Josh's Blind Buys: Watching The Unseen Collection (1 Viewer)

[bujaki]

My wife and I have never seen The Notebook. We, however, loved The Edge of Seventeen. William Wellman directed both The High and the Mighty and Island in the Sky. Both are well-worth seeking out.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I met William Wellman Jr. at a screening of the "Wings" restoration in 2011 - he was a very nice man and I enjoyed hearing the stories of his father and getting my copy of the BD signed. That had been an instant blind buy (I had wanted to see it for ages but it wasn't on DVD at the time) but as soon as the disc arrived, I heard about that screening so I waited to see the movie on the big screen and I was not disappointed.

Knowing Wellman directed those two bumps them up the list quite a bit!

 

[Nelson Au]

If it hasn't been mentioned, John Wayne and Janet Leigh (as a Russian fighter pilot) star in Jet Pilot, a Howard Hawks film. I saw it once on TV ages ago and I was facinacted by it. But then I was a kid. It concerns a Cold War era situation where Wayne is a fighter pilot and Leigh is a Russian pilot, IIRC. You can guess what happens. I bought the DVD a decade ago at least and I haven't opened it yet, might watch it now.

The wiki entry on the movie though describes some issues, it was filmed in 1953 or so but wasn't released till 1957. So the planes are already out of date in 1957. Still, it might be an interesting viewing experience.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don't think it has been mentioned - thanks Nelson, will keep an eye out for that one as well!

 

[bujaki]

Jet Pilot was directed by Josef von Sternberg, which adds some interest.

 

[Tino]

My wife and I have never seen The Notebook. We, however, loved The Edge of Seventeen. William Wellman directed both The High and the Mighty and Island in the Sky. Both are well-worth seeking out.

Picked up Edge Of Seventeen as a blind buy myself. Looking forward to it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Picked up Edge Of Seventeen as a blind buy myself. Looking forward to it.

One of my favorite films of 2016. I plan on watching the disc in the next week or so which would be my third viewing of it.

 

[Robin9]

If it hasn't been mentioned, John Wayne and Janet Leigh (as a Russian fighter pilot) star in Jet Pilot, a Howard Hawks film.

Howard Hughes, not Howard Hawks.

 

[David Weicker]

For plane movies, I'd suggest Zero Hour with Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, and Sterling Hayden. Although be prepared to recite most of the dialogue, albeit you'll mentally add to it (you'll understand once you've seen it)

 

[Nelson Au]

Howard Hawks? Must have been the spell check. . I stand corrected.

 

[Tino]

By the way Josh practically all of the films I've been watching in my Classic Westerns thread have been blind buys. So far I've been really pleased and lucky.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Josh, been busy and haven't been able to get back here, but it appears other HTFers have answered well on my behalf. Yes, The High and the Mighty is an airplane movie and the Granddaddy of all future air disaster films. Excellent cast and soapy, but fun. Highly recommended. Warner later made a Daffy Duck/Foghorn Leghorn cartoon called The High and the Flighty, a parody on the name of the movie only, not the storyline.

Another one I'd recommend is MGM's Skyjacked (1972) starring Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux and James Brolin with a great supporting cast. It's owned by Warner now and was released as part of their Cult Camp Classic line if that tells you anything.

 

[Tino]

Picked up Edge Of Seventeen as a blind buy myself. Looking forward to it.

Oh well. The wife and I just finished The Edge Of Seventeen and we were both disappointed.

I read rave reviews comparing it to classic teen films like 16 Candles and Breakfast Club and imo it's nowhere near the quality of those films.

Hailee Steinfeld is a great actress but was unlikeable in this role. She was annoying and not endearing we both thought. We did like the supporting performances especially Woody Harrelson.

Didn't hate it just was expecting a better more involving film. Bummed. Really wanted to love it.

YMMV of course.

 

[bujaki]

We actually enjoyed Edge of Seventeen much more than La3.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

And I found Hailee Steinfeld to be extremely likeable in the role - which goes to show what a subjective term "likeable" really is. I was completely involved from the opening scene to the end. It's rare for me to not look at my clock even once during w movie but that was my experience for that film. And yet, it doesn't feel like something I'd recommend as a purchase. It's not something that I think I'll need to see again.

Full disclosure: I never saw The Breakfast Club or Sixteen Candles. I think it's probably too late for me. Whenever I try to watch a movie that everyone I grew up with loved and saw back when it was new, my experience watching it for the first time now never works out. From what I know of those two movies, I think I probably would have liked them if I had seen them as a teenager, but I think I'd be underwhelmed as an adult.

Random question - I'm nearly finished watching Lonesome Dove on Blu-ray. It's technically a miniseries, not a movie, but if anyone's interested in my thoughts on it, I'd be happy to write it up.

 

[bujaki]

Please do write about Lonesome Dove.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

You got it - within the next couple days! Just gotta finish the last part.

 

[TravisR]

And I found Hailee Steinfeld to be extremely likeable in the role - which goes to show what a subjective term "likeable" really is.

I found her relatable which, considering I'm twice the character's age and how much of a mess she is, is probably not good but I'm just going to ignore that. That relatability did make me like the character and sympathize with her though.

Full disclosure: I never saw The Breakfast Club or Sixteen Candles. I think it's probably too late for me. Whenever I try to watch a movie that everyone I grew up with loved and saw back when it was new, my experience watching it for the first time now never works out. From what I know of those two movies, I think I probably would have liked them if I had seen them as a teenager, but I think I'd be underwhelmed as an adult.

The Breakfast Club may work for you as an adult (I find it to be a legitimately funny movie) but I'd imagine that Sixteen Candles is something you probably need to have liked from when you were a teenager or if you have a love of the 1980's.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Travis, same feeling about her being relatable. It's not so easy being an old soul in high school!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

FYI, selling my extra copy of The Big Trail if anyone is interested:

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/fs-the-big-trail-1930-blu-ray-8-shipped.351446/