What was the last movie you saw?

[Jeffbert]

Good-bye, My Lady (1956) boy finds an apparent stray dog, adopts it, then learns that its owner has been seeking it. Now, he must either defend his claim, or return it. Sad.

Jesse Jackson (Walter Brennan) is the grandfatherly adopter of the orphaned boy, Claude "Skeeter" Jackson (Brandon deWilde).

Much too slow for my liking! 7/10

Supporting cast: Gates Watson (Sidney Poitier).

 

[Foxbat]

Death Billiards (2013) Japanese with English subtitles.
This is a short anime with a fairly standard plot. I think it tries a little too hard to be deep and meaningful and even what little exposition there was was probably too much.

That's all the negative stuff out of the way so now for the positives. The artwork, animation and direction were superb. I have no real idea but I would imagine it is quite difficult to draw internal scenes with moody and realisitic internal lighting. This doesn't seem to be a problem here. I haven't watched a lot of anime but, visually, I thought this was one of the best I've seen. It had a nice, open ending that leaves the viewer pondering the final outcome.

An experienced viewer of anime might feel differently but I enjoyed this one a lot, despite the ho-hum plot.

Apparently it spawned a series called Death Parade. Maybe I'll check it out.

Edit: Just ordered Death Parade

 

[Randy M.]

Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) dir. Charles Barton, w/assist from Walter Lantz (animator, probably best known for Woody Woodpecker); starring Abbott & Costello (of course), Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Glen Strange, Jane Randolph

Chick & Wilber (A & C) work a mail room to which comes a delivery of two boxes for the local wax/horror museum, one containing Dracula (Lugosi), one containing Frankenstein's monster, both being followed by Larry Talbot (Chaney Jr.). Much is made of swapping out the current criminal brain in the monster for a meeker, controllable brain, namely Wilber.

The usual A & C shtick, combined with some respect for what came before in the Dracula, Frankenstein, wolfman series. Maybe not as funny as when I was eight years old, but still watchable, with a pleasant surprise at the end.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Pretty terrible. The special effects are good, but the depiction of women isn't great, and just some unnecessary things included...I guess for laughs? I think we'll still continue on in the franchise to see if it gets better. I think the best thing about this movie was the song by Linkin Park.

 

[Jeffbert]

Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) dir. Charles Barton, w/assist from Walter Lantz (animator, probably best known for Woody Woodpecker); starring Abbott & Costello (of course), Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Glen Strange, Jane Randolph

Chick & Wilber (A & C) work a mail room to which comes a delivery of two boxes for the local wax/horror museum, one containing Dracula (Lugosi), one containing Frankenstein's monster, both being followed by Larry Talbot (Chaney Jr.). Much is made of swapping out the current criminal brain in the monster for a meeker, controllable brain, namely Wilber.

The usual A & C shtick, combined with some respect for what came before in the Dracula, Frankenstein, wolfman series. Maybe not as funny as when I was eight years old, but still watchable, with a pleasant surprise at the end.

Should have been titled --A&C Meet Dracula, because Dr. Frankenstein was nowhere to be seen. Dr. F had not bothered to give his creation the dignity of a name.

Anyway, probably my favorite A&C Meet film.


They Met in Bombay (1941) Two, count 'em, 2 con artists are after the Jewel of Asia, which the Duchess of Beltravers (Jessie Ralph), wears.
Gerald Meldrick (Clark Gable) goes about as a detective working for Lloyds of London, while 'Baroness' Anya von Duren (Rosalind Russell), intends to get herself invited to the Duchess' dinner table by feigning that her (imaginary) friends never arrived, and appealing to the Duchess' empathy. Both succeed in their schemes, Meldrick's involved having him deliver a fake Jewel of Asia to the hotel's vault, while escaping with the real one.

Supporting cast/characters:

Captain Chang (Peter Lorre in yellowface) aboard a Chinese cargo ship that takes the two fugitives as passengers, & Hotel Manager Giovanni Riccio (Eduardo Ciannelli; what!? he is not a villain?), among others.

A wild ride & very entertaining! 8/10

 

[JunkMonkey]

The Lobster - our hero is sent to a hotel where he has 45 days to fall in love with another person in the hotel before he gets turned into the animal of his choice. In his case, a lobster. Everyone in the hotel has obvious problems making relationships. The film is very odd, very disquieting (especially as the parent of autistic children). Writen and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos who directed the recent adaptation of Poor Things.

 

[KGeo777]

TEN LITTLE INDIANS - 1974 --I like this version set in an Iranian hotel in the desert.

 

[HareBrain]

TEN LITTLE INDIANS - 1974 --I like this version set in an Iranian hotel in the desert.

Sudden forty-year-old flashback of Charles Aznavour walking across the sand.

 

[KGeo777]

Ha

The opening credits mention Teresa Gimpera and I never noticed it before. There is an alternate version with two people seeking the ten indian statues in Iran.

But I had seen her mentioned recently in a movie FATA/MORGANA -1966. Got curious. Shouldn't have been. Too weird for me.

 

[Jeffbert]

Tension at Table Rock (1956) Western; Wes Tancred (Richard Egan? not familiar withy this guy) kills a man in self defense, but suffers from a lie saying he had murdered him. So, he takes a new name, & ends up in a town threatened by unruly cowboys as they bring their herd to market. The town's Sheriff Fred Miller (Cameron Mitchell), is a man tormented by his past, when he was beaten to an inch of his life. He lacks confidence, and is timid when confronted by dozens of rowdy cowboys. Their leader Hampton (John Dehner) demands that while allowing them into the saloon, that none become drunk. Miller's wife, Lorna (Dorothy Malone), is attracted to Tancred, once she knows that he killed her nephew's father's murderers. The boy, Jody Burrows (Billy Chapin) admires Tancred, who does not want his admiration.

Spoiler

One day, one of the cowboys murders a man whose fences they had torn down when bringing the herd North, while another cowboy places a pistol in the slain farmer's hand, claiming the had drawn on his friend. So the offending cowboy is arrested, & the evil town boss Kirk (Edward Andrews; The Twilight Zone x 2: "Third From the Sun" and "You Drive") hires a quick draw guy Jim Breck (DeForest Kelley), to deal with anyone resisting them taking their man out of jail. It turns out, that Breck & Tancred are friends, but they must draw on each other anyway.

So glad I saw this film, as I had only seen Kelly in 1 other Western!

8/10

 

[Jeffbert]

All the King's Men (1949) Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford) is a well-meaning guy who wants to become governor to rid the state of corruption. Yet, once in power, he becomes corrupted.

This was one of TCM's 100 politically important films, etc. shown on Fridays.

My 1st time seeing it; intense, and sad.

8/10

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Two "documentaries" from director Werner Herzog.

Fata Morgana (1971) -- Random images of the Sahara (and, I guess, other places) combined with weird voiceover narration of a mystical nature.

Lessons of Darkness (1992) -- Random images of the aftermath of the war in Kuwait. Lots of truly gigantic towers of flame and smoke. Minimal narration.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)

Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre star in this farce. It starts with “wacky” music over the opening credits, so you know what you’re in for. The plot involves lovable mad scientist Karloff’s scheme to create supermen to win the war by putting traveling salesmen into an electrical gizmo. Lorre, as the town’s mayor/doctor/notary/etc. joins in on a scheme. Lots of nutty characters show up, including an escaped Italian prisoner of war intent on blowing up the local armory. The inclusion of World War Two themes is unusual, but otherwise it’s pure madcap screwball comedy. Karloff and Lorre work nicely as a comedy team. (Every film in which they both appeared is a comedy.)

 

[Randy M.]

Tension at Table Rock (1956) Western; Wes Tancred (Richard Egan? not familiar withy this guy)

I remember him from TV appearances later in his career. I take it in the '50s he was on the cusp of becoming a major leading man but could never find the vehicle that would push him over the top -- Love Me Tender was supposed to, but since it featured the debut of Elvis Presley, Egan got lost in the background.

Anyway, I recall as a kid thinking if they ever cast a movie for Marvel comics, he'd make a good Nick Fury.

 

[Jeffbert]

The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)

Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre star in this farce. It starts with “wacky” music over the opening credits, so you know what you’re in for. The plot involves lovable mad scientist Karloff’s scheme to create supermen to win the war by putting traveling salesmen into an electrical gizmo. Lorre, as the town’s mayor/doctor/notary/etc. joins in on a scheme. Lots of nutty characters show up, including an escaped Italian prisoner of war intent on blowing up the local armory. The inclusion of World War Two themes is unusual, but otherwise it’s pure madcap screwball comedy. Karloff and Lorre work nicely as a comedy team. (Every film in which they both appeared is a comedy.)

I believe Lorre's offices included dog-catcher.

 

[KGeo777]

GOLD - 1975 - Roger Moore in a gold mine.

A FINE PAIR - 1968 - First time I saw this I had not watched McMillan & Wife but having seen that show this was likely an inspiration since it has Rock Hudson as a police official who meets the eccentric daughter (Claudia Cardinale) of a police colleague. Though in this case she is a jewel thief. There is also a housekeeper (Ellen Corby) named Mrs. Walker. Nancy Walker was Mildred in the series.

 

[Dave]

GOLD - 1975 - Roger Moore in a gold mine.

Was he digging a vein in the Earth or was the film itself a rich, plentiful source of wealth?

 

[KGeo777]

Was he digging a vein in the Earth or was the film itself a rich, plentiful source of wealth?

Digging a vein in the Earth. It was ok--I wouldn't call the film a work of gold but it had some suspenseful scenes with the mine shaft filling with water.

 

[Toby Frost]

Tank Girl (1995)

Famously hated and disowned by the creators of the comic book, but actually not that terrible if you accept it for what it is. This has that odd mixture of lavishness (some cool vehicle designs and animated sequences, Stan Winston designing the kangaroo-people) and cheapness (small number of actors, visible stunt wires) that you see in some 1990s SF. Overall, it looks pretty good but is too chaotic to work that well as a film.

To be honest, the original comic strip was probably unfilmable and a more faithful interpretation would make almost no sense. Lori Petty is irritating in the lead role, but no more so than, say, Deadpool or Starlord. It's that sort of role. Tank Girl is also something of a period piece, with some pretty on-the-nose feminist subtext and a soundtrack featuring bands from the very 90s "riot grrl" movement. Sadly, in some ways it feels more rebellious than a lot of modern films. I expect a modern remake would be pretty bland or would miss the point entirely.

 

[KGeo777]

THE PRIZE OF PERIL - 1982 - Contestants are selected to compete in a tv show where they must run from 5 hunters and if they survive, win $2 million. The same idea as the Running Man but with a higher budget French film and more satisfying execution--so to speak. There is a smarmy host just like Richard Dawson but they get rid of the rebel plot and bland wrestler-style hunters (the killers are also contestants who come from everyday jobs and just want to kill someone for money or personal psycho reasons). They make it more exciting by having the runner go through an actual city where he interacts with the populace (some friendly, others seeking to help him get killed --when he tries to hitch a ride on a subway, the smirking passenger who is on the other side of the closed doors says "you have to learn to get by on your own when you are a tv star". There are also some Robocop-style tv commercials. The ending fits better than the Arnie version.