What ELSE (other than KUNG FU) has everyone been watching?

[masterofoneinchpunch]

7th Cavalry (1956: Joseph H. Lewis): I am a big Randolph Scott fan so I will pretty much watch anything with him in it. The movie’s cinematography and is done by a Joseph H. Lewis who is known for film noirs such as The Big Combo and Gun Crazy (I like this film quite a bit.) I just found out right now that he directed fifty-one episodes of The Rifleman a series I have been watching recently. If the movie just had a better ending I would have been happier with it. The plot is solid though with Randolph Scott as Capt. Tom Benson in a typical stoic role who had been on leave to get his fiancé to bring back to the fort. However, in the meantime General Custer had led his men (and others) to the infamous Little Big Horn (FYI: June 25–26, 1876). He returns to an empty fort and a battered reputation as he is accused of avoiding combat and his life is seen as an affront to the living wives of the lost soldiers. In order to gain his reputation back he accepts a mission from the President Grant (though his name was not used) to gather the bodies of the dead mean for proper burial. However that land has become holy to the Sioux.

This might make a good double-header with the also historically incorrect They Died With Their Boots On (1941: Raoul Walsh) with Errol Flynn as General Custer.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

The Women (1939: George Cukor): If I can I like to go into a film with as little information as possible. I prefer watching the trailer after a movie and the same goes for extras (obviously when you study film you are going to go over spoilers Ad Nauseum, but I still try to avoid when I can.) As I was watching this it dawned on me that I did not see any men in the film – at all. An interesting approach as it gave a lot of actresses a chance to shine – even if much of the conversation was about men (I later saw in the trailer the title and parenthesized subtitle: “The Women” (AND IT IS ALL ABOUT MEN.)) Funny, that reminded me of the The Bechdel Test.

Cukor was recently fired from Gone With the Wind* and this was his next assignment. He was known as a “women’s director” a title he did not like and felt that it hurt him in getting different type of directorial jobs. Not surprisingly you can glean salient information about him in Katharine Hepburn’s autobiography Me. Cukor does an admirable job in this film. I do feel there is too much “men talk” in the film and I can see how some might think of this film as sexist because in some scenes it is as it appears that marriage is the ultimate goal for women – though it is true that some women would think like these characters.

It is a rather simple plot. Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford) is the conniving man-stealer who is going after Mary’s (Norma Shearer) husband. Joan is good in her role, but it is really Rosalind Russell’s portrayal of Sylvia that steals the show for me. She is a relative of Mary and really is the catalyst for many events in the film. Crystal is honest is what she is trying to accomplish, Sylvia is a nefarious Janus. She has this hatred of Mary that is almost Iago-to-Othello in scope. It is jealousy tinged with an evilness that was impressive. You do not want to have friends and/or relatives like her. But for some reason her group of friends kept hanging around her. Maybe for laughs.

The end wraps up too neatly for the events that preceded.

* A rumor was around that it was because Clark Gable did not want to work with a gay director. This is most likely false as it appears that it really was disconnect between producer David O. Selznick and Cukor. Regardless, Cukor’s reputation was not hurt (from this firing/leaving) and he would continue to be highly sought after for quite some time.

George Cukor TCM Biography

[Secret Executioner]

Asterix And Cleopatra (Astérix et Cléopâtre, 1968)

Second Asterix animated movie, IMO one of the best. This one is based on the sixth volume in the comic book series:

Caesar offends Cleopatra by stating Egyptians are a decadent people and their glory is long gone. Cleopatra replies by entering a bet: the Egyptians will build a new palace for Caesar within 3 months. She then puts her "best" architect in charge - "best" because his talents are very questionable, his constructions are known for collapsing and being the laughing stock of those who don't live in them. Confronted with a nearly impossible deadline, he decides to go get help from his Gaul friend, Druid Getafix. Getafix accepts to help, along with Asterix and Obelix. Pirates, an evil rival architect and the Romans won't make the task easy for them though.

Unlike the first movie (Asterix The Gaul AKA Astérix le Gaulois, 1967), this film was approved of by and received involvment from the authors of the comic book, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. This film is also a big improvement over the previous one. The first one had limited animation, followed the comic book too closely to the point it dragged in the middle and took next to no advantage of the new media.

Here, the animation is better (though still feels very 1960s and has its limits) and the adaptation is looser, allowing the film to actually take advantages of its media. The film thus includes cartoony effects, musical numbers (3 of them) and offers some comedy that wouldn't have worked in a comic book - or not as good.

I could post a more detailed review of this one with a bunch of facts on the film or the Asterix continuity and some screenshots. Not sure where it would fit though, maybe in my own thread from the Reviews forum ?

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Men Suddenly In Black (2003: Pang Ho-cheung: Hong Kong)

What do you do when your wife is away for 14 hours shopping in Bangkok with her friends who also happen to be your friends significant others? It is time for adultery or at least try to have an affair. Eric Tsang is Tin (somewhat parodying his Infernal Affairs role) a leader among his small group of four who is guiding them on a mission to have an affair (though sometimes the homosocial behavior delves into the potentially homoerotic*.) He is doing this in honor of his Ninth Uncle (Tony Leung Ka-fai) who several years ago got caught in a similar male-bonding tryst, never giving up the participants and subsequently is cut off from friends, prostitutes and porn by his wife.

However, the wives (and one girlfriend), led by Tin’s wife Carrie (Teresa Mo who has a strong role here) soon find out that there is something fishy going on and abort their trip and go husband hunting.

An impressive second release from director Edmond Pang Ho-cheung (You Shoot, I Shoot). He is satirizing male and female relationships and homosocial ones as well as some triad jokes thrown in. There is some allegorical references of John Woo to explicit Stephen Chow and Sammo Hung ones that Hong Kong fans should like. This is on LoveHKFilm.com’s The Best Hong Kong movies list ever. While it would not have been on mine, it still is a fun film that sometimes dragged a little bit through the various “missions”. Of the three other main male actors Chapman To and Jordan Chan have a panache which makes “Spirit Blue” Gu Zong-chao’s presence seem under assertive.

The Chinese title is 大丈夫 which roughly translates to “a man of character” or “manly man.” The English title is a bit confusing though it probably refers to the change in the men’s attire in the film (alluding to the fact that they have to appear differently than they normally do to help avoid being recognized – though with Eric Tsang’s loudness and particular body shape he could be recognized after plastic surgery from several hundred meters away) and it feels like it is taken off of the title of the film Men in Black.

I have the Mei Ah R0/NTSC release. The English subtitles could use some improvement. They have some spelling and grammar mistakes, use British idioms like “punter” and occasionally I am not sure what is actually going on. I understood the vast majority of the film, though once in a while I had to pause or rewind segments. There are three trailers including The Romancing Star, The Romancing Star II and Running on Karma.

There is a sequel to this, though I have not seen it, the reviews I read are not too fond of it and not all the actors appear in it.

* It is hilarious how upset and disappointed Tin was when Dr. Lee wants to go to his own affair instead of the group one at the end.

[AlbertV]

The Women (1939: George Cukor): If I can I like to go into a film with as little information as possible. I prefer watching the trailer after a movie and the same goes for extras (obviously when you study film you are going to go over spoilers Ad Nauseum, but I still try to avoid when I can.) As I was watching this it dawned on me that I did not see any men in the film – at all. An interesting approach as it gave a lot of actresses a chance to shine – even if much of the conversation was about men (I later saw in the trailer the title and parenthesized subtitle: “The Women” (AND IT IS ALL ABOUT MEN.)) Funny, that reminded me of the The Bechdel Test.

Cukor was recently fired from Gone With the Wind* and this was his next assignment. He was known as a “women’s director” a title he did not like and felt that it hurt him in getting different type of directorial jobs. Not surprisingly you can glean salient information about him in Katharine Hepburn’s autobiography Me. Cukor does an admirable job in this film. I do feel there is too much “men talk” in the film and I can see how some might think of this film as sexist because in some scenes it is as it appears that marriage is the ultimate goal for women – though it is true that some women would think like these characters.

It is a rather simple plot. Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford) is the conniving man-stealer who is going after Mary’s (Norma Shearer) husband. Joan is good in her role, but it is really Rosalind Russell’s portrayal of Sylvia that steals the show for me. She is a relative of Mary and really is the catalyst for many events in the film. Crystal is honest is what she is trying to accomplish, Sylvia is a nefarious Janus. She has this hatred of Mary that is almost Iago-to-Othello in scope. It is jealousy tinged with an evilness that was impressive. You do not want to have friends and/or relatives like her. But for some reason her group of friends kept hanging around her. Maybe for laughs.

The end wraps up too neatly for the events that preceded.

* A rumor was around that it was because Clark Gable did not want to work with a gay director. This is most likely false as it appears that it really was disconnect between producer David O. Selznick and Cukor. Regardless, Cukor’s reputation was not hurt (from this firing/leaving) and he would continue to be highly sought after for quite some time.

George Cukor TCM Biography

This was a good movie...it has been remade not once but twice. The first remake, The Opposite Sex, did have Leslie Nielsen as Steven...then there was the 2008 modernized remake with Meg Ryan in the Norma Shearer role, Eva Mendes in the Joan Crawford role, and Annette Bening in the Rosalind Russell role. Jada Pinkett Smith did crack me up in the remake as Mary and Sylvia's lesbian friend Alex.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

This was a good movie...it has been remade not once but twice. The first remake, The Opposite Sex, did have Leslie Nielsen as Steven...then there was the 2008 modernized remake with Meg Ryan in the Norma Shearer role, Eva Mendes in the Joan Crawford role, and Annette Bening in the Rosalind Russell role. Jada Pinkett Smith did crack me up in the remake as Mary and Sylvia's lesbian friend Alex.

It was a good film (currently in the top 50 1930s movies on IMDB.) I saw the trailer for The Opposite Sex (on The Women DVD) and it really does not make me want to watch it. I did see that Nielsen was in it, still probably will not watch it anytime soon. The second I am a little more inclined to watch and a little curious on what was changed (interesting about the Alex character.) The origin for the film was the broadway play so ultimately I wonder what was different from that to the first film -- having to pass the Hays Code might have changed some plot lines.

[Doctor Schnabel von Rom]

Death Spa (US Blu Ray): Okay, it's a silly story, but i don't care. I like american horror movies of the 80s and so i liked death spa! some nice splatter effects are in it, some nude scenes, what want i more? 6.5/10

Blood Diner (US DVD): Fans from herschell gorden lewis will love it! Fun Splatter, i enjoyed it! the brain with eyes and phone scene were great:-) 7.5/10

Sleepaway Camp (US Blu Ray): Watched it for the first time uncut (the older anchor bay version was a little cut) and for me as a huge slasher fan i liked the movie a lot! the shout factory blu ray is really good! 7.5/10

[KUNG FU BOB]

We just watched THE LEGO MOVIE (2014) via 3D Blu-ray. Damn, who'd have thought it would be so funny and entertaining for adults? Consistently clever and laugh out loud funny! Will Arnett (ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT) absolutely kills it as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Highly recommended. 9/10

Also revisited INSIDIOUS (2010). A genuinely chilling, terrifically acted, creepily scored, top-notch horror film. Scary, but not gory, the film even (despite our previous viewing) managed to illicit three full-on screams of terror from my horror cinema-jaded wife. The third act is not quite as good as what precedes it, but is still satisfying. 8/10

On a friend's recommendation we started the TV show BANSHEE a few weeks ago, and it's great. It's drama/suspense/action show with a nicely twisted sense of humor and lots of graphic sex, violence, and nudity. An ex-con takes over the identity of a small-town sheriff (that is an unknown, coming in for the job from another state) when the man is killed on his way to his first day. Our volatile "hero" is looking for revenge and his lost love, and he'll have to deal with an over-bearing, Wing Chun practicing town maniac, racist rednecks, the mob that's hunting him, and keeping his secret. We're in about 5 or 6 episodes and totally digging it. 8/10

[Secret Executioner]

Been watching episodes of The New Adventures Of Superman lately.

This is stuff from 1966, featuring the Man of Steel facing various dangers/threats/evil do-ers whether they classic foes like Lex Luthor, Brainiac or Mr. Mxyzptlk or made-up for the cartoon (like an evil mummy with magical powers in one of the most hilarious of these shorts).

The animation and the design are okay (we're talking of a Filmation cartoon here) and the stories and characters are usually enjoyable in spite of these being 7-minute shorts.

[AlbertV]

JESSE (Fred Carpenter, 2012) - starring Stephanie Finochio, William Forsythe, Armand Assante and Eric Roberts. Coming out in stores next Tuesday (August 12).

A story of a troubled police officer's quest for vengeance against her brother's killers but at the same time finds herself on a road to redemption.

Full review: http://albertvfilm.blogspot.com/2014/08/jesse-2012.html

[masterofoneinchpunch]

The Uninvited (1944: Lewis Allen):

I am happy that this was finally released by Criterion though it took me almost a year to see this. It has been a ghost story film I have heard about, but have not seen. It takes a typical horror plotline (even more typical by today’s standards) of a brother (Ray Milland) and sister (Ruth Hussey) who fall in love with a rustic place on the Cornish coastline of England and are able to buy it seemingly at an undervalued price from the peevish proprietor Commander Beech (Donald Crisp). Though his daughter Stella (Gail Russell) is upset at the transaction. But beautiful bargain priced abodes usually come with an unaccountable price. This one is haunted. Not just one spirit, but two.

The cinematography by Charles Lang Jr. (who was nominated for an Oscar), especially the chiaroscuro, and direction are hauntingly elegant. There are some effectively chilling scenes. This was Lewis Allen’s first full-length directed film and the second one I have seen from him that was not TV. His TV career is more prolific than his movie one including 42 episodes of Bonanza.

What I have seen of Gail Russell I have liked including one of my favorite westerns Seven Men From Now. Her life was a tragic one, which you can see in the documentary link below. But she is effective here as the center of all the otherworldly issues. I found it interesting that Crisp was not that fond of having her on the set because of her inexperience though Crisp's acting style to me was often the most wooden among the actors (not the only time I have found him to be too stiff.)

The homosexual undertone with two of the characters (possibly three) is so obvious that one wonders how it got past the Hays Code (though after previously watching The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944: Preston Sturges) from the same year I think maybe someone was snoozing there.*

I do think that the reputation of this film will increase in stature now that there is a BD and DVD release of this (if you follow critic best of lists it is not uncommon for a Criterion release to help push a lesser known film into the limelight; I would even guess that the aggregate list They Shoot Pictures Don’t They might include this next year.)

There should have been more extras on this. I was disappointed with the visual essay by Michael Almereyda which fragments itself with its short running time by going over too many areas too tersely. It also has an unneeded segment on parapsychology that annoys a skeptic like myself. You get too little information on this film, though there is a decent amount of Ray Milland (the author of this is a fan of his, though he does admit to not seeing The Thing with Two Heads – I need to see this as well.) How awesome would it have been to have the sequel The Unseen (1945) included with this? This release also includes a trailer, two radio adaptations, one essay worth reading by Farran Smith Nehme The Uninvited: Spirits by Starlight and a print interview with Lewis Allen and Tom Weaver that is my favorite among the extras.

I believe this is all of James Agee’s mini-review on the film in The Nation (March 11, 1944 | Agee on Film (pg. 65)):

The Uninvited, through an adroit counterpointing, syncopating, and cumulation [sic] of the natural and the supernatural, turns a mediocre story and a lot of shabby clichés into an unusually good scare-picture. It seems to me harder to get a fright than a laugh, and I experienced thirty-five first-class jolts, not to mention a well-calculated texture of minor frissons.

* I am joking. The directors both did a good job of obeying the code, but not staying in the spirit of the code.

DVD Savant

The John Wayne Stock Company: Gail Russell documentary

[Doctor Schnabel von Rom]

Curtains (US Blu Ray): disappointing because very boring, no suspense and bloodless. some nice pics and the actors were very good for that kind of movie, but again: i was really disappointing, because synapse films did a great job on the disc! not worth buying or watching. 5/10

[AlbertV]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Marc Webb, 2014) I got to see this over the weekend at a $2.00 theater near home. It's not as bad as some made it, however, I started to realize and note a few things throughout the film:

Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) aka Electro is the type who yearns attention and at first before his transformation, has an obsession with Spidey. This somewhat reminded me of Jim Carrey's take on Edward Nygma before he becomes The Riddler and his obsession with Bruce Wayne before ultimately facing off against Batman to some extent in "Batman Forever".

Dane DeHaan is definitely a better Harry Osborn than James Franco. Franco seemed to be more like eye candy for the ladies where DeHaan brought the role to a more emotional level that borderlines on the mad and quite frankly, I thought he made a pretty good Green Goblin. My only thing...they should have teased the Goblin at the end of this one and saved it for the third film, but that's just my opinion. However, I can understand they wanted to use a famous storyline arc (no spoilers for those who haven't seen it yet) so I'll let that go.

This installment totally convinced me more than Andrew Garfield is a way better Spider-Man than Tobey Maguire. Garfield brings a range of emotions from angst to sorrow as Peter Parker while hamming it up in true smartass mode when he's Spider-Man.

While he has a limited appearance, Paul Giamatti truly looks like he's having fun as Rhino. Chris Cooper's cameo as Norman Osborn is somewhat memorable and I'm still wondering what the secret is involving the man with the hat, played by Michael Massee (for those who don't know, Massee is known for his role as Funboy in "The Crow" and it was he who had the ill-fated prop gun with the piece of bullet that killed Brandon Lee in 1993.) This may be Massee's breakout role should they do something (no pun intended) amazing with Amazing Spider-Man 3

Final Rating: B+

[Secret Executioner]

I gotta agree that Green Goblin seemed kinda wasted here - he merely shows up at the end of the film and that's it. However, while he has more of a cameo than an appearance, I agree that the guy playing Rhino looks like he's having a blast. Hell, his scenes may be my fav' parts of the film - hated the whole thing with Electro, but Goblin was okay (though I guess the character might need more development than what we got here, a shame seeing Harry was a quite interesting character).

Apparently (that's been discussed in the movie thread), the guy with the hat is a key character in the making of the Sinister Six - basically, it's some teaser for the next movie (along with the sets of armor briefly seen among which one can notice Doc Ock and Vulture gears).

AS3 shouldn't be out before 2018 from what I've read - Sinister Six and Venom being the next two Spidey-related movies set for release.

[Secret Executioner]

Watching a couple of those 1960s cartoons (watched a Justice League Of America short and a Hawkman short, if one wants to be precise) with all their bright colors, seizure-inducing flashes and explosions (along with great narration and enjoyable stories - though we're talking of 7-minute shorts so the stories are fairly simple) from a BD player on a modern TV is priceless.

And I hadn't noticed the little advertisment for the Tiny Toons and Freakazoid DVD releases (some hilarious stuff in there) on disc 2 nor had I noticed the easter egg (present on both discs): the original Aquaman end credits (which use the tune from the opening credits of the JLA shorts BTW).

[the moose]

I watched a movie on amazon prime called Just Friends with Ryan reynolds, amy smart and anna farris. Anna Farris's Courtney Love meets Miley Cyrus charactor steals the show IMO - and the guy from American Pie does a good turn as the sly goodie 2 shoes. Not usually my cuppa tea this kind of movie - I blame my wife for watching it

[Keung]

The Crying Game (1992)

Despite already knowing the twist, it didn't deter from my overall enjoyment of the film. I normally like Forest Whitaker, but he was terribly miscast here. His "accent" if that's what you want to call it - had me cringing in places - so I'm knocking off half a star.

★ ★ ★ ★ ½

[masterofoneinchpunch]

The Crying Game (1992)

Despite already knowing the twist, it didn't deter from my overall enjoyment of the film. I normally like Forest Whitaker, but he was terribly miscast here. His "accent" if that's what you want to call it - had me cringing in places - so I'm knocking off half a star.

★ ★ ★ ★ ½

Then you might like what have happened to him [Whitaker's character] then. Seriously though I think of his demise and how it surprised me, quite often in film. Of course I have seen that style of scene many more times. When I first saw it I unfortunately knew the ending, but still what a moment.

[Keung]

Then you might like what have happened to him [Whitaker's character] then. Seriously though I think of his demise and how it surprised me, quite often in film. Of course I have seen that style of scene many more times. When I first saw it I unfortunately knew the ending, but still what a moment.

I was genuinely taken aback by his death scene. It just came out of nowhere, really. I liked his character and was rooting for him to get away, but the worst aspect about the casting was that Forest looked very out of shape and it was really hard for me to believe he was a soldier.

[Bus]

Green street hooligans 1 and 2.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I hate the title of this thread. What "else" have you been watching? Who cares.

[AlbertV]

Green street hooligans 1 and 2.

Love these films....got to see Green Street 3 earlier this year with Scott Adkins...pretty good sequel plus you got Joey Ansah as fight choreographer and co-star with STREET FIGHTER: ASSASSIN FIST co-star and co-writer Christian Howard as one of the West Ham United.

[Bus]

Need to see 3 brother. Usually watch 1 and 2 with mean green

[The Ghost Face Killah]

Finally saw Guardians of the Galaxy last week. I didn't think I'd like it from the previews, but went due to word of mouth.

Great movie, I think it's a classic and really only Dark Knight seems like a better superhero movie imo.

It was unique from other Marvel films because it had everything, it was funny, had sad moments, action, great characters and great music.

I was surprised at how good it was.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Behind that Curtain (1929: Irving Cummings):

There are always reasons to watch a film. Mine are two-fold: I was finishing off the third set of Charlie Chan films (this is an extra) and my 1929 movie watchings are a bit weak. I was doing a top 10 Hollywood film list for each year from 2013 backwards until I got to 1929 which I just could not come up with ten. There is no way in good conscience I could put this on a top ten list. This is awful. Early sound films can have issues, especially since they are synchronized sound, but sometimes the worst aspect is the vocal performances. Well here it is the performances in general along with a lingering uninteresting melodramatic plot.

First the good. This is the first sound appearance of Boris Karloff and is the first Fox film with Charlie Chan as a character. This is also a rare appearance of a non-Caucasoid as Charlie Chan (E.L. Park in his only known movie role) and a rare appearance of decent non-stereotypical roles for Chinese characters (though one might wonder about some of the other nationalities portrayed.) There is some decent on location shooting as well.

But here is the bad. Chan is not even close to a main character in the film. Apparently they took the back plot of the Earl Derr Biggers (the book has the same name) and expanded it to a love triangle, which is not in the book, to the main plot. There is no mystery because it is solved for us early within the film. The relationships are contrived and the acting is just weird. It is not stilted like typical Hollywood fare or even overemphasized like the theater, but I am not sure how to really explain it. The tonal pitch is off which can be typical of early sound films, but this is worse than usual. Now the lead Warner Baxter would improve in sound. His performance is fine in John Ford’s The Prisoner of Shark Island for example.

The Warner Oland Charlie Chan films are so much better. I have now seen all the existing ones with him.