What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

I agree on In Which We Serve, an excellent film. All that I'll add is that Noel Coward also wrote the script, and co-directed the film with the great David Lean. (It was Lean's first film as director after a decade as a film editor.)

Doctor Strange said:

I agree on In Which We Serve, an excellent film. All that I'll add is that Noel Coward also wrote the script, and co-directed the film with the great David Lean. (It was Lean's first film as director after a decade as a film editor.)

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In my defense, I did note that Coward and Lean were co-directors, but did not catch that Coward wrote the script as well - quite the talent, that kid’s going places.

LizzieMaine said:

I'd give a lot for a legitmate, pristine DVD edition of "Hellzapoppin'" instead of a murky 16mm bootleg, but dream on....

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Watching a pretty decent copy on YouTube right now. It was put up by TheHeik if anybody's interested in seeing it.

"That's the first time a taxi driver ever went where I told him to go!"

Fading Fast said:

In Which We Serve from 1942 with Noel Coward and Celia Johnson

Darn good propaganda film. England was at war, fighting for its life with no guarantee of victory - England wasn't losing sleep over the morality of putting out propaganda films; it was losing sleep over whether it would survive to see them.

This movie follows the British Naval ship H.M.S. Torrin from its launch, thorough its battles and to its sinking (not a spoiler, happens early on) - weaving in the background stories of its captain - played incredibly well by Coward (who also produced and co-directed with David Lean) - and several officers and crew members through flashbacks.

From sailors getting married the night before leaving, through servicemen's families getting bombed in the Blitz to wives stoically receiving telegrams of lost love ones - this is a picture of England united in a war effort. Petty family squabbles and other frivolities quickly dissipate when someone is faced with real tragedy.

Equally stoic are the men serving on the Torrin who endure endless attacks with courage to the point of still manning the guns as water washes over them with their torpedoed ship sinking fast - a powerful scene.

It is a moving story of a country united at war. It also serves as an incredible piece of time travel - not just visually (although the visuals - the cars, clothes, advertising, architecture and archival war footage - are amazing) - but also, from a cultural and social perspective as England's class culture is on display, but looking at its (probably) spiffed-up-for-morale best as genuine respect amongst the classes flows back and forth.

To wit, in one of the closing scenes, when Coward is saying good by to the surviving crew of the Torrin, you can't help but be touched as Coward's handshake and personal comment to each man makes you think, if you ever had to serve, Coward is the man you'd want as your captain. My guess, that scene was Lean's, as few can touch a deep emotional cord with "small" personal detail like that better than Lean.

Mrs. Miniver is still my gold-standard for WWII "England at War" propaganda films, but In Which We Serve isn't that far behind.

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I raved about this film some time ago, an astonishing example of a well-written, well-acted, and well-directed film. Yes, propaganda, but have we ever seen any other propaganda product that was striking without being heavy-handed? Remarkable in so many ways.

Over the past three or four days, it was Yojimbo (1961) dir. by Akira Kursosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune, followed by A Fistful of Dollars (1964) dir. by Sergio Leone, with Clint Eastwood as Joe. The remake follows the original quite closely, with some allowances made for exchanging 1850s-ish Japan for late 19th century American Southwest.
Kurosawa is a master at composition in wide-screen; Leone loves gigantic porous close-ups with tics, squints, and twitches.
Leone didn't acknowledge the source film for his production, and Kurosawa sued. It is unclear if Kurosawa acknowledged Hammett's Red Harvest as his inspiration.

Dark Phoenix, and it was terrible. In fact, it was probably the worst X-Men movie made yet. l think I'm going to ignore it as none of the other movies make sense with it. The movie ends up being a big F-U to the original trilogy. Definitely NOT a worthy bow out of the franchise as it changes hands from the FOX banner to the Marvel Studios banner.

Days of Future Past was probably the best of the reboot timeline movies. And not just because the old guard is back. It's coherent, well written, has good dialogue, and most importantly ties all the movies together. Apocalypse itself wasn't bad, but it's not great either. Still better than Dark Phoenix. First Class I've come to appreciate in the face of Days of Future Past.

"Night Train to Munich" last night, which somehow made it onto the Criterion Collection. I found it uninteresting, unbelievable, and quite dated. Yes, yes, I know it's an old movie, but plenty of old movies from that period don't seem dated at all to me, so this one was disappointing.

The Imitation Game (2014) about Alan Turing, the building of his machine, Christopher, and breaking the enigma code. I quite enjoyed it.

Fading Fast said:

In my defense, I did note that Coward and Lean were co-directors, but did not catch that Coward wrote the script as well - quite the talent, that kid’s going places.

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Yep, def has potential.

Watched a new release "Mustang", a Belgian/French production profiling a US prison initiative using inmates to break wild mustangs. A pretty decent film...Mathew Schoenaerts (sp?) was very watchable. A few flaws in the plot but I figure you have to cut the French some slack making a film about the US.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958). Unhappily married socialite Nancy Archer (Allison Hayes) inexplicably becomes a giant after two encounters with a UFO and decides to get revenge on her cheating husband and anyone else who has wronged her. I had seen this once before, but it was a long time ago and I wanted to remind myself of just how bad it is; truly one of the worst movies ever made.

Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966). Count Dracula (John Carradine) travels to the American West where he plans to make Billy the Kid's fiancee (Melinda Casey, as Melinda "Plowman") his own. John Carradine considered this to be "the worst movie he ever acted in", and I wouldn't disagree with him; he did his best, but this movie didn't deserve it.

"Night And The City" last night, which I really enjoyed. The acting, photography, pacing, characters, etc are all top notch... everything fits the definition of a classic. Only one or two things I could nitpick but who cares? As some reviews say, the film uses darkness to great effect, which reminded me of The Third Man in that respect.

Edward, My Son from 1949 with Spencer Tracy and Deborah Kerr

I think I liked the movie as I was engaged pretty much throughout (missed the first twenty or so minutes of it), but the breaking of the forth wall by Tracy's character - explaining directly to the audience how this or that happened - was awkward and unnecessary - almost as awkward as the casting of Tracy himself as the ruthless tycoon so in love with his son - or the idea of "His Son! -" that he spoils the boy to the point of ruin.

Unfortunately, Tracy just isn't convincing as a ruthless-to-the-point-of-criminal or to-the-point-of-philandering industrialist, but he has so much overall talent that he's still captivating in this old story - one that I've never seen in full-flower in real life, but one that's been a stock plot of fiction forever - of a hugely successful father who blindly over indulges his son despite warnings from everyone around him - including his smart, caring wife, played by Kerr.

And seeing Kerr transition from a lovely young wife to a middle-aged alcoholic mentally destroyed by her husband is one of the story's most moving parts. Throw in a family friend - a nice doctor quietly in love with Kerr - who serves as another conscience Tracy ignores and Kerr struggles to face and the story moves along as expected. Also, as contrived as the fourth-wall thing is the construct where we never see the spoiled son as his life is simply marked by showing his birthday cake each year.

Despite those flaws and a transparent script, director George Cukor's skill at revealing interpersonal relationships and building three-dimensional characters is on full display here as he shows just the right moments to get you to care. Also, as in most Cukor movies, the one-liners and quick barbs fly back and forth.

Not great, but still good and worth the watch for Tracy, Kerr, Ian Hunter (the family friend) and Cukor's touch.

Two more quick things: one, you see some great shots of just-post-war England (Tracy's office is Art Deco / Mid-century modern joy) and, two, Leueen MacGrath (I never heard of her either and struggled to spell her name even after staring at it) as Tracy's secretary cum paramour (yup, that cliche-for-a-reason again) unintentionally steals scenes from Tracy - she's that good / he's that awkward as a philanderer.

On TCM, I just caught a "Word of Mouth" on "Sabrina -" apparently, director Billy Wilder and Bogie didn't like each other and fought throughout the production as told to us by "Sabrina" screenwriter Ernest Lehman. One of the rubs was the Bogie felt Wilder was giving Hepburn the best camera angles (what director on God's green earth wouldn't?).

That's kinda neat, but more to the point, these little "Word of Mouth" segments are small gems that TCM offers up with little fanfare. They're short segments narrated by someone connected to something about some film, studio or Hollywood history. They're almost all good - like the one I saw recently where Burt Reynolds described being a young actor and meeting (by stalking) Spencer Tracy when they were filming different projects but at the same time at the same studio.

LIKE!!

But that's the most outstanding for me!


Atmosphere and pointe!!

I just watched These Wilder Years (1956) starring James Cagney and Barbara Stanwyck.

I enjoyed the picture very much, but particularly the final third of it, after the courtroom scene, where Cagney exhibits his amazing acting chops sans the aggression that he was so famous for.

scottyrocks said:

I just watched These Wilder Years (1956) starring James Cagney and Barbara Stanwyck.

I enjoyed the picture very much, but particularly the final third of it, after the courtroom scene, where Cagney exhibits his amazing acting chops sans the aggression that he was so famous for.

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Agreed - I watched bits and pieces of it yesterday. He's such a pro, as is Stanwyck. I want to watch it from beginning to end next time it's on.

Fading Fast said:

Agreed - I watched bits and pieces of it yesterday. He's such a pro, as is Stanwyck. I want to watch it from beginning to end next time it's on.

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Speaking of being pros, I couldn't help but notice how when Cagney and Stanwyck spoke to each other, especially after the courtroom scene, how it felt like two old friends speaking with one another. It didn't look like acting at all, which is the true mark of great acting.