What was the last movie you saw?

Aftermath (2017) An interesting drama about how people deal with tragedy in their lives. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in this movie. Pretty good.

The Dark Tower (2017) Excellent and tastefully executed Stephen King adaptation. I have not read the novels (which I have been very curious about for a long time), but I enjoyed the film. I liked the little hints of Mr King's other works that were placed in this flick too. Nice touch.

1585765621306.png


RE-WATCHED

Rambo (2008) I had forgotten why I haven't seen this movie in quite a while, but when I saw the atrocities at the beginning of the movie, it all came back to memory. It's a tough movie to view, but it does have a great payoff at the end.

Tommy Boy (1995) One of my favorite comedies of the 1990's. A fantastic cast with the late/great actor Chris Farley leading the way.

Young Frankenstein (1974) Outstanding cast and wonderful script that still makes me chuckle. One Mel Brooks best.

1585766096271.png
 
Planeta De Las Mujeres Invasores aka Planet of Female Invaders - Mexican 1966 B and W - subtitled:
ohhh yes... the beginning of this is confusing, because.. well, there's this carnival, with a flying saucer ride... but then, some space-vixens come walking up, after the carnival is closed... and they get in the ship and, you guessed it, it takes off. Onboard are some folks, a boxer and some shady characters, a couple gals and a kid. On the space-vixen's planet, well the sun will blind you, without special glasses...whereas, on the Earth, the vixens can only breathe the air for a while before they expire. Yep. so they go back and forth... because the evil Queen-vixen is trying to... do something, while her twin sister is a good vixen, and... stuff happens. They are trying to use humans lungs... to replace their lungs, or upgrade them or something... along those lines. Yeah, this one is... something.
 
Randy M. said:
See also Book Club and In a World... above.

Randy M.
Click to expand...
Astro Pen said:
Just ordered Tarkovsky's Mirror because :
(sorry you will have to click "watch on youtube" to see the clip, worth it.)
Click to expand...
Lovely movie. I saw it at a repertory cinema years ago, and I also have it on Blu Ray. It also happens to be the Tarkovsky movie closest to the work of another of my favorite directors, Terrence Malick.
 
Deathgasm. A very 80s toned horror/comedy film from New Zealand. The performances were quite good and the effects suitably low budget. It's not funny enough to elicit big laughs or scary enough to induce any sort of lasting impression but the combination is enough to sustain the film. Not worth ever watching again but it was fun enough to pass the 90 minute run time.
 
Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968) a Japanese horror film, which featured space aliens, out to destroy the human race, but showed the worst of human behavior, as the passengers of a downed airliner scramble over each other, trying to escape from the other passenger, now, a vampire.

So, this silver blob seeps into a vertical wound on a guy's forehead, and possesses him. 2nd time I saw it.





The Bohemian Girl (1936) L&H as gypsies, who end-up with the abducted daughter of a nobleman, passed-off as H's daughter by his two-timing wife, as she runs off with her lover. It happened because the guards at the nobleman's estate had whipped her lover, so, seeing the chance to grab the girl, billed only by her 1st name, Darla (yes, that Darla of Our Gang, etc.), steal her away. So now L&H have a daughter/niece, who at 3 to 4 years old, just suddenly popped out of thin air. Years pass, and the gypsies are once again, in the neighborhood of the nobleman, who is singing about his missing child, Arline; who, just passing through the area, happens to recognize the gate through which she had passed, just before her abduction.

Captain of the Guard (James Finlayson, in his usual role as antagonist to L&H), siezes her, and throws her in the dungeon, awaiting a flogging in the morning.

Not quite my type of L&H film, too much operatic singing; though it did have a few really funny scenes.



Crime Wave (1954) Doc' Penny (Ted de Corsia), Ben Hastings (Charles Bronson), and Gat Morgan (Ned Young), had just escaped from prison, & had been on a spree of cheap stick-ups of gas stations, and other places not offering much money to steal. They had even left a trail that went past the city where their old friends lived, just to put the cops off the trail. But, the last gas station robbery, went bad, and they killed a cop. Morgan took a bullet to the gut, and was searching for an old friend, a disgraced surgeon, now running an animal hospital, for treatment. Detective Lieutenant Sims (Sterling Hayden), learning of their escape visits an ex-con to scare him into talking; but the ex-con, Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson), has been going straight since he was released, and knows nothing. Soon after, Morgan stumbles into Lacey's apartment, hoping he can be stiched-up by the vet, Otto Hessler (Jay Novello), who arrives just after the crook dies. Hessler, searches the body, finds the money intended for him, then leaves. Now Lacey and wife (Phyllis Kirk), have a dead body on their hands, and a cop, Sims, breathing down their necks.

As though things were not bad enough, the other two escapees show-up, and demand Lacey drive the getaway car for their upcoming bank robbery, that Doc had been planning for several years.

BTW, Muller, among other comments, mentioned that this was Bronson's 1st credited role, though at that time, he was still using his real name, Buchinsky. Definitely a brutal role.



High Pressure (1932) Gar Evans (William Powell) is a drunked slob, except when he is promoting something. Mike Donahey (Frank McHugh), learns of a wonderful way to make artificial rubber of of sewage, and rouses his friend to his senses. Gar, then proceeds to gather talent, etc., long before even assuring himself that this can work. Mr. Banks (Charles Middleton, better known as Ming, the Merciless) is a representitive of the rubber industry, and offers to buy out the whole thing, but his offer is too low.

Wonderful supporting cast, too many for me to bother with all, so, none but those already mentioned must suffice. Great comedy-romance!



The Real McCoy (?) A short film starring Charley Chase, a 1930s film star comedian-type, who was overshadowed by L&H, as well as others, bettwer known than himself. pursued by Edgar Kennedy as a motorcycle cop (frequent antagonist of comedian-types), both end up in a stream, and in a hick town, whose inhabitants all hate revenuers and cops.


A couple of TCM's short films, 1 about Lawrence Tierney, the other, dating from last October, about the monster of the month, Godzilla.
 
Common Law Wife (1963)

This was going to be the first in a series of reviews of the non-horror/science fiction movies of Z grade director Larry Buchanan, but then I found out that this sleazy exploitation film only uses some footage from an incomplete project he abandoned, and is mostly the work of another guy. The disparity between old footage and new footage results in some of the clumsiest editing you've ever seen, and the bizarre experience of seeing two different actresses play the same part.

Anyway, this starts off with an old guy throwing darts at the woman who has been living with him for five years. He wants her to leave, so that his young, voluptuous niece, who left town five years ago under scandalous circumstances, can live with him instead. It's made absolutely clear that his intentions are other than innocent. The woman consults a lawyer, finds out that she is actually a COMMON LAW WIFE, which throws a monkey-wrench in the old guy's plans. Meanwhile, the niece, who has been working as a stripper all these years, comes back to town and moves in with her sister. The sister is married to the local sheriff, with whom the stripper starts a hot and heavy affair. After the niece performs a free striptease in the local beer joint, a moonshiner beats the heck out of the sheriff and takes the stripper to his still, way out in the swamp. The whole thing winds up with multiple deaths, some from cyanide-laced moonshine. Despite an extremely low budget, the awkwardness of the mixed footage, and a lot of time wasted with shots of ducks swimming and such, it has a certain steamy intensity, with a lot of yelling and some sharp dialogue.
 
Free, White and 21 (1963)

Documentary-style courtroom drama from low budget director Larry Buchanan. Shows us every detail of a criminal trial from the beginning to the end. The charge is the inherently controversial one of a black man accused of raping a white woman. She's a voluptuous Swedish woman, come to America as a "freedom rider." He's a businessman, owner of the hotel where she stays, and offers her a job as a model. During the trial, we see flashbacks of her side of the story, and his. Near the end, we get a full three minutes of watching a clock as the narrator tells us to vote Guilty or Not Guilty, which I assume is what they had theater audiences do when this first came out. To my amazement, they don't stop with this "you be the judge" kind of ending, but actually show us the final verdict.

Not Guilty. The final words of the opposing attorneys, who seem to be close pals when not arguing against each other in court, suggests that the jury reached this decision because "we love intruders even less" [than black people.]"

In 1963, the racial aspect of the story was probably the most vital part of it. In 2020, the "he said/she said" aspect seems more important. The whole thing is very serious and earnest, and may be the most realistic trial I've ever seen in a fictional film. What that means, really, is that it is often deadly dull.
 
Victoria Silverwolf said:
Free, White and 21 (1963)

Documentary-style courtroom drama from low budget director Larry Buchanan. Shows us every detail of a criminal trial from the beginning to the end. The charge is the inherently controversial one of a black man accused of raping a white woman. She's a voluptuous Swedish woman, come to America as a "freedom rider." He's a businessman, owner of the hotel where she stays, and offers her a job as a model. During the trial, we see flashbacks of her side of the story, and his. Near the end, we get a full three minutes of watching a clock as the narrator tells us to vote Guilty or Not Guilty, which I assume is what they had theater audiences do when this first came out. To my amazement, they don't stop with this "you be the judge" kind of ending, but actually show us the final verdict.

Not Guilty. The final words of the opposing attorneys, who seem to be close pals when not arguing against each other in court, suggests that the jury reached this decision because "we love intruders even less" [than black people.]"

In 1963, the racial aspect of the story was probably the most vital part of it. In 2020, the "he said/she said" aspect seems more important. The whole thing is very serious and earnest, and may be the most realistic trial I've ever seen in a fictional film. What that means, really, is that it is often deadly dull.
Click to expand...

I assume this was a fictional case? And was it set up to be so even that people could only really choose based on their prejudices?
 
HareBrain said:
I assume this was a fictional case? And was it set up to be so even that people could only really choose based on their prejudices?
Click to expand...

The story goes that it was a fictional case, loosely based on something that happened to a friend of the director.

Free, White and 21 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

The movie was based on a true story about an English girl who stayed at a motel owned by a black man, Tony Davis, who was a disc jockey. She later claimed Davis raped her and he was arrested. Davis was a friend of Buchanan and agreed to work with him on the film even before the trial finished.
Click to expand...

As far as how the evidence is presented, well, given the Rashoman-style conflicting flashbacks, the truth of the matter is difficult to determine.
 
The Wrecking Crew.
My dad was a big Dean Martin fan and I remember watching this movie with him so when I saw it was on TV, thought I'd watch it again. Pretty poor. I was too young first time around to appreciate how bad an actor Dean Martin was. Not any more.
 
:giggle: TCM ran the whole Matt Helm series last year, as I recall; at the end of each, was a heads-up about the next film, including the final one made. I would certainly have watched the next, though never made one.

There are tons of 1960s spy spoofs out there, one even had Tony Randall as the protagonist; though certainly not a spy, himself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
AnRoinnUltra The last days of the Lóntuisteach Promotions 0
The Judge DISTAFF -- Last Chance to Buy!! Promotions 0
HareBrain Avatar: the Last Airbender live action (Netflix) General TV Discussion 18
Extollager Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn (1968 novel -- not movie) Classic SF&F 11
N Y: The Last Man, movie or telly series? Graphic Novels & Comics 3

Similar threads


Back
Top