Last Movie You Watched

[SonicMan46]

Well, we've watched a few old films on DVD-R and streamed one last night from Netflix:

Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) w/ Raymond Massey, Ruth Gordon, Gene Lockhart, et al - with an uncanny resemblance to Lincoln, Massey is just outstanding in this bioptic (i.e. the pre-Washington, D.C. era), and Gordon's portrayal of Mary Todd is one of the more realistic performances on film IMO - a MUST for anyone interested in Lincoln.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The (1939) w/ Mickey Rooney, Walter Connolly, William Frawley, & Rex Ingram as Jim - of course, based on the Mark Twain novel - back in the early 1980s, Susan & I saw Big River on Broadway, an excellent musical on the same topic w/ music/lyrics by Roger Miller (own the soundtrack on CD) - as I recall John Goodman played 'Pap Finn' and was the hit of the show for me!  If a fan of Twain's Mississippi River stories, then recommended.

Uncorked (2020) w/ Courtney B. Vance, Lashun Pollard, Michael Mobley, et al - one sentence synopsis below - streamed from Netflix - being a 'wine lover' all of my adult life, I enjoyed the film - may be less interesting to others; soundtrack has a lot of rap-type music (not my thing, but fit the movie fine) - certainly, if you are into wine and want to see some of the steps along the way to becoming a 'sommelier', the recommended.  Dave

Elijah must balance his dream of becoming a master sommelier with his father's expectations that he carry on the family's Memphis BBQ joint.

   

[Karl Henning]

Well, we've watched a few old films on DVD-R and streamed one last night from Netflix:

Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) w/ Raymond Massey, Ruth Gordon, Gene Lockhart, et al - with an uncanny resemblance to Lincoln, Massey is just outstanding in this bioptic (i.e. the pre-Washington, D.C. era), and Gordon's portrayal of Mary Todd is one of the more realistic performances on film IMO - a MUST for anyone interested in Lincoln.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The (1939) w/ Mickey Rooney, Walter Connolly, William Frawley, & Rex Ingram as Jim - of course, based on the Mark Twain novel - back in the early 1980s, Susan & I saw Big River on Broadway, an excellent musical on the same topic w/ music/lyrics by Roger Miller (own the soundtrack on CD) - as I recall John Goodman played 'Pap Finn' and was the hit of the show for me!  If a fan of Twain's Mississippi River stories, then recommended.

Uncorked (2020) w/ Courtney B. Vance, Lashun Pollard, Michael Mobley, et al - one sentence synopsis below - streamed from Netflix - being a 'wine lover' all of my adult life, I enjoyed the film - may be less interesting to others; soundtrack has a lot of rap-type music (not my thing, but fit the movie fine) - certainly, if you are into wine and want to see some of the steps along the way to becoming a 'sommelier', the recommended.  Dave

   

Most interesting, Dave; I don't think I could take Mickey Rooney as Huck Finn . . . .

[aligreto]

Breaking In





This is a standard enough break in plot but with a slight difference which makes it more entertaining and watchable.

[SonicMan46]

Most interesting, Dave; I don't think I could take Mickey Rooney as Huck Finn . . . .

Hi Karl -    Yep, there is an 'Andy Hardy' persona about Huck (he made several of those films around then!), and I expected Judy Garland to 'pop up' in the next scene - the following year, he made Young Tom Edison w/ the wonderful Faith Bainter as his mother.  Dave

 

[FelixSkodi]

On, in the background:

[SimonNZ]

I liked this considerably more than the critical savaging its had tells me I should.

[SonicMan46]

Yet several more 'oldies' from my DVD-R collection:

All the King's Men (1949) w/ Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, and Joanne Dru. Though a fictional character, Crawford plays Willie Stark, who strongly resembles Louisiana governor Huey Long; based on the 1946 Robert Penn Warren novel of the same name.  The film was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, winning 3 Oscars including 'Best Picture' and 'Best Actor' for Broderick Crawford, who beat out John Wayne (Sands of Iwo Jima), the actor originally offered the part as Stark; not sure that Wayne could have pulled off the role as well as Broderick?

Along Came Jones (1945) w/ Gary Cooper, Loretta Young, William Demarest, and Dan Duryea. Low budget B-Western 'comedy' w/ Coop as 'Melody Jones' - just a fun film w/ Loretta looking 'deliciously' attractive.  Dave
.
 

[Madiel]

Captain America: the First Avenger.

As I move through the Marvel Cinematic Universe... honestly, I think this was more mindless than usual.

[SimonNZ]

Superb not only in its recreation of time and place, but in trusting the audience to find the drama before the climax in the debate of ideas.

[vandermolen]

Two contrasting films over the last two days, both of which I greatly enjoyed. I'd seen 1917 at the cinema but enjoyed it just as much on DVD:
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[Todd]

Rewatched The Other Guys.  Still funny, but its time-specific jokes date it.

[George]

The Wrong Missy - good, stupid fun

[Christo]

Rewatched The Other Guys.  Still funny, but its time-specific jokes date it.

Under 8 movies again? 

[Todd]

Under 8 movies again? 

What?

[aligreto]

Pay it Forward





An interesting film with very good performances from all concerned, especially from Haley Joel Osment.

[SimonNZ]

I was uncertain for the first part, feeling like most of the time I was just playing a game of spot the edit. But from the night sequence onward it became brilliant.

[Karl Henning]

Last night, for fun: Spectre

[SonicMan46]

Ball of Fire (1941) w/ Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Dana Andrews, and a bunch of memorable character actors of the day, e.g. S.Z. Sakall & Henry Travers.  Still a funny movie (Susan was even laughing!); short first synopsis below - Cooper & Stanwyck just delightful - pic of her below from an earlier film before the codes were changed.

A Song is Born (1948) w/ Danny Kaye & Virginia Mayo - remake of 'Ball of Fire' but now w/ a group of music professors putting together an encyclopedia; for Jazz fans, the main attraction are the guest appearances of many jazz musicians, including Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Barnet, and Benny Carter.  Goodman actually plays one of the professors.  I watch this film about once a year, but a nice combination to view together.  Both recommended.  Dave

Hoping to update his chapter on modern slang, encyclopedia writer Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) ventures into a chic nightclub. Inside, he meets the snarky burlesque performer "Sugarpuss" O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). Fascinated by her command of popular jargon, Potts invites her to stay with him. But, unknown to Potts, she is the fiancée of a mobster (Dana Andrews) and wanted by the police. In the ensuing mayhem, Potts must stay on his toes or be swallowed up by bigger fish.

A group of music professors, including Frisbee (Danny Kaye) and Magenbruch (Benny Goodman), are writing an encyclopedia of music. A pair of window washers introduces the duo to a pioneering musical form called jazz. Frisbee and Magenbruch start going to nightclubs to hear the new sound and become involved with club singer Honey Swanson (Virginia Mayo), who is running from police because they want her to inform on her gangster boyfriend, Tony Crow (Steve Cochran).

   

[71 dB]

You don't like Step Brothers, either, Christo?

Step Brothers or STIEFBRÜDER as my German Blu-ray says is surprisingly successful effort of "dumb and dumber"-comedy. I don't know how they managed to make such a silly movie work so well but they did. I don't normally collect much this type of movies, but this one earned it's place in my Blu-ray collection. Another gem of this type is Kingpin from the Farrelly brothers.

[greg]

Didn't think it would be as funny as it was. Though the first half-ish was funnier than the second half.