WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

charliechaplinfan · Post by **charliechaplinfan** » June 10th, 2008, 4:00 pm

Glad I could give you personal thoughts about Norman Wisdom.

I remember Avanti, nudity could have been conveyed by showing a back view. I just didn't expect an A list star to appear nude on screen in the 1970's.

Hollis · Post by **Hollis** » June 10th, 2008, 5:43 pm

Good afternoon all,

I just watched "Lions for Lambs" (2007) with Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. It went by as quickly as any hour and forty minute movie ever has. It was primarily a linear story line but there were a few "flashback" sequences that were germane to the story as a whole. Regardless of political leaning, and how you feel about what's going on in the Middle East (and this film presents opposing views) this is a movie I would strongly recommend. I don't know whether anyone else agrees with me or I'm in a very small minority here, but I'd like to know what others that have seen it thought of it.

As always,

Hollis

Bogie · Post by **Bogie** » June 11th, 2008, 9:17 am

I loved the movies last night on TCM. I do want to make my comment on the Mr. Moto movie. Wow that was some moving stuff. I've heard that Thank You, Mr. Moto was a bit of an oddity in the series in that they did away with the comic relief in order to tell a very serious story. The whole death scene for one of the characters was very moving and makes that film stand out to me.

Peter Lorre's Mr. Moto is very interesting. He's definitely in contrast to Charlie Chan. It also seems to me that Moto wasn't above breaking the law in order to solve his cases. In fact there was a hint of villainy to him IMO. I wonder if they ever did an entry in the Moto series where people thought he committed a crime? I think that would be a very interesting direction to take the character.

Anybody know if they did anything like that?

I fell asleep near the end of the Anna May Wong movie so I missed Mr. Wong and the Keye Luke movie

Maybe i'll find both movies through other means.

charliechaplinfan · Post by **charliechaplinfan** » June 11th, 2008, 2:00 pm

This morning I got up early and watched Angel Face a 1952 movie starring Jean Simmons and Robert Mitchum.

It's a film noir from Howard Hughes, Jean Simmons plays completely against type. I'm not sure I was completely convinced, perhaps I've seen her in too many 'good' roles.

Jean/Diane doesn't like her stepmother and plots to kill her, on her first attempt her stepmother survives but Diane likes the look of the ambulance driver Mitchum (who wouldn't) and soon hires him as a chauffeur with promises to help him start his own business.

Stepmother and father have an unfortunate accident. Diane is distraught, she tampered with the car but didn't intend her beloved father to be killed too. Both her and Mitchum are up for murder and are advised to marry as their is evidence to them having an affair and wanting to elope together. This isn't the truth.

They go to trial...well I'm not going to spoil the end. I know this film didn't get voted into our top 20 noirs but it's worth a look.

ChiO · Post by **ChiO** » June 11th, 2008, 3:03 pm

I came thisclose to nominating ANGEL FACE in the Noir poll. It is my favorite Preminger movie. Last November, I went to a Preminger Fest and what follows is a portion of my report of the opening night (originally posted at another forum):

I went to our lovely Music Box Theater last night to see ANGEL FACE and listen to a panel discussion (Foster Hirsch, Jonathan Rosenbaum, & Michael Wilmington) on the place of Preminger in American cinema. Wish I could have taped the discussion, though I assume that most of Hirsch's comments & anecdotes are in his book.

As Hirsch noted, there are few films as dark as ANGEL FACE -- aggressively unsentimental and with no hope for the redemption of any character.

....

Much discussion of the ambiguity he built into his films, showing a respect for the audience to come to its own conclusions. Also discussed their sense of why his films (except, perhaps, for the earlier ones) often are not embraced: intellectuals didn't like his films based on best-selling books because that's middle-brow; perceived as a tyrant off-screen just because he was a tyrant behind the camera & in his acting roles, thereby confusing professional persona with real personality. Related anecdote -- Howard Hughes specifically asked to borrow Preminger to direct ANGEL FACE because Jean Simmons' contract at RKO was about to run out and he wanted someone who would shoot quickly and punish Simmons. It worked -- Simmons would not discuss the film with Hirsch for his book because she so detests thinking about Preminger.

charliechaplinfan · Post by **charliechaplinfan** » June 11th, 2008, 4:03 pm

Thanks for the extra info ChiO. I did think Jean Simmons a little uncomfortable in her role. It is a very good film. I'm gemming up a little on my Mitchum films, he always very good.

My auntie, who was married somewhat unhappily to my uncle for many years had a photograph of Robert Mitchum on her bedside table. I can understand both why she liked the photo and why the marriage wasn't the biggest success.

jdb1 · Post by **jdb1** » June 11th, 2008, 4:33 pm

Alison, what does "gemming up" mean?

charliechaplinfan · Post by **charliechaplinfan** » June 12th, 2008, 1:24 pm

'Gemming up' means getting to know or finding out or learning more someone or something. I don't know if it's just a British or Northern British phrase. It would be interesting to know where it came from.

We were brought up here with a few phrases that would be totally unacceptable these days, as I'm sure were most of us.

Isn't it strange how you don't think of the words you use until asked and then thinking about it, it is a funny little phrase

.

MikeBSG · Post by **MikeBSG** » June 12th, 2008, 4:15 pm

Yesterday, I took my son to see "Kung Fu Panda," which turned out to be tremendously enjoyable. It is easily the best animated film Dreamworks has made. It is fast-moving, funny, and very exciting. (I liked the fact that there were no musical interludes.) Jack Black made the main character funny and endearing. Best line: "Wow, you guys look just like your action figures, only bigger."

Dustin Hoffman (!?!) is splendid as the kung fu master, and Ian McShane is suitably chilling as the villain.

jdb1 · Post by **jdb1** » June 13th, 2008, 11:01 am

charliechaplinfan wrote:'Gemming up' means getting to know or finding out or learning more someone or something. I don't know if it's just a British or Northern British phrase. It would be interesting to know where it came from.

We were brought up here with a few phrases that would be totally unacceptable these days, as I'm sure were most of us.

Isn't it strange how you don't think of the words you use until asked and then thinking about it, it is a funny little phrase .

Alison, I just emailed Michael Quinion, an English language specialist who has the very interesting website worldwidewords.org, to ask him about "gemming up." Do you use the phrase "boning up," which means the same thing, and which we in the US would use? I asked Michael about the origins of both phrases. The history and usage of the English language is one of my favorite topics to explore. Let's see if Michael comes up with anything.

charliechaplinfan · Post by **charliechaplinfan** » June 13th, 2008, 1:27 pm

I've heard on 'boning up' and know it means the same as 'gemming up' but it wouldn't be used in this part of the country as 'boning' has another meaning

I'd be really interested in what Michael has to say, I'm fascianted in the origin of words. The other meaning of 'boning' is youth speak. How do I know these things when I don't associate with teenagers? My husband teaches 11-16 year old lads.

jdb1 · Post by **jdb1** » June 13th, 2008, 2:32 pm

I looked online, and got hits with "gemming up" in the text, used in the sense of finding out more, but no definitions. However, I looked at a British slang site and saw "genning up" with such a definition. This answers a question for me, because I like to do English cryptic crosswords, and sometimes the punning answer to a clue about getting information has the letters "gen" in it, and I didn't understand what that had to do with it. The "gen" vs. "gem" thing may be a regional difference, which Michael Quinion, if he has time to answer, may shed some light on.

I never did understand "boning up" for studying. It has the same "other" meaning here too, and is certainly nothing new (and much easier to understand in terms of origin, don't you think?)

Bogie · Post by **Bogie** » June 13th, 2008, 3:46 pm

jdb1 wrote:
I never did understand "boning up" for studying. It has the same "other" meaning here too, and is certainly nothing new (and much easier to understand in terms of origin, don't you think?)

I have a feeling "boning up" originated from boys studying with those of the opposite gender

charliechaplinfan · Post by **charliechaplinfan** » June 13th, 2008, 4:49 pm

Much easier to understand the meaning, the colloquial way shall we say.

Gemming up/ genning up, I can see how it easily one got changed for the other. There is the spinning jenny, could it be anything to do with that, would the origin of the phrase go as far back as that. I love finding out the origin of phrases.

One of the most common ones I know of is 'back to square one' if anyone doesn't know that comes from the days when games like football could only be listened to on the radio and the field was boxed out in numbers and listeners knew how their team was progressing by reference to box numbers. Hence back to square one, that's just outside your own goal area.

Perhaps we should start a thread?

The Silver Screen Oasis

The Silver Screen Oasis

WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?