View Full Version : Now Screening - What Are You Watching Right Now?
Sherlock Holmes, 2009.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTmyM6ZWyvIA4_Pe2GvYZmKB-zscbt_KaL4LQWqyRh39bir4FrO
In the stories, Holmes is described to be an expert in Baritsu. In the film, however, the martial art that Holmes used is the Wing-Chun Kung Fu (famously used by Ip Man Yee and Bruce Lee). Robert Downey, Jr. is a practitioner of the art in real-life, and the fight scene between him and David Garrick at Punch Bowl Pit was coordinated with the help of his trainer.
Director of photography Philippe Rousselot used a special high-speed digital camera specifically to film the Punch Bowl fight sequence. The key moment where Holmes punches his opponent's jaw was filmed one second in real time, and turned into a seven-second shot without additional post-production aid.
Rachel McAdams, Jude Law, and Robert Downey Jr. reportedly did most of their own stunts.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, 1986.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRt-QNwZZUVNjlqXVFS8lzWnAvTrlmxWCeyxGPS5PmosYVPFvD_
Leonard Nimoy has said that when this film first came out, whale rights activists caused an uproar. These groups believed that the effects and models portraying the whales were actual footage, and that actual whales were held in captivity or filmed too close to their habitat.
Saw that at the cinema when it came out, my mum made me take my kid brother along as he wanted to see it too. He was alright as it happened, no trouble.
Good film, the second best of the Star Trek franchise?
Enjoyable film,
NEARLY ruined (but not quite) by the terrible music
The Bourne Ultimatum, 2007.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRSIgm6IpouKLQYq9kFcXKm7TxHvGcnv 3rHfB8VvyWUAdYS-YFt
Back To The Future Pt2, 1989.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTsdbxZfmQUM_9hVGU_L2_c_NzyoO9x5 C3DG-gTPnlI8Kxkn5jA
This movie was the most advanced film of its time for using "every trick in the book", according to Robert Zemeckis. It was in the late 1980s when the concept of CGI was starting. However, in the film, very few CGI effects were actually needed.
The biggest effect the picture employs is a camera system called the VistaGlide. There are four scenes that use the effect of the same actor interacting with themselves. The four scenes that were shot were Griff and 2015 Biff in the Cafe 80's, the dinner sequence in 2015, 1955 Biff talking to 2015 Biff in the garage, and 1955 Doc talking with 1985 Doc. In order to create the dinner sequence with VistaGlide, the camera had to be divided into thirds and Michael had to come in three different times to play his older self, Marty Jr., and his daughter Marlene. This is the first film to accomplish interaction between the same actor on the screen twice as two different characters. If you watch closely, you'll see that 2015 Biff's hand disappears during the scene in the garage.
https://i.ibb.co/N9K27pq/The-Mist-poster.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)
'The Mist' (2007)
The morning after a bad storm the power is out and a mist starts rolling in across the lake. A bloke, his son and their neighbour travel into the nearby town to get supplies. But then bad things start to happen.
Based on a Stephen King novella of the same name which I read back in school. Didn't realise they'd made a film of it until the other day. Happily the DVD was only £1.30.
Director is Frank Darabont who also adapted and directed the King stories 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'The Green Mile.'
Sticks quite close to the novella except for the ending which is a bitch. Lots of tension and good performances from the cast which includes Toby Jones playing a yank.
Well worth a watch. There's also a spin-off TV series, not seen that. Got cancelled after one season.
Edit: Technically it should be called 'The Fog' since the definition of mist is that visibility is still one kilometre or more and in the film they can't see more than ten foot. But that title was already taken.
https://i.ibb.co/N9K27pq/The-Mist-poster.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)
'The Mist' (2007)
The morning after a bad storm the power is out and a mist starts rolling in across the lake. A bloke, his son and their neighbour travel into the nearby town to get supplies. But then bad things start to happen.
Based on a Stephen King novella of the same name which I read back in school. Didn't realise they'd made a film of it until the other day. Happily the DVD was only £1.30.
Director is Frank Darabont who also adapted and directed the King stories 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'The Green Mile.'
Sticks quite close to the novella except for the ending which is a bitch. Lots of tension and good performances from the cast which includes Toby Jones playing a yank.
Well worth a watch. There's also a spin-off TV series, not seen that. Got cancelled after one season.
Edit: Technically it should be called 'The Fog' since the definition of mist is that visibility is still one kilometre or more and in the film they can't see more than ten foot. But that title was already taken.
good film... nice find at £1.30 too
walpurgis
15-05-2022, 13:01
I've got a cheap DVD on the way too.
'A Shock to The System' 1990, with Michael Caine. Saw a bit of it on the box the other day and thought it looked great.
https://i.ibb.co/S0shxLv/Screen-Shot-05-15-22-at-01-53-PM.png (https://imgbb.com/)
It was originally a freebie with Daily Mail and comes in a cardboard slip.
sure ive got that somewhere... it was pretty good from memory
Ruthless People, 1986.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3a/Ruthless_people_poster.jpg
and now...
Throw Momma from the Train, 1987.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/89/Throwmommafromthetrain.jpg
Both Danny DeVito.
Black Comedy afternoon here.....
https://i.ibb.co/ydcm16H/Tora-Tora-Tora1970.png (https://imgbb.com/)
'Tora! Tora! Tora!' (1970)
The Japanese take the Americans completely by surprise two years into a world war.
Seen this loads of times as it was my father's favourite film which he would insist on watching any time it was on. Which was quite a lot since it was often the 'Movie For A Dreary Afternoon' back in the late Seventies and early Eighties.
I cannot view it these days without thinking of Grandpa Simpson's classic line: 'I've not felt this relaxed and carefree since I was Watch Commander at Pearl Harbour.'
https://i.ibb.co/ydcm16H/Tora-Tora-Tora1970.png (https://imgbb.com/)
'Tora! Tora! Tora!' (1970)
The Japanese take the Americans completely by surprise two years into a world war.
Seen this loads of times as it was my father's favourite film which he would insist on watching any time it was on. Which was quite a lot since it was often the 'Movie For A Dreary Afternoon' back in the late Seventies and early Eighties.
I cannot view it these days without thinking of Grandpa Simpson's classic line: 'I've not felt this relaxed and carefree since I was Watch Commander at Pearl Harbour.'
good film that. The Japs' Torpedoes at that time were 'the berries' and way ahead of the wests.. in fact they supplied all their info on them to germany during the war on request from germany. They could drop them and run in 20 metres of water after dropping them.. (type 91's)
Admirable Crighton, 1957.
65 yrs old and only one or 2 still alive from cast, and they are pushing 90.
Sally died recentlyhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220515/4718262c925c91ac3eaec659cf4219f8.jpg
edit. 2 of the stars are still alive and 2 of the support cast afaik. gerald harper the best known.
Back to the Future Pt 3.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS7gkpTgwF2SjI8bkwLsADdZNrTFqNJl tZo00G_VPtjpgLJsYmJ
According to the book "Billy Gibbons: Rock & Roll Gearhead", ZZ Top was hanging around the set, and was asked to be the town band. During one take, the camera broke. While waiting for the camera to be repaired, Michael J. Fox asked if they would play "Hey Good Lookin'" which they did. Afterwards, more requests were played. Two hours later, someone inquired if the camera had been repaired. Robert Zemeckis replied that it had been fixed for quite a while, he just didn't want to stop the party that had evolved.
Pigmy Pony
16-05-2022, 09:48
edit. 2 of the stars are still alive and 2 of the support cast afaik. gerald harper the best known.
Gerald Harper. Hadleigh! Maybe time for Forces TV to bring that one back. I quite liked it iirc.
Gerald Harper. Hadleigh! Maybe time for Forces TV to bring that one back. I quite liked it iirc.
had to look that up, I've got no recollection of it at all.
I was only 7 when it finished though so maybe it was on after my bedtime.
walpurgis
16-05-2022, 10:50
Gerald Harper. Hadleigh! Maybe time for Forces TV to bring that one back. I quite liked it iirc.
He came to fame starring as 'Adam Adamant'. It was a long time ago, my mother in law was a big fan.
St Martin's Lane, 1938. (AKA Sidewalks Of London)
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2CGPY79/charles-laughton-in-st-martins-lane-aka-the-sidewalks-of-london-1938-director-tim-whelan-screenplay-clemence-dane-producers-erich-pommer-and-charles-laughton-mayflower-pictures-corporation-associated-british-film-distributors-abfd-paramount-pictures-2CGPY79.jpg
The poem recited by Charles (Charles Laughton) and Libby (Vivien Leigh) is "The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God" by John Milton Hayes, written by 1911.
Made in London just before England's entrance into World War II, this film was co-produced by a refugee from Adolf Hitler, the great German producer of "Metropolis (1927)" and many other classic UFA movies, Erich Pommer. It was directed by an American from Hollywood, Tim Whelan, and features another American, the great harmonica virtuoso, Larry Adler, who was to return to live in exile in England after the war when he was blacklisted in the U.S. Adler went on write and play the score for the classic English comedy Genevieve (1953). The role of the tall busker Gentry was played by Tyrone Guthrie who would be knighted and would one day become Artistic Director of Canada's Stratford Festival and founder of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. This movie was edited by Robert Hamer, who would go on to direct the Ealing Studio comedy "Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)." It also starred Charles Laughton as Charles Staggers, a young Vivien Leigh as Liberty (Libby)not long before she got the 'Gone With The Wind' role, and Rex Harrison ....
He came to fame starring as 'Adam Adamant'. It was a long time ago, my mother in law was a big fan.
ah yes, and Ridley SCott directed a few episodes of that back in... what was it? 60's or 70's
walpurgis
16-05-2022, 11:25
ah yes, and Ridley SCott directed a few episodes of that back in... what was it? 60's or 70's
Late sixties I think. Too lazy to Google it :).
Late sixties I think. Too lazy to Google it :).
lol, me too... it was quite good if i remember, although i was just a boy..
reminds me of leo sayer that... Oh, I was just a boy, .. Giving it all away.. last line i think was title of song.. i like leo..
Ok, my nose got me lol.. it was called Adam Adamant Lives!, and was from 1966/7. The series was created and produced by several alumni from Doctor Who. Proposing that an adventurer born in 1867 had been revived from hibernation in 1966, Adam Adamant Lives! was a satirical look at life in the 1960s through the eyes of an Edwardian (Adamant vanished in 1902, when Edward VII had been on the throne just one year)
good memory geoff..:D
Hobson's Choice, 1954. Stars Charles Laughton again, with Brenda De Banzie and John Mills.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/23/Hobsonschoice.jpg
Alexander Korda suggested to writer, producer, and director Sir David Lean that he should adapt Harold Brighouse's 1915 stage comedy for the screen.
Sir John Mills often cited this as his favorite movie. Mills was only nine years younger than Charles Laughton, who was to become his father in law. His wife to be, Brenda De Banzie was actually 44 when filming, Mills was 46 and Laughton was 54. De Banzie's young sister, Prunella Scales was 22 and is the last survivor of the cast.. she is 89 now.
Ok, my nose got me lol.. it was called Adam Adamant Lives!, and was from 1966/7. The series was created and produced by several alumni from Doctor Who. Proposing that an adventurer born in 1867 had been revived from hibernation in 1966, Adam Adamant Lives! was a satirical look at life in the 1960s through the eyes of an Edwardian (Adamant vanished in 1902, when Edward VII had been on the throne just one year)
good memory geoff..:D
They repeated that a few years back, might have been on Talking Pictures channel. I watched the first episode, interesting idea but all a bit stagey and histrionic.
They repeated that a few years back, might have been on Talking Pictures channel. I watched the first episode, interesting idea but all a bit stagey and histrionic.
i think it was of its age; the 60's. they did do a run on dvd once apparently.
i think it was of its age; the 60's. they did do a run on dvd once apparently.
They've released all sorts of crap TV shows on DVD, lord knows who buys them. Youngsters aren't interested and we remember them from first time round and wouldn't watch them again if you paid us.
But can you get something good like 'Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer' from the 1980s on DVD? Or any format? No of course not, and they never show it on the telly either.
They've released all sorts of crap TV shows on DVD, lord knows who buys them. Youngsters aren't interested and we remember them from first time round and wouldn't watch them again if you paid us.
But can you get something good like 'Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer' from the 1980s on DVD? Or any format? No of course not, and they never show it on the telly either.
you'll get it on us format on dvd but thats about it alas. about time it was given a uk or bluray release
you'll get it on us format on dvd but thats about it alas. about time it was given a uk or bluray release
Nope it isn't available anywhere on any format. Same with 'Vietnam: The 10,000 Day War'.
Also 'Beverley Hills Bunce' although there are some episodes on Youtube, or there were. And that's only because some bloke taped them the one and only time they were shown, and kept the tapes across three decades.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mickey-Spillanes-Mike-Hammer-Complete/dp/B095K2SRM2/ref=sr_1_2?crid=QT9PBM7IYTSQ&keywords=mike+hammer+dvd&qid=1652708751&sprefix=mike+hammer%2Caps%2C77&sr=8-2
ok if you can play american dvds. good enough price. can get it on american amazon site too. there is also the new adventures as well
Witness for the Prosecution, 1957. Another Charles Laughton film.. An Agatha Christie story adapted by Billy Wilder and Harry Kurnitz. A good cast in this too with a surprise ending....
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ad/Movie_poster_for_%22Witness_for_the_Prosecution%22 .jpg
At previews, audience members received, and were asked to sign, cards that read, "I solemnly swear I will not reveal the ending of Witness for the Prosecution."
Charles Laughton, who could be moody and difficult, was apparently a dream to work with, throwing himself into the role with dedication and delight. Billy Wilder later recalled a day that was set aside just for shooting reaction shots of the jury and courtroom crowd (composed of extras hired only for the day). Normally, the assistant director would read the actors' lines, and the extras would react. However, Laughton, who was fascinated with the whole process of filmmaking, begged to help. So he came in on his day off and read all of the off-camera speeches for the jury members. He not only read his part but also the judge's, the prosecutor's, and even Marlene Dietrich's. According to biographer Maurice Zolotow in his book "Billy Wilder in Hollywood", "it was an exhibition of craftsmanship such as Wilder had never seen. He believes that Charles Laughton had the greatest technical range and power of any actor, man or woman, whom he has known."
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mickey-Spillanes-Mike-Hammer-Complete/dp/B095K2SRM2/ref=sr_1_2?crid=QT9PBM7IYTSQ&keywords=mike+hammer+dvd&qid=1652708751&sprefix=mike+hammer%2Caps%2C77&sr=8-2
ok if you can play american dvds. good enough price. can get it on american amazon site too. there is also the new adventures as well
Good find, seems it only got released last July. Not sure I want to pay forty squid though. I've got 'The New Adventures' already but that's nothing like as good.
Good find, seems it only got released last July. Not sure I want to pay forty squid though. I've got 'The New Adventures' already but that's nothing like as good.
think at that price its a good buy. its a relative rarity over here. but can u play usa discs? one of the buys is prime too.
Rogue Male, 1976. This is the digital file i have but pre cleaned up so quality not as good as the bluray; still, it adds a nice vintage feel. A very good cast makes this superior to the other version imo.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/911XRJCykpL._RI_.jpg
Michael Byrne plays a Nazi interrogator in this film and would go on to play a very similar role, that of a vicious Nazi officer, in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Whereas Michael Sheard plays Adolf Hitler in both this and the aforementioned Indiana Jones film. Sheard also portrayed Hitler in The Tomorrow People: Hitler's Last Secret: Seeds of Destruction (1978), The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985) and Secret History: Hitler of the Andes (2003).
This was the final film of Alastair Sim's career.
think at that price its a good buy. its a relative rarity over here. but can u play usa discs? one of the buys is prime too.
Yes got an Oppo that is multi-region.
Now I don't have any income I'm not supposed to be spending money I don't have to and I already spent £25 on CDs last week...
Yes got an Oppo that is multi-region.
Now I don't have any income I'm not supposed to be spending money I don't have to and I already spent £25 on CDs last week...
mines an oppo too. ive got it set on uk dvd and usa bluray and leave it like that. ive a pana 4k that i use for uk bluray and 4k.
saves fiddling... yup you have to be careful with pennies and pounds. im not buying much now either. still trying to recover from xmas, the new car, the new scooter and hoist etc...list goes on. i did splash out on that unit for my films but it was needed.lol
ive still got a load of vinyl to sell, probably in a job lot. about 300 i guess
will hang onto my vinyl as long as possible - it's the only thing I own that actually goes up in value faster than inflation.
will hang onto my vinyl as long as possible - it's the only thing I own that actually goes up in value faster than inflation.
there is that:D
Pigmy Pony
16-05-2022, 18:04
Yes got an Oppo that is multi-region.
Now I don't have any income I'm not supposed to be spending money I don't have to and I already spent £25 on CDs last week...
If you can put together and post a CD wants list I'll look out for them. Give me something to do while finding only discs I either already have or don't want.
If you can put together and post a CD wants list I'll look out for them. Give me something to do while finding only discs I either already have or don't want.
sure, i might have cds or films you might want .. ive lots of dvds not that dont ever get used as they are all on hdd. same mostly with cds too. being disabled its much easier than trying use discs all time. happy to send them on to a mate.
Eye of the Needle, 1981. Director is Richard Marquand.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/Eye_of_the_Needle.jpg
This movie is what led George Lucas to hire Richard Marquand to direct Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983). Lucas was mainly impressed how Marquand was able to finish a difficult production on time and on budget, a factor which was critical on a huge production like Star Wars. Lucas also had to hire someone who was not a member of the Hollywood director's union as he was having a dispute with the Director's Guild at the time.
This movie features World War II's large-scale counter-espionage deception activities conducted by the Allies to prevent Nazi Germans from discovering the location of Operation Overlord's D-Day Normandy landing place and to divert them from this area. The codename for this mission was Operation Fortitude which was part of a larger campaign which was codenamed Operation Bodyguard.
A blue Ford BB truck, registration number BUC 852 appears in the film. This is the same vehicle that appeared as Lance Corporal Jones's butcher's van in both the Dad's Army TV series and the 2016 Dad's Army film (which also featured Bill Nighy, and involved a German spy being picked up by submarine in the run-up to D-Day). According to the Ford Model A Register the vehicle is now the only Ford Model BB truck known to still exist.
The Green Man, 1956.
http://shop-cdn.bfi.org.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/4088ca07390e11598713fc5e2ff6ef9d/g/r/green_man.jpg
This film had a long gestation. It began life as a play by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat called "The Body Was Well-Nourished", originally written in 1937, but not staged until 1940. At that time, the character of the assassin was a supporting role. The play lasted less than three weeks in London, although this was less due to unpopularity than to the Blitz. Launder and Gilliat were never quite satisfied with the play, and, after the war, revised and updated it, retitling it "Meet A Body". This was first staged in 1954 (produced by Laurence Olivier, who did not act in it), but the authors still felt it could be improved, and turned it into a film vehicle for Alastair Sim, who originally wanted to direct, or at least co-direct, it. He had some disagreements with Robert Day, so several scenes were directed either by Basil Dearden or by Launder and Gilliat themselves.
https://i.ibb.co/bv9CzzS/Ungentlemanly-Act-DVD-Cover.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)
'An Ungentlemanly Act' (1992)
The invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982. The incomparable Ian Richardson stars as Governor Sir Rex Hunt.
No idea how I've managed to be unaware of this TV film for so long. I didn't have a TV when it was first broadcast, but never seen it re-shown or even mentioned since. Which is very surprising since it is excellent. I've not watched anything this good for a long time. Very funny, realistic, and highly entertaining.
''The film was well-received on release and is generally considered to be an accurate and even-handed portrayal of events. It won the BAFTA Award for Best Single Drama the following year, and was later shown on television in Argentina.''
https://i.ibb.co/bv9CzzS/Ungentlemanly-Act-DVD-Cover.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)
'An Ungentlemanly Act' (1992)
The invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982. The incomparable Ian Richardson stars as Governor Sir Rex Hunt.
No idea how I've managed to be unaware of this TV film for so long. I didn't have a TV when it was first broadcast, but never seen it re-shown or even mentioned since. Which is very surprising since it is excellent. I've not watched anything this good for a long time. Very funny, realistic, and highly entertaining.
''The film was well-received on release and is generally considered to be an accurate and even-handed portrayal of events. It won the BAFTA Award for Best Single Drama the following year, and was later shown on television in Argentina.''
I never knew this existed either! I’ve read loads on the Falklands War, and was glued to the TV when it happened as a 13 year old in 1982. Did you get it on DVD, Martin, or is it on one of the streaming services? Sounds right up my street. :)
It was made a few years after the 'Tumbledown' film that was made for tv too. both very good.
I never knew this existed either! I’ve read loads on the Falklands War, and was glued to the TV when it happened as a 13 year old in 1982. Did you get it on DVD, Martin, or is it on one of the streaming services? Sounds right up my street. :)
It was shown on Forces TV channel the other night so I taped it. There is a DVD release too. If you are interested in the Falklands War I'd say that it's a required watch.
I was staying at a friend's house at the time of the invasion, his sister comes running in and says 'The Argentinians have just invaded the Falklands!'. I said 'What do you want me to do about it?'. She says 'Well isn't your father in Buenos Aires right now? I thought you might want to know.'
Doh!
As it turned out he was able to get a flight back to the UK that same night.
Doesn’t look like it’s scheduled to be back on Forces TV any time soon, and DVD long out of print so silly money on eBay…. It’s available on the one streaming service I don’t have - BritBox - although I can do a free 7 day trial. Cheers for the heads up!
A bit of a carry-on now with 'Carry On at Your Convenience', 1971.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTbTHpEfBJt_vWBNJInrAuaCewgfCiQM _joN0bpv-Qh4e3UBvXb
Director Gerald Thomas wrote to actor Terry Scott about the cutting of his entire performance in the film by writing in a personal note to him: "...this is in no way any reflection on you or your performance but the film finished fifty minutes over length and we felt rather than cut your sequence down so that you were only on the screen for a flash it would be kinder to remove the entire scene as really it had no effect one way or the other on the story, such as it is".
The car that Sid Plummer (Sidney James) buys himself after he starts winning on the horses to replace his decrepit looking Ford 100E, is a 1971 Morris Marina 1.3 Deluxe Coupe in Bedouin, which is especially notable by the fact that the Marina was a brand new model in 1971 and the car in the film was one of the very first.
Time for a director's cut of that one then. A whole extra fifty minutes! It's a Carry On film, who cares whether the scenes advance the plot (such as it is)?
We could be missing out on a lot from the best ones (Doctor, Camping, Convenience, Cleo, Khyber).
Edit - I'll throw in 'Girls' as well, it's not that funny but the cat fight alone makes it a classic. Although they'd cut that whole scene last time I saw it.
Love Convenience, close call between that and Screaming as my favourite.
Interesting as thats next,... Carry On Screaming!, 1966. Fenella Fielding is smoking hot:lol:
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRqGCwRqfAgUsCPajCy6g0E_trsplk_w TvGE1LhwkeunjozQcN0
As a merchandising gimmick at some theatres, one could purchase rubberized toy monsters called "Kreepy Kwivers" for the cost of 12/6 ($1.75).
Harry H. Corbett, who was a late replacement for Sid James, was paid £12,000 for his role, the most a "Carry On: actor had ever been offered at that point.
Fenella Fielding couldn't sit down in her dress, and had a leaning board behind her whenever she had to.
Roundup the carry-ons with 'Carry On Cabby', 1963.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTxuAgECHSETg5wL_dLdF38Q0uO1T-Wh6KHuZD45GbVe7JTi5TR
Charles Hawtrey was unable to drive, and was given 1 hour lessons 3 times a day for 3 weeks by Pinewood Studio staff and passed his test on the Friday before filming began.
Amanda Barrie couldn't drive, so the production staff attached a rope to the front of her taxi and towed her out of the shot when the drivers were supposed to drive off in an overhead shot.
The Glamcabs were a brand new model of car from the Ford Motor Company, the Cortina, and Ford's involvement in the film was, on their part, to promote the new car. Introduced to the market in September 1962, the Cortina became a classic of British Ford, passing through five models over twenty years, before its eventual replacement in 1982 was given a new name, the Sierra. Some of the film posters were sponsored by Ford who supplied the cars; registration numbers OWC 164 to OWC 170. The posters used the slogan "Britain's Newest Film Star - The new Consul Cortina Super - The small car with the big difference".
Many of the extras for Charlie's cab company were actual taxi drivers.
The double deck bus in one of the scenes has the destination board "Bonkle". This bus is far traveled as Bonkle is a small village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Murder by Decree, 1979.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRCy-N_80dThWOQn-34m-viGijgRYSEp9N9m2ZluHm-E3yMzFUR
Death on the Nile, 2022. Director Kenneth Branagh..
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRvKCXqzpTydBqW935ZIKTobVO30rObd HYJafokbFbiTWX5PNe5
Tiffany & Co designed jewelry worn in the film, most prominently featured is Linnet's diamond necklace. The necklace features a replica of the Tiffany Yellow Diamond, one of the largest yellow diamonds ever discovered. First discovered in South Africa in 1877; as of 2022, it has only been worn publicly by four women. At the 1957 Tiffany Ball, it was worn by Mrs. E. Sheldon Whitehouse. It was worn by Audrey Hepburn for Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) publicity photos. Lady Gaga wore the diamond at the The Oscars (2019). Beyoncé wore the necklace in a campaign with Tiffany in 2021.
In both this film and Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Poirot shows signs of being obsessive compulsive (Letitia Wright's character even calls him "obsessive" at one point). His need for balance and symmetry is shown when he sends back one of the desserts so that he has an even number and when he straightens the feet of one of the victims. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (or OCD) is considered a relatively new discovery, but the term was actually coined in 1877 by German psychiatrist Carl Westphal.
Much better than expected. Not sure what all the criticism was for....
anyhoo, Enemy Of The State, 1998..
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQw-tfev51yV7zx0ObgZiOcogqOZ2HUV6FUrKnWcPHWtirYp34x
The N.S.A. refused to cooperate with the production. Aerial footage of their headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland had to be shot from public air space.
The picture of a younger Gene Hackman shown in a white shirt and tie, supposedly from his N.S.A. file, was taken from The Conversation (1974). Hackman's character Edward "Brill" Lyle, closely resembles his "Conversation" character, Harry Caul. In The Conversation (1974), Harry Caul, like Brill, is a paranoid surveillance expert who has his workplace in an industrial warehouse. Also, Brill wears the same translucent raincoat worn by Harry Caul in the previous movie. In the movie Harry Caul (like Robert Clayton Dean in this movie) is pressured to hand over a tape that has evidence of a murder conspiracy. At the end of The Conversation (1974), Caul demolishes his apartment when he thinks people who have been observing him might be coming for him. It's been suggested by more than one movie critic that Brill could actually be an older Harry Caul, living under a pseudonym.
walpurgis
18-05-2022, 16:40
Enemy Of The State, 1998.
Very good movie!
Big Jake, 1971. Classic Big Duke western...
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/Big_jake_ver2.jpg
In 1971, owing to the success of this film, John Wayne was number one at the U.S. box office for the last time.
Director George Sherman was a friend of John Wayne dating back to their days in the 1930s making westerns at Republic Pictures. By the time of this film, however, Sherman was aging and not in the best of health, and had a difficult time shooting in the wilds of Mexico, where much of the movie was filmed. On the days when Sherman was unable to shoot because of his health conditions, Wayne took over direction, but when the film was completed he insisted that Sherman alone be credited as director.
John Wayne's last film with Christopher Mitchum. The two actors fell out when Mitchum disagreed with Wayne's conservative views during a television interview, and they never spoke again. Mitchum tried to get in touch with Wayne in 1979 when the veteran star was dying of cancer, but did not receive any response.
Death on the Nile, 2022. Director Kenneth Branagh..
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRvKCXqzpTydBqW935ZIKTobVO30rObd HYJafokbFbiTWX5PNe5
Tiffany & Co designed jewelry worn in the film, most prominently featured is Linnet's diamond necklace. The necklace features a replica of the Tiffany Yellow Diamond, one of the largest yellow diamonds ever discovered. First discovered in South Africa in 1877; as of 2022, it has only been worn publicly by four women. At the 1957 Tiffany Ball, it was worn by Mrs. E. Sheldon Whitehouse. It was worn by Audrey Hepburn for Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) publicity photos. Lady Gaga wore the diamond at the The Oscars (2019). Beyoncé wore the necklace in a campaign with Tiffany in 2021.
In both this film and Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Poirot shows signs of being obsessive compulsive (Letitia Wright's character even calls him "obsessive" at one point). His need for balance and symmetry is shown when he sends back one of the desserts so that he has an even number and when he straightens the feet of one of the victims. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (or OCD) is considered a relatively new discovery, but the term was actually coined in 1877 by German psychiatrist Carl Westphal.
Is it any good Grant? I really disliked his version of 'Murder on the Orient Express': too much build up, too much CGI and considerable deviation from the book, but then Sidney Lumet's version took certain liberties with the book.
Is it any good Grant? I really disliked his version of 'Murder on the Orient Express': too much build up, too much CGI and considerable deviation from the book, but then Sidney Lumet's version took certain liberties with the book.
it certainly isnt book per say but its well done and enjoyable. im a great lover of the poirot series but this was also very good.
i'd say watch it per say and not with total expectation of what you think it should be
The Fugitive, 1993.
I remember the original series from 60's. my elder sister was in love with David Janssen lol... the start of show went a bit like this...
Now six months a fugitive, this is Richard Kimble with a new identity, and for as long as it is safe, a new name: James Lincoln. He thinks of the day when he might find the man with one arm, but now is now, and this is how it is with him. Another journey, another place.
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYmFmOGZjYTItYjY1ZS00OWRiLTk0NDgtMjQ5MzBkYWE2YW E0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjU0OTQ0OTY@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.j pg
Harrison Ford damaged some ligaments in his leg during the filming of the scenes in the woods. He refused to take surgery until the end of filming so that his character would keep the limp. The limp can be seen in any subsequent scene where Richard Kimble is running.
Jewel of the Nile, 1985.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpsxQGzIyIl7i0Inhd26qJnyUsBUH6k X40PUT11fJsE6Qlkr6K
The Dogs of War, 1980. Director John Irvin...
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSL6BXT2y3SkM6Az1Mjp8OJtjUipDdBe 2ZpQSwCqJTxD9AnmIlm
While researching the novel in the early 1970s, author Frederick Forsyth pretended he was actually financing a coup d'etat in Equatorial Guinea. The pretense allowed Forsyth access to a number of underworld figures, including mercenaries and arms dealers. Forsyth has since commented that the arms dealers were the most frightening people he has ever met.
John Irvin had previously shot footage in the middle of real-life battles when he worked in a television news crew in Vietnam during the 1960s. Irvin once said: "Unlike most young film directors, I've been in battle. Throughout the '60s I went to various war zones and I met numerous mercenaries in Algeria and South East Asia, so I had my own personal strings to draw on. I would say our depiction of mercenaries is pretty accurate. We talked to a lot of mercenaries and were able to get a lot of information from them about how they would have handled the operation."
Legendary international arms dealer Sam Cummings was the founder of International Armaments Corporation shortly after WWII. Cummings is mentioned in the book "The Dogs Of War" by Frederick Forsyth, on which this movie is based. However, these mercenaries don't have the money, or need the large quantities of arms, to try to do business with Cummings. He is way above their class. So in the book and the movie they have to skulk around doing business with small-time arms dealers, who are indeed a dangerous bunch. Interarms, as it was known, had the initials IAC. These initials appeared continuously on all of Interarms' packing tape. So a shipment from Interarms read IACIACIACIACIA, which obviously appears to be CIA over and over. This was intentional.
The Wild Geese, 1978.
https://www.walesartsreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/maxresdefault.jpg
Sir Roger Moore requested to have fewer lines in his scenes with Richard Burton and Richard Harris. This kind of request was almost unheard of from a major star. His reasoning was, "You don't seriously expect me to act against these guys?"
Producer Euan Lloyd hesitated before offering the role of "Witty" (the homosexual medic) to his longtime friend Kenneth Griffith. When finally approached, Griffith said "Some of my dearest friends in the world are homosexuals!" and accepted the part. The character was widely condemned as a stereotype (despite the fact that there are and were people just like him in the real world).
Sir Roger Moore has said in his memoirs that Ronald Fraser gave up booze while making this movie, but Fraser decided to smoke the local pot instead, and was mostly stoned when working on the project.
A bit of realism is needed so Big Arnie time.lol
Commando, 1985. (director's cut) not much different if truth be told...but this bluray has both.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS7ZNT1ZHb7lM01p3YPPIeazHB9LO0HK rpC16N-CeisTwJa6K7W
According to Alyssa Milano, Arnold Schwarzenegger was very protective of her on set. "He even helped with my algebra homework."
Arnold Schwarzenegger performed many of his own stunts, as producers found it difficult to find a stunt double for the bodybuilder. The actor suffered a dislocated shoulder and several stitches during the shoot.
Body count: 109 (102 killed by Arnold Schwarzenegger).
My Man Godfrey, 1936.. Criterion Bluray.
...Carole Lombard and William Powell dazzle in this definitive screwball comedy by Gregory La Cava—a potent cocktail of romantic repartee and social critique. Irene (Lombard), an eccentric, wealthy Manhattanite, wins a society-ball scavenger hunt after finding a “forgotten man” (Powell)—an apparent down-and-out drifter—at a dump. She gives him work as the family butler and soon falls head over heels for him. Her attempts to both woo Godfrey and indoctrinate him in the household’s dysfunction make for a string of madcap high jinks that has never been bested. La Cava’s deft film was the first to garner Oscar nominations in all four acting categories, and it is one of Hollywood’s greatest commentaries on class and the social unrest of the Depression era.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/films/faae05a1b170149a490b96749d940a7f/BeabnGRtbsbWPi0gQYY7xJClHmZjMg_large.jpg
William Powell suggested his ex-wife Carole Lombard for the leading role with the explanation that his real -life romance with her had been much the same as it was for the characters of Godfrey and Irene.
Carole Lombard had a habit of ad-libbing by inserting swear words into the dialogue, which necessitated the re-shooting of several scenes.
When William Powell and director Gregory La Cava had a disagreement over how Godfrey should be played, they talked it out over a bottle of Scotch in Powell's dressing room. The next day, LaCava returned to the movie set with a major headache, but Powell was not there. The director received a telegram from his star: "We may have found Godfrey last night but we lost Powell. See you tomorrow."
Steptoe and Son, 1972.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ6_zTfEJ4bP_dQWPihc9plWHPTYre55 AT1SaIMDeqnjY4AS02M
The 'drag act' performing the night Harold meets Zita is Patrick Fyffe - who a few short years later would become Dame Hilda Bracket, of the hugely popular musical comedy act 'Hinge and Bracket'.
There are two references to famous British poems in the film: "... into the Valley of Death" from 'The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred Lord Tennyson and "the corner of a foreign field that is forever England" from ' The Soldier' by Rupert Brooke.
Dial M for Murder, 1954.
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81sdZJ-HfYL._AC_SY606_.jpg
When Tony places his call the scene cuts to a step by step telephone switching office. The numbers recorded are a "4" followed by a "9". And it does appear the second digit he dials was a "4".. However when the second switch, which would have been the third selector, reaches the ninth level the wipers sweep the bank to the end meaning the call went to busy or overflow (fast busy). The call would not have been completed . Also the can covers have been removed most likely for visual effect. As Step switches were being replaced, many technicians kepi the covers and made bird houses out of them.
"This is thee Jane Harrington?"
"Yes."
"Jane 'bury me in a Y-shaped coffin' Harrington?"
"I think maybe there are two Jane Harringtons."
"No, tall, handsome"
"That's the one"
"Goes like a privy door when the plague's in town?"
Blackadder the Second.. "Bob"
Spider Woman, 1944... Sherlock Holmes and the....
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTII3ZTGITAmKZ4GkOV8nV6CM9X0y3OQ jtjVWxJLFn8fEZZeKf5
I Was Monty's Double, 1959.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRAtXZDji4-qD_ebvXNC5wwDPRP0Mp6f_12ZCup2EVHHgLZRrK9
The screenplay omits David Niven's part in the real operation. It was he, working for the Army's film unit as a Lieutenant Colonel, who first made contact with M.E. Clifton James. His role is taken in this movie by Major Harvey (Sir John Mills)
The following is from the UK's comic EAGLE dated 1st Nov 1958 Vol 9 No.44. "The ingenuity of the wardrobe department was often tested. A scene required John Mills to appear as if he had just emgerged from the sea, fully clothed. But as fast as he doused himself, the hot sun rapidly dried his clothes! So, the wardrobe department soaked the actor's clothes very thoroughly, in crude Spanish olive oil. Artistically, the result was perfect, but the odour of olive oil hung about for days!"
Lawrence001
21-05-2022, 11:39
Spider Woman, 1944... Sherlock Holmes and the....
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTII3ZTGITAmKZ4GkOV8nV6CM9X0y3OQ jtjVWxJLFn8fEZZeKf5Such a shame that the (joint?) best Holmes got such rubbish screenplays to perform.
walpurgis
21-05-2022, 11:42
I Was Monty's Double, 1959
Not a bad film that. Intriguing story and brilliant casting, obviously.
The Man With Two Brains, 1983.
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRswEPKlobCQ35mR6MLBlE6hGC14WDcc nTr4y5dgTCTRZofvyrk
Carl Reiner would say in an interview, "That movie has one of my favorite scenes ever, with the little four-year-old girl. She's standing on the corner watching, and Steve has just run over Kathleen Turner and almost killed her, and she's lying there and she needs help. He says to the four-year-old girl, 'Listen, take these instructions,' and he gives her the most complicated instructions--has her call the ER and gives her four telephone numbers, and then he gives her ten different kinds of medical treatments. And he has her repeat it, and she repeats it to him, word for word. I'll never forget that, because I thought we'd be there all day. Luckily I took a close-up of her, because she repeated it word for word and that's the only take we ever took." Afterwards the interviewer said he thought the little girl, Mya Stark, was reading from a cue card. Reiner replied, "No, no, she was four, she couldn't read! And by the way, one day I was at a store, and there's a woman who's an executive there, and she says, 'We know each other.' I say, 'No, I'm sorry, I don't recall.' She says, 'Remember that girl from "The Man with Two Brains"?' and I said, 'Oh my God!' She was like 35 years old. That was one of my favorite human beings ever, that little girl."
Pigmy Pony
21-05-2022, 14:56
The Man With Two Brains, 198
Carl Reiner would say in an interview, "That movie has one of my favorite scenes ever, with the little four-year-old girl. She's standing on the corner watching, and Steve has just run over Kathleen Turner and almost killed her, and she's lying there and she needs help. He says to the four-year-old girl, 'Listen, take these instructions,' and he gives her the most complicated instructions--has her call the ER and gives her four telephone numbers, and then he gives her ten different kinds of medical treatments. And he has her repeat it, and she repeats it to him, word for word. I'll never forget that, because I thought we'd be there all day. Luckily I took a close-up of her, because she repeated it word for word and that's the only take we ever took." Afterwards the interviewer said he thought the little girl, Mya Stark, was reading from a cue card. Reiner replied, "No, no, she was four, she couldn't read! And by the way, one day I was at a store, and there's a woman who's an executive there, and she says, 'We know each other.' I say, 'No, I'm sorry, I don't recall.' She says, 'Remember that girl from "The Man with Two Brains"?' and I said, 'Oh my God!' She was like 35 years old. That was one of my favorite human beings ever, that little girl."
"Looks like a subdural haematoma to me" :D
"Looks like a subdural haematoma to me" :D
just go! Three years of nursery school and you think you know it all. Well you're still wet behind the ears. It's not subdural hematoma, it's epidural! Ha! God damn that makes me mad!
:lol:
some more blackadder to start...
.....
Bishop of Bath and Wells : [Blackadder has blackmailed the Bishop with a nude painting of him with Percy] Never, in all my years, have I encountered such cruel and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the church?
Blackadder : No, I could never get used to the underwear.
:eek:
Murder on the Orient Express, 2017.
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81YYwJ9V4lL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
Johnny Depp asked director Branagh to apologize to Derek Jacobi on his behalf after filming their scene together, "because I had to shout at him, I don't want to shout at Derek Jacobi."
According to Branagh's autobiography Beginnings, it was seeing Derek Jacobi play Hamlet onstage as a boy that convinced him to pursue acting.
Branagh really walked atop an actual train for the scene where Poirot does the same, and despite the addition of a safety wire, he found it properly terrifying "for this [then] fifty-six-year-old actor."
...Top Notch that was...
...NOW<
Rio Bravo, 1959. Duke Wayne cleassic.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRgroqEDE2n0R8kG-MY23mPZhrCZj4BGfCa-RLfxj7UPkzuNFCh
The sets in Old Tucson are built to 7/8th scale, so the performers look larger than life.
After seeing the film, Gary Cooper said it was "so phony, nobody believes in it." Ironically, Cooper had been a visitor to the set since he was filming The Hanging Tree (1959) nearby. This film is considered to be John Wayne and Howard Hawks' reply to Cooper's own film High Noon (1952) because neither Wayne nor Hawks thought a real lawman would want or need to ask for help in handling a problem like Cooper's character did in that film. (oh the bitchiness of hollywood eh? lol)
The last movie in which John Wayne wore the hat he had worn since Stagecoach (1939).
A bit of fun now with... Little Nicky, 2000.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRrF06Rwg1iYIUs_kGSDRWlwTfumuYAG yRZwT5Dpj2g2DDi5NIV
Quentin Tarantino cameoed as the blind deacon.
(At around nine minutes) Adrian's line, "better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven," is taken from John Milton's epic literary work "Paradise Lost" (1667).
...Top Notch that was...
...NOW<
Rio Bravo, 1959. Duke Wayne cleassic.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRgroqEDE2n0R8kG-MY23mPZhrCZj4BGfCa-RLfxj7UPkzuNFCh
The sets in Old Tucson are built to 7/8th scale, so the performers look larger than life.
After seeing the film, Gary Cooper said it was "so phony, nobody believes in it." Ironically, Cooper had been a visitor to the set since he was filming The Hanging Tree (1959) nearby. This film is considered to be John Wayne and Howard Hawks' reply to Cooper's own film High Noon (1952) because neither Wayne nor Hawks thought a real lawman would want or need to ask for help in handling a problem like Cooper's character did in that film. (oh the bitchiness of hollywood eh? lol)
The last movie in which John Wayne wore the hat he had worn since Stagecoach (1939).
I read that Wayne did not like 'High Noon' because he thought the message of the film was 'Un-American' in that no-one is prepared to back up the sheriff. So in 'Rio Bravo' the opposite happens and a number of the other characters insist on helping him out. Likewise in 'Rio Lobo' and 'El Dorado' all the characters are keen to 'do their bit.'
I read that Wayne did not like 'High Noon' because he thought the message of the film was 'Un-American' in that no-one is prepared to back up the sheriff. So in 'Rio Bravo' the opposite happens and a number of the other characters insist on helping him out. Likewise in 'Rio Lobo' and 'El Dorado' all the characters are keen to 'do their bit.'
sounds very like him, yes..
Saboteur, 1942.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/Saboteurposter.jpg
For the shots of police inspecting the long circus caravan at night, Alfred Hitchcock created perspective by using vehicles and people of different sizes, starting with full-sized trucks and extras at the closer end of the caravan, using smaller trucks and shorter people as it receded into the distance, and finally miniatures and cutouts with workable arms with tiny illuminations to simulate flashlights at the far end.
To achieve the sensation of the people at the ship launch being thrown up in the air during the explosion on the dock, Alfred Hitchcock had the cameras pan quickly down each of the extras, from head to toe, and cut them together quickly.
The special effects crew took stills of the Statue of Liberty's upraised hand, her torch, and the ledge beneath it. These were re-created to scale on a Universal Pictures soundstage.
In Which We Serve, 1942.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRu-uMh_ark3WE0EFYbWzZygOUiH4-dV1w7mEwzACyjpZK3QdU3
There was a tragedy during the shooting of this movie, during a relatively straightforward special effects scene of an explosion in a gun turret. After the first take, Sir David Lean (Noël Coward wasn't present) was dissatisfied. Chief Electrician Jock Dymore, keen to get the scene wrapped before lunch, climbed onto the set with a bottle full of the flashpowder used for the explosive effect. The containers they were using were still white-hot from the first take, and the resulting blast killed Dymore and seriously injured two others.
'Despite largely positive reviews by audiences and critics alike, the film was not well received by some within the Admiralty who dubbed it "In Which We Sink"'
Starman, 1984.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTGuDuvUITRHM6C-EAgBlDZttnijqDmVKm2FPV9bxQzoiWUDFc3
Actor Jeff Bridges studied ornithology and the behavior of birds to prepare for his role as an alien in human form for this movie. Bridges particularly used the sudden jerky head movements, amongst other nuances and mannerisms, of birds for his Starman character. Bridges figured that the alien would not have human characteristics and, being encased in a human body, would act with base primitive animal instincts.
This script was being developed at "Columbia" at the same time as another script about an alien visitation. The studio did not want to make both, so the head of the studio had to choose which film to make; he decided to make this one and let the other script go to a rival studio. The other script was for "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)." After 'E.T.' became such a huge hit, apparently 'Starman' sat on the shelf for almost three years before the Columbia Pictures studio agreed to release it.
Contact, 1997.
It would be an awful waste of space.
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSH592fwnVdXpbGuXxqPiNt3Ox2i07v9 EbIyJ12uxv89N_Myvku
Author and producer Carl Sagan died during production. He was reportedly taking great care to ensure that science was accurately depicted in this movie.
The remark made throughout the movie by different characters, that if humans were the only life in the universe, it would "be a terrible waste of space", is a famous quote by author Carl Sagan. It references a statement by the Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), considering the potential worlds of other stars; "A sad spectacle. If they be inhabited, what a scope for misery and folly. If they be not inhabited, what a waste of space."
Dr. Arroway hypothesizes that the message could be an "Encyclopaedia Galactica", a concept envisioned by Carl Sagan and meant to be a database for all the worlds within the Milky Way Galaxy, which Sagan had shown in his television series Cosmos (1980). The term originates from Isaac Asimov's science fiction novel "Foundation".
As part of the message, an extra-terrestrial intelligence sends a series of pulses between 2 and 101, using only prime numbers. In mathematics, prime numbers are only divisible by one and the own number. Since there is no natural mechanism known in the universe capable of generating prime numbers consecutively, it should be taken as an unequivocal sign of intelligent life.
I like the idea that the aliens would come and say hello and do a bit of maths with us.
In reality it's 'Look at those monkey-men in their antique jet propulsion machines, let's go and cock them about a bit':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TumprpOwHY
depending of outlook they may well have been, saw and said to themselves. best leave them be to destroy themselves. come back a time later:D mankind in last 200 years; yes, such a short time, it has grown, become advanced etc but are still murderous self destructive apes. Natural selection that went wrong this time.
It might get it right next time.
Quick Change, 1990. Director Bill Murray..
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTwwf16Txe2kgz59sxBiH8nESw9ROAI4 sIfWI_QjWZXclRwQ4ZU
The watch that the bank employee tries to give Grimm (Bill Murray) is "an Audemars Piguet, Moon Phase, 18-karat gold, alligator band" watch. He states the value is $12,000, but appreciates daily. It may be a coincidence, but in Bill Murray's SCROOGED, he is wearing the same watch, which can be seen when he checks the time in the restaurant (before the waiter lights on fire), expecting to see his first foretold ghost.
https://i.ibb.co/N1FyNzN/nice-guys.jpg (https://ibb.co/f8XxN7N)
'The Nice Guys' (2016)
Russell Crowe is an enforcer in 1970s Los Angeles, he teams up with a dodgy P.I to find a missing girl.
Not the worst thing I have ever seen. Crowe can usually be relied on to be good and the film is quite funny in places. The problem with this sort of 'action comedy' is that Tarantino set the bar pretty high way back with 'Pulp Fiction' and no-one since has been able to quite measure up to it.
You can either do a serious film that is occasionally funny or a funny film that is occasionally serious but a film that alternates between serious and funny never really works because the tone is too uneven, and that's the problem with this one. Worth a watch but fails my test of a 'good' film which is that you would want to watch it more than once.
Strangers on a Train, 1951.
http://www.movienewsletters.net/photos/004919R1.jpg
The final scene of the so-called "American" version of this movie had Barbara and Anne Morton waiting for Guy to call on the telephone. Alfred Hitchcock wanted the phone in the foreground to dominate the shot, emphasizing the importance of the call, but the limited depth-of-field of contemporary movie camera lenses made it difficult to get both phone and women in focus. So Hitchcock had an oversized phone constructed and placed in the foreground. Anne reaches for the big phone, but actually answers a regular one. Hitchcock explained that "I did that on one take, by moving in on Anne so that the big phone went out of the frame as she reached for it. Then a grip put a normal-sized phone on the table, where she picked it up."
In the scene where Ruth Roman and Patricia Hitchcock are watching the tennis match, Ruth gives Patricia a real U.S. ten dollar bill. Showing real U.S. money in movies then was illegal without permission from the U.S. Treasury Department. The Treasury Department later removed the prohibition for Psycho (1960) and later movies.
This was the last theatrical movie for Robert Walker, who died eight months after filming finished from an allergic reaction to a drug used to treat his alcoholism.
walpurgis
24-05-2022, 11:54
Strangers on a Train, 1951
I should get that, it's excellent!
I should get that, it's excellent!
robert walker was great as the smiling nutter:D
This was the last theatrical movie for Robert Walker, who died eight months after filming finished from an allergic reaction to a drug used to treat his alcoholism.
Mixing alcohol and barbiturates, classic showbiz death. Would be safer to smoke crack.
Mixing alcohol and barbiturates, classic showbiz death. Would be safer to smoke crack.
those alone are very dangerous as dosage can be different for every type and every person. as you say, adding another relaxant to mix and you can easily die.
Golden oldie now with,...The Lady Vanishes, 1938. Hitch again...
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In an interview with Peter Bogdanovich, Alfred Hitchcock revealed that this movie was inspired by a legend of an Englishwoman who went with her daughter to the Palace Hotel in Paris in the 1880s, at the time of the Great Exposition: "The woman was taken sick and they sent the girl across Paris to get some medicine in a horse-vehicle, so it took about four hours. When she came back she asked, 'How's my mother?' 'What mother?' 'My mother. She's here, she's in her room. Room 22.' They go up there. Different room, different wallpaper, everything. And the payoff of the whole story is, so the legend goes, that the woman had bubonic plague and they dared not let anybody know she died, otherwise all of Paris would have emptied." The urban legend, known as the Vanishing Hotel Room, also formed the basis of one segment of the German portmanteau film Eerie Tales (1919), So Long at the Fair (1950) (in which the missing person was the young woman's brother as opposed to her mother) and Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Into Thin Air (1955), starring Hitchcock's daughter Patricia Hitchcock.
The Long Riders, 1980... Keachs', Carridines' and Quaids' in this western.
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The stagecoach robbery in which the gang forces Vernon to strip was loosely based on a real incident. The James Gang had learned that there was a Pinkerton Detective trailing them named Joseph W. Wicher. During a train robbery, they became suspicious of a passenger and forced him off the train to strip down in front of everyone. The reason for this is that Wicher allegedly had a tattoo on his body of his initials, "J.W.W". The strip down was so they could see if the man had the incriminating tattoo. Fortunately for the man, he wasn't Wicher. Several months later, the real Wicher was found shot to death on a country road in Missouri.
Murder on the Orient Express, 2017.
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IMO, an awful version: too much build up to explain Poirot's OCD; too much CGI, and too much deviation from the book.
This is the Albert Finney version of ...Murder on The Orient Express...1974.
A Stellar cast too....
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84-year-old Agatha Christie attended the movie premiere in November 1974. It was the only movie adaptation in her lifetime with which she was completely satisfied. In particular, she felt that Albert Finney's performance came closest to her idea of Poirot (though she was reportedly unimpressed with his too-subtle mustache). The premiere was her final public appearance. She died fourteen months later, on January 12, 1976.
In 1929, a westbound Orient Express train was stuck in snow for five days at Çerkezköy, approximately one hundred thirty kilometers (eighty-one miles) from Istanbul, Turkey. This incident inspired the setting of the book and movie.
The final scene, in which Poirot relates his solution to the crime, had to be shot countless times, as it required more angles than could be captured in a single take, and more cameras than could fit on the confining dining car set. The multiple takes were especially challenging for Albert Finney, whose uninterrupted monologue was eight pages long, but many cast members later recalled the tedium of sitting motionless for so long, maintaining their physical posturing for continuity, bolstered only by their professional drive to provide support for Finney's tour de force.
Lawrence001
24-05-2022, 16:47
Watched a brilliant film on BBC2 at the weekend, Land of Mine. (I assume the title is a play on words but I prefer the title in the original Danish.)
It's about young German soldiers made to clear the mines on the Danish coast just after the war. I highly recommend it, it's currently available on iPlayer.
Memoirs of an Invisible Man, 1992. Director John Carpenter
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Ivan Reitman was originally set to direct the film, but when he and Chevy Chase constantly had heated arguments over the film's tone, Reitman refused to work with Chase and demanded the studio choose either he or Chase. They chose Chase.
This was John Carpenter's first film during the 1990s, and also his first major studio film since Big Trouble in Little China (1986). The reason he'd had not done one, was due to the fact that he'd received a lot of studio interference on that film, and felt restrained to do the films he would've liked independently. Prince of Darkness (1987) and They Live (1988) were made during that time independently.
John Carpenter has stated that this is his least favorite of all the films he's directed, and is the film he "hates thinking about the most". One reason was because of the constant studio interference that didn't allow Carpenter much creative freedom. Carpenter also called Chevy Chase "a director's worst nightmare" and "nearly impossible to direct", also saying the same about Daryl Hannah. According to Carpenter, Chase would complain non-stop about the film's tone and hated wearing the special effects, often prematurely removing his makeup and ruining hours of filming. At one point, Carpenter broke a clipboard in half over his knee in a fit of rage when Chase removed his makeup mid-take. Carpenter said that Chase and Hannah were "immune to any punishment from the studio, and they knew it, so they walked over me and everyone else on set and essentially told us we'd be replaced if we had any problem with them...it was like working with your boss's snooty children who would tattle on you if you didn't bend to their every will." Despite this, Carpenter ended up bonding and seeking comfort in Sam Neill over the troubling production and the two became close friends, with Neill agreeing to work with Carpenter again on In The Mouth Of Madness.
The Man Who Knew Too Little, 1997.
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When Wallace Ritchie (Bill Murray) uses the mallet to break down the door, he yells "Here's Johnny!" This is a nod to Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) breaking down the door with an axe and saying the same thing in The Shining (1980). The mallet is also the signature weapon used by Jack Torrance in Stephen King's novel The Shining, unlike the axe used in the Stanley Kubrick movie.
Joanne Whalley was drop dead gorgeous in her day..
now, .... Tora!, Tora!, Tora!, 1970... A strong cast for this fairly good retelling of the Pearl Harbor attack by the nasty Nip!!, as they were then.. At the time of its initial release, the film was thought to be a box office disappointment in North America, but was a huge success in Japan.
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When Japanese characters refer to the date of the attack, they actually say "December 8." It's technically correct, as Japan is a day ahead of the U.S. It was translated as "December 7" in the subtitles to avoid confusing U.S. audiences.
The wounded sailor shown firing back at the strafing Japanese planes late in the film near the conclusion of the attack is based on Chief Ordnanceman John Finn, who was stationed at Kaneohe Naval Air Station on December 7, 1941. He set up a .50 caliber machine gun mount, and despite being wounded several times, fired back at strafing Zero fighters during the second attack wave, hitting several of them, and even shooting down one, piloted by combat unit leader Lieutenant Fusata Iida. Finn was later awarded the Medal of Honor for valor beyond the call of duty.
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'The Enemy Below' (1957)
Robert Mitchum is the new skipper of a destroyer scouring the South Atlantic for U-Boats in WWII. When he goes after Curt Jurgen's sub the crew quickly realise he knows his trade. But Jurgens is a worthy opponent.
Good watch this, doesn't try to be fancy just tells the story, and Mitchum is always good.
Seen in revisionist light the film is clearly about 'The Good German.' There was a concerted propaganda effort back in the 1950s when it became clear that West Germany would need to be re-armed in the face of the Soviet threat.
So Germans in 1950s American WWII films are shown as 'Just doing their duty', Nazis are disliked or even mocked by the other German characters, and when the fighting is over it's all mutual respect and 'Put her there, pal.'
Of course you could still make a war film back then that vilified the Germans but you were unlikely to get the cooperation of the armed forces.
Season 1 episode 14 of the original Star Trek series rips off much of the plot of this film. The Enterprise encounters a Romulan ship that can become invisible and a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, with Enterprise as the destroyer and the Romulan spacecraft as the submarine.
The director of the episode, Vincent McEveety, had seen 'The Enemy Below' but only noticed the similarities between its plot and this episode later. He admitted "Obviously, it's the same story.'
https://i.ibb.co/cbJ09ZQ/Enemybelowposter.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)
'The Enemy Below' (1957)
Robert Mitchum is the new skipper of a destroyer scouring the South Atlantic for U-Boats in WWII. When he goes after Curt Jurgen's sub the crew quickly realise he knows his trade. But Jurgens is a worthy opponent.
Good watch this, doesn't try to be fancy just tells the story, and Mitchum is always good.
Seen in revisionist light the film is clearly about 'The Good German.' There was a concerted propaganda effort back in the 1950s when it became clear that West Germany would need to be re-armed in the face of the Soviet threat.
So Germans in 1950s American WWII films are shown as 'Just doing their duty', Nazis are disliked or even mocked by the other German characters, and when the fighting is over it's all mutual respect and 'Put her there, pal.'
Of course you could still make a war film back then that vilified the Germans but you were unlikely to get the cooperation of the armed forces.
Season 1 episode 14 of the original Star Trek series rips off much of the plot of this film. The Enterprise encounters a Romulan ship that can become invisible and a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, with Enterprise as the destroyer and the Romulan spacecraft as the submarine.
The director of the episode, Vincent McEveety, had seen 'The Enemy Below' but only noticed the similarities between its plot and this episode later. He admitted "Obviously, it's the same story.'
good, suspenseful film. dialogue is a bit thin tho. ive got that one somewhere.
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, 1966.
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During the scene right before the final duel where Tuco (Eli Wallach) is running frantically through the cemetery, a dog can be seen running on-screen at the beginning of the scene. In reality, that was improvised on the spot. Sergio Leone, who was afraid that the scene was going to slip into melodrama, released the dog without informing Eli Wallach first--thus, his look of surprise is quite genuine.
In the gun store, everything Tuco (Eli Wallach) does with the guns was unscripted. Wallach knew little about guns, so he was instructed to do whatever he wanted. Most of the Storekeeper's (Enzo Petito's) bemused reactions throughout the scene are genuine. The scene where Tuco shoves the open or closed sign in his mouth was also Wallach's idea.
The 39 Steps, 1935... yes, again...:D
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Peeping Tom, 1960. Director Michael Powell...
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Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 25 Most Dangerous Movies".
One of Martin Scorsese's favorite films. Coincidentally, Scorsese's lifelong editor Thelma Schoonmaker was married 1984-90 to Michael Powell, the director of this film.
The critical mauling and public outcry about the film resulted in it being pulled from British cinemas after just five days, and destroyed the career of director Michael Powell..
The film is regarded as one of the first slasher films in horror movie history, although it was not the first horror movie to use the convention of seeing things from the killer's point of view as claimed in Scream 4 (2011). That technique had already been done in The Lodger (1944) and Hangover Square (1945), two films that both starred Laird Cregar and were directed by John Brahm.
walpurgis
26-05-2022, 15:52
Peeping Tom, 1960
Remarkable film. Saw it when first released, I sneaked into the cinema unnoticed. Kids weren't allowed.
Remarkable film. Saw it when first released, I sneaked into the cinema unnoticed. Kids weren't allowed.
yes it was on a par with psycho, but on a slightly different bent i guess.
Mark uses a pair of unconventional for time, electric space heater like loudspeakers in his workshop. The Quad Electroacoustic model ESL-57 can be seen prominently in the background in the final scene with Mark playing the screaming audio tapes to Helen.
After filming a scene where she's fully nude on a bed, Pamela Green remained on the bed so the production photographer could shoot some still photos. Then she was suddenly aware of a stranger's presence at the foot of the bed, aiming a camera straight up her naked body. She sat up quickly yelling, "You're shooting me from that angle? No pictures! Get him off the set!" Electricians pounced on the intruder, whipped away his camera and ejected him off the set. It turned out to be some photo-journalist who had got wind of the fact that there was a naked girl on F Stage and wanted to get photos of the "first nude woman in a British feature length film."
The Big Sleep, 1946.. Director Howard Hawks... One of the great films....
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Due to Humphrey Bogart's affair with co-star Lauren Bacall, his marital problems escalated during filming, and his drinking often resulted in his being unable to work. Three months after the film was finished, Bacall and Bogart were married.
Raymond Chandler claimed that Martha Vickers gave such an intense performance as Carmen Sternwood that she completely overshadowed Lauren Bacall, and that much of Vickers' performance ended up on the cutting room floor as a result.
Rumors that Andy Williams dubbed Lauren Bacall's singing voice are untrue. Both director Howard Hawks and Bacall confirm that she did her own singing. The same rumors persist regarding her singing voice in To Have and Have Not (1944), and are equally untrue.
According to Lauren Bacall, production was such fun that they got a memo from Jack L. Warner saying "Word has reached me that you are having fun on the set. This must stop."
The African Queen, 1951.
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According to Katharine Hepburn's autobiography, John Huston initially found her performance too rigid. One day, he visited her hut and suggested that she model her performance on Eleanor Roosevelt, saying that Mrs. Roosevelt was not a comely woman by any means but whenever she was in public she carried herself well and had a beaming smile. She made do extremely well with what she had. After Huston left, Hepburn sat for a moment before deciding, "That is the best piece of direction I have ever heard."
The boat used as "The African Queen" was built in England in 1912 and used by the British East Africa Company from 1912-68 to shuttle passengers and cargo across Lake Albert (on the border between Uganda and Belgian Congo). It is now located in Key Largo, FL.
With only two days left to go on the shoot, everyone was on edge and ready to go home. When John Huston announced that he would need three additional days to film, there was a near mutiny. Humphrey Bogart was furious and so was the crew. Huston tried to appease everyone with a rousing "team spirit" speech, which was met with frustration. The cast and crew agreed to stay longer, but they believed that the schedule could be speeded up if they all pulled together. They decided on the last Friday to record all of the sound over Saturday and Sunday, while all props and electrical equipment could be shipped out Sunday night. Only the camera, a few crew members, and Bogart, Katharine Hepburn and Huston would remain until the very end. The last location shots were completed by noon on Monday, with everyone going straight to the airport. Bogart was elated to be out of there.
I was going to say that the boat is now in The Florida Keys, but you beat me to it - seen the boat, but not the film!
I was going to say that the boat is now in The Florida Keys, but you beat me to it - seen the boat, but not the film!
surprised youve not watched it alex. good film
Shooter, 2007.
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According to the movie's script doctor William Goldman, Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, and Harrison Ford passed on the movie. These men would have fit the literary Bob Lee Swagger's age a bit more closely than Mark Wahlberg (born in 1971). Author Stephen Hunter introduced Swagger as a Vietnam veteran in a 1993 novel, taking place in 1992. However, to accommodate Wahlberg's age, this film has Swagger active in Africa in the 1990s, instead of Vietnam in the 1970s.
The dog featured in the film as Bob Lee Swagger's companion was trained by owner Drew Thompson. The dog's real name is Logan. He is a Bernese Mountain and English Mastiff X. Drew states that "he is easily the smartest dog I have ever trained".
Waterloo Road, 1945.. Director Sidney Gilliat..
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The film was originally known as Blue for Waterloo.
Stewart Granger later said the film was one of his favourites as his role "was a heel, but a real character". He says the film was made in ten days while he was also making Love Story. He was particularly proud of the fight scene with John Mills.
Sidney Gilliat says he was taken off the film before it was finished. Production was stopped and there were still some exteriors to be shot. Ted Black had gone and the Ostrers put the film at the end of the dubbing schedule. However, Earl St John who was in charge of Odeon cinemas liked the film and got the dubbing done.
Gilliat says the idea of using Alastair Sim's character as a commentator was his, though based on the original Val Valentine story. However, he thought the device "proved a bit of a mess"
The Last of the Mohicans, 1992.
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The Sea Shall Not Have Them, 1954.
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The billboard outside the Odeon cinema, Leicester Square, said: "Michael Redgrave and Dirk Bogarde in The Sea Shall Not Have Them". Passing by, Nöel Coward said, "I don't see why not. Everyone else has."
The title refers to the motto of the R.A.F.'s Directorate of Air Sea Rescue, which was created on February 6, 1941, and later became known as the "R.A.F. Search and Rescue Force".
The Lavender Hill Mob, 1951.
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Audrey Hepburn (Chiquita) was considered for a larger role in this movie, but stage work made her unavailable. Sir Alec Guinness was impressed with the young actress and arranged for her to appear in a bit part. This is considered to be Hepburn's first appearance in a major movie.
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Ealing Studios, planning a bank robbery movie, asked the Bank of England to devise a way in which a million pounds sterling could be stolen from the bank. A special committee was created to come up with an idea, and their plan is the one used in this movie.
Oliver Twist, 1948. Director David Lean..
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This movie's release in the U.S. was delayed until 1951 because of protests from Jewish pressure groups, who judged Sir Alec Guinness' portrayal of Fagin to be anti-Semitic.
Banned on inital release in Israel and Egypt; in Israel for Fagan being anti-Semitic, and in Egypt for making Fagin too sympathetic. (catch 22 I guess):doh:
Producer David O. Selznick violently accosted Sir Alec Guinness at a Hollywood party over his portrayal of Fagin.
John Howard Davies was only eight at the time, and child labor laws prohibited children under the age of thirteen from working in movie studios, but Sir David Lean managed to get around the restriction. Davies recalled that Lean "was unfailingly nice, unfailingly courteous. He used various devices on me. When I felt inhibited about doing something, he would often shoot the rehearsal. He wasn't silly enough not to do the take. But I pretty soon cottoned on to this because my hearing was even better than his, with his large ears, and I could detect the sound of a Mitchell turning over."
Cinematographer Guy Green also noted that the art direction presented some problems. "(Production designer) John Bryan made it bloody difficult, too, although his sets were wonderful to photograph. He had Francis L. Sullivan as the Beadle going along a tunnel, and it was impossible to light it. So I gave Sullivan a lamp to carry with a light inside it which shone out into the tunnel, and that was it. Oliver was about grim, dirty interiors, and I used a lot of diffused light, something which has become fashionable now with color. I tried to get the effect of light coming through small dirty windows, and it had a kind of richness of its own."
Great Expectations, 1946.. Director David Lean.
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Director Sir David Lean wanted his movie to have a feeling of heightened realism. Working closely in conjunction with art director John Bryan and cinematographer Guy Green, he employed several tricks, such as forced perspective, to achieve this effect. The famous opening shot in the graveyard, for instance, features a brooding church in the background, which, in reality, was only three meters (9'10") high.
Director Sir David Lean was not a particularly well-read man and only became aware of the power of Charles Dickens' story when his wife Kay Walsh dragged him to a stage production of "Great Expectations" in 1939. Incidentally, playing Herbert Pocket in that production was a young Sir Alec Guinness, whom Lean subsequently cast in the same role in the movie. Aside from bit parts, it was Guinness's first major screen role, and was also the first of six movies he made with Lean. Martita Hunt was also in the stage production, playing Miss Havisham, a role she reprised in this movie.
Re. 'Peeping Tom'
yes it was on a par with psycho, but on a slightly different bent i guess.
Mark uses a pair of unconventional for time, electric space heater like loudspeakers in his workshop. The Quad Electroacoustic model ESL-57 can be seen prominently in the background in the final scene with Mark playing the screaming audio tapes to Helen.
After filming a scene where she's fully nude on a bed, Pamela Green remained on the bed so the production photographer could shoot some still photos. Then she was suddenly aware of a stranger's presence at the foot of the bed, aiming a camera straight up her naked body. She sat up quickly yelling, "You're shooting me from that angle? No pictures! Get him off the set!" Electricians pounced on the intruder, whipped away his camera and ejected him off the set. It turned out to be some photo-journalist who had got wind of the fact that there was a naked girl on F Stage and wanted to get photos of the "first nude woman in a British feature length film."
It is, I think, the only film to feature Quad ESLs in a scene. There are also some other British audio electronics featured in the film: the Ferrograph tape decks. ;)
I have a DVD copy of the film somewhere.
Charley Varrick, 1973. Director Don Siegel..
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Character Maynard Boyle's line, "They're gonna strip you naked and go to work on you with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch," is paraphrased in Pulp Fiction (1994) by character Marsellus Wallace.
Walter Matthau's character makes love repeatedly to Felicia Farr's character. She was the wife of his longtime comedic partner, Jack Lemmon
walpurgis
29-05-2022, 09:58
Charley Varrick, 1973
One of my favourites!
To Have And Have Not, 1944. another of those all time greats.
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Howard Hawks gave John Huston the climax (a shootout on a boat) that he was unable to fit into the end of this film. Huston used this in Key Largo (1948), as he had been having difficulties coming up with a satisfactory ending.
Many aspects of Lauren Bacall's screen persona were based on director Howard Hawks' wife at that time, Mary Gross, including her nickname (Slim), glamorous dresses, long blonde hair, smoky voice and demure, mysterious demeanor. Hawks was having an affair with Dolores Moran(also in film) but wanted Bacall and was annoyed she chose and fell in love with Bogey. He threatened to affect her career to no avail. They were married within a year.
To Have And Have Not, 1944. another of those all time greats.
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One of my favourite films - I think I prefer it to 'Casablanca', which is another of my favourites. :hmm:
Another Bogey classic ..The Maltese Falcon, 1941.. Bogart alongside the lovely Mary Astor, who was also a great actress and author...
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John Huston had Mary Astor run around the set several times before each of her scenes in order to give her a breathless, nervous appearance on screen.
There is an inordinate amount of smoking done by the main actors in this film. According to then-studio employee (and future screenwriter) Stuart Jerome, this resulted in a feud between studio head Jack L. Warner and stars Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. Warner hated to see actors smoking on the screen, fearing it would prompt smokers in the movie audience to step out into the lobby for a cigarette. During filming, he told director John Huston that smoking should be kept to a minimum. Bogart and Lorre thought it would be fun to annoy Warner by smoking as often as possible, and got their co-stars, Mary Astor and Sydney Greenstreet, to go along with the joke. During the initial filming of the climactic confrontation, all four actors smoked heavily. After seeing the rushes, Warner furiously called Huston to his office and threatened to fire him from the picture if he didn't tell Bogart and Lorre to knock it off. Realizing their prank had backfired, Bogart and Lorre agreed to stop smoking on camera. However, when the next series of rushes came back, it was obvious that the "lack" of smoking by the actors was taking away from the sinister mood of the scene. Huston went back to Warner and convinced him that the smoking added the right amount of atmospheric tension to the story, arguing that the characters would, indeed, smoke cigarettes while waiting nervously for the Maltese Falcon to arrive.
Kind Hearts and Coronets, 1949.
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Agatha's death in the movie caused some consternation for Sir Alec Guinness. The scene in question, a hot air ballooning accident filmed in a field next door to Pinewood Studios, prompted him to ask the producers if he was well insured. They told him that he was, to the tune of ten thousand pounds sterling, but Guinness didn't think that was enough. He then declared that the balloon could not be raised any more than fifteen feet unless they raised the insurance to fifty thousand pounds sterling. Ealing Studios was renowned for being very penny-pinching, and it naturally refused Guinness' demand, pointing out that he would be accompanied in the balloon by a well-qualified Belgian balloonist hidden in the basket with him. Guinness was undeterred in his refusal to perform the stunt, so the scene in the finished movie is not him, but the Belgian balloonist wearing Agatha's dress and wig. Guinness had the last laugh, however, when a high wind pulled the balloon off course. The Belgian balloonist was found fifty miles away, having had to jump into a river.
Producer Michael Balcon was known to have said to director Robert Hamer, "You are trying to sell that most unsaleable commodity to the British, irony. Good luck to you." It worked, of course. This movie was a considerable success upon release.
i was reading that the woke brigade are attacking the film as racist and sexist :doh: sad times we live in.
one of the great films made over 70 yrs ago and of an even older period in time when such things didnt really exist for the population.
I'm All Right Jack, 1959.
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Two of the shop stewards in the movie, brothers Tony Comer and John Comer, got the roles after winning a talent show as a comedy double act, "The Comer Brothers". The prize was one thousand pounds sterling and a movie contract with The Boulting Brothers.
Five of the major actors in this film also appeared in School For Scoundrels made the same year. They are: Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, Dennis Price, John Le Mesurier and Irene Handl.
walpurgis
29-05-2022, 18:26
I'm All Right Jack, 1959
Good fun movie.
Quite a few of the cast were also in 'Private's Progress'.
i was reading that the woke brigade are attacking the film as racist and sexist :doh: sad times we live in.
one of the great films made over 70 yrs ago and of an even older period in time when such things didnt really exist for the population.
Sexist yes, but in what way is it racist?
Sexist yes, but in what way is it racist?
the 'Eeny, meeny, miny, moe' rhyme near end
walpurgis
30-05-2022, 07:43
the 'Eeny, meeny, miny, moe' rhyme near end
Don't remember that. Thought it might have been the stereotyping of his Italian father.
Three Days of the Condor, 1975. Another classic...
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSzhip0ZXAoIXl9VT264rYdDftEbRL1X ohEJwTQRw-dN5yT5QMs
Former CIA director Richard Helms acted as a personal consultant to Robert Redford for his role as The Condor.
Higgins' office is based at the World Trade Center. Cliff Robertson, who played Higgins, is a keen aviator, and was flying a private Beechcraft Baron over New York City on the morning of September 11, 2001. He was directly above the World Trade Center, climbing through 7,500 feet when the first Boeing 767 struck. Air traffic control instructed him to land immediately at the nearest airport, after a nationwide order to ground all civilian and commercial aircraft following the attacks.
When they are reminiscing, Higgins asks Wabash whether he served with "Col. Donovan" during World War II - a reference to William J. Donovan, founder of the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Wabash replies, "I sailed the Adriatic with a movie star at the helm" - referring to actor Sterling Hayden, who served with the OSS, running the German blockade of the Adriatic during WWII to get supplies to Yugoslav partisans.
https://i.ibb.co/h7C3qRC/hill.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)
'A Hill In Korea' (1956)
A patrol that is mostly composed of national servicemen gets into problems when they are cut off from their lines by Chinese troops.
Stanley Baker, Harry Andrews, Robert Shaw, Michael Caine - it's not a bad cast, and not a bad film either. Shaw and Caine were unknowns at the time, but Caine had a dual role as military adviser since he had seen active service in Korea with the Royal Fusiliers.
Caine said of the film '"My function as a technical adviser was completely ignored during the making of the film. For example, I advised the crew to spread the troops wide as the latter advanced, which was militarily correct, but they replied that they didn't have a lens of sufficient width to take it all in!''
This is a common criticism of war films right up to the present day, and the reason that everyone bunches together is still the same, they wouldn't all fit on the screen if they were properly dispersed.
Caine added, "The most glaring mistake that I never brought to their notice was that Portugal did not in the least resemble Korea. If anything, Wales was more similar. I did not say anything because I wanted to stay in Portugal - I could go to Wales at any old time."
https://i.ibb.co/h7C3qRC/hill.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)
'A Hill In Korea' (1956)
A patrol that is mostly composed of national servicemen gets into problems when they are cut off from their lines by Chinese troops.
Stanley Baker, Harry Andrews, Robert Shaw, Michael Caine - it's not a bad cast, and not a bad film either. Shaw and Caine were unknowns at the time, but Caine had a dual role as military adviser since he had seen active service in Korea with the Royal Fusiliers.
Caine said of the film '"My function as a technical adviser was completely ignored during the making of the film. For example, I advised the crew to spread the troops wide as the latter advanced, which was militarily correct, but they replied that they didn't have a lens of sufficient width to take it all in!''
This is a common criticism of war films right up to the present day, and the reason that everyone bunches together is still the same, they wouldn't all fit on the screen if they were properly dispersed.
Caine added, "The most glaring mistake that I never brought to their notice was that Portugal did not in the least resemble Korea. If anything, Wales was more similar. I did not say anything because I wanted to stay in Portugal - I could go to Wales at any old time."
don't recall ever seeing it.
I'd never seen it before or even heard of it, but it was on 'Talking Pictures' channel on Saturday afternoon.
Dark Passage, 1947..
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/Dark_Passage_%28film%29_poster.jpg
The actual Art Deco apartment building used in the film (located at 1360 Montgomery St in San Francisco) is still standing as of January, 2019. The apartment is marked by a cardboard cut-out of Humphrey Bogart, which can be seen from the street. The site is visited frequently by fans of vintage film noir.
Warner Brothers studio head Jack L. Warner was not pleased to discover that the face of one of his biggest stars, Humphrey Bogart, is not seen for the first half of the movie. By the time Warner knew this, the film was too far along to be changed.
Between the film's unorthodox first person perspective and Humphrey Bogart's negative press from his support of the Committee for the First Amendment established in the face of the hearings being done by the House Un-American Activities Committee, led to the film having a poor performance at the box office.
The Devil and Miss Jones, 1941. One of my favs this... nicely made, with a tight script and good acting
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1a/Devilmissjones.jpg
Frank Ross and Norman Krasna decided to produce a movie together starring Jean Arthur (Ross' wife) based on a story by Krasna. The three formed a partnership and borrowed $600,000 from a bank to finance the film.
The script was written in ten weeks and then Sam Wood came on board as director. Krasna described the experience of making the film as one of the best in his career.
RKO agreed to distribute the film. It was Arthur's first film at RKO since The Ex-Mrs. Bradford. The film made a profit of $117,000
Another regular, the classic,... Some Like It Hot, 1959.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Some_Like_It_Hot_%281959_poster%29.png
Jack Lemmon wrote that the first sneak preview had a bad reaction with many audience walkouts. Many studio personnel and agents offered advice to Billy Wilder on what scenes to reshoot, add and cut. Lemmon asked Wilder what he was going to do. Wilder responded: "Why, nothing. This is a very funny movie and I believe in it just as it is. Maybe this is the wrong neighborhood in which to have shown it. At any rate, I don't panic over one preview. It's a hell of a movie." Wilder held the next preview in the Westwood section of Los Angeles, and the audience stood up and cheered.
Blackadder 3.. Amy and Amiability.
https://s1.dmcdn.net/v/7D9jE1Jk31pVWB7hN/x1080
Prince George needs money and has to wed.
Agatha Christie's Poirot, 1989... season 1....
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQg2o14Ehobh87-jAMyaQGOh43pP2NWC0K_mXjESfE9r6hXgy9Y
currently this... Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, 2003.. a bit of piracy is always good fun to watch. johnny depp had such a great character to play; much of it his own invention too.
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRKTcTqELNNPpy-c6orc876-Yxo-_QKENBdIufLEZNlSjHQBj_i
Key Largo, 1948.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91-6rYiRK3L._RI_.jpg
Although they played on-screen enemies, off-screen Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson treated each other with great respect. Bogart insisted Robinson be treated like a major star, and he would not come to the set until Robinson was ready. Often, he would go to Robinson's trailer to personally escort him to the set.
Lionel Barrymore was severely disabled by arthritis (clearly visible in his hands) and was confined to a wheelchair, making the scene in which his Mr. Temple character gets up and falls taking a swing at Toots more than a dramatic moment.
The ramshackle hotel--along with the beach area-- where most of the drama unfolds was constructed on the Warner Bros. lot. Exterior shots of the hurricane were actually taken from stock footage used in "Night Unto Night (1949)," a Ronald Reagan melodrama made the same year at Warner Bros.
The song Clair Trevor sang was extremely good for the film. In a classic case of a director being emotionally manipulative, John Huston did not inform Claire Trevor about when she was to perform her song solo until the very day it was shot. Trevor was not a trained singer, and she had not even rehearsed the song yet. She also felt very intimidated that she had to perform the song for the A-list actors seated directly in front of her. The result was a hesitant, nervous, uncomfortable rendition--exactly the feeling Huston was hoping to get.
Bogart's simmering hatred both of rocco and himself was also brewing constantly, just off boil. as was rocco's fear of the storm.
A great, moody, stylish film
The Odessa File, 1974.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRQ0aCr9WBsyLHmyWJUrR-oM9Gyw70WRyXnCIKZl1Oa56iXuWhk
Prologue: "This film is based on carefully documented research. There really was a secret society called Odessa, linking former members of Hitler's murderous SS, among them Roschmann, the 'butcher' of Riga Concentration Camp. Nasser did seek to perfect a strike force of 400 rockets to wipe Israel off the face of the map. His key scientists were mostly from Hitler's former rocket programme. For obvious reasons the names of some people and places have been changed.--Frederick Forsyth"
Eduard Roschmann was a real-life wanted war criminal living in South America. He became even more wanted after the book and movie, and he turned up dead, rumored to have been killed by O.D.E.S.S.A. to stop the search for him that the media had begun.
The character played by Hannes Messemer was not referred to by name in the dialogue. However, it is intended to be S.S. Gruppenführer Richard Glücks, former S.S. Inspector of Concentration Camps, who disappeared after World War II and is rumored to have been one of the founding members of O.D.E.S.S.A.
The supporting cast was mostly German. Most of the character actors and actresses were major movie and theatre personalities of the German stage and screen. The English-speaking players were given special coaching by dialogue director Osman Ragheb to acquire German accents which would be identical to those of the native actors and actresses. Not only did Jon Voight and Mary Tamm have to learn to use the accent, but had to do it with North German dialect nuances because of their characters' Hamburg origins in the story.
Charley Varrick, 1973. Director Don Siegel..
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a3/Charley_Varrick.jpg
Character Maynard Boyle's line, "They're gonna strip you naked and go to work on you with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch," is paraphrased in Pulp Fiction (1994) by character Marsellus Wallace.
Walter Matthau's character makes love repeatedly to Felicia Farr's character. She was the wife of his longtime comedic partner, Jack Lemmon
watched this recently but picked up a bluray copy today so will watch it in 1080 now lol
The Odessa File, 1974.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRQ0aCr9WBsyLHmyWJUrR-oM9Gyw70WRyXnCIKZl1Oa56iXuWhk
Not a bad film, although the ending IMO is a bit too neat and pat.
Fun with Dick and Jane, 1977.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR1oyEm6j_jo6hPC3rxjx_585yOzJSVM 0wubkAes5U5vpAgC2Ed
The names of the movie's two central characters Dick and Jane were taken from the popular educational children's' story books which feature at the start of the movie.
https://i.ibb.co/W22pft1/star.jpg (https://ibb.co/nLL8jCS)
'Star Wars' (1977)
Got hold of a copy of the limited edition DVD with the original theatrical version.
Yes! - there's no comedy Jawas, no pointless meeting with Jabba, no cartoony-looking CGI and Han whacks Greedo in cold blood.
Okay so it's a bit grainy and it's in letterbox format with black bars all around the picture but it's so much better than the idiotic 'special edition' that I don't care.
Little Big Man, 1970. Dustin Hoffman's tour de force...
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/24/Little_Big_Man_1970_film_poster.jpg
Little Big Man received widespread acclaim from film critics. It was among AFI's 400 movies nominated to be on their list of America's greatest 100 movies. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 24 of 25 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.9/10; in total, the film has a 96% rating on the website.
In his December 15, 1970, review, Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the movie, "Arthur Penn's most extravagant and ambitious movie, an attempt to capture the essence of the American heritage in the funny, bitter, uproarious adventures of Jack Crabb." Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, agreed, giving the film four stars out of four stars, and describing Little Big Man as "an endlessly entertaining attempt to spin an epic in the form of a yarn."
A bit of fun here with the film vesion of Tom Sharpe's book...Wilt, 1989.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRthZMRrFcvjkxeEHeGd60Yas1VL0e7X YnjSrWeTiwPlATLUxjF
Vanishing Point, 1971. 2 disc UK bluray.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ3kuTFf3nIvEwXhaccduJPcd4fSsO6K WDqPlo6BOHe0K4PTu38
The car featured in the film is a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, with a 440 cubic-inch V-8, and not a 426 Hemi V-8 (as is often believed). Eight white Challengers loaned from the Chrysler Corporation were used during the filming.
The squad car rollover was anticipated by stuntman Carey Loftin. He'd warned Sarafian and John Alonzo. Sarafian joked "Now I'll know where to put the camera."
There were many rumors over the years about what happened to all eight 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 440 Magnum cars used in the film, like how they were returned to Chrysler after filming who sold them or how they were sold by studio on salvage auction, but in one of the interviews before his death director Richard C. Sarafian revealed the actual truth. All Challengers were returned to Chrysler, seven out of eight were damaged after being put through a lot during filming and only one was returned in good condition, however after they saw the film they were "pissed because their cars were in a movie that promoted drugs and running from the cops", so they crushed all eight. Ironically, Vanishing Point was huge reason why Challenger became popular as one of the best muscle cars, and even today both the film and the car have great cult status.
An excellent film - reminds me I must get a copy.
A couple of films directed by Jacques Tourneur in the 1940's, and shown on BBC4 last night:
Cat People
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/H14AAOSwmK1d4gGI/s-l500.jpg
and
I Walked with a Zombie
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91v0YJA1A2L._SX300_.jpg
Vanishing Point, 1971. 2 disc UK bluray.
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ3kuTFf3nIvEwXhaccduJPcd4fSsO6K WDqPlo6BOHe0K4PTu38
The car featured in the film is a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, with a 440 cubic-inch V-8, and not a 426 Hemi V-8 (as is often believed). Eight white Challengers loaned from the Chrysler Corporation were used during the filming.
The squad car rollover was anticipated by stuntman Carey Loftin. He'd warned Sarafian and John Alonzo. Sarafian joked "Now I'll know where to put the camera."
There were many rumors over the years about what happened to all eight 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 440 Magnum cars used in the film, like how they were returned to Chrysler after filming who sold them or how they were sold by studio on salvage auction, but in one of the interviews before his death director Richard C. Sarafian revealed the actual truth. All Challengers were returned to Chrysler, seven out of eight were damaged after being put through a lot during filming and only one was returned in good condition, however after they saw the film they were "pissed because their cars were in a movie that promoted drugs and running from the cops", so they crushed all eight. Ironically, Vanishing Point was huge reason why Challenger became popular as one of the best muscle cars, and even today both the film and the car have great cult status.
great film. now rewatching, this time the uk theatrical.... last one was the us one. This 2 disc bluray has 4 versions plus the extras. great stuff.
Pigmy Pony
03-06-2022, 13:55
https://i.ibb.co/W22pft1/star.jpg (https://ibb.co/nLL8jCS)
'Star Wars' (1977)
Got hold of a copy of the limited edition DVD with the original theatrical version.
Yes! - there's no comedy Jawas, no pointless meeting with Jabba, no cartoony-looking CGI and Han whacks Greedo in cold blood.
Okay so it's a bit grainy and it's in letterbox format with black bars all around the picture but it's so much better than the idiotic 'special edition' that I don't care.
That's ok, you can pretend you're the Empire's local postie: Oi Vader, got a parcel here needs signing for... please excuse my nonsense, I'm just giddy at the thought of no work for 12 days :)
anyone after the bluray set, its here at a goo price.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vanishing-Point-Blu-ray-Barry-Newman/dp/B07S3DDWQN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=VFB0MC2QVUEA&keywords=vanishing+point&qid=1654265719&sprefix=vanishing%2Caps%2C71&sr=8-1
great film. now rewatching, this time the uk theatrical.... last one was the us one. This 2 disc bluray has 4 versions plus the extras. great stuff.
Uk version makes more sense with the added Charlotte Rampling scenes in. She slows him down so the cops can set the roadblock etc. She was 'death'.
Forrest Gump, 1994... 4K bluray ....Director Robert Zemeckis....
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71MHBt7Ay1L._AC_SL1500_.jpg
Tom Hanks was not paid for this film. Instead, he took percentage points which ultimately netted him in the region of $40 million. (smart guy)
Tom Hanks signed onto this film after an hour and a half of reading the script, but agreed to take the role only on the condition that the film was historically accurate. He initially wanted to ease Forrest's pronounced Southern accent, but was eventually persuaded by Robert Zemeckis to portray the heavy accent stressed in the novel, and he patterned his accent after Michael Conner Humphreys (young Forrest), who actually spoke that way.
Tom Hanks' younger brother, Jim Hanks, doubled for him in many of his numerous running sequences. According to Jim, "Tom had other doubles but they couldn't do the run", referring to Forrest's geeky stiff stride "that's a stupid Hanks thing"
The necklace worn by Lieutenant Dan is a rosary with a Saint Christopher medal, inscribed "Protect Us In Combat." It was worn in Vietnam by Gary Sinise's brother-in-law, Jack Treese, in 1967-68.
Another classic now with the Coen's .. O Brother, Where Art Thou?, 2000....
http://www.movienewsletters.net/photos/024462R1.jpg
The film's soundtrack became an unlikely blockbuster, even surpassing the success of the film. By early 2001, it had sold five million copies, spawned a documentary film, three follow-up albums ("O Sister" and "O Sister 2"), two concert tours, and won Country Music Awards for Album of the Year and Single of the Year (for "Man of Constant Sorrow"). It also won five Grammys, including Album of the Year, and hit #1 on the Billboard album charts the week of March 15, 2002, 63 weeks after its release and over a year after the release of the film.
George Clooney agreed to do this film without having read the script. The Coen Brothers visited him in Phoenix while he was making Three Kings (1999), wanting to work with him after seeing his performance in Out of Sight (1998). Moments after they put their script on Clooney's hotel room table, the actor said "Great, I'm in." He stated that he liked even the Coens' least successful films.
The prisoner's musical chant from the beginning of the movie (and soundtrack) was actually an old recording of a chain-gang.
Outbreak, 1995.
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZTg1Mzk1NjAtNGFlOS00NzdlLWI0NTgtYzlmNTUzZGQ0Nj YzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.j pg
When investigating the village in Zaire, several huts are burned down. This is the traditional tribal method for controlling the spread of an infection in many parts of the world. Food and water are left outside the entrance to the dwelling, and the occupants cannot leave. If several days (usually three or four) of these supplies are not used, then the dwelling is burned down to stop the infection from spreading.
Agatha Christie's Poirot, 1989... season 1....
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQg2o14Ehobh87-jAMyaQGOh43pP2NWC0K_mXjESfE9r6hXgy9Y
a bit more poirot before retiring for a rest. he really is an excellent poirot imo.
A riproaring western now, with John Ford's STAGECOACH, 1939. Criterion Bluray remaster....
https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/films/c95af92bca3b979d3e7e4f251f010260/CsMBDL8lJ5CrZjyii2JVkG5nLIFDxc_large.jpg
A cruel stunt known as a "Running W" was used to cause the Indians' horses to fall during the sequence where they are chasing the stagecoach. Strong, thin wires were fixed to a metal post anchored in the ground, while the other ends of the wires were attached to an iron clamp that encircled the legs of each horse. A horse was then ridden at full gallop, and when a wire's maximum length was reached--just when the rider was "shot"--the animal's legs would be jerked from beneath it, causing it to tumble violently and throw off the "shot" rider. A rider could anticipate the fall, but the horse could not, resulting in many horses either being killed outright or having to be destroyed because of broken limbs incurred during the falls. The use of the "Running W" was eventually discontinued after many complaints from both inside and outside the film industry.
Louise Platt, who played the very proper Mrs. Lucy Mallory, wasn't quite so prim off-camera. Observing John Wayne on the set one day, Platt turned to Claire Trevor and said, "I think he has the most beautiful buttocks I have ever seen."
The screenplay by Dudley Nichols is an adaptation of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a 1937 short story by Ernest Haycox.
Related by Andy Devine's son Dennis....The Stagecoach river crossing.... For true west...
Nobody could overstate the impact of 1939’s Stagecoach on film in general and on the Western in particular. It rescued the genre from the “just-for-kids” B-movie ghetto, made an “A” star out of “B” star John Wayne and brought the maestro of the form, director John Ford, back to the range after a decade-long absence. Orson Welles called the film “perfect”—he watched it 40 times while preparing Citizen Kane.
Stagecoach was nearly in the can. Andy Devine, the rotund, screechy-voiced actor who played stage driver Buck, was ideal for the part, bringing welcome comedy relief. But he knew the other reason he’d been cast. When Ford got impatient, and said, “You big tub of lard. I don’t know why the hell I’m using you in this picture,” Andy replied, “Because Ward Bond can’t drive six horses.”
Andy’s son Dennis tells True West: “He grew up on his father’s ranch outside of Kingman, [Arizona], so Dad knew how to drive wagons and horses. Dad did all of it [in the film], the driving in and out of towns and stations. But that wasn’t Dad on the dry lake, the big chase. Not that he couldn’t do it, but because [the studio] was afraid he’d get hurt.”
Andy had seen a rough cut of the film and loved it. But he faced one more scene. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Andy was asked to do a risky stunt on the last day of shooting, so the film could be completed no matter if something went wrong. Dennis says, “John Ford wasn’t stupid, and frankly, my dad was scared of doing that thing.”
The scene would come before the big Indian chase. When the stagecoach reaches the hoped-for safety of the river, Buck discovers Geronimo’s men have burned the ferry. The script called for two trees to be cut down, lashed to either side of the stage, to float the stage across the river. Ford had already discarded the sequence: “The wranglers tell me it can’t be done.”
But just as Ford had plucked Wayne from the B films, Wayne returned the favor by bringing along ace stuntman Yakima Canutt. “It can be done,” Canutt told Ford, “and I think it will look terrific.”
During three days of preparation, Canutt had a Paramount special effects expert build four hollow logs for flotation. Setting up on the Kern River, Canutt rigged an underwater cable to the bottom of the wagon—the cable ran through a pulley to an off-camera truck, which would pull the stagecoach into the river and across to the far side.
Andy faced that last day of shooting with trepidation. “He didn’t know what was going to happen—the stagecoach could sink or the horses could drown,” his son Dennis says.
Canutt took the reins for the first take, a long shot, and everything went smoothly. The second shot was set up with the camera mounted to the stagecoach roof, looking over the shoulders of George Bancroft, as the marshal, and Andy. Happily, the river crossing went off without a hitch: no retakes needed.
Andy was so relieved, he called up friends to go out and celebrate—Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. They had just sat down with him and his wife, Dorothy, at the Brown Derby and ordered their meals when Dorothy went into labor. Dennis was born January 24, 1939, the day Stagecoach wrapped.
Another film i can watch as often as i want.. HOPSCOTCH, 1980.. Criterion Bluray remaster again..
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91eT1TEAmRL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
Sam Waterston arrived late to begin filming because his role in Heaven's Gate (1980) ran much longer than anticipated. By the time he began his work as Cutter he was exhausted. As a result people mention how awful he looks two times, and he blames jet lag.
Walter Matthau, who lost family and friends in the Holocaust, only agreed to travel to Germany to shoot the opening Oktoberfest scene on condition that his son, David Matthau, was cast as Ross.
According to the DVD special feature "Introduction by Neame & Garfield", Walter Matthau's agent suggested the film include music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as this would be pleasing to Matthau. So they made Matthau's character Kendig a lover of Mozart's music. Conductor and arranger Ian Fraser located many pieces of Mozart's music but was at a loss for the scenes where Kendig is typing his book. So they asked Matthau if he could make any suggestions and he obliged by finding some.
Pigmy Pony
05-06-2022, 19:14
Another classic now with the Coen's .. O Brother, Where Art Thou?, 2000....
http://www.movienewsletters.net/photos/024462R1.jpg
The film's soundtrack became an unlikely blockbuster, even surpassing the success of the film. By early 2001, it had sold five million copies, spawned a documentary film, three follow-up albums ("O Sister" and "O Sister 2"), two concert tours, and won Country Music Awards for Album of the Year and Single of the Year (for "Man of Constant Sorrow"). It also won five Grammys, including Album of the Year, and hit #1 on the Billboard album charts the week of March 15, 2002, 63 weeks after its release and over a year after the release of the film.
George Clooney agreed to do this film without having read the script. The Coen Brothers visited him in Phoenix while he was making Three Kings (1999), wanting to work with him after seeing his performance in Out of Sight (1998). Moments after they put their script on Clooney's hotel room table, the actor said "Great, I'm in." He stated that he liked even the Coens' least successful films.
The prisoner's musical chant from the beginning of the movie (and soundtrack) was actually an old recording of a chain-gang.
Wonderful film, great cast, and an equally brilliant soundtrack. I no longer have the DVD, but still have the soundtrack CD.
just finished... https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTKp5KKVpoYkHVFoFCD0xC-FWBN1ZA2TTe20MNswXlzJ8I06QCM
now part 3, .. https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQlOw-O1tdmzrkCgS5iezwNZ3-4iaRQKdCpVU1tQW-9yzGqJOk8
Classic adventure now with Zoltan Korda's The Four Feathers, 1939.. Criterion Bluray remaster.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/films/2da4d0c79beb86847c2261375f9398b8/jmY6oDkuPgJEbutjseJAERGXAYyRVG_large.jpg
What is stunning about the image, though, is that the digital transfer itself comes off just about perfect. I think what most impressed me was how it handles film grain: as mentioned it gets heavy in the film and had the potential to create a noisy mess but it’s handled perfectly and looks completely natural throughout. The image is also incredibly sharp with a stunning amount of clarity, and the film’s colours look wonderful but still retain that Technicolor look. Halos pop up in a few places but past this I didn’t notice any other issues with the actual transfer.
The action scenes, photographed by Osmond Borradaile, were not only filmed where the historical battles had taken place, but also included among the many extras, people who had witnessed or participated in the fighting more than forty years earlier. These battle scenes further benefitted from Director Zoltan Korda's expertise at large-scale action and his early experience as a cavalry officer.
Gorky Park, 1983.
The Soviet Communist Party condemned the film as anti-Communist and anti-Russian and denied the crew access to shoot in Moscow, lol. Gorky Park was filmed in Helsinki and Stockholm. The Kaisaniemi public park in the Helsinki centre was set as the Gorky amusement park.
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Producer Howard W. Koch said of the making of this movie whilst doing press for the picture: "We couldn't even get into Russia to film it and I can't say any of us were surprised. But that's what makes it so special. We're chalking up a first here. Nobody ever made a modern thriller like this set in Russia. It's just a pity they don't like us doing it." Koch added: "They kept telling us 'There's no crime or corruption in Moscow'. But it's like any urban city in the world, of course there's crime. They just don't tell anyone about it. That's what you get with a closed society."
Most of the Russian characters are played by British actors, so the accent convention in this movie is that British accents are native Russians. This is why William Hurt speaks his part with a British accent, while Lee Marvin and Brian Dennehy speak naturally as their American characters.
The internal scenes of the Kremlin was actually the City Chambers in Glasgow. Scottish audiences were very amused to see famous Scottish comedian Rikki Fulton turn up as a ruthless KGB agent.
The internal scenes of the Kremlin was actually the City Chambers in Glasgow. .
They were probably modelled on the Kremlin anyway :D
It was designed in the Beaux-Arts architecture style(French neoclassicism) by William Young. He aso did Haseley Manor. He was given the commission for the new War Office in Whitehall (later completed by his son, Clyde Francis Young).
so yes, deffo a commie:D
A Clockwork Orange, 1971..4K bluray remaster....
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Alex performing "Singing in the Rain" as he attacks the writer and his wife was not scripted. Stanley Kubrick spent four days experimenting with this scene, finding it too conventional. Eventually he approached Malcolm McDowell and asked him if he could dance. They tried the scene again, this time with McDowell dancing and singing the only song he could remember. Kubrick was so amused that he swiftly bought the rights to "Singing in the Rain" for $10,000. When Malcolm McDowell met Gene Kelly at a party several years later, the older star turned and walked away in disgust. Kelly was deeply upset about the way his signature from Singin' in the Rain (1952) had been portrayed in A Clockwork Orange (1971).
The film was unavailable for public viewing in the UK from 1973 until 2000, the year after Stanley Kubrick's death. British video stores were so inundated with requests for the movie that some took to putting up signs that read: 'No, we do not have A Clockwork Orange (1971).'
Malcolm McDowell delighted in the speeded-up orgy, since Stanley Kubrick could not shout "Cut!" until it was over and McDowell could accordingly do whatever he wanted during the take. Carrying the girls back to the bed a second time was improvised by McDowell, much to the irritation of Kubrick who shouted off-camera "That's enough Malcolm! That's enough!"
Unforgiven, 1992.. 4K remastered. Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)Unforgiven was entirely prepared by Warner's Motion Picture Imaging facility, which has been responsible for all the important catalog restorations released by the studio and has become the "go to" post house for the Warner Archive Collection.
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Although the score was arranged by Lennie Niehaus, the main theme was written by Clint Eastwood.
This is the third western to win the Best Picture Oscar. The other two are Dances with Wolves (1990) and Cimarron (1931).
To maintain the authentic atmosphere, no motor vehicles were allowed on the Big Whiskey set.
Ranked #4 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Western" in June 2008.
surprised that 'Rio Bravo' or 'The Searchers' did not win.
Looked it up and 'Rio Bravo' was up against 'Ben Hur' (which won). 'The Searchers' lost to 'Marty' though, which doesn't seem right.
surprised that 'Rio Bravo' or 'The Searchers' did not win.
Looked it up and 'Rio Bravo' was up against 'Ben Hur' (which won). 'The Searchers' lost to 'Marty' though, which doesn't seem right.
reckon if either were to have been made in 90's they would have
I can imagine 'The Searchers' being a 1990s film, the tone is right even if the colour processing isn't, but not so much 'Rio Bravo.' That's a very 1950s film IMO.
I can imagine 'The Searchers' being a 1990s film, the tone is right even if the colour processing isn't, but not so much 'Rio Bravo.' That's a very 1950s film IMO.
well obviously there would be differences i guess but it was more that westerns before say late 80's were not rated as art, just as cinema fodder, which was what i meant really. Some decent ones in 60/70's came close i guess like Little Big Man, Josey Wales, and obviously the leone ones(but he was at that time just rated as Italian nonsence director). Dances with Wolves caught the Eye as it was at a time when Indian rights had come back into vogue.
early 80's america went all proud of itself during the regan years.
An absolute classic film.
Now, Walkabout, 1971.. This is the Limited Edition Boxset Bluray remaster. Director, Nicolas Roeg.. A near masterpiece imo..
A cultural clash between innocents from a fragile civilization thrown into a harsh, unforgiving nature... Perhaps civilization isnt all victorious after all...
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Jenny Agutter was embarrassed when doing the scene of her swimming naked in the lake, so as many as possible of the crew were sent away. When shooting was done they returned, stripped naked, and went for a swim.
Luc Roeg was actually sun-burnt in the scene where the aboriginal boy treats his back by rubbing him with fat from a wild boar. Director Nicolas Roeg thought it would make a good scene for the film so he picked up the camera and shot it.
The poetry quoted by the narrator at the end of the film is Part 40 of A.E. Housman's "A Shropshire Lad": Into my heart an air that kills From yon far country blows: What are those blue remembered hills, What spires, what farms are those? That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, The happy highways where I went And cannot come again.
By saving the white boy and girl, black boy has broken the rules of his walkabout. Strictly speaking in most tribes it is something a boy has to do alone for a period to prove he can survive, so black boy has broken this taboo. That is one of the reasons he dies.
Night Train To Munich, 1940.. Criterion Bluray remaster...Director, Carol Reed..
A bit of a play on the lady vanishes here with some same cast..... After Germany invades Czechoslovakia, the German and the British intelligence services try to capture Czech scientist Dr. Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt), inventor of a new type of armor-plating.
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Generally thought of as the first theatrical film where an actor portrayed Adolf Hitler. English music-hall star Billy Russell portrayed the German dictator in an uncredited role.
As of 2011, this movie has not been released in Germany at all.
The second of six film appearances by Charters and Caldicott (played by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne). They first appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes (1938)," also written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder. They later appeared in "Crook's Tour (1940)," "Millions Like Us (1943)," and "It's Not Cricket (1949)," which were also written by Gilliat and Lauder, and in "Dead of Night (1945)."
The airplane shown taking off, depicting Anna's father (James Harcourt) leaving Prague's airport, is a 1938 Lockheed 14 Super Electra, registration G-AFGN. On 8/11/39 it was on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Zurich when it developed engine trouble and caught fire. It landed in a field in France and all got out safely, but the plane was consumed by the fire. This is the same plane British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain used to fly back to the UK from his meeting with Adolf Hitler after signing the "Munich Agreement" in 1938. Thus, this shot is most likely newsreel footage from that event.
Us-&-Them
08-06-2022, 22:21
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WESTERN MOVIE DONE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENTLY - REALLY GOOD!!!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Notorious, 1946. Director, Alfred Hitchcock.. Criterion Bluray remaster... One of the master's greats.
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After filming had ended, Cary Grant kept the famous UNICA key. A few years later he gave the key to his great friend and co-star Ingrid Bergman, saying that the key had given him luck and hoped it would do the same for her. Many years later, at a tribute to director Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Bergman went off-script and presented the key to him, to his surprise and delight.
Sir Alfred Hitchcock got the shot where Ingrid Bergman is in the background and the coffee cup is in the foreground, with both in focus, by using a giant coffee cup placed farther away than it appears.
The scene of Alicia drunkenly speeding along a South Florida road with Devlin as her passenger was shot in the studio with rear projection. The projected shots had a motorcycle cop gaining on them. As he gets closer to the car, he goes out of frame to the right, and the movie cuts to him riding next to the car, this time in the studio. Sir Alfred Hitchcock suggested to cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff that he shine light on the backs of Cary Grant's and Ingrid Bergman's necks as the projected motorcyclist moves off to their side. According to Hitchcock, Tetzlaff was irritated that Hitchcock thought of this instead of him and snapped, "Getting a bit technical, aren't you, Pop?" lol
Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge, 2017..
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Notcably a lot of the 'zombie sharks' anatomy was a big licence take.. ie all the bones etc, many broken etc inc a ribcage... Sharks not only don't have a rib cage, but don't have any bones at all. Still, it was to give off an effect and it worked tbh so all is forgiven.:D
Young Frankenstein, 1974.. Bluray remaster...
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Gene Hackman learned about the film through his frequent tennis partner Gene Wilder and requested a role, because he wanted to try comedy. He volunteered to play the Blind Hermit for free. It was four days of shooting for about four minutes of running time.
Gene Hackman ad-libbed The Blind Man's parting line "I was gonna make espresso." The scene immediately fades to black because the crew erupted into fits of laughter. Hackman was unable to repeat the line without laughing with the rest of the crew, so the first take was used. Hackman was uncredited when the movie was originally released in theaters.
In 1974 Aerosmith took a break from a long night of recording to see this film. Steven Tyler wrote the band's hit "Walk This Way" the morning after seeing the movie, inspired by Marty Feldman's first scene, the "walk this way . . . this way" scene.
He Would Have An Enormous Schwanzstucker
Us-&-Them
10-06-2022, 20:37
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WICKED FILM !!!
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BBC version, 2015. Thought provoking. Probably the best adaption there is.
Flight of the Conchords, Season 2 (2 x DVD)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Conchords_(TV_series)
Stay with Mel and Blazing Saddles. . bluray remaster.. a crackingly funny film.
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(at around 45 mins) Cleavon Little was not warned about the "you know. . . . morons" line. His reaction was real.
Casablanca, 1942.
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Exceeding expectations, Casablanca went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, while Curtiz was selected as Best Director and the Epsteins and Koch were honored for Best Adapted Screenplay. Its reputation has gradually grown, to the point that its lead characters, memorable lines, and pervasive theme song have all become iconic, and it consistently ranks near the top of lists of the greatest films in history.
Paul Henreid as Victor Laszlo. Henreid, an Austrian actor who had emigrated in 1935, was reluctant to take the role it "set him as a stiff forever", according to Pauline Kael, until he was promised top billing along with Bogart and Bergman. Henreid did not get on well with his fellow actors; he considered Bogart "a mediocre actor"; Bergman called Henreid a "prima donna"
Predestination, 2014...
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The movie is based on Robert A. Heinlein's short story "All You Zombies".
The Apartment, 1960. bluray remaster...
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Billy Wilder wrote the role of "Dr. Dreyfuss" for Lou Jacobi. But the producers of Jacobi's Broadway play wouldn't release him to make the film. So Jack Kruschen played the role and received an Oscar nomination. Wilder made it up to Jacobi by casting him as "Moustache" in Irma la Douce (1963) after the previously announced Charles Laughton died.
According to Fred MacMurray, after the film's release, he was accosted by women in the street who berated him for making a "dirty, filthy movie" and one of them hit him with her purse, because she brought her six-year-old to see it thinking it was a Disney film.
Wyatt Earp, 1994....
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The real Wyatt Earp's 6-shooter was loaned by the Earp museum and used in some scenes during a number of close-ups.
Tombstone (1993) was being filmed at the same time nearby, and bought up most of the period clothing in the region. Clothing had to be imported from Europe, delaying production.
Wyatt Earp is often erroneously regarded as the central figure in the shootout near OK Corral, but his brother Virgil was Tombstone city marshal and deputy U.S. marshal that day, and he had far more experience as a sheriff, constable, marshal, and soldier in combat. Wyatt being the more famous brother originates largely from his own self-promotion.
At the OK Corral no one would have been able to see anyone else as black powder smoke would have obscured any line of sight after Doc Holliday fired the first few rounds with a double barrel shotgun, his favorite weapon (vs. the .45s used in the movie).
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, 1976. Bluray remaster....
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While the book showed Dr. Sigmund Freud with a daughter, the child he had in real life, the movie showed him with a make-believe son, because Dr. Anna Freud threatened a lawsuit if she was included. Since her father was dead, she had no control over how he was portrayed.
The title of the movie refers to the drug Sherlock Holmes is abusing. He injects himself with a solution of seven percent cocaine and ninety-three percent saline solution.
Ironically, Dr. Sigmund Freud praised the use of cocaine, and often injected himself with the drug many times a day. He even introduced the upper to his best buddy Ernst Fleisci-Marxow with the best intentions. Marxow was a gifted physiologist and also a morphine addict, due to a painful injury he sustained that was only soothed by the opiate. Freud believed cocaine would help him to kick his morphine habit (which was a common belief at the time) but unfortunately it did not aid his friend, but rather added another problem, with which he to deal, and may have been responsible for his early demise.
Dr. Watson's revolver appears to be a Webley RIC No. 1 New Model (distinguishable from the older RICs by its fluted cylinder), an inspired choice by the filmmakers as it dovetails perfectly into Watson's service time, British Army regulations about service cartridge chambering, and Watson's likely financial means at the time (the New Model had been in production for several years by 1879 and used specimens could have been had fairly cheaply).
Albert R.N., 1953....Lewis Gilbert, Director... (aka Break to Freedom)
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Artist and illustrator John Worsley (played by Anthony Steel), who made the model of "Albert" for the film, had performed the same task in the the real P.O.W. camp, where he had been assisted by the film's technical adviser Senior Commissioned Gunner (TAS) Lieut. J.W. Goble.
A fake POW camp was built on Headley Heath for this production.
As the opening credits state: "The events concerning Albert are based on fact, and took place in the prison camp, Marlag "O", for Naval Officers in North West Germany, during the spring of 1944."
The Final Countdown, 1980. came up in a list of also watch so will. its easier than searching lol
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The film was produced with the cooperation of the United States Navy's naval aviation branch and the United States Department of Defense, and as such was as cheerleader and come join navy film really; still its good enough fun. It was set and filmed on board USS Nimitz (CVN-68), filming operations of the modern nuclear warship, which had been launched in the early 1970s. The Final Countdown was a moderate success at the box office.
Stay in the water with The Cruel Sea, 1953..
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Jack Hawkins wrote in his 1973 autobiography "Anything for a Quiet Life" regarding this film, "All of us in the film were sure that we were making something quite unusual, and a long way removed from the Errol Flynn-taking-Burma-single-handed syndrome. This was the period of some very indifferent American war movies, whereas 'The Cruel Sea' contained no false heroics. That is why we all felt that we were making a genuine example of the way in which a group of men went to war."
The most successful film at the UK box office in 1953, as well as a surprise hit in the US. It was widely said at the time that if this film had been a Hollywood production both Jack Hawkins and Donald Sinden would have been nominated for Oscars.
If you look carefully, you will see that the rank insignia on Ericson's (Jack Hawkins') sleeves are in a different "font" from those of the other officers on his ship. This is because Ericson is RNR (Royal Navy Reserve: men who had been discharged from the regular navy but were retained as reservists - and indeed the novel makes it clear that Ericson had served at Jutland before joining the Merchant Navy), whilst the other officers are RNVR (Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve - men who joined after the outbreak of the war)
Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In The West, 1969...
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The main selling point to producers for the use of the Techniscope process was the savings in camera negative; but, another advantage was being able to derive the 2.35:1 aspect ratio while shooting with spherical lenses which avoided the distortion created by anamorphics during certain camera moves and extreme close-ups (such as those used by Sergio Leone). This film, together with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) (also directed by Leone and shot by Tonino Delli Colli) are now considered masterpieces in the use of the Techniscope system.
The way ahead, 1944https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220613/8ee760935c74244c299a7d523bc23f2e.jpg
Joe Kidd, 1972.
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The Professionals. 1966..
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The movie, which was shot in Technicolor, was filmed in Death Valley, Valley of Fire and around Coachella Valley in California. The rail scenes were filmed on Kaiser Steel's Eagle Mountain Railroad. The steam locomotive seen in the movie currently resides on the Heber Valley Railroad.
The Day The Earth Stood Still, 2008.. Remake of a classic... its different at least and maybe all its got going for it. not seen it since it came out.
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Renowned astronomer Seth Shostak was hired as a consultant on the film. He reviewed the script several times for errors, and gave suggestions for making the scientists less dry: "Real scientists don't describe an object entering the solar system as 'notable for the fact that it was not moving in an asteroidal ellipse, but moving at nearly 3*10 to the 7 meters per second'. More likely, they would say that there was 'a god-damned rock headed our way!'" He also noted the scientists should refer to one another by a first name basis.
In the original movie, GORT was eight feet tall. In this film, he is 28 feet tall.
Keanu Reeves recorded the line "Klaatu barada nikto" twice, and one recording was played backward and spliced with the other (which was left normal) to make the overall dialogue sound more otherworldly.
Cast a Dark Shadow, 1955..
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Margaret Lockwood's once-considerable popularity as a leading lady was waning noticeably when she appeared in this movie. She hoped it would revive her movie career, and she received outstanding personal reviews. However, the movie was a box-office flop, and she made only one more movie in her life, The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976).
Sink the Bismarck!, 1960... bluray remaster...
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Esmond Knight (Captain John Leech - H.M.S. Prince of Wales) actually served as an officer on-board H.M.S. Prince of Wales and was injured during the battle.
Producer John Brabourne knew that the use of miniatures and explosions would have to look very realistic to be successful. They hired Howard Lydecker, one of the legendary Lydecker brothers, the other was Theodore Lydecker, who were generally considered to be the best special effects team in the industry. They had spent decades perfecting their craft at Republic Pictures.
According to Special Effects Cinematographer L.B. Abbott, the miniatures were photographed with spherical (non-anamorphic) lenses. This made it easier to force the perspective of the image to make the miniatures appear bigger and further apart. The conversion of the spherical footage to CinemaScope required the use of an optical printer with an anamorphic lens. This method of shooting with spherical lenses, yet converting the footage to anamorphic, is now commonly used, and is called "Super 35".
Contrary to a previous trivia item implying that the British failed to carry out rescue operations. After the sinking of the Bismack, H.M.S. Devonshire and H.M.S. Maori rescued one hundred eleven German sailors from the sea, (one of whom later died of his injuries), before having to leave the area due to reports of a German U-Boat nearby, as they would have been stationary while getting the survivors aboard and therefore sitting ducks for any torpedo attack. In fact, some of the survivors praised one British Midshipman for trying help a German who had lost both of his arms in the action.
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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, 2006.
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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, 2006.
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watch second half of this now.
The Man Who Would Be King, 1975... This adaptation of the famous short story by Rudyard Kipling tells the story of Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnahan, two ex-soldiers in India when it was under British rule. They decide that the country is too small for them, so they head off to Kafiristan in order to become Kings in their own right. Kipling is seen as a character that was there at the beginning, and at the end of this glorious tale.
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John Huston tried to launch the movie version of "The Man Who Would Be King" many times before completing it. It was originally conceived as a vehicle for Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart in the fifties. Bogart died before the movie could be made, and while Huston was considering who could replace Bogart, Gable also passed away. (Source: Stephen H. Bogart, Humphrey's son.) He later re-imagined it as a vehicle for Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, and later for Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole. When it was considered as a vehicle for Robert Redford and Paul Newman, Newman suggested Sir Sean Connery and Sir Michael Caine.
Sir Michael Caine and Sir Sean Connery were disgusted by the treatment of Saeed Jaffrey during filming. He didn't even have a chair to sit on between takes on-location. Finally, Caine had enough and shouted to the crew "Get this man a fucking chair!"
Karroom Ben Bouih (High Priest Kafu Selim) was the night watchman of an olive orchard near the filming location. He was hired after writer and director John Huston accidentally met him, and told to come to the set the following day. After he fell asleep a few times during filming, it was discovered that he had still kept his night watchman job. Huston had to explain to him that he didn't need that job any more. The movie company would pay him enough that he could sleep at night.
......The "Making-of" featurette on the DVD contains footage of Sir Sean Connery performing the fall from the bridge stunt. He fell approximately one hundred feet to the bottom of the ravine, before his fall was broken by a big pile of cardboard boxes. In his 2010 book, "The Elephant to Hollywood", Sir Michael Caine reports on page 150, "The real hero then took his (Sir Sean Connery) place. Joe Powell was an experienced stuntman. Joe fell so skillfully, twisting and turning on the way down, and at the very last minute straightening himself out so that he hit the mattresses dead center. John Huston turned to me and said, 'That was the darnedest stunt I've ever seen.'" Caine said that Connery did not like heights and was not fond of the final scene in which he had to walk to the middle of the bridge.[14] Caine recalled, "There was a day when we were shooting on the rope bridge and Sean turned to John and said "Do you think the bridge looks safe?" John lowered his eyes and said, "Sean, the bridge looks the way it always has. The only difference is that today, you're going to be standing in the middle of it.""
The song sung by Connery is known as "The Son of God Goes Forth To War" or "Bishop Heber's Hymn" The melody is "The Moreen" which is commonly known as "The Minstral Boy". The words are sung as Danny Dravot (Connery) walks out on the bridge before he falls to his death.
Looper, 2012...In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent into the past, where a hired gun awaits - someone like Joe - who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by sending back Joe's future self for assassination.
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The script originally called for Joe to move to Paris when he got older, which is why he spends the early scenes trying to learn French. However, Rian Johnson soon realized that they didn't have the money to shoot in Paris. He considered using New Orleans to "stand in" for Paris, but rejected that idea. The Chinese distributor for the film offered to pay for the crew to film in Shanghai, and Johnson accepted, both because it solved the Paris problem and because he felt Shanghai better reflected the future setting of the movie.
First Blood, 1982..4k bluray...
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First Blood was shot using Panavision cameras on 35mm film. This release was made using the original camera negative which was scanned at 4K resolution and utilised for the creation of this Ultra HD Blu-ray release. The disc presents a native 4K 3840 x 2160p resolution image in the widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and uses 10-bit video depth, a Wide Colour Gamut (WCG), High Dynamic Range, and is encoded using the HEVC (H.265) codec for HDR10.
A plot point that was present in the novel but absent from the film was the primary reason behind Teasle's resentment and contempt toward Rambo, which was that Rambo was a veteran of the Vietnam War, which gained a lot of attention, whereas Teasle was a veteran of the Korean War, which most people had all-but-completely-forgotten at this point in time.
Sylvester Stallone hated the first cut of the film so much that he tried to buy the film back and destroy it. When he couldn't do that, he suggested that the producers cut much of his part and let the rest of the characters tell the story. That cut the movie time in half and set a precedent for future action movies.
An Inspector Calls, 1954.. 60th anniversary bluray remaster.
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During the first scene at the dinner table, Eric Birling says "Steady, the Buffs". This phrase means "stay calm, be careful, and persevere", and is associated with the 3rd Regiment of Foot (The East Kent Regiment), whose nickname was 'The Buffs'. The phrase is thought to have originated when the Regiment was stationed in Malta in 1858, and was popularised in Rudyard Kipling's novel, "Soldiers Three". 'Buffs' refers the dull yellow colour of the facings worn by the regiment, starting in the 18th Century.
In the stage play on which this film was based, the inspector's name was Goole. It was changed in the film to hide the twist at the end of the film when it becomes clear that the inspector does not really exist and is a figment of everyone's conscience. (or was he a ghost?)
Looper, 2012...In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent into the past, where a hired gun awaits - someone like Joe - who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by sending back Joe's future self for assassination.
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The script originally called for Joe to move to Paris when he got older, which is why he spends the early scenes trying to learn French. However, Rian Johnson soon realized that they didn't have the money to shoot in Paris. He considered using New Orleans to "stand in" for Paris, but rejected that idea. The Chinese distributor for the film offered to pay for the crew to film in Shanghai, and Johnson accepted, both because it solved the Paris problem and because he felt Shanghai better reflected the future setting of the movie.
Good film. :)
Manhunt, 1941.. Bluray remaster..
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When this movie was made, America was not part of World War II. At this time, a number of Hollywood studios were pro-American involvement in the war. This movie is one of a number of films made during the late 1930s and early 1940s that represented pro-American intervention in the war. These films include: A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941), Man Hunt (1941), Foreign Correspondent (1940), The Mortal Storm (1940), Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) and Sergeant York (1941).
This was one of several films mentioned in the September 1941 Senate subcommittee hearings on Propaganda in Motion Pictures, where isolationist senators Nye, Clark and Wheeler attacked Hollywood for "war-mongering." Senator Nye, who testified before the committee, had not seen most of the films mentioned. The subcommittee did not reconvene after September due to the attack on Pearl Harbor in December. The featurette included on the 2009 DVD release contends that the making of war-mongering films would be a violation of the Neutrality Act, which focused on restricting arms sales to belligerent nations, regardless of their status of aggressor or defender.
Very little indeed remains of Geoffrey Household's original novel in this adaptation, but the author, interviewed about it over thirty years later, conceded that "Fritz Lang made a smashing film out of my book".
The Eagle Has Landed, 1976... bluray remastered...
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Michael Caine had initially been excited at the prospect of working with Sturges. During shooting, Sturges told Caine that he only worked to earn enough money to go fishing. Caine wrote later in his autobiography: "The moment the picture finished he took the money and went. [Producer] Jack Wiener later told me [Sturges] never came back for the editing nor for any of the other good post-production sessions that are where a director does some of his most important work. The picture wasn't bad, but I still get angry when I think of what it could have been with the right director. We had committed the old European sin of being impressed by someone just because he came from Hollywood."
Cornwall was used to represent the Channel Islands, and Berkshire for East Anglia. The majority of the film, set in the fictional village of Studley Constable, was filmed at Mapledurham on the A4074 in Oxfordshire and features the village church, Mapledurham Watermill and Mapledurham House, which represented the manor house where Winston Churchill was taken. A fake water wheel was added to the 15th-century structure for the film. Mock buildings such as shops and a pub were constructed on site in Mapledurham while interiors were filmed at Twickenham Studios. The "Landsvoort Airfield" scenes were filmed at RAF St Mawgan, five miles (8 km) from Newquay.
Quality film that, they edit it when they show it on telly these days though.
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, 1970. bluray remastered.. Directed by Billy Wilder..
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By the time of filming, Sir Christopher Lee had become famous as Count Dracula. When he and Billy Wilder walked on the shores of Loch Ness at dusk, with bats circling overhead, Wilder said to him, "You must feel quite at home here."
Originally, the scenes featuring the Loch Ness Monster were intended to be filmed in the actual Loch. A life-size prop was built which had several Nessie-like humps used to disguise flotation devices. The humps were removed, however, at Billy Wilder's request. Unfortunately, during a test run in Loch Ness, the Monster-prop sank and was never recovered. A second prop, a miniature with just the head and neck, was built, but was only filmed inside a studio tank. Geneviève Page said of this in the biography "Nobody's Perfect: Billy Wilder" by Charlotte Chandler): "When we lost our Loch Ness monster, he (Wilder) wasn't too concerned, even though he was also the producer. He was more concerned about how the man who made it felt when all his work sank to the bottom of the Loch Ness. He went over and comforted him." The original monster prop was located on the bottom of Loch Ness in April 2016 during a survey of the loch by an underwater robot.
The subplot in which Sherlock Holmes is approached by a famous ballerina who wishes him to father her child is inspired by a real-life incident. George Bernard Shaw was once approached by the notorious dancer Isadora Duncan, who told him that, if they had a child together, it would have "my beauty and your brains"; Shaw rebuffed her quickly, saying, "Ah, yes, dear lady, but what if it has my beauty and your brains instead?" In this movie, Sherlock Holmes uses a rather different method of putting the lady off.
Dressed to Kill, 1980..Bluray remaster from Arrow... "Dressed to Kill was transferred from a 35mm interpositive. The film was transferred in High Definition on a Spirit Datacine at the Post Group in Hollywood, California. The audio was transferred from an original 35mm mono mag. This work was managed by David Sargent and Mary Grace Nicolas for MGM.
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Angie Dickinson (Kate Miller) said the scene where her character gets seduced in the back of a taxicab was filmed on-location in New York City, where several gawkers observed the scene and shouted, "Right on, Police Woman!" (referring to her previous television role).
As a young man, at his mother's urging, Brian De Palma followed his father and used recording equipment to try and catch him with another woman. That incident inspired this movie.
Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen and Keith Gordon all praised Michael Caine's generosity and professionalism as an actor on this film. As the main star, he was only ever required to be on set when his character was in shot, but all three stated he insisted on being there whenever his character was not in shot also, so that his co-stars were always performing to his character and not to a stand-in or nothing at all.
Never seen that one will have to look out for it.
Never seen that one will have to look out for it.
classic de palma, this and blow out are probably my favs of his.
Never seen that one will have to look out for it.
It's OK - but I'm not a big fan of de Palma.
Primer, 2004..
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The budget for the entire film was around $7000. Most of the money was spent on film stock.
Rian Johnson, director of Looper (2012), mentions in the director's commentary that not only is Primer the best time-travel movie ever made, but that when he sent the script for Looper to his friend Shane Carruth, Carruth told him all his time travel was wrong.
Shane Carruth took up the job of writing, producing, directing, editing and scoring the movie with no prior experience in any of these fields. It took him three years to complete the movie, writing the screenplay over the period of a year and working on an independent movie as a microphone operator to get the hang of filming techniques. Shooting the movie took only a month, but the film spent nearly two years in postproduction due to editing problems. During that period, Carruth claims to have quit the movie 3 or 4 times.
Looks more like a video of a speaker lead comparison. :D
The Vast of Night, 2019.
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Twilight zone stuff set in 1950's
Looks more like a video of a speaker lead comparison. :D
was interesting. only 7k spent so not a lot of sets etc and not much of a cast as you'd expect but was an interesting idea. and yes it looks like a hifi wiring job.:D
Open Range, 2003..
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Originally, Touchstone Pictures had Kevin Costner top-billed over Robert Duvall, but Costner asked the studio to top-bill Duvall instead.
Towards the end of production, Kevin Costner and some friends made a surprise visit to a large pow wow gathering at Morley. Chief Ernest Wesley honored Costner for his work with the Lakota Indians and using the Sioux language in Dances with Wolves (1990).
The hefty revolver favored by Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall) is a model 1875 Remington Army. The rifle that Charley (Kevin Costner) used in the shoot-out is an 1873 Winchester sporting rifle.
Dances With Wolves, 1990... this is the really long extended version at nearly 4hrs.
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Kevin Costner did all his own riding, including bareback and shooting his gun without holding the reins, during the buffalo hunt.
In the skinned buffalo scene, fake animals made of paper were used and looked very realistic. A passerby called the police during filming and they showed up with guns drawn ready to arrest the crew for poaching. After some explanations, the cops left laughing.
During the scene where the buffalo is charging at Smiles a Lot, the buffalo is actually charging at a pile of its favorite treat: Oreo cookies.
Because of the film's enormous success and sympathetic treatment of the Native Americans, the Lakota Nation adopted Kevin Costner as an honorary member.
a marathon at close to 4hrs but a superb film. a masterpiece imo.
not sure i can face another film so will watch an episode of Poirot.
I enjoyed the theatre version of 'Dances with Wolves', but don't think I could manage a 4 hour version.
The Graduate, 1967... Criterion Bluray remaster.. A wonderful film. Hoffman didnt want a 6 film contract so was only paid 17k for the whole shoot. It made him in the buisness tho,
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When Elaine tracks down Ben in his gloomy room and he causes her to scream, several other tenants gather behind the landlord in the doorway. One says, "Shall I get the cops? I'll get the cops." It's Richard Dreyfuss in one of his earliest film roles.
During rehearsals of Dustin Hoffman's and Anne Bancroft's first encounter in the hotel room, Bancroft did not know that Hoffman was going to grab her breast. Hoffman decided to do it because it reminded him of schoolboys trying to nonchalantly grab girls' breasts in the hall by pretending to put their jackets on. When Hoffman did it, director Mike Nichols began laughing loudly. Hoffman began to laugh as well, so rather than stop the scene, he turned away and walked to the wall. Hoffman banged his head on the wall, trying to stop laughing, and Nichols thought it was so funny, it stayed in the finished film. Anne Bancroft said that for many years after doing this movie, young men would tell her that she was the first woman they had sexual fantasies about.
Although Mrs. Robinson is supposed to be much older than Benjamin, Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman were just under six years apart in age. He looked naturally boyish, and she, a longtime smoker and drinker, look older than her age. Bancroft was only eight years older than her "daughter" Katharine Ross. William Daniels (Mr. Braddock) only ten years older than his "son" Hoffman.
Anne Bancroft loved Mike Nichols' description of Mrs. Robinson as someone who was angry with herself for giving up on who she really was in exchange for wealth and security. This was the aspect of the book that really captured his interest. When they shot the scene where Mrs. Robinson and Ben discuss art in the hotel room, Bancroft had forgotten Nichols' initial revelation about the character, but she managed to capture that anger and regret on subsequent takes. Nichols thought this was very important because she really wanted to drive home the point about the character having bargained away her life. "That seems to me the great American danger we're all in, that we'll bargain away the experience of being alive for the appearance of it."
The Dogs of War, 1980. Bluray ... Chris Walken was relatively unknown and the studio were unimpresse by the Director's choice of lead; but it worked well.
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John Irvin had previously shot footage in the middle of real-life battles when he worked in a television news crew in Vietnam during the 1960s. Irvin once said: "Unlike most young film directors, I've been in battle. Throughout the '60s I went to various war zones and I met numerous mercenaries in Algeria and South East Asia, so I had my own personal strings to draw on. I would say our depiction of mercenaries is pretty accurate. We talked to a lot of mercenaries and were able to get a lot of information from them about how they would have handled the operation."
When the team is discussing the weapons they will need for their attack, Shannon mentions their requirement for "9 Millimeter Quad" ammunition. "Quad" version of 9mm ammunition goes back to the development of a special 9mm Load by Speer ammunition Co. called the, "9mm +P Gold Dot JHP (Jacketed Hollow Point) 124 Gr". Which has a muzzle velocity of 400 Meters per second (1,300 Ft/s). It received its Nickname "9mm Quad", from its Major Parameter: (9mm @ 400 m/s).
The "XM-18" grenade launcher used in the movie is a real-life weapon. It is called the Manville Gun. It was named after its inventor, Charles Manville, who designed the gun in 1935.
Spartacus,1960.. 4k Bluray... This 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD is unquestionably the ultimate version of the film which probably looks better than when the film was theatrically projected upon release. The image's excellence is immediately in evidence during the opening titles as the black backgrounds appear significantly more rich and true and the white titles more intensely luminous and accurate.
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Sir Peter Ustinov joked about his daughter, born at the beginning of production, being in kindergarten by the time this movie was finished. When asked what her father did for a living, she would answer, "Spartacus".
The original version included a scene where Marcus Licinius Crassus (Sir Laurence Olivier) attempts to seduce Antoninus (Tony Curtis). The Production Code Administration and the Legion of Decency both objected. At one point Geoffrey Shurlock, representing the censors, suggested it would help if the reference in the scene to a preference for oysters or snails was changed to truffles and artichokes. In the end the scene was cut, but it was put back in for the 1991 restoration. However, the soundtrack had been lost in the meantime and the dialogue had to be dubbed. Curtis was able to redo his lines, but Olivier had died. Dame Joan Plowright, his widow, remembered that Sir Anthony Hopkins had done a dead-on impression of Olivier and she mentioned this to the restoration team. They approached Hopkins and he agreed to voice Olivier's lines in that scene. Hopkins is thanked in the credits for the restored version.
Cinematographer Russell Metty walked off the set, complaining that director Stanley Kubrick was not letting him do his job. Metty was used to directors allowing him to call his own shots with little oversight, while Kubrick was a professional photographer who had shot some of his previous movies by himself. Subsequently, Kubrick did the majority of the cinematography work. Metty complained about this up until the release of the movie and even, at one point, asked to have his name removed from the credits. However, because his name was in the credits, when this movie won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, it was given to Metty, although he actually didn't shoot most of it.
I''m Spartacus!!
....yeah, in your dreams mate.....
naw i really am... :D
Midway, 1976.. Bluray.
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Most the Japanese air raid sequences are from Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970).
Scenes of Lieutenant Colonel James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle's Tokyo raid at the beginning are from Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944). Robert Mitchum played pilot Bob Gray in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) and Admiral William Halsey in this movie.
Almost all the on-board scenes were filmed on the U.S.S. Lexington, an Essex-class "fast carrier" commissioned in February, 1943. Even some of the Japanese carriers shown in birds-eye views were actually the Lexington, with the film reversed to put the island superstructure on the port side (all U.S. carriers had it on the starboard side). Decommissioned in 1991, the Lexington was the longest serving carrier in history. It is now a museum ship in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Most dogfight sequences come from 1942 newsreels, with considerable cropping to adapt the image to the Panavision framing.
Several action scenes, including the one where a Zero slams into the Yorktown's bridge, were taken from Away All Boats (1956).
Other than that its all original;) still its not a bad film at all.
Have you seen the remake of 'Midway'?
Have you seen the remake of 'Midway'?
no ive not seen it yet. didnt do too badly at box office but reviews were not great.
edit. ive managed to buy the file for a fiver in uhd so will wath it later
Murder on the Orient Express, 2017...uhd file.
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The Fragilite cake scene, the exchange between Hercule Poirot and Edward Ratchett was filmed over a day and a half, and in addition to improvisation, the scene also required numerous bites of cake. According to Sir Kenneth Branagh, Johnny Depp "is absolutely unafraid of a world most actors live in fear of, which is eating on-screen."
One day actor Johnny Depp showed up on set several hours late and hungover. Director Branagh proceeded to dress him down in front of the crew. "I expect all of my actors to be on time and well prepared. If this is too difficult for you, I have no problem finding another actor." Depp showed up early every day afterwards.
Big screens with animations of moving landscapes were installed on the set to create the visual effect of a moving train. Josh Gad experienced some motion sickness during filming due to this.
Pulp Fiction, 1994..
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The movie cost only $8 million to make. The initial budget was reportedly even lower until Bruce Willis was added to the cast (he had a recent string of domestic flops but was still a box-office draw overseas). $5 million went to pay the actors' and actresses' salaries. The film was already profitable when its worldwide rights were sold for $11 million (again, mainly on the strength of Willis' presence). It went on to gross over $200 million at the box office.
Quentin Tarantino wrote the role of Jules specifically for Samuel L. Jackson, however, it was almost given to Paul Calderon after a great audition. When Jackson heard this, he flew to Los Angeles and auditioned again to secure the role. Calderon ended up with a small role, as Paul.
you never tire of a great film...up there with the classics...
now another Tarantino... The Hateful Eight, 2015...
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After the script leaked online, writer and director Quentin Tarantino did not want to make this movie. However, after they did a brief reading of the script in Los Angeles, the cast was stunned and got excited for the film, and with Samuel L. Jackson persuading him to do this movie, Tarantino accepted.
Writer and director Quentin Tarantino said that some of Ennio Morricone's compositions for the film are the unused scores for The Thing (1982). Kurt Russell was the star in that movie.
As of 2015, most theaters worldwide had their film projectors replaced with digital projectors, as traditional film stock was no longer in favor. As a fan and supporter of celluloid, writer and director Quentin Tarantino aggressively fought with distributors for the film to be shown in its original Ultra Panavision 70 presentation. As a result, fifty theaters internationally were retrofitted with anamorphic-lensed 70mm analogue film projectors to display the film as he intended it to be seen. It was released on December 25, 2015, as a roadshow presentation, in 70mm analogue film format theaters exclusively, before being released in digital theaters on December 30, 2015.
Mulholland Dr, 2001.. 4k Bluray. A native 3840 x 2160p resolution image with widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio, uses 10-bit video depth, High Dynamic Range, a Wide Colour Gamut (WCG) and is encoded using the HEVC (H.265) codec for HRD10 and Dolby Vision. Remasterd film is beautiful.
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The set of reels that was distributed to the movie theaters included a computer-written, photocopied note from director David Lynch himself giving special instructions to the projectionists worldwide. Specifically, he did not want the film to be centered vertically on the screen, but rather to "allow more overhead" as the term in projectionist's slang, that is, to let the top part of the frame be more visible than the bottom part. This was because the film was originally made for TV, with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (or 16:9) in mind -- without the projectionists' manual correction, the aspect ratio of the theatrical release (1.85:1) would have resulted in heads being cut off at the top of the silver screen. Lynch also asked to raise the volume of the theater's sound system by three decibels when the film was playing. The note ended with the words, "Your friend, David Lynch."
On a particularly bad day of auditioning in Hollywood before she landed the role, Naomi Watts was driving along Mulholland Drive and imagined herself turning the wheel and going over the edge to her death. After ten years of getting nowhere and largely being ignored by casting directors, Watts was shocked that not only did director David Lynch meet her in person but he asked her questions about herself and she immediately felt relaxed. She was so moved by their conversation, she almost burst into tears after leaving his office.
Hellfighters, 1968..
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A burning oil well prompted the owner, present-day billionaire Phillip Anschutz, to call Red Adair, a famous firefighter who later put out the oil well fires during the Gulf War, to put out the blaze. To pay Adair, Anschutz persuaded Universal Studios to pay him $100,000 to film Adair putting out his well fire for "Hellfighters."
The studio designed special nozzles for the fires. There was an outer ring nozzle that shot out the flames and an inner one that shot out a mixture of water and India ink to simulate oil. This can be seen in how easily the "oil" is wiped off the actor's faces.
When asked to comment on the film during production, actress Katharine Ross replied, "It's the biggest piece of crap I've ever done!" Then the reporter asked Vera Miles to respond to Ross's comment. She thought for a moment and said, "Well, it's not the biggest piece of crap I'VE ever done!"
Been a long time since i saw this, and I think Katharine Ross was possibly correct :eyebrows:
Here Comes Mr. Jordan, 1941. Crterion bluray...
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The review in Film Daily opined, "Producer Everett Riskin, noted for his successes in the field of comedy, had no cinch with this property which might easily have backfired with an inexperienced hand at the helm. But Riskin's talent and knowledge has placed this finished product very near the peak of perfection in film making." Here Comes Mr. Jordan placed fifth on the year-end poll of 548 critics nationwide at Film Daily, naming it one of the best films of 1941.
Been a long time since i saw this, and I think Katharine Ross was possibly correct :eyebrows:
yes its shocking isn't it?
Midway, 2019..
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The film highlights the faulty Mark 13 aerial torpedo used by the US Devestator at the time. Even before the war, the Mark 13 was shown to be faulty with most test torpedoes either sinking, running on the surface, or just failing to launch. Studies later found that many torpedoes were damaged upon impact with the water, namely the propellers and the torpedo head. It took two years of testing and re-evaluation before the Mark 13 became a reliable weapon by incorporating a shroud to protect the propeller fins and adding a drag ring to the torpedo head to cushion the impact. The drag ring was made of wood and would break away upon impact. During Midway, only a single Mark 13 found its target and detonated. It was dropped by a Catalina float-plane and hit the oil-tanker Kiyosumi Maru. The explosion ripped a 33 foot hole in the ship's bow but the Kiyosumi Maru survived and continued on with its mission.
At Midway the Japanese forces greatly outnumbered the Americans. The Japanese had 4 carriers, 2 light carriers, 2 battleships, 16 cruisers and 12 destroyers. The Americans had 3 carriers, 8 cruisers, and 15 destroyers. The only parity was in the number of submarines, planes and, counting the airfield at Midway, landing surfaces.
Although William F. Halsey's skin rash is referred to briefly in the film, it was so severe by the time of Midway he lost 20 pounds and was suffering from insomnia due to the chronic irritation. Chester W. Nimitz was reportedly so shocked by Halsey's appearance that he had no choice but to replace him with Raymond A. Spruance for the upcoming engagement. Still, Halsey was devastated he would not be leading the fleet into battle and called it "the most grievous disappointment in my career".
Several seemingly "Hollywood-ized" events depicted in the film, such as Bruno Gaido sprinting into a parked plane in an effort to shoot down a crippled plane attempting to crash into the Enterprise, then getting on-spot promoted, occurred as shown, though according to USA Today, "Gaido hid after shooting the plane down, afraid he was going to get in trouble for leaving his battle station. 'They had to hunt him down and bring him to Halsey', says [Retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Samuel J. Cox, director of the Naval History and Heritage Command]."
Not a perfect film by a long way but on balance I think it is superior to the 1975 effort.
Not a perfect film by a long way but on balance I think it is superior to the 1975 effort.
certainly a different style. cgi is a bit 'in your face' but that seems to be the style folk want. it kinda reminds me of the doomed pearl harbour film, although much better done.
japanese admiral... you men will leave ship and i will go down with it as i scuttle her...
japanese aide... i want to stay with you sir...
japanese admiral... very well...
japanese aide... you bastard! i was only trying to look big....
:D
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death1946. (aka in usa as Stairway to Heaven.)
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The backcloth of the High Court scene, suggesting tiers of seats stretching into infinity, measured three hundred fifty feet long and forty feet high. Altogether eight backcloths of similar large dimensions were used in Other World scenes, and twenty-nine elaborate sets were constructed. In all of these vast scenes, five thousand three hundred seventy-five extras were used, including real Royal Air Force crews, Red Cross nurses, and W.A.A.C.s.
David Niven (Peter Carter) and Raymond Massey (Abraham Farlan) both died on July 29, 1983.
A great many of the famous men whose statues are on the massive stairway have a common trait: they were believed, when this film was made, to have had neurological disorders . This is a subtle nod to Peter's medical condition.
The huge escalator linking this World with the Other, called "Operation Ethel" by the firm of engineers who constructed her under the aegis of the London Passenger Transport Board, took three months to make, and cost three thousand pounds sterling (in 1946). "Ethel" had one hundred six steps, each twenty feet wide, and was driven by a twelve horsepower engine. The full shot was completed by hanging miniatures.
The first scene shot was David Niven washing up on the beach. Originally planned to fade in from black, Michael Powell decided on the spot that the effect would be too cheesy. When Jack Cardiff told him to look through the camera, Cardiff then deliberately breathed right onto the lens, which fogged the glass for a few seconds until it evaporated. Powell loved the idea and had him use it for the shot.
It was during a visit to Hollywood in 1945 that director Michael Powell decided to cast the then-unknown Kim Hunter as June, the American servicewoman, largely upon the recommendation of Sir Alfred Hitchcock, who had done a series of screen tests of actors and actresses auditioning for parts in his upcoming production, Notorious (1946). The trouble was that in these screen tests Hunter was not seen but, rather, was heard off-camera, feeding lines and cues to the actors Hitchcock was actually screen-testing. But Hitchcock assured Powell that he would arrange a "face-to-face" with Hunter and her agent, so that he could see for himself whether she fit the requirements of the "all-American" girl Powell had envisioned opposite David Niven. And upon first encountering Hunter, Powell agreed with Hitchcock that she, indeed, was a perfect choice for the role.
Niven and Hunter..
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