Tcm

[Johann]

Being in the hospital has allowed me to get acquainted with Turner Classic Movies, and it has been WONDERFUL.

This thread will be about what I see/have seen.

[Johann]

I discovered my new favourite cult film (after clockwork orange):

THE OMEGA MAN

It stars Charlton Heston as Jesus, post-pandemic 1977, which blew my mind.

[Johann]

I got to see Tod Browning’s THE UNKNOWN, my new favourite silent film.
Lon Chaney and a gorgeous Young Joan Crawford....what more can you ask for??

[Chris Knipp]

Both would be new to me.
I avoided THE OMEGA MAN, but then I eagerly went out to see I AM LEGEND.

[oscar jubis]

I got to see Tod Browning’s THE UNKNOWN, my new favourite silent film.
Lon Chaney and a gorgeous Young Joan Crawford....what more can you ask for??

I hope you are doing great Jason. I think it's wonderful that you enjoyed TCM, especially with these movies; i'm especially fond of THE UNKNOWN. The gothic romance is so compelling, so moving. I love Browning's "Freaks" just a bit more. I have been watching a lot of films from the late 60s and early 70s that Kino Lobber has released on Bluray in the past few years. It's an interesting time in film history. The sound design of early 70s films like "The Omega Man' is much more sophisticated than 60s films because of Dolby noise reduction systems; there's also the effort to attract a younger crowd after Hollywood failed to keep up with baby boomers and the counter-culture in the 60s.

[Johann]

Of course Heston doesn’t play Jesus literally, just metaphorically.
He has the only vaccine, so he is like God to those who need it.
The movie is haunting and unpredictable, and his character says “They don’t make ‘em like that anymore...”, referring to Woodstock, a doc about “Peace and �� Love”...


As for The Unknown, wow.
I hear you about Freaks Oscar...it is superior and also directed by Tod Browning.
I was enthralled watching it. I saw where Jack Nicholson got his huge grin in Batman: from Lon Chaney.
The Unknown is a perfect silent film, and I recommend it to anybody.
I saw the version with the Alloy Orchestra score, which was stellar.

[Johann]

I have seen many movies on TCM.

Some of them are: A Star Is Born- excellent performance from Judy Garland!
Casablanca- saw it twice on TCM- a perfect movie if there ever was one.
Lawrence of Arabia- stunning epic.
Three masterpieces from Powell & Pressburger: (I Know Where I’m Going, The Red Shoes, and
Black Narcissus). All three are amazing must-see films.

The Great Escape. Just see it.
Glory- awesome war flick.
The Brain that Would Not Die- B-grade horror that revealed to me where Kubrick got inspiration for The Shining. The movie has the line All work and no play makes the Doctor a dull boy!.
It also has the line Does my Horror match Yours?.

I got to see 2 Kubrick masterpieces as well: LOLITA and 2001.
TCM is the film buff’s friend...

[Johann]

I love the Fitzpatrick travel films and the OUR GANG (Little Rascals) shorts they show from time to time on TCM.

I also love the hosts and their various programs. They all know their stuff.

[Johann]

Saw this great "Essential" film last night on TCM.

Directed by George Stevens, starring Cary Grant and based on a Rudyard Kipling poem, this was a revelation.

Outstanding cinematography, superb editing and action, action, Action! make this one a must-see.
This movie slipped by me- never saw in my 45 years on earth, and praise goes to TCM for showcasing it.
It's a "Regimental" movie, and it deals with the idea of what makes a soldier, during Britain's colonial rule.


Other movies I've seen on TCM this year:

Anatomy of a Murder- Brilliant Otto Preminger film, with incredible ensemble acting.
Gidget- cute Sandra Dee movie. If you were wondering where Tarantino got "Big Kahuna" from, it was Gidget. lol
M.- the Joseph Losey remake, not the Fritz Lang. Creepy creepy flick, Mang...
Edge of the City- awesome Sidney Poitier/John Cassavetes drama.
THE GREEN BERETS-a shitty John Wayne vietnam flick- too premature!!
Easter Parade- dazzling confection of a movie, with stunning dance numbers, starring Judy Garland & Fred Astaire.
and
The Wizard of Oz- one of my favorite movies from MGM.

[Johann]

I've written about this masterpiece before on this website, and I saw it again this past Sunday night, as part of the "Sunday Night Silents" series hosted by the refined Jacqueline Stewart.

Directed by the amazing Dziga Vertov (name translated means "Spinning Top"), this is a dizzying tour de force of a silent.
With help editing from his wife, this 6-reel marvel showcases everyday life in the 1920's soviet union, and has no peers.
Vertov insisted that cinema be drawn from real life, NO SCRIPT!, and man did he ever make his case!
The 2014 score by the Alloy Orchestra lifts the film up too, with thrilling results. If you love movies, you simply can't miss this one.


Yet more treasure I've seen on TCM this year:

4 with Marlon Brando in his Prime: (Julius Caesar, A Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront, & Sayonara).
Godzilla- the original Japanese. (AND BEST!)
Peter Bogdanovich's Nickelodeon- entertaining flop with Ryan O'Neal and Burt Reynolds.
Frankie & Johnny and Blue Hawaii 2 awesome Elvis Presley flicks.

and today I saw an MGM treat: NEW MOON (1940), a great Hammerstein musical starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.
This movie had everything I love about MGM in it: gorgeous stars, fantasy premise, stunning singing and regal opulence.

Tomorrow night we get to see REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE!!!

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for these, Johann. I like what you say about Man with a Movie Camera, couldn't find your previous FilmLeaf comments on it.

http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/mAn2.jpg

Your current mention of it prompted me to watch it. I had not seen it for a long time. The wife's editing certainly is key. It's fascinating how the cameraman appears in somewhat dangerous positions, like a stunt camera, all very influential. A Google search brings: "pushed the boundaries of cinematic visual language and opened up the world of filmmaking." That's drawn from a 2018 online article by Zita Whalley (https://theculturetrip.com/europe/russia/articles/how-man-with-a-movie-camera-changed-documentary-filmmaking/). I had an inkling of the "constructivist" origins of Vertov's style she mentions (I thought of Italian Futurism)-
The film emerged out of the Constructivist art movement of the early 20th century. This school of thought believed art should reflect the modern, industrialized world and should serve the greater, collective good. As a movement that embraced the future, Constructivism welcomed technology and pushed design and artistic boundaries. I'm more of a Surprematist myself, being a huge fan of Malevich (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suprematism)! The constructivists (like the futurists) celebrated industry and the mechanical, the suprematists celebrated the pure aesthetic, hence Malevich's white-on-white paintings and his sublime rectangles.

Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy is my idea of hell.
Saw Brando's Julius Caesar with my father, who taught Shakespeare and I think he loved it. Brando made Shakespeare wonderfully contemporary. How did it hold up?
Don't think I knew about the Joseph Losey 'M.'
You are providing a lot of interesting references.
In some ways the early part of Man with a Movie Camera fixed images anticipates much later American street photography.

I appreciate Losey's collaborations with Harold Pinter. I became a huge fan of THE SERVANT, which I first saw when it was new in Cairo, a sparsely populated cinema, with subtitles in French and Arabic, and I am sure I was the only person who appreciated the dry humor. It's a haunting, definitive film. To a lesser extent I like ACCIDENT. I recently saw MR. KLEIN for the first time and it's an interesting film, another surprising Alain Delon role. We initially saw him only as the world's most beautiful male actor, as he is in PURPLE NOON. And he was, and that's a very, very cool movie. https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1446362905?playlistId=nm0001128&ref_=nm_ov_vi
Later I saw LE SAMOURAI, by the great Jean-Pierre Melville. But I digress...

[Johann]

I had an inkling of the "constructivist" origins of Vertov's style


Thanks Chris for more context- its always welcome.
I laughed when you said MacDonald & Eddy are hell...I know what you mean, but NEW MOON was a treat.

The Joe Losey was about a child killer, and the actor playing him really pulled off his inner psychopath...
The Brando Julius Caesar holds up, he's stern and Stoic. John Gielgud & James Mason provide solid support.

I saw two "SPOTLIGHT ON JAZZ" classics last night- Roman Polanski's debut feature Knife in the Water and Louis Malle's ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS.
Both were fantastic, with great jazz scores. The Malle had Miles Davis for a score!!!

[Chris Knipp]

http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/nsiv.jpg

Thanks for all those comments. As I recall Miles improvised the score watching the film, and the score is better than the not-so-great Louis Malle debut (despite Jeanne Moreau looking sexy walking around). Richard Brody wrote in The New Yorker (https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/louis-malles-elevator-to-the-gallows-and-its-historic-miles-davis-soundtrack) about how the same material, many moments, went directly into Jean-Luc Godard's far more iconic Breathless, which also has a nice jazz piano score; Godard had collaborated on the plot for Elevator. You can see this improvising and read about it here: CLICK (http://www.openculture.com/2015/05/watch-miles-davis-improvise-the-soundtrack-for-elevator-to-the-gallows.html). It mentions the jazz score by the MJQ for Roger Vadim's Does One Ever Know (One Never Knows, Sait-on jamais) more known as No Sun in Venice. I saw that movie at the time, got the album, and have loved it all my life. It's a wonderfully suave, singin', cool MJQ sound. Listen to the album on YouTubE: NO SUN IN VENICE (https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=eGBWMbIgYj8&list=OLAK5uy_nZrMqelwXkT6ktjzTAJp3IB35zC1UWirs). I say without reservation: this soundtrack/album is a masterpiece.

[Johann]

yes, Great stuff Chris!

you can find my previous writing on MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA here:

www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2038-Man-With-a-Movie-Camera-(1929)

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks, and thanks for the link.

[Johann]

The Louis Malle was not-so-great due to the silly premise, but I still thought it was fantastic.
When he gets locked inside the elevator I said aloud: "Ooh this is gonna get interesting!"-- and it did. A murder plot within a murder plot!
I felt it was silly that he left his grappling hook at the scene. Some hitman!

The Polanski debut was well-shot and taut- you never quite know where the story leads, with a nice twist (of the knife?!) at the end.

[Johann]

Just watched this James Dean classic. Not bad.
He turns in a compelling performance. Nice to see a really young Dennis Hopper and classic 50's cars!

[Chris Knipp]

I like Malle's THE LOVERS (though it might seem corny, so romantic and great use of baroque music)
GOODBYE, CHILDREN/AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS deeply moving WWII story from personal experience.

LACOMBE, LUCIEN which now I connect to Georges Siminon's "roman dur" La neige était sale/The snow was Dirty

and others. NOT MY DINNER WITH ANDRE. That was a A/O.
It's a mixed bag, Malle's filmography.

Can't remember REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. James Dean is the classic brilliant, doomed young actor. My heart is with River Phoenix.

[Johann]

Just saw this enchanting masterpiece from Powell and Pressburger, part of TCM's "The Essentials" series with Mank & director Brad Bird.

I'd never seen this one before, and now it's a favorite.
David Niven plays Peter Carter, an RAF bomber squadron commander in WWII who gets shot down and jumps from his Lancaster with no parachute.
He should die, right?
You would think so, and this movie explores how and why he didn't, with color sequences showing Earth and black & white showing Heaven. (or "the Afterlife")

Kim Hunter plays a beautiful American girl who talks with Peter over the radio in his final moments and they fall in love, without meeting.
Peter is visited by a dandy French spirit guide who figures prominently.
Long story short, he goes to an eternal "court" where his fate is decided. This part blew me away- what vision and bravado by Powell & Pressburger!
The defence and prosecution deftly battle it out, and Love Triumphs. (and why Shouldn't it?)
See it. It is a Special film from 2 of the biggest names in movie history.

[Johann]

"Hello Baby...C'Mon Baby...Look Baby...Goodbye Baby..."



This is a must-see film.
Excellent movie, with snappy Raymond Chandler dialogue.
Fred MacMurray stars as Walter Neff, an insurance salesman who falls for a married woman (Barbara Stanwyck) who wants to kill her husband for the insurance money.
Walter is smart and he knows better, but Love is blind. He hatches an elaborate plan to "Get the Money and Get the Girl"...
He's even gonna attempt to get double the money, with a double indemnity clause in the policy.
Problems arise in the execution of the plan, not least of which from Lola, Stanwyck's step-daughter and Walter's boss Keyes. (Played by Edward G. Robinson)
See it.
It's one of the must-see classics.

[Johann]

Directed by cinema legend Sam Fuller, this is one gritty slice of film noir.

Tolly Devlin (Cliff Robertson- "The Big Kahuna" in Gidget) is 14 when he witnesses his dad get beaten to death by 4 thugs.
He's no "Fink", so he vows that he'll find them and mete Justice out personally.
And he does, some 20 years later.
Dolores Dorn is his pretty love interest Cuddles, and his mother figures prominently with juicy scenes.

"NOIR ALLEY" TCM host Eddie Muller called it Fuller's signature "Smash-Mouth Cinema", and it was.
I loved it. Movies like this are why I watch TCM!

[Johann]

It's Billy Wilder day today on TCM, and it's awesome.

This is Marilyn Monroe in her prime, at her most playful, funny and innocent.
She plays "THE GIRL", and who else can? There's a great in-joke where Tom Ewell says he's got Marilyn Monroe in his kitchen.
This is a funny movie, and my second favorite starring Monroe. (After BUS STOP).
Tommy sends his wife and son off for a vacation from NYC and he "meets" the Girl after she almost kills him with a tomato plant from the floor above his.
He invites her for a drink, and comedy ensues for the rest of the picture.
The famous dress Marilyn wears in the subway grate scene sold for $5.5 Million in 2011!!!

[Johann]

I gotta be honest, the only selling point of this one is Marilyn Monroe.

I know that this film is revered as a classic, but I don't really like it.
Who wants to see Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in ridiculous drag for a whole movie?
Lemmon is over-acting to cartoonish levels and Curtis seemed too comfy in drag for comfort.
They play two loser musicians who dress in drag to avoid the mafia after witnessing a gangland murder spree.

They get a job in Florida as women musicians where they meet "Sugar", (Marilyn)- a ukelele-playing Lush.
Slapstick cornball Non-hilarity ensues...I found this flick tiresome, save for the 2 songs Marilyn sings.
I'm amazed at how this movie gets tons of praise. It's a stinker in my view.

[Chris Knipp]

Why did they like it so much? Would real drag queens like it?
I guess a matter of individual taste. But It never seemed funny to me either. I'm watching A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH, by the way. Powell and Pressberger are unbeatable.

[Johann]

I'm not sure why they like it so much- it's definitely a matter of taste- I found little humour in it, but others may find it hilarious.
I don't think a bottle of vermouth would make it any funnier to me. I'd be curious to know what real drag queens think.
No one in the movie (besides the gangsters hunting them) thinks they're anything but women!

Very cool that you're checking out A Matter of Life and Death---that one is still on my mind. It's Magical.
Jack Cardiff's dreamlike cinematography is legendary. Did you know his own breath was breathed onto the lens to fog it up?

[Johann]

Jack Lemmon was far more toned down for Billy Wilder's THE APARTMENT, a great classic film.
Shirley MacLaine is gorgeous as the elevator girl eternally looking for love.
Fred MacMurray is back with Wilder, as Lemmon's boss Mr. Sheldrake.

The story is simple: Jack is C.C. Baxter, a hardworking "company man" trying to get ahead at a massive company.
He loans out his apartment to co-workers as favors, and the boss catches wind of it. Sheldrake wants in, as he constantly needs cover for his numerous affairs.
He promotes Baxter, and a love triangle gets exposed-Sheldrake is seeing the elevator girl (who Baxter likes) but his divorce has yet to be finalized.
In the end Baxter sticks it to his boss and forfeits his job.
Little does he know that elevator girl loves him too, after realizing what a sweet, kind guy he is.
A great little christmas holiday movie, where the nice guy finishes First.

[Chris Knipp]

Your thumbnail descriptions/reviews of classics are now honed more and more to perfection, if they might not yet quite compete with Pauline Kael's ones (http://www.geocities.ws/paulinekaelreviews/a5.html) (that listing doesn't seem to include THE APARTMENT, which some high-toned critics scorned at the time). A Guardian writer reassesses (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jun/09/john-patterson-billy-wilder) rather favorably Andrew Sarris's putting Billy Wilder in his "Less Than Meets the Eye" category. But that's as a director - considering all the stuff he wrote or co-wrote, he meets the eye. Who would you compare Jack Lemmon to today?

[Johann]

A rich dude (Keenan Wynne) wants to prove that teenagers are no different from apes.
That's all the "plot" you need for this incredibly silly movie.

I was entertained, but only in terms of how cheesy and off-the-charts cartoonish this is.
Frankie Avalon pulls off two roles here, as himself and as an archetype for a Beatle named "Potato Bug"-you have to see him to believe him.
Annette Funicello is cute, and sings a cute song "This time it's Love".
Guest stars include Stevie Wonder, Boris Karloff and Don Rickles.
Have a few beers or get stoned and you will laugh I'm sure...

[Chris Knipp]

You seem to be lowering your standards, but maybe this is a good time for silliness.
I however (seeing it's in Mike D'Angelo's 2019 Top Ten List) want to carry on watching Casey Afflecks LIGHT OF MY LIFE, which is about a man and his young kid surviving a pandemic that has wiped out the earth. It may be timely. It's free with Amazon Prime.
In a bleak future where women have been wiped out by a deadly plague, a forlorn man and his young daughter, disguised as a boy, make their way through the wilderness.-AO Scott, NYTimes. I seem to have started it earlier and left it after 4 minutes.
I am still getting new movies to watch and I have reviews coming here when they come out in July of
THE OUTPOST (Afghan war thriller, good)
RELIC (classy horror flick)
THE CLIMB (nice, funny feature debut)
HOUSE OF HUMMINGBIRD (sensitive Korean coming-of-age film)
NOSE TO TAIL (drama about a chef)
THE MEDICINE (doc about ayahuasca)
JOHN LEWIS-GOOD TROUBLE (doc about the veteran congressman and pioneer civil rights fighter)
wWE ARE LITTLE ZOMBIES (busy, clever Japanese youth film)
and
THE PAINTED BIRD (a film in black and white from the famous Jerzy Kozinski novel of the sixties)
- not in chronological order.

[Johann]

You seem to be lowering your standards, but maybe this is a good time for silliness.

I'm wiling to watch almost anything, but the last two days have been weak for TCM in my view.
I saw Beach Blanket Bingo and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini-talk about lowering standards!
Both had Buster Keaton as a guest-star!!! Inconceivable.

I'm jealous of your film consumption Chris.

[Johann]

Thanks for comparing me to Kael- no one can reach her level, can they?

Today's Jack Lemmon? Hmm.
Maybe Steve Carrell?

[Chris Knipp]

I see, it's Tcm that's lowering its standards - you're just sticking with them.
Well, you can't drink first growth bordeaux every day. You definitely cannot.

Somehow at the time Jack Lemmon meant more than Steve Carell, but a good choice.

[Johann]

The curated schedule for TCM is unpredictable-they have classics dotting a shit-ton of other movies with varying degrees of interest.
I admit I cherry-pick what I see but I'm open to almost anything.
Tomorrow I've earmarked The Maltese Falcon and Fritz Lang's M.
Saturday is the original King Kong and Jules Dassin's Brute Force.

[Chris Knipp]

Sounds like a classic weekend. Don't know BRUTE FORCE but it looks good. Eight years later Dassin was to make the French noir classic RIFIFI with the famous wordless 20-minute burglary sequence. Greatness.

[Johann]

The Blues is a pain in your Heart...



Fantastic and timely film, considering the issue of race in America.
Diana Ross gives an Oscar-caliber performance as jazz legend Billie Holiday.
She can act, boy. I'd only ever seen her in The Wiz, which was underwhelming to me.
But here she proves she has the acting goods. We knew she was a mesmerizing singer for the Supremes, but here she really grabs you.
Billy Dee Williams shines as her love interest Louis MacKay, and he's also the best dressed! Wow are his suits amazing in this!
Richard Pryor also provides great support, proving he can act too, not just do comedy.

This film shows us Billie in totem:
early beginnings, getting noticed, experiencing racism first-hand (singing "Strange Fruit" after seeing a black man lynched was powerful), her brutal heroin addiction, her rocky relationships, and ultimately getting to play Carnegie Hall in New York.
This film should turn you into a Billie Holiday fan, if you weren't one already.
Part of the "SPOTLIGHT ON JAZZ" series with TCM host Eddie Muller, this is a must-see.

[Chris Knipp]

I remember how much this one shook me up. It would be worth revisiting that experience and see how it feels now.

[Chris Knipp]

Forgot Richard Pryer was in it. Rather incredible cast. Black masters.

But the NYTimes review (https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/19/archives/screen-billie-holidaylady-sings-the-blues-stars-diana-ross.html) said it was a dreadful movie, with a marvelous lead performance. I think I may have hated myself by being so moved by it. But I was.

[Johann]

Dreadful movie? Only to those who are uncomfortable with the truth...
This is a bio-pic, and fairly accurate from what I can gather.
It has disturbing scenes (intense KKK rally, Billie's drug abuse, ends with Pryor's murder, etc.) but none of that dims her singing light, which shines really bright.

[Johann]

Let's talk about the Black Bird...



Based on the Dashiell Hammett novel, this was John Huston's directorial debut.
Starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, P.I., it's a great mystery movie.
The plot involves a woman suspected of murder, possibly three, including Sam's detective partner.
All in the name of a special totem: The Maltese Falcon, a high-value carved hawk encrusted with precious jewels.
But the falcon isn't what it seems, and neither is any "Lead" in this movie...byzantine twists and turns until Spade uncovers Ultimate truth.
Co-starring Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, this one is a thing of beauty.

[Johann]

It was great to see what Fritz Lang was up to after Metropolis.

Peter Lorre made a name for himself playing child killer Beckert.
Common criminals are recruited to track down the elusive killer, as the police pulled out all stops and came up empty.
Nice to see early 30's Germany, and this film was interestingly shot.
It doesn't reach boiling point until the very end, where Justice gets served.
I couldn't help but compare it to the Joe Losey re-make which was well done.
Stark & Creepy flick.

[Johann]

"It wasn't the airplanes. It was BEAUTY killed the Beast..."



This isn't just a great Horror film, it's also a rousing action-adventure.
Carl Denham is an enthusiastic yet reckless filmmaker from New York who makes exploitation films of nature.
He got wind from a Norwegian ship that there's a Skull Island, uncharted, and there may be REALLY exotic subject matter for a film there.
He hires a girl named Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) off the street to be his damsel-in-distress and he charters a boat.
He makes it to the island, through thick fog and a weary ship's crew.
Once on land they encounter tribal natives who are preparing a "bride" or sacrifice to what they name "KONG".

From then on, mayhem and horror and action ensues.
My fave sequence is Kong Vs. the T. Rex, where the giant gorilla rips the dino's jaws apart.
If you know movies, you MUST know KING KONG.
It's my favorite film of the 1930's- Visionary, Ambitious and Classic in every way.

[Chris Knipp]

"Tribal natives"? Native tribesmen.
Fave of the 1930's? How about THE 39 STEPS, THE LADY VANISHES, LA GRANDE ILLUSION, RULES OF THE GAME, BOUDOU SAVED FROM DROWING, BLOOD OF A POET?

[Chris Knipp]

"Tribal natives"? Native tribesmen, perhaps.
Fave of the 1930's? How about THE 39 STEPS, THE LADY VANISHES, LA GRANDE ILLUSION, RULES OF THE GAME, BOUDOU SAVED FROM DROWING, BLOOD OF A POET?

I'm still thinking about LADY SINGS THE BLUES and I think it is a bad movie, corny and inaccurate about the life of Billy Holiday. Many reviews confirm this, and it's one reason why I felt so depressed after I watched it, because I knew it was false and corny, and yet it so much moved me. I was manipulated and I couldn't help myself. But the lead performance is impressive and moving despite the singing being wrong, not representative of the jazz subtlety of Lady Day.

[Johann]

Yes, my favorite of the 1930's.
Those others have much more polish and prestige, but can't compare to the "MOVIE-NESS" of King Kong.
AS Ray Harryhausen said: "Movies are made for Fantasy", and Kong surpasses them in fantasy.

As for Lady Sings The Blues, I recognize that there's no substitute for the real thing.

[Johann]

Outstanding film, and my first introduction to Jules Dassin. I was very impressed.

As far as prison films go, this is just as great as The Great Escape, Papillon, Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.
Burt Lancaster stars as Joe Collins, a convict at the brutal Westgate Pen.
The prison has serious management problems. The warden is weak, and there's a sadistic Captain of the guards (a deliciously evil Hume Cronyn) angling for his job.
Collins is an unhappy inmate, and he wants OUT.
An escape plan is hatched, and the inmates face Brute Force if it doesn't work out. They already endure it, but if the plan fails they face machine gun deaths.
Snags occur (of course...) yet the plan somehow goes forward, with explosive (and unexpected) results.
The finale makes the whole movie worth it...
Glad I got to see this classic. Great stuff from Jules Dassin.

[Johann]

I consulted Queen Pauline about Lady Sings the Blues:
"I LOVE IT. Factually it's a fraud, but emotionally it delivers."

[Johann]

"You look Great, with an apple in your Gob..."



Richard Lester's first Beatle movie, and what an awesome pic it is...
If there's one movie you can label as "Carefree", it's this musical treat.
With great cinematography from Gil Taylor (Dr. Strangelove, Star Wars), how can anyone hate this one?
John, Paul, George and Ringo play themselves, having a blast. They are exuberance personified and they're the band
that launched a thousand bands. They're probably the best rock band of all-time, with no bad songs in their catalog.

All you can do is smile, laugh and try to keep up with the rapid-fire speech of "The Lads"...
This was part of "The Essentials" series with Brad Bird, hosted by Ben Mankiewicz and it most definitely
IS essential.

[Johann]

Yes, those Lennon and McCartney songs are golden...
And the only thing you can fault them for in Hard Day's Night is smoking cigarettes.
(And playing in front of giant pics of real beetles at Twickenham studios! WTF was that noise?)

Who is the funniest Beatle? Tough call, but I say Ringo. He cracked me up with his "Mocker" quip and can take a ribbing.
John is also funny AF.
Paul's "Grandfather" should amuse you too.
All in all A Hard Day's Night is black and white Joy.
I have most of their records, and I love the early stuff just as much as the psychedelic stuff.

[Johann]

This is a snapshot into Bob Dylan's world, circa 1965.

It's candid, and sometimes it's hard to like Bob in it.
He denies being folk, there's scenes of him being impatient and impudent if not rude, and if it weren't for his musical genius he could be written off as a punk.
The scenes with Donovan piqued my interest- he really stuck it to Bob, and it was caught on film.
Bob even says at his Royal Albert Hall show: "I looked in my closet and saw Donovan..."
The final scene in the car where Albert Grossman tells him that the British press called him an anarchist was revealing.
See it, if you can handle shaky camera cinema verite!

[Chris Knipp]

http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/rififi2.jpg



You must see RIFIFI (1955). Metascore 97 - that gives you an idea. Dassin got blacklisted, moved to Paris, and made RIFIFI, his masterpiece.

Do you rent movies or antyhing? Only this way now?
In the past, one could access so many classics on tape or DVD. Now there are no more video stores. And I cannot find RIFIFI on the web.

Here is a scene, part of the preparation for the elaborate jewelry store robbery that is the centerpiece of this superb Frencch noir by Jules Dassin, who was French-American, and married Greece's most famous actress of the time, star of NEVER ON SUNDAY, Melina Mercouri.

The ringing of that alarm cuts through you like a knife.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cchdVmuL2fk

CRITERION COLLECTION has RIFIFI on DVD and Blu-ray. Here is their intro: https://www.criterion.com/films/654-rififi


After making such American noir classics as Brute Force and The Naked City, the blacklisted director Jules Dassin went to Paris and embarked on his masterpiece: a twisting, turning tale of four ex-cons who hatch one last glorious robbery in the City of Light. Rififi is the ultimate heist movie, a mélange of suspense, brutality, and dark humor that was an international hit, earned Dassin the best director prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and has proven wildly influential on the decades of heist thrillers that have come in its wake.

[Johann]

Many thanks for the link! That one sure does look fantastic.

I don't rent movies or watch them on the net- TCM is my main source now, and I collect dvd's.

[Johann]

5 films tonite in tribute to Ray Harryhausen, genuis animator.
His work is among the first I ever saw: Clash of the Titans, when I was six years old.
I HAD to have the toys, more than Star Wars!

[Johann]

This a great fantasy film, even though it's melodramatic in extremis.

Ray Harryhausen (born today in 1920!) did the stop-motion effects, and if you can suspend disbelief, you'll have a great time.
Capt. Sinbad (a very handsome and white Kerwin Mathews) must rescue his "shrunken" princess Parisa (a gorgeous Kathryn Grant) from baddies and fantastic creatures.
There's a genie in a lamp, a Cyclops, giant two-headed bird, a Dragon-dino-lizard and a sword fight against a skeleton.
What more do you need?
Just a big bucket of hot-buttered popcorn, Kids!

[Chris Knipp]

DON'T LOOK BACK.

http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/db.jpg
B.D. SAN FRANCISCO PRESS CONFERENCE STILL

YOu forgot to note the filmmaker: D.A. Pennebaker, who made MONTEREY POP and other iconic music films. An important documentary filmmaker, one of the most important American documentary filmmakers.
This is a chance to see Bob Dylan becoming Bob Dylan, his early stardom. A great film I've watched numerous times. And I saw it when it first came out.

Joan Baez was there too, and their romance was going sour.

Bob's mocking interrogation of the Time magazine correspondent is valid. He is channeling a kind of East Coast aggression and intelligence. But, at other times, like the long San Francisco press conference, show him being charming.

The trailer, opening, with the famous tossed down lyrics cards, and Allen Ginsberg in the background looking like a disputative rabbi. It was not the last time Ginsberg would follow Bob around on a tour. He was there in the seventies as you see in Netflix offering ROLLING THUNDER REVIEW: A BOB DYLAN STORY BY MARTIN SCORSESE.

DON'T LOOK BACK TRAILER (https://www.imdb.com/video/vi614596889?playlistId=tt0061589&ref_=tt_ov_vi)

We're lucky to have the 1965 hour-long San Francisco press conference (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPIS257tvoA). I think we have Ralph Gleason to thank for that. He also made some precious films of Colttrane and other greats performing. Maybe by 1967 the talking to the press had gone sour.

[Johann]

Monterey Pop is Pennebaker's best work, but I don't want to give him too much credit, hence no mention of him.
He strikes me as an opportunistic filmmaker, sensing history and pouncing.
Don't Look Back was chosen for preservation for the National film registry, and it should be.
England criticized Bob as an anarchist because "He offers no Solutions".
Your points are well taken Chris, and I could've said more about it.

[Johann]

This is what I call Sci-Fi!
How this movie isn't more recognized than The Day The Earth Stood Still or Forbidden Planet is beyond me.

The military, scientists and doctors are all fighting U.F.O's here, and what B-movie glory it is...
Washington monuments are destroyed here (with animator Ray Harryhausen's help!) and the movie could've been called
WORLD WAR THREE because of it.
Melodramtic, ambitious and somewhat cheesy, it's still a watchable and thought-provoking flick.
The aliens are mysterious masters of magnetism and physics, and they try diplomacy before attacking earth.
See it.
Kubrick no doubt saw this, as I saw elements from it incorporated into Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[Johann]

Johann Sebastian Bach would probably disapprove of his "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" being used here, played by none other than Captain Nemo himself.
Yes, this is the sequel to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. (Kinda).

Ray Harryhausen's signature special effects are the star here.
Civil war POW's escape prison in an observation balloon, and end up on a mysterious island in the Pacific.
The island has giant oysters, giant squid, huge plants, giant insects, giant crab, giant birds and a giant volcano, which is about to erupt.
They are joined by two shipwrecked English ladies and eventually they find the Nautilus, and her famous Captain.
Nemo helps them get off the island before the volcano makes another Pompeii, and it's escapist entertainment at it's B-movie best.
Directed by Cy Endfield.

[Johann]

TCM ended their 100th birthday tribute to Harryhausen with his first and last Hollywood works.
Mighty Joe Young (1949) was the makers of King Kong trying to be family-friendly.
I guess it works, but all I could think while watching it was "WHY?? Kong is so much better!"
The final "fiery" sequence was worth watching tho- it was tinted in color.

Clash of the Titans will forever be my favorite Harryhausen movie, with a who's who of acting talent: Burgess Meredith, Clare Bloom, Maggie Smith, Ursula Andress and Lawrence Olivier.
The story of Perseus & Zeus of Greek mythology is timeless, and the appearances of Harryhausen's Kraken & Medusa are awesome.


Ray made his creatures out of wire and foam rubber, and while some may not like them, his pictures LAST.

[Chris Knipp]

Your disapproval of Pennebaker, whose DON'T LOOK BACK you acknowledge should be and is in the(United States) National Film registry, mystifies me. Why is "seizing history and pouncing" a fault? That would seem to be one of the essential things for a documentarian to do, to capture history.

More about Ray Harryhausen's materials and methods would be welcome. So CLASH OF THE TITANS was 1981? Much more famous actors, how come?

[Johann]

It's a fault when it's only done for posterity, as Pennebaker seems.
He doesn't care about the Monterey Pop festival OR Bob Dylan- he's capitalizing on the moment.
He even names the film "DON'T LOOK BACK"- because you might not like what you see.
He's no Ken Burns. Michael Wadleigh and Scorsese are better. They're more genuine...

[Johann]

Another title for Don't Look Back could be "Don't Peel Back" or "On the Defense, Driving" or "Wannabe Rimbaud?"
How awesome was Donovan's Dylanesque "I'll Sing For You" song?
He took the piss out of Bob, and even Bob liked it!!

I'll see what I can dig up on Harryhausen's methods. He was a genius. Learned from Cooper & Schoedsack.
As for the actors in Clash of the Titans, maybe they agreed because it was Ray's last film? Because they love him? I'm not sure.
Desmond Davis directed it, but who's HE??

[Johann]

There’s a one-hour documentary called The Harryhausen Chronicles narrated by Leonard Nimoy that is fantastic. It has all the insight into Ray’s M.O. and methods you need.

I’d like to link to it on www.youtube.com but my iPad won’t let me...
Seeing Dennis Muren wasn’t a surprise- I wonder if he suggested to George Lucas copying the “Swinging Sinbad” scene with the princess as an homage for Star Wars.
Ray Harryhausen is another inspiration for George Lucas, as that doc illustrates.

[Chris Knipp]

Sorry, this makes no sense.

[Johann]

What makes no sense?

[Chris Knipp]

BOB DYLAN (DON'T LOOK BACK)
Sorry - our posts overlap because you're putting up so many. "What makes no sense?" you ask. I mean your argument about why you reject Pennebaker and tried to make DON'T LOOK BACK an anonymous film (but you can't do that, and it's not fair) makes no sense. Why is making a documentary film for history a fault? I asked and you replied
It's a fault when it's only done for posterity, as Pennebaker seems.
He doesn't care about the Monterey Pop festival OR Bob Dylan- he's capitalizing on the moment.
He even names the film "DON'T LOOK BACK"- because you might not like what you see.
He's no Ken Burns. Michael Wadleigh and Scorsese are better. They're more genuine...That is what makes no sense. And by the way, in my book being "no Ken Burns" is not a problem but a plus. Ken Burns is a bore. It's preposterous to suggest Pennebaker is less "genuine" when this is a pioneering work of vérité documentary filmmaking, of authenticity. That's what's so fascinating about it, it's so unvarnished and authentic - not the kind of canned voiceover narration and collection of stock film footage that Ken Burns produces.

I just looked up the Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dont_Look_Back#:~:text=Leacock%2DPennebaker%2C%20I nc.&text=Dont%20Look%20Back%20%5Bsic%5D%20is,1965%20co ncert%20tour%20in%20England.) on DON'T LOOK BACK and it's good. About the title:
In the commentary track to the DVD release, Pennebaker said that the title came from the Satchel Paige quote, "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you," and that Dylan shared this view.
In the opening of the article:
The film shows a young Dylan: confident if not arrogant, confrontational and contrary, but also charismatic and charming. That states the mixture very nicely. I don't quite agree "if it weren't for his musical genius he could be written off as a punk." I think that's a simplification, a misreading of something more complex. He's too clever and witty to be written off as a punk, whether he is a genius or not, which in 1967 was not decided. The Nobel Prize was a long way away. I think you misread Donovan in the film. I don't think Donovan comes off very well. I didn't see much in the "anarchist" label, a red herring I'd say (and not mentioned in the Wikipeida article for the film).

BILLIE HOLIDAY[ (LADY SINGS THE BLUES)
On to our other subject, LADY SINGS THE BLUES...you posted:


I consulted Queen Pauline about Lady Sings the Blues:
"I LOVE IT. Factually it's a fraud, but emotionally it delivers."

Touché - you know how I admire Pauline. That's a very effective soundbite on your part and it's true, though again, Pauline's response, in her review, is more complicated than that. She did write on a piece of paper in the theater "I love it," and she stuck by that, but the bulk of her typically somewhat over-verbose New Yorker piece (which I've just reread) is what's wrong with this kind of movie about this kind of figure. Final words of her review:
"Lady Sings the Blues" is as good as one can expect from the genre--better, at times--and I enjoyed it hugely, yet I don't want Billie Holiday''s hard, melancholic sound buried under an avalanche of pop. When you get home, you have to retrieve her at the phonograph; you have to do restoration work on your own past.
-The New Yorker (https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1972-11-04/flipbook/158/), Nov. 4, 1972. Kael points out how the movie passes over a whole string of very important facts about her: that Holliday was very promiscuous, had many men in her life (the movie makes her virtually monogamous); that her life was much worse than this, much grimmer, that her lows were lower and more pathetic; her immense skill and ability to make it in a competitive market - evidenced by the fact that she had made 100 records by the time she was 25; the wry, ironic quality of songs as she delivered them; above all, the fact that she was a jazz singer, and the complexity of her interpretations and the backups with jazz greats in the best recordings.

I want to remind readers that last year's new documentary What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (https://paulinekaelmovie.com/)(Rob Garver 2018) is available via virtual theater on a host of locations, and worth watching.

[Johann]

Pennebaker strikes me as a guy who struck when the iron was hot, and the results vary.
He's not a pioneer to me. A shaky camera makes him Dogme 95?

As for Lady Sings the Blues, Kael was right, and she loved the movie. A lack of facts doesn't dimimish it's beauty one bit.
I didn't know much about Billie Holiday before seeing it and I feel like I got a good idea of who she was.

[Chris Knipp]

I didn't know much about Billie Holiday before seeing it and I feel like I got a good idea of who she was.Not that good an idea. You can say the movie moved you. We all say that, you, me, and Pauline Kael.

"Kael was right, and she loved the movie." I tried to explain how that's reductive of her actual view as expressed in her lengthy review for The New Yorker.

Similarly I'm not convinced the way Pennebaker "strikes" you is a valid judgment if you're not recognizing his historical importance. Your dismissal of his use of a handheld camera doesn't even recognize the importance of his pioneering work. Would you take the trouble of reading Variety's obituary assessment (https://variety.com/2019/film/news/d-a-pennebaker-dead-dies-dont-look-back-1203290823/)?

[Johann]

I've already given D.A. too much credit, and I recognize his historical importance.
To be honest I don't think we'd be missing him if he didn't exist- he's not essential.

Did you notice that he only has films of big stars? Monterey: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and David Bowie?
Chuck Berry, Brandford Marsalis, Depeche Mode...
He's an opportunist, no matter how much historical importance. Where are his follow-ups? They're only padding!
Where are his in-depth docs? He makes his films as much for the subject as his own glory.
He got a career out of riding coattails, and I noticed he's had several marriages.

[Johann]

Errol Flynn is Maj. Geoffrey Vickers, a British officer who leads a famous counter attack in India.

This is a poor man's Gunga Din, and not very faithful to history or the poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson.
It's got visuals that seem authentic: palaces, forts, vistas, horses and nice costumes.
It's also got the gorgeous Olivia de Havilland, who starred with Flynn in several Warner Brothers classics.
I'm glad I saw this, but I don't need to see it again.

[Johann]

This is my second favorite film from the 1930's.

100% pure entertainment from start to finish, it must've cleared a lot of sorrows away during the Depression.
The 4th of ten films starring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, this one is solid gold, and probably their best teaming.
It's got a thin plot- one of a simple misunderstanding- but it doesn't matter. This is all about the stunning dance numbers.
It opens with Fred doing a dazzling tap dance in a hotel room, which keeps Ginger awake in the floor below.
The "Cheek to Cheek" number is legendary, as are all dances between these two cinema greats.
I'll always have a mad crush on Ginger Rogers. She was talent on fire with the looks of an Angel.

[Johann]

Today is the start of John Ford month on TCM, and there's 7 (of the 36) films showing today.

[Johann]

Nice examination of infidelity from Fritz Lang.

Barbara Stanwyck plays a "blue-blue-eyed" lonely woman who marries a "not-so-bright or rich" fishing boat owner named Jerry.
But did she marry for love? A friend of Jerry's named Earl enters the picture, turning everything upside down.
Barbara and Jerry have a daughter, and the affair with Earl throws their lives into utter chaos...
I enjoyed this slow-burner, which co-stars a young Marilyn Monroe in an early role.

[Johann]

WAGON MASTER (1950)


Nobody makes a western like John Ford.

Here the wagon master is the star, and two of them get hired by a Mormon wagon train headed west to San Juan.
They encounter a travelling medicine show troupe down on their luck and the dastardly Clegg boys, who are wanted men.
They also encounter some Navajo Injuns and this western is pretty great.
Old-Timey songs, gunfights, chuckwagons, romance/a-courtin' & peril- what more do you need?
Starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr. and Ward Bond.

[Johann]

3 GODFATHERS (1948)


This was a surprising movie from John Ford.
Robert, William and Pedro are three outlaws on the run in the desert, and they come across a woman about to give birth.
They don't know what to do, but they help her nonetheless, as mid-wives, lullaby singers and promising her to be Godfather to the infant.
The harsh desert is a character itself, like it was in Lawrence of Arabia! Two of the men die in their trek across it, and Robert ("BOB"-played by John Wayne)
ends up being Biblically Redeemed by protecting the baby until he reaches safety.
Great movie from John Ford, one I'd never seen and wasn't expecting.

[Johann]

SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949)




This is a great movie, and a showcase for John Wayne.
He plays Captain Nathan Brittles, commander of a U.S. Calvary troop, post-Custer's Last Stand.
This is a very manly movie and Wayne plays his role to the hilt.
There's a sub-plot of romance between two soldiers and a girl who wears a yellow ribbon in her hair.
The cinematography is great, showing Monument Valley in all it's glory.
I'd never seen this one before, and it gets high marks. Nice little military movie. (with more Indians!)

[Johann]

FORT APACHE (1948)


4 films in, and I'm getting more and more in awe of John Ford.
This is another "calvary" film, his first, actually. Henry Fonda plays Lt./Col. Owen Thursday, an officer who clashes with Capt. York, played by John Wayne.
Thursday is posted to Fort Apache, an outpost near the Mexican border.
He leads his regiment against Indians in historic battles, and the first encounter is an exhilerating sequence.
John Ford really knew how to capture men on horses, whether they be American soldiers or roving bands of indians...
Shirley Temple plays Philadelphia, Thursday's daughter, who falls for an Irish officer O'Rourke, son of NCO Ward Bond.
This creates a compelling sub-plot/dynamic, and by the end Love triumphs.
When this movie started I wasn't sure if I'd like it but I was soon won over. That's because of John Ford.
No one makes westerns of this caliber. NO ONE.

[Chris Knipp]

You're very lucky to be getting this seemingly forced intro to a fest of his films. I know he is one of the American classics but have little direct knowledge. But I'm happy to drink deeply of the French - seeing and writing about Jean-Pierre Melville's WHEN YOU READ THIS LETTER (-), which I've never seen before and is rarely seen.

[Johann]

MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946)


Henry Fonda plays Wyatt Earp, the famous Marshall from Dodge City turned catttleman.
He and his brothers Morgan and Virgil go into the town of Tombstone to get a shave.
The barbershop gets shot up by a really drunk Indian, and Wyatt can't believe that the Marshall isn't doing anything about it.
So he steps up and does something, and is offered the job. He turns it down, but later accepts.
He encounters Doc Holliday, a sick man who basically runs the town, Marshall or no Marshall...
The Earp brothers lose James (shot in the back), and later Virgil gets killed too, leading to the famous
gunfight at the O.K. Corral.


John Ford actually knew Wyatt Earp, who visited Ford's movie sets in the 1920's.
The movie alters history slightly, all in the name of compelling cinema.
This is a classic kick-ass western.
See it. It's one of John Ford's best.

[Johann]

You're very lucky to be getting this seemingly forced intro to a fest of his films

Lucky indeed.
7 films in one day, and I'm a richer cinephile for it...
Ford is a special director-the CARE he takes is so evident- his mythologizing of the Old West is fantastic.

[Johann]

THE SEARCHERS (1956)



John Ford's most famous western, and probably his best.
John Wayne is Ethan Edwards who embarks on an epic search and rescue for his two nieces.
One he finds dead, the other he finds is a captive of the Comanche indians (Natalie Wood).
Co-starring Jeffrey Hunter, Ward Bond, Harry Carey, Jr. and even John Wayne's son Patrick.

Hugely influential, it wasn't well received on release. (Much like Kubrick's films).
It's now recognized as the classic it is, like One-Eyed Jacks.
I love the cinematography and vivid color of this film- very pleasing to the eye.
Some may think it's overlong, with "climax after climax", but I say it's an epic western, period.
Enjoy it as such, with some "Frontier Whiskey", if you can find some...

[Johann]

STAGECOACH (1939)



9 stagecoach passengers travel from "Tonto" to "Lordsburg" and have a helluva trip.
John Wayne gets picked up along the way- he's "The Ringo Kid"- and he's promptly arrested.
The famous indian Geronimo is on the warpath, and when Apaches attack the coach the movie gets really exciting.
There's a dishonest bank manager, a baby gets born, there's romance with "Dallas", there's a drunk doctor and other assorted characters.
I found the acting to be not very good, but John Ford's direction more than made up for it.
Thumbs up for Stagecoach.

[Johann]

JOHN PAUL JONES (1959)



This is a rarely seen film, and a Great one.
Directed by Mia Farrow's father, this is a fairly lavish production. Historically, it's fairly accurate too.
You got George Washington, John Hancock, Ben Franklin and Bette Davis as Catherine the great.
I was eagerly anticipating seeing this, and I wasn't disappointed. Robert Stack plays Jones, a stern & stoic Naval Commander
who's responsible for giving the USA flag respect from Europe.
I WAS a little surprised to NOT see the Serapis, the flag that I thought was the ORIGINAL U.S. flag...Instead, we got the 13-starred banner
that looks like the current U.S. flag. The sequence of battle with the sinking of the bon Homme Richard was great.
I loved the costumes, and couldn't help but be reminded of Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, a similar period epic.

This needs a re-mastered proper DVD release PRONTO.

[Johann]

I'm in the process of re-locating, so this thread is on hiatus until I'm settled.
I am a TCM addict, so I'll keep it going once I've got my cable package sorted out.
Thanks for reading and LET'S MOVIE!

[Chris Knipp]

Good luck with your relocation and rehabilitation.

[Johann]

Thanks Chris, so far so good...

[Chris Knipp]

I admire your fortitude.

[Johann]

Cable package is installed, so it's back to TCM!


I missed that channel. I just saw the following films:

December 7th: the movie- propaganda film never-before seen by Gregg Toland (Citizen Kane cameraman) and John Ford. I learned a lot about the Japanese, who numbered 157,000 on Hawaii when Pearl Harbour happened.

Spartacus- my least-favorite Kubrick. It's a solid epic.

Les Girls- cheeky Gene Kelly musical. I actually enjoyed it.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)- the best screen version in my view. Charles Laughton is awesome in it. Clark Gable isn't too shabby either.

The Sea Hawk- rousing Errol Flynn action film. Quality stuff, with an England vs. Spain naval war.

2001: A Space Odyssey- part of "The Essentials" series, Brad Bird was right. 2001 is Hypnotic.

[Johann]

DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965)



Omar Sharif is Dr. Yuri Zhivago, a physician and poet caught up in love and the October Revolution in Russia.
David Lean directs this epic, with gorgeous cinematography despite the dour/heavy story.
Rod Steiger and Alec Guinness provide stellar support, with Julie Christie playing Lara, his forbidden love.

Yuri goes through hell, while simply trying to live.
This is a long movie (over 3 hours with an intermission) so give yourself time to take it all in.
I loved seeing Klaus Kinski in an early role, "the only free man on this train..."
I also loved the lilting balalaika music, which you hear throughout the picture.
A must-see.
It's David Lean, Mang!!

[Johann]

FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956)


A classic sci-fi film, full of nostalgia.
I thoroughly enjoyed Fred M. Wilcox's Forbidden Planet, a futuristic 50's movie that surprisingly holds up.
You can see the inspiration for Star Trek here; from prototype transporter to "United Planets" cruiser ship to tri-corders, phasers and fleet uniforms.
Leslie Neilsen is the skipper, Commander Adam. He's the template for Captain James T. Kirk, stoic, brave, and contends with the opposite sex...

The mission is to a silent planet, where Dr. Morbius (Walter Pigeon) and his beautiful daughter reside.
With considerable assistance from "ROBBY THE ROBOT" they survive in the face of a nuclear monster.
I love how 50's sci-fi culture was captured onscreen- they really tried to make something here- the SFX still hold up.
This was the 2001 of it's day, and it gets a big thumbs up from me.

[Johann]

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.



This plays like an episode of Star Trek without any Starfleet crew members.

Ray Harryhausen did the special effects, which for 1966 were outstanding.
Dinosaurs, giant lizards & spiders and an exploding volcano "climax" are the thrills, aside from a scantily clad Raquel Welch.
Pre-historic man surely wasn't so sexy...This is primarily a visual movie, with hardly any dialogue- only one word utterances.
I'm not sure I'd watch this one again- it holds little interest for me.
I was curious to see it only because Kubrick used a scene from it in A Clockwork Orange; the shots where falling rocks and stones rain down on the cavemen during the eruption.
No clue why Stanley chose to use it, other than it was in the Warner vault.
There's a scene with man-apes in a cave that may have been inspiration for 2001.
I can't say I recommend it, but I also won't say don't see it. Movies are meant to be watched!

[Johann]

VIVA LAS VEGAS (1964)


Probably the most dynamic of all the Elvis Presley pictures, with the thinnest of plots.
The King plays "Lucky Jackson", a race car enthusiast who goes to Vegas for a race with a car with no engine.
He earns money waiting tables to buy an engine.
Enter Ann-Margret, sex kitten. She matches Elvis in sex appeal and it was cool to see them together.
They sing, dance, water-ski, fly a helicopter and have a wild romance. (In real-life too!)
Ultimately Lucky gets his number 7 sweet race car into the race, and Wins all, including the girl.
George Sidney directs.
Somewhat cheesy and cornball, overall this flick is highly entertaining. The songs are catchy, the film is light and fun.

[Johann]

CAT PEOPLE (1942)



REVELATIONS 13:2

The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear, and a mouth like that of a lion.



The biblical quote above is referenced in this movie, used to describe an "evil" creature: the black panther.
This is a unique, intriguing and great film, one I'd never seen before.
Simone Simon plays Irina, a woman vexed by her personal demons and "cats".
She's married, but her husband isn't so sure about love. His co-worker in chartography loves him, and wants him to leave Irina for her.
There are caged panthers and leopards in the Central Park zoo, nearby their home, and Irina goes there often.
She's haunted by cats and cat imagery/howls, and she eventually has to see a psychiatrist for it.
She's deemed close to insane, and strange stuff happens in her wake- a creepy scene in a swimming pool is one.
By the end I wasn't truly sure she was dead- the way they treated her was not unlike the persecution of King Kong!
Wild movie by Jacques Tourneur.

[Johann]

HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962)



Filmed in Cinerama in 5 segments by three directors, this is a pretty good movie.
While not in the top eschelon of westerns, there's enough here to love if you love the genre.
Henry Hathaway directs the first part, John Ford directs the second, and George Marshall directs the third.
Many stars were offered roles in it, and these accepted: Karl Malden, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Lee J. Cobb,
Carrol Baker, Debbie Reynolds, Eli Wallach, George Peppard, Walter Brennan and Harry Morgan.

The film takes us on an old west history lesson, of which I have no frame of reference to validate.
All I know from this film is settlers battled Indians, buffalo, wild white rapids, the civil war,
"likker" merchants, train robbers and Desperadoes...
The cinematography is spectacular, capturing nature in all it's glory.
This was a 3-camera panorama film, and it screams to be seen on the big screen.
I really enjoyed this movie, corny songs and all.
162 minutes with overture, intermission and exit music and narrated by Spencer Tracy.
Recommended.

[Chris Knipp]

Does this mean you are not generally a "Western" person?
I'm not, for sure. One of the popular genres I never took to, including musicals.

[Johann]

No, I'm not really a western fan.
There were 4 John Ford (lesser) westerns on TCM yesterday, and I couldn't summon the strength to see them.
I watched Cheyenne Autumn, and while it looked good I was very bored.

[Chris Knipp]

John Ford of course is one we "should" revere and know. (I don't.) I sympathize. How about Clint's classic Western stuff? I'm weak in that area too, though I've seen all his recent films, some at the NYFF screenings.

[Johann]

How about Clint's classic Western stuff?

The Good, The Bad & the Ugly is probably the best western of all-time.
Clint's westerns are probably the set bar. (Next to John Ford)

[Chris Knipp]

What about Clint's right-wing politics in his Westerns? Does the sprit of Dirty Harry invade them too?

Apparently Spaghetti Westerns, as this article "Spaghetti Westerns and Politics (https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Spaghetti_Westerns_and_Politics)" shows, are highly political in references to the De Gaspari government pushing out the left, about capitalists exploiting the poor, and about Italy's sense of humiliation after the end of WWII, and in the Spaghetti Westerns the Civil War stands in for WWII. There is more on this "Spaghetti Western Data Base" about politics in Sergio Leone's (https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/An_Essay_on_the_Politics_of_the_Spaghetti_Westerns _of_Sergio_Leone), in which Clint played key roles, but I can't find anything about the politics in Clint's own Westerns.

At least Clint has withdrawn support from Trump.

[Johann]

Has he withdrawn support?

I wasn't aware of a political subtext in Leone, but it doesn't surprise me.
Clint's "hard-right" politics are disappointing.
It taints his movie work, which is quite outstanding.

[Chris Knipp]

Clint distanced himself from Trump. Said (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/just-get-mike-bloomberg-there-clint-eastwood-distances-himself-trump-n1141066) 'Just get Mike Bloomberg in there." That didn't happen, of course.

Can you give me some specific instances where Eastwood's politics have tainted his later work?

[Johann]

Only one: the entire film of American Sniper.
Chris Kyle's story was a fraud, and Clint maintained it-even omitted Bush's ordering him to shoot looters after Hurricane Katrina.

[Chris Knipp]

I thought of American Sniper too.
Richard Jewell is a story designed to say you can't trust the FBI or the press, a libertarian view. But it is an interesting movie. Unexpected trajectory, great actor.

[Johann]

FURY (1936)



Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film.
Spencer Tracy is Joseph "Joe" Wilson, a man in love with Katherine Grant (Sylvia Sidney).
They don't have enough money to get married, so they work apart from each other in different cities to build their capital.
Joe has the misfortune of being picked up on suspicion of a kidnapping & murder rap.
Gossip of his guilt hits town, and he's burned alive in the jail by the lynch-minded townsfolk.
But he escaped at the last minute, and the "fury" is now all his...

You feel the injustice here, feel for Joe, and his dead dog Rainbow.
Joe plots revenge, and he's bitter.
His whole good life was knocked off track, by a murderous lynch mob.
Joe monitors his murder trial by radio, which has State exhibit "A" being a newsreel film that identifies perps.
Joe to Katherine: "I'm hangin' 22 rats for what they DID do!! They'll see what it's like being lynched!!"
Did he lose his morality for seeking revenge?

Excellent first American film from Fritz Lang.

[Johann]

YOU AND ME (1938)

This was a first time ever screening for TCM, and myself as well.


Fritz Lang directs this "Christmas noir"- a story of how crime doesn't pay.
Sylvia Sidney is Helen, a parolee working at Morris department store as a clerk. There she meets another ex-con clerk Joe (George Raft), whom she marries.
The owner of the store makes a practice out of hiring ex-cons, and they are not to date each other or marry.
Helen kept the truth about her past from Joe, and when he finds out, he becomes disillusioned.
He's so disillusioned he plots to rob the store.
Great little "morality" movie that I'd never seen before.
The ending has a double surprise twist. (Triple if you include the "Hour for Ecstasy"...)

[Johann]

The Rounders (1914)



Primitive Charlie Chaplin film co-starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.
A "Keystone" silent running only 10 minutes, it has what you'd expect from Chaplin:
pratfalls, pranks and a running gag of him & Fatty "rounding" corners to avoid their wives and others.
Ends with the two of them in a sinking rowboat, "Asleep in the Deep".



The Knock-Out (1914)


Another Keystone silent film directed by & starring Arbuckle as "Pug", it's more sight gags and pratfalls.
The theme this time is "knockout"- rocks to the head and a boxing contest, in which a young guy boxes Fatty
to impress his girlfriend. Chaplin "referees" the bout, which is a farce. Fatty loses it in the ring, pulling a gun and firing.
Enter the keystone cops and the chase is on! Mayhem ensues.
Interesting early silent.

[Johann]

GRAND HOTEL (1932)


Opulent MGM movie, the first "All-Star" film for the studio.
You might want to sip some cognac while watching this classic, while checking into Berlin's "Grand Hotel".

The story weaves the stories of the hotel guests into an interesting and satisfying whole.
Starring:
John Barrymore (as a debonair tragic thief Baron von Geigern), Greta Garbo (as an over-the-top dancer Grusinskaya), Lionel Barrymore (as an unforgettable bookeeper/dying man Kringelein), Wallace Beery
(as a gruff and overbearing Mr.Preysing), Joan Crawford (as a cutie that shines Flaemmchen), and Lewis Stone (as a drunk pessimistic doctor).

Johann Strauss' "The Blue Danube" can be heard onscreen for the first time here, some 36 years before Kubrick's 2001!
I enjoyed this movie- it moves at a stately pace, slowly revealing it's charms/twists.
Garbo is gorgeous, and so is Joan Crawford.
Worth seeing.

[Chris Knipp]

Grand Hotel: grand stuff.
I love this movie and I adore the magical Garbo.
Classic line spoken by the manager: "People come, people go. Nothing ever happens."

[Johann]

Grand Hotel is grand indeed...
Garbo shows us why she's adored- her acting is superb.
IMDB reviews talk about the fact that this is a pre-WWII film, and a historically interesting one at that.
World War I is referenced, and Wallace Beery's character was a typical German art monger of the times, not just a fat cat.

[Johann]

BULLITT (1968)


Steve McQueen is Bullitt, a San Francisco cop hired to protect a witness for a mob trial.
He's hired by Robert Vaughn, and when the witness is shot dead, Bullitt suspects Vaughn was behind it.
The rest of the movie is Bullitt tracking down the kingpin who may have done it, and there are two great chase sequences-
one with the famous Dodge Charger, the other on an airplane tarmac- you decide which is better.
Great music score by Lalo (Starsky & Hutch) Schiffrin!
This is a slow movie, some might even say boring. I found it gripping and worth watching.
Late 60's gritty police drama.

[Chris Knipp]

1968.
Peter Yates directed. IMDb tells us that "Peter Yates started out as a professional racing car driver and team manager - albeit briefly - before turning his attention to film."
Steve McQueen was an icon without equal today. These days, there's a different Steve McQueen, a black British filmmaker (originally an artist who made short art film videos) who's been featured in the NYFF since 2008, who clearly likes to browbeat the audience. People who like punishment admire his work. He's featured again this year (https://theplaylist.net/nyff-2020-lineup-20200813/) with three one-hour films, part of a TV miniseries of five such films. Drawing from a TV miniseries for the festival's opening night film is a departure from former standards.

Of Bullitt all I remember is the cars racing over the hills of San Francisco. Those sequences were unique, avery exciting, hard to believe but fun. I wound up driving over those hills for many years myself, but usually at a more measured pace and not in that kind of big American car, in British or German cars.

[Johann]

I hadn't heard of the other Steve McQueen. Every day in August TCM is highlighting an actor: "Summer Under The Stars".

Bullitt is really only remembered for the car chases- the acting is rudimentary, the story is kinda stock and plain.

[Johann]

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)



Gene Kelly is Jerry Mulligan, a struggling painter in Paris. He sells some paintings to a bourgeois lady who is attracted to him.
But Jerry's attracted to Lise (Leslie Caron) and complications develop. That's the plot. The rest is musical, musical, MUSICAL.

Vincente Minnelli directs this Oscar winner, which I enjoyed more than Gene Kelly's other celebrated musical Singin' in the Rain.
Both are exuberant movies, but this one feels more real.
I loved the Gershwin songs, incredible tap dancing, and the finale ballet sequence is amazingly well done.
The "romance" of Paris is all over this picture, even tho it was filmed in Hollywood.
This is a classic musical, and some may say it's the best ever, like they do for Singin' in the Rain.
Gene Kelly has massive dance talent, and he holds down the movie with ease.
Either you give it up for musicals or you don't...
This was another "Essential" film, hosted by Ben Mankiewicz & director Brad Bird.

[Chris Knipp]

GIGI (Minelli 1958) was filmed in Paris, at least street scenes.

The new black British Steve McQueen is very big in the festival world now. Armand White's vocally negative reaction to the group's awarding the new McQueen's 2013 12 YEARS A SLAVE "torture porn," got him expelled from the New York Film Critics Circle, which in turn eventually got him two better jobs, movie critic for OUT and NATIONAL REVIEW, and the American Book Award for Anti-Censorship, I've watched a new movie today called THE 24TH, about a black army division in 1917, which seems to me racism porn. As palate cleansers I watched a typically light film by Eric Rohmer I'd apparently never seen, THE AVIATOR, and Maurice Pialat's GRADUATE FIRST/PASSE TON BAC D'ABORD (1981, 1978). I'd like to see what White says about THE 24TH.

[Johann]

Thanks Chris for the heads-up on The 24th.
You’ve been very prolific during this pandemic, and we’re all grateful.
Hope life’s being good to you.

I’m resurrecting this TCM thread.
I love that channel.

[Chris Knipp]

My pleasure, thank you!
Doing what I can...

[Chris Knipp]

By the way in spite of my negative remarks about Steve McQueen the director, his recent "Small Axe" anthology is really good and I included LOvers Rock from it in my Ten Best Movies of 2020, as did others.

[Johann]

Duly noted.

Not being able to see films in an actual movie theatre has been one of the travesties of this pandemic. I really miss that.
TCM has been a godsend, and so have DVD’s, which are practically obsolete now.

[Chris Knipp]

http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/Gh5OT.jpg

I was watching a lot on screeners anyway so it's not a complete change even if I do miss going to movie theaters and seeing films on the big screen with a powerful sound system, as at Lincoln Center, or anywhere really, with buttered popcorn, American style (you won't catch people munching on popcorn at a Paris cinema!).

I disagree a bit with the idea that a format (vinyl records, cassette tape, DVD's, CD's) becomes "obsolete." They hang around, and I was just reading that vinyl record prices were going up, while other sound formats weren't, and vinyl was gathering prestige with young people. (I have some laser discs, by the way, and a Pioneer Elite laser disc/CD/DVD player to play them on). DVD's are admittedly less necessary for everyday use now because of the convenience of internet watching of new films via Vimeo and other platforms. That's a lot faster and easier for reviewing films because you don't have to mail a physical disc back and forth and wrestle with a player, though you do have to have good internet speed.

But I was just rewatching Albicocco's La fille aux yeux d'or/The Girl with the Golden Eyes (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054928/) (1961), or taking hits off its lush black and white visuals anyway, on a copy disc I ordered a few years ago from https://www.moviedetective.net/ ("The last bastion of arthouse cinema"), a source for rare public domain foreign films. For a cult film like Girl with the Golden Eyes you have to track down a DVD.

It's sad not to be able to go to movie theaters but it's wonderful how many movies we can gain access to online.

[Johann]

Yes, where there’s a will, there’s a way to access films...

Lovely poster.
Never seen that one, and didn’t know Parisiennes don’t munch popcorn at movies.
Why is that? A cleanliness thing?

I just got new 32-inch Sony Bravia monitor and will be buying a 4K blu-ray DVD player.
I want Stanley Kubrick films in the highest resolution possible.
Keep cranking out your great reviews- you are clearly the man here.

[Chris Knipp]

I didn't know the poster either. But it's all over the place - seems to be the only one for the film.
Europeans don't have the habit of eating between meals. That rules out snacks at the movies.
I've had Europeans observe to me that Americans "never stop eating." I'm afraid that is observably true.

[Johann]

Candace Hilligoss is beautiful as a woman haunted by ghosts at an abandoned amusement park/pavilion.

She’s involved in a car accident and starts being haunted and drawn to the former carnival location.
Very creepy and atmospheric film, one that’s been compared to a Twilight Zone episode.
Very low budget by appearances, the acting I found to be pretty bad.
The surreal vibe kept me interested.
It could’ve been a lost early George A. Romero!
This was a Criterion Collection DVD selection once upon a time.

[Johann]

Federico Fellini’s first film in colour, and he maximized it.

He cast his wife Giuletta Masina in the title role, a housewife with profound insecurities about her husband.
Through memories/flashback, dreams, etc. She has visions from various “spirits”- occult, Catholic, familial and from beyond the grave.
The visuals are dazzling, and if you’re a lover of cinema, then this will be a treat.
The music is great, the pacing/editing is great, and the cinematography is really great.
A must-see.
Also was a Criterion DVD release.

[Chris Knipp]

Johann,
Your report led me to watch Juliet of the Spirits again, because I'm subscribed to HBO now and it's free there to subscribers. It is dazzling and gorgeous. But it also reminds me how indigestible Fellini became to me and always really was. There is the sentimentality of La Strada, the pretentiousness of La Dolce Vita. I can see why some, like Orson Welles, chose his earliest pictures as the best. But also this reminds me how Fellini dominated arthouse cinema in the late fifties and early sixties, till Antonioni took over with L'Avventura and the French wiped out the Italians when the Nouvelle Vague had more energy and originality and more directors and stars.

Juliet of the Spirits really grabs you and astonishes you with scene after scene of astonishments. But the structures is weak. Unlike La Dolce Vita, he doesn't make each sequence really count. He doesn't pause to breathe between them, for one thing. And this shows what some critics like John Simon are talking about when they point to a steady decline after what some (like Rosenbaum) think was a peak with 8 1/2, which incidentally is a triumph of beautiful black and white. He kind of went overboard with the color, like a child in a toy shop, as if it was going to be his last chance and he'd have to go back to monochrome right after.

[Johann]

You’re right about Fellini.
Juliet of the Spirits is dazzling, and he doesn’t pause to breathe.

I just loved the colour, the faces, and the whimsy.
When I think of cinema, this is the type of stuff I want to see.
Fellini may be hard to love- a viewer has to make allowances.
We’re just supposed to indulge him in his flights of fancy.
I agree that he seems be using colour like it’s the last time he will.



I watched Gone With The Wind last night- found it a little tedious.
I see why people love it- it captures the “Old South” quite well and has decent acting.
Ultimately it’s just like Roger Ebert said it was: the rise and fall of a sexual adventuress.

Kubrick’s Killer’s Kiss is on TCM Saturday at midnight.

[Chris Knipp]

European film buffs were in awe of Fellini when La Dolce Vita came out. But while it won the Palme d'Or, it was probably L'Avventura that deserved it.
So wrote A.A. Dowd of AVClub (https://film.avclub.com/la-dolce-vita-won-the-palme-but-a-more-radical-italian-1798274217).

[Johann]

This was an amateur film from Stanley Kubrick, his second feature.
Introduced by Eddie Muller for “Noir Alley”, this movie may be incoherent to some.

It’s historical importance is huge, as it shows the birth pangs of a great director.
The story (by Kubrick) is about Davey and Gloria and a third party named Vinnie. (Frank Silvera).
Davey is a boxer who recovers from a loss and inadvertently falls into Gloria’s dark world. The film is 67 minutes and culminates with a rooftop chase and a fight in a mannequin factory.
It showcases a New York that doesn’t exist anymore, a Manhattan that no longer glitters.
Stanley was a photographer (a Great one) and all of the shots bear his unique vision. He was trying to be a pro with this film, even tho he didn’t know what he was doing. The sound is completely dubbed, as he didn’t know how to record synchronized sound.
The acting is no great shakes, and neither is the disjointed pacing.
All in all it’s still an admirable effort, and got picked up by United Artists for distribution.
Eddie Muller is right: this is genius, in development.

[Johann]

Part of the Silent Sunday Nights series hosted by Jacqueline Stewart, this was a gem.

Made by Walther Ruttman, this silent evoked Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov with it’s rhythm and documentary style.
It shows us one day in Berlin in the twenties, after WWI and before Hitler’s Nazis.
It’s in 5 reels, or “Akts”, and it is impressive.
It shows us how Industrious Germany was, how advanced they were for their time, with trains,factories, newsprint, communications and even bakeries.
It starts with early morning and finishes with the night.
I’d never seen this one before, and being a fan of Vertov, I was riveted.
Fast cuts, interesting camera angles, time-capsule effects, terrific film.
A must-see.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for the tip.

[Johann]

Just thought I'd move this thread up in the queue.
Re-reading it brings back memories.