I Just Watched...

[jamesjazzguitar]

THE NIGHT STALKER premiered in January of 1972 and had a follow-up THE NIGHT STRANGLER (1973) which was fun, but not nearly as powerful. The success of both lead to the crappy 1 season series.

Agree with you on all points. I want to like the season series, but it falls flat.

[j.lunatic]

This past weekend I attended the inaugural Library of Congress Festival of Film and Sound, at AFI Silver. Highlights of the program:

Dark Manhattan (Fraser, 1937): An all-Black crime drama, made by a short-lived Black-owned company and written by the leading man. Deeply indebted to the James Cagney/Pat O'Brian films being made around this time, but an interesting glimpse of what might have been. Every so often I wonder if there has been a good study of the race film phenomenon (who made these films, where did they screen, what did their intended audiences think of the results).

Memory Lane (Stahl, 1926): It's nice to see the early Stahl movies that have been excavated from the archives since the big Pordenone retrospective, but are we ever going to get these films on DVD/Blu-ray or legit streaming? The film turned out to be a mature and satisfying romantic drama of trust and recognizing the worth of a fundamentally good partner (Conrad Nagel) versus someone more flashy (William Haines). In other words, better Borzage than the actual Borzage film screened here.

Ceiling Zero (Hawks, 1936): AFI is able to show films that are tied up in rights hell (probably literary rights stemming from the play this is based on). The story is blatantly about 1) the WWI aviator generation, in the process of dying in action or going into the living death of management; 2) the advancement of companies for whom aviation is a business rather than an extreme sport, in tandem with advancing Federal regulation of the sector*; and 3) the rise of a new, college-educated generation better suited to the developing corporations. Cagney's character is a flyboy of the disappearing generation, a dinosaur at age 34, exhilarating in small doses but exhausting in larger ones. But in his way he does redeem himself for his offenses, literally dying as part of testing the new deicing equipment being rolled out in the fleet.

(*My current job is as a technical editor/writer on a Federal contract supporting the Federal Aviation Administration. I haven't dug deeply into the history of Federal aviation regulation. But among the things I like about the Pre-code period is the glimpses of the aviation sector transitioning from a regulatory wild west into a more formal industry.)

Spring Parade (Koster, 1940): A Deanna Durbin film, unavailable due to rights issues. I shouldn't have been surprised that Universal (re)made a romantic tale of pre-war Vienna when the German occupation of Austria was fresh in the world's memory. But it is a sound and satisfying vehicle, custom-made to suit the studio's prime ingenue.

Call Her Savage (Dillon, 1932): The infamous Clara Bow production that seems to set out to violate as many provisions of the Hays Code as possible. Briefly I imagined if this had been a misidentified 1962 Kenneth Anger/Ross Hunter coproduction. But such a film wouldn't begin to touch the gleeful, compulsive flouting of middle American taboos. In my opinion this displaces Kongo as the ultimate Pre-code.

The Lady (Borzage, 1925): Not good Borzage. Not good treatment of the Madame X plot. And I don't know for sure, but probably not a good Norma Talmadge movie.

Carne de Cabaret (Cabanne and Arozamena, 1931): A Spanish-language version of 1931's Ten Cents a Dance. Columbia spared every expense, and it showed. But this film has the virtues of speed and simplicity. And I'd like to watch this again, in a double feature with the English-language version--Lupita Tovar throughout retains a fundamental integrity and faith in true love in spite of her experiences; I don't remember if Barbara Stanwyck's performance met this standard.

The AFI and LOC people I talked to were pleased at the results (although recognizing room for improvement), and hope to bring something like this back next year. I'm really lucky to have AFI Silver in my metropolitan area. Next in August: Capitolfest, anyone?

[Cinemaspeak59]

Barcelona (1994) Whit Stillman’s follow-up to Metropolitan is more ambitious in scope, more dramatic and political. But it’s romantic and funny - as well as a great expat movie. It’s The Last Decade of the Cold War, and Metropolitan alums Taylor Nichols and Chris Eigeman are confronted with a bevy of free-spirited Spanish beauties who push back on American exceptionalism. Among the things discussed: why is NATO so disliked; whether there really is a sinister labor union called the AFL-CIA;; and how come the subtext receives all the scrutiny while the poor neglected text — right there on the top of the page — never gets mentioned.

[laffite]

This is a bit off topic but certainly related to the watching of movies. Below is Frank Bruni from his column about being on a plane and gazing haphazardly at at other people's screen without hearing word or soundtrack. I thought it might me of interest. Thanks. The paragraph in Bold below is my emphasis.

Frank Bruni writes:

"I am, however, a fervent guesser of movies on planes: I half-watch the movies chosen by passengers in seats near me, trying to figure out what’s going on, filling in the blanks with assumptions and imagination, doing a bit of amateur lip-reading, doing a lot of detective work.

What might Drew Barrymore be telling Adam Sandler? Across several flights, I’ve seen disconnected, out-of-order scenes from their rom-com “50 First Dates,” so I have some ideas about the movie and of course an opinion of it without knowing whether either is remotely on the mark. I sort of like the nebulousness and irresolution of that. They match the dull images and fuzzy sound. I’m not doing a disservice to the experience of the movie in a proper setting. I’m turning it into something entirely different, part Rorschach, part game.

Ben Affleck is preternaturally grave in “The Accountant,” which seems like great, tense fun. While I’ve assembled probably 60 percent of “50 First Dates” from the jigsaw-puzzle pieces of my oblique angle, soundless perusals of it, I’ve put together at least 80 percent of Affleck’s thriller. I mean, I’m confident it’s a thriller. There are firearms, chases, ominous shots of important rooms and august buildings in Washington, D.C.

When you half-watch a movie this way, without the soundtrack nudging you or the plot points lucidly laid out, you develop a new appreciation for the different editing rhythms, visual compositions and palettes of different genres. You know the emotional key in which the movie is being played even if you deduce little else about it. For a true movie lover, that’s a peculiar delight.

Hey, we all have our viewing quirks. It turns out that a big fraction of Americans watch everything with the subtitles turned on, and by everything I’m including and principally mean movies and shows in English. It’s not translation they’re looking for. It’s — I don’t know — reassurance, extra clarity. Devin Gordon explored and explained that phenomenon in a terrifically engaging recent article in The Atlantic, and I’m happy to report that he was as baffled and unsettled as I am.

What I do on planes is the opposite of that. Instead of beating back confusion, I embrace it. Or, really, take advantage of it. That line that Drew just delivered must have been hilarious. That encounter Ben just had was surely terrifying. Half-watched, quarter-understood movies are like trailers: They’re all promise and no letdown, which is a welcome inversion of much of life."

//

[Allhallowsday]

...
This TV film was a somber drama called The Shadow Box, based on a Pulitzer and Tony award winning play, which initially aired on ABC in December of 1980. It could be best described as a series of vignettes and monologues involving reactions to life and mortality among three terminal cancer patients (bisexual bon vivant Christopher Plummer, quiet James Broderick, and angry and somewhat forgetful Sylvia Sidney) and their loved ones (Plummer's current male lover and his hard-living ex-wife, Joanne Woodward, Broderick's frantic wife, Valerie Harper, and son, and Sidney's long-suffering daughter and caretaker, Melinda Dillon). I was a bit surprised that the story ends before any of the patients passes away, but that maybe makes it even more unique. It is by its very nature stagy, but with the quality of the dialogue and acting level, it doesn't matter as much. The performances are all strong (what else could be expected with that cast?), but Melinda Dillon comes through with the most affecting performance, and the whole enterprise is sensitively directed by Paul Newman.

I haven't seen The Shadow Box, but what a wonderful cast!

[jamesjazzguitar]

I just watched Berkeley Square (1933). What a wonderful and romantic film. Leslie Howard gives a great performance (nominated for an Oscar).

I was also very impressed with Heather Angel. I wish TCM would show more of the films she was in, but many are early Fox or Paramount films.

The only film I know I have seen her in is The Last of the Mohicans (1936) with Randolph Scott.

[Allhallowsday]

SMILIN' THROUGH (1932) Wonderful romantic nonsense. Fabulous cast!

[jamesjazzguitar]

SMILIN' THROUGH (1932) Wonderful romantic nonsense. Fabulous cast!

Yea, another Leslie Howard film, with Norma Sheer and Fredric March.

[Masha]

I apologize that this is off-topic for this thread but I am very curious as to attitudes and beliefs of those here on this matter.

I have been watching: Picket Fences (1992–1996). Am I suffering a significant cultural disconnect or is this series totally bonkers?

[Intrepid37]

I apologize that this is off-topic for this thread but I am very curious as to attitudes and beliefs of those here on this matter.

I have been watching: Picket Fences (1992–1996). Am I suffering a significant cultural disconnect or is this series totally bonkers?

Wish I could be helpful on that - but I never saw it. Not a single episode.

[LostHorizons]

The Time Machine which is a mediocre movie. I never understood btw, why the old TCM message board named its special insider community the “movie morlocks” after the “morlocks” from this movie because the morlocks are both incredible evil and wicked but also the movie itself isn’t that great.

[Lomm]

I apologize that this is off-topic for this thread but I am very curious as to attitudes and beliefs of those here on this matter.

I have been watching: Picket Fences (1992–1996). Am I suffering a significant cultural disconnect or is this series totally bonkers?

I watched that show way back when it was airing, so I don't remember a lot of the details...but yes, it's bonkers. That much I do recall.

[CinemaInternational]

I apologize that this is off-topic for this thread but I am very curious as to attitudes and beliefs of those here on this matter.

I have been watching: Picket Fences (1992–1996). Am I suffering a significant cultural disconnect or is this series totally bonkers?

I saw about 48 episodes of Picket Fences. It is in many ways a deceptive show, because many of the regulars are grounded, relatable characters.... but what the guests bring in is usually nothing short of insanity: dead nude bodies in dishwashers, mummies in closets, human test tube babies carried to term by cows (which was particularly crazy and helped to cheapen poor Leigh Taylor-Young, who gave the show some of its best moments in season 2), freezer murders, polygamy cults, animal sacrifice groups, shoe fetishes, gun-toting Santas, etc.

The acting quality and the level of the dialogue helps a lot, and its not a bad show, but it is definitely bonkers, seemingly vying to be part of the early 90s TV dysfunction trio along with the dark-hued Twin Peaks and the cheerful Northern Exposure.

[Masha]

I apologize that this is off-topic for this thread but I am very curious as to attitudes and beliefs of those here on this matter.

I have been watching: Picket Fences (1992–1996). Am I suffering a significant cultural disconnect or is this series totally bonkers?

I saw about 48 episodes of Picket Fences. It is in many ways a deceptive show, because many of the regulars are grounded, relatable characters.... but what the guests bring in is usually nothing short of insanity: dead nude bodies in dishwashers, mummies in closets, human test tube babies carried to term by cows (which was particularly crazy and helped to cheapen poor Leigh Taylor-Young, who gave the show some of its best moments in season 2), freezer murders, polygamy cults, animal sacrifice groups, shoe fetishes, gun-toting Santas, etc.

The acting quality and the level of the dialogue helps a lot, and its not a bad show, but it is definitely bonkers, seemingly vying to be part of the early 90s TV dysfunction trio along with the dark-hued Twin Peaks and the cheerful Northern Exposure.

It seems to me a wee bit insidious in that it posits a plausible scenario to draw the viewer into believing that it will be a straight-forward situation which will have a clear-cut resolution and then it dismantles it into a thousand absurdities.

Tom Skerritt is a great lead and very easy on the eyes but I find myself identifying most with Ray Walston. I empathize with his having to chose between options which are equally just but are also equally disagreeable. The thing which I find most odd is that I can not disagree with his decisions even when they are not what I would have chosen.

I am deep into Season Two but have not yet reached all of the episodes you mentioned. Amazon Prime Video has all four seasons. It has become my go-to when I have time to watch television rather than merely having it on as background noise.

[Sepiatone]

What I remember best about Picket Fences was that no matter how old he got DABS GREER always seemed to find work. But as it increasingly got into half-azzed debates about theology I decided I'd had enough.


Sepiatone