November 7th, 2019 Thursday
The King And I
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What's on your Daily Viewing List? (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Robert Crawford
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Robin9
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I was planning to watch The War Lord tonight but Wagon Master, Moonfleet and The Set-Up have all just arrived, so it'll be a Warner Archive evening.
I am finishing up the Great Performances broadcast of the stage version of 42nd Street in preparation for tonight's The King and I.
bujaki
Senior HTF Member
The Boys of Paul Street (MNF Region 0 PAL DVD) 1968. Hungarian-British co-production nominated for Best Foreign Picture Oscar. Lost to War and Peace (surprise!). Based on Molnar's classic novel, filmed once before in 1934 as No Greater Glory, directed by Frank Borzage. I remember seeing this film in '68 and liking it very much. Had been wanted to revisit it for the longest time and I'm glad I did. This is such a bittersweet tale of children playing at war and its tragic and futile consequences. Both this film and the Borzage version are recommended.
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November 8th, 2019 Friday
Guardians Of The Galaxy
4K UHD Blu-ray / HDR10
Dolby Atmos 7.1.4
I believe that all I may need for a full Marvel set is Ant Man & The Wasp along with all the Spiderman movies. If I am missing anything please let me know. Not pictured below in the Marvel set is Doctor Strange and Ant Man!
Guardians Of The Galaxy
4K UHD Blu-ray / HDR10
Dolby Atmos 7.1.4
I believe that all I may need for a full Marvel set is Ant Man & The Wasp along with all the Spiderman movies. If I am missing anything please let me know. Not pictured below in the Marvel set is Doctor Strange and Ant Man!
bujaki
Senior HTF Member
The King and I (PBS HD) Filmed live in London and starring the wonderful Kelli O'Hara in her Tony winning performance.
Image Makers: The Adventures of America's Pioneers Cinematographers (TCM app) 2019. Very good documentary highlighting iconic DPs and their accomplishments. I have seen about 98% of the movies referenced and I could readily identify the clips. It was so much fun!
Two Hammer entries from 1962 that were in their correct AR and were fun to watch:
Paranoiac with Oliver Reed; and Kiss of the Vampire, an offbeat vampire tale.
Image Makers: The Adventures of America's Pioneers Cinematographers (TCM app) 2019. Very good documentary highlighting iconic DPs and their accomplishments. I have seen about 98% of the movies referenced and I could readily identify the clips. It was so much fun!
Two Hammer entries from 1962 that were in their correct AR and were fun to watch:
Paranoiac with Oliver Reed; and Kiss of the Vampire, an offbeat vampire tale.
Peg and I gave this little film our first-ever viewing last night:
What a fun little treat. The tale was rather circuitous...but the cast more than made up for the rambling storyline. Jennifer Jones was fantastic. I am learning to appreciate her talents the more of her films I see! Boyer was terrific. It is always fun to see Sir C. Aubrey Smith--even in a role that amounts to not much more than a walk-on!
What a fun little treat. The tale was rather circuitous...but the cast more than made up for the rambling storyline. Jennifer Jones was fantastic. I am learning to appreciate her talents the more of her films I see! Boyer was terrific. It is always fun to see Sir C. Aubrey Smith--even in a role that amounts to not much more than a walk-on!
I received my Blu-ray of Force of Evil imported from the UK this week and finally got around to watching it tonight with the audio commentary (I had watched the film itself only a few weeks before on Noir Alley).
First, the transfer is beautiful with gorgeous black levels in most of the scenes. But I got very irritated with commentators Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith. It's not that they didn't have interesting or important things to say, but some people are NOT meant to speak extemporaneously. They need to have their thoughts written out so they don't have to stammer, uuuuuhhhhhhhhhh, uuuuuummmmmmmmm, and speak haltingly when they're trying to search for a way to put their thoughts into words. This commentary would have been EONS better if only they had taken the trouble to write out what they wanted to say in a "dress rehearsal" and then turn on their recorders to do it for the final audio with scripts in hand. He in particular had a hard time trying to phrase exactly what it was he wanted to impart. Very frustrating listen.
First, the transfer is beautiful with gorgeous black levels in most of the scenes. But I got very irritated with commentators Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith. It's not that they didn't have interesting or important things to say, but some people are NOT meant to speak extemporaneously. They need to have their thoughts written out so they don't have to stammer, uuuuuhhhhhhhhhh, uuuuuummmmmmmmm, and speak haltingly when they're trying to search for a way to put their thoughts into words. This commentary would have been EONS better if only they had taken the trouble to write out what they wanted to say in a "dress rehearsal" and then turn on their recorders to do it for the final audio with scripts in hand. He in particular had a hard time trying to phrase exactly what it was he wanted to impart. Very frustrating listen.
Toronto Argonauts
Supporting Actor
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- David Thompson
Well...
I got blindly sucked into the Criterion universe again. I should know better.
I was at my local Barnes & Noble the other day browsing the Criterion section during their 50% off sale. I checked the list of new Criterions released during the last sale and this was on the list. Not knowing anything about it, I found a copy and read the description:
The description:
Scotland...oddball denizens...latter-day Preston Sturges...Lancaster.
I thought to myself, "this sounds great. Really interesting. The visuals will be beautiful. I bet Peg and I love it!"
Nope.
I got blindly sucked into the Criterion universe again. I should know better.
I was at my local Barnes & Noble the other day browsing the Criterion section during their 50% off sale. I checked the list of new Criterions released during the last sale and this was on the list. Not knowing anything about it, I found a copy and read the description:
The description:
Scotland...oddball denizens...latter-day Preston Sturges...Lancaster.
I thought to myself, "this sounds great. Really interesting. The visuals will be beautiful. I bet Peg and I love it!"
Nope.
You need to stay away from blind buys as you're track record for liking them isn't very good.
I'm still trying to suss out what all those movie critics were thinking when they wrote their reviews which were used for blurbs on that poster above....
"Enchantment, exuberant charm, loving heart?!?" What???
"Enchantment, exuberant charm, loving heart?!?" What???
That's film appreciation for you! A film can be like filet mignon for one person and less than hamburger meat for someone else.
Well, this month I’ve watched all 11 movies based on Nicholas Sparks novels. Talk about disagreement. I truly enjoy all but one or two of them, but holy smokes do critics despise them. I figured I’d spare all you here from my impressions. Plus, I really don’t want to hear it...
I've only seen a few.
Did you like A Walk to Remember, John?
That one was especially memorable as we thought it was pretty bad.
Did you like A Walk to Remember, John?
That one was especially memorable as we thought it was pretty bad.
bujaki
Senior HTF Member
I had the very good fortune of seeing and discovering the charms of Local Hero when it premiered. It has stayed with me since and I have admired Forsyth's few films as well.
Last night I watched:
The Hours and Times (Criterion Channel) 1991. A 57 minute film directed by Christopher Munch detailing a fictionalized account of a weekend spent by Brian Epstein and John Lennon in Barcelona in 1963. Well executed.
The Captain's Paradise (Criterion Channel) 1953. Alec Guiness in a farce about a ship's captain with a wife in Gibraltar and a mistress in a Moroccan port. How this paradise unravels is quite amusing. Guiness is so droll and Celia Johnson once again proves her versatility. Yvonne De Carlo is gorgeous.
Cluny Brown (Criterion BD) 1946. Lubitsch's final (completed) film, and what a delight it is! Gossamer thin, filled with wonderful character actors performing ever so charmingly. The pantomime ending is sheer genius! The transfer is excellent.
Underworld (Criterion BD) 1927. Sternberg's first popular and critical success, and his first pass at a gangster film. I first saw this at MoMA (1972?) and it remains gripping, forceful, romantic in the Sternberg vein, and beautifully lit by Bert Glennon. The gangster's ball prefigures the carnival sequence in The Devil Is a Woman. The acting is subtle and superb; the direction and editing, artful and assured. It is indeed an artistic triumph that became a hit with the audience.
Last night I watched:
The Hours and Times (Criterion Channel) 1991. A 57 minute film directed by Christopher Munch detailing a fictionalized account of a weekend spent by Brian Epstein and John Lennon in Barcelona in 1963. Well executed.
The Captain's Paradise (Criterion Channel) 1953. Alec Guiness in a farce about a ship's captain with a wife in Gibraltar and a mistress in a Moroccan port. How this paradise unravels is quite amusing. Guiness is so droll and Celia Johnson once again proves her versatility. Yvonne De Carlo is gorgeous.
Cluny Brown (Criterion BD) 1946. Lubitsch's final (completed) film, and what a delight it is! Gossamer thin, filled with wonderful character actors performing ever so charmingly. The pantomime ending is sheer genius! The transfer is excellent.
Underworld (Criterion BD) 1927. Sternberg's first popular and critical success, and his first pass at a gangster film. I first saw this at MoMA (1972?) and it remains gripping, forceful, romantic in the Sternberg vein, and beautifully lit by Bert Glennon. The gangster's ball prefigures the carnival sequence in The Devil Is a Woman. The acting is subtle and superb; the direction and editing, artful and assured. It is indeed an artistic triumph that became a hit with the audience.
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Well, Sparks movies are kind of a world all to themselves. I enjoy them and there's really only one that I consider to be actually "bad". That's The Choice, which was the last one to be made, and might be the last one that's ever made. Or, at least the last one that will be made for some time. The directing in it is pretty awful, at least regarding the two leads.
The truth is, I have a lot of affection for A Walk to Remember. In a filmmaking sense, it's almost after school special level quality, but there can be more to a movie than just the filmmaking skill. I think the reason I like these movies is the same reason Kubrick almost always leaves me flat. I find his movies finely crafted but cold. I find these movies warm and moving, but not finely crafted, for the most part. I ended up watching all 11 over 8 days, and it opened my eyes to what I like about them... except The Choice.
If you want to give one a try, give Dear John a spin. Let us know what you think.
Here's what I wrote about A Walk to Remember, which helps explain my years long journey into Sparks movies as it reflects the evolution of my general attitude about movies through the last almost 20 years.
A Month of Sparks, Pt.2.
"A Walk to Remember"
Landon Carter (Shane West) is your standard, "gotta act cooler than everyone else" popular high school kid. Spending most of his time being selfish and self-destructive. When he and his friends subject a vulnerable wanna-be included student to a sort of snipe hunt that goes horribly wrong, Landon is sentenced to community service that includes participating in the school's spring play. When he is cast as the lead, along with the minister's wallflower, all-too-perfect daughter Jamie (Mandy Moore), his arrogant attitude starts being challenged.
According to NetFlix, it's been almost 15 years since I first watched A Walk to Remember. It was my first exposure to Nicholas Sparks, whose name I don't think I had even heard of at that time. I realize that one of my major reasons for watching movies back then was quite different than it is now. I was a movie snob. I took pride in it. A major motivation for watching movies was to find reasons to rip them to shreds. I'd read some pretty unforgiving criticisms of Mandy Moore's first major movie role. (WooHoo!) It's time to get the movie snob into full swing.
So, I rented it and gave it a spin. "This movie looks like an after-school special." (Awesome, let the shredding begin!) "Mandy looks completely out of her element." (Just what I was hoping to see!) "Daryl Hannah is wearing an awful wig, and looks like Botox gone awry." (Rip. Rip. Rip) "But... it's kind of... sweet." (Uh Oh). "She's in 'two places at once'. Am I welling up?" (DAMMIT!!!). By the time it got to... "I might kiss you..." I was a lost cause. The NetFlix page for my account states... "You rated this 4 stars on 09/01/05". (...huh...).
Why does a movie get a 27% from critics and a 78% percent from audiences on RT? Because critics tend to be snobs more than movie lovers. I enjoy this quote from Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian. "This horrific teen romance-cum-weepie is best watched from between your fingers, or from under your seat, or perhaps standing outside the cinema looking in the opposite direction." Of course, there's Roger Ebert, who occasionally had the ability to cast off the usual snobbery, who stated, "A love story so sweet, sincere and positive that it sneaks past the defenses built up in this age of irony."
The fact is, over these years, I have come to love "A Walk to Remember". It's not great filmmaking, but it's such a wonderful story, with such heart and purpose. What's interesting is that the most implausible aspects of it are based on real life. Maybe that's part of what makes it special, since it's inspired by Sparks' own sister, Danielle.
What I like, specifically and most of all, is the quiet grace of Jamie's character. She is an individual of deep faith, something Landon doesn't share, but unlike so many other examples, real and fictional, she walks the walk. She truly embodies it, more so even than her minister father, who she often gives object lessons to on what true grace is. One of the greatest strengths of the story is watching Jamie's influence spread, to Landon, and eventually through his friends, who had all rejected him as he changed his views of life.
It's far from a great "movie". Shane West is not much of an actor, and Mandy Moore wasn't particularly good as an actor... yet. Still, she's perfect for the role, so it's kind of perfect, all the same.
A Month of Sparks, Pt.2.
"A Walk to Remember"
Landon Carter (Shane West) is your standard, "gotta act cooler than everyone else" popular high school kid. Spending most of his time being selfish and self-destructive. When he and his friends subject a vulnerable wanna-be included student to a sort of snipe hunt that goes horribly wrong, Landon is sentenced to community service that includes participating in the school's spring play. When he is cast as the lead, along with the minister's wallflower, all-too-perfect daughter Jamie (Mandy Moore), his arrogant attitude starts being challenged.
According to NetFlix, it's been almost 15 years since I first watched A Walk to Remember. It was my first exposure to Nicholas Sparks, whose name I don't think I had even heard of at that time. I realize that one of my major reasons for watching movies back then was quite different than it is now. I was a movie snob. I took pride in it. A major motivation for watching movies was to find reasons to rip them to shreds. I'd read some pretty unforgiving criticisms of Mandy Moore's first major movie role. (WooHoo!) It's time to get the movie snob into full swing.
So, I rented it and gave it a spin. "This movie looks like an after-school special." (Awesome, let the shredding begin!) "Mandy looks completely out of her element." (Just what I was hoping to see!) "Daryl Hannah is wearing an awful wig, and looks like Botox gone awry." (Rip. Rip. Rip) "But... it's kind of... sweet." (Uh Oh). "She's in 'two places at once'. Am I welling up?" (DAMMIT!!!). By the time it got to... "I might kiss you..." I was a lost cause. The NetFlix page for my account states... "You rated this 4 stars on 09/01/05". (...huh...).
Why does a movie get a 27% from critics and a 78% percent from audiences on RT? Because critics tend to be snobs more than movie lovers. I enjoy this quote from Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian. "This horrific teen romance-cum-weepie is best watched from between your fingers, or from under your seat, or perhaps standing outside the cinema looking in the opposite direction." Of course, there's Roger Ebert, who occasionally had the ability to cast off the usual snobbery, who stated, "A love story so sweet, sincere and positive that it sneaks past the defenses built up in this age of irony."
The fact is, over these years, I have come to love "A Walk to Remember". It's not great filmmaking, but it's such a wonderful story, with such heart and purpose. What's interesting is that the most implausible aspects of it are based on real life. Maybe that's part of what makes it special, since it's inspired by Sparks' own sister, Danielle.
What I like, specifically and most of all, is the quiet grace of Jamie's character. She is an individual of deep faith, something Landon doesn't share, but unlike so many other examples, real and fictional, she walks the walk. She truly embodies it, more so even than her minister father, who she often gives object lessons to on what true grace is. One of the greatest strengths of the story is watching Jamie's influence spread, to Landon, and eventually through his friends, who had all rejected him as he changed his views of life.
It's far from a great "movie". Shane West is not much of an actor, and Mandy Moore wasn't particularly good as an actor... yet. Still, she's perfect for the role, so it's kind of perfect, all the same.
Robin9
Senior HTF Member
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I watched Wagon Master last night. The Warner Archive Blu-ray disc is a huge upgrade from the Region 2 DVD.
Tonight another Western: The Far Country on Arrow's controversial Blu-ray disc!
Tonight another Western: The Far Country on Arrow's controversial Blu-ray disc!
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