Saturday Evening Movie Thread 11/18/2023 [TheJamesMadison]

Paul Leni

In the late silent and early sound era, one of the chief imports to Hollywood was German directors. The most important import was probably Ernst Lubitsch, but there were definitely others such as F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang (you could throw in Billy Wilder, but he was imported as a writer, and he struggled to get into the country and system). One of those that could have been in that top tier was Paul Leni, attracting the attention of Hollywood with his anthology film Waxworks, but he died in 1929 of sepsis from an infected tooth. I'm going to say this more than once, but go to your dentist, people.

Leni made only four movies in Hollywood before his death from 1927 to 1929 (only four in three years? Hollywood has really changed), and one of those is lost (the second Charlie Chan film, The Chinese Parrot), but he was actually rather hugely influential both in Germany and America. He's one of those filmmakers that's mostly forgotten but has fingerprints still in cinema today.

So, who was this guy? Only seven of his films survive to the current day, and yet he was formative in two major movements of film? Who did he think he was?

German Expressionism

The silent era was a quick period of learning for the entire film world. The form began in the last years of the 19th century with the work of people like the Lumiere Brothers, given life by people like Georges Melies, and given form by people like D.W. Griffith. By the time Griffith had really established what a feature film was in 1915, the medium was less than twenty years old and fourteen years away from sound completely shaking everything up. That was less than a generation to figure out what else one could do, and Germany was one of the epicenters of that discovery.

And Paul Leni was one of the originators of what became German Expressionism.

Leni worked his way up through the German film industry by becoming one of the premiere set decorators and art directors in the country. The start of German Expressionism is generally considered Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in 1920 which was hugely influential across the German film industry, and Leni would make a serious contribution to the overall concept with his set designs in the film that he co-directed with Leopold Jessner, Hintertreppe, which translates to "the back stairs". The central set design of that film is the titular back stairs that reach up and down frame in exaggerated angles and dilapidated form, an image that became synonymous with German Expressionism in general.

What's interesting is that Leni, having helped establish one of the main visual building blocks of the movement actually barely worked in it. He only had one more German feature film, the previously mentioned Waxworks, and it's not really what I would consider to be German Expressionistic. It's more fantastical in the vein of The Thief of Baghdad than Expressionistic like Dr. Caligari, but then again, so is Faust by Murnau, and it's considered Expressionistic, so maybe my labels game is simply weak.

Anyway, there's no denying that while he wasn't the first voice in German Expressionism, as both a filmmaker who dabbled in it and a set designer who worked on the physical side more than most, he was part of that key building block that formed the edifice of German Expressionism, a film movement that really only lasted a few years.

Hollywood comes calling

And so Hollywood invited him to America to join the other German expats bringing a different and identifiable aesthetic to the twenty year old medium that people like Griffith or Chaplin didn't share. An easy way to identify the differences between the German and English speaking world is in the treatment of intertitles. Alfred Hitchcock (who started as a writer of intertitles) wrote an article very early in his career about how intertitles, the cards shown in the middle of scenes to identify characters, communicate dialogue, or just outright express exposition, should be unassuming and almost invisible. This was an effort to try and make the experience as seamless as possible.

Leni, though, thought differently and used his intertitles showily rather than plainly. His intertitles use different fonts given the circumstances, move on screen, zoom in and out, and even try to replicate the effects of sounds both through onomatopoeia as well as movement. The best example is in his final film, The Last Warning, made late enough in the silent era where it got a dedicated soundtrack of sound effects and music added to it contemporaneously (so was The Man Who Laughs, actually), and there's a moment late where a crash happens (someone gets something landing on their head), and the intertitles move in a way to imply the sound without the soundtrack's help (I assume Leni designed the intertitles without concern for sound at all, and there's a chance the soundtrack was arranged without his input, not because he died but because that's kind of how the studio system worked). It's a great moment, and a direct contrast to how Hollywood generally used the intertitles.

He did all of this and more working for Universal Studios under Carl Laemmle Jr., and he was as important to forming the foundation of the Universal Monster movie as Tod Browning, James Whale, or Laemmle himself.

Monsters

It's important to realize that Laemmle's efforts to adapt Dracula and Frankenstein wasn't entirely about just bringing monsters to the screen, and it had nothing to do with an effort to create franchises. It was about adapting respected European literature, mostly from the 19th century, preferably with elements of the grotesque like in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (adapted by Laemmle, Wallace Worsley, and Universal in 1923) and Paul Leni's The Man Who Laughs, adapted from the Victor Hugo novel about a man with a permanent smile surgically formed onto his face when he's a child (inspiring the look of The Joker decades later). It cannot be ignored that All Quiet on the Western Front was actually part of this effort by the younger Laemmle to greatly expand Universal's footprint into prestige pictures at the time, an effort that he'd eventually trip over by the mid-30s when his creditors would use a cash shortage during the filming of Show Boat to wrest control of the entire company from him. It wasn't an effort to build horror as the brand, but to bring prestige to Universal which, under Laemmle's father, had been known for cheap westerns more than anything else.

Into this changing machine came Leni, first to make the first adaptation of The Cat and the Canary, also part of that effort at novelistic adaptations, but mostly with The Man Who Laughs. It's a grand adaptation told on a large scale that changes certain little pieces while condensing the large story down to about two hours, and it's a consummate entertainment, a wonderful marriage of German Expressionistic visuals with Hollywood conventions around structure and emotional pathos that ups the tension by the end into a chase through the streets of Paris. More importantly for Leni and Laemmle, though, beyond the artistic merits of the film (it's really, really good) was its financial success, which was great. Made and released in 1929, right on the verge of the transition to sound (as previously noted, it does have a dedicated soundtrack from the time that even includes a sung song), The Man Who Laughs was the film that laid the groundwork for the Universal Monster films to come, moreso than The Hunchback of Notre Dame from six years prior.

It was such a success, that Laemmle had Leni lined up for the Dracula adaptation, going so far as to secure Conrad Veidt, Leni's regular leading man and star of The Man Who Laughs for the title role, except that Leni ignored the pain in his tooth, failed to go to a dentist to have it removed, and died of sepsis. The assignment passed to Tod Browning, who was only tied to the overall monster movie machine for the one film, before Laemmle got James Whale to make Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and Bride of Frankenstein, the latter establishing that these films could be funnier than straight adaptations, introducing the concept of camp to the endeavor.

What Could Have Been

If Leni had gotten that tooth pulled with 1920s dentistry (yeah, shudder the thought, but he died from not going), where would his career have gone? It's hard to say. He worked under two studio machines, cogs in both that worked to get levels of freedom. If I had to guess who he was as a filmmaker at heart, that which would have been the most Leni of the Leni films, it would probably be The Last Warning, his final film. It's an assumption based on the fact that The Man Who Laughs was such a success that Laemmle would have allowed him to film whatever he wanted on reused sets (they're from The Phantom of the Opera, the other major work from the late silent period that helped firm up Laemmle's early sound approach to project selection). It would have been a cheap thing, a way for Laemmle to reward Leni for his success, and what kind of film is it?

Well, it's a lot like The Cat and the Canary in terms of tone. It's a campy horror film. It doesn't make the most sense, but it's fun as its mystery plays out. It's also important to note that The Cat and the Canary was hugely influential to...James Whale, who pretty much remade it with his The Old Dark House. It's not hard to imagine Leni going in a similar direction as Whale took things, playing the first film pretty straight before going into funnier directions. Leni probably wouldn't have hired Una O'Connor to scream through two films, though (O'Connor was a fine actress, but Whale used her only one way, and that wasn't the way that John Ford used her).

So, it's not hard to imagine that the Universal monster pictures would have ended up in a similar, though not exactly the same, place, and it's doubtful that Leni would have introduced a materially different amount of financial success to help Laemmle avoid losing the company to his creditors. However, that wouldn't have been the end of his career. Considering the script deficiencies in The Last Warning, I'm not sure he would have become one of the greats, a German Hitchcock or something, but he might have been memorable. He might have become a familiar name across the height of the studio system, perhaps moving from Universal to a place like MGM or even WB with more money, and helping create the house styles of another studio. I get the sense Leni would have gotten along well professionally with someone like Irving Thalberg (better than Thalberg got along with the Viennese import Erich von Stroheim).

Dying Young

Paul Leni's legacy is scant. He's really only remembered because of the connection to Batman's arch-nemesis The Joker, inspired by the look of the eponymous man who laughs. He was following a similar path through the studio system as others of his generation, and he could have flourished. However, he simply died young before he could really gain the freedom that he was probably going to earn.

There are no great lessons to learn from his body of work, though it's worth checking out, especially the three surviving American films (The Cat and the Canary, The Man Who Laughs, and The Last Warning). However, there is one thing in particular to take away from all this.

Go to the dentist, people.

Movies of Today

Opening in Theaters:

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Trolls Band Together

Movies I Saw This Fortnight:

Terms of Endearment (Rating 3/4) Full Review "It's nice. It's a nice little film that does some comedy well, some drama well, and then just overplays its hand in its final act. It's not bad at all, and Brooks does accomplished work as a first-time director, getting very good performances from everyone involved. It's just, you know, it beat The Right Stuff." [Library]

Out of Africa (Rating 2/4) Full Review "So, I admire the technical merits and the performances, but it's all in service of a story that they take way too seriously, turning something unworthy into some effort into a grand romance. I just can't get into it. This is no David Lean." [Library]

Hintertreppe (Rating 3/4) Full Review "However, that's not to take away from the central little tragic romance. It's quite nice, and it's framed greatly in this fantastic series of sets. I think it works quite well overall. It's small, looks great, and has an ending that goes a bit too far, but it's fine." [YouTube]

Waxworks (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "It's largely uneven and not as fully successful as it probably should have been, but it definitely has some entertainments within. There are worse ways to spend 80 minutes." [YouTube]

The Cat and the Canary (Rating 3/4) Full Review "It's a fun little film. I enjoyed it a good bit." [YouTube]

The Man Who Laughs (Rating 4/4) Full Review "He continued the house style, injecting the German Expressionism is was brought over to put into the Hollywood product, worked well with the cast, and made a grand adventure melodrama on a huge scale, moving Universal's work on The Hunchback of Notre Dame forward while maintaining a technical skill that makes me think he would have done well in the sound era had he lived long enough." [Daily Motion]

Platoon (Rating 2/4) Full Review "This film, his most praised, most successful financially, and most awarded, mostly just kind of bores me because I never invest in anything beyond some details of life of a grunt in Vietnam." [Library]

Rain Man (Rating 3/4) Full Review "It ends up feeling like the safe choice for Best Picture, a crowd pleaser with little challenge and an easy message to digest, well-made by Levinson while delivering the nice moments along the way." [Library]

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 12/9, and it will talk about the directing career of Joe Dante.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:45 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Yay! I did it!

TJMP is AFK.

Posted by: moviegique at November 18, 2023 07:30 PM (asXVI)

2 Wait...did my own comment get swallowed?

Posted by: moviegique at November 18, 2023 07:32 PM (asXVI)

3 I guess not!

Anyway, typically well-researched post from TJMP. I'm a big fan of the German Expressionists, and there is a less amongst many of them on "how not to die".

The dentist, sure. The great Murnau died in a car crash with his "house boy". Fritz Lang...well, he died of a stroke at 85, so he did okay.

Though he died in obscurity, so that's probably a lesson, too.

Posted by: moviegique at November 18, 2023 07:35 PM (asXVI)

4 One of the best silent films was released in 2011, The Artist.

I love that film, watch it at least once a year, or when my Plex decides it's the next film on my random playlist.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at November 18, 2023 07:35 PM (XV/Pl)

5 There is a reason they added sound to movies. But I'm glad there are people who continue to study and retain knowledge of these movies for future generations . I'm just not one of them.

Just like I'm glad that a lot of people study and enjoy blacksmith it and pass down their skills.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 07:35 PM (MNhXM)

6 but he was actually rather hugely influential both in Germany and America.

You know who else was rather hugely influential in both Germany and America?

Sorry - I had to.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 18, 2023 07:37 PM (IaTa3)

7 but he was actually rather hugely influential both in Germany and America.

You know who else was rather hugely influential in both Germany and America?

Sorry - I had to.
Posted by: Tonypete at November 18, 2023 07:37 PM (IaTa3)
---
David Hasselhoff?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 18, 2023 07:38 PM (BpYfr)

8 Posted by: Tonypete at November 18, 2023 07:37 PM (IaTa3)

Scorpions!!

Posted by: Pug Mahon, 3/12 FA at November 18, 2023 07:44 PM (T/Lqj)

9 Babette's Feast > Out of Africa

Better film adaptation of a Dinesen work.

Posted by: Lizzy at November 18, 2023 07:45 PM (izj35)

10 One of the best silent films was released in 2011, The Artist. ||

"The Artist" is quite good.

There is a reason they added sound to movies. ||

Lilian Gish (who spent the first 15 years of her life in silents and the next 60 in talkies) said that she felt they were developing a new way of storytelling, and that was cut short by sound.

I think that's true. There are some amazing late-era silents and it's interesting how pure a story Murnau (e.g.) could tell without words.

Posted by: moviegique at November 18, 2023 07:47 PM (asXVI)

11 FWIW, my sister rewatched "Rain an" recently, and as the parent of an autistic child, remarked "Wow, they got a lot of stuff right."

As for Best Picture, seems like almost every year they've gotten it wrong. That one year "Titanic" beat "LA Confidential". . .

Posted by: Lizzy at November 18, 2023 07:48 PM (izj35)

12 Good evening everyone

Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 07:48 PM (fwDg9)

13 || Babette's Feast > Out of Africa

OOA is awful.

I wanna see Babette's Feast and it's playing Tuesday, but it's playing against "The Sting", and I think the kids should see that.

Posted by: moviegique at November 18, 2023 07:48 PM (asXVI)

14 My HS, back in the dark ages, had a Film Study Society headed by a great instructor and Shakespeare fanatic. For a number of weeks he led us in viewing many of the above mentioned films. Great stuff - Thanks TJM! Wonderful subject.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 18, 2023 07:49 PM (IaTa3)

15 "Rain Man" holds up really well.

I found myself so annoyed that the Academy nominated Hoffman for the showy role while Cruise turned in a genuinely nuanced performance and got nothing, that I sorta downgraded the film in my mind over the years.

But it's damn good. The autism stuff is mostly good.

Posted by: moviegique at November 18, 2023 07:49 PM (asXVI)

16

You know who else was rather hugely influential in both Germany and America?

Sorry - I had to.
Posted by: Tonypete at November 18, 2023 07:37 PM (IaTa3)
---
David Hasselhoff?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

Marlene Dietrich?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 18, 2023 07:50 PM (XeU6L)

17 Interesting review blurb about Platoon. I think I saw a neutered version on cable once when I was young and didn't understand or care very much. Seems like one of those movies where the audience is expected to already be strongly opinionated about Vietnam and then explore that space.

Posted by: CppThis at November 18, 2023 07:51 PM (PZvjL)

18 Monsters!!??

Hell I think Daughter of Diogenes #2 dated that guy.
Daughter of Diogenes #2 helped hammer the Berlin Wall. She didn't take any shit.
He didn't last long.

Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 07:51 PM (6X8wc)

19 >>I wanna see Babette's Feast and it's playing Tuesday, but it's playing against "The Sting", and I think the kids should see that.

Good choice. Babette's Feast's beginning is painfully slow. It's one of those movies that sneaks up on you.

Posted by: Lizzy at November 18, 2023 07:53 PM (izj35)

20 Interesting review blurb about Platoon. I think I saw a neutered version on cable once when I was young and didn't understand or care very much. Seems like one of those movies where the audience is expected to already be strongly opinionated about Vietnam and then explore that space.
Posted by: CppThis at November 18, 2023 07:51

Platoon could have easily been Band of Brothers for the VietNam era. Sadly, Hollywood was too stuck on its belief that all Nam vets are wacko. Some wasted performances.

Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 07:55 PM (6X8wc)

21 Weirdly enough, I think "Babette's Feast" is more likely to come around again. I haven't seen "The Sting" playing in a theater in decades.

"Platoon" was the second...and last...Oliver Stone movie I saw. The first was "The Hand", which wasn't great but I'd have preferred Stone keep to horror rather than politics.

Posted by: moviegique at November 18, 2023 08:01 PM (asXVI)

22 I walked out of Full Metal Jacket thinking 'that was a lot of war crimes'. Turns out it was the made for TV version of the story. The real story was worse.

Posted by: Reforger at November 18, 2023 08:01 PM (B705c)

23 Would have thought The Last Warning would be on YouTube

Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 08:01 PM (fwDg9)

24 I remember hearing about "The Man Who Laughs" before, but don't remember what, just that I heard of it.

I'll try to track it down.

I had the pleasure of watching "A Bridge Too Far" this past week, and I'm sure I've seen it before. It means a lot more, now that I have a better understanding of the history behind the event.

In a fun bit of irony, John Ratzenberger has a small role in the film, and it seems like the kind of thing Cliff Claven would have enjoyed telling his barmates about.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 18, 2023 08:02 PM (QBaJw)

25 Oh, God, Joe Dante. The man who invented the "out joke."

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 18, 2023 08:03 PM (CHHv1)

26 H8ed Platoon and was one of the first to see it, went to early show, came out and normal show line was around the block

Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 08:03 PM (fwDg9)

27 War movies I like I see dozens of time, if only seen it once I didn't like it.

Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 08:04 PM (fwDg9)

28
Saw an interesting thesis about The French Connection. Muldrig, the federal agent, is Popeye's nemesis. He gets shot to death by Popeye in the abandoned Ward's Island factory during the search for Charnier, who vanishes.

What was Muldrig doing there? The point, that I never considered, is that he was a mole for Charnier and was helping him get away. After all, Charnier left the Roosevelt "undetected" when Muldrig was supposedly covering him.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 18, 2023 08:05 PM (MoZTd)

29 "David Hasselhoff?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

Marlene Dietrich?
Posted by: Mike Hammer"

I thought it was Dr. Porsche.

Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 08:05 PM (vFG9F)

30 I wonder why they never made Chickenhawk into a movie.
First 30 minutes would teach everyone who watched how to fly a Huey.

Posted by: Reforger at November 18, 2023 08:05 PM (B705c)

31 I appreciate those who watch films and other media and see "art". I see either a good story, a boring story, or just blah.

Art never enters into my reptilian brain while watching celluloid but I know the folks that make and star in these movies are or were talented folks but in MeatSpace it's not worth all that much.

Hell, it's not even celluloid anymore it's all electronic zeros and ones.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 18, 2023 08:05 PM (R/m4+)

32 I watched Palms Springs with Andy Sandberg again just recently and I didn’t change my opinion that I liked it better than Groundhog Day which I really really liked.

Anyone else seen Palm Springs?

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:07 PM (MNhXM)

33
Movies nowadays would be better if they were silent.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 18, 2023 08:07 PM (MoZTd)

34 20 Platoon could have easily been Band of Brothers for the VietNam era. Sadly, Hollywood was too stuck on its belief that all Nam vets are wacko. Some wasted performances.
Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 07:55 PM (6X8wc)

Yeah, Stone was definitely trying to push some stuff--a common trend with that guy it would seem. Along with the aforementioned Band Of Brothers, I point to the Alice In Chains song 'Rooster' as the rare case of media doing something about war where it really is just about the guys in the shit and not the artists casting a shadow.

Posted by: CppThis at November 18, 2023 08:08 PM (PZvjL)

35
'84 Charlie Mopic' is the most realistic VN film that I have seen. Very low budget, so no CGI of all hell breaking loose, but very realistic portrayal.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 18, 2023 08:10 PM (XeU6L)

36 Hi, film fans.

Spent too many days flipping through cable TV, which I haven't done in ages. First, TV.is crappier than ever, and commercials are the real horror genre.

But, Halloween weekend, caught some things. Bunch of Marvel movies, and not all of that was bad. Other SF like Jumanji, 5th Element, Forbidden Planet, often tuning in late, alas. An old Red Skelton flick, commercial-free was fun.

Also saw a sweet funny show we'd seen before, also commercial-free so watched it again -- a romantic comedy ghost story, sorta--the Hulk meets Legally Blond, guest star Napoleon Dynamite.
🤣

Posted by: mindful webworker - now in 3D at November 18, 2023 08:10 PM (mlaHT)

37
Sadly, Hollywood was too stuck on its belief that all Nam vets are wacko. Some wasted performances.
Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 07:55 PM (6X8wc)

___________

A compendium of movies with a character who's a Crazed Vietnam Veteran would be lengthy, methinks.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 18, 2023 08:10 PM (MoZTd)

38 Terms of Endearment beat out The Right Stuff? I'd forgotten about that. Head scratcher, that one.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 08:10 PM (G1ktt)

39 '84 Charlie Mopic' is the most realistic VN film that I have seen. Very low budget, so no CGI of all hell breaking loose, but very realistic portrayal.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 18, 2023 08:10 PM (XeU6L)

I haven't seen it. To be honest, a film about the Vietnam war that wasn't antiwar would seem odd to me. There just isn't anything to celebrate.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 18, 2023 08:12 PM (QBaJw)

40 >>Also saw a sweet funny show we'd seen before, also commercial-free so watched it again -- a romantic comedy ghost story, sorta--the Hulk meets Legally Blond, guest star Napoleon Dynamite.

"Just Like Heaven" - which had the unfortunate bad timing to come out amidst the Terry Shiavo plug-pulling drama, IIRC. It is a sweet movie.

Posted by: Lizzy at November 18, 2023 08:12 PM (izj35)

41 My favorite war movie is Battleground just because of the last scene.

A recent war movie that I only recently saw was the 1956 movie , Between Heaven and Hell with Robert Wagner .

Very good IMHO.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:12 PM (MNhXM)

42 Mr. Sardonicus had a nice smile.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at November 18, 2023 08:13 PM (63Dwl)

43 Reforger I read that book

Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 08:14 PM (fwDg9)

44 Haven't seen a movie in over a.month. Too focused on Israel vs Hamas and the Rugby World Cup.

And tonight the #10 Oregon State Beavers (my team) are going to get smashed by the #5 Washington Huskies in SportsBall and I must watch, even though it'll make me sad.

Hope you all are doing well.

Oh, did you see that a masked band of black-clad Nazis carrying huge swastika flags marched through downtown Madison, WI (a well-known hotbed of Nazis) and not a single AntiFa challenged them.

Yet another government/antifa op. Fuck these people.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 18, 2023 08:14 PM (/RHNq)

45 I put Battleground in my top 10 favorite war movies

Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 08:14 PM (fwDg9)

46 Could thisLeni fella have made a movie as great as Bloodsport? I think not.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at November 18, 2023 08:14 PM (u73oe)

47 My wife and I went to a movie last week, the first time in a theater since before covid. We saw "After Death", which is put out by Angel Studios, the folks behind The Chosen series. If you have any interest in near death experiences, I would recommend seeing it. Comes at the subject from a Christian perspective as you might guess from the producers, but well done IMHO. The popcorn was pretty good too.

Posted by: Pod Hamp at November 18, 2023 08:15 PM (GjNDo)

48 I point to the Alice In Chains song 'Rooster' as the rare case of media doing something about war where it really is just about the guys in the shit and not the artists casting a shadow.
Posted by: CppThis

It was about his dad in Vietnam. His Dad was nicknamed 'Rooster'.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 08:17 PM (G1ktt)

49 Napoleon comes out next week, planning to see it Next Sunday, first movie been to in years.

Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 08:17 PM (fwDg9)

50 "Empire Of The Ants" is on Svengoolie. A Bert I Gordon flick, so you know it's going to be something awful. That's the way I like 'em.

That Nostalgiaferatoo friend of Sven's cracks me up. He's so cheesy.

Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 08:17 PM (vFG9F)

51 I saw "The Shape of Water" recently. Seemed like a goofy premise for a movie, but I ended up loving it. Great acting, especially Sally Hawkins. Some visuals I'll never forget. Free on Prime.

Posted by: chris+opher at November 18, 2023 08:19 PM (dSco/)

52 I watched a biodocumentary about Mike Nichols last week, "American Masters; Mike Nichols" (1986), directed by Elaine May.

I ended up liking Nichols a lot, not that I ever didn't. He's witty (duh) and self-effacing.

Some Nichols factoids: 1) He lost every hair on his body when he was a kid-- bad reaction to some medication. His entire long life thereafter, he wore a wig & fake eyebrows. You can't detect it, though; and 2) At one time he was a riding academy instructor. He was very horse-y, but directing westerns never interested him.

The week before, I had watched "By Sidney Lumet" (2012), also a biodoc, only feature length. I had trouble enduring Lumet's smug leftist politics. Lumet made a helluva lot of movies which have endured. He made about 1 film every year-- for 50 years.

All of the best known Nichols & May skits are available on YouTube for free.

Btw, what's the big deal about dreading 1920s dentistry so much? They had nitrous oxide. Having a tooth pulled back then? So what?

Posted by: K.C. Wolf (mnw) at November 18, 2023 08:19 PM (NLIak)

53 Sharkman!

Huck the Fuskies!!!

Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 08:20 PM (uSHSS)

54 37
Sadly, Hollywood was too stuck on its belief that all Nam vets are wacko. Some wasted performances.
Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 07:55 PM (6X8wc)

___________

A compendium of movies with a character who's a Crazed Vietnam Veteran would be lengthy, methinks.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh

Which is why the TV show 'Magnum PI' was an anomaly of its time. It showed Vietnam Vets as normal and well adjusted. Yes, scarred by their experiences but not destroyed by it. Life goes on and they went with it.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 08:20 PM (G1ktt)

55 A positive look at soldiers Vietnam War movie was The Green Berets because the Duke wouldn’t make any other kind. Wasn’t very good movie film wise but the ending did cause my allergies to act up.

Peter-Son ! Peter-Son ! Have you seen my Peter-Son ?

We Were Soldiers was very good.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:20 PM (MNhXM)

56 Uh oh. The ants got into the radioactive waste.

Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 08:21 PM (vFG9F)

57

I haven't seen it. To be honest, a film about the Vietnam war that wasn't antiwar would seem odd to me. There just isn't anything to celebrate.

Posted by: BurtTC
-------

FWIW, here 'tis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrozOz8DXq4

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 18, 2023 08:22 PM (XeU6L)

58 Sardonicus did have a nice smile, didn't he? Saw that sucker in the theater when it first came out. The Colony at 59th & Kedzie in Chicago. They handed out the standard William Castle gimmick (thumbs up/down card to vote on whether to extend mercy to Sardonicus at the end of the flick) and a splendid time was had by all.

Around the same time, you could count on seeing Battleground and a number of other nifty movies on NBC in prime time on Saturday nights. Now you need paid streaming services to catch the good old stuff.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 08:22 PM (a/4+U)

59 Mr. Sardonicus 1961 is another frozen smile movie that likely had influence on the Joker’s smile.

Posted by: 42 at November 18, 2023 08:23 PM (Inn3Y)

60 Nice essay on a guy I wasn't familiar with, TJM. I've always liked the Expressionists -- the Germans aren't afraid of the grotesque.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 18, 2023 08:24 PM (Jys3L)

61 excellent post, i had never know much about Paul Leni, certainly not how influential he was in those early days.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 18, 2023 08:27 PM (q3gwH)

62 Huck the Fuskies!!!

Posted by: Diogenes

Damn right! Alas, it's raining cats and dogs in Corvallis and the play is sloppy and not in the Beavs' favor.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 18, 2023 08:27 PM (/RHNq)

63 I’m thinking the 1947 movie Kiss of Death with Victor Mature and Richard Wiis were they got the Joker smile .

What a creepy criminal character Widmark played.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:28 PM (MNhXM)

64 Mr. Sardonicus 1961 is another frozen smile movie that likely had influence on the Joker’s smile.||

Given that "The Joker" was created in 1940, that seems unlikely, unless you want to argue that subsequent drawings of the character were influenced by a William Castle movie.

(Not impossible, but...[citation needed].)

Posted by: moviegique at November 18, 2023 08:28 PM (asXVI)

65 For some reason I mixed up The Man Who Laughs with He Who Gets Slapped.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at November 18, 2023 08:28 PM (63Dwl)

66 In countries like India and other 3rd world places tooth abscess is the number one cause of death or right near the top.

Ludwig's angina is a bitch, people.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 18, 2023 08:29 PM (QzZeQ)

67 German Expressionism:

Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog" (1991) is a sendup of the genre. It's very clever. I guess it's my favorite Woody Allen movie, although I have by no means seen them all. And I disliked quite a few of the ones I have seen.

Posted by: K.C. Wolf (mnw) at November 18, 2023 08:30 PM (NLIak)

68 Posted by: moviegique at November 18, 2023 08:28 PM (asXVI)

Cool . That was probably what Widmark was going for. The Joker.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:30 PM (MNhXM)

69 Oh, did you see that a masked band of black-clad Nazis carrying huge swastika flags marched through downtown Madison, WI (a well-known hotbed of Nazis) and not a single AntiFa challenged them.

-
Didja see that Canada's Anti-Racism Strategist is a rabid Jew hater? How rabid you ask? Well . . .

https://tinyurl.com/ykbht36a

I'm beginning to think that that standing ovation for the SS trooper wasn't a fluke.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at November 18, 2023 08:31 PM (FVME7)

70 Fireworks going off, no idea why

Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 08:32 PM (fwDg9)

71 Watched "Soylent Green" again. The smug TCM host said it was scarily prescient, what with the 2022 threats of climate change, food insecurity, and pollution (not, not, and NOT).

Still a cool flick, and the scene with Heston bidding adieu to Edward G Robinson always gets me.

"You must evacuate the area. The scoops are on their way! The scoops are on their way!"

Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 18, 2023 08:33 PM (Jys3L)

72 Empire of the Ants -- eons since I've seen it. But, hey, anything with Robert Lansing and Jacqueline Scott (Richard Kimble's sister in the original Fugitive series) can't be all bad.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 08:34 PM (a/4+U)

73 Sharkman!

Huck the Fuskies!!!
Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 08:20 PM (uSHSS)
**

HA!!!
Yeah!
That's right Nurse. I said Huck the Fuskies!
Whaddaya gonna do about it???

*dons flak vest and kevlar*

Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 08:34 PM (uSHSS)

74 52 I watched a biodocumentary about Mike Nichols last week, "American Masters; Mike Nichols" (1986), directed by Elaine May.

I ended up liking Nichols a lot, not that I ever didn't. He's witty (duh) and self-effacing."

it's very good, and few people today realize how hugely influential to the movie industry Nichols and May were, both individually and together. May acted, directed, and also wrote the screenplays for several of Nichol's best works.

I'll plug a 1971 comedy that shouldn't be as obscure as it seems to be; "A New Leaf" which May wrote, directed, and starred in. Walter Matthau is the other lead, and he has a nastily funny character that's as good as any he ever played. Well worth the time if you can find it.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 18, 2023 08:35 PM (q3gwH)

75
"Platoon" was the second...and last...Oliver Stone movie I saw. The first was "The Hand", which wasn't great but I'd have preferred Stone keep to horror rather than politics.
Posted by: moviegique at November 18, 2023 08:01 PM (asXVI)

The Hand!!!!

I kinda loved that movie cuz Michael Caine was so good in it.

Great insane laughing at the end if nothing else. That's a tough thing to do in a sufficiently creepy manner.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 18, 2023 08:36 PM (QzZeQ)

76 I like the photo at top
DeNiro was great in that Untouchables movie

Posted by: DB - at November 18, 2023 08:36 PM (geLO8)

77 Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 18, 2023 08:33 PM (Jys3L)

I’m trying to rank Charton Heston movies. Can’t get started because I can’t decide which one is my favorite.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:36 PM (MNhXM)

78
Cool . That was probably what Widmark was going for. The Joker.
Posted by: Drive by

They copied his pushing the wheelchair down the steps routine for a political ad many years later.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at November 18, 2023 08:36 PM (63Dwl)

79 On the recommendation of the blog I finally watched "Prometheus" yesterday... I'm still recovering.

Posted by: lin-duh at November 18, 2023 08:37 PM (d2Zdq)

80 I need Oregon St. to win to give my Wildcats a chance.
Plus, the fuskies have wrecked numerous NYD's beating Michigan. There are several teams on that list. The Ducks are not.

Posted by: Jamaica at November 18, 2023 08:37 PM (Eeb9P)

81 Lizzy: "Just Like Heaven" - which had the unfortunate bad timing to come out amidst the Terry Shiavo plug-pulling drama, IIRC. It is a sweet movie.

That is unfortunate! We watched it on the recommendation of someone here on AoS.

Would not normally think, Mark Ruffalo & Reese Witherspoon, yeah, I'll watch that!

Posted by: mindful webworker - now in 3D at November 18, 2023 08:38 PM (mlaHT)

82 My roommate when I was a pledge, was from Washington. He had a WSU mug that said Huck the Fuskies! Took me a minute

Posted by: Jamaica at November 18, 2023 08:39 PM (Eeb9P)

83 74 TS

Saw "A New Leaf" back when it came out. Liked it very much. I forgot Nichols did that one.

Nichols is the only director to have ever won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony, and a Peabody.

Posted by: K.C. Wolf (mnw) at November 18, 2023 08:39 PM (NLIak)

84 German Expressionism:

Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog" (1991) is a sendup of the genre. It's very clever. I guess it's my favorite Woody Allen movie, although I have by no means seen them all. And I disliked quite a few of the ones I have seen.
Posted by: K.C. Wolf (mnw) at November 18, 2023 08:30 PM (NLIak)

A great double feature for home viewing is:

1) Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog"

followed by

2) Steven Soderbergh's "Kafka"

They're not the same but they sort of rhyme and both play off of German Expressionism.

"Kafka" is the better movie. It's one of my faves.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 18, 2023 08:40 PM (QzZeQ)

85 Holy crap! $8 for a tub of popcorn? We need to start cracking down on these cartels!

Posted by: Dr. Bone at November 18, 2023 08:40 PM (PbTeh)

86 lin-duh, you may have misread the general opinion of the blog

Posted by: Kratwurst at November 18, 2023 08:40 PM (i/LKe)

87 There is one Viet Nam movie, Apocalypse Now.

Posted by: Jamaica at November 18, 2023 08:40 PM (Eeb9P)

88 Good essay, man

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at November 18, 2023 08:41 PM (xcxpd)

89 A New Leaf is available for rent or purchase on Amazon video. It's from a Jack Ritchie short story called The Green Heart -- Ritchie was ubiquitous in the mystery magazines and the Hitchcock anthologies, and I think just about all his work is available on kindle. Worth a look.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 08:41 PM (a/4+U)

90 I’m trying to rank Charton Heston movies.

-
For those who missed the Week In.Pictures . . .

https://tinyurl.com/ms4buz6e

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at November 18, 2023 08:42 PM (FVME7)

91 My roommate when I was a pledge, was from Washington. He had a WSU mug that said Huck the Fuskies! Took me a minute
Posted by: Jamaica at November 18, 2023 08:39 PM (Eeb9P)

And now you can never unsee it.

Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 08:42 PM (uSHSS)

92 If I saw a giant ant coming at me I damn sure ain't gonna stand there and beat it with a piece of PVC pipe. This movie is totally unbelievable.

Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 08:43 PM (vFG9F)

93 Suggested French Kiss to daughter & hub. They can't find it online or DVD. What is the deal with supply these days? Thought everything was available.

Posted by: mindful webworker - more popcorn, please at November 18, 2023 08:44 PM (mlaHT)

94 I've been watching Japanese mobster dramas and have come to the conclusion that Yakusa must learn to shoot at the Imperial Stormtrooper Academy. These characters generally need a dozen shots to hit someone ten feet away.
Maybe it's a cultural thing, where the Japanese audience expects, if you go to the trouble of having a pistol in the scene, you need to shoot it a lot. And I mean a lot.
I wonder if the Japanese feel the same way when a Western actor starts swings a samurai sword?

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at November 18, 2023 08:45 PM (YRK4R)

95 79 On the recommendation of the blog I finally watched "Prometheus" yesterday... I'm still recovering.
Posted by: lin-duh at November 18, 2023 08:37 PM (d2Zdq)
----

The ancient bazillionaire hired "the best" and every last one of these scientists behaved stupidly.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 18, 2023 08:45 PM (Jys3L)

96 Still a cool flick, and the scene with Heston bidding adieu to Edward G Robinson always gets me.

"You must evacuate the area. The scoops are on their way! The scoops are on their way!"
Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 18, 2023 08:33 PM (Jys3L)

I watched it too - it was one of a number of dystopian 70's films, saved by a great cast, rather than a great script. Still, that death scene with Eddie G. - it took a long time for me to find out that most on the set knew that Eddie G. was really dying while it was filmed; Charlton Heston's tears were real. It's not just a scene in a movie, it's Eddie G's onscreen farewell to a great life, and a fantastic career. He died only a couple weeks after that scene was filmed, and it is unarguably the greatest final performance in film history.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 18, 2023 08:45 PM (q3gwH)

97 Giant ants = bogus.
Now creeping brainsucking creatures (Fiend Without a Face) scared the crap outta me!

Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 08:46 PM (uSHSS)

98 84 natural

Never heard of "Kafka" before. I'll put it on my AMZ watchlist & watch the trailer. Rent it if I like it.

As for a double feature, alas no. The only movies I've ever watched more than once are classics I thought my kids might enjoy watching with me-- Casablanca & such.

Posted by: K.C. Wolf (mnw) at November 18, 2023 08:46 PM (NLIak)

99 I think I’m going with Omega Man as my favorite Heston movie followed by Ben Hur.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:48 PM (MNhXM)

100 On the recommendation of the blog I finally watched "Prometheus" yesterday... I'm still recovering.
Posted by: lin-duh at November 18, 2023 08:37 PM (d2Zdq)
----

The ancient bazillionaire hired "the best" and every last one of these scientists behaved stupidly.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 18, 2023 08:45 PM (Jys3L)

That movie is like 1 to 3 scenes away from being THE great comedy of the 2000's.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 18, 2023 08:48 PM (QzZeQ)

101 I saw "Platoon" somewhere, don't recall where. I recall it being about a good soldier but a bad man and a bad soldier but a good man. The only part of the move that ran true to me were the scenes when the soldiers were at base, and the music. Forest Gump captured more of the Vietnam that I recall.

Stone was in that unit when the got into the big fight at the end of the movie. I had beers with a guy who was there as well, long before the movie came out. He said had it not been for air support the outcome might have been different.

Posted by: javems at November 18, 2023 08:49 PM (8I4hW)

102 43 Reforger I read that book

Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 08:14 PM (fwDg9)

I was assigned it in an Aviation Science class my senior year.
I've probably read it at least once a year since. The first half anyway. It's always on a nearby stack.
I think it would make a great movie.
The story of Hilaire DuBerrier would make an awesome movie too. He wrote Background to Betrayal about Vietnam and what was going to happen well before it happened. Tied up thousands and thousands of Jap soldiers in China as part of the illegals in China during WW2 and wound up a POW.

Posted by: Reforger at November 18, 2023 08:50 PM (B705c)

103 Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at November 18, 2023 08:42 PM (FVME7

Heh.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:50 PM (MNhXM)

104 6 but he was actually rather hugely influential both in Germany and America.

You know who else was rather hugely influential in both Germany and America?

Sorry - I had to.
Posted by: Tonypete at November 18, 2023 07:37 PM (IaTa3)

Me?

Posted by: Sandra at November 18, 2023 08:50 PM (8sMut)

105 77 Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 18, 2023 08:33 PM (Jys3L)

I’m trying to rank Charton Heston movies. Can’t get started because I can’t decide which one is my favorite.
Posted by: Drive by

His cameo in Waynes World 2 should have gotten an Oscar.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 08:50 PM (G1ktt)

106 On the recommendation of the blog I finally watched "Prometheus" yesterday... I'm still recovering.
Posted by: lin-duh at November 18, 2023 08:37 PM (d2Zdq)

Hey!
Wait a minute.
This place talks about it a lot, but what scum sucking Siberian snow pimp actually recommended it???

Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 08:50 PM (uSHSS)

107 The lead actor in Fiend Without a Face, Marshall Thompson, starred in and directed a VietNam picture, maybe the first one, that came out in '64 -- A Yank in VietNam. Saw it once on the tube in Chicago in the middle or late 60s, and I don't remember ever seeing it turn up anywhere else.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 08:50 PM (a/4+U)

108 >>>The ancient bazillionaire hired "the best" and every last one of these scientists behaved stupidly.

Posted by: All Hail Eris

>What sort of AI medical diagnostic contraption doesn't know how to perform an abortion? Or how to differentiate 57 genders?

I learned how to differentiate Heinz 57 sauces 29 years ago when I was a wee lad.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at November 18, 2023 08:51 PM (PbTeh)

109 I noticed you mentioned James Whale's use of Una O'Connor; i always thought that she was one of the most hilarious small parts in the Frankenstein movies, and was doubly amused that Cloris Leachman copied her look in Young Frankenstein.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 18, 2023 08:52 PM (q3gwH)

110 I had the pleasure of watching "A Bridge Too Far" this past week, and I'm sure I've seen it before. It means a lot more, now that I have a better understanding of the history behind the event.

In a fun bit of irony, John Ratzenberger has a small role in the film, and it seems like the kind of thing Cliff Claven would have enjoyed telling his barmates about.
Posted by: BurtTC at November 18, 2023 08:02 PM (QBaJw)

One of my top war movies of all time. Saw it in early 2022 for the first time. Blown away by the cast and the intelligence put into the making of it.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at November 18, 2023 08:52 PM (8sMut)

111 Ben Hur is one of my all-time favorite movies.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 08:52 PM (G1ktt)

112 His cameo in Waynes World 2 should have gotten an Oscar.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 08:50 PM (G1ktt)

He had a lot of great cameos and small parts in his later years. He was good in True Lies.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:52 PM (MNhXM)

113 Thanks, TJM. I am watching The Man Who Laughs immediately.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at November 18, 2023 08:52 PM (MvF+J)

114 If I saw a giant ant coming at me I damn sure ain't gonna stand there and beat it with a piece of PVC pipe. This movie is totally unbelievable.
Posted by: fd

I don't know. I'm not an antologist.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at November 18, 2023 08:52 PM (FVME7)

115 Say often the 15 minutes of the chariot race in Ben Hur has to be the finest cinematography ever made

Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 08:54 PM (fwDg9)

116 99 I think I’m going with Omega Man as my favorite Heston movie followed by Ben Hur.
Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:48 PM (MNhXM)

Yeah, I think that'd be my pick - although you gotta love "IT'S A MADHOUSE! A MAAAADHOUSE!!!!

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 18, 2023 08:55 PM (q3gwH)

117 109

RE: James Whale

You probably saw "Gods and Monsters" then? What did you think?

Posted by: K.C. Wolf (mnw) at November 18, 2023 08:55 PM (NLIak)

118 But it's damn good. The autism stuff is mostly good.

Posted by: moviegique
===

He was type cast.

Posted by: Braenyard at November 18, 2023 08:56 PM (ISx4P)

119 I watched Palms Springs with Andy Sandberg again just recently and I didn’t change my opinion that I liked it better than Groundhog Day which I really really liked.

Anyone else seen Palm Springs?
Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:07 PM (MNhXM)

I saw it. It was okay.

I wasn't as enamored of it as you are.

Groundhog Day much better in my opinion.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 18, 2023 08:57 PM (QzZeQ)

120 There is one Viet Nam movie, Apocalypse Now.

Posted by: Jamaica

That's more of a drug trip than a war movie, but yeah, it's the standard against which all other VN war movies must be judged.

Then again, I've always thought Hamburger Hill was an excellent movie about the war.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 18, 2023 08:57 PM (/RHNq)

121 My sleeper Heston movie is the much panned movie, Mountain Men. Personally I loved it. But I’m a sucker for that genre.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:57 PM (MNhXM)

122 92 If I saw a giant ant coming at me I damn sure ain't gonna stand there and beat it with a piece of PVC pipe. This movie is totally unbelievable.
Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 08:43 PM (vFG9F)

Well giant ants can't exist anyway due to the laws of physics, so to watch it, you have to imagine a world where Newtonian/Einsteinian physics aren't even a thing.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at November 18, 2023 08:58 PM (8sMut)

123 The lead actor in Fiend Without a Face, Marshall Thompson, starred in and directed a VietNam picture, maybe the first one, that came out in '64 -- A Yank in VietNam. Saw it once on the tube in Chicago in the middle or late 60s, and I don't remember ever seeing it turn up anywhere else.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 08:50 PM (a/4+U)

Saw FWAF when I was a little kid. Scared me to death. After three days of not sleeping my mom wondered if I was sick or something.
Hate that movie.

Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 08:58 PM (uSHSS)

124 I don't know. I'm not an antologist.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here

My Grandson Jaxson, 2.5, calls them AntBugs. One word. He's funny.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 18, 2023 08:59 PM (/RHNq)

125 He had a lot of great cameos and small parts in his later years. He was good in True Lies.
Posted by: Drive by

True. I saw a creepy, slightly off center, movie based loosely on an HP Lovecraft story (In the Mouth of Madness?). Had Sam Neill in it. Heston was in it briefly. It was odd but the whole movie was.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 08:59 PM (G1ktt)

126 Groundhog Day much better in my opinion.
Posted by: naturalfake at November 18, 2023 08:57 PM (QzZeQ

I acknowledge I’m probably in the minority.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 08:59 PM (MNhXM)

127 123 That one, and The Crawling Eye.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at November 18, 2023 09:00 PM (MvF+J)

128 Thought Heston was pretty good in Will Penny.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 09:00 PM (a/4+U)

129 If I saw a giant ant coming at me I damn sure ain't gonna stand there and beat it with a piece of PVC pipe. This movie is totally unbelievable.
Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 08:43 PM (vFG9F)

Well giant ants can't exist anyway due to the laws of physics, so to watch it, you have to imagine a world where Newtonian/Einsteinian physics aren't even a thing.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at November 18, 2023 08:58 PM (8sMut)
***

It is a Hollywood fact that you cannot have giant ants (or grasshoppers) without a nuclear radiation leak at some lab somewhere.

Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 09:01 PM (uSHSS)

130 122 92 If I saw a giant ant coming at me I damn sure ain't gonna stand there and beat it with a piece of PVC pipe. This movie is totally unbelievable.
Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 08:43 PM (vFG9F)

Well giant ants can't exist anyway due to the laws of physics, so to watch it, you have to imagine a world where Newtonian/Einsteinian physics aren't even a thing.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33

Wait till you see the movie about a giant lizard wreaking havoc on Japan. Beats up a huge moth.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 09:02 PM (G1ktt)

131 True. I saw a creepy, slightly off center, movie based loosely on an HP Lovecraft story (In the Mouth of Madness?). Had Sam Neill in it. Heston was in it briefly. It was odd but the whole movie was.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 08:59 PM (G1ktt)

ItMoM may be my favorite John Carpenter movie.

And speaking of creepy manic laughs, Sam Neill's does a great one to cap off the movie.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 18, 2023 09:03 PM (QzZeQ)

132 "It is a Hollywood fact that you cannot have giant ants (or grasshoppers) without a nuclear radiation leak at some lab somewhere.
Posted by: Diogenes"

In this instance, it washed up on a beach in a barrel.

Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 09:03 PM (vFG9F)

133 Hmm...my first exposure to Chuck Heston was the antihero trifecta Planet of the Apes, Omega Man, and Soylent Green. Then there was a roadshow reshowing of The Ten Commandments and I was all in on Heroic Heston.

Recently saw The Agony and the Ecstasy-- also great, but Rex Harrison stole the show.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 18, 2023 09:03 PM (Jys3L)

134 I had the pleasure of watching "A Bridge Too Far" this past week, and I'm sure I've seen it before. It means a lot more, now that I have a better understanding of the history behind the event.

-
It's my belief that the final scene, in which Liv Ullman and family push a cart across the skyline, is a direct reference to the final scene in Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at November 18, 2023 09:03 PM (FVME7)

135 I thought it was Dr. Porsche.
Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 08:05 PM (vFG9F)

Otto Diesel

Posted by: Kindltot at November 18, 2023 09:03 PM (D7oie)

136 The Last Hard Men is a good Heston movie . Pretty gritty for its time.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 09:04 PM (MNhXM)

137 Can you even begin to enjoy most sf movies (and probably a lot of non-sf movies too) without being able to believe, at least for the sake of argument, six impossible things before breakfast?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 09:04 PM (a/4+U)

138 It's sci-fi, anything goes
giant ants, blobs from outer space, scratch-built monsters, etc

Posted by: DB - at November 18, 2023 09:05 PM (geLO8)

139 Well giant ants can't exist anyway due to the laws of physics, so to watch it, you have to imagine a world where Newtonian/Einsteinian physics aren't even a thing.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33

Wait till you see the movie about a giant lizard wreaking havoc on Japan. Beats up a huge moth.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 09:02 PM (G1ktt)

All my work, for nothing...

Posted by: Sir Isaac Newton at November 18, 2023 09:05 PM (8sMut)

140 In this instance, it washed up on a beach in a barrel.
Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 09:03 PM (vFG9F)

Well if anyplace knows the horrors of the barrel, it's this place.

Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 09:06 PM (uSHSS)

141 RE: James Whale

You probably saw "Gods and Monsters" then? What did you think?
Posted by: K.C. Wolf (mnw) at November 18, 2023 08:55 PM (NLIak)

a well made movie; but I didn't really want to see the sad end of Whale's life, even though it was well dramatized.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 18, 2023 09:06 PM (q3gwH)

142 Speaking of Planet of the Apes...

I saw a trailer for the next Apes movies "Kingdom of...." ., I think.

Anyway, does anyone get a "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" vibe from it?

I sure did.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 18, 2023 09:06 PM (QzZeQ)

143 >>>My sleeper Heston movie is the much panned movie, Mountain Men. Personally I loved it. But I’m a sucker for that genre.

Posted by: Drive by

>There is never any love for Mother Lode, laddie. It was Charlie at his worst and best!

Posted by: Dr. Bone at November 18, 2023 09:08 PM (PbTeh)

144 Better call it a night
You all have a great evening

Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 09:08 PM (fwDg9)

145 G'nite Skip.

Posted by: Diogenes at November 18, 2023 09:09 PM (uSHSS)

146 Listening to The Critical Drinker's dissection of Star Wars IX: The Rise of Palpatine. Hilarious.

I absolutely, positively, refuse to watch that movie.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at November 18, 2023 09:09 PM (8sMut)

147 It is a Hollywood fact that you cannot have giant ants (or grasshoppers) without a nuclear radiation leak at some lab somewhere.
Posted by: Diogenes

I saw Siskle and Ebert opine on the sociological /historical importance of the causative factor in monster creation. It began with electricity in the original Frankenstein days, then a long period of nuclear radiation, then, more recently, cyberspace and now gene splicing /manipulation.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at November 18, 2023 09:10 PM (FVME7)

148 I get Heston and Lancaster mixed up sometimes. I like a lot of Lancaster's work. I recall Elmer Gantry being kind of naughty for its time.

Posted by: javems at November 18, 2023 09:10 PM (8I4hW)

149 Now they are running from the ants and a lady tripped and hurt her ankle. Never expected that.

Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 09:10 PM (vFG9F)

150 Oh, and a very good Bad Blue, some new Jan 6 Tweets
https://tinyurl.com/35fyzhxa

Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 09:10 PM (fwDg9)

151 I try to suspend belief in most movies or I wouldn't enjoy anything. As long as it's not in your face I can deal. And like Gell-Mann Amnesia, a lot probably depends on how knowledgeable you are on the subject.

The Martian took me out immediately because I was taught that Mars winds would not have that damaging effect.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 09:10 PM (MNhXM)

152 It's my belief that the final scene, in which Liv Ullman and family push a cart across the skyline, is a direct reference to the final scene in Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at November 18, 2023 09:03 PM (FVME7)

The best film reference to that scene (and the most hilarious) is the final scene in Love and Death, where Woody Allen dances away with death as Prokofiev plays. Many things about Woody Allen were loathsome, but you cannot deny the genius of someone who could do perfect parodies of *both* Tolstoy and Ingmar Bergman simultaneously.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 18, 2023 09:12 PM (q3gwH)

153 My sleeper Heston movie is the much panned movie, Mountain Men. Personally I loved it. But I’m a sucker for that genre.

Posted by: Drive by

I liked it, too, but then I'm a barbarian. Brian Keith was funny.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at November 18, 2023 09:13 PM (FVME7)

154 146 Listening to The Critical Drinker's dissection of Star Wars IX: The Rise of Palpatine. Hilarious.

I absolutely, positively, refuse to watch that movie.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33

Seems most of my movie watching these days is through The Critical Drinker's reviews. He's funneh!

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 09:13 PM (G1ktt)

155 149 Now they are running from the ants and a lady tripped and hurt her ankle. Never expected that.

Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 09:10 PM (vFG9F)

What happened to the cat?

Posted by: javems at November 18, 2023 09:14 PM (8I4hW)

156 good point, TJM, in your 1st paragraph; as early as the 1660's (Samuel Pepys' era) the London "Bill of Mortality" had the category simply called "Teeth" ... and the number was usually ... non-zero.

Salutations to all of the Horde; bedtime at Chateau D'eez!
just got in & turned this apparatus on ...

@139, lol, know the feeling

Posted by: sock_rat_eez - these lying bastardi e stronzi have been lying for decades at November 18, 2023 09:14 PM (hXr4C)

157 Watched the newest Paw Patrol movie with one of the grands today. Riveting to a 3 year old but Papa needed more than one break for a sip or two of beer out in the shop. Vertigo city.
I watch for the audience reaction. Judging by that I would give it a 3 out of 4 stars for it's intended audience. Thrilling in many parts.

Posted by: Reforger at November 18, 2023 09:17 PM (B705c)

158 The Heston movie they never play on TV or even have on On Demand which has like 50,000 movies is The War Lord. I remember really liking it when I saw it about 25 years ago but haven't seen it since.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 09:17 PM (MNhXM)

159 Let's see -- we got Heston in the thread, we got ants in the thread. So, a small shout-out for The Naked Jungle, with Heston , Eleanor Parker (if memory serves), and William Conrad. First half of it is just so-so soap opera re isolated plantation owner Heston and mail-order bride Parker. But the last half, when the ants show up, is a nice adaptation of the Carl Stephenson story "Leiningen versus the Ants." Lots of fun if you can get past that slow first half.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 09:18 PM (a/4+U)

160 Charlton Heston fighting giant ants in New Reno....

sounds like a good plot for a game.

Posted by: sven at November 18, 2023 09:19 PM (X0I7i)

161 Posted by: Reforger at November 18, 2023 09:17 PM (B70

Hah. Nice Grandpa review.

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 09:20 PM (MNhXM)

162 "The Heston movie they never play on TV or even have on On Demand which has like 50,000 movies is The War Lord. I remember really liking it when I saw it about 25 years ago but haven't seen it since."

Would love to see "El Cid" again but it is never on TV either.

Posted by: Tuna at November 18, 2023 09:20 PM (oaGWv)

163
Wait till you see the movie about a giant lizard wreaking havoc on Japan. Beats up a huge moth.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 09:02 PM (G1ktt)

All my work, for nothing...
Posted by: Sir Isaac Newton at November 18, 2023 09:05 PM (8sMut)

Rofl! thread winner!

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 18, 2023 09:20 PM (q3gwH)

164 Would love to see "El Cid" again but it is never on TV either.
Posted by: Tuna at November 18, 2023 09:20 PM (oaGWv)

I like most of Heston's movies, but El Cid just bored me to tears.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 18, 2023 09:22 PM (q3gwH)

165 149 Now they are running from the ants and a lady tripped and hurt her ankle. Never expected that.
Posted by: fd at November 18, 2023 09:10 PM (vFG9F)

Why "Empire of the Ants" was never given the MST3K treatment I will never understand. (But there IS a way to make it a C movie: CGI. Fortunately it has the lack of CGI going for it.)

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at November 18, 2023 09:22 PM (8sMut)

166 Heston was really good in "The Three Musketeers"(1973) as Cardinal Richelieu.

By the way, they've released that version and the follow-up "The Four Musketeers" on 4K in Europe.

4K isn't region restricted like blu-rays.

So, if you want the best version of the Three Musketeers for family viewing....well, there it is.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 18, 2023 09:22 PM (QzZeQ)

167 165 Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at November 18, 2023 09:22 PM (8sMut)

Another movie that thoroughly deserved the MST3K was one of the last disaster flicks.

"When Time Ran Out"

https://youtu.be/G5TBk34R92k?si=TZFQTtjBtK6Q_bRd

Posted by: sven at November 18, 2023 09:24 PM (X0I7i)

168 Well giant ants can't exist anyway due to the laws of physics, so to watch it, you have to imagine a world where Newtonian/Einsteinian physics aren't even a thing.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at November 18, 2023 08:58 PM (8sMut)

They can't? Wait, what about fifty foot women? Asking for a friend.

Posted by: Bilwis Devourer of Innocent Souls, I'm starvin' over here at November 18, 2023 09:26 PM (z+89e)

169 Last week Bubba Ho-Tep was mentioned.
Thank you.
Tonight is all set for Papa Murphys stuffed pizza and that movie, as it finally got here from Scamazon.

Posted by: Reforger at November 18, 2023 09:27 PM (B705c)

170 169 Posted by: Reforger at November 18, 2023 09:27 PM (B705c)

I miss Papa Murhpy's we had a good shop up near Indianapolis....

was convenient.

Posted by: sven at November 18, 2023 09:28 PM (X0I7i)

171 It's my belief that the final scene, in which Liv Ullman and family push a cart across the skyline, is a direct reference to the final scene in Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at November 18, 2023 09:03 PM (FVME7)

Oh definitely! That's exactly what I was thinking, and was pleasantly surprised they ended the film on that note. I'm so used to movies wrapping things up, and they chose not to.

Market Garden was an absolute disaster, and not least of all because it wasn't necessary. They did it to soothe Monty's ego. What a waste.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 18, 2023 09:29 PM (QBaJw)

172 A New Leaf was a great movie - the staff of the wealthy Elaine May were great as grifting losers taking advantage of the situation.

But the Autistic May was way too passive - my experience with this condition is that it is much more aggressive. These affected folks can be way more angry than you realize.

By the way, autism is a symptom not a condition, usually resulting in a crimp or deletion of some gene in the arm of the chromosome within an individual - this can be spontaneous, or it can be passed on by the Mother in the egg - but no one wants to face that fact but it is in deed a fact. If your child shows symptoms of autism, get a Fisch Array test and determine what chromosome gene was effected...

Posted by: Boswell at November 18, 2023 09:30 PM (K+UlC)

173 Seems most of my movie watching these days is through The Critical Drinker's reviews. He's funneh!
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 09:13 PM (G1ktt)

Yup. Pleased to say, I've seen as much of The Marvels as I need to see.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 18, 2023 09:30 PM (QBaJw)

174 The Marvels Pitch Meeting.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NacTCPmfDEM

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at November 18, 2023 09:30 PM (FVME7)

175 Was that about army ants attacking? I'm having a flashback about seeing that on TV as a kid.

One more thing to worry about as a kid: quick sand, blasting caps, army ants, tornadoes, piranha fish....

Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 18, 2023 09:33 PM (Jys3L)

176 Lady scientists trip and Velma loses her glasses.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at November 18, 2023 09:34 PM (FVME7)

177 Eris -- if you're talking about The Naked Jungle, yep, it was army ants.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 09:35 PM (a/4+U)

178 Lady scientists trip and Velma loses her glasses.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at November 18, 2023 09:34 PM (FVME7)

You'd think all those empowered wimmens would eventually learn to not wear heels when engaging in adventures with monsters.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at November 18, 2023 09:36 PM (EsKTT)

179 Eris -- if you're talking about The Naked Jungle, yep, it was army ants.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 09:35 PM (a/4+U)

Leiningen Versus The Ants was in a short story anthology we were taught in school.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at November 18, 2023 09:39 PM (EsKTT)

180 Marabunta!

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at November 18, 2023 09:40 PM (63Dwl)

181 Test

Posted by: Eromero at November 18, 2023 09:41 PM (hHQJs)

182 I'll watch something later, but right now I'm watching a replay of the live donor event from two days ago for the Wild Animal Sanctuary, one of my favorite things about Colorado.

They rescued over 700 animals from Puerto Rico earlier this year, and it plays out with all the drama of great movie. These people do God's work.

I have to wait until my funds are settled from my house sale, but will be making another donation as soon as possible, and hopefully will get back there next year.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 18, 2023 09:41 PM (QBaJw)

183 I did bunga-bunga on my phone today. Mrs. E helped me recusitate it.

Posted by: Eromero at November 18, 2023 09:42 PM (hHQJs)

184 Did you ever go to a movie and fall in love with one of the actresses ?

Sink the Bismarck!1960 — Dana Wynter
Goin' South1978 — Mary Steenburgen
Twilight Zone: The Movie1983 — Kathleen Quinlan

Posted by: SMOD at November 18, 2023 09:43 PM (RovqD)

185 Israel and Hamas 'tentatively agree to five day CEASEFIRE in US-brokered deal so women and children held hostage in Gaza can be freed'

Posted by: DB - at November 18, 2023 09:44 PM (geLO8)

186 @ 185-
'It's A Trap!'
-Admiral Akbar

Posted by: Eromero at November 18, 2023 09:46 PM (hHQJs)

187 >Did you ever go to a movie and fall in love with one of the actresses ?

Katherine Ross

Posted by: DB - at November 18, 2023 09:46 PM (geLO8)

188 Yay, Marabunta. LvsAnts was in one of the textbooks when I was in school too. Doubt it's still in the textbooks these days, though. It's been a good fifteen or twenty years since I saw a high school literature textbook, and as I recall a lot of good stuff was gone. Jack Finney's "Of Missing Persons" used to be in a lot of 'em, but not any more. Among others...

The Naked Jungle was another of those NBC Saturday Night at the Movies standards, along with the previously mentioned Battleground. Five Fingers with James Mason, the original Day the Earth Stood Still, Night and the City (Widmark again), Titanic with Webb & Stanwyck, No Highway in the Sky, The War Lover, Garden of Evil, and bunches of others. TV was a lot more fun then.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 09:49 PM (a/4+U)

189 Is bunga-bunga like snu-snu?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at November 18, 2023 09:49 PM (Jys3L)

190 Israel and Hamas 'tentatively agree to five day CEASEFIRE in US-brokered deal so women and children held hostage in Gaza can be freed'

Posted by: DB

Hamas will deliver a bunch of mutilated corpses and immediately start firing rockets at Tel Aviv.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 18, 2023 09:49 PM (/RHNq)

191 Did you ever go to a movie and fall in love with one of the actresses ?

The Replacements - Brooke Langton

Posted by: Drive by at November 18, 2023 09:50 PM (MNhXM)

192 Hamas will deliver a bunch of mutilated corpses and immediately start firing rockets at Tel Aviv.
Posted by: Sharkman at November 18, 2023 09:49 PM (/RHNq)

You are in the pocket of AIPAC, aren't you? You sick propagandist. Hamas are SWEETHEARTS!!!!

Posted by: U.S. Media at November 18, 2023 09:53 PM (8sMut)

193 I don’t believe it.

Posted by: Hokey Pokey at November 18, 2023 09:53 PM (p/Ghv)

194 115 Say often the 15 minutes of the chariot race in Ben Hur has to be the finest cinematography ever made
Posted by: Skip at November 18, 2023 08:54 PM (fwDg9)

My son loves Star Wars Ep. 1. I, having watched Ep. 4 in the theaters on opening day, can't stand the movie. He especially loved the podracing scene. I told him that the scene was an homage to the famous scene in Ben Hur.

One day we tucked in for 3+ hours to see Ben Hur. When we got to the chariot scene, I told him to watch what happens next. Afterwards, I asked him which scene was better.

He said that Ben Hur blew The Phantom Menace away. Love that kid.

Posted by: Darrell Harris at November 18, 2023 09:54 PM (q1lxq)

195 First time seeing Rebecca Ferguson in MI: Rogue Nation, I was utterly smitten. I was in full smit, I tells ya!

And seeing Emily Blunt for the first time in Edge of Tomorrow? Daaaaaammmmnn.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 18, 2023 09:54 PM (/RHNq)

196 190 Israel and Hamas 'tentatively agree to five day CEASEFIRE in US-brokered deal so women and children held hostage in Gaza can be freed'

Posted by: DB

Hamas will deliver a bunch of mutilated corpses and immediately start firing rockets at Tel Aviv.
Posted by: Sharkman at November 18, 2023 09:49 PM (/RHNq)

If that were to happen, once the hostages tell the stories about what happened to them, Israel would have to unleash Hell in response.

Posted by: Darrell Harris at November 18, 2023 09:55 PM (q1lxq)

197 When I saw Starship Troopers, I fell in love with Dina Meyer and Denise Richards. They were just so hot in that movie.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at November 18, 2023 09:56 PM (8sMut)

198 Did you ever go to a movie and fall in love with one of the actresses ?

Annette Funicello

Posted by: javems at November 18, 2023 09:56 PM (8I4hW)

199 the part I like most about the chariot race scene is the skidding tire sound effect when Masala crashes

seriously, check it out

Posted by: DB - at November 18, 2023 09:56 PM (geLO8)

200 Fall in love with one of the actresses?

Jeez, all the time... Television more than the theater, but then I saw a lot of movies on the tube. Dana Wynter in Body Snatchers and Something of Value. Gene Tierney in Night and the City. Jane Greer in Run for the Sun. Can't begin to list 'em all.

Something of Value was another of those Saturday NBC regulars. It pops up now and then on TCM.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 09:56 PM (a/4+U)

201 re: the 5 day ceasefire

I wonder what happens on day 6

Posted by: DB - at November 18, 2023 09:57 PM (geLO8)

202
He said that Ben Hur blew The Phantom Menace away. Love that kid.
Posted by: Darrell Harris at November 18, 2023 09:54 PM (q1lxq)

Exposing your kid to the great classics of cinema. Good man!

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at November 18, 2023 09:58 PM (8sMut)

203 Forgot the movie: "Beach Blanket Bingo"

Posted by: javems at November 18, 2023 09:59 PM (8I4hW)

204 Day six is when all the remaining Hamassholes escape Gaza by wearing dresses and walking through the desert.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 18, 2023 10:00 PM (/RHNq)

205
The Naked Jungle was another of those NBC Saturday Night at the Movies standards, along with the previously mentioned Battleground. Five Fingers with James Mason, the original Day the Earth Stood Still, Night and the City (Widmark again), Titanic with Webb & Stanwyck, No Highway in the Sky, The War Lover, Garden of Evil, and bunches of others. TV was a lot more fun then.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 09:49 PM (a/4+U)

My father was one of the least imaginative people who has ever lived. I didn't get much from him in terms of things I am into. But he was a huge fan of Bond. Enter the ABC (insert day here) Night Movie, many of which featured Bond flicks. I got into them at a young age. Been a Bond fan ever since.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at November 18, 2023 10:00 PM (8sMut)

206 Sharkman, if you haven't seen Rebecca Ferguson's turn in Doctor Sleep, do so. She's terrific in that -- gorgeous, yeah, but also scary as hell.

Am I the only one here who thought Donna Reed was just drop-dead sexy in It's a Wonderful Life?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 10:01 PM (a/4+U)

207 There are a lot of very annoying YouTube ads touting how great a company Amazon is to work for.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at November 18, 2023 10:04 PM (8sMut)

208 No ONT yet?

Posted by: GWB at November 18, 2023 10:04 PM (JgU20)

209 Just some guy @ 206-
No you ain't. And also June Allyson in any movie, but specially Glenn Miller Story.

Posted by: Eromero at November 18, 2023 10:05 PM (Fcjnt)

210 Terms of Endearment...no way for me to watch it as a "Movie", because I was on the set quite a bit, I can only see it as a learning experience, from people standing around, talking, then shooting take after take, surprising how out of order all of that is, then what happened in editing to get at the final product that I only saw later..
My sister had a role in it, Patsy, Wingers best friend. McClaine was very friendly/Nice but in a totally plastic unreal way. Debra winger was not very attractive ...at all...and smelled AWFUL. She apparently didn't bathe. Jack Nicholson was a wild man off set, he mentioned that he was out of coke, my sister told him I might help with that, brought him a 8ball the next day, by end of the day he wanted more. I ended up bring him ounces, then when shooting wrapped he had me bring him more to LA now and then. I made more money from that movie than my sister did. He kept a LOT around, upstairs and downstairs coke...the upstairs was as good as it gets. The downstairs was in bowls free for the taking by guests, fair by street standards but not "The Good Stuff". Just what he was buying put in in contact with direct from the source folks, nearly got me dead.

Posted by: birddog at November 18, 2023 10:06 PM (1E8/t)

211 Did you ever go to a movie and fall in love with one of the actresses ?

Sharon Tate - The Fearless Vampire Killers

Dopey flick but I absolutely fell in love with Sharon Tate and that was before realizing that was Sharon Tate in the movie. I had to look it up.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at November 18, 2023 10:07 PM (G1ktt)

212 Got my son into Laurel and Hardey which really surprised me that he found the movies funny and Started to Watch Buster Keaton as well

Theater are hard up It would be nice to see Ben Hur or The Longest Day in a Real Movie Theater, they are going to be hurting next year

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 18, 2023 10:07 PM (dKiJG)

213 Donna could turn it on when needed

https://tinyurl.com/2p8undac

Posted by: DB - at November 18, 2023 10:08 PM (geLO8)

214 Wife and I watched about 40 minutes of the Gambler last night. Mark Wahlberg movie. We couldn't take the self destructive behavior. Moved on to Blood Father, with Mel Gibson. After done watching, wife said, "Ya know, they don't make very good movies anymore."

Posted by: scampydog at November 18, 2023 10:09 PM (41CYW)

215 I'll toss in Myrna Loy and Teresa Wright too. Always kinda preferred the ones you could see as girl-next-door types rather than, say, Monroe (who just never really did it for me).

There's a flick called Mystic Pizza (and I can't recall how I ended up watching it back when I still had Netflix) -- couldn't understand why anybody would waste their time with Julia Roberts when Annabeth Gish was in the room.

Go figure...

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 18, 2023 10:15 PM (a/4+U)

216 Did you ever go to a movie and fall in love with one of the actresses

Rachel Weisz in The Mummy.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, 3/12 FA at November 18, 2023 10:32 PM (T/Lqj)

217 You'd think all those empowered wimmens would eventually learn to not wear heels when engaging in adventures with monsters.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at November 18, 2023 09:36 PM (EsKTT)

Never slowed me down.

Posted by: Captain Nicole Davidoff at November 18, 2023 10:32 PM (8sMut)

218 see a movie and fall in love with the actress??
Liloo...5th Element, Milla Jovovitch.

Posted by: birddog at November 18, 2023 11:09 PM (1E8/t)

219 see a movie and fall in love with the actress??
Liloo...5th Element, Milla Jovovitch.

Posted by: birddog at November 18, 2023 11:09 PM (1E8/t)

---------------

[As I noted earlier in the week:] Used to get her confused with Franka Potente (from "Run Lola Run").

Posted by: ShainS -- Too Male, Too Pale, Too Stale at November 19, 2023 12:16 AM (pmW6q)

220 Always a fascinating read, TJM -- thanks!

Alternate Title: "From Paul Leni to Heath Ledger: The Tragic Early Deaths and Curse of 'The Man Who Laughs' AKA 'The Joker'."

Posted by: ShainS -- Too Male, Too Pale, Too Stale at November 19, 2023 12:19 AM (pmW6q)

221 Thanks fⲟｒ the aᥙsρicious wｒiteup. It in fact was once а leisure account
it. Glance complicated to more delivered agreeable
frоm you! By the way, how can we keep in touch?

Posted by: laymen at November 21, 2023 12:14 AM (I3kZZ)

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