The "I'm watching/just watched *movie title* thread....

[albrecht]

"Sweet Sixteen," sometimes called "Sweet 16," (1983.) A fairly decent movie due to the sheer numbers of famous actors and character actors you will recognize in it, setting, stereotypes and political incorrectness- and an interesting theme-song. And an interesting combination of a murder-mystery along with the slasher genre. And the 16 (really 15 going on 16) actress doesn't look it at all, which is funny itself. But a movie plagued at times by weird lighting and incomprehensible plot developments (girls suddenly become best friends and other odd stuff.) But I have to say I liked it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083146/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3

[21st Century Man]

   Time for some reviews of some old films.  First up is Josef von Sternberg's  adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's novel of an ambitious young man (Phillips Holmes) from the poor side of town who climbs the social ladder only to fall terribly after a girlfriend (Sylvia Sidney) is accidentally killed in a lake while boating.  Or was it an accident when in fact it could have been murder?  You be the judge.  This is the setup for An American Tragedy (1931) later remade as A Place In The Sun with Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters and Elizabeth Taylor.
    An American Tragedy was the only film that von Sternberg made without his muse, Marlene Dietrich, between 1930 and 1935 and I'll confess it was a bit of a disappointment for me for several reasons.  It seemed much more stagebound than the von Sternberg silent classics from the late 20's.  The last third of the movie takes place in a courtroom and I'll confess I'm kind of tired of courtroom dramas. I also thought that someone else with more of a film presence would have been a better lead than Mr. Holmes.  He was rather creepy looking and reminded me a bit of Dwight Frye.  He was also a bit wooden at times. A young Bogart would have been excellent in the role.
    However, the film was not a complete disappointment to me.  Sylvia Sidney was excellent in the role of Roberta Alden who becomes pregnant with Holmes' child.  Francis Dee is quite good as the wealthy society bird who Holmes dumps Sidney for.  Irving Pichel, Lucille La Verne and an excellent Charles Middleton also have significant roles in the movie.  I've never seen A Place In The Sun except for an odd clip here and there so I can't compare the two but from what I've read, viewers who have seen both films, generally seem to prefer this version.  You can find this Paramount film as a Universal Vault Release available at Amazon and other outlets.  3.25 stars out of 5 for An American Tragedy.

[21st Century Man]

Next up, The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (1932) with Ann Dvorak and Lee Tracy.  This is an enjoyable pre-code romp and I'll confess I have a thing for Miss Dvorak.  It is a fucking shame that Jack Warner derailed her career. She was beautiful and could act with the best of them.  She should be up there in lights with Davis and Crawford.  She is best known to contemporary viewers as the sister of Paul Muni's Tony Comonte in the original Scarface and you might also know her as the leading lady in John Wayne's Flame Of The Barbary Coast from 1945.  She made tons of other films, many pre-codes,  especially in the early to mid 1930's.



  Lee Tracy was also a big draw in the 1930's usually playing a wisecracking reporter in a lot of Warner and RKO vehicles.  His career tanked when he went on a drunken binge while he was filming Viva Villa! with Wallace Beery.  He was staying in an apartment in Mexico during the filming of that film and a parade celebrating the Mexican Revolution was passing below in the street when he allegedly pissed on the cadets marching in the parade below.  He was fired and his part was recast.  Here Tracy agains plays the wisecracking reporter.

Anyway, in this movie, Molly Louvain is a pretty girl from the wrong side of the tracks who is trying to live a respectable life.  She finds love with a nice guy named Jimmy but he suddenly flees town when she begins to pressure him into marriage after she becomes pregnant.  She then takes up with two-bit hood, Nicky (Leslie Fenton) who has the hots for her. She puts her baby into a foster home and they go on a crime spree while traveling across the country.  Actually she doesn't commit the crimes per se, she merely drives while Nicky commits the crimes.  Things get hairy when Nicky pulls a job in Chicago and a cop is wounded and dies.  In this case, Molly is completely innocent but she is seen with Nicky and she has to go into hiding, dying her hair platinum blonde.  She finds an apartment and she becomes chummy with neighbor  Scotty Cornwell  (Tracy) who is trying to find Molly.  They quickly fall in love and you can imagine the chaos that ensues.

This film is really a lot of fun and the cast is great.  Guy Kibbee and once again, Charles Middleton, provide excellent support.  Apparently Leslie Fenton really did have the hots for Ann Dvorak and they married shortly after this film was made.  The union lasted until 1946.  Michael Curtiz once again provides excellent direction and keeps the motion picture moving at a breakneck pace and the movie clocks in at just 73 minutes.  Before you know it the movie is over and  you want more.

While it is not a classic, it is highly recommended and you will not be bored.  If my parameter for classic movies starts at 4 stars, then I have to give this 3.99.  I can't do that as I don't want to get into minutiae when reviewing films so I'm giving it 3.75 stars out of 5 stars.

It is available in the Warner Archive.

[21st Century Man]

Now for a couple of silent films.  Both featuring manipulative women who can reduce any man to putty.

   First up is Cecil B. DeMille's adaptation of Bizet's Carmen from 1915.  This was DeMille's 18th feature film and he had only started in 1914 with The Squaw Man.  The print I saw was pristine and beautifully tinted and the score was a new recording of the original score that was provided live by an orchestra when the film was originally released.  Obviously, most of the music comes from the Bizet opera.  The story is condensed to 75 minutes which is just about right.   

  For those who don't know the plot, Carmen involves a lusty gypsy woman (Geraldine Farrar) who seduces a young Spanish officer(Wallace Reid) in order to get smuggled goods into a town.  She then leaves him for a bullfighter (Pedro de Cordoba) in Seville.  The disgraced officer follows her and justice is served.

While DeMille still hasn't mastered the really wide panoramic shots that characterize his epic works, he is remarkably capable with large crowds of actors in several scenes.  He hired Farrar to play Carmen because she was well-known playing the character in Bizet's opera.  Obviously her voice is not heard here and I have to say that she is a bit too plump for my taste.  However, she proves herself quite capable in the role and manages the seductive qualities of the character quite well.  The movie was quite a success and DeMille would use Farrar in 5 more roles most notably Joan the Woman, an adaptation of the Joan of Arc story.  Other than that film, DeMille kept himself mostly to contemporary comedies and dramas over the next 5 years.


Wallace Reid does an outstanding job as Don Jose, the officer.  He was a very handsome man and was only just starting out in features.  He was paramount to Paramount Pictures early success. If it wasn't for DeMille and Reid, the company might have failed. His tale would end in tragedy in 1923 when his health failed and he died at the age of 31 after 3 and a half years of morphine addiction.

An interesting addition to the DVD that I watched were actual vocal performances of Farrar in the Bizet opera from 1914-1915.  She had a beautiful soprano voice but after she turned 40 in the early 20's, her voice faded.  She would live until 1967.  Also of note, in the film is Jeanie McPherson as a gypsy.  She is notable as DeMille's script collaborator from the teens until the 30's and also served as one of his mistresses.

DeMille would make much better films but this is an interesting early effort and not without its merits.  I'll give it a solid 3.5 stars.

[21st Century Man]

The second silent film is one by no less than D. W. Griffith.  Not Intolerance, Birth of a Nation or Orphans of the Storm.   I'm writing about his penultimate silent film that few have probably ever heard about.  The Battle Of The Sexes (1928) with Jean Hersholt and Phyllis Haver.  A contemporary film, this story involves a gold digger (Haver) who has her sights set on wealthy family man and loyal husband (Hersholt).

       She spots Hersholt one day when he is getting his hair cut and recognizes him from a newspaper article.  She attempts to flirt with him but he is not interested and goes on his merry way.  This doesn't stop her.  She moves into the apartment across from his and starts her seduction after she spots a mouse in her room and calls for help. He is conveniently just passing by the room and hears her and rescues her.  Yes the story is more than a bit contrived and coincidences happen all too often.  It helps if you can suspend your belief while watching the film.

    Anyway, she succeeds getting her talons into Hersholt and the affair begins.  It must be said that she has no interest whatsoever in becoming a trophy wife.  She only wants to use him and spit him out after an indeterminate amount of time.  She has a boy-toy friend (Don Alvarado) who runs a jazz club that she prefers.  Anyway, Hersholt leaves his wife and kids and his wife is almost driven to suicide, saved from falling down onto the street below by her  teenage daughter who rescues her at the last second.  This scene is wonderfully directed and really captures the tension of the moment.  Karl Struss provides excellent camera work throughout the film.

   Continuing the story line, the daughter proceeds to catch the attention of Haver's boyfriend and they are caught in a somewhat compromising position.  You'll have to watch it to find out the resolution.  There is humor scattered throughout the film so it is by no means a dour affair.   Watch Hersholt's attempts to get himself into better shape with a reducing machine.  LOL. Despite the contrived story-line, I enjoyed this film immensely and it is is not dated at all.  Gold diggers have never gone out of fashion and there is just the right amount of naughtiness in the proceedings.  I found Sally O'Neil as the daughter attractive and Belle Bennett was outstanding as the beleaguered wife.

     Haver, notable for playing Roxie Hart in 1927's DeMille production of Chicago, retired from films in 1930 after marrying a real millionaire. The union would not last and Haver came to a sad end. From this viewer's standpoint, she appears to have been well-cast.  She was excellent playing coy and seductive.   The film did not do well at the box-office but I think time has been kind to it.   If all you have seen of Griffith are his earlier epics, please catch this and you might enjoy yourself.  Also of note to this film, William Cameron Menzies provided excellent set design.  I'm going to give it 4 stars as I think there are a couple of classic elements to it.  The Image DVD I viewed clocked in at 88 minutes.

[akwilly]

The second silent film is one by no less than D. W. Griffith.  Not Intolerance, Birth of a Nation or Orphans of the Storm.   I'm writing about his penultimate silent film that few have probably ever heard about.  The Battle Of The Sexes (1928) with Jean Hersholt and Phyllis Haver.  A contemporary film, this story involves a gold digger (Haver) who has her sights set on wealthy family man and loyal husband (Hersholt).

       She spots Hersholt one day when he is getting his hair cut and recognizes him from a newspaper article.  She attempts to flirt with him but he is not interested and goes on his merry way.  This doesn't stop her.  She moves into the apartment across from his and starts her seduction after she spots a mouse in her room and calls for help. He is conveniently just passing by the room and hears her and rescues her.  Yes the story is more than a bit contrived and coincidences happen all too often.  It helps if you can suspend your belief while watching the film.

    Anyway, she succeeds getting her talons into Hersholt and the affair begins.  It must be said that she has no interest whatsoever in becoming a trophy wife.  She only wants to use him and spit him out after an indeterminate amount of time.  She has a boy-toy friend (Don Alvarado) who runs a jazz club that she prefers.  Anyway, Hersholt leaves his wife and kids and his wife is almost driven to suicide, saved from falling down onto the street below by her  teenage daughter who rescues her at the last second.  This scene is wonderfully directed and really captures the tension of the moment.  Karl Struss provides excellent camera work throughout the film.

   Continuing the story line, the daughter proceeds to catch the attention of Haver's boyfriend and they are caught in a somewhat compromising position.  You'll have to watch it to find out the resolution.  There is humor scattered throughout the film so it is by no means a dour affair.   Watch Hersholt's attempts to get himself into better shape with a reducing machine.  LOL. Despite the contrived story-line, I enjoyed this film immensely and it is is not dated at all.  Gold diggers have never gone out of fashion and there is just the right amount of naughtiness in the proceedings.  I found Sally O'Neil as the daughter attractive and Belle Bennett was outstanding as the beleaguered wife.

     Haver, notable for playing Roxie Hart in 1927's DeMille production of Chicago, retired from films in 1930 after marrying a real millionaire. The union would not last and Haver came to a sad end. From this viewer's standpoint, she appears to have been well-cast.  She was excellent playing coy and seductive.   The film did not do well at the box-office but I think time has been kind to it.   If all you have seen of Griffith are his earlier epics, please catch this and you might enjoy yourself.  Also of note to this film, William Cameron Menzies provided excellent set design.  I'm going to give it 4 stars as I think there are a couple of classic elements to it.  The Image DVD I viewed clocked in at 88 minutes.

damn 21 you are pretty damn good at these reviews. Even though these are movies I doubt I'll ever see I sure enjoy the reviews.

[21st Century Man]

Tango of Perversion (1974) -  A Greek variation on the Italian giallo with soft-core elements.   A drug dealer gets tired of his girlfriend who is hooked on the heroin he provides and he dumps her.  Needing a fix, the girl responds to a lesbian chick at a dance club and goes to this geeky guy's place to have sex with the girl. 

What they don't know is the geeky guy has a film camera behind a two-way mirror that he installed in his bedroom.  Geeky guy is impotent but likes to film couples having sex.  Anyway, he films them and then the drug dealer comes in and catches them in the act. Girl friend runs away and guy slaps and punches the lesbian around. He accidentally kills the lesbian chick when she bangs her head against the corner of a desk after he punched her. Drug dealer leaves and geek checks out the naked body becoming turned on.  The rest is left to the viewer's imagination.  He then disposes of the body in a stolen car that is pushed off a cliff.

  Drug dealer makes some side money as a gigolo and he takes his customer to geeks apartment and they have sex. Geek films them too.  In the morning, he leaves and the lady decides to take a bath.  Geek loves looking at the girl and walks in and then drowns her in the bathtub. He then does his perv thing with the body and disposes of it in the same manner as the earlier girl.

While all of this is going on, the geek has been nice to the drug-dealer's girlfriend, providing her a fix every now and then.  She is driven away by the boyfriend and crashes at the geek guys pad.  Geek is in love with her but feels he cannot consummate with her unless he kills her. He grabs a butcher knife and enters the room.  The unthinkable then happens.  Not seeing the knife, the girl tells him she wants to reward him for being so kind to her. This catches him off-guard and he doesn't know what to do.  He tells her that he is impotent but she says she can fix that.  So he slides the knife under the bed as he lays down on the bed and she indeed fixes him.  They not only have sex but they fall in love.

  They spend much time together over the following weeks, but the drug dealer finds out and wants the girl back.  She doesn't want to go but he acts all tough and says he will kill the geek if she doesn't leave him. She leaves and the geek is beside himself.  He tries to get the girl back but she says she will not come back even if she wants too.  Drug-dealer decides he can manipulate the geek and meets up with him and says he is not interested in his girlfriend anymore.  He tells geek that if he really wants her back then write a note threatening suicide and deliver it to the girl.  He does so and he goes back home waiting for her.  Drug dealer comes in and chloroforms geek and slashes geek's wrists with a razor.  The police find out and search the residence, finding the films.  Drug dealer is busted for the murder of the lesbian and that is that.

Typical 70's grindhouse shlock though the geek and girl falling in love threw me for a loop.  I love the fact that the geek is portrayed as an outcast yet everybody goes to his pad to have sex. Awful 70's fashions prevail though there are a few mini-skirts around.  A couple of the girls were nice to look at but nothing special. As you can tell by the way I wrote about the film, I didn't particularly care for it but it was so bizarre that I had to write something.  I imagine Quentin Tarantino loves it.  Available from Mondo Macabro.  Yeah, I gave the whole thing away but no one here is really going to watch this dreck. 2 out of 5 stars.

[21st Century Man]

damn 21 you are pretty damn good at these reviews. Even though these are movies I doubt I'll ever see I sure enjoy the reviews.

LOL.  Thanks man. Many aren't particularly easy to find either.  You won't find many on Netflix.  A good many can be found on the Warner Archive though.   I would have loved to have been a film archivist and worked on restoration.  I like to think of myself as a librarian of a sort.

[Rix Gins]

damn 21 you are pretty damn good at these reviews. Even though these are movies I doubt I'll ever see I sure enjoy the reviews.

In case you missed it, here is a review from a couple pages back.  http://bellgab.com/index.php/topic,615.msg769543.html#msg769543 Like so many of 21'st's reviews, this one was absolutely superlative.

[akwilly]

In case you missed it, here is a review from a couple pages back.  http://bellgab.com/index.php/topic,615.msg769543.html#msg769543 Like so many of 21'st's reviews, this one was absolutely superlative.

I agree it is one of his best reviews but I feel he left out an important detail. The movie was filmed on a camera that had not been used in many many years. It was an ultra panavision or something like that. This camera allows the film maker to show the audience wider vistas and such. It was an odd choice looking back though since the bulk of the movie was indoors. I felt it was basically reservoir dogs shot in the old west

[21st Century Man]

I agree it is one of his best reviews but I feel he left out an important detail. The movie was filmed on a camera that had not been used in many many years. It was an ultra panavision or something like that. This camera allows the film maker to show the audience wider vistas and such. It was an odd choice looking back though since the bulk of the movie was indoors. I felt it was basically reservoir dogs shot in the old west

I can't remember everything when I write a review.  LOL.  Yes it was an Ultra Panavision lense that was last used apparently on 1959's Ben Hur and it was an odd choice for a mostly indoor film.

[21st Century Man]

    Downstairs (1932)  is a pre-code tale about a newly hired chauffeur (John Gilbert) who tries to steal the heart and body of the head butler's (Paul Lukas) new bride (Virginia Bruce) in a European upper-class household.  Silent star in one of his few sound pictures, John Gilbert, plays a totally immoral cad in this tale.  He makes no bones that he wants to bed her while the husband is oblivious to the proceedings. While he is working on this, he successfully wins the affections of a plump older female cook.  It is pretty clear that they are sleeping together.   This was weird because she was the spitting image of Mrs. Patmore on Downton Abbey. Not exactly the sort that would be an object of lust. Of course, it is all about money to Gilbert. As a matter of fact the whole movie reminded me of Downton Abbey with most of the focus on the servants this time around though the Baron (Reginald Owen)and Baroness(Olga Baclanova of Freaks fame) of the estate aren't ignored.

  The Mrs. is sleeping around too.  Gilbert chauffeurs her to a rendezvous with a lover and he waits around while they are banging each other.  Lukas eventually finds out that Gilbert wants his wife and to put it mildly, he gets very, very pissed.  Gilbert had just had his way with the bride with Bruce telling her husband, " 'there's a kind of way of making love that drives you wild and crazy...' "  LOL    He fires Gilbert but Gilbert goes to Baclanova and threatens blackmail.  He is rehired but Lukas gets the final word. I won't give away the ending.  Hedda Hopper appears as one of Gilbert's previous conquests.  Lots of pre-code material here with excellent acting by all involved as well as great direction by Monta Bell.  Gilbert wrote the story and he married Virginia Bruce after making the film.  Lukas really reminds me of Bela Lugosi with his voice though the former is much more attractive.  4 out of 5 stars.  Available from the Warner Archive on the Forbidden Hollywood, Vol. 6 set.

[21st Century Man]

    I'll touch on Mandalay(1934) briefly with Kay Francis, Ricardo Cortez, Lyle Talbot and Warner Oland.  Francis plays Russian girlfriend, Tanya, to boyfriend/smuggler, Tony (Cortez) and they are initially shown as living in sin on his boat.   Tony makes a deal with Nick (Oland), a Burmese nightclub owner, to smuggle some guns.  Tony then abandons Tanya in Rangoon where she becomes a courtesan in Nick's nightclub.
     Desperate to leave Nick, she leaves Rangoon on a ship to Mandalay.  There she encounters an alcoholic doctor (Talbot) and they become involved, both wanting to escape their past.  Tony catches up with the pair and wants Tanya back so they can open a brothel in Mandalay.  Needless to say, this devastates Tanya and she is forced to take some drastic measures.
     Kay Francis is absolutely ravishing in this film and I literally couldn't take my eyes off her.  There were some beautiful gowns that adorned her. Oland and Cortez are at their slimy best.  Michael Curtiz keeps the story moving with his adept direction.  Not quite as good as Downstairs which is on the same Forbidden Hollywood set but still great fun. 3.75 stars.

[Rix Gins]

Cool review 21st, thanks.  So what did you think of Gilbert's voice?  Was it a bit on the weak side?  I read somewhere that when he went from silents to talkies, that his voice didn't translate well and he couldn't get acting work.  Just wondering if you noticed it in this particular movie.

[21st Century Man]

Cool review 21st, thanks.  So what did you think of Gilbert's voice?  Was it a bit on the weak side?  I read somewhere that when he went from silents to talkies, that his voice didn't translate well and he couldn't get acting work.  Just wondering if you noticed it in this particular movie.

His voice was fine.  It was mid-range not squeaky or high as some alleged.  I'm sure it was a bit of a disappointment to the ladies as they probably thought it would be a bit deeper but  it was nothing career-shattering.  Blame Louis B. Mayer for that.  I'm sure with adequate promotion, Downstairs would have saved Gilbert's career but it was not meant to be.

[21st Century Man]

It is true that Gilbert's first sound film was a disaster for him but it was not because of his voice, it was the absurd dialogue that he was forced to utter. I would have walked off the set.

[analog kid]

Midnight Special

Serious turkey. Pointless, inconsistent, bad writing, massive plot holes. It's made by the guy who did Take Shelter and Mud, so I had hopes for it, but damn, is it stupid.

[UnscreenedCaller]

Beware of Mr. Baker

MV recc'ed this on another thread. It was well worth a watch, a gem of a documentary about Ginger Baker, that leaves you with the impression he's both a madman and musical genius as well as someone who could be a pretty crap human being to his own kids, but the overwhelming impression is the depth of musical genius in him, the way he's grasped African beats and brought them to jazz and rock and the way "time" is everything to him in other musicians. He's a musician for the ages, and kudos to the guy who was able to get so close to him to do this, even though he got hit in the nose at the end. 

[Brody]

"Vacation" was a delightful "R" rated comedy. It was raunchy but had some funny moments, gross out humor, nudity, etc. I can appreciate a movie that dares to make pedophile jokes in this day and age.

"Jurassic World" was a turn your brain off popcorn affair. It entertained me, but I had to ignore logic holes. 

[21st Century Man]

Massacre (1934) with Richard Barthelmess, Ann Dvorak,  Dudley Digges, Claire Dodd and Sidney Toler.  Interesting tale of a rodeo circuit rider (Barthelmess) , a Sioux Indian, who gets embroiled in reservation politics when he goes home to his dying father. Initially when Joe Thundercloud is riding the circuit, he cares nothing for the reservation.  He is involved with a high class society gal (Dodd) in West Palm Beach.  LOL, the rodeo playing in West Palm Beach!!!  LOL.  Times have sure changed.  Anyway, he is very much a modern playboy type not what you would expect from a full-blooded Sioux.

Anyway, he goes home along with his black chaffeur and he gets the first inkling that something is very wrong when he sees the squalid poverty that his people live in.  He also discovers that his father was never given any medical treatment by the reservation doctor, a louse of a man who is in collusion with the indian agent (Digges), the Sheriff (Charles Middleton) and the mortician/undertaker (Toler), stealing money from the  Sioux.  He also runs into a very beautiful Indian maiden (Dvorak) who is also outraged at the way her people are being treated.  Things take a turn for the worse when Joe's  father dies  and Toler comes to collect the body to make it ready for the funeral.  Joe and the Sioux reject calls for for a Christian funeral and  prepare for a traditional Sioux burial. While the mourners have gathered at the shack, Toler grabs Joe's 16 year old sister and rapes her offscreen.  Joe finds out and he chases down Toler, lassos him from his car and drags Toler about a mile before releasing him.  Toler dies as a result afterwards. Well the Indian Agent is pissed off and wants Joe strung up after he is brought in by the sheriff.  Dvorak helps Joe escape and he becomes a fugitive travelling to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington DC and meeting the Secretary who happens to be a good friend.  The rest is for you to decide.

   This is an excellent movie.  The only drawbacks are the casting of Dvorak and Barthelmess who look nothing like Indians but if you can get past that, you will have a good time.  The rest of the Indians in the film are indeed native Americans and it does appear that some of the film was actually shot on a real reservation.  For those of you that think Hollywood only produced racist stereotypes and that they went along with the only good Indian s a dead Indian saying then you might be in for a surprise.  There were also several silent movies that Hollywood produced showing the Indian as an equal maybe even a superior to the White Man.  Off The top of my head, I would recommend the 1925 adaptation of the Zane Grey Novel,  The Vanishing American with Richard Dix and Noah Beery.  The Massacre is ably directly by Alan Crosland who realistically depicts the poverty of reservation life. 4 out of 5 stars.  Available on Forbidden Hollywood 6 at the Warner Archive.

[Gruntled]

21st Century Man thank you.
Just discovered this thread and your postings.
You are an excellent reviewer.
You make me want to see many of the movies you've covered.

[Camazotz Automat]

The Lady in the Van (2015)   -  Highly Recommended

Bridge of Spies (2015)  -  Highly Recommended

Youth (2015)  -  Highly Recommended

Predestination (2014)  -  Highly Recommended


Victor Frankenstein (2015)  -  Cannot Recommend

Midnight Special

Serious turkey. Pointless, inconsistent, bad writing, massive plot holes. It's made by the guy who did Take Shelter and Mud, so I had hopes for it, but damn, is it stupid.

Mud was excellent. 

[analog kid]

Mud was excellent.

Yeah, really enjoyed that one.

Just watched The Confirmation (2016) and it's great too.

[Camazotz Automat]

In the Heart of the Sea (2015) - Cannot recommend

The X-Files : Season 2 (1994 - 1995) - Highly recommended


Your results may vary.

[coaster]

In the Heart of the Sea (2015) - Cannot recommend

The X-Files : Season 2 (1994 - 1995) - Highly recommended


Your results may vary.

I enjoyed In The Heart Of The Sea actually. Though I'm partial to the whole storm/maritime disaster genre. I'd recommend The Perfect Storm as well. Diane Lane. Yum..And X-Files. Well. Obviously.
The last movie I watched was a movie called The Good Lie, and it was only because there was nothing else I could find. Reese Witherspoon plays Reese Witherspoon, a worthless human and an employee at a temp service who tries to find some Sudanese "Lost Boys" a job, and in the end, she finds a heart. Such a tear jerker...yawn. I will say however, that the first half hour of the movie where the Africans try to escape the conflict as children was quite moving. Reminiscent of the whole African genre. The Hotel Rwanda/Beasts Of No Nation vibe. It was just ruined with Witherspoon.
She needs a new agent. Shes actually been good in a few movies. Wild comes to mind. As does The Man In The Moon, though that movie was before her enormous ego took over.

[Camazotz Automat]

I enjoyed In The Heart Of The Sea actually. Though I'm partial to the whole storm/maritime disaster genre. I'd recommend The Perfect Storm as well. Diane Lane. Yum..And X-Files. Well. Obviously.

I liked the look of ITHOTS and attention to detail.  My problem was with Thor, but that can be a highly subjective aspect.

Speaking of such films, I really really REALLY liked Redford in All Is Lost (2013).

I was absolutely sucked in, but some of my acquaintances found it pretty damned boring. 

[coaster]

Speaking of such films, I really really REALLY liked Redford in All Is Lost (2013).

Now would you consider that a "bottle movie"? I think thats why some people find movies like that boring. I liked the movie, but had some issues with it. Why would someone, who I assume is a seasoned sailor, make such bad decisions? Some of the things he did made me scratch my head. Robert Redford can really do no wrong though. His movies remain some of my favorites.
Have you ever seen Kon-Tiki? I loved both the newer version and the original documentary.
edit-Not sure if this one was mentioned, but watch The Finest Hours.if you're into that genre. I keep mistaking The Finest Hours with Heart of the Sea. I think I watched them back to back, so ya know. Brain gets scrambled.

[Camazotz Automat]

This is exactly how I envision Linda Moulton Howe as appearing when she's giving a report on abducted cattle and curious cryptids.

Hubba hubba

[ItsOver]

In the Heart of the Sea (2015) - Cannot recommend

The X-Files : Season 2 (1994 - 1995) - Highly recommended


Your results may vary.

Thanks for the reminder, Cam.  I DVR'd The Files so I think I'll enjoy a few episodes again this weekend instead of being tortured by Noory's Super Suck Sunday.  "Knapp, why dost thou forsake us!"

[Camazotz Automat]

Now would you consider that a "bottle movie"? I think thats why some people find movies like that boring. I liked the movie, but had some issues with it. Why would someone, who I assume is a seasoned sailor, make such bad decisions? Some of the things he did made me scratch my head. Robert Redford can really do no wrong though. His movies remain some of my favorites.
Have you ever seen Kon-Tiki? I loved both the newer version and the original documentary.
edit-Not sure if this one was mentioned, but watch The Finest Hours.if you're into that genre. I keep mistaking The Finest Hours with Heart of the Sea. I think I watched them back to back, so ya know. Brain gets scrambled.

Hmmm... "bottle movie."  I have to think about that. 

Have not seen either Kon-Tikis, but on the list they will go, along with The Finest Hours.  I have not been into the genre per se, but increasingly find it mesmerizing.

It's all that early Gilligan's Island opening credits imprinting, coming to the surface at last.

Thanks for the reminder, Cam.  I DVR'd The Files so I think I'll enjoy a few episodes again this weekend instead of being tortured by Noory's Super Suck Sunday.  "Knapp, why dost thou forsake us!"

Heh heh.  Being able to hear a new show with Knapp only once a month is rough.