I saw the Uruguayan film Whisky (2004) Very subtle low key minimilistic comedy. Never boring even though very little happens.
Originally Posted by El Loro:
I saw the Uruguayan film Whisky (2004) Very subtle low key minimilistic comedy. Never boring even though very little happens.
Seen this and thought it was very good, i do like films where little happens or there is not much dialogue
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Hell Drivers (1957) 8.5/10
I've seen this several times and rate it as one of the best British films of the 50s and the cast list is remarkable.
Originally Posted by El Loro:
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Hell Drivers (1957) 8.5/10
I've seen this several times and rate it as one of the best British films of the 50s and the cast list is remarkable.
Its a great film, I would have given it a 9 but it loses half a rating because of the woman secretary whos role in the film wasnt needed at all i thought
I saw The Professionals (1966), the western starring Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode, Jack Palance and Claudia Cardinale. Also featured Ralph Bellamy. It's a good western. Chronologically and stylistically it could be placed between the earlier The Magnificent Seven and the later The Wild Bunch.
As others have commented, at one stage Marvin etc have got onto the train fleeing from the Mexicans, the Mexicans manage to stop the train, climb on board to find it empty, and we then see Marvin etc riding through the canyon on horseback as if they've been magically transported from the train on to their horses.
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Two top quality films, particularly The Angry Silence.
The Dupes (Al-makhdu'un) (1973) 7/10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuC_dZebFF8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUVOjSYAaNA&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZV5Yf-AOT4&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8186XQYtTE&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82N905U_XzI&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYd5UNqjRmE&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLjvGzKlsLQ&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fp7iLUGIdU&feature=relmfu
I saw Surrogates (2009) starring Bruce Willis. An interesting premise for a storyline - people stay in the safety of their homes whilst having mind control over their artificial surrogates are outside "living" their day to day lives, and then a murder takes places where not only a surrogate is "killed" but the effect is to kill the real person. It could have been a much better film but it's not. The length of the film is 89 minutes including credits which suggests to me that there was some serious problems in the making of the film and that the film was changed from the original intent.
I saw A Double Life (1947) starring Ronald Colman in an Oscar winning performance as an actor driven to madness by becoming confused between real life and the part he was playing - Othello.
Shelley Winters was also in the film in her first credited role.
Betsy Blair had a very brief role in what was her second film. She was very attractive:
She was a victim of the McCarthy era and was blacklisted resulting in very few films. She was married to Gene Kelly during this time and as a result of his insistence with the studios she appeared in Marty (1955), the film for which she is best remembered, She later married the director Karel Reisz.
Eroica (1958) 8/10
Shirin (2008) 6/10
I saw Macbeth (1948) the Orson Welles version and I saw the restored version rather than the cut one.
As was so often the case with his films, the studio savaged the film on release cutting out scenes and dubbing some of the dialogue so the cut version and the restored version are different films.
Welles got the actors to use Scottish accents, some of which were so thick that it was near impossible to hear what was said. The film was shot in 3 weeks on a small budget but that didn't really matter. The film was dark, full of shadows and menacing, but that suited the film.
Flawed, but still outstanding. Kurosawa must have had this version in mind when he made Throne of Blood
I resaw Call Northside 777 (1948) starring James Stewart, Lee J Cobb and Richard Conte. A fine drama documentary about a newspaper reporter's efforts to prove that an innocent man had been wrongly convicted. The film is largely factually correct, and for more details of the real-life story behind the film read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...ek_and_Marcinkiewicz
I Am A Fugitve From A Chain Gang (1932) 10/10 2nd viewing
Haywire (2011) 4/10
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
I Am A Fugitve From A Chain Gang (1932) 10/10 2nd viewing
An outstanding film indeed.
I resaw Odd Man Out (1947) one of the two best British film noirs made, the other being The Third Man which was directed by the same director - Carol Reed (who was male).
Odd Man Out starred James Mason in possibly his best performance as the doomed man, The photography was by Robert Krasker (also did The Third Man) and was suitably full of darkness and shadow.
On a point of trivia, one of the two girls in the telephone kiosk scene near the end of the film was played by Dora Bryan in her film debut.
The film also featured Dan O'Herlihy in his second film. By a complete coincidence, he was also in Macbeth (his 4th film) which I posted about a few days ago. He is possibly best known for being the boss of the company in Robocop and was Robinson Crusoe in Luis Bunuel's film.
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
John Carter (2012) 3/10
I'm not surprised you gave this film a low rating. I haven't seen it but although Edgar Rice Burroughs was best known for his Tarzan stories, his science fiction was not of high quality. I would rate his science fiction writing as in the same league as E E 'Doc' Smith who wrote the Lensman series of books.
I saw Twelfth Night (1996), Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion caused by twin brother and sister separated by a shipwreck, each thinking the other had perished. Adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn, and starring Imogen Stubbs, Helena Bonham Carter, Toby Stephens, Ben Kingsley, Richard E Grant, Nigel Hawthorne, and others. Very well acted, but much of it was played straight. Sir Toby Belch was played by Mel Smith, and he was very good in that role.
I saw Le Quattro Volte (2010) which I see that Jackassfan saw some time ago and rated it 8/10 which I agree.
The title means 4 Times or 4 Realms. The film has no dialogue and has 4 sections. An old goatherd at the end of his life. On his death a goat is born, gets lost and seeks shelter near a tree. The tree flourishes for a time before being cut down, used by the villagers in their sporting games. After the games, the tree is taken away, sawn up, and becomes the foundation for the charcoal burners to make wood into charcoal, and the charcoal is taken back to the villagers for them to burn and the valley becomes full of smoke.
So the 4 stages are man, animal, vegetable (the tree), and mineral (the charcoal).
These 4 stages come from Pythagoras's belief that there is within us four lives - man, animal, vegetable and tree.
Michael (2011) 8.5/10
I saw Shenandoah (1965) starring James Stewart. An excellent western about a farmer and his family caught up in the American Civil War. Stewart was perfect for the role and it is hard to think of anyone who could have been better.
Although not the same story, I did notice some similarities between this film and Mel Gibson's The Patriot.
Baby Face (1933) 8/10
Sanam (2000) 8/10
A couple of films I've seen recently.
I resaw The House on 92nd Street (1945). Almost a documentary in style, this film was an account of the FBI infiltrating and destroying a group of Nazi fifth columnists in the States bent on stealing "Process 97" from government scientists. The film was made during the latter stages of WW2 and the producer/co-director inserted some voice-over narration to link Process 97 with the development of the atomic bomb. The producer/co-director Louis de Rochemont produced "The March of Time" newsreels which would explain why this film felt closer to a documentary than a feature film.
I also saw A Little Princess (1995) directed by Alphonso Cuaron. A children's film based on the classic book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, it was a delightful film and one of the best children's films ever made. Like the best children's films, it was very watchable for adults as well. The film was reasonably faithful to the book with some changes which did not matter. On the onset of WW1, a British man based in India with his daughter has to go to fight in France, so sends his daughter to a boarding school in the States. He tells his daughter that all little girls are little princesses - hence the title - it's nothing to do with royalty.
A couple of films I've seen recently:
Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), Barry Levinson's fanciful account of a teenage Holmes and Watson adventure. The film was also known as Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear, and that title shows this was an attempt to cash in on the success of the Indiana Jones films. It's quite an enjoyable film if not taken too seriously. It has a short post credit scene which is a must see scene.
Gideon of Scotland Yard (1958). Considering it was directed by John Ford and starred Jack Hawkins it should have been a much better film. The film is an account of a typical day of an inspector at Scotland Yard. The film may have seemed convincing at the time it was released, but with numerous police television series since, the film now seems somewhat ridiculous and unconvincing. One of the villains was played by Ronald Howard who was the son of Leslie Howard. Gideon's daughter was played by Anna Massey in her film debut - her godfather was John Ford.
I saw High Crimes (2002) starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman. Fairly routine military courtroom drama - wife is an attorney and defends her husband who is accused of a war crime - the denoument was of little surprise.
It was nice to see John Billingsley in a small role as the lie detector coach - he was Dr Phlox in the Star Trek enterprise series.
I resaw Dave (1993) which is about a look-a-like for the American president is called to tkae his place when the president has a stroke. Pleasing performances from Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver and from a good supporting cast make this feel-good movie a constant delight.
Kevin Kline took over the part when Kevin Costner and Warren Beatty declined. I don't think the film would have been as enjoyable if either of those had taken the part.
I saw The Prestige (2006) starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Scarlet Johannson.
Two magicians in the 19th century are rivals for performing the ultimate illusion. This leads to deadly results. Interesting film, and more complex than the average Hollywood film.
David Bowie appears as Nikola Tesla, the man who created the Tesla coil.
The film was based on the book by Chrisopher Priest, a writer strongly influenced by the science fiction of H G Wells.
I saw The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) about a young Australian reporter caught up in the turmoil in Indonesia during Sukarno's time. Peter Weir's last Australian film before he moved to Hollywood, and Mel Gibson's breakthrough role.
The real star of the film was Linda Hunt playing a short male photographer and she was mesmirising and justly won the Oscar for best supporting actress.
I saw Stalag 17 (1953), Billy Wilder's classic prisoner of war film starring William Holden. A successful mix of tragedy, comedy and intrigue. Robert Strauss and Harvey Lembeck provided much of the humour. Early role for Peter Graves (Mission Impossible TV series). The commandant in charge of the POW camp was well played by Otto Preminger, better known as a director.
I saw Le sang d'un poÃĻte (The Blood of a Poet) (1932). Directed by Jean Cocteau, it was a very odd film. The IMDB plot summary has this:
A young artist draws a face at a canvas on his easel. Suddenly the mouth on the drawing comes into life and starts talking. The artist tries to wipe it away with his hand, but when he looks into the hand he finds the living mouth on his palm. He tries to wipe it off on the mouth of an unfinished statue of a young woman. The statue comes into life and tells him that the only way out of the studio is through the looking glass. The artist jumps into the mirror and comes to the Hotel of Dramatic Lunacies. He peeps through the keyholes of a series of hotel rooms. In the last room he sees desperate meetings of hermaphrodites. One of them has a signboard saying "Mortal danger". Back in the studio the artist crushes the statue with a sledgehammer. Because of this he himself becomes a statue, located at the side of a square. Some schoolboys start a snowball fight around the statue. One of the boys is killed by a snowball. A fashionable couple start playing cards at a table beside the corpse. The woman tells the man that unless he holds the ace of hearts he is doomed. The man takes the ace of hearts from the dead boy. The child's guardian, a black angel, appears and takes away the corpse as well as the card. Losing the ace of hearts the man shoots himself. The woman is transformed into the unfinished statue from the studio, and walks away.
First of what became know as the Orphic Trilogy, it has the virtue of being short at just over 50 minutes.
The Gentle Gunman (1952) 7.5/10
The Dictator (2012) 4/10
Occident (2002) 6/10
Never Let me Go ,was decribed as a rom/com on sky
it haunted me after I watched it.
wont spoil it but you can read about on wiki
The girl with the dragon tatoo-(swedish version ) on film 4
a bit violent but I loved it
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
I have seen this film several times and give it a 9/10 rating. Although a bit stilted in places the film is one of Eisenstein's best films, it is at times horrifying, other times exciting, and other times humerous. It is the Russian equivalent of Laurence Olivier's Henry V (1944) as both films were based on historical events and were used as propaganda against the Nazis.
What makes Alexander Nevsky almost unique is that the film was a collaboration between the director and the composer and the film being almost created around the music. The music was by Sergei Prokofiev, one of the major Russian composers. The only other film I am aware of with this form of collaboration is Once upon a time in the West (Sergio Leone/Ennio Morricone).
I have Alexander Nevsky in two versions, one on DVD, the other on VHS tape.
The one on VHS tape is very unusual. The music score was restored and was performed by the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yuri Temirkanov. Not unusual in that but what is unusual is that the VHS tape has no film classification on it as it was treated as a music tape rather than a feature film tape and therefore exempt. As far as I know this version has never been released on DVD.
I loved The Prestige but must admit I had to watch it twice to really
get it
Hereafter and Grand Torino both directed by Clint Eastwood
are worth watching.And of course Lord of the Rings trylogy
lol EL loro
must look out for your films ,Taken wasn't a film but a series I love science fiction,have watched both of The day the earth stood still films,the one with
Michael Rennie (think thats his name)is my fav.klatu-barada-niko,Gort
scared me to death love itx
I've seen the Michael Rennie version of The Day the Earth stood still a few times and it's a good film. I have the remake on DVD but haven't got round to seeing it yet.
I remember Taken when it was shown on television. Dakota Fanning as the young girl was amazing. To be able to give such a convincing performance clearly shows that if she is as good an adult actor as she was as a child actor she could be phenomenal.
I have an interest in a very wide range of films from very old films onwards. To me, a film needs to be well told and acted - special effects have little interest to me unless they are there to develop the story. Films which are just an excuse for special effects have little interest to me.
Ive looked up some of the films mentioned on wiki they sound really good
its FUNNY I love all the books from CS Lewis read them all at my age .
I have the first three that have been made into films .
Johny Depp is another of my favourites ,The ninth Gate,
Alice in wonderland as the mad hatter .cant stand films that leave you wringing your hands thinking *what the heck did that ending mean*
If someone asked what is your favourite film mmmmm
oh forgot The Lovely Bones 2009 a girl tellimg the story of her own murder
http://www.flixster.com/movie/white-palace/
1990 Susan Sarandonand James Spader
found out you can watch this online loved it
Originally Posted by frodo:
oh forgot The Lovely Bones 2009 a girl tellimg the story of her own murder
If you haven't seen Heavenly Creatures (1994), you might want to look it out. It was made by Peter Jackson, and, although not as technically advanced as Lovely Bones, is better. The true story of two girls whose friendship goes to extremes and leads to murder. Set on New Zealand in the mid 1950s. One of the girls writes as Anne Perry who writes mystery stories. Peter Jackson's break through film.
Another film I recommend from a director best known for his fantasy/horror films is Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan (1998). A morality tale of how greed can lead to tragedy. The use of cinematography and Danny Elfman's music makes this exceptional with one of the best opening scenes I've seen.
Not looked Heavenly Creatures up .is it Kate Winslet
the story of two girls?wont spoil it for anyone I always look the films up that people mention.
I enjoyed Childrens Hour shows how intolerance can wreck peoples lives
does it have to be about the last film you saw?or can you say the film you loved as well
ps have to check my spelling sorry
yes El loro it is the film I was thinking about,just looked it up
on Wiki. hadn't a clue Peter Jackson directed it,they where banned from ever seeing each other,chilling stuff
Pans Labyrinth must admit this film really got to me
But I love sloppy films aswell Moulon Rouge was a joy for me
I love Nicole Kidman The Hours .
its good to have films recommended
Heavenly Creatures is an excellent film, and in my opinion it is Peter Jacksons (not a fan of Lord Of The Rings) best film
A Simple Plan is also a great film
Jackassfan where do you see these films are they online?
not everyone is a fan of Jrr Tolkien (what ever rocks your boat)xx
I love a mixture of silly sad and Disney Films
but I try and read up on all films mentioned as I have said before
my most disturbing film Never Let me Go breeding children for body parts
but letting them grow into their 20 first disturbed me.
quick let me turn the tele off Brian Belo is on ..night
Originally Posted by frodo:
Jackassfan where do you see these films are they online?
not everyone is a fan of Jrr Tolkien (what ever rocks your boat)xx
Most of the films i watch are online which i get from www.1channel.ch but most of the obscure older foreign films i see are on youtube
Limitless Bradley Walsh
Couple of times a year I order the movie channel(too expensve all the time)
really enjoyed this
jackassfan did you watch The Bridge bron/broen on BBC 4
thats the kind of thing I like ,not a film tho' more of a series
night to you and anyone around take care
Originally Posted by frodo:
jackassfan did you watch The Bridge bron/broen on BBC 4
thats the kind of thing I like ,not a film tho' more of a series
night to you and anyone around take care
I have not seen that
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Has that any connection with the Marlene Dietrich film of the same name ?
Originally Posted by El Loro:
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Has that any connection with the Marlene Dietrich film of the same name ?
No connection at all
sometimes you feel a bit silly saying a film when you are new
and not so articulate is there a quick scan so you are not repeating
others..(the same films)thankyoux
can anyone solve this for me please 1951 version of*Scrooge*
Alistair Syms and John Charlesworth who played Peter Cratchit
I know what happened to the latter actor anyone know why
(John Charlesworth)
Originally Posted by frodo:
can anyone solve this for me please 1951 version of*Scrooge*
Alistair Syms and John Charlesworth who played Peter Cratchit
I know what happened to the latter actor anyone know why
(John Charlesworth)
There is a small amount of information here - very sad.
http://www.findadeath.com/foru...35-1960-from-Scrooge
One of the most tantalising mysteries in films relates to Scrooge. Towards the end of the film, Scrooge goes to visit his nephew and family. When he gets there and knocks at the door a maid opens the door and lets him in. She takes his coat and hat. He walks hesitantly towards the door of the main room and stops. He turns round to the maid who encourages him with a warm smile to go on in and he does. The maid who does not say anything looks remarkably like a young Audrey Hepburn. Audrey Hepburn was right at the start of her career, was in Britain at the time Scrooge was made, and had appeared in some minor roles in other British films. She is not credited with appearing in Scrooge and it remains an unsolved mystery as to who played that part. It has been speculated that it was someone by the name of Frances Arden who you will find no reference to in the IMDB website,
Clip from Scrooge, the scene starts about 30 seconds in: