What was the last movie you saw?

The Most Dangerous Game (1932), dir. Irving Pichel, Ernest B. Shoedsack; starring Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Leslie Banks

Based on the story of the same title by Richard Connell -- often anthologized, and recently in The Big Book of Reel Murders ed. by Otto Penzler. I remember reading the story in grade school and really enjoying the adventure of it, then finally finding the film on TV one night. That was many, many years ago. It was enjoyable to find it holds up. McCrea, even without his horse and six-shooter, was a steady, heroic sort, Wray gets to scream and faint a bit, and Banks is one of the more likably dislikable villains in '30s cinema.


Us (2019) dir. Jordan Peele; starring Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elizabeth Moss

Look sharp in the early minutes and you'll see a video cover for C.H.U.D. and I think there's a nod to a zombie film, too, both hinting at where this goes, but not at all at how creepy this story of doppelgangers is. It takes on some of the look and feel of a zombie movie, but there's a somewhat apocalyptic feel that most zombie movies I've seen point at but don't really get you to feel, probably because this is acute psychologically in ways most horror movies are not. A final panning scene is extremely effective.


Randy M.
 
This moment, I'm watching 'Goodbye Mr. Chips, 1969,' again... What a wonderful movie.


K2
 
Bound (1996) dir. the Wachowski bothers (actually sisters); starring Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, Christopher Meloni

At the time of release, it was best known for a steamy scene between Gershon and Tilly, then both pretty much at their peak of popularity, but that sells this movie short. It's a '90s neo-noir, and if you squint a little it resembles a variation on Double Indemnity.

Corky (Gershon), fresh out of prison, is trying to go straight doing odd-jobs. While on the job painting an apartment, she meets Violet (Tilly) and her husband, Ceasar (Pantoliano) who live in the next apartment; there's an immediate attraction between the women. Violet creates situations where her and Corky interact and soon Corky learns of Ceasar's mob connection. After the steamy scene it becomes apparent the two woman want out of their respective situations, and Violet outlines an opportunity to get a suitcase full of money from Ceasar. Naturally, nothing goes exactly as planned and the movie successfully builds suspense first whether the duo can improvise successfully, and second from whether one will betray the other.

This is an entertaining, well-directed and acted thriller. It reminded me why I liked Pantoliano so much back in the '90s and why he was in so many movies, and Gershon and Tilly are great together. It also makes you wonder how Meloni was tagged for Eliot Stabler in Law & Order: SVU, but easy to see him fit in Happy.
 
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Knives Out (2019), an Agatha Christie-ish detective story. Very entertaining and good acting, except for Daniel Craig, he seems rather uncomfortable as if not quite sure what to make of the role. Someone more charming and humours would have done a better job.
 
Two that Victoria just reviewed that end explosively --- The Sorcerers 1967 - a lot of twangy 60s fuzz tones in this one, and one long burst of wildly-oscillating freakout sound FX, when Karloff and his wife mindwipe the groovy young guy from the club. After that they can control him with mere psionic energy, no tech needed and it all goes crazy from there - recommended, and; -- A Prize of Arms 1962- these guys just brazen their way through a robbery of a miltary base for goshsakes, it isn't easy. Flamethrower, yes, and quite a few tense moments, black and white, good cast, good action.
 
I saw two movies yesterday. Knives Out, brilliant entertainment with Daniel Craig. 9/10. The other film was Frozen 2, a warm hearted, comfortable film for kids and adults alike. 9/10.
 
Yesterday (2019) A charming comedy by Richard Curtis about a very unsuccessful musician who wakes up after a strange accident to discover that the Beatles never existed and that he is the only one who knows their music. What is basically an interesting wish-fulfilment fantasy really succeeds because it remains grounded in the humanity of the main character, who is genuinely nice guy full of uncertainty, a sharp script, and some very dry situational humour, including a clever appearance by Ed Sheeran.

Did I dream all of that? :ROFLMAO: Sounds like the work of space aliens. The poor guy must have really been freaking-out. I had a dream/nightmare that I had resumed smoking. Upon awakening, I began looking for my cigarettes.

Noir Alley:
The Mask of Dimetrios (1944) this pairs Peter Lorre & Sydney Greenstreet for about the 4th or 5th time since The Maltese Falcon. Dimetrios is a low-life scoundrel who screwed everyone who ever had anything to do with him. Cornelius Leyden (Lorre) by chance meets Colonel Haki (Kurt Katch) who tells him the basis of the story, stating that the body had just washed ashore; and being intrigued, Lorre asks to view the corpse. Now, Lorre is following the trail left by Dimitrios, just for the hell of it. In the hall of records, Lorre 1st encounters Mr. Peters (Greenstreet), but no formal intro yet. Story is mostly told in flashbacks, as Lorre, a writer of detective stories, goes around interviewing people who had dealings with Dimetrios. Great cast!

Greenstreet further piques Lorre's interest, by adding the incentive of 1M Francs; he is certain Dimetrios is alive, & intends to blackmail him. This is in the days prior to photo IDs, so, Dimetrios kills another man, puts his own suit, complete with his name sewn into the lining on the corpse, and tosses it into the sea. Corpse is ID-ed as Dimetrios, etc.
 
6 Underground. A reasonable attempt at a comedy action film by Netflix. Ryan Reynolds does a good job carrying some mediocre direction and poor editing. If they had eliminated the needless dark brooding shots and overly graphic slow-motion clips this could have been an excellent film. As it is it's a ho-hum start to what is obviously an attempt to kickstart a franchise. If it's on and you can't reach the remote it's worth leaving on. If you can reach the remote or have children that can switch to something else.
 
Won't You Be My Neighbor (presently in theaters 2019), is a motion picture based on an event in the life of Fred Rogers, the host of probably the most non-commercial kid's program ever aired on American television. --- I am too old to have watched when a child, but unlike every other children's program I've ever seen, I just keep gaining more and more respect for the pace, the message, and the genuineness of that show. This movie shows the man behind the neighborhood wonderfully well. It is certainly one of the best movies I've ever seen. I can't recommend this highly enough. If you've lost your hope in humanity this is a good antidote.
 
Rogue One was on the TV last night.

I thought it was a very good Star Wars movie, although it did pander to the OT fan boy in me.

Good cast, good soundtrack.
 
The Honeymoon Killers (1970)

Loosely based on a series of murders in the 1940's. A heavyset, dour nurse joins a lonely hearts correspondence club, gets letters from a Spanish-born con artist. He works his usual scam -- claims to love her, leaves with her cash -- but she gets him back through a feigned suicide attempt. This leads to a real love affair between the two, in which she helps him in his scams by posing as his sister. The big problem is that she gets insanely jealous if he actually makes love to his victims. The scams eventually lead to murder, and a downbeat ending. Filmed in black-and-white on a tiny budget, the film manages to create a gripping sense of documentary realism and a convincing portrait of the banality of evil.
 
Four in the Morning (1965)

British drama interweaving three unrelated stories. The body of a young woman is found in the Thames. A husband comes home to his wife and baby after a night of carousing with his buddy, leading to a serious argument. A woman and a man have an inconclusive, ultimately unsatisfying romance, part of which involves a wild ride on a stolen motorboat. There is no apparent connection among these depressing little vignettes. Nicely filmed and acted, but definitely not a fun movie.
 
Won't You Be My Neighbor (presently in theaters 2019), is a motion picture based on an event in the life of Fred Rogers, the host of probably the most non-commercial kid's program ever aired on American television. --- I am too old to have watched when a child, but unlike every other children's program I've ever seen, I just keep gaining more and more respect for the pace, the message, and the genuineness of that show. This movie shows the man behind the neighborhood wonderfully well. It is certainly one of the best movies I've ever seen. I can't recommend this highly enough. If you've lost your hope in humanity this is a good antidote.

Saw this a few months ago, an excellent documentary about Fred Rogers. From all accounts he was genuinely the genial, caring man who appeared on Mr. Rogers' Neighorhood.

Randy M.
 
Saw this a few months ago, an excellent documentary about Fred Rogers. From all accounts he was genuinely the genial, caring man who appeared on Mr. Rogers' Neighorhood.

Randy M.

This is likely not the same thing. There was a documentary by the same name which came out in 2018, but this is a most definitely a theater presentation based on one event in his life which clearly took a little poetical license here and there.
 
This is likely not the same thing. There was a documentary by the same name which came out in 2018, but this is a most definitely a theater presentation based on one event in his life which clearly took a little poetical license here and there.

Oops. Looking it up on IMDB, the documentary popped up. All the same, I recommend the documentary as an excellent portrayal of a man whose characterization comes across too often as saccharine and goody-goody. The documentary shows him as a decent, grounded man, aware of the politics of his day but sure that there was an essential decency he could tap into in all children, and maybe most adults.

Randy M.
 
Oops. Looking it up on IMDB, the documentary popped up. All the same, I recommend the documentary as an excellent portrayal of a man whose characterization comes across too often as saccharine and goody-goody. The documentary shows him as a decent, grounded man, aware of the politics of his day but sure that there was an essential decency he could tap into in all children, and maybe most adults.

Randy M.

This essential decency he thought he could tap into for most adults is exactly where the movie I watched dwelt. In short it is a story of a hard boiled investigative reporter who gets the assignment, which he detests, to profile Mr. Rogers for a series on present day heroes. The resulting article and relationship that grew up between the two of them is the center feature of the theater presentation.
 
British Suspense Films of the Early 1960's Double Feature:

Tomorrow at Ten (1963)

Robert Shaw is the villain in this tense tale of a kidnapping. He places the young son of a rich guy in a secret location, along with a doll that has a time bomb in it, set to go off at the time in the title. Then, in an amazingly brazen move, he shows up at the rich guy's mansion and tells him what he's done. He demands a pile of money, and when he's flown to Brazil that afternoon, he'll reveal where the kid is. The kid's nanny calls the police, but that doesn't bother the kidnapper; he gets what he wants, or the kid dies. A major plot twist more than halfway through the film ratchets up the suspense.

The rich guy lashes out at the kidnapper, sending him crashing to the floor and putting him in a coma. He dies without revealing where the kid is, leading to a frantic chase to find him.

Blind Corner AKA Man in the Dark (1964)

William Sylvester, of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame, stars as a wealthy blind composer. We find out right away that his wife, Barbara Shelley of Hammer Horror fame, is having an affair. Sylvester finds out pretty quickly, too. Shelley knows that she'll be left without a penny if she leaves him, so convinces her lover to murder him. It all leads up to a final confrontation among the characters and some twists in the plot. The movie slows down to a crawl with two hilariously awful pre-Beatles pop songs performed by some crooner, revealing that there's really only enough plot for an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, but it's enjoyable despite that flaw.
 
Get Mean (1975) - A strange, but entertaining western. I discovered this flick the other day.

I'll put it this way....I liked it better than the 1970 film, El Topo (which gave me a headache). I like it as much as Greaser's Palace (1972). It's not a movie you'd watch often, but it's weird enough to enjoy, once in a while. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's something completely different.

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Helen Mirren Gets In Trouble For Having Sex Double Feature:

Miss Julie (1972)

Mirren has the title role in this filmed stage production of August Strindberg's play (written 1888; first performed 1906) which is considered a classic of "naturalism" and which has been performed on stage and adapted into film for more than a century. (Yes, there was a silent film version as long ago as 1912.) This version records a production by the Royal Shakespeare Company. There are only three speaking parts, but several actors perform a wordless scene relating to what happens offstage. The plot boils down to the aristocrat Miss Julie flirting outrageously with a handsome valet, the two winding up in bed (offstage), and the tragic consequences of an affair that crosses class lines. There's also an antifeminist theme, as Miss Julie was messed up badly by her mother, who wanted women to be equal to men. As you'd expect, excellently acted.

Hussy (1980)

Mirren is a hostess/prostitute at a London cabaret. She begins a romance with the guy who runs the lights at the place. Complicating matters is the fact that she has a ten-year-old in the custody of her ex-husband. The two move in together, although she continues her line of work. (We even see her go off for the weekend with a woman who purchases her services.) Things get out of control when the guy gets involved in a heist scheme with an old acquaintance, and Mirren's ex-lover, a violent criminal, shows up. The whole thing is an odd combination of love story, unromantic portrait of prostitution, musical (we get several lousy songs performed at the cabaret), very soft porn, domestic drama, and crime story.
 
Posse From Hell (1961) Stars three of my favorite actors, JOHN SAXON, VIC MORROW and LEE VAN CLEEF. Excellent western that has intense moments and great drama. An above average flick.


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