What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)

[krtek a houby]

Henry V (from The Hollow Crown) although it suffers from a lack of Simon Russell Beale and some budgetary restrictions, it's still excellent well acted drama.

Really want to see the Olivier and Branagh versions now.

 

[Idris2002]

Libeled Lady

Early thirties screwball. Hardboiled editor Spencer Tracy is meant to marry Jean Harlow, but then finds out that his paper has libeled heiress Myrna Loy. William Powell - for it is he - is brought in to save the paper from disaster in the courts. Hijinks and shenanigans ensue, including Powell marrying Harlow, before nearly drowning while fishing.

I recommend this one strongly!

 

[DotCommunist]

I watched X-Men 97

animated reboot of the original 90s series. They've done something to the titles song, its good but not quite right. Not sure who this is for except me and people who loved the original though. Quite good imo, true to the original but enough new and updated stuf to keep interest. Gambit's laziness is emphasised in this. Professor X is dead (I suspect he's coming back) and Magneto, compelled by the last will and testimony of his old frenemy, has become head of the school for gifted youngsters and is trying to live xaviers's philosophy.

 

[redsquirrel]

Libeled Lady

Early thirties screwball. Hardboiled editor Spencer Tracy is meant to marry Jean Harlow, but then finds out that his paper has libeled heiress Myrna Loy. William Powell - for it is he - is brought in to save the paper from disaster in the courts. Hijinks and shenanigans ensue, including Powell marrying Harlow, before nearly drowning while fishing.

I recommend this one strongly!

Powell. Tracey and Loy - sign me up. Thanks for this Idris not heard of this

 

[krtek a houby]

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

It's been years since saw this in the cinema and the shock and anger has not diminished. Cillian Murphy and the rest of the cast, including Liam Cunningham and Orla Fitzgerald, excel in the historical drama from Ken Loach.

Outstanding film.

 

[Orang Utan]

The Long Good Friday.
Fantastic to see this again.
Bob Hoskins is magnificent as Harold Shand, a proto-Tony Soprano - repellent yet magnetically charismatic.
So many memorable lines in the script, my favourite being ‘You don't crucify people! Not on Good Friday’

And it’s coincidentally the second film I’ve seen this week that has a sustained final shot of the lead character’s face, as he’s sitting in a car and going through a gamut of emotions as music blasts us into the credits

 

[T & P]

Blackberry - about the rise and fall of said mobile phone, quite the ride.

Enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. Glenn Howerton is fantastic in it.

 

[May Kasahara]

My son made me watch Fateful Findings with him Truly, I am speechless.

This, again! FFS.

 

[redsquirrel]

Watching the French Musical season with Renoir's French CanCan and then following up with the Golden Coach got onto the last part of the trilogy and as it formed part of the Melbourne Cinematheque's Ingrid Bergman season I decided to watch it in full.

Notorious - Seen this before but not any sort of hardship to watch again. Bergman and Grant playing off each other. Looks great, tight plot, good thrills and nice performances. Not the very top of Hitchcock but better than 90% of thrillers.

Gaslight - I’d never seen this before despite the fame. Really good, Bergman does the performance well and Charles Boyer is magnificently sadistic, though Joseph Cotton seems miscast. The plot has some jarring parts (the stuff about the jewels seems badly crowbarred in), but the atmosphere and sense of menace is top - some of the scenes with Boyer abusing Bergman are brilliantly horrible.

La paura - One of Bergman’s films with Rossolini. She plays a married German woman who has re-built the family business when her husband has been in jail for (unspecified) crimes related to the war. The film starts with her breaking off a relationship she has had with a younger man, only to find herself tormented by her lovers ex-girlfriend. Interesting to compare to Gaslight, with the similarities in plot and themes but very different styles.

Elena et les Hommes - Last part of Renior’s trilogy with The Golden Coach and French CanCan. Bergman is the exiled countess without much money to her name who is able to inspire her lovers to various feats. She is seized upon by a group of politicians as a way to get a French general to organise a coup. But fate and love intervene. Does not have quite the joie de vivre of French CanCan but still some nice comic Renoir touches.

Intermezzo - The Swedish version of the film which was Bergman’s big break. She’s the young woman who enchants a violin virtuoso, resulting in him leaving his wife and children. Very melodramatic (a child gets hit by a car of course), it is not of the quality of the other films but is an interesting piece in Bergman’s career. The contrast of Bergman’s acting with that of actors from the silent era aligns rather well for the film.

Autumn Sonata - Didn’t actually watch this again, as I’ve seen it before and while it is absolutely great (perhaps the best of all the films here) didn’t think I could cope with a Bergman (Ingmar) in my current mood.

 

[Sue]

Excellent list, redsquirrel though I'd have to disagree with:

Notorious - Seen this before but not any sort of hardship to watch again. Bergman and Grant playing off each other. Looks great, tight plot, good thrills and nice performances. Not the very top of Hitchcock but better than 90% of thrillers.

I think it absolutely is and possibly his best film. I mean Bergman, Grant, that chemistry, that kissing scene... And Claude Raines and evil Nazis to boot. You're some tough crowd.

 

[redsquirrel]

Also been watching the Aki Kaurismäki season on MUBI

Shadows in Paradise - It has many of the themes, and more than a few of the actors, that crop up again and again. Ordinary people navigating hardships in the strange Kaurismäki version of the world. The fantastical elements of the world adding to rather than detracting from film.

Ariel - Second part of the Proletariat trilogy (after SiP and before TMFG), it is still very enjoyable to enter Kaurismäki's world for 90 minutes (nearly all these films are around that mark and all the better for it) but not quite as tight as his best work.

The Match Factory Girl - Amazing, Kaurismäki takes his usual style and themes but the underlying warm humour, and often cheering ending, is missing here. Watching Rossolini's neo-realist nearly back to back with this you see the parallels, you could think of this film of a sort of weird neo-realist version of Kaurismäki's reality. Kati Outinen is absolutely brilliant in the lead role.

Drifting Clouds - a couple have to deal with losing their jobs and the strife it brings. Kati Outinen is again in excellent form as Kaurismäki looks at Finish (and wider) society in the aftermath of the fall of the USSR.

Man Without a Past - Continuing the themes that Drifting Clouds looked at. A visitor to Helsinki is attacked a loses his memory, while having to navigate the problems of his lack of past he also finds comradeship, solidarity and love.

Also available are Lights in The Dark, Le Havre, The Other Side of Hope and I Hired a Contract Killer, all of which I've seen previously and all worth watching. Le Havre and I Hired a Contract Killer being especially good IMO. There is not a dud film among this collection, and while Le Havre may be may favourite The Match Factory Girl is probably the masterpiece.

 

[redsquirrel]

Excellent list, redsquirrel though I'd have to disagree with:



I think it absolutely is and possibly his best film. I mean Bergman, Grant, that chemistry, that kissing scene... And Claude Raines and evil Nazis to boot. You're some tough crowd.

It's great don't get me wrong but I'd have Vertigo, Rear Window and Shadow of a Doubt at least above it.
On Hitchcock-Bergman collaborations I also really like Spellbound. I should probably watch Under Capricorn to complete that set.

 

[Sue]

It's great don't get me wrong but I'd have Vertigo, Rear Window and Shadow of a Doubt at least above it. On Hitchcock-Bergman collaborations I also really like Spellbound.

Oh no, disagree. I'd put it above all of those. (I specially never really get the Vertigo love -- I mean it's fine but it really just doesn't do it for me. It feels really cold or something. )

 

[redsquirrel]

I felt the same the first time I saw Vertigo, but the second time I loved it. Saw it at a cinema and it really came alive for me

 

[Orang Utan]

This, again! FFS.

I've heard Neil Breen being mentioned in a couple of podcasts recently. I think someone compared him to Ed Wood Jr. Would that be a correct assessment?

 

[belboid]

Napoleon

As me FIL was up and he does like a good bit of battle sequence, we finally got around to watching Ridley's latest. And, well, it's entertaining enough. Ahistorical nonsense, with some highly dubious performances, but entertainingly so. Some odd casting choices - it was impossible to take Miles Jupp seriously as the Emperor of Austria, for instance. Not worth paying for, but a reasonable way to kill an ev ending with the FIL.

 

[pbsmooth]

finally watched Network, having had it on my radar for a while. it's free on MGM+ and you can get a 7-day free trial through Amazon Prime Video. great film, scarily prescient and Trumpian. could have come out this year, right down to the lines about the Russians and money from the Arabs. not sure if I was strangely comforted to think 'same as it ever was' or scared to think the dystopian nature of the film has just come true.

 

[Ted Bunting]

The latest kingsman. I have watched all of them whilst ripped to the gills, late at night and although stylised bollocks, I do seem to enjoy them. So there

Stylised bollocks with them action scenes that are totally bonkers - albeit totally fun too - but Colin Firth man, acting the socks off everyone else and that’s not to say there isn’t a good number of other wonderful actors in it.

 

[T & P]

Late Night With the Devil. A brand new part found footage, part supernatural horror, part dark comedy, part social commentary film set in the 1970s, about a late-night TV talkshow host struggling with his failing ratings and own demons, who as a last throw of the dice to come back to the top hosts a live Halloween special, with regrettable consequences.

Very good indeed. Great production and wardrobe values that are spot-on, with a great main lead performance from David Datsmalchian, one of the best character actors around today, and the right mix of dark comedy and supernatural horror that rightly doesn’t seek to shock or scare audiences.

I had seen vastly positive reviews for it, and to fair it is not the mega excellent flick I had almost come to expect from them. But definitely worth a watch if you can get it for free or as part of your subscriptions.

 

[belboid]

Late Night With the Devil. A brand new part found footage, part supernatural horror, part dark comedy, part social commentary film set in the 1970s, about a late-night TV talkshow host struggling with his failing ratings and own demons, who as a last throw of the dice to come back to the top hosts a live Halloween special, with regrettable consequences.

Very good indeed. Great production and wardrobe values that are spot-on, with a great main lead performance from David Datsmalchian, one of the best character actors around today, and the right mix of dark comedy and supernatural horror that rightly doesn’t seek to shock or scare audiences.

I had seen vastly positive reviews for it, and to fair it is not the mega excellent flick I had almost come to expect from them. But definitely worth a watch if you can get it for free or as part of your subscriptions.

I saw that the other night too. There are some very clever aspects to it. The Grove, for instance, was a real place, for utter bastards to do horrible things. Who was in the skeleton outfit? The little glimpses of his wife, the James Randiesque dude, just the whole building of dread and fear. Best horror of the year so far.

 

[krtek a houby]

The Emperor Jones

1933 drama that follows the rise of Jones as a train porter to, somewhat improbably, supreme ruler of a small island. Paul Robeson towers above the melodrama, in much the same way as he did in Song of Freedom, 3 years later.

Still fascinating despite interference by the Hays Office and some of the ripe acting.

 

[krtek a houby]

The Caine Mutiny

Humphrey Bogart is Captain Queeg in this belter from 1954. Would have benefited from more courtroom drama, and less romance but very watchable indeed. Fred McMurray is brilliant support and there is a lovely little reference to The Bounty (if ye likes yer mutinies) also bonus brilliance from beardless José Ferrer who looks so much like Miguel it's eerie.

Want to read the book now.

 

[petee]

Stairway to Heaven/A matter of Life and Death.
i liked it the first time, but that was decades ago. this time i thought it was great. i could point to many things, but the scene when the hero comes across the goatherd looked Theocritean (i'm in the L&G business), and others have thought that too:

A Matter of Life and Death

Peter Bradshaw: There is extraordinary freshness to this film, a bloom of sanguine innocence and fantasy...It is a film with incredible self-possession, at once a playful miniature of innocent love and grandiose epic

www.theguardian.com

 

[krtek a houby]

Pearl Harbor

Michael Bay nonsense from 2001. The attack itself is terrifying but the movie is a dud.

 

[redsquirrel]

Kicking and Screaming - Noah Baumbach's debut. It has obvious parallels to Whit Stillman's work (including regular cast), but crossed with Richard Linklater. Not terrible, there are some decent points but a reminder of some of the worst aspects of the 90s - the overwhelming male focus being one. Kind of interesting as a period piece.

The Batwoman - Cheesy Mexican parody adventure from 1968. It could have worked if done right but it is just badly made, slow, not really very funny and just boring.

Affliction - mid-90s Paul Schrader flick, and very Schrader. It has Nick Nolte as a small town cop undergoing a crisis, with James Coburn as his abusive father, William Defoe as his brother and Sissy Spacek as the girlfriend. The cast is quality and there is sense of menace and things coming to breaking point that Schrader does well. I'm less convinced of it as a piece understanding the effects of male violence. And some elements don't seem to fit. Despite that not a bad watch if you're in the mood for it.

Dona Flor and her Two Husbands -Very, very good. A widow looks back on her marriage to her first husband (a gambler, womaniser and abusive) before marrying her second, very staid. husband. Only her remembrances seem to bring her first husband back. Really well done in all aspects, script, acting, plot. Definitely worth the time.

Guns for the Dictator - Early Claude Sautet, with the director re-teaming with Lino Ventura, after Consider All Risks. This is not in the quality of that film but is an enjoyable little thriller with some nice scenes and Sylva Koscina to add the sex appeal.

 

[belboid]

Stairway to Heaven/A matter of Life and Death.
i liked it the first time, but that was decades ago. this time i thought it was great. i could point to many things, but the scene when the hero comes across the goatherd looked Theocritean (i'm in the L&G business), and others have thought that too:

A Matter of Life and Death

Peter Bradshaw: There is extraordinary freshness to this film, a bloom of sanguine innocence and fantasy...It is a film with incredible self-possession, at once a playful miniature of innocent love and grandiose epic

www.theguardian.com

100% intended as such. I think it's in A Life in Movies.

aha!
p543

It looked charming, like a scene from Theocritus

Quite appropriate for a poet like Peter to come across

 

[Elpenor]

Apocalypse Now : final cut

Must have seen the original version at least 10 times as a teenager (surprised myself that I can still quote loads of the script). Redux on a big screen was the last time I saw the film in 2001 and found it shit. This is a half way house. It still has some of the “useful for geopolitical context but otherwise out of place” French plantation scene, but it’s trimmed down. Felt the additional scenes worked this time and didn’t slow the film down as much .

An intense 3 hours, the highlight was Walter Murch’s sound - glad I have decent speakers. Would love to see this on a big screen again maybe for the 50th anniversary?

 

[tonysingh]

Just watched Expendables 4.

It was shite.

 

[krtek a houby]

Gangs of New York

1938 gangster effort based on, or rather, suggested by, the Herbert Asbury book. A bit stagey and improbable and that's about the only thing in common with the Scorsese version.

 

[seeformiles]

I rewatched Alan Clarke's "Elephant" (available on Dailymotion in 4 parts) - a film that really shocked me when I first saw it on TV in 1989. A film with little or no dialogue and just a hand held camera documenting multiple murders and showing how desensitised and brutalised N.Ireland had become to violence and the mundane nature of the act. Still just as powerful if you can handle it and a document of how grim Belfast was at the end of the 80s: