What was the last movie you saw?

[Toby Frost]

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

A slightly odd but rather underrated animated film from a period where Disney was experimenting with new ideas and techniques. It's not a musical (good!) and doesn't riff on a fairy story (also good!), but instead tells the story of a group of steampunk explorers travelling under the sea to Atlantis. Perhaps predictably, the question of whether to help Atlantis or conquer/loot it arises. While the film doesn't seem to be trying to make any particular point, it goes in some interesting directions and is more grown up than might be expected. It reminded me of a less impressive but more fun version of Avatar. Worth a look.

 

[Matteo]

Barbarella - my annual watch of what is one of my favourite films of all time. This time with Number One Son who thought it was "all right". This apparently high praise. Chinese tonal shifts have nothing on the subtle differences between my adolescent male son's praising something as being "all right" as opposed to saying something is merely "all right", or even dismissively, disdainfully "all right".

I ****ing LOVE Barbarella.

Obviously a man of good taste

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Well, we haven't got our telly working yet, so we watched Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings on dvd. It hasn't lost any of its power...

 

[Rodders]

I saw Snyder's Rebel Moon last night.

I'll admit that i went in with some negative bias after reading about it here. I've watched and enjoyed Snyder's movies before, despite the criticism. My god, it was so bad.

 

[KGeo777]

THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD - 1973 - One thing I noticed this time around was how anticipation is built for a sequence--such as the Kali sword fight, by taking it slowly. Once Koura has given the statue the sword--it takes a minute at least for the fight to begin. They don't rush it so that the audience can imagine what will happen before it does. It helps build excitement. My favorite of the Sinbad films.

 

[Astro Pen]

Inception 2010 Well I enjoyed that ride!
I would have liked a little less "shoot em up" action and a bit more philosophical perspective, more of the balance he struck in Interstellar.

 

[CupofJoe]

The Flash [2023]
Second time I've tried to watch it. I get about 90 minutes in and then I'm asleep.
I think its' because they can't work out if the character of Barry Allen/The Flash is supposed to be a joke or a Superhero. It switched between the two in tone.
Nice to see the real "Batman"!
Next time I think I'll start about an hour in and see if I can keep away to the end.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania [2023]
An okay film with nothing new to add, except looking pretty.
Everyone hits their marks, says their lines and the story makes as much sense as they ever do.
I've given up trying to keep the timelines/alt realities straight, I just go with the flow.
I know there are issues with the actor playing Kang.
But the character of Kang just did nothing for me.
Thanos was built up over several films [a dozen?] and then revealed. We are just to except that Kang and the hidden empire is there and no-one ever noticed before?
When the thing you like best about a film is the post [post] credit scene [as with Wonder Woman 1984], then you know the film is in trouble.

 

[Jeffbert]

Till the End of Time (1946) Several WWII vets must adjust to civilian life. I watched this several weeks ago; I cannot even recall any details other than William Tabeshaw (Robert Mitchum) was the main character, or whatever. This type of war film is just not my thing. ​

8/10

 

[Jeffbert]

Grand Prix (1966) Pete Aron (James Garner) is a formula 1 driver, but, because of a transmission problem, is blamed for the wreck of his teammate, Scott Stoddard (Brian Bedford), and appears to have ended his driving career. He takes a job as a commentator/sports reporter, but he is wanting to drive again. The stories of his ex-teammate as well as other drivers are mixed into this 3 hour film, which uses actual race footage rather than rear projection or other camera tricks.

Eventually, he signs-on to a Japanese racing team owned by Yojimbo himself, Toshiro Mifune in the role of
Izo Yamura, an industrialist, etc., a rather minor role. Though, I immediately suspected that Paul Frees was his English voice, & this was confirmed.

Several such races as shown, but the 1st one has Aron's car flying off the road, and into the sea. Knowing that these cars were so tight-fitting, that they had to install the steering wheels after the drivers squeezed in, I suspect the driver of this car would surely have drowned. But, what do I know? Besides that, you just do not kill the protagonist after only 10 minutes of a three hour film.

Anyway, other than that one little inconsistency, this was a great, though long film. As racing films go, this one rates 10/10; as dramas, 8 - 9 of 10.

My hobby, 1 of them, anyway, is taking note of product-placement in films. This was the most extreme, as car-oriented ad posters were all over the courses. The raced on the streets, not tracks. Much more interesting than American's oval tracks, etc. Anyway, oils, fuels, etc., and as expected, COCA-COLA and PEPSI-COLA were also seen, but not until near the end. One race had about 5 or 6 COCA-COLA ads along the course, one right after the other, within about 35 seconds.


So, much of the action was filmed from the actual cars, giver the driver's eyes views, among other, including the drivers themselves, etc.

Oh, nearly forgot! They frequently divided the screen, side by side 4 quarters, then 8 pieces, 16, etc. Reminded me of the Wacky Races, which, I assume was inspired by this film.

 

[Peter A]

The Innocents.

It's this slow moving British movie about a nanny who thinks she's seeing ghosts. It was atmospheric, yet on the drab side. It took a while to get going. The ending is very weird, too.

Hopefully The Haunting ain't gonna be as boring, as I plan on viewing that one next.

 

[KGeo777]

I prefer the Legend of Hell House to the Haunting.

INVINCIBLE MASKED RIDER - 1963 - Umberto Lenzi flick that crosses Zorro with Othello and The Masque of the Red Death. Darker than your average swashbuckler. I liked it. The masked figure is so dark that he looks like a silhouette.

 

[pogopossum]

Dolomite Is My Name
Catherine Called Birdy
Past Lives
The Holdovers
We have initiated a Tuesday film series , inviting our friends. The last two were each nominated for this yer's Oscar Best Picture.
All were good (as shown by the reactions and nominations) Dolemite was a hoot. Eddie Murphy paying tribute to actual early Black action films.

 

[Jeffbert]

Objective, Burma! (1945) WWII action in area between India & China.

Captain Nelson (Errol Flynn) is to lead a small group of soldiers through jungle to destroy enemy radar base. Once they do so, returning from the mission is a mission in itself, because the landing strip where they were to be picked-up, is occupied by enemy.

8/10

 

[Jeffbert]

Dolomite Is My Name
Catherine Called Birdy
Past Lives
The Holdovers
We have initiated a Tuesday film series , inviting our friends. The last two were each nominated for this yer's Oscar Best Picture.
All were good (as shown by the reactions and nominations) Dolemite was a hoot. Eddie Murphy paying tribute to actual early Black action films.

I saw Dolemite several months ago; intense!

 

[Danny McG]

I ended up watching The Muppets (it had Alan Arkin* in it) - which, after I got over the fact that there was going to be spontaneous human singing in it, became quite a fun little show

This leads me on nicely to this post I saw online by "Jamie"

 

[Jeffbert]

Fantastic Voyage (1966) So very frustrating! All those sites merely mention that this film was based on a story co-written by Jerome Bixby & Otto Klement, but none actually name that story! I would like to read it! I hope to read Asimov's novelization of FV, but, no hurry.

So, this East European scientist Dr. Jan Benes (Jean Del Val) is the only guy who can solve the 60 minute problem with the miniaturization process, and the West has him, but the East, being sore losers, attempt to assassinate him, because if they cannot have him, nobody else can. So, very conveniently, the West has all the equipment and such, necessary to inject a miniaturized submarine and its crew into an artery that will take them to the blood clot in the guy's brain.

So, they need the surgeons, etc., a guy to pilot the sub, and a security guy, just to make sure none of the others is a spy/saboteur. Charles Grant (Stephen Boyd; only place I think I have seen him!) as the security guy; Dr. Peter Duval (Arthur Kennedy), the brain surgeon; Cora Peterson (Raquel Welch) his very hot assistant; Dr. Michaels (Donald Pleasence; what a name, he turns out to be very unpleasant!); the one trusted physician, who specializes in the circulatory system; and the guy who designed and pilots the sub the Proteus, Captain Bill Owens (William Redfield).

supporting cast included Colonel Donald Reid (The CREST toothpaste guy Arthur O'Connell) serving under General Alan Carter (Edmond O'Brien), & as technician (James Brolin).

As one might expect, several things go wrong, which is what makes the film interesting.

Almost forgot! Moog synthesizer sound effects not only similar to those used in LOST IN SPACE, but the very same ones. These occurred very early in the film.

9/10; with a few very unscientific / pseudoscientific exceptions.

1. The wireless. Ain't gonna work, once miniaturized! it is a matter of wavelengths being VERY different.
2. Where did all that weight go? How does shrinking do away with all that weight?

I wonder if Asimov's novelization addresses such things, & likely several more that did not occur to me. O.K., so they likely had all this figured-out before hand, but it might have made sense to mention them.



One of these day, I will build a LEGO Proteus!

 

[KGeo777]

OPERATION CROSSBOW - 1965 - Nail-biter spy film with all sorts of surprise twists as three agents are sent to get information on German rocket experiments. The sequence where aviator Hannah Reitsch is shown piloting the rocket plane is especially memorable. You have to feel sorry for the engineer from Holland who is given the identity of a dead man and then they learn he is wanted for murder. Jeremy Kemp does make a good partner for George Peppard. It can't be a WW 2 film without Anton Diffring making an appearance too.

 

[dask]

OPERATION CROSSBOW - 1965 - Nail-biter spy film with all sorts of surprise twists as three agents are sent to get information on German rocket experiments. The sequence where aviator Hannah Reitsch is shown piloting the rocket plane is especially memorable. You have to feel sorry for the engineer from Holland who is given the identity of a dead man and then they learn he is wanted for murder. Jeremy Kemp does make a good partner for George Peppard. It can't be a WW 2 film without Anton Diffring making an appearance too.

Library has a copy, just put it on hold.

 

[KGeo777]

THE PINK JUNGLE - 1968 - James Garner is a photographer ("I am an artist-I'm not supposed to be practical") doing a shoot for a lipstick brand in a Latin American country but he and his model (Eva Renzi) get kidnapped by a crazed diamond hunter (George Kennedy) and have a run in with suspicious characters (Michael Ansara, Nigel Green). Silly but harmless.

Kennedy: "An illegal diamond buyer. I told you I was from Joburg, didn't I? Look, you know what a pipe is?"


Garner: 'Sure, it's the word before "dream."'

 

[Foxbat]

Just rewatched Cool Air by Lurker Films. A pretty decent short adaptation of a Lovecraft story.

I have five volumes of HPL short movies plus their version of Call Of The Cthulhu by this outfit and I like them all. They’re low budget but pretty decent quality. They no longer seem to be readily available and that’s a shame because (going by the asking prices I’ve seen) the profiteering cockroaches are crawling out the woodwork. Maybe I’ll sell my collection and buy a new house