Hey all,
1. 25th Hour (Edward Norton, need I say more?)
2. River's Edge (If Dennis Hopper is in it, how bad can it be?)
3. Confidence
4. Batman Begins
5. The Dark Knight
6. Destination Tokyo
7. Dead Reckoning (Bogie in an above average Noirish postwar drama)
WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
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movieman1957
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I watched a fun little picture called "Hands Across The Table." Fred MacMurray and Carole Lombard make a very nice pairing.
Fluff about two poor people who want to marry money. (It's set in 1935.) Trouble is they fall in love with each other when each has a chance to get their wish. Funny how love gets in the way. Nice job by Ralph Bellamy in another thankless and spurned boyfriend role.
Fluff about two poor people who want to marry money. (It's set in 1935.) Trouble is they fall in love with each other when each has a chance to get their wish. Funny how love gets in the way. Nice job by Ralph Bellamy in another thankless and spurned boyfriend role.
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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charliechaplinfan
- Posts: 9040
- Joined: January 15th, 2008, 9:49 am
I took my kids to see "The Tale of Despereaux" this week. They were very pleased with it. I was not that taken with it. the film looked lovely, but the plot was all over the place. (To me, it seemed that Despereaux was not really that important to the story.)
On DVD, I watched "Pork Chop Hill," which impressed me in several ways. I had just read David Halberstam's "The Coldest winter," about the Korean war, and the film seemed to me both a pretty accurate recreation of the Korean situation and problems in the U. S. military during that era. Again, Gregory Peck did a good job as a leader, but I was also very impressed with Woody Strode as the company malcontent.
(It was also interesting to see how the mainstream "Pork Chop Hill" incorporated, and perhaps answered, some things from Fuller's earlier "The Steel helmet.")
Really, I guess you have Fuller's two movies, this film, "M*A*S*H" and some POW movies like "Manchurian Candidate," "The Rack" and "Time Limit" (?) and that is all the Korean War films Hollywood ever made.
On DVD, I watched "Pork Chop Hill," which impressed me in several ways. I had just read David Halberstam's "The Coldest winter," about the Korean war, and the film seemed to me both a pretty accurate recreation of the Korean situation and problems in the U. S. military during that era. Again, Gregory Peck did a good job as a leader, but I was also very impressed with Woody Strode as the company malcontent.
(It was also interesting to see how the mainstream "Pork Chop Hill" incorporated, and perhaps answered, some things from Fuller's earlier "The Steel helmet.")
Really, I guess you have Fuller's two movies, this film, "M*A*S*H" and some POW movies like "Manchurian Candidate," "The Rack" and "Time Limit" (?) and that is all the Korean War films Hollywood ever made.
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klondike
The Bridges at Toko-Ri is also a Korean War film . . . and given its 1954 release date, might just have been the first!MikeBSG wrote: On DVD, I watched "Pork Chop Hill," which impressed me in several ways. I had just read David Halberstam's "The Coldest winter," about the Korean war, and the film seemed to me both a pretty accurate recreation of the Korean situation and problems in the U. S. military during that era. Again, Gregory Peck did a good job as a leader, but I was also very impressed with Woody Strode as the company malcontent.
Really, I guess you have Fuller's two movies, this film, "M*A*S*H" and some POW movies like "Manchurian Candidate," "The Rack" and "Time Limit" (?) and that is all the Korean War films Hollywood ever made.
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moira finnie
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A couple of other Korean War films came to mind, though I'm sure that there are more:
Samuel Fuller's excellent story of an isolated unit in a bleak Korean winter in Fixed Bayonets (1951) with Richard Basehart, Gene Evans (and a very brief glimpse of James Dean in his debut).
I Want You (1951) which is sort of Sam Goldwyn's attempt to make lightning strike twice in a blatant revamping of Best Years of Our Lives. It is redeemed by some good acting, particularly from Mildred Dunnock and Dana Andrews and it highlights a forgotten aspect of the Korean War--the fact that thousands of those who'd already served in WWII were called to service once again, disrupting their lives once again, sometimes fatally.
One Minute to Zero (1952): the underrated journeyman director Tay Garnett directed Robert Mitchum and Ann Blyth as star-crossed lovers (she's with the Red Cross, he's an army colonel) in the Korean conflict. It's great fun to see Charles McGraw and William Talman in this (or any movie, for that matter). A good depiction of the plight of the refugees and the ways in which innocent people were often caught in the middle of the violence, with a certain amount of gung-ho stuff too.
Battle Circus (1953) with Humphrey Bogart as a MASH doc and June Allyson as his unlikely nurse. This was on just the other day and it seemed pretty abysmal, despite Richard Brooks' script and direction and, since I like the stars, I'm sorry to say, with Bogie looking terribly wan, and June keeping her flippy 'do and her virtue in perfect shape throughout the combat action.
Take the High Ground (1953): Richard Widmark & Karl Malden try to toughen up their raw GIs in boot camp so they can be better cannon fodder in Korea. The lads, including Russ Tamblyn, kept going off the reservation and almost off script, when they bump into Elaine Stewart, a very beautiful starlet who apparently could not act to save her life. But she was lovely. The script, which seems to reek of Army influence on the screenwriters, was a lot less lovely.
Prisoner of War (1954) with Ronald Reagan behind the lines trying to unravel the brainwashing techniques of the Reds. This film has its ludicrous elements, but the depiction of the stark conditions of the POW camp and the psychological stress and strength of the inmates is occasionally effective and moving.
Samuel Fuller's excellent story of an isolated unit in a bleak Korean winter in Fixed Bayonets (1951) with Richard Basehart, Gene Evans (and a very brief glimpse of James Dean in his debut).
I Want You (1951) which is sort of Sam Goldwyn's attempt to make lightning strike twice in a blatant revamping of Best Years of Our Lives. It is redeemed by some good acting, particularly from Mildred Dunnock and Dana Andrews and it highlights a forgotten aspect of the Korean War--the fact that thousands of those who'd already served in WWII were called to service once again, disrupting their lives once again, sometimes fatally.
One Minute to Zero (1952): the underrated journeyman director Tay Garnett directed Robert Mitchum and Ann Blyth as star-crossed lovers (she's with the Red Cross, he's an army colonel) in the Korean conflict. It's great fun to see Charles McGraw and William Talman in this (or any movie, for that matter). A good depiction of the plight of the refugees and the ways in which innocent people were often caught in the middle of the violence, with a certain amount of gung-ho stuff too.
Battle Circus (1953) with Humphrey Bogart as a MASH doc and June Allyson as his unlikely nurse. This was on just the other day and it seemed pretty abysmal, despite Richard Brooks' script and direction and, since I like the stars, I'm sorry to say, with Bogie looking terribly wan, and June keeping her flippy 'do and her virtue in perfect shape throughout the combat action.
Take the High Ground (1953): Richard Widmark & Karl Malden try to toughen up their raw GIs in boot camp so they can be better cannon fodder in Korea. The lads, including Russ Tamblyn, kept going off the reservation and almost off script, when they bump into Elaine Stewart, a very beautiful starlet who apparently could not act to save her life. But she was lovely. The script, which seems to reek of Army influence on the screenwriters, was a lot less lovely.
Prisoner of War (1954) with Ronald Reagan behind the lines trying to unravel the brainwashing techniques of the Reds. This film has its ludicrous elements, but the depiction of the stark conditions of the POW camp and the psychological stress and strength of the inmates is occasionally effective and moving.
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klondike
I'm sorry to hear that Desperaux didn't play that well because the book played like...well... a movie. You know, one of those stories so well written you sort of feel like you've already seen the movie in your head? I may be in for disappointment.
I somehow got sucked in to The Killer That Stalked New York 1950, a charming tale of jewel robbery and smallpox. I can't even comment.
Anne, did you get to see Swing Your Lady '38, Bogart? I recorded it but haven't gotten to it yet. And how did I not notice It All Came True, '40, with Zasu Pitts? Now, you know that was up my alley.
B
I somehow got sucked in to The Killer That Stalked New York 1950, a charming tale of jewel robbery and smallpox. I can't even comment.
Anne, did you get to see Swing Your Lady '38, Bogart? I recorded it but haven't gotten to it yet. And how did I not notice It All Came True, '40, with Zasu Pitts? Now, you know that was up my alley.
B
Birdy, I watched both Bogart comedies...kinda sorta...
Swing Your Lady was simply awful. I stuck with it as long as I could, then finally yelped UNCLE and turned it off. I really wanted to see it because Louise Fazenda was listed in the opening credits, and I've been curious to see her in a movie. Couldn't figure out who she was, the lady wrestler/blacksmith or the front porch singer???
It All Came True was a better movie, because of all the great character actors. Felix Bressart is such a favorite, and he was perfect as the has-been, never-was-good magician. Ann Sheridan was stunningly gorgeous, and Bogie was actually pretty funny, especially when he's introduced to his "room" at the boarding house.
Swing Your Lady was simply awful. I stuck with it as long as I could, then finally yelped UNCLE and turned it off. I really wanted to see it because Louise Fazenda was listed in the opening credits, and I've been curious to see her in a movie. Couldn't figure out who she was, the lady wrestler/blacksmith or the front porch singer???
It All Came True was a better movie, because of all the great character actors. Felix Bressart is such a favorite, and he was perfect as the has-been, never-was-good magician. Ann Sheridan was stunningly gorgeous, and Bogie was actually pretty funny, especially when he's introduced to his "room" at the boarding house.
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
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jdb1
Yesterday, curiosity got the better of me, and I looked in on TCM's showing of the 1961 soap Susan Slade. The last time I saw this one was actually in 1961, when I was an impressionable pre-teen, and I liked it as much now as I did then, only for different reasons.
This is one of Warner Bros.' lush, full-color soaps, quite popular in the day, and stars Connie Stevens, Troy Donahue, Dorothy McGuire and Lloyd Nolan. It tells of the well-to-do Susan, her incredibly understanding parents, and the artsy stable boy who loves her, no matter what.
The role of Susan just screamed out for Sandra Dee, but since the story centers around Susan's out -of-wedlock pregnancy, it doesn't seem likely to me that the Studio would have let Dee play the part, so they gave Connie the fancy clothes to wear. I thought she was very good. The girl can act, only we rarely see her get a chance to do so.
McGuire was photographed with an on-again, off-again soft focus, totally unnecessary, actually, and disturbing in its inconsistency. Sometimes Stevens was also caught in soft-focus closeups, which didn't seem in any way needed for a very pretty 23-year-old.
Troy Donanhue wore his signature white slacks, with various James Dean-style windbreakers. His full head of sunstreaked blonde hair was never out of place at any time, and he alternately smoldered and glowered. There was lots of feverish horseback riding and some pretty funny and heavy-handed dialog about it (now let me get this straight: they're talking about riding horses, right?) Ah me, my heart was throbbing, just as it had done over 40 years ago!
The story line is so dated and sexist, but I suppose it is useful as a historical document of attitudes towards women and "reputations" generally in the past. Susan's parents went through a really complicated set of circumstances to cover up the fact of her illegitimate child, and seemed thrilled to do it. The character of Susan Slade was actually rather strong-willed and admirable, considering her "fallen" status, and she did the right thing in the end, acknowledging her child and taking whatever consequences might come. This being a "women's picture," of course the conseqence was that although her impossibly dimpled rich suitor (played by Bert Convy-remember him?) dumped her (but nicely), her One True Love, Hoyt the novel-writing stable boy, proved himself Forever True.
I just ate it up. Susan Slade, along with Parrish and A Summer Place, still stand the test of time, as far as I'm concerned.
This is one of Warner Bros.' lush, full-color soaps, quite popular in the day, and stars Connie Stevens, Troy Donahue, Dorothy McGuire and Lloyd Nolan. It tells of the well-to-do Susan, her incredibly understanding parents, and the artsy stable boy who loves her, no matter what.
The role of Susan just screamed out for Sandra Dee, but since the story centers around Susan's out -of-wedlock pregnancy, it doesn't seem likely to me that the Studio would have let Dee play the part, so they gave Connie the fancy clothes to wear. I thought she was very good. The girl can act, only we rarely see her get a chance to do so.
McGuire was photographed with an on-again, off-again soft focus, totally unnecessary, actually, and disturbing in its inconsistency. Sometimes Stevens was also caught in soft-focus closeups, which didn't seem in any way needed for a very pretty 23-year-old.
Troy Donanhue wore his signature white slacks, with various James Dean-style windbreakers. His full head of sunstreaked blonde hair was never out of place at any time, and he alternately smoldered and glowered. There was lots of feverish horseback riding and some pretty funny and heavy-handed dialog about it (now let me get this straight: they're talking about riding horses, right?) Ah me, my heart was throbbing, just as it had done over 40 years ago!
The story line is so dated and sexist, but I suppose it is useful as a historical document of attitudes towards women and "reputations" generally in the past. Susan's parents went through a really complicated set of circumstances to cover up the fact of her illegitimate child, and seemed thrilled to do it. The character of Susan Slade was actually rather strong-willed and admirable, considering her "fallen" status, and she did the right thing in the end, acknowledging her child and taking whatever consequences might come. This being a "women's picture," of course the conseqence was that although her impossibly dimpled rich suitor (played by Bert Convy-remember him?) dumped her (but nicely), her One True Love, Hoyt the novel-writing stable boy, proved himself Forever True.
I just ate it up. Susan Slade, along with Parrish and A Summer Place, still stand the test of time, as far as I'm concerned.
This is a terrible film, one of the few classics I've acquired and subsequently discarded because I could never envision a scenario where I'd want to revisit it - and as I consider myself one of the most open-minded of bad movie lovers, that's saying something. It's an excruciatingly embarrassing film for everyone involved, and I can understand why it's never seen a DVD release or even been broadcast on television very often. Watching it is like sitting on the panel of The Gong Show. You watch and keep hoping it gets better, until you're finally feeling so embarrassed for the performers that you stop everything and "give them the gong."knitwit45 wrote:
Swing Your Lady was simply awful. I stuck with it as long as I could, then finally yelped UNCLE and turned it off. I really wanted to see it because Louise Fazenda was listed in the opening credits, and I've been curious to see her in a movie. Couldn't figure out who she was, the lady wrestler/blacksmith or the front porch singer???
Mr. R, do you know what part Ms. Fazenda played? Didn't she become a premier Hollywood hostess? It seems like Larry has mentioned her fabulous parties, and being married to another Hollywood "name".
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
Birdy, I wouldn't rush to see Swing Your Lady. What everyone says is definitely true! It is really horrible, and I bet Bogey was embarrassed by it whenever anyone might have mentioned it. Tape over and you'll never miss it.
Judith, again you surprise me because I, too love those three movies you named, but I'm sorry I missed Susan Slade. I haven't seen it since my teens. I was right there at around 13 - 16 when those movies came out and they stuck with me like glue. The addition of Claudette Colbert to Parrish made that one all the better for me since she is one of my favorites.
I have to admit its' the beginning of the cycle for the Western Channel on Encore, so I've been pretty busy watching that after enjoying the mini-marathon of Randy Scott the other night.
Anne
Judith, again you surprise me because I, too love those three movies you named, but I'm sorry I missed Susan Slade. I haven't seen it since my teens. I was right there at around 13 - 16 when those movies came out and they stuck with me like glue. The addition of Claudette Colbert to Parrish made that one all the better for me since she is one of my favorites.
I have to admit its' the beginning of the cycle for the Western Channel on Encore, so I've been pretty busy watching that after enjoying the mini-marathon of Randy Scott the other night.
Anne
Anne
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