I Just Watched...

Discussion of programming on TCM.
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LawrenceA
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by LawrenceA »

I remember when I worked at a video store, a woman from Barcelona rented Barcelona and hated it. She also went on a rant once about Antonio Banderas and how guys like him were a dime a dozen in Spain. She was a character.
Watching until the end.
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Swithin
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Swithin »

HoldenIsHere wrote: January 18th, 2023, 3:34 pm
Cuthbert wrote: January 16th, 2023, 4:42 pm
HoldenIsHere wrote: January 16th, 2023, 3:20 pm

Thanks for the reminder that METROPOLITAN is on Watch TCM. I watched it last night. I really like this movie as well as Walt Stillman's later THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO.
I love The Last Days of Disco. Barcelona is good, though perhaps not as good as the other two (haven't seen it in a while, I should take another look). It does have some sublime moments, like Taylor Nichols' dance to "Pennsylvania 6-5000" as he's reading the Bible. Chris Eigeman walks in unexpectedly and asks: "What is this, some strange Glenn Miller-based religious ceremony?"

I haven't seen BARCELONA, but now I want to. Thanks for posting that clip.

Apparently Edward Clements, who had the lead role in METROPOLITAN, did not appear in many other movies. In fact, the only other movie credit I can find for him is the role of Young Crewman in STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY.
He became a minister. I watched an interview with him; then a bit of a sort of self-help religious thing he did. Fine line between religion and theater! Here are two clips, the first from about 2009, which includes a clip from the film; the second from 2022. He looks like "himself" in the interview, less so in the clip from last year.



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Fedya
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Fedya »

Apparently nobody's watched anything in the past three days.

Slither (1973).

James Caan gets out of prison and gets told by another prisoner who gets killed of a possible six-figure payoff. Caan goes looking for the two man whose names the other guy gives him. Along the way, he runs into Sally Kellerman, playing the sort of "kooky" character that seemed to be common in movies of this era. And why is there a black van following everybody?

On reading about this on Wikipedia, I saw Caan stated that he needed the money, so he took this for the paycheck, and that there's nothing there. Having watched the movie, I can understand the sentiment. Some nice individual scenes, but the movie as a whole didn't feel coherent and the characters all felt more like Hollywood caricatures than real people.

4/10.
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LawrenceA
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by LawrenceA »

Fedya wrote: January 21st, 2023, 1:59 pm Apparently nobody's watched anything in the past three days.
I watched 16 movies in the past three days.
Last edited by LawrenceA on January 21st, 2023, 3:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Watching until the end.
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scsu1975
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by scsu1975 »

Jolt (Amazon Prime)
Kate Beckinsale (as a blonde) has a problem with anger management, so her shrink (Stanley Tucci) devises a sort of electronic strait jacket she can wear - and when she feels the urge to beat the snot out of someone, she presses a button and that calms her down. She falls for a guy, who then is murdered. Naturally, she goes berserk and spends most of the remaining 60 minutes or so kicking the crap out of various low lives as she tries to find the killer.

Somewhat entertaining, if you don't mind a load of f-bombs and some gore. The byplay between Kate and Stanley is occasionally amusing. The ending has a twist, which actually makes the film more confusing and even less believable.
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LawrenceA
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by LawrenceA »

I just watched Aftersun (2022), one of the most critically praised films of the year. A woman remembers a vacation she took when she was 11 with her father.

This is the kind of movie that makes want to stop watching movies.
Watching until the end.
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Fedya
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Fedya »

More or less boring than Jeanne Dielman?
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EP Millstone
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by EP Millstone »

LawrenceA wrote: January 21st, 2023, 5:04 pm I just watched Aftersun (2022), one of the most critically praised films of the year. A woman remembers a vacation she took when she was 11 with her father.

This is the kind of movie that makes want to stop watching movies.
Fedya wrote: January 21st, 2023, 7:48 pm More or less boring than Jeanne Dielman?
Never heard of Aftersun. So I checked out the reviews on the Internet Movie Database. Sounds to me as though Aftersun stylistically resembles Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, which I watched, against my better judgment.

So re Aftersun, I'll pass. Not making that mistake again. Life is too short.
"Start every day off with a smile and get it over with." -- W.C. Fields
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Masha
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Masha »

Grand Exit (1935)

Male fire investigator seeks female arson suspect for a hot time.

This is Ann Sothern before she became Maisie and her name guaranteed ticket sales. She is bright, bouncy and braless as she trades barbs with the best of them.

It is Edmund Lowe attempting to imitate William Powell and trying hard to look comfortable with a costar half his age.

I found this to be a comfortable little movie. The characters and banter are more important than the mystery but that is given a fair shake with several red herrings and no cheats. It is an agreeable way to spend an hour.

6/11.2

It is available for viewing for free with commercials on: TubiTV
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CinemaInternational
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by CinemaInternational »

Oh, I have been watching things, it is just that they are TV series (Peyton Place and Knots Landing). I have spent all month with them and both will be wrapped up soon. I miss movies, but these are top-quality shows.

1973's Slither is slight, but quirky enough to be an enjoyable watch with a crackerjack cast (Caan, Sally Kellerman, Peter Boyle, Louise Lasser). Nothing major, but fun.

Thank you for the warning about Aftersun, Lawrence. I have been suspicious of its overly positive reception on another website I am on (modern film oriented, butcaused in part possibly by some members saying that they literally lust after the guy who plays the father. I feel somewhat adrift there compared to everyone else, and their having a really ugly disagreement there currently over the racial makeup of the Best Actress category), as I feel it sounds dry and uneventful, yet another example of an overly praised A24 title (they have financed some wonderful films, but also some really lousy ones that still got good press). I am still recovering from the incoherence of their Everything Everywhere All at Once, a film whose rave reception has made me wonder if its even worth watching some 2022 Oscar contenders when that one, considered a frontrunner, is so bad outside of two performances.
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LawrenceA
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by LawrenceA »

CinemaInternational wrote: January 22nd, 2023, 3:38 am
Thank you for the warning about Aftersun, Lawrence. I have been suspicious of its overly positive reception on another website I am on (modern film oriented, butcaused in part possibly by some members saying that they literally lust after the guy who plays the father. I feel somewhat adrift there compared to everyone else, and their having a really ugly disagreement there currently over the racial makeup of the Best Actress category), as I feel it sounds dry and uneventful, yet another example of an overly praised A24 title (they have financed some wonderful films, but also some really lousy ones that still got good press). I am still recovering from the incoherence of their Everything Everywhere All at Once, a film whose rave reception has made me wonder if its even worth watching some 2022 Oscar contenders when that one, considered a frontrunner, is so bad outside of two performances.
You may get more out of the movie than I did. A lot of people certainly have, and my "tastes" don't seem to gel with most people's.

I understand that the star of Aftersun, Paul Mescal, built a fanbase off of the show Normal People from a few years ago, but I never saw it. I see that he was also in The Lost Daughter which I liked, but I don't recall him at all from it. He made very little impression on me in Aftersun but I've seen a lot of people clamoring for him to receive a Best Actor nomination. He just might get it, and that's the one category that I'm not certain who will get the fifth slot. SAG nominated Adam Sandler for Hustle but I just don't see it. However, it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong.

I'm curious about the Best Actress kerfuffle you mention from your other site. I watched both Till and The Woman King yesterday, and thought Danielle Deadwyler and Viola Davis respectively deserve nominations, and not simply as a show of race pandering. The other nominees I see as probably being Blanchett, Yeoh, and either Ana de Armas, Michelle Williams, or Naomi Ackie, although I haven't seen the last two's films yet (The Fabelmans and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody).
Watching until the end.
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CinemaInternational
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by CinemaInternational »

Much of the ugliness over Best Actress on the other website comes courtesy of a scrappy last second campaign by British actress Andrea Risebourough for her performance in an indie film called To Leslie as a dirt-poor Texas woman trying to piece her life together after she squandered all the money she once won in the lottery. Now, she will likely not make the cut. Risebourough has been in parts in films for over a decade without breaking through entirely, even after having a small role in a Best Picture winner (the lamentable Birdman). Her film is from a very small company I never heard of, and although she has a handful of A-list actresses promoting her performance, the chances of getting another Sally Kirkland 1987 style nomination in this day and age is slim to none.But that hasn't stopped some from basically beating up on her, as though she stands a strong chance at being nominated and so because of her, Yeoh, Davis or Deadwyler would be shafted from the lineup, which would be highly unlikely for the former two (the latter is slightly vulnerable due to clumsy campaigns coming out of MGM/Amazon). So it has devolved into an internet screaming match with one part saying that the lineup should be based on the quality of performance, while another part wants her excluded simply because of her ethnicity. I can repost some comments (without people's names) if you want the full details.

It is true that the Actress category has only had one winner who was anything other than white (Halle Berry), and I personally feel there were several nominees who deserved to win over the women who actually did (Diana Ross in 1972, Angela Bassett in 1993, Viola Davis in 2011), but for people to freak out over a sheer fluke seems overwrought. I do recall that one member of this group was deemed a rascist by one or two other members for supporting Carey Mulligan over Viola Davis and Andra Day in the 2020 race, so maybe it is nothing new, just amplifed more with all the indecision.


As for the best actor race, I have no idea on that last spot. I have seen many mentions of Mescal and Tom Cruise, and some mentions of Sandler, Jeremy Pope, Tom Hanks, and Hugh Jackman. The lead of the German language version of All Quiet on the Western Front or the BAFTA nominated lead of Good Luck to You, Leo Grande could swoop in for it as well. My own weird hunch, although it won't likely happen, is that it might go to Ralph Fiennes for the horror film The Menu, which has gained quite a big following
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LawrenceA
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by LawrenceA »

I'm aware of To Leslie but I haven't seen it yet. I've seen several actors praising Riseborough's performance on Twitter. I've seen her in a lot of films over the years, and usually enjoy her. She's certainly shown a lot of range.

Michelle Williams was the one that I've read some complaints about being left out of the SAG nominees.
Watching until the end.
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Fedya
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Re: I Just Watched...

Post by Fedya »

You Light Up My Life (1977).

Everybody knows the title song was a massive hit for Debby Boone back in 1977, although her version isn't the one used in the movie. Kasey Cisyk, who has a bit part in the movie, dubs star Didi Conn. Conn plays the daughter of a comedian (Joe Silver) who keeps trying to push her into comedy although she'd rather try to be a serious actress and has much more talent as a singer/songwriter (or at least a lip-syncher/songwriter since Cisyk's voice doesn't sound anything like hers). Conn's personal life is complicated in that she's engaged to tennis coach Stephen Nathan, while she has a fling and falls in love with budding director Michael Zaslow.

As I got to the climax of the movie, I couldn't help but think of the portion of Annie Hall, also from 1977, in which Diane Keaton's character goes out to Los Angeles to try to make it in Hollywood. Keaton had serious acting chops, and watching the climax of You Light Up My Life puts on stark display the chasm in talent between Keaton and Conn. The scene where Conn confronts her father turns into unintentional comedy since Conn doesn't seem to have the emotional depth to pull it off.

Where Annie Hall is rooted in the stereotypical sophistication of New York and Woody Allen, You Light Up My Life has its feet firmly planted in the artifice and ephemeral nature of the sunshine-y side of Hollywood, which is a place where a movie like this just doesn't work.

5/10.
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