WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

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mrsl
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by mrsl »

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Kings Row is Ann Sheridan's movie.
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Anne


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feaito

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by feaito »

I finally saw the hauntingly poetic Carné film "Le Quai des Brumes" (Port of Shadows) (1938), a sad, romantic, existentialist, poetic film about doomed characters. Beautiful, young, talented Michèle Morgan stole my heart with her big, sad, dreamy eyes and her raincoat. She and Jean Gabin as the doomed antihero have a wonderful chemistry and their love scenes are among the most believable I've ever seen on a Classic film. I found the film atmospheric, very contemporary (as opposed to outdated) and with many "Noirish" qualities. Gabin's persona predates, in a way, Bogart's (IMO) and this French Classic is fresher and smarter ( I saw very good pristine transfer) than many of the films from the Nouvelle Vague. A film ahead of its time in many ways.
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Ann Harding
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Ann Harding »

This Carné picture belongs to very special era of French cinema called 'poetic realism'. It certainly predates Film Noir by quite a few years. As for the kiss between Michèle Morgan and Jean Gabin, Morgan told the story many times that Gabin didn't 'fake' the kiss... :wink: Other pictures of the era who have the same kind of doomed atmosphere: Le Jour se lève (1939, M. Carné) and Hôtel du Nord (1938, M. Carné). The screenwriter is also very important: Jacques Prévert manufactured the beautiful poetic dialogue of many Carné pictures.
feaito

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by feaito »

Thanks for the information Christine. I saw "La Jour Se Lève" many years ago. Another haunting film.
feaito

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by feaito »

I have just finished watching the entertaining 1980 film "Clash of the Titans", a campy matinée film for sure, in the days when still you got those old fashioned special effects that required much work, love for th craft and imagination (Ray Harryhausen was in charge of them). Finally I got to see a decent print in widescreen (not the one with washed-out colors and dubbed in Spanish that has been aired on TV). Fun for us who love Greek and Roman Mythology. Looking forward for the release in Blu-Ray of that 1960s Harryhausen cult movie "Jason and the Argonauts".
feaito

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by feaito »

Continuing in the "Roman" mood, I watched the new transfer in ultra-resolution extracted from the restored print of "Quo Vadis?", relased on DVD in 2008. What can I say? I've seen this film countless times on TV, VHS, Cable since I was 5 or 7 years old and It was like watching it for the first time. The colours are so rich vibrant and the detail awesome. Amazing! It's indeed a grandiose, gargantuan epic and spectacle, notwithstanding its lack or not of accuracy to historic fact. Ustinov tops anyone as the idea everyone has of the lunatic Nero (akthough I've read that his figure has been maligned over the centuries and he wasn't at all like that in real life); the epitome of lunacy. Deborah Kerr never looked so stunningly beautiful. So sweet, so feminine, so classy...like out of a painting by Botticelli. Who can help to fall in love with her? Evil Poppaea as portrayed by luscious Patricia Laffan is the apex of evil. Marina Berti is wondrous as the sexy, earthy Spanish slave: What a beauty! You wouldn't believe she's the same actress that was cast in Ty Power's "Prince of the Foxes" (1949). She's photographed, dressed and made-up to much better advantage in this film. I fell in love with her too as a kid. Bob Taylor is fine as Marcus, looking perhaps a little bit older than 40, but rugged enough -by now- for his role a the Roman General. Leo Genn is delightfully cynical as his uncle; he looks too young though for being Bob's uncle and after all Genn was only 6 years his senior. It would have been more believable to have made them cousins. And the music by masterful Miklos Rozsa, superb! He's quickly become one of my favorite composers, second only to Korngold. I had a great time; It's a film which in its current superbly restored condition could be well played to crowds of packed cinemas nowadays.
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MichiganJ
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by MichiganJ »

I watched Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography, a documentary with only one flaw…it's too short. Ninety minutes and we biz through the silents (clips from Birth of a Nation, The Cameraman, Way Down East, Ben Hur), German expressionism (Caligari, Last Laugh, Sunrise), and then it's onto the early talkies (The Locked Door--showing how actors were talking into "plants", The Coconuts), straight into the Studio System (Gold Diggers of 1933, What Price Hollywood?). From there the focus (get it?) goes to shooting the stars, with some jaw-dropping looks at Garbo, Dietrich, and Harlow. Onto Gregg Toland and Long Voyage Home, Grapes of Wrath and a too brief (but still the longest section in the film) look at some movie about a newspaper guy. The noir section is also too brief but offers great examples from The Killers, Out of the Past, T-Men and Touch of Evil. Color breaks in with Oz, Robin Hood, Gone With the Wind and then things really take off as the screen gets w-i-d-e (Picnic, Lawrence). We come to the present (the documentary was made in '92) with clips from Blue Velvet and Do the Right Thing.

There are interview segments with some of the great cinematographers and they explain their influences and how they approached their craft. Thankfully they understand their audience and don't talk in "f-stop-ese", so their thoughts and insights are understandable. A highlight is Conrad Hall talking about the happy accident during the filming of a scene in In Cold Blood.

Since the film was produced by the AFI there isn't much attention paid to the work of international cinematographers, although they do show that wonderful clip from Jules et Jim where they have the foot race and the camera runs alongside, shooting Moreau's profile (and has anybody ever looked that good in a fake mustache?)

Great documentary. Could have at least been twice as long, though. You'll never look at film the same again (but in a good way.)
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Ann Harding
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

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I must admit, MichiganJ, that I really didn't like this documentary. Not only, like you say, do they zoom through the silent and classic period, but they don't even highlight what made it great. After all, everything about cinematography was invented during the silent era. Then, after sound came, they just relearned everything they knew already. But what made me really angry is the fact that the modern cinematographers interviewed are gushing about their own work like when one says what a breakthrough it was to have a ray of sun direct into the camera, as if it was a great achievement. :roll: I was also extremely furious at their comments about Rosher & Struss' work on Sunrise (1927). They are discussing the scene where G. O'Brien is looking for Janet Gaynor over the lake with small lanterns. One of them says: "Nowadays I could do it using only the light of the lanterns." But, that's not the point at all!!!!! :x Rosher & Struss were creating an atmosphere through a complex web of lights to create a mood. Obviously nowadays with faster emulsion and modern lights you don't need as much light. But, are modern cinematographers more artistic? Frankly I doubt it. A missed opportunity IMHO.
If I sound furious, it's just that I am really passionate about the work of people like Lee Garmes, Henry Sharp, Charles Rosher, Billy Bitzer, etc. and I think this documentary doesn't even try to show their work properly. Instead about 80% of the documentary is about 70s cinematographers. Frankly, I consider it one the weakest periods in terms of American cinematography.... :(
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Ann Harding
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Ann Harding »

Yesterday I watched on TV Three Godfathers (1948, J. Ford) with J. Wayne, H. Carey Jr. and P. Armendariz. I had not seen the film for 20 odd years. Last time I saw it, I liked it. This time, I wasn't moved by this biblical story transposed into a western. I felt that Ford overdid it. And also, Mildred Natwick as a young mother (perfect makeup and hairdo in the middle of the desert) was hard to swallow. Beside this, the cinematography was gorgeous. But, I felt the film was far too sentimental. Especially the ending with Wayne leaving for the penitenciary like a hero and the whole town singing. It felt like a thick layer of sugar over an already overiced cake. Ford knew how to end a film on a more restrained note like in The Searchers, for example.
Last edited by Ann Harding on May 29th, 2010, 9:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
MikeBSG
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by MikeBSG »

Today I watched "The Dogs of War," (1981) which was a nice, low-key, if not grim movie about mercenaries in Africa.

On the one hand, I could see this as a Howard Hawks project about guys who do dangerous work in Third World counties. On the other hand, the emphasis was more on the mechanics of staging a coup rather than being "movie-ish." But I appreciated the absence of banter and the way the movie refused to tidy everything up.

Nice to see people like Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger in lead roles for a change. John Irvin directed. The final battle scene was really first rate.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by charliechaplinfan »

feaito wrote:I finally saw the hauntingly poetic Carné film "Le Quai des Brumes" (Port of Shadows) (1938), a sad, romantic, existentialist, poetic film about doomed characters. Beautiful, young, talented Michèle Morgan stole my heart with her big, sad, dreamy eyes and her raincoat. She and Jean Gabin as the doomed antihero have a wonderful chemistry and their love scenes are among the most believable I've ever seen on a Classic film. I found the film atmospheric, very contemporary (as opposed to outdated) and with many "Noirish" qualities. Gabin's persona predates, in a way, Bogart's (IMO) and this French Classic is fresher and smarter ( I saw very good pristine transfer) than many of the films from the Nouvelle Vague. A film ahead of its time in many ways.
I felt the same way as you when I saw Le Quai des Brumes, I love Le Jour Se Leve too. I think Jean Gabin is one of the most accomplished actors ever to grace a movie screen.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
feaito

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by feaito »

He's indeed a great actor Alison and he has a strong presence on screen.
MikeBSG
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by MikeBSG »

I watched "Cry of the City" on FMC yesterday.

It isn't my favorite Siodmak noir, but it is still pretty good. Richard Conte is at the top of his game, and Victor Mature is very good as well. It is interesting to see how Conte ruins the lives of everyone he comes across: the trusty in the jail, the guard, the immigrant doctor, the crooked lawyer, the masseuse, and the nurse. In some ways, he is a dynamic and appealing character, and yet he also deserves the squalid death he gets (being shot in the back as he runs from a church.) An interesting film.
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Ann Harding
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Ann Harding »

I had some good fun watching Devotion (1943, C. Bernardt) with O. de Havilland and Ida Lupino. This biopic about the Brontë familly proved extremely enjoyable thanks to several elements. First, the top-notch acting from Ida Lupino as Emily, Olivia de Havilland's superb Charlotte and the tortured Branwell of the underrated Arthur Kennedy. This is an actor I have always admired not matter how small the part he played. Here he is superb as the spoiled rotten brother, tortured by inner demons. Lupino gave a rich characterization of the romantic and withdrawn Emily in contrast to the spirited - and quite irritating - Charlotte played by de Havilland. Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score gave the film a passionate and colourful atmosphere. I guess the script wasn't that accurate historically, but who cares when you have such interesting characterizations?
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I watched A Diary of a Country Priest directed by Robert Bresson and starring Claude Laydu, a film about one young priest's struggle in a new parish in the country. All the townsfolks resent him being there, increasing his isolation. He's plagued too by a severe stomach complaint which the townsfolk take for him being a drunkard because he uses alcohol to deaden the pain. Bresson's films are sometimes grim but the performances are what make them compelling viewing. I wonder if the priest was just to holy and too good for our mortal world?
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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