I Just Watched...

Discussion of programming on TCM.
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Intrepid37
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Intrepid37 »

I watched Congo (1995) last night.

Pretty fun watch. Amazing gorilla effects! Best actors in the movie.
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LawrenceA
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by LawrenceA »

Today:

Thunderbirds are GO (1966) - Film version of the TV series filmed in "Supermarionation". A team square-jawed heroes use their high-tech flying machines to enact daring rescues. I don't know if it's dead, shifty eyes, or the weird moths, but I've always found these puppets creepy, and never watched the show. The high point here is a musical performance by puppet versions of Cliff Richard and the Shadows.

The Public Cemetery Under the Moon (1967) - South Korean ghost story about a much-maligned young woman who strikes back from beyond the grave to exact revenge. I found it kind of silly but charming in a cheap sort of way.

The Queen (1968) - Documentary look at drag culture in NYC circa 1967. I'm no expert on it then or now, but found many of the anecdotes and characters entertaining. This was one of the TCM Underground features that I missed. My pic of the day.

Krakatoa: East of Java (1968) - I've been aware of this movie take on the historical natural disaster mainly for the joke about how Krakatoa is actually west of Java, but the producers were too cheap to change the title credits or marketing materials. The movie itself proved to be a pretty dull slog, with some miniature volcano effects in final act. The cast includes Maximilian Scheel, Diane Baker, Brian Keith, Rossano Brazzi, and Sal Mineo. Shot in "Cinerama".

Swarmed (2005) - Another dumb Syfy Channel movie, this time about a swarm of genetically-modified killer yellowjackets attacking Indiana. With Michael Shanks from the Stargate TV series, Carol Alt, and Tim Thomerson.

Thunderbird 6 (1968) - Another go round with the Supermarionation puppets and their flying machines. The title alludes to a new, sixth aircraft. Yawn.
Watching until the end.
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Detective Jim McLeod
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Detective Jim McLeod »

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Strike Me Deadly (1963) Tubi-4/10

A forest ranger witnesses a hunter commit a murder and is pursued by the killer.

I have been reading Lawrence A's reviews of trashy 1960s films and decided to find some things in The Psychotronic Video Guide book to watch. I had made of list of ones that intrigued me and had found a few years ago, mostly on VHS rentals. This title was one on my list that I never saw and found it on Tubi. It has some B&W photography that is better then you'd expect but appears to have sound dubbed in later. The killer holds the ranger and his wife hostage in their cabin in the woods. The wife is played by beautiful and curvy Jeannine Riley, who later played the first Billie Jo on Petticoat Junction . She was the only member of the cast I recognized. Most of the running time is consumed by a flashback sequence of the hunter and wife as newlyweds. This film is not suspenseful enough to be a good thriller and not sleazy enough to be good trash.
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EP Millstone
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Re: I Just Watched...

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Detective Jim McLeod wrote: March 28th, 2023, 11:22 am Strike Me Deadly (1963) Tubi-4/10
. . .The wife is played by beautiful and curvy Jeannine Riley, who later played the first Billie Jo on Petticoat Junction . She was the only member of the cast I recognized . . .This film is not suspenseful enough to be a good thriller and not sleazy enough to be good trash.
. . . which pretty much describes a Ted V. Mikels movie, IMO. I haven't seen all of Mikels' flicks, but the few that I have seen don't fit into the category So Bad It's Good. I just find them b-a-d.

Yo, Detective Jim McLeod, you've never seen How to Make a Monster , which features Gary Clarke, who succeeded Michael Landon as the Teenage Werewolf?

Steve Ihnat is also among the cat of Strike Me Deadly. He was an active "heavy" in movies and on TV -- for me, most memorably in The Chase. He also wrote and directed The Honkers.
"Start every day off with a smile and get it over with." -- W.C. Fields
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LawrenceA
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Re: I Just Watched...

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A shorter than usual lineup for me today:

Hell's Angels '69 (1969) - Rather exploitation with Jeremy Slate and Tom Stern as rich brothers from "back East" who pose as bikers in order to gain the confidence of the California Hell's Angels (played the real gang members). It's all part of a very goofy heist plan in Vegas. I'm not usually crazy about biker flicks and this one didn't do anything to change that opinion.

Machine Gun McCain (1969) - Italian gangster flick, with John Cassavetes as the title ex-con whose looking for a big score after serving a long stint in lockup. With Peter Falk as a mob casino underboss, Britt Ekland, Gabriele Ferzetti, Val Avery, Florinda Bolkan, and Gena Rowlands. The script and direction are weak, but Cassavetes is convincing as a twitchy creep, and the score by Ennio Morricone is good. My pick of the day, but it was an off day.

Cleopatra (1970) - Remarkably strange Japanese animated film about a trio of future Earthlings sent back in time to era of Cleopatra in order to thwart a mysterious alien plan for global domination. This oddity (from the makers of Belladonna of Sadness) features very strange artistic choices, like having the future people depicted by live action actors with crude cartoon faces superimposed on them, or having Julius Caesar with dark green skin. This actually received a limited US release where it was promoted as the first "X rated cartoon". Patrons were disappointed by the occasional appearance of cartoon boobs and not much else.

Cover Me Babe (1970) - Misfire New Hollywood offering from Fox, with Robert Forster as a hotshot film student who is being courted by the big studios. He doesn't want to compromise his art, though. With Sondra Locke as the girlfriend, Floyd Mutrux, Ken Kercheval, Sam Waterston, Jeff Corey, Regis Toomey, and Mike Kellin. The film belabors the point that Forster is some sort of genius, but nothing shown onscreen ever indicates that. Music by Bread. The copy I watched online was ripped from the TCM Underground showing.
Watching until the end.
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Detective Jim McLeod
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Detective Jim McLeod »

EP Millstone wrote: March 28th, 2023, 8:39 pm
. . . which pretty much describes a Ted V. Mikels movie, IMO. I haven't seen all of Mikels' flicks, but the few that I have seen don't fit into the category So Bad It's Good. I just find them b-a-d.

Yo, Detective Jim McLeod, you've never seen How to Make a Monster , which features Gary Clarke, who succeeded Michael Landon as the Teenage Werewolf?

Steve Ihnat is also among the cat of Strike Me Deadly. He was an active "heavy" in movies and on TV -- for me, most memorably in The Chase. He also wrote and directed The Honkers.
No, haven't seen How To Make A Monster but have seen Teenage Werewolf

I saw The Chase many years ago, but with a star studded cast (Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Angie Dickinson) it was easy to overlook Ihnat.
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laffite
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by laffite »

Girlfriends (1978) This was a surprise. As a guy, maybe I'm not supposed to like this? This may be a chick flick of sorts but see if I care. It has a rugged look to it, something not merely low budget but more dicey than that ; a threadbare, kitchen sink, amateur attempt of a movie sure to go astray. Yet it plays wonderfully well and with astonishingly good acting. I liked it.
Sabine Azema in Sunday in the Country
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LawrenceA
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by LawrenceA »

Yesterday:

Hauser's Memory (1970) - Mild sci-fi TV movie with David McCallum as a scientist who injects himself with the memories of a dead German scientist. The governments of both the US and the USSR wants missile secrets, while David's new memories compel him to seek revenge for wrongdoings back in WWII. With Susan Strasberg, Lilli Palmer, and Leslie Nielsen as "Slaughter".

The Howl (1970) - Wild Italian counterculture insanity with Tina Aumont and Luigi Proletti as a duo on the run who encounter all sorts of weirdos and freaks. The image of Aumont in a wedding dress and proto-goth corpseface makeup has become a minor cult item, but not many actually watch the movie. It's entertaining in short bursts, but tiring overall, and too shapeless to leave much impact. Director Tinto Brass also indulges in his usual juvenile sense of humor.

The Raven (1915) - Heavily fictionalized and abbreviated biopic of Edgar Allan Poe, starring Henry B. Walthall. It tracks the journey of his ancestors (!) briefly before delving into his life as a romantic poet and substance abuser. I found it passable for its time, but it did inspire me to take a new track with my movie watching. Stay tuned...
Watching until the end.
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LawrenceA
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Re: I Just Watched...

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So I've decided to go back and try to watch at least one movie, short or feature or serial, from each year movies have been around. In the earliest period, there are several year-long gaps between available titles, but I've done the best I can. For these earliest years, only short subjects exist, so here comes the watched lineup so far:

Sallie Gardner at a Gallop (1878) - The oldest existing movie that I hadn't seen. This is an early effort by Eadweard Muybridge, and is simply a series of photographs shown in succession of a woman on a horse, lasting a few seconds.

Skeleton of a Horse (1881) - Another from Muybridge, this is considered the first instance of stop-motion animation.

The Kiss (1882) - Two nude woman briefly smooch. From Muybridge again. Crazy that the first ever screen kiss was between two women.

Capybara Walking (1887) - Muybridge again, this time showing a capybara walking. This film caused a sensation, with panic and rioting in the streets, followed by widespread "capybara mania" sweeping the globe. Capybaras were everywhere, on clothes, on billboards, in magazine photospreads. President Grover Cleveland even considered making the capybara the new national animal of the US, which speaks to how this was is truly one of mankind's greatest artistic achievements.

Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888) - From Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince. A few seconds of foot and vehicle traffic crossing a bridge. When first exhibited in London, it caused widespread outrage and rioting.

Hyde Park Corner (1889) - From William Friese-Greene. 2 seconds of motion on the busy street. And you guessed it, there was rioting in theaters.
Watching until the end.
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LawrenceA
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Re: I Just Watched...

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Buckle up for the 1890s!!!

London's Trafalgar Square (1890) - A few seconds of the busy area, from directors William Carr Crofts and Woodsworth Donisthorpe (what a name!). It tells you how differently they did things that it took guys to direct this. As usual with this sort of thing, exhibition resulting in chaos and looting, with Queen Victoria herself reported to have punched a guy. Showings of seconds-long street scenes were henceforth banned in the UK, a law that stands to this day.

Newark Athlete (1891) - We head back to the US, and the fertile cinematic landscape of New Jersey and Thomas Edison. Here he and his filmmaking compatriots film a few seconds of a kid in athletic clothes juggling ten-pins. Perverts.

Poor Pierrot (1892) - We head to France for the first animated film. Two clownish looking guys try to woo a lady. It's crude, and in color, but I thought it was cute. From Emile Reynaud.

Blacksmith Scene (1893) - Another from Edison's company, by directors William K.L. Dickson and William Heise. Three blacksmiths hammer some metal, then share a beer. This is regarded as the first "acted" scene in film. The unsavory implications are unmistakable.

Dickson Experimental Sound Film (1894) - The title is a big-time spoiler. A guy plays a violin into a phonographic recording device, while two other guys dance together. This groundbreaking synchronized sound experiment is of course used by Edison to showcase immoral behavior (dancing).

The Waterer Watered (1895) - From France, and director Louis Lumiere, we have the birth of film comedy. A gardener using a hose to water his plants is pranked by a young man. Nurses were kept on hand for any laughter-induced injuries to audiences.

A Terrible Night (1896) - From George Méliès. A guy trying to get some sleep is disturbed by an enormous bug. Kafka's favorite film.

The Kiss (1896) - Not a remake of the 1882 cult classic, but a new look at smooching, with two unattractive people swapping spit. Directed by William Heisse. The birth rate skyrocketed after every showing, and America's new favorite film genre was born.

The Bewitched Inn (1897) - Another from Méliès. A guy trying to get some sleep is disturbed by supernatural happenings. I begin to sense a pattern with Méliès...

The Four Troublesome Heads (1898) - Méliès on stage removing his head repeatedly, placing them on a table, and growing a new one. This must have been pretty amazing to see at the time.

Cinderella (1899) - Méliès in his prime, with a scripted story, a troupe of performers, and elaborate sets. It still only runs 6 minutes, but how things have improved cinematically in the last few years.
Watching until the end.
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LawrenceA
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Re: I Just Watched...

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The 1900s:

Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1900) - The earliest Sherlock Holmes film consists of him entering his apartment to find a guy robbing it, but every time Holmes tries to grab him, the guy keeps disappearing. Directed by Arthur Marvin, it runs about a minute long. He ain't the only one baffled.

The Devil and the Statue (1901) - Méliès again, with another cleverly executed short involving the devil appearing to Juliet (from Romeo & Juliet), growing large, and then being dispatched by an animated statue of the Virgin Mary. There's a lot going on in the film's 2 minutes.

The Human Fly (1902) - Méliès directs this plotless short with women being entertained by a guy walking up and down a wall. It's another very brief exercise in special effects.

Alice in Wonderland (1903) - The first screen adaptation of the Lewis Carroll tale, at 9 minutes this was the longest film yet produced in the UK. Directed by Cecil M. Hepworth and Percy Stow. There's some well-done camera trickery.

The Moonshiner (1904) - 13 minute short from Biograph and director Wallace McCutcheon Sr., this is considered one of the earliest crime dramas. Revenue agents try to find a still and arrest the moonshiners operating it. Very crude, but compelling for the time.

The Coronation of King Peter I of Serbia (1904) - Shot by British directors Frank S. Mottershaw and Arnold Muir Wilson, this is a documentary look at the pomp and circumstance of the Serbian monarch's coronation parades and celebrations. This is followed by glimpses of the countryside. Priceless for its historical value, short on entertainment value.

The Black Imp (1905) - Méliès one last time, with another tale of a demon bothering a guy trying to sleep. I still thought it was fun, but he'd been making similar shorts for quite a stretch at this point.

Images of China (1905) - Much like the British filmmakers' look at Serbia above, this is a French filmmaker (Auguste Francois) looking at China. More a series of brief shorts than a narrative whole, this is also an invaluable historical relic, and it holds a bit more interest due to the exotic nature of the culture depicted.

The Story of the the Kelly Gang (1906) - The first narrative feature length film was this Australian look at the real-life outlaws. The movie originally ran over an hour, but all that survives is about 15 minutes. The reconstruction I watched was clunky to say the least, but it was still intriguing. Supposedly this movie played for over 20 years throughout the country.

Ben Hur (1907) - The first film version of Lew Wallace's novel was also the first film sued for copyright infringement. This version runs all of 15 minutes, and even that is too long. Produced by the Kalem Company, and directed by Sidney Olcott & Frank Oakes Rose. William S. Hart plays Messala!

Romeo & Juliet (1908) - Silent Shakespeare has always intrigued/baffled me, as adapting his plays to a purely visual medium seems to sap all the verbal artistry. The version I watched began with a title card saying it was "Part Two", so I'm assuming the first part is lost. What's left runs about 14 minutes. The stars are Paul Panzer and Florence Lawrence, the latter known as "The First Movie Star", due to her last name, no doubt.

Galileo Galilei (1909) - Italian biopic from directors Luigi Maggi and Arturo Ambrosio. It's also only about ten minutes long, so there's no going into real depth on anything. That said, it has nice costumes and sets for the period.
Watching until the end.
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EP Millstone
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by EP Millstone »

LawrenceA wrote: March 28th, 2023, 11:19 pm . . . Machine Gun McCain (1969) - Italian gangster flick . . . the score by Ennio Morricone is good.
I dig Machine Gun McCain and l-o-v-v-v-e The Ballad of Hank McCain!



Vocalist: Jackie Lynton
Last edited by EP Millstone on April 1st, 2023, 8:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Allhallowsday
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Allhallowsday »

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WOODSTOCK (1970) on TCM until 3:30am I lasted 'til 2:30... I've seen the original and this Director's cut. A good movie for a Summer afternoon. It is all so innocent, it made me smile.
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LawrenceA
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Re: I Just Watched...

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The rest of today:

A Christmas Carol (1910) - One of the earliest versions of the Dickens tale runs about 11 minutes, but has 3 directors: J. Searle Dawley, Ashley Miller, and Charles Kent. Marc McDermott is Scrooge (I think), and Charles Ogle appears. There are some decent effects with the ghosts, and the whole thing runs by so fast it doesn't stick around long enough to get too annoying.

The Colleen Bawn (1911) - Melodrama from the Kalem Company and directors/stars Gene Gauntier and Sidney Olcott. A young man from a good family falls for a poor girl, much to the outrage of his mother. This is very early True Crime stuff, with the main notable aspect being the on-location-in-Ireland shooting of the film in many of the actual places where the crime took place.

The Invaders (1912) - Francis Ford, the older brother of John Ford, stars and co-directs (with Thomas Ince) this sympathetic portrayal of Native Americans being screwed over yet again by the US government. Not bad for the time.

The Insects' Christmas (1913) - Brief stop-motion animation short from director Wladyslaw Starewicz. Some bugs celebrate the Yuletide. Cute stuff.

A Message from Mars (1913) - Here's another real oddity. This British film features a guy from Mars being sent to Earth to teach a human guy the error of his ways, kind of like a guardian angel or Scrooge's ghosts, but, you know, from Mars. The Martian costumes are outrageous and silly. There's currently a very good print, complete with a new, "weird-space" score, on YouTube.

In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914) - From director Edward S. Curtis comes this fictional tale about battling natives. I assumed by the "head hunters" title that this would be set on one of the Asian islands, or in central Africa, or the jungles of South America. Instead, it's about the Kwakiutl people of British Columbia, Canada. The look at authentic costumes, customs and living spaces is terrific, but the filming itself leaves a lot to be desired, and of course story wise it's pretty rough going.
Watching until the end.
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C*i*g*a*rTheJoe
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by C*i*g*a*rTheJoe »

The Brasher Doubloon (1947) Flawed Classic Noir "The other, other, other Classic Noir Marlowe"

Directed by John Brahm who directed two period piece Noir The Locket, and The Lodger before this film. Brahm began directing some TV after 1951 and eventually transitioned over. He directed a dozen episodes of The Twilight Zone, notably the classic episode "Time Enough at Last" with Burgess Meredith and quite a few of the series Noirish episodes. The Brasher Doubloon was based on Raymond Chandler's High Window, the screen play was by Dorothy Bennett from a adaptation by Leonard Praskins with Ring Lardner Jr. (Laura, The Big Night, and M*A*S*H) probably contributing some satirical material to the script.

The Cinematography was by Lloyd Ahern Sr. (Cry of the City, and later TV notably The Fugitive pilot movie and some episodes. Music was by David Buttolph.

The film stars George Montgomery as Philip Marlowe, Nancy Guild as Merle Davis, Conrad Janis as Leslie Murdock, Roy Roberts as Police Lt. Breeze, Fritz Kortner as Rudolph Vannier, Florence Bates as Mrs. Elizabeth Murdock, Marvin Miller as Vince Blair, Reed Hadley as Dr. Moss (uncredited), Paul Maxey as the coroner, and Housely Stevenson (Dark Passage) and Jack Overman (vet of 12 Classic Noir) as the apartment manager.

I'd seen The Brasher Doubloon a long time ago, it was a crappy blurry copy and it didn't impress. I rewatched a very good copy of it the other night. Now after having viewed and having digested a lot more Noirs in between, I've upped my opinion of it.

What did the trick this go round is all the other bit players that I now recognized from all the other Films Noir. Character actors like Paul Maxey (The Narrow Margin, Highway 301, Deadline USA), Fritz Kortner (Anzelmo aka Dr. Oracle from Somewhere In the Night), Roy Roberts (from Nightmare Alley, Force of Evil, The Killer That Stalked New York), Reed Hadley (from The Dark Corner plus he V.O. narrated a lot of other Film Noir), Marvin Miller from his turn as the blind piano player at a Manhattan night club in Deadline At Dawn . These character actors now bring a lot of Cinematic Memory from the Film Noir "universe" to the film. 7/10
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