What was the last movie you saw?

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947)

A bunch of avant-garde types -- Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, etc. -- worked on this experimental, surrealistic art film. There's a plot, of sorts. A guy named Joe sells dreams to people. That leads to seven segments of strange images, sounds, music, and narration. Sometimes mysterious and evocative, sometimes innocent and playful, sometimes satiric, sometimes comic. Not for all tastes -- you have to be patient with long scenes of spinning disks -- but beautifully filmed in color. Recommended.

 

[Dave]

The A Team (2010)

The remake the TV series as film with Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper. Sorry, it was a DNF for me. Pointless violence and I agree with the "Muddled" and "incomprehensible" storyline comments, but many seem to love it.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The Young Swingers (1963)

Proof of the year in which it was made: it begins and end with people doing the Twist. In between, we get jazz instrumentals, Las Vegas style crooning, syrupy love songs, folk music, and a novelty song. What we do not get is rock 'n' roll.

Oh, you want a plot? Evil Businesswoman buys the property on which a coffeehouse/nightclub is located, but the owner has an ironclad lease. EB's lawyer tries all kinds of dirty tricks to break it. Meanwhile EB's pretty orphaned niece falls for the owner. It all works out when EB witnesses her niece singing at the place and has a change of heart. The place burning down due to a faulty electrical system, so the EB has to pay to rebuild it, adds a little drama.

Annoying comedy relief is provided by a guy who does impressions of Groucho Marx, Peter Lorre, Walter Brennan, and Ed Sullivan, the latter two while performing the novelty song.

When the squeaky-clean folk singers perform the famous song "Greenback Dollar" (twice!) they change the well-known lyrics "don't give a damn about a greenback dollar" to "don't give a [hmmm]." They also change the familiar chorus "Lord, Lord" to "Oh, Boy."

Not a good film.

 

[paranoid marvin]

The Irishman (2019, directed by Martin Scorsese)

A lorry driver called Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) joins and works his way up the levels of the mafia, coming into contact with politicians and union bosses.

This is one of those films where the mafia is traced through historical events, particularly the career and disappearance of the union boss Jimmy Hoffa. The de-aging on the three main actors (Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino) is pretty good throughout, although it makes the "young" version of De Niro's character look oddly like Robin Williams.

The acting is decent and the film is very well-shot and lavish (the budget must have been huge). The structure is very good, involving two framing stories. However, perhaps inevitably, it feels assembled out of other mafia films, some of them by the same director: the hero beats a civilian who has offended his daughter; there's an enormous cheesy party with tired trophy wives; an allegedly beloved friend is betrayed, and so on. I'm sure this is accurate, but it says nothing new. Life in the mafia feels dull, brutal, sentimental and, above all, incredibly naff. I was quite sick of crooning and doo-wop music by the end.

The trouble is that none of the characters have anything interesting to say beyond the old schtick: they're just goons doing goon stuff.
(Jimmy Hoffa in particular seems staggeringly stupid, as if he has a death wish.) It's impossible to warm to the hero or see him as a representative of much, as he's very clearly a sociopath.

Would I recommend it? Ultimately, I'd probably shrug and say "Eh, it is what it is, y'know?". It's undoubtedly a very good film, but it also feels slightly pointless.

It felt

The Irishman (2019, directed by Martin Scorsese)

A lorry driver called Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) joins and works his way up the levels of the mafia, coming into contact with politicians and union bosses.

This is one of those films where the mafia is traced through historical events, particularly the career and disappearance of the union boss Jimmy Hoffa. The de-aging on the three main actors (Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino) is pretty good throughout, although it makes the "young" version of De Niro's character look oddly like Robin Williams.

The acting is decent and the film is very well-shot and lavish (the budget must have been huge). The structure is very good, involving two framing stories. However, perhaps inevitably, it feels assembled out of other mafia films, some of them by the same director: the hero beats a civilian who has offended his daughter; there's an enormous cheesy party with tired trophy wives; an allegedly beloved friend is betrayed, and so on. I'm sure this is accurate, but it says nothing new. Life in the mafia feels dull, brutal, sentimental and, above all, incredibly naff. I was quite sick of crooning and doo-wop music by the end.

The trouble is that none of the characters have anything interesting to say beyond the old schtick: they're just goons doing goon stuff.
(Jimmy Hoffa in particular seems staggeringly stupid, as if he has a death wish.) It's impossible to warm to the hero or see him as a representative of much, as he's very clearly a sociopath.

Would I recommend it? Ultimately, I'd probably shrug and say "Eh, it is what it is, y'know?". It's undoubtedly a very good film, but it also feels slightly pointless.

It felt like a reworking of 'Goodfellas', and whilst it's not as good as that movie, I did find it equally as captivating to watch.

In my opinion, the effects to make the actors look younger just looks weird and unrealistic; I would much preferred them to have used yoinger actors for those scenes.

If you watch a Scorcese gangster flick, you pretty much know what you're going to get in advance; lots of violence and family/friend conflicts. And that's what is delivered. For a made-for-tv feature, it's as good as you can get, but I find the ending quite depressing (although realistic and inevitable).

 

[Toby Frost]

You're right. With Casino and Goodfellas, Scorcese has basically made the same film three times. I thought the post-Hoffa bit of The Irishman was unusual, though: there's usually a sentimental montage about how things ain't what they used to be in the mob. It was honest, while bleak, and suggested that all of Sheeran's crimes had been a waste of time: he was still dying and his daughters hated him for being a murderer. Also, his apparent lack of any ability to feel contrition felt realistic. Some people are just born that way.

I didn't mind the de-aging, although in retrospect De Niro never looks much less than 50, and Pesci seems vaguely middle-aged until he's clearly an old man.

 

[MrKoifish]

Submarine D-1 sounds like a classic gem! I've always had a soft spot for old movies, and this one seems to have all the elements I enjoy - love conflicts, daring rescues, and a touch of humor.

I can imagine the tension and drama as 'Butch' Rogers and 'Sock' McGillis navigate their friendship and rivalry. And the addition of Frank McHugh's character as 'Lucky' Jones must have brought some much-needed comic relief to the intense storyline.

 

[Parson]

Interesting. Just from a strictly literary point of view, I like the language of the KJV. It sounds majestic to my modern ears.

My two complaints are these:
(1) Most importantly it is based on inferior Greek texts and so has some dubious renderings.
(2) But not inconsequentially, its admittedly soaring language is filled with words whose meanings have changed or are unintelligible to those with a more workmanlike English.

 

[KGeo777]

It felt



It felt like a reworking of 'Goodfellas', and whilst it's not as good as that movie, I did find it equally as captivating to watch.

In my opinion, the effects to make the actors look younger just looks weird and unrealistic; I would much preferred them to have used yoinger actors for those scenes.

Scorsese has embraced technological novelties before but his reluctance to use a newcomer cast or the investors forcing him to use CGI was a short-sighted mistake. Why would be not want to use younger actors and give them a shot? There's no problem with it looking bad later as is the case with CGI.

RUN PSYCHO RUN 1968 - Strange confusing film about a weird family on an estate where the wife of an older man called the judge is having an affair maybe with a younger guy (let's call him Ralph). The judge and the woman--Claire might have been her name--and they have a son--a piano prodigy I guess since there is a scene of him playing before he and his mother go off into an attic and she falls down and he falls down the stairs. Cut to the future where the judge (who I don't remember seeing in the earlier scenes with his wife, only Ralph) brings home a woman who is the spitting image of Claire--and she also has a son (not the same kid). Turns out the judge has made an arrangement with her so she will pose as his wife so he can find out who killed Claire. But she tells him that she knew all about his wife before they met--since she had read about it in the newspaper so--since she knew she resembled his wife-she wanted to meet him--presumably because she could make money since she was a single mother.

Long story short--the new wife to be goes into the attic and finds a diary where the judge admits he killed Claire because of her affair with Ralph.

She goes down to tell the family but none of them believe it. Ralph is there BTW-but the judge is not seen again.
She takes her son and leaves.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the crazy woman.
So there is this woman who runs around the estate--it is not explained who she is but the judge knows her--and she pretends to stab the new wife's son but doesn't. At the end she is chasing after them in the carriage telling them not to leave.
Why?
Your guess is as good as mine.

 

[Jeffbert]

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes long title but overall a good film. I mean yes one could pick holes in it like most films but on the whole it was pretty good. The characters had good motivation and it was quite nuanced for a main stream film. The whole world-in-decay stuff was good for the most part. Always a few caveats like electricity that still works after 500 years of not being used but I'll forgive that for the general story and the homages to the original film without being overly cheesy.

As I recall, the pilot they hade with Edward G. Robinson as Dr. Z, they had helicopters.

 

[Jeffbert]

My two complaints are these:
(1) Most importantly it is based on inferior Greek texts and so has some dubious renderings.
(2) But not inconsequentially, its admittedly soaring language is filled with words whose meanings have changed or are unintelligible to those with a more workmanlike English.

Yeah, but some of these newer translations seem like they are intended for certain sects; biased translations.

 

[Jeffbert]

My two complaints are these:
(1) Most importantly it is based on inferior Greek texts and so has some dubious renderings.
(2) But not inconsequentially, its admittedly soaring language is filled with words whose meanings have changed or are unintelligible to those with a more workmanlike English.

Thinkest thou that thou shalt escape, seeing thou are under the same condemnation? My old Pastor had us all buy Strong's Exhaustive Concordances, but he, for some reason pronounced the speaker of that paraphrase as "More-de-cay-eye."

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Wild on the Beach (1965)

Possibly the nadir of the beach movie cycle. For reasons too complex and uninteresting to describe, a college boy and a college girl (the actress who played the sexy robot in the Star Trek episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?") both claim to be able to use a house on the beach as a residence for students of their respective genders. Romance blooms, it all gets straightened out at the end.

Along the way we get tons of lame slapstick comedy, accompanied by the most annoying "wacky" music I've ever heard. As expected, the miniscule plot is interrupted constantly by musical acts, including Sonny and Cher in their first film appearance.

Despite the title, this thing (besides being very much less than "wild") has almost nothing to do with the beach. Our romantic leads walk on the sand for a few minutes. Nobody puts on a swimsuit. Not a good movie.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Young and Dangerous (1957)

Our movie's Bad Boy is the son of a successful physician, but he doesn't have a job and doesn't want to go to college, instead spending his time getting in fights and making out with lots of different girls. In order to win a bet with his buddies, he gets a date with our movie's Good Girl. She doesn't object to a little kissing, but draws the line when he gets too physical, leading to a confrontation that involves both of them getting picked up by the cops.

Love triumphs, the Bad Boy becoming good, agreeing to go to college. But will the Bad Boys out to beat him up, or the Good Girl's parents, interfere?

More of a serious drama than a campy teen exploitation film. Not bad.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The Party Crashers (1958)

The Bad Boy from Young and Dangerous (Mark Damon) returns in this tragic melodrama. He and his buddies crash a very sedate party, leading to a big fight with the Good Boy (doomed former child actor Bobby Driscoll in his last feature film role. By the way, doomed adult actress Frances Farmer has her last feature film role as his mother.) The Good Boy's girlfriend (Connie Stevens, who had her first feature film role in Young and Dangerous as the Good Girl's friend) is intrigued by the Bad Boy, and much of the film is the good old Eternal Triangle.

But what it's really about is the Bad Boy's parents, drunken Dad and adulterous Mom (who beats up Dad with her purse pretty badly early in the film.) Near the end, Bad Boy and Good Boy and girlfriend crash what turns out to be a party for those of their parents' generation. Bad Boy discovers Mom is there, leading to violence and tragedy.

Takes a while to get going, but notable for the adults being a lot more messed up than the kids.

 

[Bookworm]

The last movie I watched was "Parasite." It tells the story of two families - the poor Kim family and the wealthy Park family - their interactions, and the ensuing consequences. I was particularly impressed by the storyline, which avoids typical Hollywood clichés and manages to maintain tension and unpredictability until the very end.

 

[Rodders]

Rodders , sounds interesting , via which medium did you watch please ?

Apologies for the late reply, Ubergeek. I've been cycling around the Netherlands and have just gotten back.

I'm afraid my friend streamed it on his computer.

 

[Ubergeek]

Apologies for the late reply, Ubergeek. I've been cycling around the Netherlands and have just gotten back.

I'm afraid my friend streamed it on his computer.

Rodders , thanks . Hope you enjoyed your cycling holiday

 

[AE35Unit]

The Black Phone(2021)
Set in the 70s, a man in the is abducting kids (the Grabber) and the latest victim finds a black phone where he's held captive. It rings and he answers, and it turns out he's speaking to the ghosts of former victims ...
Based on a story by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son) , its pretty good but is a bit derivative (the grabber wears a fright mask and has black balloons, a young girl rides a bike in the rain while wearing a yellow waterproof, like the first victim in IT) but still very watcheable. A sequel is in the works.

 

[KGeo777]

ONE AWAY - 1976 - Gypsyploitation set in South Africa concerning a prisoner (Patrick Mower) who escape with the aid of his brothers Bradford Dillman and Dean Stockwell (and Elke Sommer) so they can all can go into the SA outback and ride motorcycles. Dillman sometimes seems to be channeling Bogart in High Sierra. When Mower is on screen they keep cutting to people (his father and fellow prisoners) giving him advice on running and being independent. There is frequent reference to what it means to be a gypsy. The cast does what it can with little but the MVP is the scenery. Had it been shot in California it would seem like a drive-in movie.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Double Indemnity

An insurance salesman and a femme fatale plan the perfect murder of her husband; after he has unwittingly purchased a 'double indemnity' insurance policy.

Brilliant film noir, with the added bonus of Edward G Robinson as the salesman's boss who smells something fishy.

"They've committed a murder. And it's not like taking a trolley ride together where they can get off at different stops. They're stuck with each other, and they've got to ride all the way to the end of the line; it's a one-way trip, and the last stop is the cemetary."