Recent viewings

[joejoeherron]

I just watched The Men Who Stare at Goats, and I just could not get into the movie. I'm probably in the minority here

[lester1/2jr]

The Whole Shootin' Match (1979) If you like stuff like Payday  definately check this out.  It's somewhere between hicksploitation and Cassevetes. It has an earthy sort of acoustic n fiddle country soundtrack (that sounds like it's been heavily remixed if not re recorded entirely, I don't know. sounds good though)  in black and white, has a tiny budget and alot of dialogue. I liked it quite a bit but I admit it is mainly of interest to people who are into obscure movies. The title is as you may have guessed a metaphor there is no actual shooting match.  

                                 Two redneck guys are always trying to come up with get rich quick schemes. Raising flying squirrels, chinchillas all sorts of nonsense and none of them ever pan out. They mainly do odd jobs and blow the money drinking and chasing girls. The one guy is always working on weird inventions while the other is busy being self absorbed and taking his family for granted. He's an obnoxious good ol boy but not as bad as alot of them and it makes for interesting tension: you hate him but you kind of like him or at least feel bad for him.  It's an unforgettable character and this is the strongest part of the movie along with just the whole story itself of these guys and their lives.   The depression is generally kept in check with humor. Nowadays they'd probably go find two guys like this and make a boring documentary.

      I had to have subtitles on, I'm from Massachusetts give me a break. If you can handle some rough edges and the idea of an very independently made slice of southern life with drinkin and cheatin appeals to you check it out.

4/5

[Rev. Powell]

I just watched The Men Who Stare at Goats, and I just could not get into the movie. I'm probably in the minority here

Not necessarily, I thought it was pretty "meh" myself.  Not bad exactly, but it definitely didn't work as well as it should have with that cast and concept.

[Jim H]

Just saw City Lights (1931).  It was pretty solid.  Chaplin's humor is usually hit-or-miss with me (I like the bravura sequences, stunts, and fight type stuff, but not the more obvious bits like repeated pratfalls), but I find the pathos in his later movies quite affecting.  And Chaplin himself is always a flawless performer.

Overall, I found the film a little less coherent and funny than Modern Times (the other Chaplin semi-silent film), but still enjoyable enough.  The boxing sequence is a highlight, of course.  And the ending bittersweet romance sequence is justifiably famous, and the most satisfying ending of any of his films I've seen (just barely beating Modern Times).

8/10.

[JaseSF]

A Simple Plan (1998): Caught this on TV last night. A trio of seemingly ordinary guys stumble across a load of money [4.4 million] inside a crashed airplane. They ultimately decide to keep it despite some relutance on the part of this film's lead Hank Mitchell (Bill Paxton). It proves to be a mistake as the web of lies and deception around the money keeps growing and getting more and more out of control eventually escalating in betrayal, corrpution and worst of all - murder. This was a surprise. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. It does disturb on many levels as we see ordinary people when put to the test in extraordinary circumstances here seem to revert to their most base level with their own immediate desires and satisfactions taking precedent over everyone else's. It shows the possible darkness inside us all if we let greed and money and satiating our own desires blind us to what is wrong and what is right. This cast and direction (from Sam Raimi) are very good - I especially liked Billy Bob Thornton's somewhat sympathetic and realistic Jacob Mitchell, Hank's brother and partner in the conspiracy, Bridget Fonda as Hank's pregnant wife Sarah who is surprisingly enough a key character in this whole story, Paxton as the desperate Hank just trying to cover his a$$ and getting way more than he bargained for and stooping to levels no one would think someone like him capable. The realistic dialogue between characters  really enhances the whole experience. It does at times seem to stretch credibility however and one wonders why several characters are able to trust anybody after a certain point in the film. Sure it has a few flaws but still an interesting film worth catching IMO. **** out of *****

[lester1/2jr]

Burn After Reading (2008)-  this is one of those movies that's an obvious misfire but still enjoyable somehow.  Brad Pitt, George Clooney and this blonde lady act like characters from a 1930's goofball comedy caught in a modern political thriller and it doesn't work. It ended up looking at best like a 90's Tarantino throwback or some kind of demented acting class.  Still, with the Coen brothers even a failed experiment can be salvaged and it has an interesting story that keeps you guessing though you can't really get lost in it due to all the ostentatious goofiness. Pitt is a popular american actor.

[JaseSF]

Speaking of 1930s goofiness, caught some films starring Ginger Rogers on TCM last night.

Bachelor Mother (1939): Polly Parrish (Ginger Rogers), a clerk at Merlin & Son's Department Store, finds a baby left on a doorstep of a Foundling Home and is thereafter completely mistaken for its mother. This sets into motion a series of events that lends itself particularly well to romantic comedy. David Niven as David Merlin, the Son of Merlin & Son's Department Store, starts out trying to help Polly, the unwed mother but well Polly isn't at all pleased with the prospect of having to look after a baby that isn't actually hers. Hilarity ensues.

This was really enjoyable. It's just innocent, good-natured fun as the mix-up gets more and more confusing and surprisingly harder to explain away. Ginger is a delight in this as Polly Parrish, a quick-witted girl who isn't afraid to speak her mind even if it sometimes seems to lead to others jumping to the wrong conclusions. Ginger Rogers definitely delivers in terms of comedic performance here. David Niven is surprisingly good as the charmingly befuddled romantic lead too. I laughed out loud several times watching this. **** out of *****

Stage Door (1937): This movie focuses on a boarding house that is home to a score of struggling, aspiring actresses. The newest resident is one Terry Randall (Katherine Hepburn), whose classy upbringing comes across as somewhat snooty to the working class girls who she shares the boarding house with especially one Jean Maitland (Ginger Rogers), a girl who doesn't mind speaking her mind or getting into a ruckus or two any other girl foolish enough to think themselves better than her. Another girl named Kay Hamilton (Andrea Leeds), barely surviving despite previous success in the theater, also lives with them. Eventually the girls find themselves in competition for a valuable part from producer Anthony Powell (Adolphe Menjou) and the consequences of this struggle to reach the top has a painful, unforseen  outcome for all involved.

Hepburn and Rogers are both terrific here and the screen seems to sizzle with passion and emotion whenever they're on screen. Andrea Leeds too proves quite capable in a key role. That said, the wisecracking jokes do seem to get a bit much at times. Honestly at times, I felt like I was listening in on a bunch of women chatting and gossiping which is certainly not something I typically enjoy doing although I have to admit the wisecracking ad libs were surprisingly well done. A good movie that unfortunately sends my brain spiralling with all the constant girl background chatter at times. Still I'd give it **** out of *****.

[lester1/2jr]

I saw a movie she was in  called International House. She was the ditzy nurse. The doctor was like "nurse have you seen my stethoscope?". She goes "I'll look at it later"  

[Silverlady]

I was browsing in Walmart the other day and found and bought MYSTERIOUS ISLAND for $7.50. Couldn't find a year on it, but probably from the 1960's.  My hubby and I watched it last night.  Giant crab, giant chicken, giant bees, pirates and a submarine.  Great movie!   

[Rev. Powell]

KONTROLL (2005): A crew of borderline-incompetent subway cops ('Kontrollers') deal with abusive commuters, a rash of apparent suicides, and dense symbolism.  Shot entirely in the Budapest subway, this accomplished debut mixes elements of comedy, romance, thrillers, and obscure arthouse allegory into a narrative that, against all odds, works.   4.5/5.

[3mnkids]

KONTROLL (2005): A crew of borderline-incompetent subway cops ('Kontrollers') deal with abusive commuters, a rash of apparent suicides, and dense symbolism.  Shot entirely in the Budapest subway, this accomplished debut mixes elements of comedy, romance, thrillers, and obscure arthouse allegory into a narrative that, against all odds, works.   4.5/5.

That sounds right up my alley. Im putting it on my watch list.   

[Mr. DS]

Julie & Julia  - Yep, thats a bit of an odd entry for me you probably wouldn't expect.  The film features two tales of cooking based on real lives.  The first one of course being the reason I even took part in the film, the great Julia Child. I've always admired Julia for her attitude in the kitchen.  I follow the idea of nothing has to be fancy looking, rather just taste great.  Also, if you f*ck something up theres always another side to it.  Meryl Streep absolutely NAILS Julia in this role.  It makes me sad she did not get an Oscar for her efforts.   Especially losing to Sandra Bullock.  The film successfully tells the tale of Julia's early days in France which would later spawn her passion of cooking.  It interlaps with the tale of Julie who blogs about cranking out 500 plus recipes in a year's time.  Although Amy Adams was adorable as always, I just didn't care about Julie's story.  I found myself begging for more Julia in the film quite frankly.  Overall, a really decent feel good film.  

[Jack]

Idaho Transfer (1973) - To avoid a looming catastrophe, a group of young people travel 50 years into the future.  They end up in a rather desolate wasteland, with not much to do but hike around and act all '70ish - aloof, indifferent, daydreamy, etc.  It's rather bleak overall, but kind of suspenseful.  It kept me guessing what the heck was eventually going to happen.  The characters were interesting in an odd sort of way.  Certainly not great, but mildly intriguing.  4/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Jack- I liked Idaho transfer, what I remember most about it though was the crushing molasses like pace.  I remember writing " like OLD molasses"

The Man Who changed his mind (1936)-  This disk is put out by Shanachie which is cool. I have a couple shanachie released albums like John Fahey's amazing "fare forward voyagers " and some dancehall thing. They are into rereleasing random stuff I guess so now they are doing movies. This one stars the great Boris Karloff. I had never noticed how much he resembles frequent MSNBC contributer David Corn of the Nation and Mother Jones, so democrats may want to check this out.  

                           One thing you notice right away is how fast people seem to be talking.  I think they were just coming out of radio where you couldn't have dead space it takes a little getting used to in the begining. I was really into the lead actress. She had a british accent and short blonde hair and was a scientist. I'm not a scientist but I have always been impressed with women who do stuff, probably because I am so lazy myself. I was kind of drunk watching this too that may have had a little to do with it.  

      The plot is more dumbed down Twilight Zone than horror you'd expect from Karloff but it's got the mad scientist thing and diabolicalness so I guess it' sort of horror too. He invents a crazy looking mad scientist contraption where you can change minds with someone and every laughs at him and he will get his revenge blah blah blah. A colorful if not too original character is his sidekick guy who is crippled and as you can imagine is pretty keen on getting out of his body into a healthy one.  

    I liked this and the print is alot better than Alpha video products who would have and probably have released this in the past.  it's pretty well passable. It doesn't have a ton of atmosphere the way the more overt horror stuff from Lugosi and Karloff does but it is definately worth seeing if you get into this stuff.

[Rev. Powell]

The Man Who changed his mind (1936)-  This disk is put out by Shanachie which is cool. I have a couple shanachie released albums like John Fahey's amazing "fare forward voyagers " and some dancehall thing.

I love Shanachie records, and I didn't know they were releasing movies.  Actually I went and looked at their homepage and it looks like 90% of their releases are concert films and music documentaries, as you'd expect.  No idea why they'd release a minor Karloff film, but more power to them.