What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Harp]

^ Ian Fleming approached his protagonist Bond from a distance, never having served in the field during the Second World War; and, unlike John Le Carre, whose Smiley is more endearing, offers exaggerated pretense instead of hard boiled professionalism. In From Russia With Love, scribbled before he realized Bond was bankable, Fleming killed him off entirely. Lazarus-like Bond resurrected to box office return but it was all a bit flacid until Goldfinger hit the mark. Oddjob, ***** Galore, and big fat slob Goldfinger, a hit theme song and the Astin Martin DB5 ride complete with Q's ejector seat. A not bad effort but 007 James Bond was a busted flush.
Sean Connery tired of the suave sociopath, George Lazenby proved difficult, Timothy Dalton handled franchise reasonably well, but Roger Moore left protagonist damaged goods. Pierce Brosnan fit the mold but always given third rate scripting. Daniel Craig looked more East End barrow boy than Bondable, with many, myself included, taking a pass with him. However, Craig proved admirably suited spy franchise, too bad all the liberal laden political correctitude. Also, junk material with slight twist that had need proper deft touch.

James Bond is a foundling orphan in more ways than one. 7

 

[Fading Fast]

The Only Son (1936), a Japanese film


America has no exclusive claim to the American Dream as many cultures encourage their children to advance socially and economically through education and hard work. Many parents the world over also willingly sacrifice to help their children achieve this goal.

The "world over" includes prewar Japan as seen in the early classic, The Only Son, from noted director Yasujirō Ozu. A widowed mother, now a poor factory worker in a remote village, does nothing but work to give her child an education so that he can become a success in Tokyo.

She's a Japanese version of the clichéd Depression-Era American mother scrubbing floors at night to send her child to college. Usually, these stories end with the child triumphantly heading off to college or a dissolve to the future where he or she has achieved that greater glory.

In Ozu's prewar Japan, a third option unfolds: the boy heads off to college and great glory, but then, dissolving to many years later, he's married with a baby boy, teaching night school, and living in a run-down suburb of Tokyo when his mother surprises him with a visit.

No explanation is given for why there was no contact in between (Japan had a mail service), but the mother didn't know her son was, one, married; two, that he had a baby boy; and, three, that he had a poor-paying, low-level teaching position.

Being Japan, nothing is said at first as everyone just bows and acts politely on the surface. The son and daughter-in-law strain to pay for a few modest day trips to show his mother the city, but it is very awkward as the unsaid is straining at the bit.

Eventually, in small moments and almost one-off comments, most of the truth and true feelings surface over the course of her several-day stay, but this is no American movie where everyone yells, screams, cries, throws a few things, and then it's all over.

Here, the verbal blows land almost in silence, where a wince or a stifled cry is the biggest response, and then all goes on as before: "You fell way short of expectations and it makes me feel like my entire life's sacrifice was pointless.... What's for supper?"

There's a very well done payoff that is perfectly aligned with modern-day morals, but you'll of course want to see it fresh. Know that it's so beautifully understated that it washes over you slowly – there's no American "ah-hah" moment in an Ozu picture.

That is both the style and the beauty of the director's work. He captures the deep moments, emotions, and feelings in relationships by quietly showing life unfold in its day to day while now and then firing a sniper shot of honesty that rocks everyone back underneath their placid surface.

He does all this with a camera, often positioned at or near ground level and looking up or across, which gives his movies an intimate feel aligned with his slow storytelling approach and his desire to capture normal life as it's lived, not just the emotionally powerful moments.

In The Only Son, the family will be sitting in the parlor of the son's miserable little rented house making idle conversation and then the son, out of nowhere, will apologize for being a failure, or not telling his mother about her grandson, or about only being a night-school teacher.

The mother will almost always respond kindly at first, "Oh, I'm happy for you as you married well," but two scenes later she'll mention that she's surprised he is living as he does. It's like a low-key Kabuki Theater playing out in day-to-day life but in an equally moving way.

Ozu also uses mise en scène as effectively as almost any director. The son's house is set in the poor outskirts of Tokyo that looks like every failing factory town. The house itself is small, grimy, and surrounded by clothing hanging out to dry. Even the clean clothes look dirty.

None of this would work if the actors – Shin'ichi Himori plays the son and Chōko Lida, the mother – weren't incredibly effective at showing emotions through tiny nuances, passing facial expressions, and minute body language. It's method acting dialed down to one.

Himori seems less upset about failing than he is about his mother having to see that he's failing. She seems less upset that he's failed, than that he isn't doing anything about it. It's no Hallmark moment; it's a "get out there and work hard to change your life if you don't like it" moment.

The Only Son is an emotionally moving picture with timeless truths about families that requires a modern viewer to be willing to accept a picture on its terms and, for a non-Japanese viewer, to embrace a culture from a different time and place.

The reward is a powerful experience, similar to opening a time capsule and catching a glimpse of prewar Japan. The cultural surprise is that under the different clothing, customs, food, and locations, it's basically the familiar American Dream but with prewar Japanese characteristics.

 

[The Connector]

The Turin Horse (2011), the last movie of Bela Tarr.
A black-white film, an elegy to the tragedy of a loss.
The way that the director ''moves'' through his camera is absolutely amazing.
It is not just a psychological drama, it is the struggle of the man to stay alive confronting the difficulties of the every day life, the hostility of nature, the loneliness.
From the description...
''A rural farmer is forced to confront the mortality of his faithful horse''.

 

[Harp]

^ Memorial Day weekend and there are horses to handicap. Saturday is a lesser date than is Monday, and, truth-to-tell, I'm a much less disciplined focus sort than should be. And I like to mull things over, sweat it all out, before the actual race date. And play a full card, leaping across country for opportunity for day trader market scalp wagers; preferably superfecta straight **** dice dirt track rolls. Santa Anita is a gorgeous track; however, California runs a thoroughbred shortfall, so instead of eight horses minimal, it's five, six, or seven. Too low for professionals who like Eight ballers or better betting.

I could use a thoroughbred movie right now. Seabiscuit comes to mind. Read the book years ago, film bucket listed back burner. Gonna trapse Tube for a quick fix, perhaps find something bridle leather to chew on.

 

[Fading Fast]

^ Memorial Day weekend and there are horses to handicap. Saturday is a lesser date than is Monday, and, truth-to-tell, I'm a much less disciplined focus sort than should be. And I like to mull things over, sweat it all out, before the actual race date. And play a full card, leaping across country for opportunity for day trader market scalp wagers; preferably superfecta straight **** dice dirt track rolls. Santa Anita is a gorgeous track; however, California runs a thoroughbred shortfall, so instead of eight horses minimal, it's five, six, or seven. Too low for professionals who like Eight ballers or better betting.

I could use a thoroughbred movie right now. Seabiscuit comes to mind. Read the book years ago, film bucket listed back burner. Gonna trapse Tube for a quick fix, perhaps find something bridle leather to chew on.

"Seabiscuit" is a good movie, but a bit Disneyafied vs. the book. Another one you might enjoy is "Phar Lap" (1983).

 

[Harp]

"Seabiscuit" is a good movie, but a bit Disneyafied vs. the book. Another one you might enjoy is "Phar Lap" (1983).

Disneyfied is fine with me. Love the guy and his show brought an abundance of decency with entertainment into my childhood, so lacking now. Tried Netflix and Paramount but my browser needs updating.... What clips seen YouTube were splendid. Wll check out Phar Lap.

 

[LightenUpFrancis]

There are a few masterpieces I'll revisit when circumstances reach a point where I'm in search of a reset in perspective. Last night I was reminded how much hope was written into this beautiful script and score. The strings from that main theme can dismantle the most stubborn of problems.

 

[Harp]

^ Indeed.

 

[Fading Fast]

Tonight or Never from 1931 with Gloria Swanson, Melvyn Douglas, Alison Skipworth, Ferdinand Gottschalk, and Robert Greig


You come for Swanson, stay for the silly story, and leave satisfied because of her (and Melvyn Douglas, Alison Skipworth, Ferdinand Gottschalk, and Robert Greig). Swanson is, of course, Gloria Swanson of silent film and later Sunset Boulevard fame.

Swanson made only a handful of early talkies before stepping away from pictures for years. Even today's old-movie fans know her more for her famous comeback role in Sunset Boulevard than her early work. Yet, her early talkies work reveals a missed opportunity to have left a bigger legacy.

Here, in Tonight or Never, Swanson plays a successful opera diva who is considered technically proficient, but her manager, played by Ferdinand Gottschalk, says she lacks the heart – the "passion –" necessary to be a truly great artist.

Enter Melvyn Douglas playing a putative gigolo who silently stalks Swanson. Swanson, however, is engaged to a buffoon of a count, whom she holds in low regard. He does, though, bring with him a social status, especially at a time when artists did not enjoy the standing they do today.

A series of misunderstandings has Swanson believing Douglas is a gigolo supported by an older rich woman, played by Alison Skipworth, whom he says is his "aunt." Swanson is repelled morally by Douglas, but her libido is intrigued by this handsome, disreputable man.

Add Swanson's butler, played by the always dryly entertaining Robert Greig, whom she greatly respects—but who, like her manager, believes her singing lacks the soul necessary to make her one of the great divas—and that's the setup.

Most of the movie is focused on Swanson only slowly realizing she needs to experience love to be a truly great artist. It is left to the viewer to decide whether the love she needs is emotional, physical, or both – hint: It's not just emotional.

So after a lot of anger and frustration, Swanson finally faces off with Douglas one on one where some confusion is straightened out and Swanson is left with a decision – a decision about love, life, and s*x. It is the one she's been avoiding the entire movie.

This is essentially an early romcom, though the formula was not yet perfected. Swanson and Douglas spend way too much time apart, they don't have a meet-cute, and their final coupling feels forced and off-key to today's sensitivities.

Even so, and despite some very clear silent-film mannerisms, Swanson carries the movie with a presence – a force of will – that exceeds her nice but not overwhelming beauty. Had she stayed with "the talkies," one imagines she would have only become a better sound-era actress.

Douglas more than holds his own, being a star in his own right and understanding talkies better than Swanson at this point. His nonchalance against her character's hype-kinetic insecurity is romcom 101 gold.

Supporting all this lover's angst is Skipworth as a mirthful aunt who loves being mistaken for Douglas' "patroness;" Gottschalk playing an early version of the exasperated manager of a diva; and Grieg in the "superior" butler role, a movie trope, but a trope for a good reason – it works.

The premise that Swanson can only become a truly great artist by experiencing 'love'—particularly the physical kind—is something only a precode could address honestly. After the code was enforced, the theme would be too carnal for the censors.

Today, though, we don't like this idea because it has a whiff of a woman needing a man to be great. Yet versions of this story have been written with the s*xes reversed. We should simply let honesty prevail, which is that love and *** matter to the full blossoming of a man or woman.

Swanson, at thirty two and looking it, is too old to be playing a virgin diva, but Hollywood regularly picks the star and then shoehorns him or her into the part. Hollywood was right, too, as despite all its bumpiness, Tonight or Never is only interesting today because of Swanson.

Eventually Hollywood would perfect the romcom formula that it was toying with here, but nothing matters more, then or now, than if the two leads in the romcom have chemistry. Douglas and Swanson have it in spades, but unfortunately, they aren't on screen together enough.

Fans of old movies will appreciate Tonight or Never as part of the Swanson opus and for its proto-romcom take, even if it remains just an okay film.

 

[Judgmentalist]

Just watched this one for the first time. Not sure how I missed it when it was in theaters. 2009 I would have been… 23. Maybe I just wasn’t into gangster movies.

I thought it was really good - and what a great movie for hats! I want one of each. Even made me want a boater, which of all hats seem to me to be the most period-locked, except for maybe top hats.

I know I’m late to the party on this one, but I’m probably going to get this oxblood fedora custom made at some point.

 

[Edward]

Just watched this one for the first time. Not sure how I missed it when it was in theaters. 2009 I would have been… 23. Maybe I just wasn’t into gangster movies.

I thought it was really good - and what a great movie for hats! I want one of each. Even made me want a boater, which of all hats seem to me to be the most period-locked, except for maybe top hats.

I know I’m late to the party on this one, but I’m probably going to get this oxblood fedora custom made at some point.

View attachment 788963

Funnily enough, there was a discussion about this one on a hat thread yesterday (the heat is sapping my brain currently - you may well have already been in on that one!).

Definitely a great hat. Very 30s, with the brim being just that fraction narrower than late 40s (at least to my eye), and that gorgeously square crown. IIRC, it even had a touch of reverse taper on a side view?

The overcoat was also quite wonderful. Depp always suited that period style, but it'd be hard for anyone not to look good in the wardrobe they put him in for that picture.

 

[Zombie_61]

Just watched this one for the first time. Not sure how I missed it when it was in theaters. 2009 I would have been… 23. Maybe I just wasn’t into gangster movies.

I thought it was really good - and what a great movie for hats! I want one of each. Even made me want a boater, which of all hats seem to me to be the most period-locked, except for maybe top hats.

I know I’m late to the party on this one, but I’m probably going to get this oxblood fedora custom made at some point.

View attachment 788963

I have a bit of an interest for "gangster" movies set during the "Great Depression" era that, as far as I can remember, started when I saw "Bonnie and Clyde" (Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty) back in 1967 at the ripe old age of 6 years old. I saw Public Enemies with friends on opening day here in southern California, but when it was done my first thought was that I didn't know any more about John Dillinger walking out of that theater than I did when I walked in. Not that I know a lot about him, but movies like this are regularly more concerned with showing exaggerated scenes of bank robberies gone awry with b.u.l.l.e.t.s (<-stupid self-censoring software) flying everywhere and less concerned with helping the audiences to understand the people (not the actors, but the people they're portraying) and why they chose such a violent life to live (short answer--they didn't have many choices). That said, good movie, but if you have even a basic understanding of who John Dillinger was and why he's famous, your time might be better spent watching or doing something else. Unless you like looking at Johnny Depp; I hear he's "dreeeaamy"...

 

[Judgmentalist]

I have a bit of an interest for "gangster" movies set during the "Great Depression" era that, as far as I can remember, started when I saw "Bonnie and Clyde" (Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty) back in 1967 at the ripe old age of 6 years old. I saw Public Enemies with friends on opening day here in southern California, but when it was done my first thought was that I didn't know any more about John Dillinger walking out of that theater than I did when I walked in. Not that I know a lot about him, but movies like this are regularly more concerned with showing exaggerated scenes of bank robberies gone awry with ******s flying everywhere and less concerned with helping the audiences to understand the people (not the actors, but the people they're portraying) and why they chose such a violent life to live (short answer--they didn't have many choices). That said, good movie, but if you have even a basic understanding of who John Dillinger was and why he's famous, your time might be better spent watching or doing something else. Unless you like looking at Johnny Depp; I hear he's "dreeeaamy"...

I was more into his hats, but I get where your head is at lol.

 

[Harp]

^ A family connection to Cook County sheriff circa 1930s, allowed handle actual ****** fabricated
Dillinger for prison escape; and his death scene Chicago alley locus pilgrimage done adolescent passage rite; along with Al Capone's original grave site, Mount Olivet Cemetery, Chicago southside. Prefer a homburg and black topper myself.

 

[Fading Fast]

Lola 1981, a West German film


Lola is a much easier to digest adaptation of the 1905 novel Professor Unrat than the 1930 relentlessly depressing film The Blue Angel. Humans like to have s*x, make money, and get a bit of security – in Lola, they all seem within reach... at a price.

Lola, a prostitute played by Barbara Sukowa, wants to be respected and have some security for her child – the unacknowledged child of her client, the nightclub/brothel owner Schuckert – but everyone in town knows who she is, except for the new building commissioner, Von Bohm.

Schuckert is also a builder who is a "scratch my back, I'll scratch your back" kind of guy. Unfortunately for him, the arrow-straight new commissioner, Von Bohn, doesn't play that game. Trying to move up the social ladder, Lola – elegantly dressed – ingratiates herself with Von Bohm.

That's the early setup that amps up hard in Act II: Von Bohm, a middle-aged bachelor, thinks he's falling in love with "well bred" Lola; Schuckert needs Von Bohm to look the other way on regulations related to his new building project; and Lola tries to navigate both men for her aims.

Director Rainer Werner Fassbinder gives each character his own fitting look: Lola dresses gaudily at the "nightclub"; Schuckert straddles both worlds, dressing conservatively or loudly depending on the need; but Von Bohm is always neatly and professionally attired.

The nightclub is overdecorated and garish. Von Bohm's office and home, conversely, are conservatively furnished. Lola, living a double life, tries to fit into both worlds, but seems overdetermined for high society, as one would expect of a prostitute attempting to look like a lady.

Eventually, the contradictions, as they have to, smash into each other in ricocheting fashion in an outstanding Act III where Schuckert and Lola prove to be smart, fast-thinking opportunists. Von Bohn, however, either struggles to keep up, or decides the trade-offs he makes are worth it.

The story, like its conclusion, is highly cynical, saying that pretty much everyone is corrupt and the richest are the most corrupt. It seems to point the finger at capitalism, but the free market didn't force people to lie, cheat, and steal. Filmmakers, though, love implying it did.

None of this would work – and it works wonderfully here – if the actors didn't deeply understand that they are caricatures or archetypes, not real people. The entire effort is an enjoyable snarky farce that says everyone is corrupt or corruptible.

There will be no spoilers here, but know that the fantastic closing scene only works if you take it tongue-in-cheek as all the dirty pieces snap perfectly into place. It's close to a fairytale for those who don't like most people, free exchange, or success because it says all three are frauds.

Set in 1957 as West Germany's economic miracle was taking flight, Lola avers "not so fast, the miracle is not real." The East Germans at the time, risking life and limb to get to the West, would have begged to differ. Worse for the movie's moral stance, history begs to differ conclusively.

Yes, there are corrupt prostitutes, corrupt businessmen, and corrupt government officials; how the sum total of that somehow condemns the free market is for each viewer to decide. Many moviemakers posture that way, right before they count up their box office receipts.

 

[Harp]

^ The beauty and cleanliness of Germany are most impressive. And foreign exchange exactitude where
almighty dollar met resilient mark left lasting impression like a Chicago Maxwell Street peddler working his wares on hustle alley. I once tried paying a Munich train station breakfast bill with dollars but had to settle tab with marks instead. Years later, while in law school, and working the overnite trade order desk for a Chicago commodity brokerage, I shorted Sterling against the Marcus Aurelius.

 

[EngProf]

Disneyfied is fine with me. Love the guy and his show brought an abundance of decency with entertainment into my childhood, so lacking now. Tried Netflix and Paramount but my browser needs updating.... What clips seen YouTube were splendid. Wll check out Phar Lap.

For the horse and horse-racing enthusiasts here, you should DEFINITELY track down the PBS documentary "Seabiscuit" from the "American Experience" series.
By coincidence, it was re-run last night on our local PBS station and it was fascinating.
A lot of the show covered the life of Seabiscuit's jockey, and also the rivalry between Seabiscuit and War Admiral.
Note that this opinion comes from someone who doesn't care anything about horses or horse racing.

 

[Harp]

Note that this opinion comes from someone who doesn't care anything about horses or horse racing.

Thoroughbred graded stakes racing should command your intellectual curiosity for its depth and grandeur
quite beyond mere monetary gain; although this particular aspect undeniably glues the game puzzle to
public place for inherent rhymed reason. And turf literature affords guide through labyrinth shoals for track tuition tenure study. I recommend Richard Eng's primer, Betting on Horse Racing for Dummies which gives neophytes a broad track game traverse.

 

[Fading Fast]

The Circus Clown (1934) with Joe E. Brown and Patricia Ellis


At the end of the silent era and into the talkies, Joe E. Brown carved out a niche in B movies where he usually played the same type of lead character: a down-and-out braggart smitten with a girl out of his league, but somehow he'd bully his way to success and the girl's heart.

Brown will work for you or not. He's bloviating and obnoxious, plus his trademark is an irritatingly loud scream/screech that must have appealed to his fans. Thankfully, though, in The Circus Clown, he downplays those awful traits to almost become a not unlikable human being.

Here, he plays the son of a former circus performer who discourages his son from joining the circus, but Brown – playing both himself and his dad – eventually runs away to join one (a Depression-Era boy's fantasy that you would have had to live in the era to understand).

He is assigned only scut work by the owner, and he becomes smitten with a trick horseback rider who performs as a woman but is really a man. Mocking him, the circus people let him think he's a she. While you can read something subversive into it, it really just seems stupid, not deep.

He also falls for a cute-as-all-heck trapeze artist, played by Patricia Ellis. She appears to be a single mom or a mom with an abusive or neglectful husband. So the "plot" is basically Brown trying to get into a circus act and romance one of the women he's interested in.

You don't come to a Brown movie for its plot; you come for Brown. While h*rdcore fans might be disappointed in his subdued performance in this one, normal moviegoers will find it refreshing to not be irritated by him all the time. Surprisingly, he also shows some real acting chops.

Here he's more sad than anything else: His dad is against his career; the circus owner won't give him a chance; his coworkers play a cruel practical joke on him; and the cute girl – after a big misunderstanding (stock in trade for a Brown movie) – thinks he is a loutish drunk.

Throw in a bit about Brown befriending one of the trained lions that, once again, through a big misunderstanding, almost goes very wrong, and that's about it for the movie. You might not love Brown, but you do occasionally root for him, in part because the guy just doesn't quit trying.

Today, his annoyingness would be diagnosed in childhood as a "condition" or "syndrome" and he'd be put in a special program, but back then he just had to fight his way through life. His movies are really just about a misfit adult pushing and struggling to find a place for himself.

Patricia Ellis, however, boosts this one up, so much so you wish her role had been bigger. She's cute and personable, and, amazingly, even has some chemistry with s*ck-all-the-oxygen-out-of-a-room Brown, but she only has limited screen time.

Filmed on studio sets and at a circus, the circus scenes are impressive with Brown, who started his career as an acrobat, performing many of his own stunts. For modern audiences, it's a fun time capsule of the heyday of the traveling circus.

The Circus Clown is one of Joe E. Brown's more tolerable pictures. It's not a great movie, and he will still irritate you at times, but there's also a pathos to his character here that's often missing in his other efforts. It almost feels like a real movie with real characters.

Toss in Ellis, the circus and, at just over an hour, you can almost understand why Depression-era audiences wouldn't loathe this as the second feature on a double bill.

 

[Harp]

A good review. My dad took us to Ringling Bros/Barnum & Bailey one nite, and he and I walked behind scenes where we encountered the tiger cage and lion tamer, who told us ''these cats will be in tonite's show.''
Clowns and pretty girls all over. Loved it. Spectacular three ring circus floor, where the clowns really stole the show.