What was the last movie you saw?

[Al Jackson]

Godzilla: King of the Monsters…..
I loved the first Godzilla film , back around 1956, the American-ized one, tho years later I saw the Japanese version Gojira which is 100 times better and serious film about Japan's horror with WWII. It is interesting that Godzilla film was associated with the atomic bomb while Gojira did that too but emphasized the fire bombing of Tokyo which was bigger horror for the Japanese.
Like King Kong Godzilla became a Family Friendly Monster , I hate this!
When I saw the 1933 King Kong in 1952 when I was 12 years old it scarred the peediddly out of me, that was so delicious!
Now days Godzilla is everybody's sweetheart , screw that!
This new movie is a dump down from the 2014 Gareth Edwards Godzilla which was a cut above the Roland Emmerich 1998 , tho the Edwards one was not at all terrifying.
The main problem with this new Godzilla movie is the story is a chaotic mess.
The next one which teams Godzilla with another monster that has turned into a protagonist should be done by someone with imagination like del Toro.

 

[William Delman]

I finally managed to watch Captain Marvel. I was glad to see they did right by the character (one of my favorites), even if her evolution felt rushed.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Just got back from the latest Godzilla film. I thoroughly enjoyed it; it was spectacular although felt a lot - lot - longer than its run time.

One thing I just wish Hollywood would stop doing is forcing a family-interest side story into these kind of blockbusters. I'm pretty sure when we go to see these monster flicks, we're not going because we want to find out if the family can repair their broken relationships/juggle their divorce with xy or z/learn from their kid/discover love etc. The only film to ever do that well has been 2010's exceptional Monsters by Gareth Edwards, which was a sociopolitical drama anyway, with a backdrop of monsters.

Nice to see Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe and Millie Bobby Brown, too.

pH

 

[Cathbad]

Se7en (1995)

Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Remey, Kevin Spacey

With a line-up like that, it's a sure thing, right?

I watched this back in, probably 1996. I couldn't remember why I didn't like it. Now I know - it was pace. Everything about the pace was off: Busy where it should be mellow, slow where it should be quick. A chase scene with Pitt chasing the bad guy might as well have been in slow motion, with all the stops Pitt made. Info was put in that, if this were a series it would have been warranted, but totally unnecessary for a 2 hour movie.

Its Saving Grace was the most amazing ending I've ever seen in a crime thriller. Totally unexpected, finely acted. That scene alone would take this one from a 5 to a 7 out of ten.

 

[Jeffbert]

Cheap Horror Movies Cobbled Together From Bits and Pieces of Other Things Double Feature:

Blood Bath (1966)

Started off as a Yugoslavian crime movie, got re-edited into the American version, had a lot of footage chopped out and new footage added in to make it a scare flick about an insane painter, had more new footage added to throw in a vampire theme, then had even more footage thrown in to pad the running time for TV. The version I saw is the vampire one, without the added television stuff, so it only runs an hour. Crazy artist kills his models and covers them with wax. Every once in a while he turns into a vampire, played by a different actor. Should be a completely incoherent mess, and at times it is, but it also has some moody, eerie scenes. There's also some amusing satire of modern art. (One guy creates "quantum painting" by shooting paint from a gun on a canvas.) One fantasy sequence, when the artist imagines himself the reincarnation of an ancestor, is surrealistic enough for a Dali painting. Ends with a bizarre, out-of-left-field climax:

Spoiler

The wax-covered corpses come back to life and dump the madman in his own vat of boiling wax. It's a weird and spooky scene.

Overall, much better than it should be.

This, after Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), with Lionel Atwill it & this sounds like Bucket of Blood (1959) with a twist. No surprise that Roger Corman was involved!

Marlowe (1969) James Garner as the title character, & Bruce Lee as the henchman who fights him. Too many things going on, for poor ol' Private Detective Marlowe to tie them all together in time to save the victims. Too many demands by Lee and others to cease his investigations and be content, with the $1k that Lee's character Wong offered in such dissuasion. I found it also had me wondering who was the villain, and why. Lee kinked out the ceiling light in JG's office. Talk about limber!

Dead Reckoning (1947) Capt. "Rip" Murdock (Humphrey Bogart) is travelling to Washington DC with Sgt. Johnny Drake (William Prince) to have the latter awarded the Medal of Honor. But when the latter realizes his face will be in newspapers and newsreels all over, he slips away. HB, does not know why, and is eager to learn. It turns out that the Sergeant had used an assumed name when he joined the armed forces, because he was wanted for murder in his hometown.

Another fine Noir Alley presentation, Muller supplying interesting details both before after the film.

supporting characters includes Coral "Dusty/Mike" Chandler (Lizabeth Scott); Martinelli (Morris Carnovsky); and Lt. Kincaid (Charles Cane; no hyperlink for this guy).

 

[Al Jackson]

Last night I dialed up The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot on Amazon because I had read it was not a silly movie.
The main plot is actually a serious fantasy, tho, I cannot figure from
the details why someone put up the money to make it except that Sam Elliott plays the title role.
There is a straight forward telling of the Hitler story with a goofy explanation as to what happened.
Similarly for Big Foot the motivation for that story seemed tortured.
I is kind of an alternate universe Mash Up story as a character study , which is sort of ok, but in the end I have no idea why this film was made.

 

[Rodders]

I started watching a Chinese SF movies called The Wandering Earth, but I stopped after a while as it was pretty action oriented and I couldn’t suspend belief enough to continue.

Too many action sequences made it feel like an American movies, which wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I was hoping for some really good SF.

 

[Jeffbert]

Illegal (1955) 2nd remake of The Mouthpiece (1932), complete with plot elements such as the lawyer helping himself to a generous fee for recovering stolen money for his client's employer, stolen by the client (There is a word for it, but it eludes me). Edward G. Robinson is Victor Scott, the DA who convicts the future Bones McCoy's (DeForest Kelley) character Edward Clary of murder, and thus sends him to the chair. Mere moments before the execution, he receives notice of a death bed confession of the real killer, but upon calling the death house, he hears the hum of the electric chair. He is devastated, and resigns, and becomes a defense attorney. The future Chief of Control (Edward Platt) takes the job as DA.

The future Grandma Walton (Ellen Corby) as EGR's secretary. Angel O'Hara (Jayne Mansfield) answers the telephone in the crime lord's office, and is a surprise witness in the last case.

The film compares favorably with the original; and as much as I like EGR, The Mouthpiece (1932)'s Warren William plays it lightheartedly, which I enjoy a bit more.

I expect this was already or will be a future presentation of NOIR ALLEY, but, sadly, this time it was not.


Watch on the Rhine (1943) Kurt Muller (Paul Lukas) is a resistance fighter who has just moved from Europe to America. When he learns that his former friends had been captured by the Gestapo, he decides he must go to their aide. But, living as a guest in the same mansion, is Teck de Brancovis (George Coulouris), who associates with the Nazis in the German Embassy, and whose gambling debts along with his character, have him demand a hefty sum of money from Muller. De Brancovis had already forced the lock on Muller's attache case, and discovered $20,000 in it. He now demands half as the price of his silence. Bad move! Muller's wife Sara (Bette Davis) is fully supportive of his intentions, and her two sons are expected to carry-on after him.

Spoiler

Not yielding to De Brancovis' demand, Muller forces him outside and kills him. He leaves for Europe, and that is the last hw hear from him, as the Hayes code demanded his presumed death.

I could hardly endure the 1st 30 to 45 minutes of this film, because the hostess / owner, Fanny (Lucile Watson) of the estate was constantly running her mouth, minding everyone's business but her own. I had to leave the 2nd half for later, as this was simply annoying to me.

 

[alloycircus]

Tolkien.

 

[Anthoney]

I am Mother on Netflix. It wasn't spectacular but it was enjoyable. While it was mostly predictable they still managed a surprise or two.

 

[Al Jackson]

I remember in 1985 my father said to me "you have got to see this movie", he popped in a VHS copy of Stranger Than Paradise.
Jim Jarmusch's first feather film, I loved it! However I was surprised by dad liked it , an absurdist comedy with a totally screwball ending and a music track by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. I liked the held fade to black 'fades'! I love the scene when they go to Cleveland and go visit Lake Erie to see 'sights', in the dead of winter, that is understated deadpan Monty Python!

 

[Cathbad]

The Babysitter's Club (1995)

Yep, that's what I just watched!

I'm not sure why this one called to me, but I'm glad I watched it.

A wonderful mix of childish, growing up and adult themes, this movie takes us through one summer with a group of young teens trying to make a buck over the school holiday.

Wonderfully acted. Child actors usually tend to over-act, but whoever directed these kids did an excellent job getting great performances out of them! Oh, it had its tropes - the cranky neighbor threatening to spoil their summer - but comes around to their side in the end being the best one, though.

If your looking for a fun movie, or just want to relive some of the troubles, disappointments, mistakes and fun of your teen years, I wholeheartedly recommend this movie!

 

[Rodders]

Apollo 11 documentary movie.

Very good. Totally recommended. Awesome footage that really shows off the moon landings beautifully. Great soundtrack too.

 

[Daysman]

Dark Phoenix

Attended despite poor reviews, scores, ratings and impending financial doom, mostly because I get very bored in Godzilla movies.

It's an okay diversion, like a very expensive DC television episode.

Distracted by my phone, which had been disabled during the performance, I sat through the credits. Wow! Sooo many people... but then the production was really good!

And that's about it.

Very likely to see men in black international tomorrow, mostly because musical fantasy seriously disturbs my sense of reality...

 

[dask]

Putting the Apollo 11 Documentary on my must see list.

 

[Vince W]

Baby Driver. Started out pretty well, then took a turn into boredom, picked up into mildly interesting leading to an ultimately pointless ending. In a word, pish.

 

[Parson]

Dark Phoenix as well. Probably bad reviews are a good thing. Low expectations so they were completely exceeded. I thought that there was more character development than in some of the other X men movies.

 

[Vince W]

Captain Marvel. Could easily been called Captain Mehvel. Two-dimensional characters that were unengaging. I couldn't care about any of them.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Gialli That Wound Up With One Word Titles In English Triple Feature:

Torso (I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale*, 1973)

Two college students making out in a parked car at night are murdered by somebody wearing a ski mask. Our suspects include a guy who relentlessly stalks another co-ed; a creepy guy who sells stuff, including a scarf used by the killer, at a little outdoor shop; an art professor; a handsome doctor; and the uncle of the co-ed being stalked. After the first couple of killings, rich uncle sends niece to his villa on a cliff overlooking a village. Her girlfriends come along to keep her company. Suffice to say that more murders follow. Among the characters listed above, one is the killer, one is the hero, and others become victims. Nicely filmed, with some lovely scenes of Italy. The last half hour or so generates a lot of suspense. Fairly sleazy, with copious female nudity, an outrageously gratuitous lesbian sex scene, and some blood, but not as gruesome as it might have been.

Eyeball (Gatti rossi in un labirinto di vetro**, 1975)

Starts with a woman at an airport in Paris. She asks about her flight going to New York, then buys a ticket to Barcelona instead. Cut to a bus full of tourists from Burlington, Vermont, exploring Barcelona. Among them is a woman whose boss/lover unexpectedly shows up in Barcelona as well. He's also the guy married to the woman we saw in the opening scene. The others in the tour group include a clergyman traveling alone; two young women traveling together who give us, you guessed it, our gratuitous lesbian sex scene; a married couple with their teenage daughter; a guy born in Spain and his American wife; and a guy traveling with his teenage granddaughter. Pretty soon a local young woman is stabbed to death and has her left eye gouged out by the traditional gloved killer. Other murders follow, and it turns out that a similar killing happened in Burlington some time ago. Not much later we find out that the woman from the first scene was found unconscious, with a bloody dagger in her hand, at the time. The husband thinks she's come to Barcelona and is repeating the crime, the Barcelona cops think the husband is the killer and is making up this stuff about his wife, and the truth, of course, turns out to be more complicated. The premise is inherently grisly, but not as graphic as you might think. Holds the interest with lots of twists and turns, and tons of red herrings.

Autopsy (Macchie solari***, 1975)

Our heroine is a medical intern, apparently specializing in forensics. Her thesis is on the differences between genuine suicides and murders disguised as suicides. Right from the start we find out that's she under a lot of stress, as she has visions of the corpses in the autopsy room coming to life. A woman comes to her apartment to borrow an envelope. She figures that the visitor is one of her playboy father's many girlfriends -- she's currently living in the same complex, on the same floor as the father -- , but the woman denies this. Later she turns up as an apparent suicide. Her brother, a former race car driver turned priest, identifies her body and insists that it was really murder. He's not too stable himself, as he goes into violent rages from time to time. The convoluted plot also involves the playboy father's brother; the guy who watches over the apartment complex, and his dog; the intern's boyfriend, with whom she has trouble being intimate, due to her morbid hallucinations; and a woman whose artwork tends towards the macabre. Almost no on-screen violence, but plenty of autopsy room gore and other disturbing images. An offbeat example of the genre.

*"The bodies shows traces of carnal violence," which makes the movie sound trashier than it is.

**"Red cats in a glass maze," a title which almost comes out of nowhere, although one character catches a glimpse of the killer in a red raincoat and describes the sight as something like a red cat. No glass maze, as far as I can tell, but a perfect title for a giallo.

***"Sun spots," which refers to the fact that a rash of suicides is blamed on sunspot activity, which not only makes no sense but has nothing to do with the plot.

 

[Jeffbert]

Nora Prentiss (1947) NOIR ALLEY; A respected physician has a naught affair with the title character. I was a bit bored with the 1st 30 to 45 minutes, when suddenly [dramatic music] the guy fakes his own death, leaves San Francisco with his lover, and assumes a new identity. But, the whole idea came to him suddenly, as he was in his office, writing a good-bye to his wife, and had his life insurance policy on the desk, on it, clearly stated, his name, age, height, & weight. Just as he finishes the letter, a patient stumbles in, hardly able to catch his breath. So, the doc grabs the guy's medical records, and prepares to treat him. But he dies. Now, by chance, on his desk, and side by side, are his own life insurance policy, and the dead guy's medical records. from top to bottom, name, age, weight, & height. All but the names match. Now it is NOIR!

So, the doc, uses the dead guy's corpse to fake his own death in an auto mobile boo-boo, in which the corpse is fitted with doc's wedding ring, etc., soaked with wood alcohol (which a surgeon's office has on hand), driven over a cliff, etc. Doc & NC move to NYC, but he keeps his faked death to himself.

5 stars out of five for the last half of this film! The only name I recognized is NC's Ann Sheridan; I never heard of any others.