Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review [Archive] - Page 19

Captain Steel

08-02-17, 11:40 PM

I don't recognize his name, but that physical description makes me think of the guy from the Star Trek episode Miri, (the one with Kim Darby) and a bunch of delinquent kids who never grow old, well until they turn into Grumps. Was he the blonde guy with the flat nose in an army shirt.

I remember that from when I was a kid, is the other 'head' football player Rosie Greer? Or is that another movie?

Close! The guy from Star Trek was Michael J. Pollard (I don't know these by heart - I'm looking them up on IMDB.)
https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/f/f1/Jahn.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110421151315&path-prefix=en

This is Richard Bakalyan (either in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) or Chinatown):
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/find-a-grave-prod/photos/2015/58/143165347_1425175582.jpg

Not to be confused with Charles Dierkop (another actor with an odd looking nose who was also in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre)
https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mayberry/images/2/2d/Charles_dierkop.gif/revision/latest?cb=20140915050443

And yes, it was Rosie Greer who co-starred with Ray Milland in The Thing With Two Heads (I don't think anyone will confuse Rosie with the other guys!) ;)
http://www.cultreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/the-thing-with-two-heads-3.jpg

Citizen Rules

08-02-17, 11:46 PM

Michael J. Pollard (I know him)
https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/f/f1/Jahn.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110421151315&path-prefix=en

Richard Bakalyan. But don't recognize him.
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/find-a-grave-prod/photos/2015/58/143165347_1425175582.jpg

Charles Dierkop, I do recognize him and I think he too was on Star Trek but can't think of the episode right now (or I could be wrong about that)
https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mayberry/images/2/2d/Charles_dierkop.gif/revision/latest?cb=20140915050443

I have got to see this one. I remember it being really funny.
http://www.cultreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/the-thing-with-two-heads-3.jpg

Dinner time:D catch ya later.

Captain Steel

08-02-17, 11:52 PM

Yep. Interestingly both Pollard and Dierkop appeared on Star Trek, while both Bakalyan and Dierkop appeared on Batman (plus were in a couple movies together).

There was another two-heads movie with Bruce Dern - somewhat more horrifying, where I think Dern was a killer who's head was attached to the body of a big retarded guy (can we still say that?)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067245/

Citizen Rules

08-03-17, 03:56 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33162&stc=1&d=1501784106
Crime Wave (1953)

Director: André De Toth
Writer: Crane Wilbur (screenplay)
Cast: Gene Nelson, Sterling Hayden, Phyllis Kirk
Genre: Film Noir Crime Drama
Length: 73 minutes

Ex con Steve Lacey has gone straight, married and is now trying to live a quiet family life. That happy life is shattered when his old cellmate breaks out of prison and back into Steve's life....forcing Steve to participate in a bank robbery, with his wife as hostage...CR

Tagline:
'The squeeze was on from the killers and the cops!'

There are film noirs, and then there's Crime Wave!...a movie unlike any other noir. Crime Wave belongs to the sub genre of tiny budget noirs, that were becoming popular in the 1950s. The film was produced by a major studio Warner Bros and originally was planned as a big budget, glossy crime drama staring Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner. But director André De Toth would have none of that and he demanded the lead by a virtually unknown actor (at the time) Sterling Hayden.

Simply but effective, Shot in only 2 weeks, the film uses real locations around LA, Burbank and Glendale California, which lends an ultra realism to this documentary style crime film. At only 73 minutes all the fat is parred off and the film buzzes from scene to scene. There's just enough character deposition to know the players motives. That's a plus, especially for the no-nonsense, tight-lipped Sterling Hayden. Hayden plays the top cop on the chase of a couple of escaped cons, who've just killed a police officer during a gas station robbery.

Crime Wave is a fast paced, docu-drama style noir, void of the usually noir trappings, that instead utilizes the you-are-there style of film making.

4

Gideon58

08-03-17, 04:30 PM

[QUOTE=Captain Steel;1746788]

This is Richard Bakalyan (either in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) or Chinatown):
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/find-a-grave-prod/photos/2015/58/143165347_1425175582.jpg

Not to be confused with Charles Dierkop (another actor with an odd looking nose who was also in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre)
https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mayberry/images/2/2d/Charles_dierkop.gif/revision/latest?cb=20140915050443

I always confuse Bakaylan with Dierkop.

Captain Steel

08-03-17, 10:47 PM

I always confuse Bakaylan with Dierkop.

I thought it was just me!

But seriously, before making that post, I thought they were the same guy!
I knew he (or what turned out to be "them") was in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre since I watched that not too long ago, and was surprised to find that the guy I was thinking of turned out to be two guys - both of whom I've seen many many times!

Citizen Rules

08-03-17, 11:49 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33173&stc=1&d=1501814962
The Male Animal (1942)

Director: Elliott Nugent
Writers: Julius & Philip Epstein (screenplay)
Cast: Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland, Jack Carson, Joan Leslie, Don DeFore
Genre: Comedy, Romance

About: Homecoming weekend at Midwestern University, a former football star (Jack Carson) blows into town and begins wooing his old cheerleader girlfriend (Olivia de Havilland). This doesn't sit well with her husband (Henry Fonda) who's a mild mannered teacher who wants to start standing up for himself...both for his wife and for the freedom to read a letter in class that has been banned by the college dean as subversive.

Review: That sure sounds like a sure fire winner of a plot, it ain't. I was mostly bored by the movie and so have little to say, other than I didn't find much of the comedy funny. The actors were all good but the story didn't do a thing for me.

Jack Carson was by far the funniest character in the movie. Other than that, the only other plus is a lot of big name stars. No wonder I never heard of this one before.

The Male Animal sure looked good in the trailer that I watched but the movie itself was forgettable. Still not a bad way to spend 1 hour and 41 minutes.

rating_2_5

Gideon58

08-04-17, 10:43 AM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33173&stc=1&d=1501814962
The Male Animal (1942)

[FONT=Georgia]Director: Elliott Nugent
Writers: Julius & Philip Epstein (screenplay)
Cast: Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland, Jack Carson, Joan Leslie, Don DeFore
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Sorry you didn't like it, Citizen, but I have to say Olivia de Havilland looks absolutely breathtaking in that screenshot.

Jeff Costello

08-04-17, 08:08 PM

Thought I'd stop by and leave a comment on couple of films you reviewed... So far I went through the last five pages, but will likely continue to read more when I catch some time.

Ordinary People (1980) : To me that's one of the most unrightfully neglected films that doesn't get the credit it deserves just because it won the Best Picture over Raging Bull and The Elephant Man, despite being fairly superior to both in my opinion. Everything about is perfect : from Redford's directing to amazing performances and finally an uncompromising exploration of a theme that lot of people can relate to even 40 years after its release. I'm not sure if I remember this correctly but I think I read somewhere that both Mary Tyler Moore (I think she lost her son) and Timothy Hutton experienced a death of their loved ones just prior to starring in OP, so perhaps that's why they were able to pull of their roles so convincingly and disturbingly real. Either way a great film and a great review.

Bird On A Wire (1990) : I've seen this one, though I don't remember it much. I only know I enjoyed it and thought it was entertaining. Mel Gibson is one of the actors whose work I very much enjoy and Bird On A Wire was no exception, despite not being anything special.

Whirpool (1950) : Judging from your review this looks very promising. I'll put this on the list of Gene films I have yet to see.

Five Easy Pieces (1970) - Another well written review of another superb film. As a big Jack Nicholson fan, I think that the role of Bobby Dupea is his second best role only behind Randle Mcmurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I don't know about you but I found Bobby Dupea to be an extremely relatable character. I think that every person at least once felt like Bobby, with no direction in life and completely alienated from the world. He was just one of the rare film characters that really earned my empathy. Jack Nicholson definitely did an exceptional job with conveying the sense of total worthlessness that I doubt could ever be replicated.

The Blue Dahlia (1946) - Believed this was alright but rather forgettable noir. I can only vaguely remember William Bendix in it, so I guess he left the biggest impression on me there.

Citizen Rules

08-04-17, 10:08 PM

Thanks Jeff for stopping by, it's always good to here from my fellow reviewers. So a few thoughts about your thoughts on the movies I reviewed.:)

Ordinary People (1980) : To me that's one of the most unrightfully neglected films that doesn't get the credit it deserves just because it won the Best Picture over Raging Bull and The Elephant Man, despite being fairly superior to both in my opinion. Everything about is perfect : from Redford's directing to amazing performances and finally an uncompromising exploration of a theme that lot of people can relate to even 40 years after its release. I'm not sure if I remember this correctly but I think I read somewhere that both Mary Tyler Moore (I think she lost her son) and Timothy Hutton experienced a death of their loved ones just prior to starring in OP, so perhaps that's why they were able to pull of their roles so convincingly and disturbingly real. Either way a great film and a great review. Very glad to here there's another fan of Ordinary People. I had never watched it until recently, I'm so glad I did.

Yes, you're right that Mary Tyler Moore had lost a son before filming this, in fact I read that Robert Redford seen MTM setting on the beach looking forlorn and he decided to approached her about this movie, I'm surprised she agreed to make the movie, but glad she did.

Whirpool (1950) : Judging from your review this looks very promising. I'll put this on the list of Gene films I have yet to see. I thought it was kind of cool. Film noirs come in all different flavors, so it's hard to say if it will be to your liking...but I will check out your review and find out what your thought.

Five Easy Pieces (1970) - Another well written review of another superb film. As a big Jack Nicholson fan, I think that the role of Bobby Dupea is his second best role only behind Randle Mcmurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I don't know about you but I found Bobby Dupea to be an extremely relatable character. I think that every person at least once felt like Bobby, with no direction in life and completely alienated from the world. He was just one of the rare film characters that really earned my empathy. Jack Nicholson definitely did an exceptional job with conveying the sense of total worthlessness that I doubt could ever be replicated.
I can totally see people relating to Nicholson's performance and relating to his character...I'm glad you brought that up because that explains why many people love this film so.

But to answer your question, I never felt like I had no direction in life, as Nicholson did in the movie, so I didn't relate to him. If I had felt alienated like his character I might have really loved the film. But not having those experiences I didn't connect.

The Blue Dahlia (1946) - Believed this was alright but rather forgettable noir. I can only vaguely remember William Bendix in it, so I guess he left the biggest impression on me there.[/quote] Agreed, it's not too memorable...except it has a cool title that ties into the real Black Dahlia murder case.

Citizen Rules

08-04-17, 11:07 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33218&stc=1&d=1501897888
This Is the Army (1943)
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: George Murphy, Joan Leslie, George Tobias
Genre: Variety Show

What was the biggest money making movie of 1943?.....answer: This is the Army, today it's hard to see why this film went over the top in such a big way. The answer lays in the year it was made, 1943. America had recently been attacked and entered WWII and what this offered the audiences was a patriotic movie that featured a lot of singing, so that they could forget the hardships of the day.

Boy o' boy! does this film have a lot of singing in it! The guys in uniform stage silly little numbers and sing their olive drab hearts out. It's kind of weird because most of the humor revolves around these army men in drag, so to speak. As there's only men in the army, when they have musical numbers some of the guys donned dresses and do double duty, ha! There's also a minstrel show with white actors in black face, which today is of course taboo. I'm not sure why it was done in the movie, probably for the same reason the men dress up as ladies. All this is meant as silly fun, but it gets old fast.

The only interesting thing for me was that this had lots of famous 1940s people in it...people who you don't usually see in the movies, like: the famous Irving Berlin, boxer Joe Lewis, Kate Smith...and of course Hollywood stars like Ronald Reagan, yea the president and Joan Leslie who plays his love interest.

The most interesting and entertaining was James 'Stump' Cross a black singer dancer who was featured in the number Harlem Nights along with Harold 'Stumpy' Cromer.

Featuring black entertainers in a lead role in a music number was fairly rare in the 40s. These guy are good! James dances up a storm and can sing too. It really cooks after the 3 minute mark. This is by far my favorite part of the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBipZelcyO8

This is the Army is interesting for it's cinema-history side note and for a stand out performance by James Cross, but not much beyond that.

rating_2

Citizen Rules

08-05-17, 11:48 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33225&stc=1&d=1501987662

The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955)
Directors: David Kramarsky, Roger Corman
Writer: Tom Filer(screenplay)
Cast: Paul Birch, Lorna Thayer, Dona Cole, Dick Sargent
Genre: B-budget Sci-Fi Monster movie

"A dysfunctional family operating an isolated date farm in the California desert is threatened by the arrival of an extra-terrestrial."

An early Roger Corman produced film made for the B budget movie studio, American Releasing Corporation (later to be known as American International Pictures, which specialized in low budget drive-in movies aimed at young people. The budget was so low, under $30,000 that the alien wasn't actually seen and instead we're shown a tea pot with some holes and do-dads glues onto it, for a space ship. Probably the most exciting thing about the movie is it's poster art.

What is cool, is that we see a very dysfunctional family living in near isolation on a date farm. That's right, a date farm. When is the last time you seen a date farm in a movie? The other interesting tidbit is that TV's Darin from Bewitched, Dick Sargent (the second Darin) makes an appearance as the towns young deputy.

Despite a tiny, tiny movie budget, and actors who were non-union and couldn't really act, the movie still has the usual Corman hook that keeps the viewer interested, thanks to it's quirkiness.

Oh, one more interesting note, this shows birds attacking with an intelligence, and predates Hitch's The Birds by 8 years.

rating_2_5+

Joel

08-06-17, 12:48 AM

Ordinary People (1980) : To me that's one of the most unrightfully neglected films that doesn't get the credit it deserves just because it won the Best Picture over Raging Bull and The Elephant Man, despite being fairly superior to both in my opinion. Everything about is perfect : from Redford's directing to amazing performances and finally an uncompromising exploration of a theme that lot of people can relate to even 40 years after its release. I'm not sure if I remember this correctly but I think I read somewhere that both Mary Tyler Moore (I think she lost her son) and Timothy Hutton experienced a death of their loved ones just prior to starring in OP, so perhaps that's why they were able to pull of their roles so convincingly and disturbingly real. Either way a great film and a great review.

Glad there's a healthy few who appreciate Ordinary People. I try and buy blu rays of just the essential films and OP is one of them. I'm due for another watch very soon.

Joel

08-06-17, 01:39 AM

http://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=25465&stc=1&d=1463881743
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Director: Frank Oz
Cast: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin
Genre: Musical Comedy Horror

For any musical to work it needs to have a story or characters we care about. The story is farcical and the character development null. The big payoff should have been the romance but like the rest of this movie, it doesn't work.

rating_2

[/CENTER]

Bummer, dude. I adore this movie! I guess it's a matter of personal preference but good review just the same!

Citizen Rules

08-06-17, 10:59 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33232&stc=1&d=1502071240

Sensation Hunters (1945)

Director: Christy Cabanne
Writers: Dennis J. Cooper (scipt), John Faxon (story)
Cast: Robert Lowery, Doris Merrick, Eddie Quillan, Constance, Worth, Isabel Jewell
Genre: 62 minutes
Length: Drama, Film-Noir

"A naive young girl, looking to escape from a bad family situation, falls in love with a man who turns out to be a cad, and leads her down the road to ruin."

Tagline:

"THE DRAMA OF A GIRL'S DEGRADATION...through the evil influences of a SOUL-DESTROYING POWER!"

62 minutes! That's how long this movie is...and it's not a bad way to spend an hour either. This is a gender reversed film noir with a woman as the lead and a troubled man as a 'male femme fatale' who lures the outsider into a world of trouble.

The guy (Robert Lowery), who's a cad and lives off money that women readily give him because of his sheer magnetism and bad boy ways, temps a nice young woman (Dorris Merrick) into a life of ruin. I knew that's how this film was going, when the nice girl is kicked out of her dysfunctional home and ends up working in the Black Cat nightclub. When a woman character starts off the movie by saying she doesn't smoke or drink, you just know by the end she will be a midnight fluzzy.

I liked it! This is fast paced, not deep, but it works and held my attention. Originally called Sensation Hunters, the title was changed to Club Paradise when it was first rerun on TV in the 50s. The actors were all up to par and you even get to see a tap dance, though I'm not sure why 5 minutes was spent on the tap? The only name I recognized was Isabel Jewell.

If you can find a decent print of this little known movie, it offers up some fun.

rating_3

MovieMeditation

08-07-17, 12:01 PM

So much I haven't seen or even heard of in here, Citizen, sorry for not responding more. Your consistency and dedication is very admirable though... more than I can do.

I was interested in USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage, but only because of a possible weird Nic Cage performance and because I know Paul Walkers (of the Fast films) brother, Cody, had a small role in this. He seems to have potential. He is actually starring in another upcoming, and hopefully better, war film. :)

Citizen Rules

08-07-17, 02:42 PM

So much I haven't seen or even heard of in here, Citizen, sorry for not responding more. I appreciate the visit:) Yeah, I know most of the movies I've been watching are pretty obscure. I'm currently in a film noir kick...But my wife wants to watch the Harry Potter movies, which I've never seen so that will be some interesting reviews.:p

Your consistency and dedication is very admirable though... more than I can do. It's stubbornness;)...actually I'm on the verge of losing faith and giving up. I've been so busy with work that I can't keep up. I have a back log of 10 movies that need to be reviewed and the back log keeps getting bigger.

I was interested in USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage, but only because of a possible weird Nic Cage performance and because I know Paul Walkers (of the Fast films) brother, Cody, had a small role in this. He seems to have potential. He is actually starring in another upcoming, and hopefully better, war film. :)Cage in USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage, was good, but a very quiet role for him, no weirdness! I didn't know he was in another war film, I'll have to check that out. I like war films, not that I like war, but I like history.

Yoda

08-07-17, 02:45 PM

Glad you reviewed Little Shop of Horrors. Super bummed you didn't realize how brilliant it is. ;D

Citizen Rules

08-07-17, 02:46 PM

Glad you reviewed Little Shop of Horrors. Super bummed you didn't realize how brilliant it is. ;D I liked the original quite a bit:p I think, I reviewed that one too.

Edit: I just checked and I didn't review Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

MovieMeditation

08-07-17, 02:48 PM

Citizen doing Harry Potter reviews... now THAT I'll pay to see! :p

Citizen Rules

08-07-17, 02:52 PM

Citizen doing Harry Potter reviews... now THAT I'll pay to see! :p Ha, that and the Godfather movies which I also haven't seen before.

MovieMeditation

08-07-17, 03:45 PM

Ha, that and the Godfather movies which I also haven't seen before.
I think I remember you saying you haven't seen those... but it's STILL catches me by surprise to such an extent I almost get a heart attack every time I hear about it. :laugh:

Citizen Rules

08-07-17, 11:01 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33282&stc=1&d=1502157548
To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters (2016)

Director: Sally Wainwright
Writer: Sally Wainwright
Cast: Finn Atkins, Charlie Murphy, Chloe Pirrie
Genre: Biography, Drama

The back-story of the Brontë sisters: Charlotte (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Bront%C3%AB), Emily (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Bront%C3%AB) and Anne (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Bront%C3%AB) who wrote some of the greatest literature in the English language...including Jane Eyre & Wuthering Heights.

This original made for British television film covers the Brontë's troubled home life, including their drunken reckless brother Branwell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branwell_Bront%C3%AB) and their aging mild mannered father, who was a retired reverend.

We learn of their struggle to gain financial security as the family was struggling for money. With a bold plan by the three sister's to each write novels...and..get them published, all in a time when the idea of a woman author was laughed at.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33284&stc=1&d=1502157563

For fans of the Bronte's novels...I didn't find the script that engaging, though I did enjoy it, especially the authentic looking sets. The film makers went to great detail to get the clothing and the Brontë's house, which they duplicated in the countryside of Yorkshire England. The result is, you feel like your back in the middle of the 19th century.

I guess I wanted more character development, but maybe that isn't fair as during the middle of the Victorian era, people were much more subdued then they are now, especially women didn't speak out. But then there's the Brontë sisters who dare to dream that they can succeed in getting their novels published. Which they did!

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33283&stc=1&d=1502157555

What really stood out was the fiery, self destructive behavior of their brother, who took to beating his own father for a few coins for a drink, at the local pub. Even though the film never said this, I'm of the impression that their brother was the impetus for Heathcliff (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathcliff_%28Wuthering_Heights%29) in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.

A must see for fans of the Brontës
rating_3+

Citizen Rules

08-07-17, 11:39 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33289&stc=1&d=1502160072
Tomorrow Is Forever (1946)

Director: Irving Pichel
Writers: Gwen Bristow, Lenore Coffee (screen play)
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles, George Brent, Natalie Wood
Genre: Drama, Romance

Orson Welles is a newly married, young American who goes off to fight in WWI. During battle he's horribly disfigured by an explosion and captured by the enemy. He wishes to die and refuses to identify himself, believing that his wife (Claudette Colbert) will be better off believing he was killed in the war, which she does believe.

Twenty years later at the first stirrings of WWII he returns to America to escape the Nazis. In America he is hired as a chemist and runs into his former wife who's now remarried and is raising his son, whom he's never meant.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33290&stc=1&d=1502160122

Damn! this is a good movie! I've always been a huge fan of Claudette Colbert, she's so good in everything she's been in. I hate to say this but in the very beginning of the film when a young Orson Welles is with his newly wed wife, Orson didn't have much chemistry with Claudette. I was fearing that this wouldn't be a role he could sink his teeth into...

But then he transforms as the 20 year older man who's lived a lonely life in Austria, all while secretly missing his wife. Orson nailed this performance! I would say it was because the transformed character he played was close to his theatrical roots. He played it with great solitude and sadness as a man who could not tell his former wife that he was indeed her husband from twenty years ago.

Natalie Wood is very good as a child actresses here and her scenes with Orson were touching. They were both good together and Natalie's character is critical to the story.

Tomorrow is Forever has a deep moral meaning that was important for war time America. I won't say what it was, but it did resonate with me...and the film works on many levels.

rating_4

Citizen Rules

08-10-17, 10:20 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33356&stc=1&d=1502414068
Signs(2002)

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

"A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come."

Signs, a fun popcorn movie that entertains as it tells it's version of the classic Sci Fi novel & movie War of the Worlds. Luckily for director M. Night Shyamalan, he avoids being labeled a copycat by mentioning by name, War of the Worlds, thus making his film an ode to that 1953 classic.

There's even a nod to the famous original scene where a woman has hid from the aliens in an old farm house and with her back turned to a broken window a long creepy alien hand grabs her shoulder! Only this time around it's a little girl Abigail Breslin who has her back against a boarded up window as an alien hand grabs her.

Though the final end of the aliens is all H.G. Welles.
https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33358&stc=1&d=1502413950

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33357&stc=1&d=1502413940

Surprisingly a lot of low key humor, I'm not sure if it all was intentional but there was a lot of nice 'real' moments in the film when I smiled. There are little nuisances that make the family seem like a real family, that's important. I loved the tin foil hats that looked like large Hersey kisses!

What didn't work, was the uninspired acting. I know both Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix can act up a storm, but here they seemed bored.

A film isn't tense and the thrills don't work, if the actors don't react as if what is happening on the screen was real!...and often they didn't do that, especially with the alien encounter scenes.

Even worse was the lack of common sense behavior....any family with hostile aliens trying to break into their home would grab a weapon, a knife or a club or something. But that really never happens until the very end and that bugged me, more than bugging me it made me suspend my disbelief so that I didn't really buy what was going on.

Final Verdict....Signs is a fun ride, lots of good moments, but it's not all that intelligently written and the direction wasn't that great either...Still I enjoyed it more than many 'better made' films, so that's a positive.

rating_3

cricket

08-10-17, 10:34 PM

I don't remember Signs well, but I do remember not being very impressed.

Citizen Rules

08-10-17, 10:56 PM

I don't remember Signs well, but I do remember not being very impressed.
Do you believe crop circles are mysterious, or perhaps created by extraterrestrials?

cricket

08-10-17, 10:58 PM

Do you believe crop circles are mysterious, or perhaps created by extraterrestrials?

I believe they're a place I can pull my truck next to and take a leak in without anybody seeing me.

Captain Steel

08-10-17, 11:00 PM

Captain Steel

08-10-17, 11:02 PM

Question: was "tin foil hat" a term BEFORE this movie, or did it come into usage BECAUSE of this movie?

Citizen Rules

08-10-17, 11:02 PM

I believe they're a place I can pull my truck next to and take a leak in without anybody seeing me.Ha!:D

Camo

08-10-17, 11:03 PM

Signs is entertaining, it is absolutely silly though. M Knights cameo kills me every time, it's so dumb.

Camo

08-10-17, 11:05 PM

Question: was "tin foil hat" a term BEFORE this movie, or did it come into usage BECAUSE of this movie?

The concept of a foil hat for protection against interference of the mind was mentioned in a science fiction short story by Julian Huxley, "The Tissue-Culture King", first published in 1926

Not sure when it became a source of ridicule but i'm sure it was before Signs.

Citizen Rules

08-10-17, 11:05 PM

Don't know if anyone will get this - but I felt Signs could have been a good metaphysical / spiritual movie about synchronicity and religious mysticism if it was made without the whole alien invasion. I think those aspects appealed to me most before the big climax. Yup, good idea. I was thinking that was how the film was going to turn out before the aliens are actually seen. I think it would have been better as you suggested. Oh, forgot to say in my review, it bugged me that Mel sees an alien in the cornfield then goes into the house and doesn't say a damn thing. But that's not as bad as Mel finding an alien in a closet (ha!) BUT not telling the cops. What was wrong with Mel anyway?

Captain Steel

08-10-17, 11:07 PM

Signs is entertaining, it is absolutely silly though. M Knights cameo kills me every time, it's so dumb.

I didn't know what he looked like when I first saw this in the theater - so his cameo didn't register to me as anything but a bit part for a cast member.

(Isn't there one movie where he appears only in the reflection of a glass door or something?)

Captain Steel

08-10-17, 11:11 PM

What was wrong with Mel anyway?

He was an Episcopalian Priest. I had to look that up after the movie because I couldn't figure out why everyone would call a minister "father" (they'd call him "reverend" or "pastor") - and he was obviously not a Catholic Priest seeing as he was married and had kids.

Camo

08-10-17, 11:11 PM

I didn't know what he looked like when I first saw this in the theater - so his cameo didn't register to me as anything but a bit part for a cast member.

(Isn't there one movie where he appears only in the reflection of a glass door or something?)

Don't know but i know he's just a guy on the phone in The Happening, you only hear his voice.

Citizen Rules

08-10-17, 11:49 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33361&stc=1&d=1502418801
Piranha (1978)

Director: Joe Dante
Writers: Richard Robinson & John Sayles (story)
Cast: Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies-Urich, Kevin McCarthy, Dick Miller
Genre: Thriller-Horror

Producer Roger Corman is the king of B budget thriller movies. Roger has a whopping 411 producer movie credits. As far as I know that's more than any other movie producer, ever.

And the thing with a Roger Corman produced movie is, regardless of who directs it, you know it will be one of those Corman movies. I mean that in a good way! Nobody makes cheesy fun & cheap movies like Roger Corman, and Piranha is one of his most successful films.

Clearly the film is a 'rip off' of Jaws, actually after the huge success of Jaws a number of similar movies appeared to cash in on the watery horror craze. At one point Universal Studios was going to sue Roger Corman over copyright infringements but changed their minds when reportedly Steven Spielberg watched Piranha and loved it. He called it the best of the Jaws rips offs.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33362&stc=1&d=1502418809
Roger Corman managed to get some brand name stars in his tiny budget film. Top left: veteran actor Keenen Wynn, next to him is Dick Miller who's appeared in a number of Corman movies. Lower left: Kevin McCarthy who was the star of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and Bradford Dillman.

Trivia:

Bradford Dillman was originally unhappy with his character's 2D nature, and asked writer John Sayles why his character was so thin. Sayles responded that Roger Corman regularly did not use good actors in his film, so he deliberately didn't elaborate on characters. But since Dillman was a "real" actor, he was more than happy to enhance his character's depth.https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33363&stc=1&d=1502418817

So...the piranhas look pretty real, I love the fast action edits that make them look like a pack of razor blades with fins, all coming at you at once! And they make this god-awful sound that was reportedly done by placing a dental drill under water, yikes!

Roger Corman had only one thing to say during the making of this film....MORE BLOOD! and so they did. There's lots of creepy fun, half eaten people and the little kids at summer camp being eaten alive has to be seen to be believed.

Popcorn anyone?
rating_3

gbgoodies

08-11-17, 02:43 AM

Citizen Rules

08-11-17, 12:18 PM

I love Tomorrow Is Forever, but I don't think there's any other movie that has an ending that I both love and hate so much. I didn't think anyone else had seen this one. Yeah, I have to agree the ending is powerful but very sad.

Citizen Rules

08-11-17, 01:16 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33368&stc=1&d=1502470874
Rules Don't Apply (2016)

Director: Warren Beatty
Writers: Warren Beatty(screenplay)
Cast: Warren Beatty, Lily Collins, Alden Ehrenreich, Matthew Broderick
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Forty Years ago, actor Warren Beatty had a chance encounter with the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes in the lobby of a Las Vegas hotel. Beatty became fascinated with the strange story of the enigmatic Howard Hughes and decided to make a movie about him, which he finally did four decades later in 2016.

Rules Don't Apply, tells a love story of a young would-be actress who really can't act and has come to Hollywood to be a star. Once in L.A. she is put under contract to the reclusive Howard Hughes. Hughes has a bevy of young starlets, who he sequesters away in bungalows on the hills overlooking L.A. Hughes micro manages their lives and each girl has a driver who's been hired by Hughes with the strict orders not to hit on the girls. In other words Hughes keeps the starlets all to himself, but why?

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33367&stc=1&d=1502470706

That premise was the most interesting thing about the movie. What follows is neither clever or worthy of that premise. Rules Don't Apply, is like that - full of promising twist that never go anywhere. Warren Beatty conceived the story premise and wrote the script too... and much like his on screen personality, the script comes across dazed and confused.

Yes, there are some really interesting premises, like the very religious actress and her equally religious mother, who are assigned a religious driver...All of that would seem to be heading towards some juxtaposition between faith in an afterlife and faith in becoming a movie star...but nope nothing really becomes of these false starts.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33370&stc=1&d=1502470884

Even worse, is the near catatonic performance by the chauffeur (Alden Ehrenreich), who drives the starlet around and falls in love with her, thereby breaking the rules aka Rules Don't Apply.

The young starlet Lily Collins was quite good, but she looked to young for the part. Sure the actress is an adult but in the movie she looked 15 and her love scene with the aging Howard Hughes played by a 79 year old Warren Beatty, about made me puke.

Warren Beatty playing Howard Hughes the mentally ill, reclusive billionaire was actually pretty good. I mean lets face it, Warren Beatty often comes across as a space-cadet and that's a perfect fit for Hughes. To bad the script was so boring or this might have worked.

rating_2

Camo

08-11-17, 01:17 PM

Haven't seen that Orson film but he looks way too intimidating to be holding a child :laugh:

Citizen Rules

08-11-17, 01:28 PM

Haven't seen that Orson film but he looks way too intimidating to be holding a child :laugh:Ha, I know....but actually his scenes with little Natalie Wood were very touching. I was impressed with his acting and he often chews the scenery as they say.

Camo

08-11-17, 02:06 PM

Ha, I know....but actually his scenes with little Natalie Wood were very touching. I was impressed with his acting and he often chews the scenery as they say.

I think the least intimidating i've ever seen Welles (in a film i mean not in interviews) is in F For Fake. Would be interesting seeing him playing a more kind character.

Actually scratch that it's probably the ferris wheel scene in The Third Man. Even though that's the most evil character i've seen him portray he's still utterly charming and someone you'd want to hang out with if he wasn't ya know basically Hitler haha.

seanc

08-11-17, 03:12 PM

Dude, watch The Godfather this weekend. I will buy you a Blu-ray if you don't love it.

Citizen Rules

08-11-17, 03:19 PM

Dude, watch The Godfather this weekend. I will buy you a Blu-ray if you don't love it.:)....It's on my short watch list, all three of the Godfathers actually. Hopefully in the next month or two. Though next up is another long overdue film, Wall-E.

Camo

08-11-17, 03:21 PM

WALL-E is so good, hope you like it. Got a feeling you'll like the first half and not like the second that much.

Definitely watch The Godfather Trilogy soon, i'm one of the few who loves the 3rd despite how much of a mess it is.

seanc

08-11-17, 03:22 PM

:)....It's on my short watch list, all three of the Godfathers actually. Hopefully in the next month or two. Though next up is another long overdue film, Wall-E.

Please don't tell me you are watching Wall-E over The Godfather. Imagine someone saying to you, "Yeah yeah Citizen Kane. First I need to catch up on my Looney Tunes". Come on Citizen, I am begging you over here.

Camo

08-11-17, 03:29 PM

Please don't tell me you are watching Wall-E over The Godfather. Imagine someone saying to you, "Yeah yeah Citizen Kane. First I need to catch up on my Looney Tunes". Come on Citizen, I am begging you over here.

Just got to quote this because i was actually about to say please don't go in with sky-high expectations. Sean like me loves it so it's hard not to just assume everyone will find it as excellent as us, going in expecting a masterpiece and it not absolutely delivering for you can affect how much you actually did enjoy it IMO. The Godfather has got to be #1 in those sorts of cases since it has such a high crossover between critics and audiences. A few people i've shown it to have came out saying it was terrible then rewatched it later and said it's not a favourite but they did enjoy it quite a bit. Think if you expect to be blown away and you aren't it can really mess with how you perceive the film, i know i've been guilty of this.

Camo

08-11-17, 03:33 PM

Also several Looney Tunes cartoons are better than Citizen Kane :D

Citizen Rules

08-11-17, 03:35 PM

Camo

08-11-17, 03:43 PM

I expect to like Wall-E pretty much. It was on the shelf on the library so I grabbed it. I know it's in GBGs Top 10.

You guys will probably remember me saying this, but...I did see The Godfather in 1972 as a little kid. But I remember nothing, so officially I haven't seen it. I don't expect to be amazed by it, but because it's a 1972 film I think the pacing-editing will be to my liking.

You guys can thank Mrs Rules for getting me to watch The Godfather:p I asked her which movies she wants to watch next...cause I'm like always picking these old film noirs...and she said the Godfather and Harry Potter series:cool: So yup I'll be watching both of them.

I actually reviewed the full Harry Potter Series recently in these three posts:

1 (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=1736364#post1736364)2 (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=1736369#post1736369)3 (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=1736372#post1736372)

Don't read them now coz there's spoilers but just in case you're interested when you do. Curious how much your opinions match up with mine as everyone seems to think different. Also curious how you see it without any exposure to the books, i only read the first four when i was a kid but i definitely think that affected my opinions.

seanc

08-11-17, 03:49 PM

Gideon58

08-11-17, 03:50 PM

I actually reviewed the full Harry Potter Series recently in these three posts:

1 (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=1736364#post1736364)2 (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=1736369#post1736369)3 (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=1736372#post1736372)

Don't read them now coz there's spoilers but just in case you're interested when you do. Curious how much your opinions match up with mine as everyone seems to think different. Also curious how you see it without any exposure to the books, i only read the first four when i was a kid but i definitely think that affected my opinions.

I have tried to watch Wall-E three times and have never gotten beyond 15 minutes...I saw The Godfather for the first time about a decade ago...it was very good, but I don't get what all the fuss was about ....Pacino was brilliant, but beyond that, I didn't find the film had a lot of re-watch appeal.

Camo

08-11-17, 03:53 PM

I have tried to watch Wall-E three times and have never gotten beyond 15 minutes...I saw The Godfather for the first time about a decade ago...it was very good, but I don't get what all the fuss was about ....Pacino was brilliant, but beyond that, I didn't find the film had a lot of re-watch appeal.

What was so off-putting about the first 15 minutes of Wall-E?

Between the ages of 12-18 i watched The Godfather and The Godfather Part II at least once a month, so for me it had immense rewatch appeal. And unlike alot of films i watched that much i never got sick of it, i've never had a bad viewing of The Godfather and i doubt i ever will. It's not for everyone though of course.

Gideon58

08-11-17, 03:54 PM

Camo

08-11-17, 03:55 PM

I get Camo's point but The Godfather will make you believe in the subjectivity of film. If film was an objective art form it would be in every cinephiles top 5, no doubt about it.

I may have talked myself into watching it this weekend.

I can never just watch the first, always the second as well and sometimes the third but not always.

I've read Mario Puzo's awful novel three times coz i love the film that much :laugh:

Gideon58

08-11-17, 03:56 PM

Gideon58

08-11-17, 03:57 PM

What was so off-putting about the first 15 minutes of Wall-E?

Between the ages of 12-18 i watched The Godfather and The Godfather Part II at least once a month, so for me it had immense rewatch appeal. And unlike alot of films i watched that much i never got sick of it, i've never had a bad viewing of The Godfather and i doubt i ever will. It's not for everyone though of course.

Can't think of anything specific, just didn't hold my attention...does there have to be an absolute specific exact reason a movie doesn't hold one's attention?

Gideon58

08-11-17, 04:02 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33361&stc=1&d=1502418801
Piranha (1978)

[FONT=Georgia]Director: Joe Dante
Writers: Richard Robinson & John Sayles (story)
Cast: Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies-Urich, Kevin McCarthy, Dick Miller
Genre: Thriller-Horror

You spent a lot of this review talking about what other people thought of the film and of things that happened during production. There was only one little paragraph where you talked about what YOU actually thought of the movie.

seanc

08-11-17, 04:02 PM

I can never just watch the first, always the second as well and sometimes the third but not always.

I've read Mario Puzo's awful novel three times coz i love the film that much :laugh:

I have never read the book and don't plan on it. Not as well versed as you either as I have only watched it three times. Part II twice and part III once. I didn't hate part III either but if I have the time to spare and feel like that type of film I can't imagine not throwing on the original.

Gideon58

08-11-17, 04:03 PM

Camo

08-11-17, 04:04 PM

Can't think of anything specific, just didn't hold my attention...does there have to be an absolute specific exact reason a movie doesn't hold one's attention?

Of course not. Why are you always so hostile and so resistant to anyone asking you anything?

That was a perfectly reasonable and politely worded question, an "I don't remember" would have sufficed, jesus christ.

Gideon58

08-11-17, 04:10 PM

Your question sounded like it was demanding a very specific answer which I didn't have. But this is not virgin territory for us, is it Camo?

Camo

08-11-17, 04:14 PM

I have never read the book and don't plan on it. Not as well versed as you either as I have only watched it three times. Part II twice and part III once. I didn't hate part III either but if I have the time to spare and feel like that type of film I can't imagine not throwing on the original.

Just ignore the book. I was quite obsessed with The Godfather at one point and used to discuss it on an Organized Crime message board...haha. The book goes into alot more (contradictory) detail so it was necessary to read it if i wanted to participate in half of the discussions. All you're missing is detailed descriptions of Sonny's manhood (what it's often referred to in the book) and his sex technique. The scene during the wedding where Tom catches Sonny with a bridesmaid that lasts about 30 seconds is like a chapter and a half in the book :laugh:

Camo

08-11-17, 04:20 PM

Your question sounded like it was demanding a very specific answer which I didn't have. But this is not virgin territory for us, is it Camo?

Huh? How should i have worded my question of what was your problem with the film? This is what i posted, what is demanding about it?:

What was so off-putting about the first 15 minutes of Wall-E?

I followed that up with posting my thoughts on the watchabllity of The Godfather then ended it with "it's not for everyone of course", coz i was made aware of why you didn't like it.

There's not a single thing that's demanding about that question, if anyone disagrees please post why. Should i have posted a detailed disclaimer before posting it rather than talking to you like an actual person? As i said an "i don't remember" or an "i just wasn't into it" would have been fine, i just thought there could have a reason you didn't like it which is why i inquired further.

Again, jesus christ.

Citizen Rules

08-11-17, 04:59 PM

Warren Beatty doesn't have a lot of misses as a filmmaker...will be adding this one to my watchlist.I thought Rules Don't Apply looked like a type of movie you might be interested in. There's some big name stars in supporting roles too. I'm interested in reading your review....I really found the script meandering and dazed, sort of like Beatty. I'm not a fan of Warren Beatty, I've never liked him. Though he was good in Bugsy.

You spent a lot of this review talking about what other people thought of the film and of things that happened during production. There was only one little paragraph where you talked about what YOU actually thought of the movie.To me the most interesting aspects of Piranha are the special effects of the fish...and the legacy of Roger Corman. It's a fun cheesy popcorn B movie, what else do we need to know:p

Citizen Rules

08-11-17, 11:57 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33403&stc=1&d=1502506393
Act of Violence (1949)

Director: Fred Zinnemann
Writers: Robert L. Richards (screenplay), Collier Young (story)
Cast: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Mary Astor
Genre: Film-Noir

"An embittered, vengeful POW (Robert Ryan) stalks his former commanding officer (Van Heflin) who betrayed his men's planned escape attempt from a Nazi prison camp."

I dug this. It was a deep film, deep like a bottomless well...The kind of well that once you fall in you can never escape from the darkness...That's how Van Heflin felt in the movie. \

He plays a former Army CO who has conspired with the Nazis while being held in a POW camp. His crime is betrayal, and as such there is no escape for him. Enforcing the darkness of this bottomless pit is Robert Ryan...the only POW who survived the Nazi's tortures.

Tortures that were inflicted because his CO (Van Heflin) conspired with the enemy. Now Robert Ryan seeks vengeance. He's tracked down Van Heflin and aims to kill him, even if it means he'll destroy the happy life Van has made with his newlywed wife.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33404&stc=1&d=1502506400
Mary Astor turns in one helluva performance as a hacked out prostitute, who sees the man on the run and picks him up for a trick.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33405&stc=1&d=1502506408

Robert Ryan is formidable as a man who has been wronged and is out to kill a traitor and former friend.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33406&stc=1&d=1502506430
Janet Leigh is very young here and yet still very skilled at delivering believable emotions as the confused and scared wife.

Sound good? It is! Hitch would have been proud to put his name on such a film. Not to say this is a Hitch wanna be, it's not....it's pure film noir with a thriller man hunt at it's core.

Waiting in the wings is the newlywed wife of Van Heflin played by a very young Janet Leigh. She doesn't know what her husband did in the WWII prisoner camp, and she can't understand the burden he carries....or why they must pick up and rush out of town at a moments notice.

Act of Violence is an exciting film. It's well done with stunning noir style cinematography The characters are multi dimensional and their motives seem real. That says a lot about the movie, as often characters in film noir are mere shadowy figures without much substance...here there's substance to spare.

rating_4

Captain Steel

08-12-17, 12:47 AM

Wow, Rules! I've never seen Act of Violence, but the description & your review is making me put it on the list (I love movies about guys trying to escape from Nazi prison camps!)

Van Heflin is an interesting figure - to me, he never looked happy - always shaken, worried, a little off. Or maybe that's just the impression I got from movies he was in. Didn't he play the sweating, unhappy, nervous guy who sets off the bomb on the plane in Airport (1970)?

gbgoodies

08-12-17, 03:06 AM

:)....It's on my short watch list, all three of the Godfathers actually. Hopefully in the next month or two. Though next up is another long overdue film, Wall-E.

I'm looking forward to your review of Wall-E. :)

gbgoodies

08-12-17, 03:08 AM

Gideon58

08-12-17, 12:10 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33067&stc=1&d=1501554135
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (2016)

Director: Mario Van Peebles
Writers: Cam Cannon, Richard Rionda Del Castro
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Tom Sizemore, Thomas Jane
Genre: Action, Drama, History

Van Peebles seems an unusual choice as director for something like this. Nice to see Cage back on the big screen and I LOVE James Remar so I will be adding it to my watchlist.

Gideon58

08-12-17, 12:18 PM

Was it the diner scene with the toast?

"You want me to hold the chicken?"

"Yeah, I want you to hold it between your knees."

Citizen Rules

08-12-17, 01:23 PM

Wow, Rules! I've never seen Act of Violence, but the description & your review is making me put it on the list (I love movies about guys trying to escape from Nazi prison camps!) There's no actual scenes of Nazi prison breaks, that has all happened a few years in the past, off screen.

Van Heflin is an interesting figure - to me, he never looked happy - always shaken, worried, a little off. Or maybe that's just the impression I got from movies he was in. Didn't he play the sweating, unhappy, nervous guy who sets off the bomb on the plane in Airport (1970)?Van Heflin is the man! I swear he's got one of the coolest names for an actor. Yeah I think you're right about Van being in Airport 1970...and he does seem nervy-sweaty all the time:shifty: which makes him a perfect casting choice for Act of Violence.

Van Peebles seems an unusual choice as director for something like this. Nice to see Cage back on the big screen and I LOVE James Remar so I will be adding it to my watchlist. When watching the movie, know that what you are seeing is factual, all the major happenings in the movie actually happened in real life. It's a very ironic and tragic story.

Gideon58

08-12-17, 02:20 PM

There's no actual scenes of Nazi prison breaks, that has all happened a few years in the past, off screen.

Van Heflin is the man! I swear he's got one of the coolest names for an actor. Yeah I think you're right about Van being in Airport 1970...and he does seem nervy-sweaty all the time:shifty: which makes him a perfect casting choice for Act of Violence.

When watching the movie, know that what you are seeing is factual, all the major happenings in the movie actually happened in real life. It's a very ironic and tragic story.

Yes, Heflin played the bomber DO Guerrero in Airport...he received an Oscar nomination for his performance.

Citizen Rules

08-12-17, 02:51 PM

Van Heflin was in a lot of great films. I just looked and was surprised at how many there were. Some of his greats, that I've seen are:

Westerns
3:10 to Yuma (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050086/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_23) 1957
Shane (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046303/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_32)1953

Film Noir
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038988/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_49) 1946 (with Barbara Stanwyck)
Possessed (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039725/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_47) 1947 (with Joan Crawford)
Black Widow (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046791/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_27) 1954 (with Ginger Rogers)

Musical
Presenting Lily Mars (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036275/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_52) 1943
Till the Clouds Roll By (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039035/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_48)1946

Dramas
Madame Bovary (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041615/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_41) 1949 (with Jennifer Jones)
Green Dolphin Street (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039437/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_46) 1947 (with Lana Turner)
East Side, West Side (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041327/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_40) 1946 (with Barbara Stanwyck)

Captain Steel

08-12-17, 03:14 PM

For some reason I thought Van Heflin was one of Hollywood's famous suicides - but I was wrong! (He died of a heart attack).

I discovered the reason for my confusion was not due to Airport (where Van Heflin blew himself up on the plane), but because he was in a version of The Three Musketeers (1948) with actor Gig Young - and it was Young who committed a murder/suicide.

Citizen Rules

08-13-17, 12:09 AM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33425&stc=1&d=1502593687

Mystery Street (1950)

Director: John Sturges
Writers: Sydney Boehm & Richard Brooks (screenplay), Leonard Spigelgass (story)
Cast: Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest, Bruce Bennett, Else Lancaster, Jan Sterling
Genre: Film-Noir

"A small town policeman is assisted by a Harvard professor when the skeletal remains of a pregnant prostitute turn up on a Massachusetts beach."

Don't you hate it when pregnant prostitutes get killed...I sure do. But you know it's a film noir so someone has to get knocked off. And so Jan Sterling who's a B-girl, takes a powder...which is too bad as she was aces in the first 15 minutes of the film.

That's why I'm talking about her, because even with the little screen time she had, she made an impact. If you recognize the name Jan Sterling, and most likely you don't...then let me say that she was in Ace in the Hole, the noir she's most famous for.

But once she's dead and buried, there are more actors that get a chance to stand out...and one of them is the detective, Ricardo Montalban.

Mystery Street is ahead of it's time as it gave the lead role to a Hispanic actor...and most importantly Ricardo gets to play a regular person and not some caricature. He's really good too as the gentile and even courteous detective hot on the trial of the killer.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33426&stc=1&d=1502593694

Mystery Street is a different kind of noir as for the first time it introduces to audiences forensic procedural detective work. In a way this reminds me of the TV show Quincy. The forensic work is given a lot of time and the film gets into specifics of modern crime solving.

This didn't really even feel like a noir, there's no femme fatales, it's more of an investigative film with an innocent man who was last seen with the B-girl. The man is believed to be guilty...and only forensics can determine the real killers identity. This all worked very well and it made for an interesting, one of a kind film.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33427&stc=1&d=1502593700

Else Lancaster has a plumb role as a likable but a tawdry landlady who withholds evidence that could clear an innocent man so that she can black mail the real killer. She's such a naughty landlady!

rating_3_5++

Joel

08-13-17, 12:29 AM

[CENTER]https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33425&stc=1&d=1502593687

[SIZE=5] Mystery Street [FONT=Georgia](1950)

Nice layout and tour of the film, Citizen! I'm keeping my eye on you, bro! Ha! Gonna need some help when I take the task of going back in time to when movies were fresher.

Captain Steel

08-13-17, 01:19 AM

I spy Ned Glass in one of the photos from Mystery Street (guy in a lab coat).
Wasn't sure if it was him, but checked IMDB to confirm.
He was best known as Doc (the shopkeeper) in West Side Story and TV shows Julia and Bridget Loves Bernie.

gbgoodies

08-13-17, 02:23 AM

Van Heflin was in a lot of great films. I just looked and was surprised at how many there were. Some of his greats, that I've seen are:

Film Noir
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038988/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_49) 1946 (with Barbara Stanwyck)

For anyone who's interested in watching it, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038988/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_49) 1946 (with Barbara Stanwyck) is scheduled to air on TCM tonight (Sunday Aug 13th) at 9:30 PM Eastern Time.

gbgoodies

08-13-17, 02:31 AM

rauldc14

08-13-17, 12:58 PM

I like Wall E much more than The Godfather.

Citizen Rules

08-13-17, 02:29 PM

For anyone who's interested in watching it, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038988/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_49) 1946 (with Barbara Stanwyck) is scheduled to air on TCM tonight (Sunday Aug 13th) at 9:30 PM Eastern Time. I wish I had TCM:( I've only seen that one once, but it's a good noir!

I hadn't heard of Mystery Street, but it sounds like an interesting movie. It's scheduled to air on TCM on Wednesday (Aug 16th) at 12:00 Midnight, (late Tuesday night), so I set my DVR to record it.

It's part of a marathon of Ricardo Montalban movies starting on Tuesday, so are any other Ricardo Montalban movies that you think might be worth watching?I was thinking you might like Mystery Street...The only things I remember Ricardo Montalban being in is Fantasy Island and Star Trek. So I just looked at IMDB and he was in two of the original Planet of the Apes movie series, and one of my favorite musicals Sweet Charity and in a decent western Across the Wide Missouri, which he had a small part as an Indian warrior.

I like Wall E much more than The Godfather.With any luck, I should be watching Wall E tonight:)

gbgoodies

08-14-17, 02:55 AM

I wish I had TCM:( I've only seen that one once, but it's a good noir!

I was thinking you might like Mystery Street...The only things I remember Ricardo Montalban being in is Fantasy Island and Star Trek. So I just looked at IMDB and he was in two of the original Planet of the Apes movie series, and one of my favorite musicals Sweet Charity and in a decent western Across the Wide Missouri, which he had a small part as an Indian warrior.

I didn't know that Ricardo Montalban was in any musicals until I saw some of the movies listed on TCM's schedule, so I'm looking forward to watching a few of them. Unfortunately, I don't think Sweet Charity was listed.

Citizen Rules

08-16-17, 12:32 AM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33499&stc=1&d=1502853330
WALL·E (2008)

Director: Andrew Stanton
Writers: Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter (story)
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Sci Fi
Studio: Disney Pixar

Everyone loves WALL-E, the critics loved it! The fans loved it!..It won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film and was nominated for five other Oscars as well. WALL-E has a very high user rating of 8.4 on IMDB. But why all this love?

Myself, I was amazed at parts of the movie. I loved certain aspects of it. I enjoyed it, it was fresh (mostly) and yet there were a few things that didn't work for me...and two aspects of the movie that I out right hated.

What did I love? and hate? and what impressed me? Keep reading.

I loved the...opening scenes on a post apocalyptic Earth. An Earth that seemed to be filled with trash and remnants of some strange future society now vanished...except for one lone robot.

I like WALL-E the robot. He was personable and charming with his childlike curiosity over the discarded junk of a dead society. He was a bit sad too. Seemingly all alone on a planet void of life. I was glad to see his cockroach friend. Not so much so that he wouldn't be all alone, but because one lone cockroach gave a glimmer of hope that the world had not become a barren planet void of all life.
I bet you didn't think of that?

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33503&stc=1&d=1502853390

World building...The movie did world building so well! Each frame of the film was full of detail. Even in the furthest corners of each frame I could see layers of someone's ideas that were put on the screen and yet if you blinked you'd miss them. I love the background sets of films and this movie was richly designed with animation that was a real joy to behold.

I also loved...the way the first scenes on Earth played out like an old Charlie Chaplin film with WALL-E as the little tramp exploring his world in a Chaplinesque type of way. Gosh I wish the film had went with that idea.

Hitchcock once said that the audience is always one step ahead of the film, anticipating what they will see next. I know I often image what the next scene will be like. I was disappointed when the film didn't turn out to be WALL-E going about his daily routines, finally discovering the mystery of what had happened to humanity. I suppose that would be too bleak for Disney, but oh well I can dream can't I.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33500&stc=1&d=1502853340

What I hated it...was Eve. I hated the way the robot looked. It had no charm and looked antiseptic and rather cheaply done too. It moved like a exile from the cartoon The Power Puff Girls, which I actually like but I sure didn't like Eve.

Even worse was Eve's voice, which instantly took me out of the film as it sounded like an actresses voice and not a robot. I bought into WALL-E sounding real as he was mechanical sounding but EVE sounded like a person duping their lines in the studio.

I really didn't care...about the romance between the two robots. That was cooked and I didn't buy it and didn't care. In fact the romance part was poorly done without much character building...lBy the time they leave Earth and head into space, I was thinking the film was a total loss.

But then it got real good!...when they got aboard the Axiom. Hot damn! Disney has some guts to do what they did with the humans. I couldn't believe they made their social commentary and satire, so blatant. I approve too! I'm talking of course about the humans who had grown grotesquely fat in the distant future after living a sedentary, self indulgent life abroad the Axiom.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33501&stc=1&d=1502853351
Some of my favorite scenes...Monty Python would've been proud of Disney.

Oh My God! I couldn't believe they showed these people chugging down sugary supersized drinks as they floated on their carts, because they were too fat to walk. Hey, I didn't say that, Disney did!

In one scene a portly human falls out of his cart and couldn't even get up, holly crap, that was bold of Disney! Will anybody take the social message of the film and improve their own life styles? I doubt it, but it was funny none the less.

I doubt anyone got this...but, the Axiom is not a space ship at all, it's a giant cruise ship...complete with a regenerative food buffet none the less, ha. I loved the reference to 'Gopher', I doubt the kiddies got it, but I sure did. I mean all one has to do is look at the ship and see it's a supersized cruise ship. They even had the big pool on the lido deck. So if you've ever been on a cruise you can appreciate just how priceless all that was. Loved this part of it!

But you know what else I hated?...The insidious cat-walling of the two robots saying over and over again E VAAA....WALLLL E....E VAAA... Repeat that a 100 times and I got space sick. I mean I literally got a headache over the dumbnumbdaness of it all.

I didn't really care about the bad robots vs the good robots...or the Captain vs the AutoPilot, nor did I care that they went back to Earth. I was actually hoping they would stay in space, cause Earth seemed better off without the Humans.

3.5++

Gideon58

08-16-17, 07:59 PM

Camo

08-16-17, 08:19 PM

What I hated it...was Eve. I hated the way the robot looked. It had no charm and looked antiseptic and rather cheaply done. It moved like a exile for the cartoon The Power Puff Girls, which I actually like, but I sure didn't like Eve.

Even worse was the voice, which instantly took me out of the film as it sounded like an actresses voice, and not a robot. I bought into WALL-E sounding real, as he was mechanical sounding, but EVE sounded like a person duping their lines in the studio.

Eve is a corporate built robot, completely makes sense it would look slick and boring without much passion behind it. Also Eve is a corporate built robot, it completely makes sense that the people who built it would give it an actress voice. What you wanted to see wouldn't make much sense within the story with how Buy-N-Large are portrayed.

Too bad you didn't like the romance, thought it was excellent and i loved the voices.

Can't believe you like the social commentary so much, that's easily the worst part of the film and i think the vast majority think that way from conversations i've had, reviews i've read, etc. As you said it's blatant it's like a sledgehammer and is a very jarring tonal shift, it's pretty dumb actually but i've gotten more used to it over the years. this part of your post did kinda sound like sarcasm so i've left this here haha

Glad to see you did like certain aspects of it and overall enjoyed it :)

rauldc14

08-16-17, 08:20 PM

Too low of a rating, but oh well, glad you liked.

seanc

08-16-17, 08:42 PM

About right for Wall-E. Now go watch Godfather or I will cut off your horse's head.

Camo

08-16-17, 08:48 PM

About right for Wall-E. Now go watch Godfather or I will cut off your horse's head.

Would've given a rep if you left out the first part, disappointed in you :bea:

Yeah definitely watch The Godfather soon though.

Citizen Rules

08-16-17, 11:09 PM

About right for Wall-E. Now go watch Godfather or I will cut off your horse's head.:p

Citizen Rules

08-17-17, 12:03 AM

Joel

08-17-17, 12:07 AM

Citizen Rules

08-17-17, 12:15 AM

You have a nice style, Citizen. I enjoy the way you talk lightly and direct about movies with no pretense or over the top technical jargon, like a know-it-all. I could learn a thing or two from you. Keep it up, buddy! Thanks Joel, I try to mix it up and use different writing styles on my reviews. I don't know if anyone ever notices that, but from time to time I do different types of things.

When the new Beguiled (2017) comes to DVD I'll have to watch it and compare it to the original. Have you seen either of the Beguilded?

Joel

08-17-17, 12:18 AM

Thanks Joel, I try to mix it up and use different writing styles on my reviews. I don't know if anyone ever notices that, but from time to time I do different types of things. When the new Beguiled (2017) comes to DVD I'll have to watch it and compare it to the original.

I have noticed you stray away from total uniformity, which is refreshing, and makes me forget you may've written another review I liked, too, based on your chameleon review style.

You're like The Red Hot Chili Peppers of movie reviews, except not nearly as obnoxious.

EDIT: I have not seen either. Maybe I will.

Citizen Rules

08-17-17, 12:25 AM

...

You're like The Red Hot Chili Peppers of movie reviews, except not nearly as obnoxious.
I like it! I don't understand it, but I like it:p Dinner time for me, have a good one!

gbgoodies

08-17-17, 02:31 AM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33499&stc=1&d=1502853330
WALL·E (2008)

Director: Andrew Stanton
Writers: Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter (story)
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Sci Fi
Studio: Disney Pixar
Rating: G
Length: 98 minutes

Everyone loves WALL-E, the critics loved it! the fans loved it!..it won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film and was nominated for five other Oscars as well. WALL-E has a very high user rating of 8.4 on IMDB. But why all this love?

Myself, I was amazed at parts of the movie, I loved certain aspects of it, I enjoyed it, it was fresh (mostly) and yet there were a few things that didn't work for me...and two aspects of the movie that I out right hated.

What did I love? and hate? and what impressed me? Keep reading.

I loved the...opening scenes on a post apocalyptic Earth. An Earth that seemed to be filled with trash and remnants of some strange future society, now vanished...except for one lone robot.

I like WALL-E the robot. He was personable and charming with his childlike curiosity over the discarded junk of a dead society. He was a bit sad too. Seemingly all alone on a planet void of life. I was so glad to see his cockroach friend. Not so much so that he wouldn't be all alone, but because one lone cockroach gave a glimmer of hope that the world had not become a barren planet void of all life.
I bet you didn't think of that did ya?

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33503&stc=1&d=1502853390

World building...The movie did world building, so well! Each frame of the film was full of detail. Even in the furthest corners of each frame, I could see layers of someone's ideas that were put on the screen and yet if you blinked you'd miss them. I love the background sets of films, and this movie was richly designed. The animation was a real joy to behold.

I also loved...the way the first scenes on Earth played out like an old Charlie Chaplin film with WALL-E as the little tramp exploring his world in a Chaplinesque type of way. Gosh I wish the film had went with that idea.

Hitchcock once said that the audience is always one step ahead of the film, anticipating what they will see next. I did this too, and I was disappointed when the film didn't turn out to be WALL-E going about his daily routines and in the process discovering the mystery of what had happened to humanity. I suppose that would be to bleak for Disney, but oh well I can dream can't I.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33500&stc=1&d=1502853340

What I hated it...was Eve. I hated the way the robot looked. It had no charm and looked antiseptic and rather cheaply done. It moved like a exile for the cartoon The Power Puff Girls, which I actually like, but I sure didn't like Eve.

Even worse was the voice, which instantly took me out of the film as it sounded like an actresses voice, and not a robot. I bought into WALL-E sounding real, as he was mechanical sounding, but EVE sounded like a person duping their lines in the studio.

I really didn't care...about the romance between the two robots. That was cooked, I didn't buy it, and I didn't care in fact it was poorly done without much character building..By the time they leave Earth and head into space, I was thinking the film was a total loss.

But then it got real good!...when the got aboard the Axiom. Hot damn! Disney has some guts to do what they did with the humans. I couldn't believe they made their social commentary and satire, so blatant. I approve too! I'm talking of course about the humans who had grown grotesquely fat in the distant future after living a sedentary, self indulgent life abroad the Axiom.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33501&stc=1&d=1502853351
Some of my favorite scenes...Monty Python would've been proud of Disney.

Oh My God! I couldn't believe they showed these people chugging down sugary supersized drinks as they floated on their carts, because they were to fat to walk. Hey, I didn't say that, Disney did!

In one scene a portly human falls out of his cart and couldn't even get up, wholly crap, that was bold of Disney to show. Will anybody take the social message of the film and improve their own life styles? I doubt it, but it was funny none the less.

I doubt anyone got this...but, the Axiom is not a space ship at all, it's a giant cruise ship...complete with a regenerative food buffet none the less, ha. I loved the reference to 'Gopher', I doubt the kiddies got it, but I sue did. I mean all one has to do is look at the ship and see it's a supersized cruise ship. They even had the big pool on the lido deck. So if you've ever been on a cruise you can appreciate just how priceless all that was. Loved this part of it!

But you know what I hated?...The insidious cat-walling of the two robots saying over and over again E VAAA....WALLLL E....E VAAA... Repeat that a 100 times and I got space sick. I mean I literally got a headache over the dumbnumbdaness of it.

I didn't really care about the bad robots vs the good robots...or the Captain vs the AutoPilot, nor did I care that they went back to Earth. I was actually hoping they would stay in space, cause Earth seemed better off without the Humans.

rating_3_5

I'm glad you finally watched WALL·E, but it's a shame that you didn't like it more, especially the romance part. I think the romance between the two robots is what makes this movie so special.

EVE was supposed to be much more advanced than WALL·E. She's like the newest, top-of-the-line robot, versus WALL·E being the equivalent of an old 286 computer.

Did you at least like M-O? I love the scene when WALL·E and M-O first meet, and M-O tries to clean WALL·E. :lol:

Citizen Rules

08-17-17, 04:01 AM

I'm glad you finally watched WALL·E, but it's a shame that you didn't like it more, especially the romance part. I think the romance between the two robots is what makes this movie so special.

EVE was supposed to be much more advanced than WALL·E. She's like the newest, top-of-the-line robot, versus WALL·E being the equivalent of an old 286 computer.

Did you at least like M-O? I love the scene when WALL·E and M-O first meet, and M-O tries to clean WALL·E. :lol:I get that EVE was more advanced, I mean she was sent from the Axiom that had been in space for 700 years and they had developed very advanced technology...I wasn't saying her look/design didn't make sense. I said I didn't like the way she was drawn/looked. It's an anesthetic/artistic thing.

Yes, I like M-O...I said this about him:
Seemingly all alone on a planet void of life. I was so glad to see his cockroach friend. Not so much so that he wouldn't be all alone, but because one lone cockroach gave a glimmer of hope that the world had not become a barren planet void of all life.
I bet you didn't think of that did ya? M-O was like Charlie Chaplin's dog in A Dog's Life.

Gideon58

08-17-17, 12:14 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33568&stc=1&d=1502938995
The Beguiled (1971)

[FONT=Georgia]Director: Don Siegel
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman
Rating: R
Genre: drama, thriller

Saw this one when I was a kid too...definitely time for a re-watch.

Gideon58

08-17-17, 07:48 PM

Citizen Rules

08-17-17, 07:52 PM

They've remade The Beguiled? Noooooooooooo!!! Normally I would agree, but the director is Sophia Coppola so I have high hopes. I will review it when it's available.

Gideon58

08-17-17, 07:54 PM

Normally I would agree, but the director is Sophia Coppola so I have high hopes. I will review it when it's available.

The fact that Sophia Coppola is the director doesn't make me feel any better.

MovieMeditation

08-17-17, 08:43 PM

gbgoodies

08-17-17, 11:10 PM

Did you at least like M-O? I love the scene when WALL·E and M-O first meet, and M-O tries to clean WALL·E. :lol:

Yes, I like M-O...I said this about him:

Seemingly all alone on a planet void of life. I was so glad to see his cockroach friend. Not so much so that he wouldn't be all alone, but because one lone cockroach gave a glimmer of hope that the world had not become a barren planet void of all life.
I bet you didn't think of that did ya?

M-O was like Charlie Chaplin's dog in A Dog's Life.

M-O isn't the cockroach.

The little Felix Unger-like cleaning robot in this clip is M-O:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a94qQYnEji8

Citizen Rules

08-17-17, 11:21 PM

M-O isn't the cockroach.

The little Felix Unger-like cleaning robot in this clip is M-O:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a94qQYnEji8 Oh...that's M-O...I thought the cleaning robot was pretty cool and had personality too for the small amount of time it was on the screen. It was funny how it wanted to clean the dirt tracks that WALL-E made and WALL-E kept making them. Yup I liked part.:) I actually liked most all of it, except I could have done without the romance part.

Citizen Rules

08-17-17, 11:23 PM

gbgoodies

08-17-17, 11:26 PM

Oh...that's M-O...I thought the cleaning robot was pretty cool and had personality too for the small amount of time it was on the screen. It was funny how it wanted to clean the dirt tracks that WALL-E made and WALL-E kept making them. Yup I liked part.:) I actually liked most all of it, except I could have done without the romance part.

I love M-O. I even have a little toy figure of him that works as a little vacuum to clean the dust off of my mousepad.

Citizen Rules

08-17-17, 11:29 PM

Shame about Wall-E, though you didn't hate it of course.

I think I got a review for Wall-E... It's probably not tagged, but you can search for it in the first post of my diary thread if you want. I kinda love it. ;)

I love M-O. I even have a little toy figure of him that works as a little vacuum to clean the dust off of my mousepad. Really? a little M-O vacuum cleaner that's cool, does it work well? Can you find a pic of one to post? I'm curious as to what it would look like.

I bet you've seen WALL-E more than once;) How many times?

gbgoodies

08-17-17, 11:46 PM

Really? a little M-O vacuum cleaner that's cool, does it work well? Can you find a pic of one to post? I'm curious as to what it would look like.

I bet you've seen WALL-E more than once;) How many times?

It doesn't work great, but his arms extend a little bit, so it works enough to get the little bits of dust off my mousepad.

Here's a pic:

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33601&stc=1&d=1503024227

I haven't counted how many times I've watched WALL-E, but I watch it about once every few months.

Citizen Rules

08-17-17, 11:48 PM

Ahh, thanks GBG! I image you being surrounded by cute toys from movies. Me, I'm surrounded by empty space, (don't ask):)

gbgoodies

08-17-17, 11:54 PM

Ahh, thanks GBG! I image you being surrounded by cute toys from movies. Me, I'm surrounded by empty space, (don't ask):)

There are little character figures all over my desk. There are some pictures of them somewhere here on MoFo, but I'm not sure what thread I posted them in.

gbgoodies

08-17-17, 11:57 PM

I found one. It was in the MoFo Desktop Thread, but I think there are more somewhere else on MoFo.

http://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=19949&stc=1&d=1423797719

Citizen Rules

08-17-17, 11:58 PM

There are little character figures all over my desk. There are some pictures of them somewhere here on MoFo, but I'm not sure what thread I posted them in.I actually have some cute animal erasers with adjustable legs that my wife bought me. They live at the base of my computer monitor, but they don't clean anything, instead they gather dust!

But I like em anyway.

Citizen Rules

08-18-17, 12:01 AM

I found one. It was in the MoFo Desktop Thread, but I think there are more somewhere else on MoFo.

http://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=19949&stc=1&d=1423797719👍 Oh my! that's more than I imaged, but I think it suits you. So now I have to ask, is the rest of your house full of cute critters?

gbgoodies

08-18-17, 12:01 AM

I actually have some cute animal erasers with adjustable legs that my wife bought me. They live at the base of my computer monitor, but they don't clean anything, instead they gather dust!

But I like em anyway.

Yeah, I know what you mean about the dust. We call these little figures "dust collectors", but it makes me happy to see them all over the place. :)

gbgoodies

08-18-17, 12:03 AM

👍 Oh my! that's more than I imaged, but I think it suits you. So now I have to ask, is the rest of your house full of cute critters?

Yeah, the whole house pretty much looks like my desk. There are little figures, toys, statues, snowglobes, plush dolls, etc. all over the place.

Citizen Rules

08-18-17, 12:08 AM

Yeah, the whole house pretty much looks like my desk. There are little figures, toys, statues, snowglobes, plush dolls, etc. all over the place. That sounds happy:)

Our one cat would go crazy in your house, he likes to jump onto desk or counters and then knocks off everything that's on them....and he does that one at a time. I'll be watching a movie and in the kitchen you hear a plop, then a minute another plop and before long everything is on the floor!

gbgoodies

08-18-17, 12:17 AM

That sounds happy:)

Our one cat would go crazy in your house, he likes to jump onto desk or counters and then knocks off everything that's on them....and he does that one at a time. I'll be watching a movie and in the kitchen you hear a plop, then a minute another plop and before long everything is on the floor!

I can't have a cat in the house because I'm allergic to cats, but I have a rabbit. He likes to hide under the furniture, so he doesn't knock anything over, but he likes to chew on things, so if we leave anything on the floor, it's his. :lol:

gbgoodies

08-18-17, 12:22 AM

👍 Oh my! that's more than I imaged, but I think it suits you. So now I have to ask, is the rest of your house full of cute critters?

To give you an idea, this is a small part of my collection:

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33602&stc=1&d=1503026521

Citizen Rules

08-18-17, 12:26 AM

Wow! right to the ceiling. You have a lot! I think that's cool if you love it:) What do your relatives say? (I like to keep my relatives OUT of my house, ha)

gbgoodies

08-18-17, 12:29 AM

Wow! right to the ceiling. You have a lot! I think that's cool if you love it:) What do your relatives say? (I like to keep my relatives OUT of my house, ha)

My Mom collects stuff too, so she understands and encourages my collections. My father-in-law also collects stuff, so he also understands, but my mother-in-law calls them "dust collectors".

Citizen Rules

08-18-17, 12:42 AM

It was nice visiting with you GBG:) It's dinner time for me, take care.

gbgoodies

08-18-17, 12:44 AM

It was nice visiting with you GBG:) It's dinner time for me, take care.

It's been fun. Enjoy your dinner, (and a movie, I hope). :)

Captain Steel

08-19-17, 12:20 AM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33568&stc=1&d=1502938995
The Beguiled (1971)

Director: Don Siegel
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman
Rating: R
Genre: drama, thriller

"While imprisoned in a Confederate girls' boarding school, an injured Union soldier cons his way into each of the lonely women's hearts, causing them to turn on each other, and eventually, on him."

This is one of those movies that I remember watching on TV in my childhood. I liked it, even if I didn't always get what was going on. Well, I watched this for the first time in like 30 years. You know what? it still works!

It's a stay-in-one-place film and I like those as they usually allow maximum character study and interaction. Even though this stars Clint Eastwood and is set during the Civil War, it's not a western. In fact it's more of a psychological thriller that twist and turns along the way as Clint who's a wounded Civil War Yank soldier ends up in a southern school girl plantation, where he's both guest and captive.

What I liked was the way that Clint's character lied, flirted and manipulated his way into the good graces of the young woman at the school. First he charms a 13 year old (Pamelyn Ferdin (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0272244/?ref_=tt_cl_t7)) who has a crush on him, then he sweet talks the young teacher (Elizabeth Hartman (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0366946/?ref_=tt_cl_t3)) who's shy but wanting to desperately be loved.

If that wasn't enough he also puts the moves on a young wild hussy (Jo Ann Harris (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0364860/?ref_=tt_cl_t4)), or did she put the moves on him? Finally there's the older woman with a mysterious and sordid past, (Geraldine Page (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0656183/?ref_=tt_cl_t2)), she's the lynch pin in this 5 way love triangle. The commotions he stirs up by being the only man the girls have seen in a long while all come to head in a very climactic ending.

Good stuff!
rating_4

Somehow I missed this review. (I wrote a review on it a while back somewhere on this site.)

But I discovered this film for the first time just a couple years ago and it blew me away. I had never even heard of it or about it before that (I'm not a huge Clint follower).

I couldn't believe some of the content for a movie from 1971 - then I realized that some of the content wouldn't even be allowed in a movie made today.

Your analysis about how this is not a western (or anything close) when we get into it is right on. I guess that's why I liked it so much. Plus we have Clint in a role far different from his typical "silent but noble anti-hero" roles of that era. What also blew me away was that little girl (from Star Trek, The Brady Bunch, Space Academy, etc.) sucking face with Clint! OMG! That somewhat disturbing scene could go down in movie history (if allowed)!

A very unique movie!

Citizen Rules

08-19-17, 12:28 AM

Somehow I missed this review. (I wrote a review on it a while back somewhere on this site.)

But I discovered this film for the first time just a couple years ago and it blew me away. I had never even heard of it or about it before that (I'm not a huge Clint follower).

I couldn't believe some of the content for a movie from 1971 - then I realized that some of the content wouldn't even be allowed in a movie made today.

Your analysis about how this is not a western (or anything close) when we get into it is right on. I guess that's why I liked it so much. Plus we have Clint in a role far different from his typical "silent but noble anti-hero" roles of that era. What also blew me away was that little girl (from Star Trek, The Brady Bunch, Space Academy, etc.) sucking face with Clint! OMG! That somewhat disturbing scene could go down in movie history (if allowed)!

A very unique movie! Yup, I was total shocked that Clint Eastwood kissed the 13 year old, yikes! Pamelyn Ferdin was really good in it. Oddly enough that little girl is just a bit older than you and me. That's mind boggling. I read that Clint had a fling with the 'hussy' Jo Ann Harris, who was pretty tawdry. But how about the dream sequence that the the older lady Geraliden Page had? not to mention the most shocking think with her brother.

A film ahead of it's time.

Captain Steel

08-19-17, 12:43 AM

Yup, I was total shocked that Clint Eastwood kissed the 13 year old, yikes! Pamelyn Ferdin was really good in it. Oddly enough that little girl is just a bit older than you and me. That's mind boggling. I read that Clint had a fling with the 'hussy' Jo Ann Harris, who was pretty tawdry. But how about the dream sequence that the the older lady Geraliden Page had? not to mention the most shocking think with her brother.

A film ahead of it's time.

For some reason I couldn't stand Pamelyn when I was a kid (maybe because it seemed like she was in every TV show ever made and then in all the commercials too!) ;)

But I never realized what a great actress she actually was until I saw this movie.

Such a deliciously twisted, taboo-ish, almost dirty little movie!

Captain Steel

08-19-17, 02:17 AM

Yah, i like all of behind Citizen Rules

I hear his behind is all right! :p

MovieMeditation

08-19-17, 06:25 AM

I'm still waiting on Godfather and Harry Potter reviews...

:p

cricket

08-19-17, 07:36 AM

I agree with you about The Beguiled not being a western, and I'm not sure what it's doing on the top 100 westerns list. Anyway, I love the movie and have been considering nominating it for a HoF, if only a couple people more haven't seen it.

Gideon58

08-19-17, 04:45 PM

For some reason I couldn't stand Pamelyn when I was a kid (maybe because it seemed like she was in every TV show ever made and then in all the commercials too!) ;)

But I never realized what a great actress she actually was until I saw this movie.

Such a deliciously twisted, taboo-ish, almost dirty little movie!

Yeah, Pamelyn Ferdin was everywhere in the 60's....did you know that she was the voice of Lucy in A Charlie Brown Christmas? She also played Felix's daughter, Edna on The Odd Couple.

Camo

08-19-17, 04:47 PM

Yup, I was total shocked that Clint Eastwood kissed the 13 year old, yikes!

What in the world? How had i not heard of this? The actress was 12 not even 13! Gross man :sick:

Captain Steel

08-19-17, 05:07 PM

What in the world? How had i not heard of this? The actress was 12 not even 13! Gross man :sick:

Seriously! That's why I said I didn't think this scene would even be allowed to be shot today.
I don't know why it's not more famous just based on its sheer taboo-ish-ness.

Camo

08-19-17, 05:18 PM

Seriously! That's why I said I didn't think this scene would even be allowed to be shot today.
I don't know why it's not more famous just based on its sheer taboo-ish-ness.

Yep, the film was released in 1971 and according to wiki Pamelyn Ferdin was born in 1959 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamelyn_Ferdin

Agreed, it's super weird that's not well known. Had heard of the film but didn't know about that. Then again i just found out the other day Jodorosky flat out raped an actress for El Topo :sick::

In regard to the filming of the rape scene, Jodorowsky said,
When I wanted to do the rape scene, I explained to [Mara Lorenzio] that I was going to hit her and rape her. There was no emotional relationship between us, because I had put a clause in all the women's contracts stating that they would not make love with the director. We had never talked to each other. I knew nothing about her. We went to the desert with two other people: the photographer and a technician. No one else. I said, 'I'm not going to rehearse. There will be only one take because it will be impossible to repeat. Roll the cameras only when I signal you to.' Then I told her, 'Pain does not hurt. Hit me.' And she hit me. I said, 'Harder.' And she started to hit me very hard, hard enough to break a rib... I ached for a week. After she had hit me long enough and hard enough to tire her, I said, 'Now it's my turn. Roll the cameras.' And I really... I really... I really raped her. And she screamed."[1]
He went on to state, "Then she told me that she had been raped before. You see, for me the character is frigid until El Topo rapes her. And she has an orgasm. That's why I show a stone phallus in that scene . . . which spouts water. She has an orgasm. She accepts the male sex. And that's what happened to Mara in reality. She really had that problem. Fantastic scene. A very, very strong scene."[1]

Captain Steel

08-19-17, 05:30 PM

Camo

08-19-17, 05:39 PM

It's interesting: most people remember the Kirk & Uhura kiss (first interracial kiss on TV) and whether some were up in arms about it or not, people still remember it almost as a turning point. But, as I said, I never even heard of this movie before a couple years ago, so that scene was extremely shocking - even moreso by modern sensibilities. As a society we've overcome issues with interracial contact, but we've become more stringent in our views over what is appropriate to do with children - even in an acting / on-screen situation.

Definitely. Who was that American game show host in i think the 70's who would kiss women on the lips? Hope you know what i'm talking about, it somehow became a big thing a few years back even though it was normal back then. Anyway i saw a thing a few months back about a Canadian game show host who started doing the exact same thing the American one was doing; kissing the female contestants on the lips. Except at some point he briefly hosted a kids show and he did the same goddang thing to the like 8 year old girls, on a popular show! The audience would laugh at the girls trying to avoid a kiss on the lips from this guy in like his mid 40's. I swear it was like i had entered The Twilight Zone. Makes you wonder what sort of behaviour we aren't paying much attention to that will look super gross in 40 years.

cricket

08-19-17, 05:45 PM

Richard Dawson?

Captain Steel

08-19-17, 05:46 PM

Definitely. Who was that American game show host in i think the 70's who would kiss women on the lips? Hope you know what i'm talking about, it somehow became a big thing a few years back even though it was normal back then. Anyway i saw a thing a few months back about a Canadian game show host who started doing the exact same thing the American one was doing; kissing the female contestants on the lips. Except at some point he briefly hosted a kids show and he did the same goddang thing to the like 8 year old girls, on a popular show! The audience would laugh at the girls trying to avoid a kiss on the lips from this guy in like his mid 40's. I swear it was like i had entered The Twilight Zone. Makes you wonder what sort of behaviour we aren't paying much attention to that will look super gross in 40 years.

Richard Dawson (he was British, btw.)

Ironically an actor playing Dawson is portrayed as giving advice to actor Bob Crane in the 2002 movie Auto Focus to be careful (as Crane was getting too involved in bizarre and extravagant sexual escapades - which some say led to his murder).

Now Auto Focus is an interesting (creepy, weird, disturbing, funny, sad) bio-pic.

Camo

08-19-17, 05:47 PM

Yeah him, thought he was American coz it was an American show. Never watched it.

cricket

08-19-17, 05:47 PM

Richard Dawson (he was British, btw.)

Ironically an actor playing Dawson is portrayed as giving advice to actor Bob Crane in the 2002 movie Auto Focus to be careful (as Crane was getting too involved in bizarre and extravagant sexual escapades - which some say led to his murder).

Now Auto Focus is an interesting (creepy, weird, disturbing, funny, sad) bio-pic.

I love Auto Focus.

The real Richard Dawson starred in The Running Man.

Camo

08-19-17, 05:48 PM

Oh my god:

Some viewers complained when he kissed the cheeks of non-white women,

Sorry for hijacking your thread, Citizen. That's enough reading about gross behaviour for today haha.

Captain Steel

08-19-17, 05:56 PM

I love Auto Focus.

The real Richard Dawson starred in The Running Man.

Yeah. I was a bit sickened when I first saw it... and then watched it AGAIN!
Hope this isn't a spoiler - but it was really interesting how the film starts out so upbeat and colorful: the music, the scenery, life in the 60's, an up and coming young actor, DJ, drummer, comedian with a great family making his way up the Hollywood ladder! And then it just gradually gets darker and darker. It's almost like the film you started watching is not the film you finish watching.

One of Willem DaFoe's best creepy performances.

Citizen Rules

08-19-17, 05:56 PM

I love Auto Focus.
I seen Auto Focus, all I remember is Bob Crane was a weird dude.

Sorry for hijacking your thread, Citizen. That's enough reading about gross behaviour for today haha. No worries!

Camo

08-19-17, 05:57 PM

One of Willem DaFoe's best creepy performances.

Dang, that's saying something! Dude is always creepy.

I like him for the record but he does always come across creepy.

Captain Steel

08-19-17, 06:02 PM

Dang, that's saying something! Dude is always creepy.

I like him for the record but he does always come across creepy.

That's why Auto Focus was perfect for him (or, him for it). He really raised the creep factor!
Funny, when I first started watching that movie I thought DaFoe's character, John Carpenter, was supposed to be the famous film director! (He's not - just has the same name.) ;)

Citizen Rules

08-19-17, 11:14 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33697&stc=1&d=1503194906
The Roaring Twenties (1939)

Director: Raoul Walsh
Writers: Jerry Wald & Richard Macaulay (screen play), Mark Hellinger (story)
Cast: James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Priscilla Lane, Gladys George, Jeffery Lynn, Frank McHugh
Genre: Drama

An epic recounting of the rise and fall of Prohibition during the 1920s, and of three men who meet during WWI and later become involved in the bootlegging of illegal booze.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33700&stc=1&d=1503194927

In 1939 Warner Brothers studio made The Roaring Twenties a film that pays homage to the early 1930's gangster films that made Warner Brothers a household name....and made stars out of two of their actors, who were famous for playing tough guy gangsters, James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart.

The movie is the pinnacle of what Warner Bros had learned from their many gangster films. It takes a broad sweeping style and tells an interwoven epic story, all done in semi-documentary form. Remember this is made in 1939 but is about the roaring 1920s, hence it's a period piece. Voice over narrative and mock news reels give the film the effect of authenticity, something which Warner Bros was famous for with their 'ripped from the news headlines' movie stories.

The movie really gives a blow by blow account of how prohibition came to be and gave rise to the manufacturing and disturbing of alcohol. We see bathtub gin being made, we see how it gets into the speakeasies, and how it leads to escalating crime and violence.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33701&stc=1&d=1503194934

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33698&stc=1&d=1503194912

Cagney is the lead and the story tells how these three young men who meet up in a foxhole during a bombing attack, dream of what they will do when they get back home. The scene is an important one as it foreshadows the personality and there forth the fate of the three men. Each man has quite a different path during the 1920s.

Bogart is second billed here. He had not reached top star status as he later would in 1941 with High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon. It's interesting to see Bogart in this early role, one can see his screen presence is already well developed...But he's playing a different character than we are use to seeing him as. Here he's a sniveling bastard, a real cut throat...and to the films credit they foreshadow that when Bogart lays into Jeffrey Lynn who plays the college boy nice guy at the start of the film. Bogart is good at being bad.

One of my favorite performances is Gladys George who plays the night club owner Panama Smith. Her character is modeled after the real life, colorful Texas Guinan, who ran a famous speakeasy in NYC during prohibition. Gladys George plays her character with a lot of heart and sadness too, as she's the ignored part of a love triangle.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33699&stc=1&d=1503194920

The other part of that triangle is Priscilla Lane who's a fresh faced kid that falls for Cagney. He gives her no notice until he runs into her several years later, and she's all grown up. Then he's smitten with her. She sings a couple of brief songs, and yes that's her singing. She was a singer before turning to acting.

The Roaring Twenties is not a shoot em up flick, it's a retrospective look at prohibition, done up big scale, with a talented cast of Warner Brothers stars.

rating_4

Captain Steel

08-19-17, 11:24 PM

This is interesting because I didn't know of any movies these two big name (Cagney & Bogart) were in together.

Citizen Rules

08-19-17, 11:27 PM

They were in three movies together, I seen that last night on a DVD extra. Now don't ask me what they were? I forgot already.

Citizen Rules

08-19-17, 11:32 PM

Captain Steel

08-20-17, 12:20 AM

I figured it out, these are the other two with both Cagney and Bogart.

Angels with Dirty Faces (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029870/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_40) 1938

The Oklahoma Kid (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031747/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_39) 1939

It's funny - Angels With Dirty Faces came to mind, but then I remembered Pat O'Brien (and the Bowery Boys of course) - I didn't know Bogey was in that! Haven't seen it since I was a kid.

Camo

08-20-17, 12:52 AM

It's funny - Angels With Dirty Faces came to mind, but then I remembered Pat O'Brien (and the Bowery Boys of course) - I didn't know Bogey was in that! Haven't seen it since I was a kid.

Have Angels With Dirty Faces coming up: https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=1736426#post1736426

Camo

08-20-17, 12:53 AM

:cool:

Captain Steel

08-20-17, 01:52 AM

Since Rules is one of the few people covering old movies - just found this on YouTube.
I never saw this one before. It's even a little too old for me to know who everybody is (but there is a scene with Cagney & Bogey together).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOFG_qmoH8I

SilentVamp

08-20-17, 02:35 AM

[CENTER][SIZE=5]https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33282&stc=1&d=1502157548
To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters (2016)

For fans of the Bronte's novels[/B]...I didn't find the script that engaging, though I did enjoy it, especially the authentic looking sets. The film makers went to great detail to get the clothing and the Brontë's house, which they duplicated in the countryside of Yorkshire England. The result is, you feel like your back in the middle of the 19th century.
I watched this when it was on TV earlier this year. I was really looking forward to it, but I was kind of just bored by it. I watched the whole thing, but it seemed to really lack something. Like you said, the script wasn't that engaging. There was just something - and I can't quite figure out what it is - that I just didn't care too much for with it. I do agree that the whole look of the film was very good. Awhile ago - out of sheer boredom - I used Google maps and took a "trip" around the actual Haworth. It is kind of interesting to see the parts that you picture to be the what inspired the novels. And then you see the parts with apartment buildings named after Thornfield Hall - or whichever one it is. The place is so obviously touristy. :rolleyes:

I guess I wanted more character development, but maybe that isn't fair as during the middle of the Victorian era, people were much more subdued then they are now, especially women didn't speak out.
I never really know why people have this impression that people were more subdued in the Victorian era. Maybe because they are British, perhaps? They definitely weren't that way in America. I don't really think they were too much like that in England either. I think the Brontes were much more subdued than a lot of other people, to be honest. I actually think the way the characters are developed is all you are really going to get when it comes to that family. By far, the only really interesting person, in my opinion, is Branwell. But I think his "troubles" help him out with that. What I thought was odd was how they introduced Arthur Bell Nicholls, but they didn't do much else with him (after all, Charlotte ended up marrying the man!). This story could've done with a much longer presentation. I was hoping for a two-night thing. Not what came across as something rushed and abridged.

Even though the film never said this, I'm of the impression that their brother was the impetus for Heathcliff (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathcliff_%28Wuthering_Heights%29) in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.
They've said that for years. They have even said there were parts of Mr. Rochester that was inspired by Branwell, but I think you see it a lot more in Heathcliff.

Even though this stars Clint Eastwood and is set during the Civil War, it's not a western.
I have to ask this because I really am curious. Do people think films set in the Civil War era are automatically westerns? I don't understand why they would.

I found one. It was in the MoFo Desktop Thread, but I think there are more somewhere else on MoFo.

http://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=19949&stc=1&d=1423797719
Good to see that someone else has more little figures and stuff on their desk than I do! :D

Since Rules is one of the few people covering old movies - just found this on YouTube.
I never saw this one before. It's even a little too old for me to know who everybody is (but there is a scene with Cagney & Bogey together).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOFG_qmoH8I
You never saw this before? They used to show this on TV all the time when I was a kid. I don't even have to watch it now to know that Clark Gable is the best thing about this cartoon. :D

Citizen Rules

08-21-17, 10:58 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33771&stc=1&d=1503366977
American Pastoral (2016)

Director: Ewan McGregor
Writers: Philip Roth (novel), John Romano (screenplay)
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly, Dakota Fanning, Hannah Nordberg, Valorie Curry
Genre: Crime Drama

I've never seen another movie with a similar subject matter. American Pastoral is a about a middle class family in the late 1960s who's only daughter has grown into a teen age militant Vietnam war protester. She's a wild child and someone in their small town has just blown up the post office, killing a man.

This movie has a lot of interesting premises and back stories, but director and lead actor Ewan McGregor just doesn't know how to wrap it up in any type of coherent story. I mean there's so many false starts that seem interesting, but yet go no where. The film is populated with colorful characters like Swede (Ewan McGregor) the All American college football hero who happens to be Jewish and marries a beauty queen Dawn, who's Catholic (Jennifer Connelly). There's a seen where Dawn must convince Swede's father to let them marry...they argue about how the children (who haven't even been born will be raised, Jewish or Catholic. A big deal is made out of all this religious conflict and yet nothing comes from it. And that's how the entire film rolls.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33773&stc=1&d=1503367005
The 12 year old daughter Merry in flash backs in played by
Hannah Nordberg who stutters. Much is made of the cause of her stuttering but once again it's an empty path.

The best part of the film is when Merry has grown up and it's the late 60's, that's where Dakota Fanning comes in and becomes one foul mouth hippie who hates everything including her parents. And this is where I felt let down, I wanted to see the film explore the militant counter culture that arose during the turbulent 60s, but everything Merry does is off screen. We don't get to learn much of anything.

American Pastoral is full of promise in the first half of the film, and full of let downs in the second half.

rating_2_5

Citizen Rules

08-22-17, 02:30 PM

....They've said that for years. They have even said there were parts of Mr. Rochester that was inspired by Branwell, but I think you see it a lot more in Heathcliff. Have you seen Devotion (1946) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038474/) ?
It's also about the lives of the Bronte's. It has an impressive cast:

Ida Lupino - Emily Brontë
Olivia de Havilland - Charlotte Brontë
Nancy Coleman - Anne Brontë
Arthur Kennedy - Branwell Brontë
Paul Henreid - Rev. Arthur Nicholls

I thought Arthur Kennedy as Branwell was a good choice. There's something weird about the movie though. Maybe I imaged this, but it seemed to be suggesting that Emily had a relationship with Branwell, that went beyond sisterly love. Or maybe the movie was just trying to say that Branwell was Heathcliff? It's a decent movie BTW.

I have to ask this because I really am curious. Do people think films set in the Civil War era are automatically westerns? I don't understand why they would.
Not me:p if it was set in the south it would be a 'southerns' (is that even a word?)...I think people just think Clint Eastwood, Civil War and expect it to be like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

gbgoodies

08-23-17, 03:01 AM

SilentVamp

08-23-17, 02:27 PM

Have you seen Devotion (1946) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038474/) ?
It's also about the lives of the Bronte's. It has an impressive cast:

Ida Lupino - Emily Brontë
Olivia de Havilland - Charlotte Brontë
Nancy Coleman - Anne Brontë
Arthur Kennedy - Branwell Brontë
Paul Henreid - Rev. Arthur Nicholls

I thought Arthur Kennedy as Branwell was a good choice. There's something weird about the movie though. Maybe I imaged this, but it seemed to be suggesting that Emily had a relationship with Branwell, that went beyond sisterly love. Or maybe the movie was just trying to say that Branwell was Heathcliff? It's a decent movie BTW.
I saw it for the first time - finally - 2 years ago, I think. I thought that was a pretty impressive cast, too. I don't really recall how they portrayed Emily and Branwell's relationship, but I know they were pretty close. All of them were, actually (although I sometimes think that Charlotte and Emily weren't the best of friends). One thing I remember from the film, that I wish hadn't been put in there (but this is Hollywood of course!) was the way they had Emily act over Arthur Nicholls. That never happened (unless Hollywood knows the truth ;)), and they made his relationship a little too passionate with Charlotte. Otherwise, I thought it was a pretty good film, actually.

Not me:p if it was set in the south it would be a 'southerns' (is that even a word?)...I think people just think Clint Eastwood, Civil War and expect it to be like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
I got it. :) I don't think "southerns" is a word, but I think I am going to use it from now. :yup: I have a habit of doing that. :) For example, when my voice teacher told me that her mother-in-law had sinus problems, the mother-in-law would tell people that she had "the sinus". So whenever mine are acting up, or I have an infection, I just say "I'm OK, but I have the sinus right now", or "I am suffering so from the sinus". :D

Citizen Rules

08-23-17, 10:59 PM

I just finished watching Mystery Street. I agree that it didn't really feel like a noir. It felt more like a mystery. I thought they would have done a bit more with the forensics, but I don't know how much they actually knew about forensics back then. I liked Ricardo Montalban as the detective, and I thought it was a very interesting movie. I'm glad you liked it GBG. I thought Ricardo Montalban was very good in it too.

I saw it for the first time - finally - 2 years ago, I think. I thought that was a pretty impressive cast, too. I don't really recall how they portrayed Emily and Branwell's relationship, but I know they were pretty close. All of them were, actually (although I sometimes think that Charlotte and Emily weren't the best of friends). One thing I remember from the film, that I wish hadn't been put in there (but this is Hollywood of course!) was the way they had Emily act over Arthur Nicholls. That never happened (unless Hollywood knows the truth ;)), and they made his relationship a little too passionate with Charlotte. Otherwise, I thought it was a pretty good film, actually. I'm not surprised you've seen it, you seem to be really well watched especially about the Bronte's work. I have two more movies regarding the Bronte's to watch. Hopefully I can review them. Maybe you haven't seen them yet? We'll see.

Citizen Rules

08-23-17, 11:28 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33888&stc=1&d=1503541619https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33889&stc=1&d=1503541625
The Outsiders (1983)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writers: Kathleen Rowell(screenplay), S.E. Hinton (novel)
Cast: C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio
Genre: Drama

The Outsiders is a novel that every high school kid use to have to read as part of English/Literature class. I don't know about today, but in past years every teenager had read this novel. The novel itself was written by a high school girl, Susan Hinton who published her smash hit book under the name of S.E. Hinton.

The Outsiders, the movie is about a rivalry between two social status gangs. The poor kids are the Greasers, and the rich kids are the Socs (socialites). For the most part they insult one another and that's it. But after a group of Socs go after two young Greasers and one of the Socs gets killed in a fight, things get intense...and the two greasers must skip out of town.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33886&stc=1&d=1503541601

Francis Ford Coppola, directed this heartfelt film and shot on location in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the same time he was shooting The Outsiders he also shot Rumble Fish, another film based on a S.E. Hinton novel.

The Outsiders is the more accessible of the two films and that's thanks to a strong and personable cast of young upcoming actors that included: C. Thomas Howell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Thomas_Howell), Rob Lowe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Lowe), Emilio Estevez (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Estevez), Matt Dillon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Dillon), Tom Cruise (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Cruise), Patrick Swayze (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Swayze), Ralph Macchio (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Macchio), and Diane Lane (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Lane).

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=33885&stc=1&d=1503541593

The strong part of the film is the story of the two youngest Greasers who go on the run after one of them kills a Soc in self defense. Their scenes in the old abandoned church along with Matt Dillion's wiser/older guidance, was very touching. Even more touching was the hospital scene that focuses on the one boy who gets badly burned.

They don't make them like this anymore.

rating_4

gbgoodies

08-24-17, 12:02 AM

Gideon58

08-24-17, 05:47 PM

It's been a long time since I watched The Outsiders, but I liked it a lot when I was younger. I love the Stevie Wonder song "Stay Gold" during the opening credits of the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-w-ZP0kQvY

Did you know that there's an updated version of the movie with about 20 minutes of extra footage? (It was released somewhere around 2005.) I think it's called something like "The Complete Novel" version. (I haven't seen the longer version yet, but I want to see it.)

Love, love, love this movie...one of the few movies based on a book where I actually read the book...it will be making the list on which I'm currently working.

Gideon58

08-24-17, 05:51 PM

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American Pastoral (2016)

[FONT=Georgia]Director: Ewan McGregor
Writers: Philip Roth (novel), John Romano (screenplay)
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly, Dakota Fanning, Hannah Nordberg, Valorie Curry
Genre: Crime Drama

Your review wasn't exactly a glowing recommendation, but it did pique my curiosity...I might give this one a try, despite the fact that I can't stand Dakota Fanning.

Gideon58

08-24-17, 05:54 PM

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The Roaring Twenties (1939)

[FONT=Georgia] Director: Raoul Walsh
Writers: Jerry Wald & Richard Macaulay (screen play), Mark Hellinger (story)
Cast: James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Priscilla Lane, Gladys George, Jeffery Lynn, Frank McHugh
Genre: Drama

This sounds great...I think I'm going to add it to my watchlist after I've finished my Gene Tierney obsession.

SilentVamp

08-24-17, 07:04 PM

I'm not surprised you've seen it, you seem to be really well watched especially about the Bronte's work. I have two more movies regarding the Bronte's to watch. Hopefully I can review them. Maybe you haven't seen them yet? We'll see.
Two more movies? I wonder what they are now. :D I know there was a miniseries that I saw about them. I can't recall if it is from the 70's or very early 80's (I want to say the 70's - I think it was called Brontes of Haworth, or something like that). Otherwise, I will have to wait and see what these movies are that you are talking about. :)

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[LEFT]The Outsiders (1983)
I just watched this movie the other day. :D I hadn't seen it years. Probably not since I was a kid because my brother loved this movie. So he watched it a lot.

They don't make them like this anymore.
Unfortunately that is so true, isn't it?

MovieMeditation

08-24-17, 07:09 PM

I didnt like the outsiders when I saw it. I saw the directors cut... dont know if that means anything...

Citizen Rules

08-25-17, 12:06 AM

It's been a long time since I watched The Outsiders, but I liked it a lot when I was younger. I love the Stevie Wonder song "Stay Gold" during the opening credits of the movie.

Did you know that there's an updated version of the movie with about 20 minutes of extra footage? (It was released somewhere around 2005.) I think it's called something like "The Complete Novel" version. (I haven't seen the longer version yet, but I want to see it.) I hate to say this, but I hated that Stevie Wonder song, I actually even said that out loud when the movie started. It's actually not a bad song, but the rhythm doesn't set the tone for the movie.

I didn't know there was an updated version with 20 extra minutes. I'll have to see that, as it felt like the film needed to be longer with more exploration of the characters.

Citizen Rules

08-25-17, 12:12 AM

Your review of American Pastoral wasn't exactly a glowing recommendation, but it did pique my curiosity...I might give this one a try, despite the fact that I can't stand Dakota Fanning. If it helps Dakota Fanning has only brief scenes in the movie. She's pretty good at being a 60s radical. The subject matter is very unique and that alone makes it worth watching. This is one I'd love to read your thoughts on.

This sounds great...I think I'm going to add it to my watchlist after I've finished my Gene Tierney obsession.They were just talking about Gene Tierney over at the Female Beauty We Appreciate thread...She's become the patron saint of MoFo:)

Citizen Rules

08-25-17, 12:13 AM

I didnt like the outsiders when I saw it. I saw the directors cut... dont know if that means anything...Two words MM...Rumble Fish...it's an artsy film by Francis Ford Coppola, you might dig it.

Citizen Rules

08-25-17, 12:15 AM

Two more movies? I wonder what they are now. :D I know there was a miniseries that I saw about them. I can't recall if it is from the 70's or very early 80's (I want to say the 70's - I think it was called Brontes of Haworth, or something like that). Otherwise, I will have to wait and see what these movies are that you are talking about. :) You know your Brontes:p...indeed one of the movies I have is Brontes of Haworth. The other which I watched last night was a BBC production of Anne Bronte's novel, it was called The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Captain Steel

08-25-17, 12:19 AM

gbgoodies

08-25-17, 12:19 AM

I think there are four movies based on S.E. Hinton books. You've watched two of them. Are you going to watch the other two movies? (I think they're Tex and That was Then, This is Now.)

Citizen Rules

08-25-17, 12:25 AM

I think there are four movies based on S.E. Hinton books. You've watched two of them. Are you going to watch the other two movies? (I think they're Tex and That was Then, This is Now.) I did not know that, but I'm glad you told me as I
I'm on a Bronte kick. I'll have to watch them. I think I've seen all the version of Jane Eyre and most of the Wuthering Heights movies.

The Bronte sisters:

http://www.unmuseum.org/apat2.jpg Ha, that made me laugh:D

SilentVamp

08-26-17, 06:18 PM

You know your Brontes:p...indeed one of the movies I have is Brontes of Haworth. The other which I watched last night was a BBC production of Anne Bronte's novel, it was called The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Are you planning on reviewing The Tenant of Wildfell Hall? If not, what did you think about it? I've seen it twice. I read the novel long before I ever saw that, though. But I always wish they would film Anne Bronte's Agnes Grey. Between the two, my preference is for AG, but I know most of the rest of the world who has read these stories like TTOWH better. Something my mother once pointed out to me (the one time she watched it) is that the two lead characters have the same names as my grandparents (her parents). In all this time, I never realized that until she said something. But of all the name combinations, Gilbert and Helen just doesn't seem like something anybody would come up with. :)

I did not know that, but I'm glad you told me as I
I'm on a Bronte kick. I'll have to watch them. I think I've seen all the version of Jane Eyre and most of the Wuthering Heights movies.
Have you given that most recent version of Wuthering Heights a try yet? If you remember (because I do :D), I kind of sort of ranted to you on how much I didn't like it. It is the one from 2011. And I forget (if we even ever talked about it! :)), but did you see that version of Jane Eyre from 1934 with Colin Clive? It is only like an hour long. Can you ever imagine this story being told in an hour?! It kills me when they finish it before 2 hours. They always leave things out. So imagine how that version is!

Citizen Rules

08-26-17, 10:49 PM

Are you planning on reviewing The Tenant of Wildfell Hall? If not, what did you think about it? Sure why not, I'll review it. Coming up within the hour:)

Have you given that most recent version of Wuthering Heights a try yet? If you remember (because I do :D), I kind of sort of ranted to you on how much I didn't like it. It is the one from 2011. I don't think I've seen that one, at least the photos from the movie didn't look familiar. Is Heathclift played by a black actor or Hispanic actor? If so, then nope I haven't seen that version.

And I forget (if we even ever talked about it! :)), but did you see that version of Jane Eyre from 1934 with Colin Clive?
It is only like an hour long. Can you ever imagine this story being told in an hour?! It kills me when they finish it before 2 hours. They always leave things out. So imagine how that version is! Yup we talked about it, I think I said Jane Eyre was played by Colin Clive and Rochester by Virginia Bruce. It's crazy with a platinum blonde Jane who's very forward and a meek Rochester. It was fun as a stand alone movie, but of course like you said, it didn't begin to cover the novel.

Citizen Rules

08-26-17, 11:18 PM

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The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996)

Director: Mike Barker
Writers: Janet Barron & David Nokes(screenplay), Anne Brontë (novel)
Cast: Toby Stephens, Tara Fitzgerald, Rupert Graves
Genre: British TV Mini-Series, Classic literary novel
Length: 2 hours 39 minutes

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is based on a 1848 novel by Anne Bronte, who along with her two sisters Charlotte and Emily wrote some of the greatest 19th century's fictional literature. Originally this was shown on BBC as a 3 part mini series in 1996.

I thought Anne Bronte's novel made an excellent backbone for a movie. And I thought the overall story that starts as a mystery with a woman and her child, in the middle of the night running away from a manor house, made for an intriguing mystery. That mystery was maintained when she arrives and lives in near seclusion in a run down farm house in the Yorkshire countryside.

I didn't like the character of Helen at first, as she was so rude and negative about everything. Then of course that adds to the mystery as to what had happened to make her that way.

I liked how her negative standoffish behavior caused the friendly country folk to begin to mistrust her. Then coupled with the constant secret visits by a young man, we see the neighbors engaging in scandalous rumors about her, which resulted in her being shunned. Those were very powerful scenes because everybody can relate to being in her shoes.

When the movie does a flashback to the beginning of her strange story, I really got interested. We learn that when she was 18 years old she had met a dashing young man of title and wealth and he was smitten with her and had to have her...that's when the film really takes off.

The actor who played Lord Huntingdon (Rupert Graves) was so good at being so bad, that you could both like and totally hate him at the same time. He was the stand out character/actor for me. In some ways the movie's entire story turns on his character.

Like other dashing men in the Bronte sisters novels, Huntingdon is larger than life, a self indulgent with a fatalistic streak that ultimately brings them to ruin with drink and debauchery.

The Tentant of Wildfell Hall, it's really quiet a modern story of spousal abuse and escape.

rating_3_5

Citizen Rules

08-27-17, 10:40 PM

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The People V. OJ Simpson (2016)
American Crime Story series

I wasn't sure if I wanted to revisit those infamous events that brought an American football hero to court on charge of first degree murder of his wife and her friend.

I watched most of these events happening live on my TV. Who could forget OJ running from the cops in his White Ford Bronco? Or the resulting trial that seemed to take forever. And who could forget the circus media atmosphere that ushered in the era of newstainment.

The OJ trial was the first and last time I got involved in watching a criminal news story. So why in the hell would I want to watch The People V. OJ Simpson and relive all that? Well, after reading Gideon's enthusiastic review of this, I decided to give it a go.

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With the first segment, I was hooked! This folks is fine film making. I don't have the words or time to describe every single segment of it, as it was originally broadcast in 20 episodes. That's a lot of OJ, and it's a good thing too, as it takes that much time to get ones head around the social political events that drove the trial in the direction it took.

What I really, really liked about this is it doesn't take sides and say OJ was framed, or OJ was guilty as hell, it shows us the events starting with the discovery of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Coleman's bodies, then OJ's questioning and initial arrest, then the infamous Bronco chase. The re-staging of OJ and his football friend 'AC' Al Collins escape down the California freeway has to be see to believe.

But this film is not about seeing murders or car chases...this is all about the behind the trial scenes. We see both the 'dream team' OJ's defense team and how these giant egos thrash each other jocking to be top dog lawyer. And we see the overly confident prosecution team and their ever increasing troubles, which ultimately will lead to OJ being freed.

The actors who portray these people were nothing short of astounding! They all deserve a shout out, but I'll just hit on those that made the most impact on me.

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Marcia Clark (Sarah Paulson) and Christopher Darden (Sterling K. Brown) have a look of defeat in their eyes.

Sarah Paulson (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005299/?ref_=tt_cl_t2) as state prosecutor Marcia Clark. Did she look like Marcia or what? Even more importantly she channeled Marcia, I thought she was the real person. I loved her character as it gave us a personal insight into the prosecution's side of the trial and the frustrations they faced. She won a Emmy for Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

Sterling K. Brown (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1250791/?ref_=tt_cl_t5) as assistant state prosecutor Christopher Darden. In many ways his portrayal gives us, the viewer a very humanistic connection to what could have been a film all about legalize. I could easily relate to this nice guy who ends up facing an uphill battle, both because the defense will stop at nothing to break his will and because as a black man, he's being called an 'Uncle Tom' by the other black lawyer, Johnnie Cochran who plays on race loyalty to make Darden feel guilty about prosecuting another black man. Powerful stuff, and this film has the balls not to back off from exploration of all the dirty tricks that were done to get OJ off. He was Emmy nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.

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Johnnie Cochran (Courtney B. Vance), delivers his summary like a fiery preacher.

The actor who played golden mouthed Johnnie Cochran, lit up the screen with one helluva a performance. If the real Johnnie Cochran was alive he'd probably hire the actor to do his trials for him, he was that good! And what a powerful character: he was smart, he was savvy, he was manipulative and by a stroke of genius he came up with the defense that would get OJ off the hook for the two murders. This is where the term playing the 'race card' first came into the vernacular. And once again the film does not shy away from exploring the tense situation in L.A. that had resulted in the acquittal of four white policemen caught on tape brutally beating a black man Rodney King, who was not even resisting them. The acquittal of the four white police officers then ignite the LA riots. With the racially super charged atmosphere that existed in LA, Cochran milked it for all it's worth. He was Emmy nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

Kudos to the actors who played Judge Lance Ito. When I first saw him, I said to myself 'he looks more like judge Ito, than the real judge did!' I loved all the scenes with Kenneth Choi (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0158846/?ref_=tt_cl_t6) who plays the calm and collective Judge Ito. He gives balance to the craziness.

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Robert Shapiro (John Travolta), Robert Kardashian (David Schwimmer) and OJ Simpson (Cuba Gooding Jr.)

With all of this seriousness the film has lighter moments as we see these powerful people on the dream team act like babies. John Travolta (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000237/?ref_=tt_cl_t4) as the defense lawyer Robert Shapiro had me in stitches! I don't know if the real Robert Shapiro was so whimsical, but Travolta rocks his role. He was Emmy nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

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The Goldman family members, react to the shocking conclusion to the trial.

I'd like to thank the film makers for including a few brief but poigant scenes with the Goldmans, (the father and sister of the murdered Ron Goldman). Their utter grief helps to remind us this isn't all about show and powerful lawyers. The scenes with the Goldmans haught us with the real brutality of what was done to two people, Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman.

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OJ Simpson (Cuba Gooding Jr) trying on the infamous bloody leather gloves that were found at the crime scene.

This is amazing stuff and I verily told you a fraction of it!

rating_5

Citizen Rules

08-27-17, 11:06 PM

I'm dedicating my review of The People V. OJ Simpson to my fellow reviewer and friend Gideon58 If it wasn't for Gideon's enthusiasm about this show, I would not have watched it.

Gideon58

08-28-17, 10:47 AM

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The People V. OJ Simpson (2016)
[B]American Crime Story series

Fabulous review Citizen! So glad you decided to commit to the time it took to watch this series and I'm thrilled that you enjoyed it as much as I did. I love when I recommend something and learn that someone actually enjoyed it. Excellent review, buddy and I agree with every word.

Velvet

08-28-17, 10:57 AM

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The Yearling (1946)

Director: Clarence Brown
Writers: Paul Osborn (screen play), Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (novel)
Cast: Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, Claude Jarman Jr.
Genre: Classic Literature Drama

A boy persuades his parents to allow him to adopt a young deer, but what will happen if the deer misbehaves?

The Yearling, the classic 1946 movie based on the classic Pulitzer Prize winning novel of 1938 by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Based on the authors own experiences living in a poor area of remote Florida during the Depression of the 1930's. The Yearling tells the story of a poor family living hand to mouth. The father (Gregory Peck) is a gentle soul who dolts on his only surviving child (Claude Jarman Jr.). The father waits his son to be able to enjoy what few simple pleasures their hard life can give. His mother (Jane Wyman) on the other hand is distant as they loss of her other children, has hardened her heart and she's afraid to reach out and love the lonely boy, in case he doesn't survive the hardships of the times. When the father shoots a doe deer and discovers it had a fawn he allows the boy to raise the baby deer as a pet.

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The movie does a lot of things right, it shows a young boy coming of age as his pet fawn deer grows to a yearling and begins destroying the families crops which they need to survive. We get a good look at a time gone by as we see the poor substances farmers who live in poverty in the wilds of the Florida scrub lands.

Trivia:

"...32 trained animals were used, including five fawns. The fawns needed to be replaced as they aged in order to conform to the description of the title animal. The fawn found by Jody, as he pulls back the foliage, was three days old and had bee&n rescued from a forest fire. Other animals used in filming included 126 deer, 9 black bears, 37 dogs, 53 wild birds, 17 buzzards, 1 owl, 83 chickens, 36 pigs, 8 rattlesnakes, 18 squirrels, 4 horses & 17 raccoons. The quantity of "critters" total is 441."

Shot in stunning Technicolor, the film takes us on location to Florida as well as other outdoor spots in California which serve as the Florida countryside. The result is we see real trees and real animals and the film feels real.

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I thought Gregory Peck did a great job at being a kind heartened father as did Jane Wyman in her more distance role. The child actor too, really become the character and that then made the movie work.

The Yearling is a family classic that still works today.

rating_3_5

Watched this just a little bit before that review was published. Good movie :)

Citizen Rules

08-28-17, 12:44 PM

Watched this just a little bit before that review was published. Good movie :) If you liked The Yearling, you might like a movie about the author and her time living in the wilderness of Florida, that's where she encountered the real family that had the yearling deer.

Cross Creek (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1740784#post1740784) (1983)

Velvet

08-28-17, 12:45 PM

If you liked The Yearling, you might like a movie about the author and her time living in the wilderness of Florida, that's where she encountered the real family that had the yearling deer.

Cross Creek (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1740784#post1740784) (1983)

Think I'll watch this :cool:

MovieMeditation

08-28-17, 12:58 PM

I really wanna watch that OJ show. You really pushed it up my watchlist, CR!

But I'm still waiting on that Harry Potter and Godfather review segment. :p

Citizen Rules

08-28-17, 01:26 PM

I really wanna watch that OJ show. You really pushed it up my watchlist, CR!

But I'm still waiting on that Harry Potter and Godfather review segment. :p Ha, I'll get to those...I've gotten side tracked in my cinema journey and I'm on a William Castle (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0145336/) kick at the moment. Castle did lots of B horror films in the 50s-60s including House on Haunted Hill.

Yeah, the OJ show, I seen Gideon review it and he really liked it. I read some other reviews and the critics loved it and it won a slew of awards too. Yet I resisted watching it, but I'm so glad I finally did. There's soooo much more than just the tidbits that I touched on in my review. I mean there's this whole segment on the jury and those poor guys where sequestered for 265 days! Held up in hotel rooms. That's nuts. So much more too, I just didn't want to write a super long review.

I tell ya what MM, you watch that OJ thing and you will know so much more about race relations in America, both then and now. And you will have a new understanding of the American society. Oh and it's damn entertaining and done intelligently too.

Citizen Rules

08-28-17, 10:44 PM

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1984 (1984)
Director: Michael Radford
Writers: George Orwell(novel), Michael Radford (screenplay_
Cast: John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi

Nineteen Eighty-Four, was the original title of this British made dystopian sci fi film based on the famous novel of the same name by renowned sci fi writer George Orwell. The movie is better known today as 1984 and that's also the year it was made. The director Michael Radford also wrote the screenplay.

1984 is about a bleak future where a totalitarian government spoon feeds false information into the waiting minds of it's beleaguered citizens. In this society is a man who's job is to, re-write history and reshape it to what the government wants. Personal contact outside of government controlled food dispensaries is forbidden. In the seamy underbelly of this oppressive society is a revolution. Those who would join it face execution if caught.

This is an idealist film, it's not about high tech, it's about ideas. It's about the human condition. It's about the control that government and big corporations exert over people. It's about how those in power rewrite history to make themselves look justified in their actions.

I found all of this thought provoking. It stirred emotions and even though the original novel was written back in 1949 and was inspired by events in Nazi Germany, the truths that the movie holds is advent for all of mankind. This is topical!

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John Hurt was nothing short of amazing as a down trodden, meek man who wanted to have a little more out of life, that the state would allow. The road his choices lead him down, are a reflection of the battle between humanist vs authoritarian.

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Richard Burton this was Burton's last movie role and it's a good one too. He's well suited to play a man who understands John Hurt's character and is even sympathetic in his brutalities. Burton has both sympathy and control with his stage trained voice and mannerisms. Together Burton and Hurt make for a powerful film.

rating_4+

Citizen Rules

08-28-17, 11:27 PM

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House on Haunted Hill (William Castle, 1959)

Director: William Castle
Writer: Robb White
Cast: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Elisha Cook Jr.
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Length: 75 minutes

Premise: An eccentric millionaire whose past four wives have died under mysterious circumstances, decides to give a haunted house party for his new young & beautiful wife. She's number 5. The millionaire invites five people who he's never met to the party. He promises each $10,000 if they will spend the entire night locked in the haunted house. One catch, there has been seven real murders in that house before, and it's suppose to be haunted.

This was great fun! Vincent Price is so perfect for the role of a genteel but foreboding millionaire, with charm in his smile and deviousness in his eyes. What more could you want out of this classic B budget flick from one of the greats in B horrors, William Castle.

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But wait there's more. There's a mystery. Are these people alone or is someone else in the house, an evil ghost maybe? One of them just got knocked in the head! Then there's a huge vat of acid in the floor, don't fall into that! The acid pit strips the flesh off the bones in seconds leaving only a skeleton to rise out of the caustic fluid. I loved the dead rat being acidified, yikes!

And the guest are nutty too, especially Elisha Cook Jr. who believes they're all doomed to be killed by the ghost and starts drinking to calm his nerves. Oh did I mention the guest all receive a little present at the start of their stay in the mansion? Each gets a loaded pistol, fun for all!

House on Haunted Hill has a creepy vibe, really cool looking sets and it has Vincent Price doing what he does best!

rating_3_5++

cricket

08-28-17, 11:47 PM

Vincent Price seems to make everything fun.

gbgoodies

08-29-17, 01:13 AM

House on Haunted Hill (William Castle, 1959)

Director: William Castle
Writer: Robb White
Cast: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Elisha Cook Jr.
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Length: 75 minutes

House on Haunted Hill has a creepy vibe, really cool looking sets and it has Vincent Price doing what he does best!

rating_3_5++

I watched House on Haunted Hill for the 1950's list because Vincent Price is in it. I liked it more than I thought I would, but I didn't love it.

Chypmunk

08-29-17, 03:57 AM

Just about any movie with VP in it is worth a gander imo, House on Haunted Hill is a solid 'sixnarf' film for me.

Good to see you back watching normal fillums again (i.e. ones I've actually seen) ;)

Camo

08-29-17, 05:40 AM

Two words MM...Rumble Fish...it's an artsy film by Francis Ford Coppola, you might dig it.

Yeah, i quite like The Outsiders but i preferred Rumble Fish even though it was more of a mess.

Camo

08-29-17, 05:43 AM

Gave up on The People vs OJ after two episodes. I'm that familiar with the story that it was mostly boring to me and i wasn't on board with some of the casting.

The House On Haunted Hill is fun.

Beatle

08-29-17, 10:46 AM

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Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)

Episode IV - A New Hope
Director: George Lucas
Writer: George Lucas
Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy

Right off the bat I should say, I'm not a big time Star Wars fan. I haven't seen the last Star Wars movies, I don't collect the figures and Star Wars was never a big part of my childhood. I did see the first one, Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) when it was first released in theaters. My parents took me, but we waited until it had been in the theater for six months, as my dad didn't want to stand in line. Guess what? We get to the theater and the line is around the block! It must have taken hours to get inside. When the movie started I was blown away! No one had seen a film quite like that before.

So recently I watched the first Star Wars A New Hope (1977) because I wanted to watch the series in order. I had only seen it three times before, the last was over 15 years ago. I was excited to watch it and saved it for pizza night...I hate to say this...but I was bored by it. It felt like a movie made for 10 years old, with all the cutesy stuff and little Muppet creatures, and the movie was deliberately made in a wink-wink, camp style that I hadn't remembered. As a kid I loved it, but as an adult I didn't.

Now don't get upset because.... when I say they acted campy and it seemed aimed at kids, I mean, that's the style of film making the director intended it to be. Keep reading I'll explain....

My reaction to Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) after not watching it for 15 years was, OMG! George Lucas did a modern version of the old Flash Gordon 1930s movie serials.

Everything from the evil emperor who wants to conquer the universe, to the heroic everyday guy, to the beautiful princess and even talking robots was inspired by Flash Gordon. The acting and the tone is the same campy nod-to-the-audience that they did in the Flash Gordon serials. I hadn't realized that before.,,,Even the scene transition swipes are 1930s Flash Gordon style. You know, when it changes from one scene to another and a swipe sweeps the old scene away. So that's all genius and Lucas totally succeed at that.

Hans Solo was my favorite character and his character made the first one good, as Leia and Luke weren't developed enough. I liked all the main characters but C3PO drove me nuts in the first one. I kept hoping he would implode like the Death Star but no such luck.

rating_3_5

I always enjoy when someone actually criticizes this the most overrated movie in history. Actually, I think it's even the most overrated thing ever period. Because this is definately "the movie of all time".

I agree with everything you said. :) I'd even give it the exactly same rating.

I only have to praise again Alec Guinness who again played a character to perfection. Obi - Wan Kenobi is my favorite character anyway because he's the most normal one. And let's not forget about the genius John Williams score, his best, and one of the best pieces of music I've ever heard Imagine what would it look like without it. I couldn't give it more than 2/5, the entire 2 going to Alec

Beatle

08-29-17, 11:01 AM

http://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=27540&stc=1&d=1477188134
2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Stanley Kubrick(screenplay), Arthur C. Clarke(novel &screenplay)
Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
Genre: Sci-Fi Mystery

This film needs no introduction! As everyone has heard of it.
In 1963 master film maker Stanley Kubrick released his genius on a sci-fi short story by another genius, Arthur C. Clarke. The result took the next 4 years to complete, but when this film hit the theaters in 1968...the movie industry would never be the same.

Initial audience reaction was less than stellar. At the film's premier over 200 people got up and left the theater during the movie... including Rock Hudson who's reported to have said, "Will someone tell me what the hell this is about?"...Rock might not have 'got it', and either did the critics who panned 2001...But the film became an instant cult hit with the younger generation, some who reportedly did drugs while viewing the movie for the ultimate space trip.

My thoughts: I hadn't seen this film in decades and I remembered nothing of it, so in a way it was like watching it for the first time. I did have the advantage that I had read the novel so I did know what was going on, in what could be otherwise a very confusing movie.

I was blown away by the sheer beauty of the film! The sets look so real, and this was done in the mid 1960's even before men had landed on the moon. The attention to detail is amazing as in the special effects. Maybe most impressive was: for the first time in sci fi movies a director had taken great effort to get the sciences right. And with all of Kubrick's films, the cinematography is skillfully done. A very artistic, beautiful movie, a visual triumph. The soundtrack too which uses classical music, is the stuff of legends. The Blue Danube is used for the second act which takes place in Earth orbit and at the moon. This classic waltz by Johann Strauss sets the mood for the second act, with its lightness and beauty, thus making the vision of man's journey into space seem ethereal. This balances well with the darker soundtrack that comes towards the films climax....Then there's the famous 2001 theme song, which everyone knows.

The film does slow down in the third act, when the astronauts are on the way to Jupiter, the movie slows to a crawl. Each scene is done slowly. I understand that Kubrick is giving us the feel for space, where task are tedious and take time...slow.

This is truly one of the all time great achievement in movie making.
rating_4_5

Again. Thank God there's intelligence on MoFo. I agree with everything you said. :)

The third act imo has to be slow because we get introduced to evil incarnate HAL.

Gideon58

08-29-17, 11:08 AM

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House on Haunted Hill (William Castle, 1959)

[LEFT][SIZE=3]Director: William Castle
Writer: Robb White
Cast: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Elisha Cook Jr.
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Length: 75 minutes

Not my favorite genre, but enjoyed reading your review and might check it out.

Gideon58

08-29-17, 11:10 AM

Citizen Rules

08-29-17, 01:52 PM

Gave up on The People vs OJ after two episodes. I'm that familiar with the story that it was mostly boring to me and i wasn't on board with some of the casting... What casting choices weren't you on board with?

I never thought of Cuba Gooding Jr as OJ. And at first that bugged me. But as I watched more of the show I came to think it was good (for me) that I didn't think of him as the real OJ as that way I could watch his story without having too much negative preconceived thoughts.

At first I thought both John Travolta and David Schwimmer, were wrong for the parts, but after watching them for a bit, I really enjoyed both of their characters. Travolta as Shapiro cracked me up and with a show this long we need a little lightness...and Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian gave me shivers as OJs best friend and staunchest believer begins to look at the evidence and believes OJ was the murder. I got the most emotional impact out of Schwimmer's performance as Kardashian. Though I could have done without the scenes with the Kardashian kids, that was one complaint about the show I did have.

I was a bit bored during part of one segment, the Bronco chase down the freeway. It was beautiful reacted but it went on for a long time that I got a little a angsty, especially after listing to OJ whine for 20 minutes! But then again, the real chase went on and on and on...so I understand an entire segment being dedicated to that. But with the third segment I was hooked, so much I feel like watching it again.

It's too bad you didn't finish the show, I think you might have liked it if you watched more of it. I would say the best part of it is episode 3 and on. How far did you watch?

Camo

08-29-17, 02:00 PM

It's too bad you didn't finish the show, I think you might have liked it if you watched more of it. I would say the best part of it is episode 3 and on. How far did you watch?

First two episodes. And Travolta and Schwimmer were my biggest problems. Cuba surprised me as O.J in the first two episodes, i think he did a good job. Also think Cochran was well casted. Selma Blair as well but that's more i don't like her as an actress than problems with the casting.

gbgoodies

08-29-17, 02:04 PM

Gave up on The People vs OJ after two episodes. I'm that familiar with the story that it was mostly boring to me and i wasn't on board with some of the casting.

What casting choices weren't you on board with?

I never thought of Cuba Gooding Jr as OJ. And at first that bugged me. But as I watched more of the show I came to think it was good (for me) that I didn't think of him as the real OJ, who I can't stand. So Cuba as a different type of OJ allowed me not to respond negatively to him.

I think Cuba Gooding Jr did a good job, it's mostly he doesn't look like OJ, for one he's much smaller.

At first I thought both John Travolta and David Schwimmer, were wrong for the parts, but after watching them for a bit, I really enjoyed both of their characters. Travolta as Shapiro cracked me up and Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian gave me shivers as OJs best friend and staunchest believer, begins to look at the evidence and believes OJ was the murder.

I was a bit bored during part of one segment, the Bronco chase down the freeway. It was beautiful reacted but it went on for a long time that I got a little a angsty, especially after listing to OJ whine for 20 minutes! But with the third segment I was hooked, so much I feel like watching it again.

It's too bad you didn't finish the show, I think you might have liked it if you watched more of it. I would say the best part of it is episode 3 and on. How far did you watch?

I agree with Camo that some of the casting choices just didn't work for me, but I didn't give up on the show.

CR, like you, I eventually got used to Cuba Gooding Jr. as OJ, but I just never liked John Travolta and David Schwimmer in their roles. David Schwimmer didn't bother me as much, but John Travolta was so annoying that I hated watching him in this.

They should have cast less recognizable actors in those roles because they were too recognizable as themselves, so they weren't believable as OJ, Robert Shapiro, and Robert Kardashian. If they had cast less recognizable people in those key roles, it would have been easier to believe they were the people they were playing.

Citizen Rules

08-29-17, 02:09 PM

First two episodes. And Travolta and Schwimmer were my biggest problems. Cuba surprised me as O.J in the first two episodes, i think he did a good job. Also think Cochran was well casted. Selma Blair as well but that's more i don't like her as an actress than problems with the casting. I'll be honest, I also thought after the 2nd episode that I didn't want to finish the show, but my wife did:p So we watched it and like I said after the third episode I was getting hooked and by the 5th I was totally into it. So much I stayed up late each night to keep watching more, it became addicting!

If you ever take one suggestion from me, I really suggest you try the 3rd & 4th episodes and see what you think.

Selma Blair, I had to look her up, I didn't remember who that was (Karadasian's wife). She has a pretty small role in the show. The bulk of the show focuses on the trial and the two teams of lawyers.

Camo

08-29-17, 02:10 PM

They should have cast less recognizable actors in those roles because they were too recognizable as themselves, so they weren't believable as OJ, Robert Shapiro, and Robert Kardashian. If they had cast less recognizable people in those key roles, it would have been easier to believe they were the people they were playing.

This is exactly what i said. Both the actors and the characters are too well known since it was only about 20 years ago for it not to be weird.

This was my post about it when i watched the first two episodes - https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=1460658#post1460658

I stopped then and am not really interested in watching any more. I'm just too familiar with the case.

Citizen Rules

08-29-17, 02:12 PM

Just about any movie with VP in it is worth a gander imo, House on Haunted Hill is a solid 'sixnarf' film for me.

Good to see you back watching normal fillums again (i.e. ones I've actually seen) ;):D You'll in luck Chyp, I'm about to watch a whole bunch of William Castle B horror films. I think there's like 6 of his movies on the DVD I have coming from my library. I'm really looking forward to The Tingler (1959) have you seen that one?

gbgoodies

08-29-17, 02:13 PM

This is exactly what i said. Both the actors and the characters are too well known since it was only about 20 years ago for it not to be weird.

This was my post about it when i watched the first two episodes - https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=1460658#post1460658

I stopped then and am not really interested in watching any more. I'm just too familiar with the case.

I probably hadn't watched it yet when you posted that, so I didn't read it back then, but I agree 100%.

Chypmunk

08-29-17, 02:21 PM

:D You'll in luck Chyp, I'm about to watch a whole bunch of William Castle B horror films. I think there's like 6 of his movies on the DVD I have coming from my library. I'm really looking forward to The Tingler (1959) have you seen that one?
From the synopsis I know I have but like so many films from the 60s and earlier it would have been literally decades ago. If you plan to watch his 13 Ghosts I've definitely never seen that one though I did have it lined up at one point for perhaps viewing for the 50s list.

Citizen Rules

08-29-17, 03:18 PM

From the synopsis I know I have but like so many films from the 60s and earlier it would have been literally decades ago. If you plan to watch his 13 Ghosts I've definitely never seen that one though I did have it lined up at one point for perhaps viewing for the 50s list.
Yup 13 Ghost is one of them.

The William Castle Film Collection DVD:
13 Frightened Girls
13 Ghosts
Homicidal
Strait-Jacket
The Old Dark House
Mr. Sardonicus
The Tingler
Zotz!

Have you seen any of those? I've seen Homicidal and Strait Jacket before.

Chypmunk

08-29-17, 03:19 PM

Citizen Rules

08-29-17, 03:24 PM

Haha, actually it was for the 60s list ...... see, not lying about the dreadful memory :D Memory? what memory?:D You and me both:p

Chypmunk

08-29-17, 03:26 PM

Have you seen any of those? I've seen Homicidal and Strait Jacket before.
The William Castle Film Collection DVD:
13 Frightened Girls - Definitely not
13 Ghosts - Nearly :D
Homicidal - Not recognising the synopsis
Strait-Jacket - I think I have but many moons since passed
The Old Dark House - Definitely not
Mr. Sardonicus - Definitely not
The Tingler - Yes but not for many moons
Zotz! - Thankfully not from the look of it :D

Look forward to seeing your ratings for them.

Chypmunk

08-29-17, 03:26 PM

Memory? what memory?:D You and me both:p
Sorry - do I know you?

cricket

09-02-17, 09:46 AM

It's been a few days since I last checked in so I was looking forward to some new reviews, but nothing! Slacker!

Citizen Rules

09-02-17, 01:55 PM

It's been a few days since I last checked in so I was looking forward to some new reviews, but nothing! Slacker! Ha!...remember when everybody was talking about being real busy with work in the 14th and I said I had lots of time for MoFo....I spoke to soon! I've had lots of work and very little free time. I've seen at least 4 movies since my last review. Geez I wish I could bang them out quicker.:p

Citizen Rules

09-02-17, 11:28 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34319&stc=1&d=1504405097
1984 (Michael Anderson,1956)

Director: Michael Anderson
Writers: George Orwell (novel), William Templeton (screenplay)
Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Michael Redgrave, Jan Sterling
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi

A loose adaptation of George Orwell's novel about a futuristic totalitarian government in which a man, whose job is rewriting history, risk forbidden love with a woman and decides to join a revolution.

After watching the powerful 1984 made in 1984, I expected this earlier 1956 movie version of the classic sci-fi novel by George Orwell to be silly. But it wasn't. The movie's ending is not in line with the novel, but the film still does a lot right and is worth watching. In a way this earlier version made the vision that Orwell had clearer in my head, than the 1984 version of this story.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34320&stc=1&d=1504405104

Edmond O'Brien is perfectly cast as the 'clog in the wheel' Winston Smith who want's to make a difference by joining a very risky revolution against the totalitarian government. I found his character to be accessible and so I could relate to this very fictional story of a time in the future when people are utterly controlled by the media through the government. Hmmm, I could see this actually coming to fruition.

Jan Sterling is the girl who temps him with her love. She was OK her, but I have enjoyed her performances more in the film noirs that she was so well suited for. But on the other hand that deadly allure works for her here too.

This is actually the third of four times Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty Four was put to film. The first version was a made for American TV in 1953. Followed by a British TV movie on BBC in 1954. Then this Hollywood movie version in 1956...followed by the most renown version with John Hurt in 1984...Oh there's also a musical version, I kid you not! made for American TV in 2006.

3

Citizen Rules

09-03-17, 12:05 AM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34322&stc=1&d=1504406961
Guest Wife (Sam Wood, 1945)

Director: Sam Wood
Writers: Bruce Manning & John Klorer (screenplay)
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, Dick Foran
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Renowned director Sam Wood, who gave us such greats as:

A Night at the Opera (1935)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)

Gives us this little known comedy about a wife (Claudette Corbert) who must poise as her husband's best friends wife. All in order for the friend to keep his job. It seems his boss likes family men, so the free wheeling journalist (Don Amache) has concocted a hair brain story about how his best friend's wife (who he's never actually met) is his wife, and they have been living in India....It's a comedy after all!

Back in the 1940's the mistaken wife, faux partner swap, was a hot theme for Hollywood movies working under the Hays Production Code, which acted as a censor to keep the movies tame. By having a woman play another man's wife the film makers can put them into all sorts of tongue and cheek positions without risking the wrath of the Production Code. Of course this is the 1940's so nothing actually ever happens. But oh, is it eluded too in an innocent way.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34321&stc=1&d=1504406955
Claudette Colbert is a pip with her newfangled hat. She's the best reason to watch this near miss comedy.

Unlike most movies Guest Wife was not based on a novel or a play, and it shows...the jokes are few and usually fall on their face.

Claudette Colbert is charming as ever though she gets little to work with here. Her husband is played by Dick Foran who's just OK and doesn't add much to the comedy. And surprisingly the usually funny and witty Don Amache doesn't get many good comic lines either.

All in all this forgotten film isn't much to get excited about.

rating_3_5

Citizen Rules

09-04-17, 08:42 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34392&stc=1&d=1504567541
BEN-HUR (1959)

Director: William Wyler
Writers: Lew Wallace (novel), Karl Tunberg (screenplay)
Cast: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet
Genre: Epic Historical Drama Adventure
Length: 3hours 32minutes
Film Process: MGM Camera 65 anamorphic, 70 mm print, wide screen 2.76:1 ratio

Winner of 11 Academy Awards
Best Picture - Producer Sam Zimbalist
Best Director - William Wyler
Best Actor Leading Role - Charlton Heston
Best Actor Supporting Role - Hugh Griffith
Best Color Cinematography - Robert Surtees
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color
Best Costume Design, Color
Best Sound
Best Film Editing
Best Effects, Special Effects
Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture

An epic tale of Roman occupied Judea, set in AD 26. Against the backdrop of the Jewish uprising and the Roman reprisals on the revolutionaries, is the very personal tale of a wealthy Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and his families fall from prosperity to prison. This comes at the hands of his childhood friend, who's now grown into adult hood and is the Roman Tribune Messala (Stephen Boyd). What results is a clash between the Roman will to dominate and the Jewish people's longing to be free.

After refusing the Roman Tribune's demands for the names of the Jewish dissidents, Judah Ben-Hur's family is imprisoned and he's sold into slavery as a rower on a Roman Galley ship....Only the sheer will power of Ben-Hur to survive so that he might save his family from rotting in a Roman prision, keeps him alive.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34396&stc=1&d=1504567577

Ben-Hur is an intelligently written, interwoven story that to it's credit always kept me interested in what was happening next. I've seen other big budget sword & sandal movies and some of them are nothing much more than sword play and a pretty girl in distress....But not here, not Ben-Hur.

This movie starts off with a brief prologue about a foretold event occurring in Bethlehem, the birth of a Jewish king. Then boom! we're 26 years into the future, that's AD26 and the film gets real interesting, real fast. I expected this movie to drag in parts, but it never did. That's because the 3 1/2 hour run time is used to tell a multi-story epic, that includes both intense action and tense emotional scenes, to drama and romance (not much romance so don't let that scare you away) to loyalty and revenge...and yes even spirituality and morality. It's a big movie and it's up to the challenge.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34395&stc=1&d=1504567566

Part of the story arch is Ben-Hur's accidental meeting of Jesus of Nazareth. The film interestingly enough decides not to show Jesus's face, nor does he speak...and we don't see him from the biblical standpoint of performing miracles. Instead we see how his presences in the region has given the oppressed Jews hope, which infuriates the Romans causing even more bloodshed. What little we learn of Jesus in this time period is through the eyes of his followers. Overall this is tertiary story line.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34397&stc=1&d=1504567596

Filmed on location in different parts of Italy and Lebanon, the film looks authentic...No CG here, it's not needed! Don't believe me, just watch the chariot race to see something amazing, something you won't see in a modern CG movie....a real chariot race done on film and in a grand scale! This was so impressive I stopped the DVD and re watched parts of the race, trying to figure out how they did these dangerous stunts. Even if a film maker today was going to do a real staging of the big chariot race, the stuntmen union wouldn't allow many of these stunts to be performed, too risky!

Ben-Hur is top notch, from the direction, to the casting, to he sets and costumes and locations, but mostly it's the heartfelt story that works today just as well as it did back in 1959.

rating_5

Citizen Rules

09-04-17, 10:57 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34411&stc=1&d=1504575756

The Brontës of Haworth
Director: Marc Miller
Cast:
Alfred Burke - Reverend Patrick Brontë
Vickery Turner - Charlotte Brontë
Ann Penfold - Anne Brontë
Rosemary McHale - Emily Brontë
Michael Kitchen - Branwell Brontë
Genre: British TV Mini-Series (1973)
Length: Five, 1hour episodes

The Brontës of Haworth is a rarely seen British TV mini series of five parts, equaling 5 hours in total run time. It's based on the book The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) by Elizabeth Gaskell. Also it appears to be based on actual letters by the Bronte sisters, as at times a narrator reads from what sounds like real personal letters. I don't know if these letters were included in the 1857 book? or if they are in addition to it? Either way they help give a look into the minds of this fascinating family.

This was made in 1973 by ITV Yorkshire Television and as such it doesn't have a big budget or a splashy look like a BBC production would have. That's OK, as the film was actually filmed in the Bronte's Haworth parsonage.

What the film lacks in production cost it makes up for in heart! I've never seen another movie about the Brontes that make them seem so real. Including the recent release To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=1750442#post1750442) (2016).

I believe this 1973 production to be much more factual than the aforementioned 2016 movie and one gets a feeling of what the Bronte's family life was really like. With 5 hours to tell the story, the Bronte sisters world view and mindset became apparent in a way other films lacked. That's important as most viewers will want to know the hows and whys of the rural life that helped shaped the Brontes.

I found all the actors to be quite accessible. For the first time I think I understand what troubles brewed in Bramwell's mind, and it wasn't caused by alcohol and drug abuse, those were his attempts at a cure.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34412&stc=1&d=1504575764

If you can get pass the spartan sets (remember we are seeing scenes filmed at the real Bronte's home), and get pass the less than perfect video quality, you will be rewarding with a look into the Brontes life.

rating_4

rauldc14

09-04-17, 11:03 PM

Guest Wife, now that looks good. I love Colbert.

And I have needed to rewatch Been Hurt for quite awhile. I really like that film and it's definitely top 25 fifties film for me.

Citizen Rules

09-04-17, 11:07 PM

Guest Wife, now that looks good. I love Colbert.

And I have needed to rewatch Been Hurt for quite awhile. I really like that film and it's definitely top 25 fifties film for me.Been Hurt? Ive never heard of that. I tried to look it up but couldn't see anything. Is it known by another name?

rauldc14

09-04-17, 11:08 PM

Ben Hur, damn you Steve Jobs!!!!

Citizen Rules

09-04-17, 11:10 PM

Ben Hur, damn you Steve Jobs!!!!Ha! I should have figured that out:p I thought you meant some obscure Claudette Colbert film.

Gideon58

09-05-17, 11:37 AM

This is exactly what i said. Both the actors and the characters are too well known since it was only about 20 years ago for it not to be weird.

This was my post about it when i watched the first two episodes - https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=1460658#post1460658

I stopped then and am not really interested in watching any more. I'm just too familiar with the case.

David Schwimmer was TERRIBLE as Robert Kardshian...my only serious issue with the casting. I do think that judging the entire miniseries on the first two episodes is not fair though.

MovieMeditation

09-05-17, 03:30 PM

Lovely review of Ben-Hur, Citizen! Another big one you only just recently saw? :p

I agree with you about the majority of your review, especially the look of it. I like the little info section you have on top and that you mention the filming process. In Ben-Hur's case, indeed it is a very important note. That huge wide screen and top notch technology secures Ben-Hur as the grand epic it is and will be remembered as.

That chariot race is definitely amazing. Heart-pumping, real life intensity. I, too, was blown away during that scene and I have revisited clips on YouTube from the race ever since, because I love it so much. Even before I ever watched the movie I knew about the iconic chariot race and had seen many clips from it. But seeing it in full was quite the experience. Holy sh*t. I love how they create scale too throughout, using a combination of actual scale, with thousands of extras, and then camera tricks, painted backgrounds and what have you. Amazing achievement.

Citizen Rules

09-05-17, 04:25 PM

Lovely review of Ben-Hur, Citizen! Another big one you only just recently saw? :p I've seen it twice before. But the last viewing was over 10 years ago, so I had forgot just how well scripted Ben-Hur is.

I agree with you about the majority of your review, especially the look of it.Thanks, there was so much more that I didn't even cover in my review. I mean it's a vast story! I just hit upon a few of the highlights.

One thing I didn't mention, I love how a simple act of leaning on a loose roof tile then sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Ben-Hur's family being imprisoned. Good scene too when the Tribune realizes Ben-Hur was telling the truth about the loose tile and yet doesn't free his family. That really helps the viewer feel Ben-Hur's hatred for his former childhood friend. (I should add that to my review):p

If there was one thing I wasn't sure of it was the healing of leprosy, as Jesus passed by them. As far as I know from the bible Jesus was said to heal lepers, but it was by his touch or will. He didn't seem to notice the lepers in that scene at all. Not a deal breaker, just to be fair that was something I wished was done differently. I actually would have left them lepers as it would be more hard hitting, than a happy ending.

Gideon58

09-06-17, 11:21 AM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34392&stc=1&d=1504567541
BEN-HUR (1959)

Have seen bits and pieces of this movie, but have never been able to get through the whole thing, but really enjoyed reading your review and anybody who can sit through this entire movie is my hero because I certainly couldn't. I could tell you that I'm adding it to my watchlist because of your review, but that would be a lie...great review, but just not my kind of movie. I feel the same way about The Ten Commandments in case a review of that is coming soon.

Gideon58

09-06-17, 11:26 AM

[CENTER]https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34322&stc=1&d=1504406961
Guest Wife (Sam Wood, 1945)

[LEFT][FONT=Georgia]Director: Sam Wood
Writers: Bruce Manning & John Klorer (screenplay)
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, Dick Foran
Genre: Comedy, Romance

This sounds like fun, I might give it a shot...I must confess I have never seen a Claudette Colbert classic, only time I have ever seen Colbert onscreen was the TV movie The Two Mrs. Grenvilles with Ann-Margret.

Citizen Rules

09-06-17, 12:11 PM

This sounds like fun, I might give it a shot...I must confess I have never seen a Claudette Colbert classic, only time I have ever seen Colbert onscreen was the TV movie The Two Mrs. Grenvilles with Ann-Margret. OMG you haven't seen Claudette Colbert? She's one of my all time favorite classic actresses. I really think you would like her. She's equally good at drama, as she is in comedy. But Guest Wife wasn't that great, only OK.

Please watch, at least one of her better movies such as these:

It Happened One Night (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025316/?ref_=nm_knf_t1) (1934) I thought everybody has seen this beloved classic. It won 5 Oscars including: Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director (Frank Capra) & Best Writing.

The Palm Beach Story (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035169/?ref_=nm_knf_t2) (1942)

Imitation of Life (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025301/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_56) (1934) The original that the 1959 Douglas Sirk movie was based on.

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029929/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_46) (1938)

Midnight (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031647/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_44) (1939) I suggest starting with this one, which also has Don Amache and is superior to Guest Wife

Without Reservations (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039110/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_30) (1946) This is the funniest I've ever seen John Wayne.

The Egg and I (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039349/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_28) (1947)This is also features the wacky Ma & Pa Kettle that launched a 10 movie series based on their exploits.

Gideon58

09-06-17, 05:43 PM

OMG you haven't seen Claudette Colbert? She's one of my all time favorite classic actresses. I really think you would like her. She's equally good at drama, as she is in comedy. But Guest Wife wasn't that great, only OK.

Please watch, at least one of her better movies such as these:

It Happened One Night (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025316/?ref_=nm_knf_t1) (1934) I thought everybody has seen this beloved classic. It won 5 Oscars including: Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director (Frank Capra) & Best Writing.

The Palm Beach Story (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035169/?ref_=nm_knf_t2) (1942)

Imitation of Life (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025301/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_56) (1934) The original that the 1959 Douglas Sirk movie was based on.

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029929/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_46) (1938)

Midnight (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031647/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_44) (1939) I suggest starting with this one, which also has Don Amache and is superior to Guest Wife

Without Reservations (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039110/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_30) (1946) This is the funniest I've ever seen John Wayne.

The Egg and I (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039349/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_28) (1947)This is also features the wacky Ma & Pa Kettle that launched a 10 movie series based on their exploits.

Thanks for the Claudette Colbert blueprint...don't know where I'll start but I have a feeling I'm going to be obsessed as I am with Gene Tierney, who I'm not through with yet either.

Citizen Rules

09-06-17, 07:43 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34504&stc=1&d=1504737527

Psycho II (1983)
Director: Richard Franklin
Writers: Tom Holland, Robert Bloch( original characters)
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Meg Tilly
Genre: Horror Mystery

Twenty three years after Hitchcock stunned the world with his film about a deranged motel keeper, Psycho (1960) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/)...Anthony Perkins aka, Norman Bates returns to the big screen. Psycho II is the second sequel in the series, followed by Psycho III (1986) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091799/)

The premise: Picks up where the original Psycho story left off. Norman Bates has been in a mental institute and after 22 years is deemed 'cured' by a judge and allowed to return to his former home. There he gets a job in the town's cafe and meets a waitress Mary (Meg Tilly) who's in need of a place to stay. Guess what? she stays in the big scary mansion. Also in town is the sister of one of his victims, reprising her role as Lila Loomis (Vera Miles). She is furious that a dangerous killer has been released. As tensions build Norman starts seeing his dead mother again. Virginia Gregg also reprises her role as Norma Bates.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34500&stc=1&d=1504737437

Yahoo! this is a fun movie, and...I do believe it could stand on it's on! Even if there had been no Psycho in 1960, this film would still be well worth watching. A lot of that watch ability goes to Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates. Has there ever been a more likable psycho killer? I think not. I mean he's likable and we feel sorry for him. He tries so hard to forget the past but keeps finding notes from his 'mother' and in every drawer seems to be a big butcher knife....er I mean cut-lery.

I've seen this before and it only gets better with a rewatch. It's really an intelligent script and both Perkins and Tilly are capable of holding our attention, while creating tension. And they create that tension without even trying. It's really a great casting choice.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34541&stc=1&d=1504806034
The second shower scene with Meg Tilly was very savvy. Sometimes quiet tension is the best.

Meg Tilly has this 'deer caught in the headlights' look through out much of the movie, that makes her both trusting and vulnerable. I think she balanced the film and made us like her, which then makes Norman liking her all the more important.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34503&stc=1&d=1504737480

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34501&stc=1&d=1504737456

Locations: One of the charms of this film, is it's look. Yup that's the same house Norman was in before on the Universal studio back lot. The Bates motel had been torn down after filming of the original Psycho so it was rebuilt in the same location. For fans of the original film Psycho II gives us a chance to really see Bates house. Many of the same rooms and also used in scenes here. And there's many nods to the original film without encouraging on it.

Trivia: When Mary and Norman first go into Norman's mother's room, before they turn the lights on, you can see Alfred Hitchcock's silhouette on the wall to the far right.
I loved how Norman hesitates and seems unsure of himself around Mary. You can tell he likes her but doesn't know what to do about it. So he goes off on a different subject. But he tries to do right by her, and won't let he stay in motel room #1...for a good reason!

Psycho II goes down in history as one of the few sequels that are worthy to carry on the brand name of a big film.

rating_4

seanc

09-06-17, 08:39 PM

Psycho II but no Godfather, come on CR. We should do a trade this weekend. I will watch whatever you want if you watch Godfather.

Citizen Rules

09-06-17, 08:44 PM

Psycho II but no Godfather, come on CR. We should do a trade this weekend. I will watch whatever you want if you watch Godfather. How do you feel about a 4 hour long musical:cool: nah I wouldn't do that to ya....A movie swap might work...Or have you and Raul done a Francis Ford Coppola director dissection? That could be a way to get me to watch it:p

Though I'm getting ready to go on a two week vacation, hopefully at the start of next week.

seanc

09-06-17, 08:52 PM

How do you feel about a 4 hour long musical:cool: nah I wouldn't do that to ya....A movie swap might work...Or have you and Raul done a Francis Ford Coppola director dissection? That could be a way to get me to watch it:p

Though I'm getting ready to go on a two week vacation, hopefully at the start of next week.

Coppola is a great idea. I haven't seen any of his post 70's stuff I don't think. We are planning Hawks next actually. If you are into that let us know. Not starting till October. Enjoy your trip brother. I will be here to bug you about Godfather when you get back. :D

Citizen Rules

09-06-17, 08:56 PM

Coppola is a great idea. I haven't seen any of his post 70's stuff I don't think. We are planning Hawks next actually. If you are into that let us know. Not starting till October. Enjoy your trip brother. I will be here to bug you about Godfather when you get back. :DI'd like to join in again and what I've seen of Howard Hawks I've liked. I even know of a cool Hawks film. Give me a jingle when you guys get to Hawks.

cricket

09-06-17, 09:00 PM

Yea Godfather, Taxi Driver, and The Graduate-let's go!

Citizen Rules

09-06-17, 09:17 PM

Yea Godfather, Taxi Driver, and The Graduate-let's go! Raging Bull too, but don't tell anyone:cool:

Citizen Rules

09-06-17, 10:36 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34514&stc=1&d=1504746650

The Tingler (1959)
Producer/Director: William Castle
Writer: Robb White
Cast: Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn, Darryl Hickman
Genre: B Horror

An unhappily married pathologist, Dr Chapin (Vincent Price) spends his days doing autopsies on executed criminals and working in his lab. He believes there's an unseen parasitic creature that lives on the spines of all humans, and grows under the emotion of strong fear.

His theory is that the natural ability to scream checks the growth of the creature and keeps it from killing the host. One catch, he needs to find a human who can't scream and then when they die of fright he'll be able to extract the Tingler from the spinal column. He finds such a woman in a deaf mute lady who runs a silent movie theater.

That's quite the set up! I was surprised that this B horror film from the promotion king William Castle, had such a competent and interwoven story. There's more than just a creepy crawler that gets lose. First we learn the Doctors wife cheats on him and has embezzled money from her younger sister's estate. She's a real player and has the doctor by the throat as she supplies the money for his lab. This will come back into the story.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34519&stc=1&d=1504748241

Then there's the strange man and his deaf mute wife who own a silent film theater. The man watches Vincent Price perform an autopsy on his wife's brother who was a condemned murder. The strange little man watches with a cool calm, this too will come back into the story.

The wife has a phobia over blood and germs and goes into catatonic shock over a mere cut on the doctors hand. This also comes into play.

But before all that comes into play Vincent Price becomes the first actor to portray LSD use when he injects himself with an overdose of the drug. That's the first time LSD is shown on the screen.

Then of course we get to the star of the movie, the Tingler. William Castle promoted his films with gimmicks and for this one he had 'Percepto'...select theater seats rigged with a buzzer like device that would give a tingle when activated. While this was going on, the screen went black as Vincent Price announces that the Tingler is lose in the theater (silent theater in the movie) and people should scream for their lives! Which is quite the gimmick...There was even a pre-planned screamer, a girl who would scream and faint, and was carried out of the theater by a couple of nurses.
Ahh, those were the days.

rating_3++

Captain Steel

09-06-17, 10:53 PM

The Tingler (1959)
Producer/Director: William Castle
Writer: Robb White
Cast: Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn, Darryl Hickman
Genre: B Horror

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34519&stc=1&d=1504748241

rating_3++

Bizarre Trivia: the creature in the Tingler is the same type of creature that Khan Noonien Singh places in the ears of Pavel Chekov and Captain Terrell in The Wrath of Khan (1982).

Check it out...

http://cdn.chud.com/c/c2/1000x1000px-LL-c2816191_CetiEel1cr.jpeg

http://jawgrind.s3.amazonaws.com/Jawgrind-Episode-16.jpg

Citizen Rules

09-06-17, 10:55 PM

I thought so too, even when I watched the movie the creature made my thing of ST but I was thinking of an episode where Dr Beverly Crusher falls in love with a parasite that's in a humanoid host body.

Citizen Rules

09-06-17, 10:57 PM

Captain Steel you repped me too soon! I changed my post, it wasn't Wrath of Khan that the creature reminded me of but an episode from STTNG. But good call on WOK.

Captain Steel

09-06-17, 11:26 PM

Captain Steel you repped me too soon! I changed my post, it wasn't Wrath of Khan that the creature reminded me of but an episode from STTNG. But good call on WOK.

I looked up the WOK earworm and found an article that said the concept was inspired by a movie called The Shivers (1975), but no mention of The Tingler.

http://cdn2us.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeekus/files/images/321081.jpg

Do you remember which STTNG episode it was?

Citizen Rules

09-06-17, 11:27 PM

I looked up the WOK earworm and found an article that said the concept was inspired by a movie called The Shivers (1975), but no mention of The Tingler.

http://cdn2us.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeekus/files/images/321081.jpg

Do you remember which STTNG episode it was? I think it was called The Host. I'll go look up.

Citizen Rules

09-06-17, 11:29 PM

Hey I got one right...The Host

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeoGxvgYs3g

Captain Steel

09-06-17, 11:34 PM

Yes! I remember that one! One of the better episodes if I recall. Did Crusher and Riker have a make-out scene? ;)

Citizen Rules

09-06-17, 11:36 PM

Yes! I remember that one! One of the better episodes if I recall. Did Crusher and Riker have a make-out scene? ;) Ha, I think so! Which was probably odd for the two actors as they get to be good friends working so close together...then boom, you have to kiss your co-worker today!

Joel

09-07-17, 04:11 PM

Citizen Rules

Just read your review of Psycho II. Good stuff, man! Very insightful, as always! And I like the picture frame you found of the poster art, that's wicked! The more you point out Meg Tilley's presence, the more I change my mind. I do still think some of her line delivery early on in the film is awkward and unconvincing (like when she gets off of the pay phone with her boyfriend), but in retrospect, that's a small portion of her acting in the film, and she did balance back out soon after. I've always had a crush on her but tried to keep that separate..kind of like Norman does. Oh yeah, and "c-uu-tlery!" Hilarious line!

Citizen Rules

09-07-17, 04:15 PM

I like the picture frame you found of the poster art, that's wicked! I made that in Photoshop. I took the base photo and then applied a dry brush filter to make it look like a painting. Then I find a photo of an old frame and re-sized both photos to match. Then I layered one photo over the other. Finally I took the Psycho II logo from a movie poster and cropped it down and blended it over the frame. Took way too long!

I've always had a crush on her but tried to keep that separate..kind of like Norman does.!:up: I like that!

Joel

09-07-17, 04:19 PM

I made that in Photoshop. I took the base photo and then applied a dry brush filter to make it look like a painting. Then I find a photo of an old frame and re-sized both photos to match. Then I layered one photo over the other. Finally I took the Psycho II logo from a movie poster and cropped it down and blended it over the frame. Took way too long!

:up: I like that!

Nice shop job then bud! Looks legit...

Joel

09-07-17, 10:49 PM

Citizen Rules

09-07-17, 10:56 PM

@Citizen Rules (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=84637)
William Castle, that's the guy who gets more or less played by John Goodman in Matinee? Cool review!I didn't know that. I'll have to check out Matinee and see. I'm working on another William Castle review right now. I'm digging his movies:p

Captain Steel

09-07-17, 11:14 PM

I didn't know that. I'll have to check out Matinee and see. I'm working on another William Castle review right now. I'm digging his movies:p

You haven't seen it, Rules?
Not a blockbuster - but it is memorable as it captures a snapshot of a particular era: the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, duck-and-cover, Atomic-mutation-B-sci-fi movie era. And how all that serves as the backdrop for a movie theater and the horror movies it shows.

It's a movie that appeals particularly to film history buffs, people who lived through the era and experienced being a kid at that time, and fans of the black and white low budget sci-fi movies (like many of the ones you review here).

Citizen Rules

09-07-17, 11:45 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34572&stc=1&d=1504836224

13 Ghosts (1960)
Director: William Castle
Writer: Robb White
Cast: Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, Martin Milner, Rosemary DeCamp, Margaret Hamilton
Genre: B Horror

A family who's strapped for cash, learns from a lawyer that a long lost uncle has left them an old Victorian house. The uncle has collected 12 ghost from around the world and brought them to the old mansion. The family must live there, to keep from losing ownership. In a mysterious box is a special pair of goggles which allows the viewer to see the spirit world.

William Castle was a producer and director who in the 1950s & 1960s made some really good B horror films that relied on his showmanship to sell his movies to the audience.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34573&stc=1&d=1504836235 https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34576&stc=1&d=1504836326

13 Ghost has a gimmick that is quite fun! The movie is black and white, but during 'ghost sightings' the film is shot in blue and the ghost in red. The actor on the screen puts on his spectral googles to see the ghost, as the screen says 'Use Viewer'. The Viewer was given away to everybody as they entered the theater. If you look through the red lens you see the ghost and if you look through the blue lens they disappear. It was a neat addition to the film and hey the ghost look pretty cool this way.

The story is a standard family trapped in a haunted house, only with a twist. The ghost each have their own story, though we only learn of a few of them, like the lion tamer who's head was eaten by the lion. Then there's a fortune hidden in the house and someone is after it.

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=34574&stc=1&d=1504836273

As a double bonus there's the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz, Margret Hamilton...and she's called a witch by the child of the family too. Charles Herbert the child actor gets top billing! He was a star at the time and had been in The Grapes of Wrath and was the kid who Gene Tierney took for a boat ride in Leave Her to Heaven.

Oh there's a pretty girl too and Martin Miller plays the shady lawyer. Fun stuff!
rating_3