What's on your Daily Viewing List? (1 Viewer)

[Noir Norn]

Henry Levin's
The Guilt of Janet Ames
(1947)

on Blu Ray
via Mill Creek's Noir Archive 9 - film Collection Vol 1

 

[Noir Norn]

Henry Jaglom's
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?

&
David Lynch's
Blue Velvet

 

[Jake Lipson]

I've been feeling the need for some goodness/hope/positivity this week. So I decided to pull this wonderful show out for a rewatch in progress.

 

[Matt Hough]

Instead of 1776 or Yankee Doodle Dandy or even Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, I pulled Born Yesterday off the shelf last night to get a nice reminder of the principles America was founded on. Wonderful film!

 

[Noir Norn]

Anatole Litvak's
Blues in the Night

 

[Robin9]

I watched Will Penny last night, an excellent Western made with and by some top talent. Kino's Blu-ray disc has superb picture quality.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The disc arrived early in the mail via Gruv, so...

 

[Toronto Argonauts]

Tonight:

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Beverly Hills Cop
Originally Released: 12/05/1984
Watched: 07/06/2024
4K UHD digital streaming on Paramount+ app via Roku Ultra

Recommended?

Why? What could have easily been a fish out of water comedy or a testosterone-soaked revenge film instead ended up as something harder to define. Eddie Murphy's Axel Foley is cocky enough to play fast and loose with the rules, and smart enough and capable enough to get away with it. When he gets jumped and his friend gets murdered, he becomes determined to bring the perpetrator to justice. When pursuing that through official channels becomes impossible, he unhesitatingly shifts to Plan B. All of the characters are wonderfully defined, and the evolving relationship between Foley, Sgt. Taggert, and Detective Rosewood is carefully handled. Unusual for these types of films, the female lead isn't a love interest but rather a childhood friend. The dynamic between Foley and Summers is really well-written; she knows all of Foley's tricks, and he doesn't try too hard to put one over on her. And given how homophobic Eddie Murphy's standup could be at the time, the gay content in the movie holds up surprisingly well. Murphy may have been homophobic, but Axel Foley wasn't. Bronson Pinchot's Serge is a highlight of the movie; flamboyant, yes, but also so compellingly bizarre. And Damon Wayans's fruit vendor, while a bit on the nose, he helps Axel out in a pinch. He showed no judgment toward either of them. Even Foley's performance at the country club was a laugh at the expense of the host's conservative sensibilities. If the ending feels a little too pat and convenient, I was having too good of a time by that point to care.

 

[Noir Norn]

Ida Lupino's
The Trouble With Angels

and it's sequel
Where Angels Go ...
Trouble Follows

I'd never seen either before, enjoyed both as pop time capsules of the late Sixties.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Hobbs & Shaw (2019) - I bought this on 4k disc and much preferred watching this at home than theatrically, something which is happening to me with increasing frequency, I can understand why people are eschewing the theatrical experience for home viewing, often the 4k presentation is much better.

The Living Daylights (1987) - my favourite Bond and a top three in the series. The blu ray looks very dated and tired, where's the 4k.

 

[Noir Norn]

I'm still loitering in the late Sixties with
David Lowell Rich’s Eye of the Cat

via Shout!/Scream's Blu Ray edition

 

[Noir Norn]

jumping ahead to the mid Eighties, with Arthur J. Bressan Jr.' s moving, 1985 made-on-a-shoestring indie film Buddies

via Vinegar Syndrome's copious Blu Ray edition.

 

[Noir Norn]

Vinegar Syndrome's 4k UHD edition of David Cronenberg's eXistenZ

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
Originally Released: 07/03/2024
Watched: 07/07/2024
1080P HD digital streaming on Netflix, upscaled to 4K via Roku Ultra

Recommended?

Why? While it's a low bar to clear, this is far and away the best of the Beverly Hills Cop sequels.

More thoughts (which may contain spoilers) are available here.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The Painter
Originally Released: 01/05/2024
Watched: 07/08/2024
4K UHD digital streaming on Paramount+ app via Roku Ultra

Recommended?

On What? Your tolerance for Lifetime Original Movie-quality production values and a wholly derivative plot. This low budget action thriller has a whopping 0% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, and I can see why. Aside from Jon Voight in a key supporting role, the cast is mostly a showcase of the best that Vancouver-based CW and basic cable genre shows have to offer. But, obvious shortcomings aside, I was consistently entertained throughout. And the director, Kimani Ray Smith, usually works as a stunt coordinator, so the action sequences punch above their weight for the kind of production this is. I only partially saw the final twist coming, and the ending sets up a sequel that, if it ever actually gets made, would promise to be considerably more interesting than this one.

On a side note: I wasn't aware that Paramount had resurrected the Republic Pictures branding. If this had been a Western, it would have been the kind of B-movie that was Republic's bread and butter back in the day. It was still weird seeing that eagle title card on a twenty-first century movie, though.

 

[Dave Moritz]

4th of July Holiday Weekend

4th Of July
Independence Day
Saving Private Ryan
Open Range

July 5th
Paint Your Wagon
Pale Rider
My Darling Clementine

July 6th
No Country For Old Men
Major Payne

July 7th
Dirty Harry
Sudden Impact
Gran Torino

 

[Dave Moritz]

July 9th, 2024 Tuesday

Driving Mrs Daisy
iTunes
HD Digital upconverted to 4K
Stereo

My mother loves this movie and loves Morgan Freeman so I put it on for her.

 

[Robin9]

Get Carter last night. I saw this film when it first came out and have never especially wanted to see it again. I heard the new 4K transfer was excellent so I bought the disc which does present the film as I remember it. I still think it's an overrated movie but it does hold the attention. I'll try the two commentary tracks tonight.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I Kill Giants
Originally Released: 03/23/2018
Watched: 07/10/2024
1080P HD digital streaming on Apple TV app, upscaled to 4K via Roku Ultra

Recommended?

Why? Joe Kelly wrote the script for this film adaptation of his acclaimed limited series comic, basically The Fisher King with teenagers. Madison Wolfe is luminous as Barbara Thorson, a girl endowed with a fierce imagination who is less afraid of towering giants than what is waiting for her at the top of the stairs. We see the world of the movie through Barbara's subjective perspective, so that coastal New Jersey becomes both magical and foreboding. The movie was primarily shot in Belgium, with some limited filming on Long Island, and that gives the world of the movie a surreal sort of otherworldly quality. When Barbara ventures off into the woods, they don't look like New Jersey woods, they look older and scarier. Wolfe is aided by excellent supporting performances by Imogen Poots as Barbara's overwhelmed older sister, Sydney Wade as the new girl in school who gradually learns what it means to be Barbara's friend, Zoe Saldaña as the school psychologist, and Jennifer Ehle in a brief but powerful role that is better not spoiled.

* * *​

IF
Originally Released: 05/17/2024
Watched: 07/10/2024
4K UHD digital streaming on Paramount+ app via Roku Ultra

Another film about a girl leaning on her expansive imagination to navigate a moment of crisis, this one was significantly less effective for me.

Recommended?

On What? Whether excellent production values, a stellar lead performance from Cailey Fleming, and strong supporting turns by the likes of Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Fiona Shaw, and Louis Gossett Jr. are enough to overcome a story with some significantly logical lapses and excessive CG creations in service of a pretty thin premise.

More thoughts (which may contain spoilers) are available here.