WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[MichiganJ]

Watched White Christmas. While it will never be a favorite, the Crosby-Kaye relationship is kinda fun, the songs stick in your head (for better and worse), and I always like seeing Vera-Ellen; although, except for her legs, she looks crazy-skinny.

[moira finnie]

Watched White Christmas. While it will never be a favorite, the Crosby-Kaye relationship is kinda fun, the songs stick in your head (for better and worse), and I always like seeing Vera-Ellen; although, except for her legs, she looks crazy-skinny.

Did watching this make you feel cooler??

I always thought that even though she was a lovely dancer, Vera-Ellen reminded me a little of a mosquito. I love her in the fantasy dance sequences in On the Town. I know what you mean about "for better or worse" with those Irving Berlin numbers, esp. that freaky "Sisters" song.

[MichiganJ]

Did watching this make you feel cooler??

Yea, also recently watched The Day After Tomorrow for the same reason. The ice looks really "cool" on blu-ray.

Vera-Ellen reminded me a little of a mosquito. I love her in the fantasy dance sequences in On the Town.

That's one of my favorite dance sequences.

I know what you mean about "for better or worse" with those Irving Berlin numbers, esp. that freaky "Sisters" song.

I woke up with it in my head and the bugger wont leave. Got lots of interesting looks this morning at the Farmer's Market; seems I was humming "Sisters" while buying figs.

[MikeBSG]

I wouldn't say I was depressed at the end of the last Harry Potter film. I thought they nailed the "19 years later" scene. I loved the shot of the train of new kids pulling out of the station for Hogwarts. It seemed to say that (future) kids will still be able to enjoy Harry Potter.

But there was a sense of finality too. Harry isn't going back to Hogwarts. He is on the platform saying goodbye to those who are starting out. That has a melancholy edge to it that might have colored our responses to the end of the film and the series.

[charliechaplinfan]

I am going to watch the last Harry Potter film, my son will just have to watch it with us. I started watching the film before I had kids, they've been around forever or so it seems.

[knitwit45]

That has a melancholy edge to it that might have colored our responses to the end of the film and the series.

Ah, Mike, that's the word I was looking for! Melancholy! a bittersweet sadness that Harry has grown up. You're also right about that last scene, waving goodbye to a whole new generation of children, off on their own adventures.

[Lzcutter]

Last weekend, MoraldoRubini, the Countessdelave and I took part in some of the screenings at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

After seeing Kevin Brownlow's talk at the TCM Film Festival earlier this spring, we all came away with a strong desire to see The Goose Woman. Brownlow praised the movie numerous times during his talk. Well, we lucked out as it was part of the SFSFF last Saturday.

The Goose Woman directed by Clarence Brown and starring Louise Dresser and Jack Pickford tells the story of a former opera singer who abandoned her own career when she found herself pregnant out of wedlock. This has made her not only an alcoholic but a resentful one at that. Pickford plays her son, unwittingly accused by his own mother, of murdering a near-by well-to-do neighbor.

An unscrupulous district attorney played by Gustav von Seyffertitz adds tension to the film. The film is beautifully shot by Milton Moore and Mr. Brownlow was right, it is one of the best silent films ever.

That was followed by a recently found "lost" film, Mr. Fix-It starring my favorite, Doug Fairbanks, Sr. Doug plays a college guy, Remington, who is going to school over in England. He is good friends with Reginald Burroughs. Reginald is in love with a lovely English lass but is worried that his uncle and aunts (who control his big estate) won't approve. A telegram arrives instructing Reginald that it is time to return home and that they have found a young and proper girl for him to marry.

Reginald, of course, does nto want to go. No problem! Remington tells him not to worry, he will fix it.

Thus begins Doug's adventure with the upper crust. In typical Doug fashion, and with one of his best directors at the helm, Allan Dwan, Doug throws himself, both literally and figuratively, into changing lives and fixing problems. He wears a tux throughout the film and the tux does not get in the way of Doug doing stunts. He throws himself down the stairs, goes down the stairs on his hands, walks on his hands and toes carrying three children hanging off him, he goes hand over hand across a rope banner far above the street.

It is a short film running barely over an hour but it is pure Doug and Dwan! Here's hoping that TCM may be able to bring this lost gem to the channel so that everyone can enjoy it!

Sunday morning we got up bright and early to hear Kevin Brownlow talk about his life's work, Napoleon. The 5.5 hour restoration as noted in other threads, is coming to the States next Spring to the Paramount theater across the bay in Oakland. Brownlow talked for an hour about how Napoleon entranced him as a young man never realizing that it would become his talisman. He showed a scene (in stills) that he is still looking for as well as regaling us with stories of his search and of working with Gance. He went into depth about the difficulties of all the years he was searching for pieces of the film and restoring them.

There was not much talk of the last 30 years of searching and working since the last big restoration premiered in the early 1980s. Don't know if that is part of an agreement with Francis Ford Coppola or if he was running long and had to wrap it up.

Either way, it was a great way to spend a Sunday morning and we were all very glad we had tickets as after Mr. Brownlow was done talking, Leonard Maltin took the stage to talk about the screening and urged everyone to be sure to get tickets.

Mr. Brownlow says there are no plans to screen the film in other American city, that Oakland is the only place it will play.

Hope you can join us!

[MichiganJ]

After seeing Kevin Brownlow's talk at the TCM Film Festival earlier this spring, we all came away with a strong desire to see The Goose Woman. Brownlow praised the movie numerous times during his talk.

I'm a bit surprised that Kevin Brownlow likes The Goose Woman so much. While I think it's okay, it's quite melodramatic and a little slow. The best sequence is the accident involving the recording (don't want to give anything away), but Jack Pickford is barely in the film, especially since he gets top billing. Dresser steals every scene she's in, which suits her character, and her transformation is pretty amazing.

[MikeBSG]

On Saturday, I watched "Rawhide" (1951) directed by Henry hathaway, starring Susan Hayward and Tyrone Powers.

I liked this. It is essentially "Key Largo" out west, ie. a hostage situation drama. (Okay, there is no big storm coming in, but it did put me in mind of "Key Largo.") Hathaway creates a very suspenseful situation.

A couple of things struck me. First, this is really Susan Hayward's movie. She was the character that caught my eye and served as the emotional focus of the film. In part, I think this was because Tyrone Powers was miscast. The role called for someone younger (say a Rock Hudson). Powers' character is being twitted because he is such a dude, and I'm thinking, "This is the guy who played Jesse James." His last line in the film "I'm learning the business" also seemed to call for a younger actor.

Another thing that surprised me was how big a role Jack Elam had. He was one of the bad guys and turned out to be the most important one. This surprised me, because in later films Elam never seemed to have the screen time or the same number of lines that he had here. Does anyone know about Elam's career? Did he "blow it" after this film and get "punished" by having to do thankless thug roles for several years afterward? "Rawhide" seemed to be priming him for bigger and better things (like a Richard Widmark type career.)

[movieman1957]

I never would have thought of him for Widmark-like roles. By the mid 50's he is doing as much, if not more TV, than he is movies. He worked a lot so it wouldn't seem that he blew anything but I don't really know.

I always thought he was good. "Rawhide" give him a special sort of evil that may have typecast him until he got old enough to play cranky older guys. My favorite Elam role was "Support Your Local Sheriff." He was a revelation there.

[knitwit45]

as the 'horse holder at Madame Orr's house'???? Thought I would choke with laughter the first time I heard him say that...what a funny movie.

[charliechaplinfan]

Nancy, we went to see the last Harry Potter movie. Libby and Chris loved it, Joe got bored and I was somewhere in between, I liked it but felt, as I always seem to with modern movies that it was a bit too drawn out in the action sequence and a bit lacking on the explanations. I do think the Harry Potter movies make the best use of CGI that I've seen.

Watching the trailers it depresses me but I have to admit I'm hardly the target audience, the one that really seemed surreal and jaw dropping to me was Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, two of the most bankable stars in Cowboys and Aliens is this what we've come to? Ah well.

I watched an old favorite the other night, Mildred Pierce, I've only seen it once and that was admittedly a long time ago, I'd forgotten the twists and turns and remembered only the very crux of the story. I thought Joan looked at her most stunning, it's not her best acting though, I've seen her in better, a Woman's Face being one. It's very enjoyable though, with a good supprtig cast.

[knitwit45]

Alison, did you read any of the Potter books? There is a made for TV movie showing on Lifetime channel right now, the unauthorized biography of JK Rowling. Poppy Montgomery stars, it's quite interesting. Not sure how factual, but a good 2 hrs spent.

I started re-reading the HP books, there is so much humor in them. I'm up to book 3, had to purchase the first 3 again, I loaned them out to someone, and haven't seen them since.

I think Cowboys and Aliens will be my next ticket purchase It looks like fun!

[charliechaplinfan]

I read most of them bar the last two, I think, one day I might read them again, I hope Libb gets around to reading them, she seems to have read everything else.

Chris and I have been dissecting it since we came back, for us we'd have preferred less action more storyline but I've always known it's my downfall with movies, I get lost, my mind blanks over if you will when action sequences go on and on, unless they are quite one dimensional, like the ending of Star Wars when everyone is trying to blow up the Death Star. Still, I do think that the film relies quite heavily on having read the book and loving the characters as there is very little in the way of personal character development in the later films. These are only minor gripes, they constitute some of the best films and literatureof the last ten years, very definetly classics of the future.