Last Movie You Watched

[Karl Henning]

Somehow I'd never seen this before: Being There. Jack Warden as the President. 

[Karl Henning]

Somehow I'd never seen this before: Being There. Jack Warden as the President.

Really affecting. Not sure I would have received it properly, had I seen it back on its release. An unexpected bonus on the DVD is Sellers/Chance trying to repeat back the hoodlum's message for Raphael, only Sellers keeps "corpsing."

[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) - 

 

As a curiosity watch, I could do worse. Great Herrmann score, of course. And Joan Greenwood, of Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Man in the White Suit, The Importance of Being Earnest and Tom Jones.

[Karl Henning]

As a curiosity watch, I could do worse. Great Herrmann score, of course. And Joan Greenwood, of Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Man in the White Suit, The Importance of Being Earnest and Tom Jones.

I'm glad I stuck with it, so that I can express repentance for such faint approbation. Herbert Lom as Nemo was excellent. Still, it tickles me that he dismisses one chap as being a man of faith rather than of reason, and in almost the next breath he employs the oath "by heaven."

[SonicMan46]

I'm glad I stuck with it, so that I can express repentance for such faint approbation. Herbert Lom as Nemo was excellent. Still, it tickles me that he dismisses one chap as being a man of faith rather than of reason, and in almost the next breath he employs the oath "by heaven."

Karl - you must have wanted to be at the stone crab feast at the beginning of the film! 

[Karl Henning]

Just arrived in time for the weekend: Terminator 1-6

Wow. Should I catch up?

[hopefullytrusting]

Wow. Should I catch up?

Depends on how much you like bad sci-fi. Lol.

[Karl Henning]

Depends on how much you like bad sci-fi. Lol.

I enjoyed the first three movies okay. There was no specific reason why I skipped the fourth, but I am kind of ready to stick with those first three.

[DavidW]

I enjoyed the first three movies okay. There was no specific reason why I skipped the fourth, but I am kind of ready to stick with those first three.

You're not missing anything. Genesys and Dark Fate are pretty bad. I like Salvation more than most people, but they ruined the plot twist in the trailer!

I feel the same way as I do the Alien franchise... just watch the first two and ignore the rest.

[Madiel]

I haven't seen the most recent Terminator but see some commentary suggesting it was better than the previous 2. But that might be a low bar to clear.

I remember, I went and saw the third Matrix movie just so that I could confirm it was best to pretend that only the first one ever happened.

[Iota]

You're not missing anything. Genesys and Dark Fate are pretty bad. I like Salvation more than most people, but they ruined the plot twist in the trailer!

I feel the same way as I do the Alien franchise... just watch the first two and ignore the rest.

I agree the first two Terminator films stand head and shoulders above the others (particularly the second with what was at the time its breathtaking plot twist and amazing CGI). I haven't seen Dark Fate, but I still enjoy the others.

[Cato]

The Tree of Life (2011, dir. Terrence Malick). Stunning. As a Malick fan, can't recall how I missed this first time around.

Was fortunate to see it in ideal conditions: on a big screen at the Philadelphia Film Society, with an immaculate print and fantastic sound. Lots of classical music on the soundtrack — Bach, Gorecki, Brahms, Mahler, among others. Excellent work by Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Sean Penn, and the photography by Emmanuel Lubezski is a key part of Malick's bravura filmmaking. Haven't seen anything of his since revisiting Days of Heaven, maybe a decade ago.

-Bruce

I'll have to look into that one.

Thanks.  I might watch that one (if time allows before I need to return it).

PD

Concerning Terrence Malick, let me recommend A Hidden Life, which is a beautiful yet heart-rending story about Franz Jägerstätter, the Austrian Catholic farmer who refused to join the Nazi army.



In recent days...

The Agony and The Ecstasy





Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II: one of our favorites!

[brewski]

Concerning Terrence Malick, let me recommend A Hidden Life, which is a beautiful yet heart-rending story about Franz Jägerstätter, the Austrian Catholic farmer who refused to join the Nazi army.

Thank you! Added to the long queue. At this point I would see anything by Malick, and will keep an eye out for this one, especially if it shows up on the big screen.

-Bruce

[relm1]

You're not missing anything. Genesys and Dark Fate are pretty bad. I like Salvation more than most people, but they ruined the plot twist in the trailer!

I feel the same way as I do the Alien franchise... just watch the first two and ignore the rest.

The most recent Alien is worth seeing.  It's more like the early ones than the recent ones.

[DavidW]

The most recent Alien is worth seeing.  It's more like the early ones than the recent ones.

I was going to see it with a friend, and then I got COVID!

[Karl Henning]

I'm glad I stuck with it, so that I can express repentance for such faint approbation. Herbert Lom as Nemo was excellent. Still, it tickles me that he dismisses one chap as being a man of faith rather than of reason, and in almost the next breath he employs the oath "by heaven."

The Ray Harryhausen Chronicles, narrated by Leonard Nimoy, was a treat. I may not become a fan, but I'm curious to see another movir or two.

[Wanderer]

The most recent Alien is worth seeing.  It's more like the early ones than the recent ones.

Encouraging. I really did not care much for the later Prometheus franchise that all it did in the end was kill the competing upcoming Alien project with Sigourney Weaver returning to the role; that one sounded much more promising than what Scott ultimately gave us.

[relm1]

Encouraging. I really did not care much for the later Prometheus franchise that all it did in the end was kill the competing upcoming Alien project with Sigourney Weaver returning to the role; that one sounded much more promising than what Scott ultimately gave us.

My problem with the Prometheus series is poor story telling.  It had a kernel of a good idea but seemed to have nothing to do with alien or took it in an unknown direction (unknown to the writer).  As I understand it, they had a writer who wrote an alien style film but then fired him and replaced him with Damon Lindelof who was one of the primary writers in Lost, another show with a very interesting concept that didn't really know where to take it leading it in all sorts of directions as they figured out a story. 

[Karl Henning]

Another charmer from my favorite genre:



Followed by the best Blade, 2, although 1 is still the most horrific, in my opinion. 3 is just hilarious.

Del Toro and Blade were a great fit!

[NumberSix]

Hatari! (1962)

They could never make this one today because all the animals would have to be CGI. This movie has the crew driving amongst herds of stampeding zebras and giraffes. It has them lassoing a buffalo. And there's some insane footage of a rhino beating the crap out of two vehicles. You can't fake this stuff. It's pretty amazing, though I have to wonder if anyone was seriously injured in the filming.

This is a manly movie full of manly men doing manly things, often to impress beautiful women with sexy European accents. Those same women, though, are NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS - they hold their own more or less out in the bush, dressed like Marian Ravenwood when she's outdrinking Nepalese gentlemen.

John Wayne is in his Quiet Man rom com mode when he's not being MANLY and rasslin rhinos.

The whole thing worked better when Howard Hawks called it Red River. It's a silly movie that's easily 30 minutes too long - maybe more than that. The jokes are corny. The acting is mostly awful. But the footage is breathtaking, and you can't help but like this crew.