Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (2 Viewers)

[Robert Crawford]

I'm taking an Easter road trip down to Metro Detroit for a movie and dinner. I'll be seeing "Gifted" today so I'll give my film grade later today or early tomorrow. My TV viewings of "The Son, "The Set Up" and "Feud" will have to wait until then.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'll be seeing "Gifted" today so I'll give my film grade later today or early tomorrow.

Can't wait to hear your opinion. The trailers make it look awfully similar to Little Man Tate...a film I remember liking...but haven't seen in many years.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Can't wait to hear your opinion. The trailers make it look awfully similar to Little Man Tate...a film I remember liking...but haven't seen in many years.

It's different than "Little Man Tate". The family dynamic is this particular film is quite different and is much deeper than "Little Man Tate". There's a moment in this film in which I almost lost it and I could hear other people choking back tears. I was into this film big time and the "gifted" child is played by the young actress that plays the daughter in the TV series "Designated Survivor". She's really good in this role and has great chemistry with Chris Evans. A good little film that won't make much money, but it was very entertaining with a good story behind it. Also,

Spoiler

I loved the one-eyed cat named Fred in this film.

 

[Robert Crawford]

One more thing about "Gifted".

Spoiler

I like how Chris Evans character found a final resolution in which the child could improve upon and take advantage of her gift while still enjoying her childhood and being a kid who can socialize with other children her age.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I really enjoyed "The Set Up" again. A terrific film that I hope makes it to BD one day. As I was watching this film with Audrey Totter, I had memory of her being the head nurse on Medical Center back in the 1970s. Muller stated this film was Robert Wise's favorite film he directed. I can understand that with its minimal budget about the underbelly of a dangerous, but corrupt sport.

The latest "Elementary" episode was another solid effort. Today, I need to get to the latest episodes of "The Son" and "Feud". Also need to watch "36 Hours" BD as I got this last week when Amazon lowered the pricing down to $17.99 before rising it again to $21.99. Now it's back down to $17.99 as Amazon BD pricing remains weird as other recent Warner Archive titles have not discounted down to $17.99 like "Ride the High Country" and "Spencer's Mountain". I'm going to wait them out as I have so many other discs I haven't watch yet to occupy my time between baseball games and TV shows.

Watching baseball is taking up a lot of my time. I have DirecTV Extra Innings along with a MiLB subscription so I can watch my Yankees and their minor league teams. I love watching young baseball players develop in the minors then contribute to the big club, Yankees.

 

[Matt Hough]

I hadn't watched The Set-Up since getting that noir DVD set it was in many years ago, and it was indeed better than I remembered it. I especially loved the scenes in the dressing room between the various fighters: some young and eager, some punch drunk, some just reaching their peak, and some, like Ryan's character, at the end of the line. We don't see their actual fights (except for Ryan's, of course), but their results are written all over their faces when they return to the dressing room after their bouts.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I hadn't watched The Set-Up since getting that noir DVD set it was in many years ago, and it was indeed better than I remembered it. I especially loved the scenes in the dressing room between the various fighters: some young and eager, some punch drunk, some just reaching their peak, and some, like Ryan's character, at the end of the line. We don't see their actual fights (except for Ryan's, of course), but their results are written all over their faces when they return to the dressing room after their bouts.

I loved those scenes too. Also, every time I view the Ryan fight against Nelson, I think of "Sands of Iwo Jima". As that actor is the one that Wayne/Stryker knocks out with the rifle butt and then teaches him to dance to improve his coordination in bayonet fighting. I didn't know he was a fighter too like Ryan. Muller provided some good inside information.

Next Sunday, I'm looking forward to watching "Brute Force" which was a brutal film that Muller alluded to, especially for a 1947 film. I'll be watching my Arrow Blu-ray disc between Muller's commentary pieces.

 

[Matt Hough]

I loved those scenes too. Also, every time I view the Ryan fight against Nelson, I think of "Sands of Iwo Jima". As that actor is the one that Wayne/Stryker knocks out with the rifle butt and then teaches him to dance to improve his coordination in bayonet fighting. I didn't know he was a fighter too like Ryan. Muller provided some good inside information.

Hal Baylor also fights John Payne at the beginning of 99 River Street and squares off with Larry Pennell in an episode of The Big Valley. His on-screen fights always have a ring of authenticity to them, and Muller let us know why.

 

[Robin9]

Next Sunday, I'm looking forward to watching "Brute Force" which was a brutal film that Muller alluded to, especially for a 1947 film. I'll be watching my Arrow Blu-ray disc between Muller's commentary pieces.

A very good transfer of a very good film.

 

[Robert Crawford]

A very good transfer of a very good film.

Yes, a good presentation of the film. Eddie Muller again was spot on with his before and after comments.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This morning I watched the final episode of "Feud". A terrific series in which future topics will be hard press to match. A rather sad ending to both of these women. As that line in What Ever Happen to Baby Jane was, "they could have been friends" and they should have been as they had more in common than they're differences. It was a missed opportunity for the both of them.

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, a good presentation of the film. Eddie Muller again was spot on with his before and after comments.

I love when his comments sections are extended beyond just the relatively brief introduction. (The last couple of weeks, they didn't seem as long as the first couple of weeks.) They seemed very lengthy and informative this week, and I really enjoyed them. And the movie was great, of course. I reviewed the Criterion disc when it was released.

 

[Johnny Angell]

If you really want to read the books in style, get the audio versions narrated by Jim (I think) Dale. He is top notch and really captures the feel of the writing.

 

[Robert Crawford]

If you really want to read the books in style, get the audio versions narrated by Jim (I think) Dale. He is top notch and really captures the feel of the writing.

What books are you talking about?

 

[Johnny Angell]

What books are you talking about?

The Harry Potter Books. When I wrote my comment I coulda sworn the comments about HP were very near my post. My Bad.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Today, I received several discs from different retailers.

The Founder
La La Land
Ride the High Country
The Rounders
Spencer's Mountain
A League of their Own

First up was Spencer's Mountain. A childhood favorite of mine that still leaves me teary eye today. Just a fantastic family movie with Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara and James MacArthur.

Next up is La La Land as I'm ready to watch this fine film again. I'm really looking forward to watching this 4K/UHD disc.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I haven't updated this thread in a while. I've been in kind of a funk, disc watching-wise. However, I'm slowly getting back on the saddle in that regard. This past weekend I viewed Kino's release of Broken Arrow. It looked great on my OLED. I was pleasantly surprised as to how good it looked. Also, I viewed Daisy Kenyon BD release. It looked okay, not great, but okay. It's still an improvement over the DVD disc. Furthermore, I finally recognized the shot of John Garfield in the Stork Club scene.

 

[DavidJ]

Glad to have you back.

 

[Matt Hough]

Absolutely glad to have you (and this thread) back on the first page of this forum. Too many Noir Alley broadcasts coming up that we'll want to talk about. I had never seen last week's effort Crime of Passion and enjoyed it very much. And it's great to hear how Eddie ranks some of the classic noir gals with Stanwyck on top.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Absolutely glad to have you (and this thread) back on the first page of this forum. Too many Noir Alley broadcasts coming up that we'll want to talk about. I had never seen last week's effort Crime of Passion and enjoyed it very much. And it's great to hear how Eddie ranks some of the classic noir gals with Stanwyck on top.

I loved the latest Noir Alley broadcast because Ms. Stanwyck is my all-time favorite actress. She stands along the Duke as my favorite male and female actors of all-time. She caught my attention when The Big Valley started back in 1965. I remembered my mother telling me while I was watching one of those early episodes to watch some of her movies when she was young actress. One of the first of those films was Union Pacific. I was into westerns back then as many kids that grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. Also, another film that I enjoyed of her's back then was Annie Oakley. I think Christmas in Connecticut was the frosting on the cake for me. My first film noir with her was Double Indemnity, but my favorite became The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.