What was the last movie you saw?

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Tornado
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Tornado »

For those of you who have never seen it, or possibly not even heard of it, I have recently rediscovered a wonderful movie called Starman. I saw it years ago, and for those of you who like sci-fi and romance I would recommend it. It stars Jeff Bridges (who is AMAZING in it!) and Karen Allen, and tells the story of a stranded alien who takes the form of a dead man and enlists the help of the man's widow to get home. It's sort of like E.T. with a human-looking alien and romance. It's a good one to watch.
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Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

Tonight I watched Murder by Death. It was directed by Robert Moore, but the real creative hand in it was Neil Simon, who wrote the screenplay. Eccentric millionaire Lionel Twain (Truman Capote) invites five famous detectives to his mansion for "dinner and a murder." The five are all caricatures of famous fictional sleuths:

____* Charleston (David Niven)--based on Nick Charles from the "Thin Man" series--with wife Dora (Maggie Smith) and pet terrier in tow.

Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers)--based on Charlie Chan--accompanied by "adopted number three son" Willie (who is Japanese!)

Milo Perrier (James Coco)--Hercule Poirot--with his chauffeur (James Cromwell).

Miss Jessica Marbles (Elsa Lanchester)--Miss Jane Marple--with her nurse (the nurse turns out to be the one in the wheelchair).

Sam Diamond (Peter Falk)--Sam Spade, but more generally a lot of Bogart-in-a-trenchcoat characters--with his "secretary and mistress," Tess Skeffington (Eileen Brennan).

Also around the house are the blind butler, Bensonmum (Alec Guinness) and the deaf-mute cook/maid, Yetta (Nancy Walker).

This is a fun movie, especially if you're a fan of old mystery movies or of classic mystery novels a la Agatha Christie or Dashiell Hammett. The cast is very good--honors go to Falk, Sellers and Guinness, but the others aren't far behind. The storyline fizzles out in the last half hour, but overall it's a pretty satisfying movie to watch. I've loved it for years.

*His first name, which rhymes with "Nick" and starts with "D," doesn't go through the language filter. :x
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
Tornado
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Tornado »

Yes, that's a great movie!
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Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

I ended up watching a parody for the second night in a row tonight, but Robin Hood: Men in Tights is not one of Mel Brooks' best films. Released pretty close on the heels of Kevin Costner's Robin Hood, it contains plenty of allusions to that film, but also quite a few nods to Errol Flynn's classic take on the role. There are some funny moments along the way, but far too few for this sort of movie. Cary Elwes was a good choice to carry the bow of the great outlaw-archer (plus, unlike other Robin Hoods, he has an authentic English accent), and he gets some good support from Dave Chappelle as he tries to defeat the evil schemes of Prince John (Richard Lewis) and the grammar-mangling Sheriff of Rottingham (Roger Rees).
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

The Dirty Dozen is hardly subtle, but it's a well-executed, slam-bang war movie. As D-Day in 1944 approaches, Major Reisman (Lee Marvin) is selected to take charge of an unusual mission--take command of a dozen men sentenced to death or long prison sentences by military court, and lead them on a mission behind enemy lines on the night before the invasion to assault a French chateau where dozens of German officers are enjoying R&R. Any of the "dirty dozen" who survive will have their records cleared. Marvin makes an effective lead, and director Robert Aldrich gives us a spectacular action sequence for the film's climax. On the downside, there's not much character development; of the "dozen" we only really get to know ex-officer Wladislaw (Charles Bronson) and troublemaker Franko (John Cassavetes), although Telly Savalas as the psychopath Maggott makes quite an impression in just a couple of scenes. Also along for the mission, among others, are ex-NFL star Jim Brown, Donald Sutherland and Trini Lopez.
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

Tonight I watched the third of the Dirty Harry series, titled The Enforcer. In this rather routine outing, Harry (Clint Eastwood, but you knew that already) opens the film by performing some of his usual "cowboy cop" heroics to resolve a hostage situation, but naturally, his superiors call him on the carpet for his unorthodox tactics. But when the mayor of San Francisco is taken hostage by a group of self-styled revolutionaries, the city finds they need Harry Callahan more than ever. Harry, however, has another challenge--dealing with his new partner, just-promoted Inspector Kate Moore (Tyne Daly). Of all the Dirty Harry films, this one may be the most cliche-riddled. Eastwood, however, remains an effective action lead, and Daly does a decent job despite the leaden dialogue the script saddles her with (I have to think that her performance here led to her big TV gig in Cagney & Lacey).
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

Tonight I watched a lightweight but likable film called Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. When the Caliph of Baghdad is murdered by Mongols, his young son Ali takes refuge in the hideout of the thieves of the title, who are indeed 40 in number. When he's grown to manhood, Ali Baba (Jon Hall), as he's now known, must rescue his childhood sweetheart Amara (Maria Montez) from a forced marriage to the Mongol leader Hulagu Khan (Kurt Katch). Amara's faithful servant Jamiel (Turhan Bey) may be of some help, but her treacherous father Cassim (Frank Puglia) probably wont.

This was one of a series of six "Easterns" that Universal released in the early 1940s. All starred Hall and Montez; frequently around as assistant heroes were Turhan Bey and/or Sabu (who sat this one out). All took place in vaguely Middle Eastern settings (of the sort to be found on Universal's backlot). All of them were pretty clunky and cheesy, but all of them are fun to watch.
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

My movie tonight was a very good British comedy called Two-Way Stretch. Dodger Lane (Peter Sellers) and his cellmates in Huntleigh Prison have a plan for a daring jewel heist, with the help of their outside confederate Soapy Stevens (Wilfrid Hyde-White). The best part of the plan--they'll have the perfect alibi since official records will show they were in prison when the robbery took place. But in order to get out undetected, they'll have to outwit the new chief guard, Crout (Lionel Jeffries). This one was a bit slow to get going but very funny once it got some momentum. I'd definitely recommend it.
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
pyrosis
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by pyrosis »

I just watched " we are the night". A German vampire movie. The first German vampire movie I ever heard of. The story is fairly known and shown a hundret times. There is a coven and a new girl joins. She gets turned without even knowing what's happening to her but adjusts quite quickly. Or so it seems. I won't give away to much, because someone might want to watch it. Although the story, or similar stories have been told over and over again, I think it is well done. It takes place in Berlin and the city is pretty well portraied. But it still doesn't have the "Hollywood" feel to it.It still is like an Indie move, which I guess is the status German movies have in the "international movie scene". Also the special effects are surprisingly good for that kind of movie. A bit funny is that it has no subtitles but is dubbed in English by the original actors, so you have different degrees of German accents. And it is even more funny since I am German and I watched a German movie dubbed in English. :blink:
You know, Edward, as a brother you are sometimes a dissappointment

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Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

pyrosis wrote:I just watched " we are the night". A German vampire movie.
That one sounds interesting; I've put it in my Netflix queue.

For tonight, I popped Moonraker into the DVD player. The middle film in Roger Moore's 7-film run as James Bond is neither his best nor his worst. When a space shuttle is hijacked, Bond's investigation leads him to a nefarious plot hatched by industrialist Hugo Drax (Michel Lonsdale); teaming up with Bond is CIA agent Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles), who is a PhD and a qualified astronaut. The plot is a tired rehash of earlier films in the series, but livened up by some trips to Venice and Rio and by some good action and special effects. Moore gives a routine performance, but Lonsdale's low-key villain is a nice change from the over-the-top performances that we get from so many Bond villains, while Chiles makes a pretty good Bond Girl, especially in the first hour when she repeatedly gives 007 the Frigidaire treatment.
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
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