Saturday Evening Movie Thread 04/01/2023 [TheJamesMadison]

The First Quarter Century of the Best Picture Oscar

In May of 1927, in an effort to head off unionization efforts in Hollywood, MGM executive Louis B. Mayer set up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Within a year, the organization was arranging its first annual award presentation to honor the talent in front of and behind the camera. As Mayer later put it, "I found that the best way to handle them was to hang medals all over them." He also said, "If I got them cups and awards they'd kill themselves to produce what I wanted. That's why the Academy Award was created."

The first awards show (that everyone knew the results of before the actual presentation) actually had two Best Picture winners. The first, the movie that is considered to be the first of the ninety-plus Best Picture winners was Wings, a William Wellman action epic set in the battlefields of the skies during WWI from the perspective of two American flyers. This award was called, at that first ceremony, the Academy Award for Outstanding Picture. The other was awarded to Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, an F.W. Murnau film, his first American film, about a husband and wife pair who rediscover their love of each other over the course of a day long trip into the city. This award was called the Best Unique and Artistic Picture. This second award was dropped from subsequent ceremonies, leaving Wings as the official first Best Picture winner and Sunrise as something of a curiosity in the timeline of the Oscars.

From the third ceremony through the thirteenth, the award became known as the Academy Award for Outstanding Production, and it represents the changing perception of the idea of Best Picture within the Academy and the American motion picture community at large. The key is who was awarded the awards. They're given for movies as a whole, but the awards were actually accepted by representatives, namely producers, from the movie studios that produced the film (individual producers weren't listed as "winners" until 1951 when Arthur Freed won for An American in Paris). "Best Production" implies something different from "Best Motion Picture", and combine that with the fact that the award is given to producers and not writers or directors and I think you've got an interesting view into what the Academy was trying to do with these early awards.

Productions Big and...Big

Let me start by saying that there are some movies in these early years that I don't really like, but I'm not ever going to imply that they were poorly received at the time. By every indication, audiences and critics liked, if not loved, all of them contemporaneously.

That being said, it seems obvious to me that these early awards were not being given out for artistic merit. Artistic merit was certainly part of the equation (they weren't giving out awards to films they disliked), but I think it was a very small variable in the equation. The most common factor among the first nineteen Best Picture winners is that they were all big money makers. The only exception I can come up with, at least according to the numbers, is the tenth winner, The Life of Emile Zola, which doesn't seem to have any box office records existing but was considered a big financial success anecdotally. And I don't just mean that these movies made money. They are all top ten box office movies of their year. Roughly a third of them are the highest grossing movies of the year. Was this an effort for an industry awards show designed to control the egos of the personalities involved to be populist and award movies that the people at large knew and loved? I really don't think so. Any populism of these awards is accidental because the award was designed to reward producers who made a lot of money.

Another common factor is that these were generally pretty big films from a production point of view. The major early exception is It Happened Once Night which won the seventh award but was a middle-budgeted film from the minor studio Columbia. It just happened to blow up at the box office (ending third for the year). There's an interesting moment in the Clint Eastwood film Changeling where the main character is listening to the awards show on the radio, rooting for It Happened One Night against the presumed favorite, Cleopatra starring Claudette Colbert as the title character. In the history of the award, Cleopatra actually makes more sense as the winner because it was a fairly expensive and opulent affair that was well received at the time that made a boat load of money, hitting #1 at the yearly box office. It Happened One Night was just more beloved, it seems.

Out of the rest, at least through 1940 when the award still had the name Best Production, you can see that sort of ambition in physical productions rather consistently. Cimarron is, in my opinion, a terrible film (again, it was well received at the time), but it's a huge production that begins with a large land rush sequence. Broadway Melody in 1929 was the first musical and first sound picture to win the award, and it was something of a technical marvel at the time (it's also terrible). All Quiet on the Western Front was Carl Laemmle Jr.'s effort to turn Universal into a prestige film factory, and it's a huge reproduction of WWI trench warfare. Grand Hotel is one of the highest highs of the Irving Thalberg machine at MGM, bringing glamor to the screen on a wonderful scale. Mutiny on the Bounty, The Great Ziegfeld, and Rebecca are all impressive physical productions that, again, made a lot of money. There is one film that unquestionably won the award named Best Production, and that was David O. Selznick's Gone with the Wind. A massive labor of love for Selznick, and his effort to bring the lessons he'd learned as an executive at three different studios (Universal, MGM, and RKO), he poured millions of dollars into the production, tinkering with it endlessly in the long production cycle, Gone with the Wind is a massive entertainment that made just all the money.

Changing Times

It was at the fourteenth awards ceremony that they changed the name of the Best Production award to Best Motion Picture. To me, Best Production implies an award for the physical production with another implication that it made money. This was an award for producers unquestionably, risking big and winning big. There were exceptions here and there, but that was definitely what the awards implied to me most consistently. And then the award changed names, and it seems as though the thinking behind who got it changed as well.

The fourteenth awards in 1941 is most famous for How Green Was My Valley, John Ford's tale of Welsh mining town life, winning over Citizen Kane in no small part because William Randolph Hearst rightly saw himself in the title character and used his newspapers to oppose the film. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of How Green Was My Valley, but there's no denying that I am in the minority on that opinion. People have earnestly and genuinely loved it for decades. However, I do wonder if the film would have won with the old award name of Best Production. The film wasn't just against Citizen Kane, it was up against Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion, William Wyler's The Little Foxes, John Huston's The Maltese Falcon, and Howard Hawks' Sergeant York, among a few others. If I had been an Academy voter at the time and if the award was still called Best Production, I would have voted for Sergeant York or, maybe, The Little Foxes. I'd say both were more impressive physical productions. It is an interesting thought to wonder if How Green Was My Valley would have still won had the award kept the old name.

I think it's really obvious that the name change had an effect on the thought processes of Academy voters. The films that won from then on tended to be smaller like Mrs. Miniver over The Magnificent Ambersons or Yankee Doodle Dandy, or The Lost Weekend winning over Mildred Pierce or Spellbound. However, these films were still consistently good earners, making the top ten of the year every year. Then, the twentieth awards came in 1947, and Gentleman's Agreement won.

Gentleman's Agreement is the first "issue" film since Cimarron that won Best Picture. It's also the first since The Life of Emile Zola that doesn't appear on the top ten box office at all (though, again, that's probably an issue with record keeping and not a reflection of Emile Zola's actual box office performance). It seems as though it would have been eleventh or twelfth, so this isn't a matter of a movie no one saw winning the award, but "Best Motion Picture" was definitely different from "Best Production" now. In fact, for the next few years, through the twenty-third award ceremony (where I stopped, so almost a quarter century), only one film made the top ten box office, and that was All About Eve at the twenty-third awards ceremony. It was number ten for the year.

Looking ahead a few years, some Best Picture winners do end up near the top of the box office, even at the very top, but box office domination, financial returns, were no longer a necessity for awards consideration. You could be a smaller film that made less money, and if the Academy just liked the film, then that was enough. Was that a bad change? Not necessarily, but it was certainly a change. Just to take what seems like a particularly egregious example of the change, the twenty-first awards ceremony was where Laurence Olivier's Hamlet, a film Universal Studios pretty much just bought from its British producers, won. A handsome, condensed version of the Shakespeare play (it cuts out Rosencrantz and Guildenstern), it won over The Red Shoes, the technicolor film by British directing partners Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger that was the number one film of the year at the box office.

Mistakes, we all make some

That being said, we always have the question of did the Academy do it right? Did they award the right films? You know what? They awarded some really good and great films, and that's pretty good in my book. However, there are some that I sort of wish could go in different directions. So, below is the list of all the winners and what I would have voted for had I been an Academy voter at the time in parenthesis:

1927/28 (Unique or Artistic Picture) - Sunrise (Sunrise)
1927/28 - Wings (Wings)
1928/29 - The Broadway Melody (The Patriot which is lost and I obviously haven't seen, but I assume Ernst Lubitsch made a much better film than the winner)
1929/30 - All Quiet on the Western Front (The Love Parade)
1930/31 - Cimarron (Morocco, which wasn't nominated but is a far superior film anyway and I hate Cimarron)
1931/32 - Grand Hotel (The Smiling Lieutenant)
1932/33 - Cavalcade (I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang)
1934 - It Happened One Night (It Happened One Night)
1935 - Mutiny on the Bounty (The Informer)
1936 - The Great Ziegfeld (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town)
1937 - The Life of Emile Zola (The Life of Emile Zola)
1938 - You Can't Take it With You (The Adventures of Robin Hood, though I do love You Can't Take it With You)
1939 - Gone with the Wind (Gone with the Wind is probably the most deserving of the Best Production award out of every movie that won it. It's just an impressive feat to watch.)
1940 - Rebecca (Rebecca, though I probably would have been secretly rooting for The Long Voyage Home)
1941 - How Green was My Valley (The Little Foxes)
1942 - Mrs. Miniver (Yankee Doodle Dandy)
1943 - Casablanca (Casablanca)
1944 - Going My Way (Double Indemnity)
1945 - The Lost Weekend (The Lost Weekend)
1946 - The Best Years of Our Lives (The Best Years of Our Lives)
1947 - Gentleman's Agreement (Great Expectations)
1948 - Hamlet (The Red Shoes)
1949 - All the King's Men (The Heiress)
1950 - All About Eve (Sunset Boulevard)

Do I think the Academy was right every year? Not really. Do I think they honored a lot of good movies in that first quarter century (or so)? For sure. Are there some weird winners in there (namely Broadway Melody, Cimarron, and Cavalcade)? Definitely.

Still, as a list of twenty-four films that looks at the early sound era and how Hollywood seemed to see itself, you could do far worse. Far, far worse. It could be nothing but Blondie movies.

Movies of Today

Opening in Theaters:

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Tetris

Movies I Saw This Fortnight:

All About Eve (Rating 3.5/4) Full Review "I think it's a bit overpraised, but just a bit." [Library]

The Doll (Rating 3/4) Full Review "This is something of a nice gem in Lubitsch's early career. It's light and frothy farce that could have benefited from a stronger approach to its characters to establish them and their motives." [YouTube]

The Oyster Princess (Rating 3/4) Full Review "This is a small delight again from Lubitsch early in his career. He still had a little way to go in terms of plotting things out to rely less on coincidence, but he's helping the audience have fun nonetheless." [YouTube]

Madame DuBarry (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "The performances and physical production are top rate, but the storytelling needed a new approach in the silent era that less relied on dialogue and told its story more fully through visuals. It seems obvious at this point early in Lubitsch's career, though, that his greatest successes are lighter, wittier fare." [YouTube]

Sumurun (Rating 2/4) Full Review "It's something of a brute force effort by Lubitsch to squeeze as much entertainment from a stone as possible." [YouTube]

The Wildcat (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "Does that sink the film? Not at all. It just limits my appreciation. This isn't the top tier of Lubitsch's early comic work in the German film industry." [YouTube]

Rosita (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "Rosita has its charms, including an ending that stands things on its head while giving a minor, thankless role the last laugh, and it's far from the worst Hollywood debut. However, Lubitsch was still really aching for spoken dialogue, even if he didn't quite realize it at the time." [YouTube]

The Marriage Circle (Rating 3/4) Full Review "The Marriage Circle is quite comfortably Lubitsch's most successful film up to this point." [YouTube]

Contact

Email any suggestions or questions to thejamesmadison.aos at symbol gmail dot com.
I've also archived all the old posts here, by request. I'll add new posts a week after they originally post at the HQ.

My next post will be on 4/22, and it will talk about the role of the producer using Irving Thalberg and David O. Selznick as case studies.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:45 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Popcorn time

Posted by: Skip at April 01, 2023 07:47 PM (xhxe8)

2 Hitting me, as I like old movies, is many are quickly getting to be 100 years old. They were closer to the Civil War than we are to them.

Posted by: Skip at April 01, 2023 07:49 PM (xhxe8)

3 Mooovirres

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 01, 2023 07:50 PM (yu8eA)

4 The Best Picture isn't always the best picture

Posted by: DB - pocketing the stub at April 01, 2023 07:51 PM (geLO8)

5 Hey, what was the Bob Odenkirk movie/show on amc+ that someone mentioned recently?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 01, 2023 07:52 PM (yu8eA)

6 Interesting hand placement in that first movie still.

Posted by: Count de Monet at April 01, 2023 07:52 PM (4I/2K)

7 Hiya James Monroe !

Posted by: JT at April 01, 2023 07:52 PM (T4tVD)

8 5 Hey, what was the Bob Odenkirk movie/show on amc+ that someone mentioned recently?
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 01, 2023 07:52 PM (yu8eA)

=======

It was probably Lucky Hank.

My mother was very excited about it until she started watching it. She loved the source novel, and she's finding the first couple of episodes to be missing the real bite of the book.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 07:53 PM (LvTSG)

9 7 Hiya James Monroe !
Posted by: JT at April 01, 2023 07:52 PM (T4tVD)

=======

That's my name, JT, don't wear it out!

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 07:54 PM (LvTSG)

10 The Creature From the Bad Breath Lagoon starring....

NY State Prisoner #2677 ----- Donald Trump !!!!

Posted by: Dorcus Blimeline at April 01, 2023 07:55 PM (20SKS)

11 TJM, interesting thread and well done.

Posted by: Ben Had at April 01, 2023 07:55 PM (xZzYc)

12 Speaking of old movies I just watched two good ones that I was not aware existed.

The Big Heat with Glen Ford and Kiss of Death with Victor Mature.

I didn't realize the 1995 Kiss of Death was a remake. It was pretty good too.

Posted by: polynikes at April 01, 2023 07:56 PM (pBEqG)

13 I think the 60's movies are good but sometimes hilarious because what was normal back then is now a parody stereotype thing.

I just watched Harper and Tony Rome. Both enjoyable but it was almost like watching the Hippie Star Trek episode. Hilarious .

Posted by: polynikes at April 01, 2023 08:00 PM (pBEqG)

14 agree with your mom - Lucky Hank is disappointing so far

seems .. a bit heart-free

Posted by: BlackOrchid at April 01, 2023 08:03 PM (w0NJk)

15 Kansas City Bomber is a great film. At least it's better than the scum on my shower walls.

Posted by: yep at April 01, 2023 08:03 PM (sPYbd)

16 Would like to, but no chance will, to see the D&D movie

Posted by: Skip at April 01, 2023 08:04 PM (xhxe8)

17 7 Hiya James Monroe !
Posted by: JT at April 01, 2023 07:52 PM (T4tVD)

=======

That's my name, JT, don't wear it out!
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch

Pahdon me !

Posted by: JT at April 01, 2023 08:04 PM (T4tVD)

18 6 Interesting hand placement in that first movie still.

Posted by: Count de Monet at April 01, 2023 07:52 PM (4I/2K)
----
Copping a feel?

Posted by: Ciampino - nominated? at April 01, 2023 08:04 PM (qfLjt)

19 Clara Bow is so friggin hawt.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:05 PM (MvF+J)

20 Just watched My Name is Nobody today for the first time. I'd seen the saloon slap-fight scene many times before but never the whole movie. So I'd no idea it had such a great plot and wonderful performance by Henry Fonda.

Outstanding.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 01, 2023 08:05 PM (JsPk+)

21 Just finished a German vampire movie! i watched it in parts because I am painting some trim, and it was my reward for bending over like a beggar for 15 minutes painting the baseboards.

"Blood Red Sky."

Pretty good premise, and while I wasn't thrilled with the portrayal of the vampires (pretty standard and unimaginative), I thought it was cleverly done.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 01, 2023 08:06 PM (XIJ/X)

22 19 Clara Bow is so friggin hawt.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:05 PM (MvF+J)

=======

Probably not anymore.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:06 PM (LvTSG)

23 15 minute 1930's 'art class' film short. Learn how to draw nudie-cuties. NSFW I guess:
youtube.com/watch?v=ovxU848vpQo

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:06 PM (MvF+J)

24 Very nice job TJM ! Nice writeup.

Re : 1947 - Gentleman's Agreement (Great Expectations)

Gentleman's Agreement was a very cultural significant film, exceptionally made. And what about the title ? Nothing but gentlemen all around, no ? And it deserved the Oscar. The movie probably started production right after WWII and you can certainly appreciate the many reasons why it was made. Great Expectation, I have not seen that version I don't think, but ...that story has been told. It's just a retelling of the classic. Known to everyone.

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:06 PM (V13WU)

25 if the 1945 vote for Best picture was held today

Mildred Pierce would crush the Lost Weekend

the Lost weekend is rather mawkish

Posted by: REDACTED at April 01, 2023 08:07 PM (us2H3)

26 "Behind the Curve" (201

Since everything is an op now, I decided "fuck it, I'll just go ahead and dip my balls in Flat Earth Pudding." This doc was enough for five thick coats, no primer needed. Flats have factional disputes; most favor the 'domed pizza with ice edge-crust' hypothesis. One guy covers all his bets with "we really don't know yet for sure what shape the earth is, whether flat or sphere;" i.e., he's 'still collating.' ('Real' scientists say earth's an oblate spheroid, but they offer several different 'datums,' so no straight answers may be expected there either; IMHO it's a big clown head.) This doc introduced me to the cromulent term "institutionalized disconfirmation." I have only ever met one flat earther IRL, and I didn't even know it until somebody else told me that he was, after he died of an OD. Asshole owed me $60.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:08 PM (MvF+J)

27 16 Would like to, but no chance will, to see the D&D movie
Posted by: Skip at April 01, 2023 08:04 PM (xhxe

Ace or one of the cobs had a post about it earlier in the week. Apparently it's very well done and the writers actually understood and cared about the source material (lack of that being the root cause of most woke disasters), but only gave a borderline recommendation given the state of the industry and the producers' apparent yearning to score some own-goals for the wokesters.

Posted by: CppThis at April 01, 2023 08:08 PM (PZvjL)

28
While the poor people sleepin
With the shade on the light
While the poor people sleepin
All the stars come out at night

Posted by: SD at April 01, 2023 08:08 PM (iayUP)

29 24 Gentleman's Agreement was a very cultural significant film, exceptionally made. And what about the title ? Nothing but gentlemen all around, no ? And it deserved the Oscar. The movie probably started production right after WWII and you can certainly appreciate the many reasons why it was made. Great Expectation, I have not seen that version I don't think, but ...that story has been told. It's just a retelling of the classic. Known to everyone.
Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:06 PM (V13WU)

========

Gentleman's Agreement is one of those films that's "important" because it covers an important social issue, but is actually pretty bad dramatically.

I've never been able to get into it, and I've seen it a couple of times. It's a terribly built story.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:08 PM (LvTSG)

30 Evening.

Posted by: Robert at April 01, 2023 08:09 PM (sedDs)

31 Another physics video. I got tipped to this by Eric Weinstein on JRE podcast #1945. Here are four of the smartest people alive in 1986, calmly discussing highly contentious topics. You can see that Salam is skeptical of Witten, but they argue respectfully for 45 minutes without rancor, name-calling, gotchas, ad hominems and other fallacies, moderators, laff trax, chyrons and misc visual noise, etc. This sort of thing happens only very rarely, if at all, in ClownWorld 2023, which may be why it rivets my attention, even though I understand little of it:
youtube.com/watch?v=AmUI2qf9uyo

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:09 PM (MvF+J)

32 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is playing on the Movies Channel now.

Posted by: polynikes at April 01, 2023 08:10 PM (pBEqG)

33 The oldest movie I've watched and enjoyed was Nosferatu.

Posted by: N. Lurker at April 01, 2023 08:11 PM (eGTCV)

34 1950 - All About Eve (Sunset Boulevard)

Another one with which I do not agree, anytime there is Betty Davis, and Anne Baxter to boot, how can there be a contest ?

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:11 PM (V13WU)

35 Listen to the children of the music of the night, or something like that.

Posted by: N. Lurker at April 01, 2023 08:12 PM (eGTCV)

36 Gentleman's Agreement is one of those films that's "important" because it covers an important social issue, but is actually pretty bad dramatically.

I've never been able to get into it, and I've seen it a couple of times. It's a terribly built story.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:08 PM (LvTSG)

Maybe when you get older....

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:12 PM (V13WU)

37 34 Another one with which I do not agree, anytime there is Betty Davis, and Anne Baxter to boot, how can there be a contest ?
Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:11 PM (V13WU)

=======

Imagine a viewer who does not care about movie stars, at all.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:13 PM (LvTSG)

38 Thanks TJM

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 01, 2023 08:13 PM (yu8eA)

39 In 1941, my emotional favorite is Maltese Falcon, but I think "The Little Foxes" deserved the best picture award, it is an excellent script with strong performances by great actors.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 01, 2023 08:13 PM (r46W7)

40 he Lost weekend is rather mawkish

that's the one about a husband/wife with a drinking problem ?

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:14 PM (V13WU)

41 36 Maybe when you get older....
Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:12 PM (V13WU)

========

"My Jewish friend has been denied a place to live in New York because they're Restricted. I know what I'll do, I'll commit my righteous indignation at...the hotel I was going to stay at for my honeymoon. My friend still won't have a place to live through my actions, and I'm not even making the people who denied him uncomfortable."

There's are severe dramatic issues with the film.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:14 PM (LvTSG)

42 The winners of the first 25 years, and all of the runners up, are head and shoulders better than anything made in the last 20 years.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 01, 2023 08:15 PM (r46W7)

43 Imagine a viewer who does not care about movie stars, at all.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:13 PM (LvTSG)

would say , WOW ! who are those fantastic broads ? great acting !

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:15 PM (V13WU)

44 I don't remember watching any Blondie movies, I remember watching a few Topper movies on PBS when I was a kid.

Posted by: lowandslow at April 01, 2023 08:15 PM (76Foq)

45 GWTW becomes more magnificent over time. It's the Twin Towers of moves. Think about it.

Posted by: Indignacio Vindacatorem at April 01, 2023 08:16 PM (oWBc3)

46 42 The winners of the first 25 years, and all of the runners up, are head and shoulders better than anything made in the last 20 years.
Posted by: Tom Servo at April 01, 2023 08:15 PM (r46W7)

=======

Cimarron is...awful. It's really, really bad. So is The Broadway Melody.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:16 PM (LvTSG)

47 I've never seen "Wings" but I do like "Hell's Angles". It has some impressive visual effects for its time, as well as some bad ones. The flying scenes in bi-planes is fun and it has the worst kissing scene of any non porn movie I've ever seen. Still fun to watch.

Posted by: Javems at April 01, 2023 08:17 PM (AmoqO)

48 43 would say , WOW ! who are those fantastic broads ? great acting !
Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:15 PM (V13WU)

========

Nope. They're good performances, and the movie is very good.

I find Sunset Boulevard to be a better made, more entertaining, and more emotionally affecting film.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:17 PM (LvTSG)

49 Double Indenintiy was a great flick. My Barbara Stanwyck phase begins. How to process Big Valley?

Posted by: Indignacio Vindacatorem at April 01, 2023 08:18 PM (oWBc3)

50 I really do appreciate this blog thread as I am clueless to the nuances of movies, movie making and the like. It's like explaining to a child (me) the details, whys and wherefores of the circumstances leading to WW1.
You do an excellent job, THANK YOU.
It is only after following this blog that I now bother to see who directed and who produced a movie, particularly if I loved it or hated it. For most of my life I had no interest in knowing those details. On the other hand when reading a book, I was always very aware of the author but only fleetingly interested in the publisher.
Note that I am over 29.
I still find it humorous that so much 'pride' is associated with 'being nominated' for an Oscar. I know of no other endeavor that attaches importance in coming second. For very many years I was under the mistaken impression that a 'nomination' was equivalent to an Oscar win.

Posted by: Ciampino - nominated? at April 01, 2023 08:18 PM (qfLjt)

51 Posted by: Tom Servo at April 01, 2023 08:13 PM (r46W7)

I'm not particularly a Humphrey Bogart fan boy but he's been in 6 of the10 movies in my top ten favorite movies list.

Maltese Falcon
Casablanca
Sahara
Key Largo
Caine Mutiny
African Queen.

I asked myself how is that possible.

Posted by: polynikes at April 01, 2023 08:19 PM (pBEqG)

52 51 I asked myself how is that possible.

Posted by: polynikes at April 01, 2023 08:19 PM (pBEqG)

========

John Huston directed three of those.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:20 PM (LvTSG)

53 I love both Harper movies - I wish Newman would have made more. The first Harper, along with Cool Hand Luke, is where Newman got to really like working with Strother Martin, a relationship that lasted through their careers.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 01, 2023 08:20 PM (r46W7)

54
"My Jewish friend has been denied a place to live in New York because they're Restricted. I know what I'll do, I'll commit my righteous indignation at...the hotel I was going to stay at for my honeymoon. My friend still won't have a place to live through my actions, and I'm not even making the people who denied him uncomfortable."

There's are severe dramatic issues with the film.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:14 PM (LvTSG)

the point is, mr. 21st century, here is a person who is trying to make a difference , when others , while sort of acknowledging there is a problem, want to move from the unpleasantness of the whole thing.

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:20 PM (V13WU)

55 "The Lost Weekend" and "Days of Wine and Roses" are awesome juicer movies.

Imagine waking up in a straightjacket, in agony, looking up blearily, and there's Jack Klugman lighting a cigarette for you. That's what it took to get me to stop drinking.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:21 PM (MvF+J)

56 54 the point is, mr. 21st century, here is a person who is trying to make a difference , when others , while sort of acknowledging there is a problem, want to move from the unpleasantness of the whole thing.
Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:20 PM (V13WU)

=======

Unity of Action is a concept much older than the 21st century.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:21 PM (LvTSG)

57 Barbara Stanwyck is so friggin hawt.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:22 PM (MvF+J)

58 Stanwyck: "Night Nurses" and "Baby Face." She's naughty.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:23 PM (MvF+J)

59 "Barbara Stanwyck is so friggin hawt."

The Lady Eve and Ball of Fire.

Posted by: Tuna at April 01, 2023 08:23 PM (gLRfa)

60 The You Tube algorithm has been pushing old Siskel and Ebert Oscar specials. Kinda fun watching them bash the Academy nomination process and voters back in the early 80's.

Posted by: lowandslow at April 01, 2023 08:23 PM (76Foq)

61 Nope. They're good performances, and the movie is very good.

I find Sunset Boulevard to be a better made, more entertaining, and more emotionally affecting film.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:17 PM (LvTSG)

Never liked it. Desmond is to be pitied not mocked.

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:23 PM (V13WU)

62 15 minute 1930's 'art class' film short. Learn how to draw nudie-cuties. NSFW I guess:
youtube.com/watch?v=ovxU848vpQo
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:06 PM (MvF+J)

I'll be in my bunk.

Wait...I'm already in my bunk. :B

Posted by: Robert at April 01, 2023 08:23 PM (sedDs)

63 4 The Best Picture isn't always the best picture
Posted by: DB

That's hurtful.

Posted by: Shakespeare in Love at April 01, 2023 08:25 PM (4eKPg)

64 TCM is doing a Warner Bros.anniversary month. Lots of pre code movies, some with Stanwyck. Just saw one this afternoon with a very, very young Loretta Young. She was quite the beauty.

Posted by: Tuna at April 01, 2023 08:26 PM (gLRfa)

65 This week, I finished listening to the series of podcasts about production designer Polly Platt. Fascinating story

Posted by: Pete in Texas at April 01, 2023 08:26 PM (BHrzb)

66 The opening morning coffee sequence in Harper cracks me up every time i see it; the movie is a delight all the way through.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 01, 2023 08:26 PM (a/4+U)

67 Bogart had the skill to pick really good scripts to get involved in. I think his best acting performance is in The Caine Mutiny, and that's because he convincingly portrays a weak, whining character which was totally against type to anything he'd done before.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 01, 2023 08:26 PM (r46W7)

68 It's fun to slag on the politics and general insider-ness of the Academy Awards, but I do have to give that system some credit for probably keeping the movie biz from consuming itself in an orgy of greed and arrogance. I'm into video games and it occurs to me that the big publishers might not be such unpleasant entities if they had their own cultural icon like the Academy to stroke the right egos. Yeah, sure, there's a game award circuit but nobody cares about it, not like the Oscars, Grammies and Emmies.

Posted by: CppThis at April 01, 2023 08:27 PM (PZvjL)

69 Tuna, yeah, Loretta Young was pretty hot "before she was a virgin".

Posted by: Pete in Texas at April 01, 2023 08:28 PM (BHrzb)

70 31 Another physics video .....
which may be why it rivets my attention, even though I understand little of it:
youtube.com/watch?v=AmUI2qf9uyo

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:09 PM (MvF+J)
----
Thank you gp, it's now open on a tab ready for viewing later.

Posted by: Ciampino -- nominated? at April 01, 2023 08:28 PM (qfLjt)

71 We kind of lucked out this week. Most of the movies we streamed were very good.

First up, is a modern noir set in Hong Kong, titled-

"Accident"

It's about a hit team of four who plot Rube Goldberg like assassinations that look like accidents.

The leader, main character, is a thoughtful, quiet, planner who plans everything cautiously so that they're never caught or even suspected.

However, one night of their carefully plotted killings goes wrong through an accident that nearly kills the leader. He suspects that one of his team or someone else entirely is trying to kill him.

Who is it? This being noir the complications and paranoia begin to pile up until finally something has to give.

Grim and methodical, like the main character, this movie is one of the best modern noirs I've seen. It's deliberately paced yet I was never bored because the plot constantly tightens.

Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 01, 2023 08:28 PM (mm6iK)

72 A good recent juicer movie is "To Leslie," Andrea Riseborough Oscar nom. By 'good,' I mean pretty realistic story, fine acting, and oh so f'n depressing. There was some rare CW music in there that I actually liked.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:29 PM (MvF+J)

73 Watched beginning of Cool Hand Luke the other day, it's a great movie.

Posted by: Skip at April 01, 2023 08:30 PM (xhxe8)

74
g'early evenin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at April 01, 2023 08:30 PM (ENBF0)

75 70 You're welcome! Didn't know anybody else liked those

Make sure to catch the nudie-cuties too.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:30 PM (MvF+J)

76 I just watched the 1931 "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" with Frederick Marsh, which won an Academy Award. Per imdb:

"The remarkable Jekyll-to-Hyde transition scenes in this film were accomplished by manipulating a series of variously colored filters in front of the camera lens. Fredric March's Hyde makeup was in various colors, and the way his appearance registered on the film depended on which color filter was being shot through. Only in the late 1960's did Mamoulian reveal how this was done."

It was pre-Code, and Mr. Hyde was very nasty and lascivious.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 01, 2023 08:31 PM (Dc2NZ)

77 62 15 minute 1930's 'art class' film short. Learn how to draw nudie-cuties. NSFW I guess:
youtube.com/watch?v=ovxU848vpQo
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:06 PM (MvF+J)

I'll be in my bunk.

Wait...I'm already in my bunk. :B

Posted by: Robert at April 01, 2023 08:23 PM (sedDs)
----
Robert, change the sheets then!

Posted by: Ciampino - good sketches are great art at April 01, 2023 08:32 PM (qfLjt)

78 wish I could hang out some more, but...maybe next quarter century!

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2023 08:32 PM (V13WU)

79 Check it out.
Posted by: naturalfake

I can't find it. Where did you stream it?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 01, 2023 08:33 PM (yu8eA)

80 That top picture; she looks like Betty Boop.

Also; San Diego St. just beat the fighting Howard Schnellenberger's (FAU). I'm sad. Haven't watched much of the CBB Tournament this year. I've barely watched this game. I'm at work and its on. Looked up saw the last play. Looked like a great game. Bummer ending though.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 08:33 PM (4eKPg)

81 76 It was pre-Code, and Mr. Hyde was very nasty and lascivious.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 01, 2023 08:31 PM (Dc2NZ)

========

Pre-Code is fun because it's a combination of a society still having a sense of propriety but also finding ways to push boundaries. When the Code era ended in the 60s, society had already moved on and there was a sudden crash into more explicit material, especially when combined with the sudden and very broad rise of the independent movie.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:33 PM (LvTSG)

82 Bogart peak was Treasure,I Newman was Hombre. Fight me. Or don't. What great movies. Hollywood sucks today by comparison

Posted by: Indignacio Vindacatorem at April 01, 2023 08:33 PM (oWBc3)

83 Been watching Van Der Valk...

Meh plus

Posted by: Sven at April 01, 2023 08:34 PM (Lzpvj)

84 "a society still having a sense of propriety but also finding ways to push boundaries."

Naughty, but never explicit.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:34 PM (MvF+J)

85 You're right I forgot "Treasure" - so many brilliant movies in such a short period!

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 01, 2023 08:35 PM (r46W7)

86 80 That top picture; she looks like Betty Boop.

Also; San Diego St. just beat the fighting Howard Schnellenberger's (FAU). I'm sad. Haven't watched much of the CBB Tournament this year. I've barely watched this game. I'm at work and its on. Looked up saw the last play. Looked like a great game. Bummer ending though.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 08:33 PM (4eKPg)

=======

Betty Boop was actually modeled on Helen Kane (it's Clara Bow in the picture above).

Kane actually sued to stop the production of Betty Boop cartoons, but she lost the suit.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:35 PM (LvTSG)

87 Only movie I watched since the last movie thread was a Japanese slice of life movie, Call Me Chihiro.

It fucking sucked.

So it's about a former hooker who works at a bento stand with a heart of gold being sweet and outgoing and kind. It's all perfectly fake.

I guess maybe it was more of a mood movie that starts off...okay, I guess. But the second half grows maudlin and boring. You never really learn much about Chihiro. A tiny bit, but not enough to empathize with her. To me she came across as a Manic Pixy Dream Girl. A free spirited young woman who is always liked, blah blah blah. I got annoyed and started hating her guts.

There are other supporting characters that could have had been potentially more interesting. The little boy raised by a single mother, the high school girl whose father is an authoritarian, the other girl who isn't going to school, Chihiro's former pimp...lot of characters and ideas presented but nothing is ever done with them. Just toss out things, don't bother exploring or even following up.

(Cont.)

Posted by: Robert at April 01, 2023 08:35 PM (sedDs)

88 84 "a society still having a sense of propriety but also finding ways to push boundaries."

Naughty, but never explicit.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:34 PM (MvF+J)

==========

The perfect description of pre-Code Lubitsch films.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:36 PM (LvTSG)

89 Clara Bow driving a truck, singing a ditty about how she's going to stomp me with those boots, as I beg for more:
https://tinyurl.com/yc5ahw5v

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:36 PM (MvF+J)

90 25 if the 1945 vote for Best picture was held today

Mildred Pierce would crush the Lost Weekend

the Lost weekend is rather mawkish
Posted by: REDACTED at April 01, 2023 08:07 PM (us2H3)
---

Gotta concur. "Mildred Pierce" is a melodrama but it rings true emotionally. "The Lost Weekend", which I saw for the first time recently, was affecting but seems like a cleverly written tract.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 01, 2023 08:36 PM (Dc2NZ)

91 I like a lot of Newman movies, but if I had to pick one to watch over and over it would be Slapstick.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 01, 2023 08:37 PM (r46W7)

92 84 GPS movie Laffy,

Eh, it got to the edge, some of Brigitte Helms work after metropolis was pretty racy.

Posted by: Sven at April 01, 2023 08:37 PM (Lzpvj)

93 John Wick 4 is the John Wickiest possible. Boiled down to only essence with Keanu hitting one note over and over. With a higher body count than a small war.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 01, 2023 08:41 PM (RqMSv)

94 Some reviewers said this movie was like a Wes Anderson movie. I wouldn't say that but it does have the same sort of lightly humorous twee feeling as a WA movie.

"Liza the Fox-Fairy"

is about a youngish, naive Hungarian woman looking for romantic love. However, she begins to suspect that she may be a Japanese Fox-Fairy because all of her potential lovers die in accidents.

Oh, and her best friend is the ghost of a Japanese Pop Singer.

Will she ever find true love?

This is fun little movie that takes some unexpected turns. If it sounds like your kind of thing, it is.
Streaming on Prime and Tubi.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 01, 2023 08:41 PM (mm6iK)

95 At some point Chihiro makes a declaration to her former coworker about being unable to fall in love, blah blah blah, but sex? Fuckin' A! Any time, bro, bring it on.

I just imagine someone thought this was profound and not horrifically cliched.

Towards the end, when two characters are talking about Chihiro, one points out that she probably has a deep void and will choose not to settle down and make roots. At the end, at a big rooftop get together, she bails on the party and leaves town. Cause...emptiness. Or some shit. In the last scene we find that she's working on a farm feeding bulls. Ooookay.

TL;DR It's about a lonely ex-prostitute who has a hole that needs filling.

2/5

Fuck this movie.

Posted by: Robert at April 01, 2023 08:41 PM (sedDs)

96 Ah!

"Accident" is streaming on Netflix.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 01, 2023 08:41 PM (mm6iK)

97 There's finally some good stuff in the theaters and I am determined to get back in the movie-going habit.

"John Wick: Chapter 4" just might be may favorite. The visuals were gorgeously shot and the fights were epic. Donnie Yen is the man.

"Dungeons and Dragons" was a romp with many legit callbacks to the game settings.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 01, 2023 08:42 PM (Dc2NZ)

98 At least a few of Clara Bow's blockbusters are lost, AFAIK. I'd cut off my pinky finger to unearth them. I'd expect a little GoFundMe help with that, but yeah: bye-bye finger.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:43 PM (MvF+J)

99 funny but they never show Slumdog Millionaire

Posted by: REDACTED at April 01, 2023 08:43 PM (us2H3)

100 "and the fights were epic."

If you like that try Raid and Raid 2.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 01, 2023 08:44 PM (RqMSv)

101 Hmm...

In 1942, Edward G Robinson volunteered for military service. He was 48 years old at the time. They said no.

So we never got Robinson rolling into Berlin on a tank saying, 'where's your Fuhrer, now, eh?'

Posted by: DB - pocketing the stub at April 01, 2023 08:45 PM (geLO8)

102 "funny but they never show Slumdog Millionaire"

I was at the public library yesterday. They're dumping all their DVDs for fifty cents each. I think there were 3 or 4 copies of SM in there.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:45 PM (MvF+J)

103 Keanu hitting one note over and over.
---

I love Keanu but he is becoming a real plank o' wood. Remember when he was an amiable airhead? In "Bill and Ted Face the Music" that came out a few years ago, Alex Winter was a delight as Bill but Keanu just didn't have that Ted "Theodore" Logan spark anymore.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 01, 2023 08:45 PM (Dc2NZ)

104 98 At least a few of Clara Bow's blockbusters are lost, AFAIK. I'd cut off my pinky finger to unearth them. I'd expect a little GoFundMe help with that, but yeah: bye-bye finger.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:43 PM (MvF+J)

=========

Nitrate film was combustible and there were a steady stream of fires over the decades that lost entire libraries. The biggest one is probably the Fox vault fire in 1937 that lost almost everything of the Fox library from the silent era.

It's estimated that 75% of silent films are lost, including almost all of Theda Bara's films, including her Cleopatra.

They didn't stop using nitrate film until the early 50s.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:45 PM (LvTSG)

105 100 Recommended.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:46 PM (MvF+J)

106 Bogart did a ton of really bad films but when he was on his game, he was the best there's ever been.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at April 01, 2023 08:46 PM (up/3i)

107 The Offer is a ten episode series about the making of The Godfather and it shows the miracle of how what could have been just a dumb mob movie became positively Shakesperean.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 01, 2023 08:46 PM (RqMSv)

108 About to watch one of my guilty pleasure movies.

Hitman

Posted by: polynikes at April 01, 2023 08:47 PM (pBEqG)

109 "The Lost Weekend" and "Days of Wine and Roses" are awesome juicer movies.

Imagine waking up in a straightjacket, in agony, looking up blearily, and there's Jack Klugman lighting a cigarette for you. That's what it took to get me to stop drinking.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023

***
As good as Lost Weekend is overall, the happy ending -- that Milland's character will stop drinking because of the love of a good woman -- rings false. (It's been a while since I saw it, so I may be off on the description.) The end scenes of Roses are utterly pitch-perfect, tragic, and true. And Lemmon's performance in those last scenes are completely unlike anything else he'd done up to that point. You say, thinking back, "That was not 'Jack Lemmon,' that was 'Joe Clay.' "

The same is true of John Wayne in a particular scene in The Searchers, when they've just witnessed how pitifully crazy the girls rescued from the comanches are. He looks back at the camera, and suddenly he IS Ethan, not Wayne.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 01, 2023 08:48 PM (omVj0)

110 In 1940, I woulda went with The Letter

one of my personal favs and a wonderful cast

even Has Susan Weaver's mom in it

James Stepenenson gives a great preformance

Posted by: REDACTED at April 01, 2023 08:48 PM (us2H3)

111 "funny but they never show Slumdog Millionaire"
*
I was at the public library yesterday. They're dumping all their DVDs for fifty cents each. I think there were 3 or 4 copies of SM in there.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023

***
I couldn't finish watching that thing. It looked in the lighting as if melted butter had been poured all over the screen.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 01, 2023 08:49 PM (omVj0)

112 Saw Dungeons and Dragons today, great fun! Visually spectacular with great armor and props, and lots of laughs, great characters. A Paladin just as annoying as you remember. Plot never got in the way of the fun. Cemetery scene 10/10

Posted by: Somebody buy Elon a beer for me at April 01, 2023 08:51 PM (JcnFx)

113 58 Stanwyck: "Night Nurses" and "Baby Face." She's naughty.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:23 PM (MvF+J)
---

I LOL'd at the gratuitous lingerie shots. Like, we know why you come to the flicks! In "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" there was a leering pan over Miriam Hopkins in a sheet and garters.

The old Tarzans were pretty free with the billowing loincloth.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 01, 2023 08:51 PM (Dc2NZ)

114 I did finish watching ~~Retarded Korean Lawyer~~ Extraordinary Attorney Woo.

Very cute. Very fun. It's a real light kind of series. The translator, I believe, turned a couple of lines of dialogue *extra*lefty but otherwise I enjoyed it immensely. It won't surprise you, although I was shocked to discover jury trials in South Korea mean jack shit. Everything ends exactly where you expect it to end. But the main actress is cute as hell and that's good enough for me.

Posted by: Robert at April 01, 2023 08:51 PM (sedDs)

115 "It looked in the lighting as if melted butter had been poured all over the screen."

That was actually the best part for me.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:51 PM (MvF+J)

116 Meet larry: The worlds most seductive otter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8Ttq7yaWfY

Posted by: Kindltot at April 01, 2023 08:51 PM (xhaym)

117 Mob boss Colombo was a technical adviser on the Godfather and was the one who had them take out any mention of Mafia.

Posted by: polynikes at April 01, 2023 08:52 PM (pBEqG)

118 Gotta concur. "Mildred Pierce" is a melodrama but it rings true emotionally. "The Lost Weekend", which I saw for the first time recently, was affecting but seems like a cleverly written tract.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 01, 2023

***
The 1945 Joan Crawford Mildred is very much a melodrama. The novel is less so, and I understand the recent TV miniseries with Kate Winslet followed the source material a lot more closely. I haven't seen it. Though Kate resembles the author's description of Mildred much more than Crawford did.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 01, 2023 08:53 PM (omVj0)

119 Wolfus, check earlier comments above: nudie-cuties!

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:53 PM (MvF+J)

120 I couldn't finish watching that thing. It looked in the lighting as if melted butter had been poured all over the screen.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 01, 2023 08:49 PM (omVj0)

Ghee probably.

(this is your chance to say "thank you for clarifying that for me Kindltot")

Posted by: Kindltot at April 01, 2023 08:54 PM (xhaym)

121 100 "and the fights were epic."

If you like that try Raid and Raid 2.
Posted by: Ignoramus

I've seen Raid. It's brutal. Entertaining but brutal.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 08:55 PM (4eKPg)

122 121 I've seen Raid. It's brutal. Entertaining but brutal.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 08:55 PM (4eKPg)

======

Raid 2 is...disappointing.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 08:55 PM (LvTSG)

123 Ghee probably.

(this is your chance to say "thank you for clarifying that for me Kindltot")
Posted by: Kindltot at April 01, 2023

***
Ghee, I don't know if I should. . . .

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 01, 2023 08:55 PM (omVj0)

124 Louis B. Ma

Posted by: Eromero at April 01, 2023 08:56 PM (MF3yS)

125 (this is your chance to say "thank you for clarifying that for me Kindltot")
Posted by: Kindltot

We don't want to butter you up.

Posted by: Tonypete at April 01, 2023 08:56 PM (qoGsy)

126 Raid 2 is...disappointing.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023

***
The roaches in the house when I grew up thought so too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 01, 2023 08:56 PM (omVj0)

127 108 About to watch one of my guilty pleasure movies.

Hitman
Posted by: polynikes

Hitman would eventually join the US Marshall service. Had some trouble in Kentucky.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 08:57 PM (4eKPg)

128 One of the Bogarts I always liked that doesn't seem to get a lot of attention is THE HARDER THEY FALL; if I had to pick peak Bogart, my choice would probably be a toss-up between TREASURE and CAINE MUTINY.

Peak Newman? Jeez... HUD, THE HUSTLER, HARPER, COOL HAND LUKE, THE COLOR OF MONEY... HOMBRE may in fact be peak Newman, but as John Wayne said in RIO BRAVO, 'I'd hate to have to live on the difference.' One of my favorite Newmans, though, is TWILIGHT -- a nice little noir-ish piece with Gene Hackman, Susan Sarandon, Stockard Channing, and James Garner (who owns the screen in every scene he's in); worth a look if you've never seen it.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 01, 2023 08:58 PM (a/4+U)

129 124 Louis B. Ma
Posted by: Eromero at April 01, 2023 08:56 PM
Yoyo Ma's Jewish great great cousin, not to be confused by Oscar, another cousin.

Posted by: Eromero at April 01, 2023 08:58 PM (MF3yS)

130 "had them take out any mention of Mafia."

Colombo wanted to shut down The Godfather until the producer talked him into it. Yes, as a major concession they agreed to take out "the Mafia" -- it was only in the script once.

The Offer gets into this and more. It's a hoot.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 01, 2023 08:58 PM (RqMSv)

131 Since this month has Passover and Easter-

what's your favorite Biblical epic

Posted by: DB - pocketing the stub at April 01, 2023 08:58 PM (geLO8)

132 I have to admit, this is funny.

https://tinyurl.com/4pn9pkux

Sarah Polley Asked to Return Her Oscar to Academy in Prank by 11-Year-Old Daughter

For the April Fools' Day joke, the 'Women Talking' filmmaker was told that 'All Quiet on the Western Front' was the rightful winner, which led to a response from that movie's director, Edward Berger.

Posted by: Robert at April 01, 2023 08:58 PM (sedDs)

133 128 No love for "The Verdict?"

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 08:59 PM (MvF+J)

134
The 1945 Joan Crawford Mildred is very much a melodrama. The novel is less so, and I understand the recent TV miniseries with Kate Winslet followed the source material a lot more closely.

But no Eve Arden.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at April 01, 2023 09:00 PM (63Dwl)

135 Caitlin Clark is the William Wallace of women's BB

girls got some game

Posted by: REDACTED at April 01, 2023 09:00 PM (us2H3)

136 what's your favorite Biblical epic
Posted by: DB - pocketing the stub at April 01, 2023 08:58 PM (geLO

The one by whatshisname, starring whosherface and whatshisnuts. You know the one.

Posted by: Robert at April 01, 2023 09:00 PM (sedDs)

137 128:One of my favorite Newmans, though, is TWILIGHT -- a nice little noir-ish piece with Gene Hackman, Susan Sarandon, Stockard Channing, and James Garner (who owns the screen in every scene he's in); worth a look if you've never seen it.
Posted by: Just Some Guy

This! Damn solid flick!

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 09:01 PM (4eKPg)

138 Raid 2 has a fantastic car chase with no special effects let alone CGI. People had to have died in its making in Indonesia where life is cheap.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 01, 2023 09:01 PM (RqMSv)

139 Colombo wanted to shut down The Godfather until the producer talked him into it. Yes, as a major concession they agreed to take out "the Mafia" -- it was only in the script once.

The Offer gets into this and more. It's a hoot.
Posted by: Ignoramus at April 01, 2023 08:58 PM (RqM

I didn't see that Godfather doc. I learned it from watching a show on Colombo.

Posted by: polynikes at April 01, 2023 09:01 PM (pBEqG)

140 133 - What can I say? I just forgot it, and probably a bunch of others too.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 01, 2023 09:01 PM (a/4+U)

141 One of my favorite Newmans, though, is TWILIGHT -- a nice little noir-ish piece with Gene Hackman, Susan Sarandon, Stockard Channing, and James Garner (who owns the screen in every scene he's in); worth a look if you've never seen it.
Posted by: Just Some Guy

This! Damn solid flick!
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 09:01 PM (4eKPg)

One of his last films if not his last was really good.

Nobody's Fool.

Just a good story film,

Posted by: polynikes at April 01, 2023 09:03 PM (pBEqG)

142 We loved Paul in Slapshot. Way to go, coach. F'n eh.

Posted by: The Hanson Brothers at April 01, 2023 09:03 PM (Xrfse)

143 131 There were four "The Gospel of ..." movies made around 2015 by the same company. The dialogue is Aramaic and so forth, but the voiceover is straight from the book. You can choose between KJV and NIV voiceovers.

The casting, costuming, settings are great! Everybody looks like they really ought to for the period. Jesus is somewhat homely for a welcome change. Romans don't speak British English. These are among the very best Bible movies I've seen.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 09:03 PM (MvF+J)

144 Billy Krystals parody of Robinson saying "where's your God nooowww, nyah?" Is one of the funniest impersonations I've seen.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 01, 2023 09:04 PM (r46W7)

145 137 128:One of my favorite Newmans, though, is TWILIGHT -- a nice little noir-ish piece with Gene Hackman, Susan Sarandon, Stockard Channing, and James Garner (who owns the screen in every scene he's in); worth a look if you've never seen it.
Posted by: Just Some Guy

This! Damn solid flick!
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 09:01 PM (4eKPg)

So are y'all Team Edward or Team Jacob?

I keed, I keed...

Posted by: Robert at April 01, 2023 09:04 PM (sedDs)

146 what's your favorite Biblical epic
---

Well "The Ten Commandments", natch, just for the epicness. But I will place "King of Kings" above it for an intelligent script and putting things in historical perspective.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 01, 2023 09:05 PM (Dc2NZ)

147 142 We loved Paul in Slapshot. Way to go, coach. F'n eh.
Posted by: The Hanson Brothers at April 01, 2023 09:03 PM (Xrfse)

the Hansons were the second greatest film device in the history of movies

of course, the first is the caddyshack gopher

Posted by: REDACTED at April 01, 2023 09:05 PM (us2H3)

148 143 131 There were four "The Gospel of ..." movies made around 2015 by the same company. The dialogue is Aramaic and so forth, but the voiceover is straight from the book. You can choose between KJV and NIV voiceovers.

----------

"They lose me at the crucifixion scene."

Posted by: Barrabas at April 01, 2023 09:06 PM (s12c9)

149 The Heston Ben Hur is my favorite.

Posted by: polynikes at April 01, 2023 09:06 PM (pBEqG)

150 The most emotionally moving Biblical epic for me is the Heston "Ben Hur." I get goosebumps every time when Jesus shows and the music swells up. I couldn't care less about the chariot race.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 09:07 PM (MvF+J)

151 Okay, I'm going to watch "Independence Day: Regurgitation" after seeing the RLM hashing of same:

https://tinyurl.com/3muhbvzt

Jay hated it, Mike liked it.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 01, 2023 09:08 PM (Dc2NZ)

152 @50 --

It is only after following this blog that I now bother to see who directed and who produced a movie

When I watch '50s-'60s TV shows, I check the credits for any production personnel names who made it big.

And at movies, I stay for the end of the credits to see where filming took place. This annoyed my family.

Once, in "Sleepless in Seattle," I recognized a street I had driven on. Wife and I spent part of our honeymoon in Seattle, in Inn on the Market downtown. The street ran in front of the place.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 01, 2023 09:10 PM (Om/di)

153 Has the academy ever rectified their snub of Smokey and the Bandit? I think not.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 01, 2023 09:12 PM (u73oe)

154 what's your favorite Biblical epic
Posted by: DB
------
While not an 'Epic', every Christmas I watch 'The Nativity Story'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiSfup00uZY&t=44s

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 01, 2023 09:13 PM (g59Yt)

155 Has the academy ever rectified their snub of Smokey and the Bandit? I think not.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 01, 2023 09:12 PM (u73o

I say the same thing about Uncle Buck

Posted by: polynikes at April 01, 2023 09:13 PM (pBEqG)

156 145 - This is how I know I'm way behind the times. I thought that might be a joke re that other movie Twilight which I've never seen, but I had to look it up to be sure.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 01, 2023 09:13 PM (a/4+U)

157 Once, in "Sleepless in Seattle," I recognized a street I had driven on. Wife and I spent part of our honeymoon in Seattle, in Inn on the Market downtown. The street ran in front of the place.

A former work location on a previous contract made a brief appearance in 'The Hunt For Red October'. A blink and you miss it scene but still cool.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 09:14 PM (4eKPg)

158 Has the academy ever rectified their snub of Smokey and the Bandit? I think not.
Posted by: Duke Lowell

Do you ever take that hat off?

Posted by: Tonypete at April 01, 2023 09:15 PM (qoGsy)

159 "It is only after following this blog that I now bother to see who directed and who produced a movie"

I had to take two art electives for the BS degree way back when, so I picked Film Appreciation, and Acting. Changed everything about how I watch movies. Widened my net by 1000X.

Acting is f'n hard! After you try it, you'll appreciate movie actor performances so much more. Sometimes I watch them and I think it must be physically and emotionally agonizing to wrench those feelings from God knows where.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 09:15 PM (MvF+J)

160 157 A former work location on a previous contract made a brief appearance in 'The Hunt For Red October'. A blink and you miss it scene but still cool.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 09:14 PM (4eKPg)

=======

The Publix we went to all the time when I lived in Lakeland, Florida as a child is featured very prominently in Edward Scissorhands. Well, the large arches as part of the shopping center to the left of the Publix.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 09:15 PM (LvTSG)

161 A former work location on a previous contract made a brief appearance in 'The Hunt For Red October'. A blink and you miss it scene but still cool.
Posted by: Puddleglum

A bar/bowling alley that we hung out at made an appearance in 'The Deer Hunter'. Some of my buds were paid in beer as extras.

Posted by: Tonypete at April 01, 2023 09:16 PM (qoGsy)

162 159 "It is only after following this blog that I now bother to see who directed and who produced a movie"

I had to take two art electives for the BS degree way back when, so I picked Film Appreciation, and Acting. Changed everything about how I watch movies. Widened my net by 1000X.

Acting is f'n hard! After you try it, you'll appreciate movie actor performances so much more. Sometimes I watch them and I think it must be physically and emotionally agonizing to wrench those feelings from God knows where.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 09:15 PM
I played a magician in a HS play in 65. I didn't know dick about magic but I acted like I did. Looked good doing it too or so said a few girls, one of which was my Mama.

Posted by: Eromero at April 01, 2023 09:18 PM (MF3yS)

163 I lived in the neighborhood where "Bad Boys" and "Running Scared" filmed scenes.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 09:19 PM (MvF+J)

164 I don't normally comment on this thread, because my taste in movies is pretty pedestrian. But I saw a really weird one a couple years ago that I just thought about.

It's called "My Best Fiend," and it's about Werner Herzog's horrible relationship with Klaus Kinski. You guys should watch it. What a couple of whackjobs.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 01, 2023 09:19 PM (oINRc)

165 I’m pleased to see you would have preferred Robinhood as an Award Winner

Seriously, what’s not to like:

Great Music
Wonderful Casting
Fabulous Costuming
Out of this world Cinematography
Well scripted adaptation of heritage folklore

Posted by: browndog on his cell at April 01, 2023 09:19 PM (CCSxw)

166 163 And "Uncle Buck."

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 09:20 PM (MvF+J)

167 164 It's called "My Best Fiend," and it's about Werner Herzog's horrible relationship with Klaus Kinski. You guys should watch it. What a couple of whackjobs.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 01, 2023 09:19 PM (oINRc)

=======

Kinski almost never worked with a director more than once, but he worked with Herzog something like 5 times. The other directors just refused to work with him again.

I love the story of how Herzog pulled a loaded gun on Kinski on the set of Aguirre, The Wrath of God.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 09:21 PM (LvTSG)

168 "My Best Fiend"

Added to my list, thanks!

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 09:21 PM (MvF+J)

169 Grew up in Chicago, and always liked seeing places I knew or passed every day show up in flicks like Running Scared.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 01, 2023 09:21 PM (a/4+U)

170 You speak treason!

Fluently

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 01, 2023 09:21 PM (RqMSv)

171 "What's your favorite Biblical epic?"

Barabbas.

That time of year for my annual watch.

Posted by: davidt at April 01, 2023 09:21 PM (SYTee)

172 I love the story of how Herzog pulled a loaded gun on Kinski on the set of Aguirre, The Wrath of God.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 09:21 PM (LvTSG)

Pfffft!

Posted by: Alec Baldwin at April 01, 2023 09:22 PM (sedDs)

173 "My Best Fiend," 98 minutes:
youtube.com/watch?v=wjj5uNlaZGE

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 01, 2023 09:22 PM (MvF+J)

174 Yeah, that Herzog/Kinski doc is excellent.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls - an election is simply a festival for the majority at April 01, 2023 09:22 PM (KFhLj)

175 what's your favorite Biblical epic
Posted by: DB

It's not a biblical movie but I remember really liking Exodus.
------

Posted by: That Northern skulker at April 01, 2023 09:22 PM (eGTCV)

176 My Great Grandparents were 'in', well, 'under', the Evans City Cemetery. That cemetery was featured in the cult classic The Night of the Living Dead. So I can say I had family 'in' that film. Well, under anyway.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 09:23 PM (4eKPg)

177 176 My Great Grandparents were 'in', well, 'under', the Evans City Cemetery. That cemetery was featured in the cult classic The Night of the Living Dead. So I can say I had family 'in' that film. Well, under anyway.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 09:23 PM (4eKPg)

=======

I recently got the 4K. Maybe I could identify their headstones now with all those pristine pixels.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 09:24 PM (LvTSG)

178 but I remember really liking Exodus.
------
Posted by: That Northern skulker at April 01, 2023 09:22 PM (eGTCV)

https://youtu.be/4eS-4iCjlWs

Posted by: Robert at April 01, 2023 09:24 PM (sedDs)

179 175 what's your favorite Biblical epic
Posted by: DB

It's not a biblical movie but I remember really liking Exodus.
------
Posted by: That Northern skulker at April 01, 2023 09:22 PM
Leon Uris or Bob Marley?

Posted by: Eromero at April 01, 2023 09:24 PM (MF3yS)

180 I'll be seeing Róise & Frank this week in its limited US theatrical run. In Gaelic, a widow believes that a dog that shows up one day is her reincarnated husband. And he's a helluva kids hurling coach.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 01, 2023 09:25 PM (RqMSv)

181 It’s not a movie, but I highly recommend The Chosen.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 01, 2023 09:25 PM (u73oe)

182 Posted by: That Northern skulker at April 01, 2023 09:22 PM
Leon Uris or Bob Marley?
Posted by: Eromero at

Uris

Posted by: That Northern skulker at April 01, 2023 09:25 PM (eGTCV)

183 My favorite biblical epic - Demetrius and the Gladiators! Okay not really much that's biblical about it. But Victor Mature!
As he said when denied entry to an exclusive club on account of being an actor, "I'm no actor, and I've got 64 films to prove it!"

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 01, 2023 09:26 PM (r46W7)

184 Wasn't Kinski the perv whose daughters claimed he raped them as children?

Posted by: Tonypete at April 01, 2023 09:28 PM (qoGsy)

185 Speaking of planks of wood, here's Liam Hemsworth.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 01, 2023 09:28 PM (Dc2NZ)

186 I recently got the 4K. Maybe I could identify their headstones now with all those pristine pixels.

Heh! Thanks but I'm not sure they had headstones. Long story as too why. Condensed version: This is the second cemetery they've been interned in. The first was sold off (church cemetery) and they moved those bodies to the nearest cemetery (Evans City).

181: Yes, The Chosen is really well done and it's mostly crowd funded.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 01, 2023 09:29 PM (4eKPg)

187 The Passion Of The Christ by Mel Gibson,
drops mike

Posted by: Eromero at April 01, 2023 09:29 PM (MF3yS)

188 Must've had a lot of CHinese money in this flick.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread) at April 01, 2023 09:29 PM (Dc2NZ)

189
"Bloody Hell" is a very good oddball black comedy.

I'll try not to reveal too much because a lot of the fun is the twists and turns the plot takes.

A guy who's mostly regarded a hero for violently stopping a bank robbery winds up going to prison because he was considered to use unnecessary force.

8 years later he's released and has decided to go to another country to get a new start cuz he's tired of everyone bringing up the bank robbery and his part in it. So, he goes to Finland.

Hijinks ensue and he wakes up to find himself in the worst possible situation imaginable.

A very dark black comedy but you will laugh. Fairly gory.

Streaming on Shudder.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 01, 2023 09:30 PM (mm6iK)

190 Gentleman's Agreement was an emergency rewrite, spoken in code. The original plot was not about Jews. It was about homosexuals. So all the "moral points" in the code-speak version that was produced were highly...elliptical.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at April 01, 2023 09:30 PM (jYCXf)

191 I love the Exodus theme song.

Posted by: That Northern skulker at April 01, 2023 09:31 PM (eGTCV)

192 Wasn't Kinski the perv whose daughters claimed he raped them as children?
Posted by: Tonypete at April 01, 2023 09:28 PM (qoGsy

Yes.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 01, 2023 09:31 PM (oINRc)

193 190 Gentleman's Agreement was an emergency rewrite, spoken in code. The original plot was not about Jews. It was about homosexuals. So all the "moral points" in the code-speak version that was produced were highly...elliptical.
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at April 01, 2023 09:30 PM
Well that would sell like waffles and chicken today.

Posted by: Eromero at April 01, 2023 09:33 PM (MF3yS)

194 @53 Paul Newman and Strother Martin in Slapshot is a classic . "Do you remember when I walked into your hotel room and you were wearing that frilly bra and panties?"

Posted by: Smell the Glove at April 01, 2023 09:33 PM (QQ9ya)

195 The Passion Of The Christ by Mel Gibson,
drops mike
Posted by: Eromero at April 01, 2023 09:29 PM (MF3yS)

OW!!!!

Posted by: Mike at April 01, 2023 09:38 PM (anj39)

196 I need to rewatch The Magnificent Ambersons. That was one of a few movies that after watching one scene, it pulled me in and I ended up seeing the entire thing.

Posted by: WinLinBSDAdmin at April 01, 2023 09:38 PM (Hh3y4)

197 196 I need to rewatch The Magnificent Ambersons. That was one of a few movies that after watching one scene, it pulled me in and I ended up seeing the entire thing.
Posted by: WinLinBSDAdmin at April 01, 2023 09:38 PM (Hh3y4)

=======

The studio cut it up a fair bit, especially the ending which was filmed by another director after the US government had sent Orson Welles to South America to make a documentary of some sort to support the early days of the US entry into WWII (the film was never finished).

The original version of The Magnificent Ambersons is one of those holy grails of film restoration. The studio burned all the clipped footage, but there are rumors of some copy being in South America somewhere. It's never been found, of course.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 09:40 PM (LvTSG)

198 A former work location on a previous contract made a brief appearance in 'The Hunt For Red October'. A blink and you miss it scene but still cool.
Posted by: Puddleglum
***

Not a movie but the new Fugitive tv show filmed several times in Tacoma. They turned the building I worked in into a hotel. I was coming down the stairs once and walked into a rehearsal. Kinda cool.

Posted by: Diogenes at April 01, 2023 09:42 PM (anj39)

199 All About Eve (Rating 3.5/4) Full Review "I think it's a bit overpraised, but just a bit." [Library]
I thought you said "overpriced" at first and had to re-read. I was thinking "Dang, free and it was still overpriced?"

Posted by: GWB at April 01, 2023 09:47 PM (NJ9MR)

200 Apocalypto is a Biblical Epic.

Posted by: Thesokorus at April 01, 2023 09:48 PM (1ais2)

201 Let's all go to the Lobby!

Or ONT.

As you wish.

Posted by: Iris at April 01, 2023 09:52 PM (foa6+)

202 @73 --

Skip, I watched that for the first time just two weeks ago. It was good.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 01, 2023 09:58 PM (Om/di)

203 Posted by: TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch at April 01, 2023 09:40 PM (LvTSG)

Thx for that tidbit. Fantastic film IMO.

Posted by: WinLinBSDAdmin at April 01, 2023 11:42 PM (Hh3y4)

204 Tetris is fun and very libertarian. Commies are bad capitalism is good and the government is corrupt.

Posted by: Rachel Jeanral at April 02, 2023 07:11 AM (wiWko)

205 The Best Years of Our Lives over It’s. Wonderful Life? What?

Posted by: Shrieking Eel at April 02, 2023 10:41 AM (CHZqd)

206 ¨The Best Years of Our Lives over It’s. Wonderful Life? What?¨

¨Wonderful Life¨ is a terrific movie; but ¨Best Years" is arguably the best movie about war, ever. The performance by Harold Russell is heart-rending.

As long as I´m here, though, I have to say that I loathe ¨You Can´t Take It With You¨. Frank Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin turned a tart, funny comedy by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart into a steaming pile of Capra-corn. Capra and Riskin made some terrific movies together (¨It Happened One Night¨ and ¨Lost Horizon¨ among them), but here they´re at their worst.

Posted by: Nemo at April 02, 2023 12:34 PM (S6ArX)

207 I saw "The African Queen" many years ago as a teenager, and nothing has compared to it since. Of course, I haven't seen a new movie since the original Star Wars, because I hate Hollywood.

Posted by: Ray Van Dune at April 02, 2023 11:51 PM (AcLxR)

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