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Title: Some Recent Viewings Post by: ulthar on October 26, 2010, 07:11:41 PM Haven't posted some movies in a while, but here are some from the last week or so. Posting here even though some of these are "B" movies (and 'classics'):
FRANKENSTEIN (1931) My children had never seen this one, so we watched it over the weekend. I need to get them 'caught up' on what I consider the other 'staples' from the era - THE MUMMY, THE WOLFMAN and DRACULA. I watched these with my Dad at a rather young age, and along with his basic interest in photography, got me interested in how movies are made...the fx and camera work in particular. MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932) / THE BLACK CAT (1934) / (1935) These came on a single DVD from Netflix. The little ones loved these stories. While Bella is always fun to watch, I was particularly struck with the Karloff performances. He remains one of my all-time favorites. ROVING MARS (2006) Really cool documentary about, uh, the Mars Rovers. DVD from Netflix included a 1957 Disney show about 'the future' of Mars exploration, and this was worth the rental alone...some INSANE ideas about Mars from the 1950's. Too bad none of the speculations have so far turned out to not be true (or not too bad...plants that spit poison?? whoa). BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA (2007) A really good story with this one, I thought; captured well the way children will use imagination to 'cope.' But man, how sad! Why does what is overall an uplifting story have to have such a deep low? TEMPLE GRANDIN (2010) Made for TV (HBO, I think) movie about the title character...a lady with autism who made some rather cool accomplishments in her life. Among them was the realization that cows would probably be extinct if we did not farm them for food, so we owe it to them to treat their lives with respect, and make their days on earth as humane as possible. So, she went about redesigning stockyards and slaughter houses to be both more human and more efficient (read profitable). She's now a professor at Colorado State; this is a pretty cool story and worth a look when in the mood for something out of the 'just mindless entertainment' mode. THE WHOLE NINE YARDS (2000) Yes, that one. This is one of my guilty pleasures that I do watch when it's on. To me, it's just one of those mindlessly fun movies that requires little or nothing from me, so I like it. HELEN OF TROY (2005) Utterly fascinating documentary by British historian Bettany Hughes with incredible detail and rather interesting story-telling. A must-see for documentary hounds with any interest at all in ancient history. There may be a few more I've missed, but that's certainly the high spots. |