memory lane. Leo DiCaprio is great as a washed up, struggling former t.v. star, and Brad Pitt's just a beast as a stuntman with P.T.S.D.. Seriously, he's approaching 60, and he STILL looks like he could whoop up on everybody in the room.

The scene with Bruce Lee getting thrown almost through a car door...hilarious.

Apparently a lot of Bruce Lee fans are upset with that scene.

 

[Pyan]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (again)

For those with Freeview, if you haven't yet seen it, keep an eye on Ch81, TalkingPicturesTV (also on Virgin 445, Freesat 306 and Sky 328.)

An eclectic mix of just about every genre there is, including films that the big boys won't ever show. Recommended.

This week's schedule (link)
Includes Fall of the House of Usher (1950), Nosferatu The Vampyre (1979) and Devil Girl From Mars (1954), as well as classic tv series such as Catweazle, Van der Valk, Rumpole of the Bailey and Budgie...

 

[Parson]

Ruby Bridges (1999) This story, even with it's upbeat ending, had me in tears often. The unspeakable horror of people shouting profane and worse things at a 6 year old trying to go to school just tears me to pieces. That its a true story and within my lifetime, makes it so much worse. The most redeeming feature of the movie is Ruby and her family and how their Christian faith helps them to persevere such despicable behavior by people who really should have known better.

 

[MikeAnderson]

Heaven's Gate (1980) Now I understand why Micheal Cimino's directing career died a horrific death. Pretentious, meandering, and complete wastes of talents in people like Kris Kristopherson, Christopher Walken, and Jeff Bridges. It's so bad, I can see why some said this nearly killed the western genre outright.

 

[MikeAnderson]

Apparently a lot of Bruce Lee fans are upset with that scene.

Which is weird, because Bruce himself had a pretty good sense of humor, from what I heard. More than likely, he would have gotten a chuckle out of that scene.

 

[KGeo777]

Thanks, but now I have to watch it again! I checked out the DVD from the library. I'd seen bits of it years ago, but never the whole movie at once.

The 1969 James Garner movue MARLOWE also has a painting by the same guy.
His faces are easy to recognize.

 

[KGeo777]

I think I have a screen grab from the other movie too.

 

[Randy M.]

The 1969 James Garner movue MARLOWE also has a painting by the same guy.
His faces are easy to recognize.
View attachment 66641

Speaking of movies in which Bruce Lee loses a fight ... In his memoir, Garner mentions he wins a fight with Lee in the movie, and admits it could only happen in a movie.

Randy M.

 

[Jeffbert]

Sons O' Guns (1936) Jimmy Canfield (Joe E. Brown) is a song & dance man, during WWI. whose prospective father-in-law will not allow the marriage, unless Canfield joins the Army "and becomes a man" In attempting to trick his would-be fiancee & her father, since he wears an Army uniform on stage, he will just go



IMAGE MAKERS: THE ADVENTURES OF AMERICA'S PIONEER CINEMATOGRAPHERS (2019) Title says it all. Interesting documentary.


Battling Butler (1926) Buster Keaton is a too rich guy who literally does nothing for himself. Dad sends him on camping trip, hoping to toughen him-up; but guy brings everything, including the kitchen sink. Falls in love with daughter of woodsman guy, who forbids relationship, because guy is wimp. Butler's butler, who, naturally attends to his every need, even while 'camping' sees that some other guy with same name is lightweight boxing champ, and suggests that rich guy claim to be boxer. Funny things happen!


Pale Flower (1964) Japanese gangster film; just watched it yesterday, but forgot most of it. It had many scenes of illegal gambling in it. So, this young woman is tired of low-stakes gambling, & asks the man next to her, if he has any connections to high-stakes. I just do not recall much else. It was a good film, though.


Fireworks / Hana bi (1997) Police detective whose wife suffers from terminal cancer owes Yakuza loan shark a large sum of money. The TCM intro made this out to be a great film, but it just had me scratching my head.