January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

For January's Movie of the Month, I nominate: The Lion in Winter.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...In_Winter1.jpg

I had this at number three for my 60's list submission. In retrospect, that was quite high but I did it for strategic reasons. (Probably the only film that I did that for.) I was fairly shocked when it made the list after all (and The Producers didn't :furiousdevil:, well good news comes with bad news) .

Anyway,The Lion in Winter is one of my favorite films from the 60's and has some of the best dialogue in any movie. Outside of Thursday saying she enjoyed it recently, hardly anyone here has mentioned this film. In spite of that, I figured The Lion in Winter would be a good choice for this month's Movie of the Month.

The film takes place around Christmas but it is a Christmas Special the same way Die Hard is. That is, it is a pseudo-Christmas Special. :p

https://divyarawatpearl.files.wordpr...n-winter-2.jpg

https://abagond.files.wordpress.com/...ry_eleanor.jpg

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Great choice Friendly! I've heard of this movie but have never seen it. I loved Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia and it looks like he'll be great in this one as well. As with all the movies nominated, I'm gonna try my best to hunt down a Blu-Ray/DVD copy before I watch it. Would be interested to hear other spoiler-free opinions on it in the meantime. :)

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

I saw this in preparation for the 60's list. It was hanging on to my list for a bit but ended up getting knocked off. I like it but it was somewhat of a letdown after I went head over heels for Becket. I will be following the conversation and may give it a rewatch if some things feel cloudy once everyone starts chatting.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

I LOVE this movie! I had it at #5.

This is excellent timing is i just recorded it on my DVR last weekend from TMC and its been a while since I've watched this.

GREAT movie, great dialogue!!! The way they verbally attacked one another was glorious!

Prince John: Poor John. Who says poor John? Don't everybody sob at once! My God, if I went up in flames there's not a living soul who'd pee on me to put the fire out!

Prince Richard: Let's strike a flint and see.


Henry II: I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody.

Eleanor: At my age there's not much traffic anymore.


Prince John: A knife! He's got a knife!

Eleanor: Of course he has a knife, he always has a knife, we all have knives! It's 1183 and we're barbarians!

Here's my favorite -


Henry II: I could have conquered Europe - all of it - but I had women in my life.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

I do want to watch this...

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Got it!!!

Could only find the DVD though, but that ain't a big deal. Will be watching in the next couple days. :up:

curious to see this movie

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Well story looking some very interesting aspects...

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

I watched this film for the first time just a few weeks ago and thought it was really good.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

glad to hear you liked it, Thursday. I've got it sitting on DVR and trying to find time for a rewatch

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

False Writer, you've got me psyched to see it now!

Nice! Glad I could help. :)

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Great review FW! The King Phillip's Bedroom scene stood out to me as well. :)

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

very happy to hear you enjoyed Lion so much, False. This is, very much, a character-driven flick and very easy to get caught up in.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Whatta bummer. Seen it already. A masterpiece, tho.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Love this movie!

This and Lawrence of Arabia are my two favorite O'Toole films.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

A great film! One of my favorites. I recommend a double feature with this film. Watch Becket (1964) first with Peter O'Toole in the same role as Henry II before he allowed his close friend Becket (Richard Burton) to be murdered.

One Peter O'Toole film you must watch is The Ruling Class (1972).

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Should be recording the podcast for this one shortly. :)

I'm still trying to find time to watch this movie, but our cable box (DVR) is having problems, so I have to clear the box quickly so we can exchange it. Hopefully I'll get to this movie some time next week.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

I've requested the movie from my library, I'll post my thoughts after I've watched it.

Nice! I wasn't sure if you were doing one this time, it's awesome to hear you are!

Looking forward to your reviews! :)

Yeah, I wondered how conducive it was to a prolonged discussion, but it turned out there was plenty to talk about and I think you guys should enjoy it. Hopefully posted Monday at the latest.

Great choice Friendly Mushroom!

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

We just recorded the podcast, interesting topics and points abound I hope. Let us know what you think of it and what to improve on when it's up so we can keep getting better at them. :)

Thanks Yoda for getting these going and all of the editing work he does for them

Since we didn't go quite as long as we did with Gattaca, I just went ahead and edited this one right away. I'll bump this again on Monday to make sure everyone sees it, but for anyone who wants it now, voila!

As usual, a big thanks to bluedeed and Slappydavis for their time and insights. This one was funnier than most, so definitely give it a listen.


The best way to get it is to subscribe with iTunes. The next best ways are to just download it with this link (or add the podcast feed into your RSS reader). Or you can just listen right now with this embedded player:

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

I'm always surprised by how knowledgeable these two are, so it's been a pleasure getting to chat with them. I honestly feel like I'm learning a lot each time.

I may do a little write up here about some specific lines of the movie I enjoyed (we talked about some), left the rest out because it'd be too lengthy to bring up each one in the podcast.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Yeah, I kind of thought we'd end up just quoting our favorite lines a lot, but we basically didn't do that at all.

"How am I possible?"

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Just listened to it.

Another great podcast, I really wouldn't mind listening to you 3 every month. You guys seem to be building great chemistry and I like how all of you have a good sense of humor and bring up some great points.

Since bluedeed asked if we could suggest some possible improvements—I'll say that the only one I could really think of is maybe having more of a verdict on whether you all liked the movie or not? I could get kind of an idea but I was still unsure what you all thought of it overall. I do remember one saying that he wasn't into it at first but then liking it by the end. I don't know, just a suggestion, but you can take it or leave it.

Overall, great job once again, and I'm hoping that there's another one next month!

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Yeah a clear 1-10 would be nice.

Anyways, wonderful podcast! My favorite parts were the discussions on the editing and the stairs.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

I think that's a fair request, especially because often movies I don't like will inspire interesting thoughts that I really enjoy thinking about, but doesn't change my fondness for the film.

For me, I think the film was a 7/10, but reading the dialogue from beginning to end after seeing the film was a 9/10.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

I don't take my ratings too seriously but I'll make sure to mention them next time and I'll try to keep my mubi page (in my signature) updated at least with the Movie of the Month movies. For me, The Lion in Winter is about

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Good suggestion, we'll talk a bit more next time about our overall opinion.

In my case, straight up, I think I'd give it . I really like good dialogue, the acting is tremendous, and I was genuinely unsure about how it would end (I mean, ya' know, history, but still). And perhaps more important, I gave it on Netflix, and would do so in any other such place that uses ratings to recommend films, because it's definitely the kind of film I want to see more of.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

I just picked up The Lion in Winter from my library. I'm glad they had it, but it most be popular as I was on the waiting list...Anyway with luck I should be able to watch it tonight. This will be my first time too:p

Last night I started watching The Lion in Winter. I didn't have much time, so I decided to watch the first hour of it and hopefully will finish it tonight. I wanted to type something out now, before I forgot my initial reactions to it, so...

You can't judge a book by it's cover, but you can learn a lot about a movie during it's title credits. The title credits were powerful, the music heavy and dramatic. The scenes were of decaying statues, lit with an ominous green-tint light...with long, dark shadows for effect. I thought the title credits were effective and said: you're about to watch a dramatic, theatrical production with a Shakespearean feel.

One caveat: this is NOT a film that you can set back and vegetate to. It demands your full attention, as it's dialogue rich and very complex, with interwoven plans, to get one of three sons onto the throne. The King prefers one son and his estranged Queen another. The Lion in Winter is a serious film watcher's film, it's no popcorn movie.

So far the two leads Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn are amazing. These two thespians are masters of the theater and give livacious performances. It's amazing to see them together.

Geez, I sure can write a lot for only watching 60 minutes of it. So I'll wrap it up and post the rest of my thoughts after I finish the film.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Awesome start Citizen, looking forward to the rest of it!

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Hard to believe that Katharine Hepburn had to share the Best Actress Oscar with Barbra Strident in Funny Girl. How anyone could rate her usual 'acting by numbers' bit as equal to Hepburn's superb Katherine of Aragon is totally beyond me.

I finally got a chance to watch The Lion in Winter.

First, full disclosure. I tried watching this movie for the 1960's countdown, but I just couldn't seem to get into it. I'm generally not a fan of these types of period dramas, and this one was no exception. Also, history was probably my worst subject in school, so I'm sure that doesn't help either. In the spirit of participation in the "Movie of the Month", I decided to give it another try.

Having said that, I didn't dislike the movie, but I didn't love it either. It was just okay for me. The acting, by some of the best actors in Hollywood, was top-notch, but I just couldn't seem to get into the movie. The idea that people would go to such extremes as imprisonment and attempted murder of their own family just to gain power and control just doesn't make sense to me.

On a side note, I spent about half the movie trying to figure out who played Philip. He looked so familiar, but I just couldn't figure out who he was, so I finally looked him up, and I was surprised to find out that it was a very young Timothy Dalton.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Or heard the podcast! :D

Okay, I'll stop piling on now.

So, I finished watching The Lion In Winter last night. This was a first watch for me, but I had seen another version made in 2003 with Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close.

I try not to read reviews of movies that I'm planning to see soon until after I've seen the movies, just in case there are spoilers.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Ahh, logical:) But you guys are always safe to read my reviews as I will never spoil the movie.

I forget to mention the 'hour candles' I didn't even know what they were but my wife spotted them and knew they were for measuring time. I had never seen them used in a movie before.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

glad to hear you enjoyed it Citizen, I STILL have it waiting for me on DVR and for some inane reason I just can't seem to get to it.. . .

Really GREAT podcast, BTW, Yoda!! Some very astute and rather funny observations and - YES, Die Hard is NOT a christmas movie. It is a movie that transpires AT a christmas party. lol

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

Ooo! I forgot to mention this on the podcast, but the three would-be Kings also seem to mirror the three sons in The Godfather: Richard is Sonny (strong, hotheaded), Geoffrey is Michael (cunning, ruthless), and obviously John is Fredo ("I'M SMAHT! NOT DUMB! NOT LIKE EVERYBODY SAYS!").

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

That's very interesting Yoda, I never thought about that and I've seen Godfather quite a few times!

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

I think once you start looking for variations on heart/head/hands and the transcendentals, you start noticing them everywhere. They're so fundamental to the nature of drama and humanity that I think people can gravitate to them without even knowing what they are.

I have a question. When Geoffrey is introduced, he and his soldiers attack an enemy unit. Does anyone have an idea who the enemy was? They might have been French but I doubt Dalton wouldn't have mention the attack during his visit (unless I missed something.) Since this is a work of fiction, wikipedia does not mention that scene.

Re: January '16 Movie of the Month: The Lion in Winter
 

I was wondering that also. It might've been some type of French rebel army? I'm not sure.