Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

My next streaming viewing was "The Man Who Invented Christmas" (2017) starring Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer and Jonathan Pryce. The film's story is about Charles Dickens, who after writing Oliver Twist and some followup books that weren't very successful is suffering from severe writer's block in 1843. He then starts to get inspiration to write a book from different people he meets, his own family history and the general economic issues affecting not only his family, but the more unfortunate poor. The book is "A Christmas Carol" and he promises his publisher and printers that he will finish the book prior to Christmas Day, 1843 which gave him only six weeks to write the book and flush out the characters and their storylines and outcomes, so it can be published and made available to the general public before the Christmas Holidays. I really enjoyed this film, even if some dramatic licensing took place in the film. I liked this film so much I'm going to buy the Blu-ray because the stream on Amazon Prime is only available for a period of time. I didn't know that Dickens was only 31 years old when he wrote "A Christmas Carol".

 

[Matt Hough]

He wrote so many masterpieces that it's hard to get our heads around the fact that some of his most famous books, Great Expectations for example, were not popular and did not sell well.

 

[Robert Crawford]

He wrote so many masterpieces that it's hard to get our heads around the fact that some of his most famous books, Great Expectations for example, were not popular and did not sell well.

I'm sure the film industry had a lot to do with many of his books becoming more popular.

 

[Mark-P]

My next streaming viewing was "The Man Who Invented Christmas" (2017) starring Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer and Jonathan Pryce. The film's story is about Charles Dickens, who after writing Oliver Twist and some followup books that weren't very successful is suffering from severe writer's block in 1843. He then starts to get inspiration to write a book from different people he meets, his own family history and the general economic issues affecting not only his family, but the more unfortunate poor. The book is "A Christmas Carol" and he promises his publisher and printers that he will finish the book prior to Christmas Day, 1843 which gave him only six weeks to write the book and flush out the characters and their storylines and outcomes, so it can be published and made available to the general public before the Christmas Holidays. I really enjoyed this film, even if some dramatic licensing took place in the film. I liked this film so much I'm going to buy the Blu-ray because the stream on Amazon Prime is only available for a period of time. I didn't know that Dickens was only 31 years old when he wrote "A Christmas Carol".

I picked up the Blu-ray on sale recently but am saving it for closer to Christmas. On another topic, like you I am also shifting some of my purchases to digital rather than disc. My new rule of thumb is, if there is no 4K version I buy Blu-ray, if there is a 4K version, I buy iTunes.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Daylight Savings Time ends at 2:00 a.m. on November 4th, so don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Tomorrow's "Noir Alley" selection is "The Sniper" (1952). I've seen bits and pieces of this film over the years, but I never watched it from beginning to end, even though, I have it on DVD since 2009, as part of Columbia Pictures "Film Noir Classics I" DVD Collection. Time to rectify that missed opportunity in the next 24 hours.

 

[Matt Hough]

Tomorrow's "Noir Alley" selection is "The Sniper" (1952). I've seen bits and pieces of this film over the years, but I never watched it from beginning to end, even though, I have it on DVD since 2009, as part of Columbia Pictures "Film Noir Classics I" DVD Collection. Time to rectify that missed opportunity in the next 24 hours.

Another one I've never seen and am looking forward to viewing it and digesting Eddie's before and after analysis.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Another busy day of movie watching today.

The Last of the Mohicans (1936) starring Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes, Henry Wilcoxon, Bruce Cabot and Robert Barrat. I always thought it was interested to see the differences and similarities between this film version and what I consider the definitive version which is the 1992 Michael Mann film. Some of the dialogue is the same, but the structure of both films are quite different due to the ending and such. Also, with non-Native Americans in the 1936 version. To me, it's a much weaker film.

Next up was "These Three" (1936) starring Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, Joel McCrea and Bonita Granville. This film version of Lillian Hellman's play "The Children's Hour" is the cleaned up version in which the homosexual relationship between the two female characters are replaced due to the Production Code with an alleged affair between the two female leads had with male lead played by McCrea. I always thought Granville was terrific in this film as the little witch that destroys the lives of three adults. God, I love it every time I see Margaret Hamilton slapping the crap out of Granville. I do prefer this film version as the 1961 version with Shirley MacLaine, Audrey Hepburn and James Garner just leaves me too down with its ending. I do need to watch it again as it's been years since my last viewing and I haven't watched my Kino Blu-ray yet. I'll try to do that in the next couple of months.

The last movie I viewed today was "Wuthering Heights" (1939) starring Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon, David Niven, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Flora Robson and Donald Crisp. This film version of the two lovers, Heathcliff and Cathy is the most famous film version of Emily Bronte's novel "Wuthering Heights". It's the abbreviated film version as it leaves out a good portion of Bronte's novel. One day, I need to watch the 1970 film version as I have the Twilight Time Blu-ray of it. As to the 1939 version, I thought the beginning and the ending of the film was the strongest parts of the movie with the middle of the film being slightly less interesting, but still great film-making by William Wyler and Gregg Toland. I've always love the musical scoring by Alfred Newman. A great film in my opinion that I like to revisit every ten years or so.

One final comment, I wish this title comes out on Blu-ray besides having to watch my 1997 DVD since Filmstruck is going away which is how I watched it today by streaming the film.

 

[DavidJ]

Two more streaming viewings via iTunes and Amazon Prime. The first one being "Hotel Artemis" (2018) in 4K starring Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Dave Bautista and Jeff Goldblum. An interesting film about an underground hospital for criminals in a future state L.A. where violence and rationing of water is run by a private company and rationed from the general public unless you can pay for it. A crime is committed in the middle of riot over water access and the wounded criminals end up in that underground hospital run by the Nurse/Jodie Foster, who is assisted by her medical professional/David Bautista. I kind of like this action film, though the storyline between a couple of characters are kind of weak regarding Sherman/Sterling K. Brown and Nice/ Sofia Boutella. Foster was very good in this film, but she cracked me up every time they showed her walking. It was like watching Fred Sanford and his funky walk.

I've been wondering if this one is worth the ”commitment.”

 

[Robert Crawford]

Tomorrow's "Noir Alley" selection is "The Sniper" (1952). I've seen bits and pieces of this film over the years, but I never watched it from beginning to end, even though, I have it on DVD since 2009, as part of Columbia Pictures "Film Noir Classics I" DVD Collection. Time to rectify that missed opportunity in the next 24 hours.

I've been into this film for the last four hours or so. I've watched it twice on DVD once with Eddie Muller's commentary that I didn't realize he did until I look at the DVD case this morning. I watched much of it a third time from Noir Alley recording so I can hear Eddie's comments again about this film and to measure that video presentation of that broadcast versus 2009 DVD. IMO, this is an excellent film! I've seen bits and pieces of it over many years, but never watched the entire film. Shame on me for not watching this film beforehand. I'll reserve any further comments about the film until others have watched and expressed their film opinion. By the way, Eddie's comments about a certain "Hollywood Squares" personality brief appearance in this film were different on Noir Alley than what he stated on the DVD commentary. On the commentary he insisted it wasn't that person but another actor he named, on Noir Alley, he just says he couldn't verify it was him. IMO, it was him based not only on his looks, but sound of his speaking voice which many of us that grew up on the 1960s knew very well due to his frequent TV appearances.

One more thing, this is the serial killer Albert Fish that was mentioned in the film by Richard Kiley's character.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Fish

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I stayed up last night watching The Sniper and it was something else. I'd never seen it previously, so I was unprepared for how dark it gets. Will avoid further comments until others have see it, but I will say that the first murder is quite startling and brutal. Excellent acting all around, too.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I stayed up last night watching The Sniper and it was something else. I'd never seen it previously, so I was unprepared for his dark it gets. Will avoid further comments until others have see.l, but I will say that the first murder is quite startling and brutal. Excellent acting all around, too.

The film was a box office bust according to Eddie which isn't surprising due to the subject matter, brutality and the year it was released, but film historians and critics should have been more vocal since then as to how good of a movie "The Sniper" really is compared to other crime/film noir movies released from that era.

 

[TJPC]

Another busy day of movie watching today.

The Last of the Mohicans (1936) starring Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes, Henry Wilcoxon, Bruce Cabot and Robert Barrat. I always thought it was interested to see the differences and similarities between this film version and what I consider the definitive version which is the 1992 Michael Mann film. Some of the dialogue is the same, but the structure of both films are quite different due to the ending and such. Also, with non-Native Americans in the 1936 version. To me, it's a much weaker film.

Next up was "These Three" (1936) starring Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, Joel McCrea and Bonita Granville. This film version of Lillian Hellman's play "The Children's Hour" is the cleaned up version in which the homosexual relationship between the two female characters are replaced due to the Production Code with an alleged affair between the two female leads had with male lead played by McCrea. I always thought Granville was terrific in this film as the little witch that destroys the lives of three adults. God, I love it every time I see Margaret Hamilton slapping the crap out of Granville. I do prefer this film version as the 1961 version with Shirley MacLaine, Audrey Hepburn and James Garner just leaves me too down with its ending. I do need to watch it again as it's been years since my last viewing and I haven't watched my Kino Blu-ray yet. I'll try to do that in the next couple of months.

The last movie I viewed today was "Wuthering Heights" (1939) starring Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon, David Niven, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Flora Robson and Donald Crisp. This film version of the two lovers, Heathcliff and Cathy is the most famous film version of Emily Bronte's novel "Wuthering Heights". It's the abbreviated film version as it leaves out a good portion of Bronte's novel. One day, I need to watch the 1970 film version as I have the Twilight Time Blu-ray of it. As to the 1939 version, I thought the beginning and the ending of the film was the strongest parts of the movie with the middle of the film being slightly less interesting, but still great film-making by William Wyler and Gregg Toland. I've always love the musical scoring by Alfred Newman. A great film in my opinion that I like to revisit every ten years or so.

One final comment, I wish this title comes out on Blu-ray besides having to watch my 1997 DVD since Filmstruck is going away which is how I watched it today by streaming the film.

I gave always loved the 1939 version of WH. That is THE version as far as I am concerned. I saw the 1970s version when it came out and thought it was a travesty! I couldn’t sit through it again. What is highly worth watching and hilarious is the Carol Burnett parody.

 

[Robert Crawford]

One unseen crime/film noir film that caught my attention this morning that is part of "Film Noir Classics I" DVD collection from Columbia/Sony is "The Lineup" (1958) starring Eli Wallach, Robert Keith, Warner Anderson, Richard Jaeckel and Emile Meyer. Film is directed by Don Siegel and written by Stirling Silliphant. The movie was based on the CBS TV series that ran for years during the 1950's. Before my time, maybe somebody else a little older than I can comment on it. I know some of the police characters are the same in the movie.

I'm going to make time to watch my DVD this week as I need to watch it twice due to the audio commentary by Eddie Muller and James Ellroy. I'm looking forward to seeing this for the first and second time.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I gave always loved the 1939 version of WH. That is THE version as far as I am concerned. I saw the 1970s version when it came out and thought it was a travesty! I couldn’t sit through it again. What is highly worth watching and hilarious is the Carol Burnett parody.

I think it was @Thomas T that felt the complete opposite of your POV about the two film versions. Perhaps, he'll offer his opinion as I value all opinions.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Guys,

I would like to update this film noir listing as to titles released on disc, but that is a huge undertaking that I'm not sure I want to invest in right now. I just might move the listing here and update it as time becomes available to me. What do you guys think?

 

[Rodney]

Guys,

I would like to update this film noir listing as to titles released on disc, but that is a huge undertaking that I'm not sure I want to invest in right now. I just might move the listing here and update it as time becomes available to me. What do you guys think?

When you say move the listing here, what do you mean? If you mean to put it in this thread, I would suggest you don't and instead keep it as a separate thread that you update as time permits.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Updating would be good - I'm enjoying exploring the film noir genre again. Don't know if putting it here is the best option, though.

 

[Robin9]

One unseen crime/film noir film that caught my attention this morning that is part of "Film Noir Classics I" DVD collection from Columbia/Sony is "The Lineup" (1958) starring Eli Wallach, Robert Keith, Warner Anderson, Richard Jaeckel and Emile Meyer. Film is directed by Don Siegel and written by Stirling Silliphant. The movie was based on the CBS TV series that ran for years during the 1950's. Before my time, maybe somebody else a little older than I can comment on it. I know some of the police characters are the same in the movie.

I'm going to make time to watch my DVD this week as I need to watch it twice due to the audio commentary by Eddie Muller and James Ellroy. I'm looking forward to seeing this for the first and second time.

That audio commentary is something special. James Elroy is not politically correct but he's interesting and has something to say. By the way, the film is excellent. You're going to kick yourself for not having watched it before.

 

[Matt Hough]

I was very impressed with the quality of The Sniper. It was gripping from start to finish and was filled with interesting characters, actors, and performances. I agree that Marie Windsor's death was spectacular: jarring, brutal, beautifully staged and shot. I was surprised Eddie couldn't spare a couple of minutes to talk about some of the wonderful character actors part of this film: Frank Faylen, Gerald Mohr, and even a TINY bit by Victor Sen Yung serving food at the Chinese restaurant (what a comedown from number two son!). I agree; that was Wally Cox: heavier than we remember him but definitely him.

A couple of minor quibbles. Apart from the landlady and Marie Windsor, the deck was kind of stacked against women here with every woman and girl very braying and accusatory toward Eddie making his misogyny fester. And after his final sniper shot as he was making his escape, the streets of San Francisco were just too empty of traffic and people. I understand the movie company must clear the streets for several blocks so filming won't be interrupted, but I guess the budget didn't allow for extras and some passing prop cars.