I so wanted to like John Frankenheimer's WW2 thriller, THE TRAIN. A historical setting, the honorable theme of resistance. I could never figure out why I hadn't seen it. Now I know! This is one slow moving locomotive. It may be categorized as suspense, but rarely is it exciting. Every time I thought the pace was about to quicken, people started talking. The camera began to wander. Why, I still don't know. This is a movie in need of aggressive editing.
Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield and the great Jeanne Moreau play their roles nicely, though Burt should cut down on the chain smoking. (Dude! The surgeon general called!) The plot is promising. It just never goes anywhere. I'm sorry to say, I liked almost nothing about this one. By far, my favorite Frankenheimer pot-boiler is SEVEN DAYS IN MAY. That's suspense!
WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
I had a triple bill weekend with the movies. No classics though; my next DVD in the queue is a Busby Berkeley spectacle, so I'll scratch that itch shortly!
The Lifeguard - Kristen Bell stars as a 29 year old who drops out of her life in NYC and moves back to her small home town and becomes a lifeguard at a local club. Oh, and she starts a relationship with a 16 year old kid, and gets her best friends to start hanging around drinking and doing drugs with 16 year old kids too. Then she leaves.
Don't see this movie.
Godzilla - Lots of teases and one impressive monster battle in the end. I quite enjoyed this, as much as the original at least!
Real Steel - Because there's already a game called Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots, they called this robot fighting movie Real Steel.
I didn't expect much of it but was pleasantly surprised by it hitting all the right notes and being a very enjoyable film.
The Lifeguard - Kristen Bell stars as a 29 year old who drops out of her life in NYC and moves back to her small home town and becomes a lifeguard at a local club. Oh, and she starts a relationship with a 16 year old kid, and gets her best friends to start hanging around drinking and doing drugs with 16 year old kids too. Then she leaves.
Don't see this movie.Godzilla - Lots of teases and one impressive monster battle in the end. I quite enjoyed this, as much as the original at least!
Real Steel - Because there's already a game called Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots, they called this robot fighting movie Real Steel.
I didn't expect much of it but was pleasantly surprised by it hitting all the right notes and being a very enjoyable film.Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
I haven't seen THE LIFEGUARD, but I understand the urge to put urban intensity behind, and return to small town roots. After 30 years in Chicago, I did just that! I don't do drugs with teenagers, though. The jails here are just as bad as anywhere else!
Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
It was written and directed by a hardcore feminist.kingrat wrote:Lomm, The Lifeguard sounds like a fantasy written by a 16-year-old boy.
Which kind of makes it even more shocking, I guess.Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
Say what you will about that wall crawling vigilante Spider-man, his little series is the cream of the super hero crop! I found THE AVENGERS overrated, THOR anti-climactic, The first HULK meandering, so I didn't watch the second one. But young Peter Parker and his gallery of mutated villains haven't disappointed me yet. Looking for depth, poetry and lasting art? This isn't it! But if you want a clever, exciting action film, the latest entry in this Marvel franchise will fill your plate and then some!
As is unfortunately the style for today's adventures, some of the visuals are fast, swirling and dizzying to a flaw. If you can't tell what's happening on the screen, why is it up there? The good news is, this is not just an action film. It's primarily the story of young people, their loves, friends and families. More than costumed characters flying about mindlessly, this is fallible, feeling humans struggling with life issues. As a child, SPIDER-MAN was my favorite comic book. Now I'm an increasingly frustrated filmgoer, and it's the best of that over-worn genre. When you have good characters and good story, you're ahead of the game!
Charming Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacy. The deliciously over the top Dane DeHaan is Harry Osborne. The energetic Andrew Garfield returns as you know who! The movie was directed by Marc Webb.
As is unfortunately the style for today's adventures, some of the visuals are fast, swirling and dizzying to a flaw. If you can't tell what's happening on the screen, why is it up there? The good news is, this is not just an action film. It's primarily the story of young people, their loves, friends and families. More than costumed characters flying about mindlessly, this is fallible, feeling humans struggling with life issues. As a child, SPIDER-MAN was my favorite comic book. Now I'm an increasingly frustrated filmgoer, and it's the best of that over-worn genre. When you have good characters and good story, you're ahead of the game!
Charming Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacy. The deliciously over the top Dane DeHaan is Harry Osborne. The energetic Andrew Garfield returns as you know who! The movie was directed by Marc Webb.
Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
I had a good movie week last week.
First, I saw "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976) directed by Clint Eastwood.
Yes, I waited nearly forty years to see it, and by the time I saw it, I had read so much about it that I knew all of Chief Dan George's jokes, but I was still impressed. It is a damn good movie, and I'm not the world's biggest Eastwood fan. There is care taken with the visuals here (and I know that Philip Kaufman directed part of the film) and John Vernon as Fletcher gives Eastwood an antagonist with some grit and dignity. (Although it can be argued whether Vernon's character is truly Eastwood's antagonist. Certainly he doesn't want to be.)
What struck me about the film was how scenes evoked classic films like "The Wild Bunch," "The Searchers," "Shane" and "Liberty Valance," but they didn't explicitly copy the older movies.
I'd have to say that "The Outlaw Josey Wales" is a great Western.
First, I saw "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976) directed by Clint Eastwood.
Yes, I waited nearly forty years to see it, and by the time I saw it, I had read so much about it that I knew all of Chief Dan George's jokes, but I was still impressed. It is a damn good movie, and I'm not the world's biggest Eastwood fan. There is care taken with the visuals here (and I know that Philip Kaufman directed part of the film) and John Vernon as Fletcher gives Eastwood an antagonist with some grit and dignity. (Although it can be argued whether Vernon's character is truly Eastwood's antagonist. Certainly he doesn't want to be.)
What struck me about the film was how scenes evoked classic films like "The Wild Bunch," "The Searchers," "Shane" and "Liberty Valance," but they didn't explicitly copy the older movies.
I'd have to say that "The Outlaw Josey Wales" is a great Western.
Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
Next, I saw "Death at a Funeral" (2007) directed by Frank Oz.
This really cracked me up. This is the first, "British" film. (It was remade a couple years later with an African-American cast.)
This is a movie that sneaks up on you. It looks very normal at first, and then the craziness begins and accelerates rapidly. (The movie blazes by in 92 minutes.) Very, very funny about a funeral that goes disastrously wrong.
I think Frank Oz has made some of the best comedies in the last few decades. "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "Housesitter," "In/Out," "Bowfinger" and "Death at a Funeral."
This really cracked me up. This is the first, "British" film. (It was remade a couple years later with an African-American cast.)
This is a movie that sneaks up on you. It looks very normal at first, and then the craziness begins and accelerates rapidly. (The movie blazes by in 92 minutes.) Very, very funny about a funeral that goes disastrously wrong.
I think Frank Oz has made some of the best comedies in the last few decades. "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "Housesitter," "In/Out," "Bowfinger" and "Death at a Funeral."
Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
Finally, I saw "Cobra Woman" (1943) directed by Robert Siodmak.
The infamous "Cobra Woman," often ridiculed as the most outrageous movie Hollywood ever produced. If not the stupidest movie made during WWII.
Well, there is something to be said for that. Yet, I have to say that "Cobra Woman" doesn't outstay its welcome, and Maria Montez is easier to take as an evil cobra priestess than as a heroine. I find Jon Hall pretty bland, but this movie has Sabu and Lon Chaney helping with the heroics, so that helps enormously. Sabu is bright and energetic here, and he steals the picture. Chaney is oddly effective as a mute who is bound to serve the good Montez (this is a twin movie).
I have to say that while the dance of the cobra woman, in which the evil Montez selects victims to be tossed into the volcano, is silly, it is also gripping. (Maybe Siodmak was channeling the dance of the False Maria in "Metropolis"?) Also the scene in which the elderly queen is murdered has a grim effectiveness.
The infamous "Cobra Woman," often ridiculed as the most outrageous movie Hollywood ever produced. If not the stupidest movie made during WWII.
Well, there is something to be said for that. Yet, I have to say that "Cobra Woman" doesn't outstay its welcome, and Maria Montez is easier to take as an evil cobra priestess than as a heroine. I find Jon Hall pretty bland, but this movie has Sabu and Lon Chaney helping with the heroics, so that helps enormously. Sabu is bright and energetic here, and he steals the picture. Chaney is oddly effective as a mute who is bound to serve the good Montez (this is a twin movie).
I have to say that while the dance of the cobra woman, in which the evil Montez selects victims to be tossed into the volcano, is silly, it is also gripping. (Maybe Siodmak was channeling the dance of the False Maria in "Metropolis"?) Also the scene in which the elderly queen is murdered has a grim effectiveness.
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movieman1957
- Administrator
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
I really like most of "Josey Wales." I think it slows up about 2/3 of the way through but it is a pretty tense film. I agree with you about Vernon.
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
Took the kids to X-Men: Days of Future Past on Friday. My favorite X-Men story from comics is now my favorite X-Men movie. Very good film.
Very good film.Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
I don't have a problem with COBRA WOMAN. But I prefer CULT OF THE COBRA! That one's unabashedly cheezy!
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Lucky Vassall
- Posts: 272
- Joined: January 27th, 2014, 2:40 pm
- Location: San Francisco, CA
Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
I experienced a planned 2-night special that seems worth sharing with the group.
The first night, I watched the restored blue-ray of n.The African Queen First time I’ve watched it all the way through since I saw it in the theater during the original release. Happy to say it stands up to time beautifully. Not surprising since it was helmed by one of our finest action directors and starred two of our greatest actors at the peak of their careers. I think I enjoyed it even more than the first time around. (With Age comes Understanding.)
The restoration is so crystal clear, it was almost like a 3-D presentation. I unequivocally recommend it to all, regardless of how long it’s been since you joined Rosie and Charlie on their little down-river cruise.
The second night, I watched White Hunter, Black Heart, Clint Eastwood’s take on what might have happened during the African location shoot of Queen. Sadly, I was greatly disappointed. They went for a Gods and Monsters experience, but fell far short. (I’d say, “At least they got the Monsters right,” except that a few well-placed monsters might have helped keep this viewer alert.)
So, do I recommend WH,BH? Surprisingly, Yes. But with a strong caution: the one part of the experience worth your time is the “recollection” of the classic original, which is why I would strongly suggest watching/rewatching Queen first. It hit me in three scenes: The “author” of the screenplay reads the “Silent Treatment” scene to Eastwood’s Ford character. (Named John Wilson in the film; only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.) It was really a delight recalling the scene while listening to him. Second, when they pulled the boat up to the landing, it was as if they’d somehow managed to save the original boat all this time. Eastwood lovingly caresses its side, and I wished I could do the same. And finally, when they “tested” the boat on the rapids, it was as if they had managed to place the camera in exactly the same spot and gotten the same scene exactly as used in the earlier film. It was eerily familiar.
Do yourself a favor, schedule a 2-night special, and see what I mean.
The first night, I watched the restored blue-ray of n.The African Queen First time I’ve watched it all the way through since I saw it in the theater during the original release. Happy to say it stands up to time beautifully. Not surprising since it was helmed by one of our finest action directors and starred two of our greatest actors at the peak of their careers. I think I enjoyed it even more than the first time around. (With Age comes Understanding.)
The restoration is so crystal clear, it was almost like a 3-D presentation. I unequivocally recommend it to all, regardless of how long it’s been since you joined Rosie and Charlie on their little down-river cruise.
The second night, I watched White Hunter, Black Heart, Clint Eastwood’s take on what might have happened during the African location shoot of Queen. Sadly, I was greatly disappointed. They went for a Gods and Monsters experience, but fell far short. (I’d say, “At least they got the Monsters right,” except that a few well-placed monsters might have helped keep this viewer alert.)
So, do I recommend WH,BH? Surprisingly, Yes. But with a strong caution: the one part of the experience worth your time is the “recollection” of the classic original, which is why I would strongly suggest watching/rewatching Queen first. It hit me in three scenes: The “author” of the screenplay reads the “Silent Treatment” scene to Eastwood’s Ford character. (Named John Wilson in the film; only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.) It was really a delight recalling the scene while listening to him. Second, when they pulled the boat up to the landing, it was as if they’d somehow managed to save the original boat all this time. Eastwood lovingly caresses its side, and I wished I could do the same. And finally, when they “tested” the boat on the rapids, it was as if they had managed to place the camera in exactly the same spot and gotten the same scene exactly as used in the earlier film. It was eerily familiar.
Do yourself a favor, schedule a 2-night special, and see what I mean.
[size=85]AVATAR: Billy DeWolfe as Mrs. Murgatroid, “Blue Skies” (1946)
[b]“My ancestors came over on the Mayflower.”
“You’re lucky. Now they have immigration laws."[/b]
[i]Mae West, The Heat’s On” (1943[/i])
[b]:–)—[/b]
Pinoc-U-no(se)[/size]
[b]“My ancestors came over on the Mayflower.”
“You’re lucky. Now they have immigration laws."[/b]
[i]Mae West, The Heat’s On” (1943[/i])
[b]:–)—[/b]
Pinoc-U-no(se)[/size]
Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
I'm just about ready for another look at AFRICAN QUEEN myself. It's been a long time!