Last Movie You Watched

[SonicMan46]

Mysterious Island (1961) - short synopsis below and cast in the attachment - I'm sure there are Ray Harryhausen fans here - a ranking of 17 of his films HERE puts this one at No. 5 (not bad); 3 of my favorites fill most of the top spots, i.e. Jason and the Argonauts (1), Clash of the Titans (4), and 7th Voyage of Sinbad (2).  Dave

P.S. of course, 'female interest' is always welcomed as when Beth Rogan's aunt makes her a skimpy bathing suit-like outfit (2nd pic below) - 

Mysterious Island is a 1961 science fiction adventure film about prisoners in the American Civil War who escape in a balloon and then find themselves stranded on a remote volcanic island populated by giant animals. Loosely based upon the 1874 novel The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne. Shot in Catalonia, Spain, and at Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, England, the film serves as a showcase for Ray Harryhausen's stop motion animation effects. Like several of Harryhausen's classic productions, the musical score was composed by Bernard Herrmann. (Source)

 

[Karl Henning]

Mysterious Island (1961) - short synopsis below and cast in the attachment - I'm sure there are Ray Harryhausen fans here - a ranking of 17 of his films HERE puts this one at No. 5 (not bad); 3 of my favorites fill most of the top spots, i.e. Jason and the Argonauts (1), Clash of the Titans (4), and 7th Voyage of Sinbad (2).  Dave

P.S. of course, 'female interest' is always welcomed as when Beth Rogan's aunt makes her a skimpy bathing suit-like outfit (2nd pic below) - 

 

Pretty sure I saw some of that when I was a boy.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Kurosawa's Ikiru.

Karl Fyi, Living is a British remake of Ikiru. I haven't seen it yet, but it looks very interesting and I will check it out soon.


https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jan/21/living-bill-night-kurosawa-ikiru-remake

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/living_2022

[SonicMan46]

Pretty sure I saw some of that when I was a boy.

Well, you might not have appreciated Beth Rogan then, so worth another watch maybe?      Dave

[Karl Henning]

Well, you might not have appreciated Beth Rogan then, so worth another watch maybe?      Dave

I'll need a Librarian's help to find it.

TD: Today's unexpected optional entertainment: Alien Covenant. I wasn't going to watch this (I saw the trailer back when it was released.) My eye chanced to fall on it while I browsed at the Library, and a quote on the back claimed it was the best since Ridley Scott's original, and I allowed myself to be piqued to test this hypothesis.

[DavidW]

TD: Today's unexpected optional entertainment: Alien Covenant. I wasn't going to watch this (I saw the trailer back when it was released.) My eye chanced to fall on it while I browsed at the Library, and a quote on the back claimed it was the best since Ridley Scott's original, and I allowed myself to be piqued to test this hypothesis.

That movie critic must have been smoking crack! Even worse than Prometheus, Alien Covenant is a movie divided between Scott wanting to make a movie about David, the Engineers and the black oil, and the studio execs wanting more retread of Alien. The result is still entertaining but messy.

[Karl Henning]

That movie critic must have been smoking crack! Even worse than Prometheus, Alien Covenant is a movie divided between Scott wanting to make a movie about David, the Engineers and the black oil, and the studio execs wanting more retread of Alien. The result is still entertaining but messy.

Thanks. I'm about to bail. I lasted until the first two infections and the destruction of the lander. I wouldn't watch Prometheus again. I think I've watched about as much of Covenant as I'll find interesting. 

[SimonNZ]

Karl Fyi, Living is a British remake of Ikiru. I haven't seen it yet, but it looks very interesting and I will check it out soon.


https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jan/21/living-bill-night-kurosawa-ikiru-remake

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/living_2022

Huh. I saw the poster for that and assumed it was based on the Henry Green novel of the same name (which I haven't read and see only now is about Birmingham factory workers). I almost went to it with that expectation.

Now I really will have to see it. (though I've found Ikiru a better film to think about after rather than enjoy while I'm watching, but perhaps that's because I've only seen it with appalling print quality)

[Karl Henning]

Kurosawa's Ikiru.

Now watching with Stephen Prince's commentary.

[DavidW]

The Illusionist was a rewatch for me. I had not seen it in 18 years.



It is shot with a beautiful sepia tone, and the highlight is Paul Giamatti's brilliant performance.

[71 dB]

The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)

This was showed on TV yesterday. My father phoned me 5 minutes before the movie started and said I should watch it because it is a classic film. Most of the time I struggle with films this old, but I decided to watch it. At least I can say I have seen this classic film.

Again, I struggled with this. There is something making these old movies so tiresome to watch. It is not the picture quality. The restoration was good. It is not about the movie being black and white. I don't "need" colors to enjoy a movie. These old movies, even often the best ones, just aren't filmed and edited that well! Often it feel only one lens was used making the visuality boring ant monotone. I noticed a few Dutch angles. The edits are abrupt. These old movies are also fast and slow at the same time! Somehow not much happens, but it is showed with frantic/random cuts/jump cuts as if deliberately trying to confuse the watcher.

I don't mind movies that require using brain, but if there is nothing enjoyable about a movie, I am unable to enjoy the movie! This was very much the case again here. I found the plot of the movie strangely uninteresting, because the movie did almost nothing to make me interested! The acting was fine (Orson Welles was even good). The music by Anton Karas was probably the worst score I have ever heard in a movie! It felt so wrong for this movie: This movie wasn't about drinking pineapple drinks on the beaches of Hawaii! There are older movies I do enjoy, but not many and this is another "classic film" I didn't enjoy. 

[drogulus]

     

[LKB]

Pretty sure I saw some of that when I was a boy.

I first encountered Mysterious Island as a boy in the mid-1960's when it was broadcast on TV. I was fascinated by the giant crab, amused by the bees and bored by the women. ( That would start to change about a year later. )

[Karl Henning]

I first encountered Mysterious Island as a boy in the mid-1960's when it was broadcast on TV. I was fascinated by the giant crab, amused by the bees and bored by the women. ( That would start to change about a year later. )

I think our timelines are similar.

[Karl Henning]

The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)

This was showed on TV yesterday. My father phoned me 5 minutes before the movie started and said I should watch it because it is a classic film. Most of the time I struggle with films this old, but I decided to watch it. At least I can say I have seen this classic film.

Again, I struggled with this. There is something making these old movies so tiresome to watch. It is not the picture quality. The restoration was good. It is not about the movie being black and white. I don't "need" colors to enjoy a movie. These old movies, even often the best ones, just aren't filmed and edited that well! Often it feel only one lens was used making the visuality boring ant monotone. I noticed a few Dutch angles. The edits are abrupt. These old movies are also fast and slow at the same time! Somehow not much happens, but it is showed with frantic/random cuts/jump cuts as if deliberately trying to confuse the watcher.

I don't mind movies that require using brain, but if there is nothing enjoyable about a movie, I am unable to enjoy the movie! This was very much the case again here. I found the plot of the movie strangely uninteresting, because the movie did almost nothing to make me interested! The acting was fine (Orson Welles was even good). The music by Anton Karas was probably the worst score I have ever heard in a movie! It felt so wrong for this movie: This movie wasn't about drinking pineapple drinks on the beaches of Hawaii! There are older movies I do enjoy, but not many and this is another "classic film" I didn't enjoy.

Well, you gave it a try.

[Ganondorf]

I kind of hated The Third man the first time I watched it but after that it has been my favorite British films of all time. Coincidentally, I also watched it last night since I also live in Finland. It hasn't lost its touch. If I'm correct Orson also ad-libbed the best line in the movie (or was it the whole scene?)

[71 dB]

Well, you gave it a try.

Yep. I do generally struggle with movies pre 1965 or so. I also have an issue with many movies made after 1995 or so (shaky camera/fast cutting). Year 1980 is the "sweet spot" for me. The Third Man is 31 years from 1980 and that affects its chances to be to my liking. There are of course exceptions. I like 100 years old Harold Lloyds movies and I am sure I will love Kane Parsons' Backrooms movie next year.

[Karl Henning]

There was a time when it saturated cable TV, Close Encounters' evil twin: Independence Day. How did I not know, yet know Brent Spiner as Dr Okun?

[DavidW]

There was a time when it saturated cable TV, Close Encounters' evil twin: Independence Day. How did I not know, yet know Brent Spiner as Dr Okun?

You were probably like, "Oh look, it is that guy from Night Court!" It was easy for me to recognize him because I saw the movie in the theater when Star Trek was still fresh.

[SimonNZ]

The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)

 The music by Anton Karas was probably the worst score I have ever heard in a movie! It felt so wrong for this movie: This movie wasn't about drinking pineapple drinks on the beaches of Hawaii!

The zither isn't Hawaiian and has a long history with Vienna.