What was the last movie you saw?

[KGeo777]

LINDA - 1973 tv movie in which a guy is talking with the wife of someone on the beach as they watch their spouses shooting cans for target practice. Then, when the wife goes to the water--his wife shoots her--and then shoots the victim's husband. The man then runs for the police but when he gets to the crime scene--only the body of the woman is on the beach and his own wife and the man who she had supposedly shot blame him for the murder. He has to turn to a retired lawyer for help (this may have been an inspiration for Hawkins--the show that eventually was remade as Matlock).

THE BLACK PANTHER - 1977 --Obscure thriller about a methodical criminal (reacting with murderous rage when things go wrong) who kidnaps an heiress and locks her in the depths of a drainage pipe. Quite riveting thanks to the lead performance by an actor (Donald Sumpter) who I only recall from a bit part in a Hammer film. Based on a true story so it says.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I'll See You In Hell (Ti aspetterò all'inferno, 1960)

Moody crime film with a touch of Gothic horror. Three guys (Al, who plans the heist but doesn't actually take part in it; Sam, who wants the money to buy land in Israel; and Walter, a sociopath who is obviously trouble from the start) steal a bunch of diamonds. (Walter kills the guard, naturally.) They take off for a remote farm as a hide out, walking for hours through wilderness. Along the way, Walter gets in a fight with Sam, who falls into quicksand. Al wants to save him, but Walter stops him.

After several days at the hideout, Al heads into town to get a steak at the local diner. He meets a singer/dancer, saving her from the attentions of some punks. (Must be his type, as we already saw him with another dancer at the start of the film. Girlfriend Number One never shows up again.) Romance blooms. She doesn't have a place to stay, so she winds up at the hideout. Can you predict that the situation leads to tension?

Oh, did I mention the fact that there are signs that Sam is haunting Walter?

Not a bad little thriller, with visuals in the film noir style and a double twist ending.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

For Singles Only (1968)

At first glance, this should be a brainless, frothy little comedy, similar to the beach movies of the time. There's quite a bit of that, to be sure (lots of musical acts, plenty of women in bikinis, etc.), but one aspect of it goes to a different place entirely.

Two young women (Mary Ann "Miss America" Mobley and Lana "Natalie's sister" Wood) move into an apartment complex FOR SINGLES ONLY to be roommates with their bubbly friend. The director of activities is Milton Berle! Each has her own subplot.

1. Bubbly friend works at a computer matchmaking place. She fills out her own form with a bunch of lies, and winds up with a guy who did the same thing. Pretty much like a forgettable skit from Love American Style.

2. Miss America resists the attentions of the men at the place, slapping them when they get fresh. Meanwhile, PHD student John Saxon needs to raise some cash or drop out. His buddies make a bet for a bunch of money that he can't seduce Miss America. After some feeble efforts, true love blooms. She even pretends to have slept with him so he can win the bet, and they get married.

3. Here's where it gets weirdly inappropriate. Natalie's sister finds it hard to find a man because she's too intelligent. At last she falls for a guy who appreciates her mind. She sleeps with him, expecting him to marry her. Then she finds out from his mistress that he's already married and has children. In an emotional frenzy, she drives wildly to what must be the bad side of town, gets out of the car, wanders around, and is gang raped. This is so outrageously out of keeping from the lighthearted tone of the rest of the film that it's truly jaw dropping.

Not a good film, although it would be a inoffensive trifle without the third plot line. Who thought this was a good idea?

 

[Danny McG]

THE BLACK PANTHER - 1977 --Obscure thriller about a methodical criminal (reacting with murderous rage when things go wrong) who kidnaps an heiress and locks her in the depths of a drainage pipe. Quite riveting thanks to the lead performance by an actor (Donald Sumpter) who I only recall from a bit part in a Hammer film. Based on a true story so it says

I have faint memories of the real life case - I think the victim was called Leslie Wittle
Edit:- I've googled and she was actually Lesley Whittle

 

[Judderman]

Hillbilly Elegy (2020) - Great true story drama. Focuses on family crises and a man trying to break the circle. Great cast.

The Passenger (2023). Decent thriller. A little slow but has a drama element.

 

[JunkMonkey]

*Gasps in shock*
I loved the book, and the other Hannay gripping yarns!

I think I nearly threw it across the room when the bad guys locked our mining engineer hero in a cellar that just happened to have a cupboard full of blasting equipment in it - like Highland country houses often do. I mean, what are the chances?

And the coincidence after coincidence, after coincidence, after coincidence plot that made the average Tintin book look unforced...

Sorry, one of those time when the film (the Hitchcock version at least) was a vast improvement on the book.

 

[KGeo777]

I have faint memories of the real life case - I think the victim was called Leslie Wittle
Edit:- I've googled and she was actually Lesley Whittle

It helps not to know the case before you watch it, makes it more suspenseful. I didn't know the outcome beforehand.
The kidnapper robs post offices and sprays himself with home-made mace by accident which just causes him to get violently enraged.
But he gets weepy when watching melodrama on the telly.

 

[Jeffbert]

The Godfather (1972) I, being halfway through my 7th decade, finally watched this film. April is Marlin Brando month on TCM, & his films are shown Wednesdays starting at 8PM.

So, as though anyone other than myself, had not seen this already, Sicilian Mobsters are divided by families, & apparently, there are 5, count 'em, five families in the story. The days of Tommy guns are over, & the mob uses different tactics, though on certain occasions, resorts to the old ways. Shortly after WWII, the Corleone family is making people offers they can't refuse. Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) is one of those making such offers.

One of the 5 families wants to begin a narcotics business. Wants VC to help with judges, law, etc., but VC wants nothing to do with the drug business.

Things happen, & young Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) becomes the head of the family. He wants to do things differently. He does not like the idea that conflicts between families are just business, especially when members of his family are targets.

Interesting film, I wonder why I waited till now to see it.

9/10

 

[paeng]

The first Dune. I didn't focus on the visual appeal because it's mostly vfx, so I looked at the content. It's ordinary in terms of plot and characterization, but drags in the third act.

I think it would have been better off if they made it a TV mini-series instead, so that they could provide more context and allow viewers to digest material piecemeal.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The Body Stealers (1969)

Dreary little science fiction film. NATO skydivers vanish from midair after flashing red and white lights surround them. Our skirt-chasing hero investigates, immediately hitting on our film's beautiful lady scientist. Meanwhile, he meets a mysterious woman on the beach at night and immediately hits on her. She wears a different minidress every time she shows up and can't be captured on film.

After an hour or so of this, we find out what is obvious from the start. Very human aliens are capturing the skydivers to repopulate their planet. Bad guy alien takes over the body of a scientist and threatens our hero, but mysterious woman/good girl alien saves him. They agree to release the skydivers, who are in suspended animation, while Earth will send volunteers to do the repopulating.

Very silly stuff, with a spaceship borrowed from Doctor Who and the presence of George Sanders, Maurice Evans, and Sean Connery's brother.