View Full Version : Now Screening - What Are You Watching Right Now?
Yes both of those films are all the better for being in black and white, too. They knew how to do creepy back then, horror on a psychological level instead of the hack and slash, blood and gore that is the modern version of the genre.
Check out the black and white horror movies of Val Lewton mad in the '50s: Curse of the Cat Woman, I walked with a Zombie. Atmospheric and creepy; the 'horror' is all down to suggestion - never explicit, only implied. As you say, they knew how to do' creepy' back then.
These days it seems to be only the Japanese who can do horror without it being 'in your face'. Hollywood should take some lessons from them.
walpurgis
31-08-2014, 14:04
Two excellent b&w horror films spring to mind.
The sixties Japanese Classic 'Onibaba': https://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/onibaba
And Roman Polanski's bizarre 'Repulsion': http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/repulsion/
Spectral Morn
31-08-2014, 18:00
The Arrival (1996)
Watched this lowish budget Sci-Fi thriller this afternoon - not seen it in years - and enjoyed it greatly. Charlie Sheen is the hero and this is an intelligent alien invasion film with great effects when required and quite good aliens. I suspect most of the budget went on the underground base and alien weapon scenes - a rotating sphere capable of sucking items, buildings etc into a singularity.
Most of the 'terribly good' (1) films the sci-fi channel shows and produces could learn a great deal from this film re how to do a lot, well, with not much money.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arrival_(film)
Regards Neil
(1) Awful piles of festering dung, with awful effects, crap stories, crap acting - just terrible.
The Arrival (1996)
re how to do a lot, well, with not much money.
.
Absolutely. Look at the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Nothing to it in terms of budget or effects but it is genius good. Always makes me laugh after watching a really crap film when the credits roll and you see how many hundreds of people were involved in making it - did no-one at any point pipe up and say 'err...excuse me but this is complete shite.' ? These people must never have seen a decent film in their lives so their benchmark for excellence is something like Police Academy IV. It's the only explanation.
Spectral Morn
31-08-2014, 18:19
Absolutely. Look at the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Nothing to it in terms of budget or effects but it is genius good. Always makes me laugh after watching a really crap film when the credits roll and you see how many hundreds of people were involved in making it - did no-one at any point pipe up and say 'err...excuse me but this is complete shite.' ? These people must never have seen a decent film in their lives so their benchmark for excellence is something like Police Academy IV. It's the only explanation.
I agree. The amount of dung and mega dung that gets made is just awful - what a waste of money.
Regards Neil
My Movie for tonight is the 1957 Basil Dearden classic, The Smallest show on Earth starring Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna, Margaret Rutherford, and Peter Sellers. Smaller roles for Leslie Philips, Sid James and Bernard Miles.
Film is about a couple who inherit a cinema but, alas it is an old Flea Pit called the Bijou. They decide, madly to try and make it work but pretty much everything is against them, including Sellers as the drunken projectionist.
Many of the films shown were actually made for this production, and there is a lovely scene I remember when the old staff of Rutherford, Sellers etc watch a silent film with the former playing the piano.quite touching really and reminds me of my grandfather who had 3 silent cinemas back in the day.
Sack Mrs Fizakally!!! Sack Mrs Fizakally!!...she's the only one that knows how this place works...:lol:
Now on to Howard Hawk's 1943 sabre rattler AIR FORCE starring John Garfield, John Ridgely and Gig Young....
The Arrival (1996)
Watched this lowish budget Sci-Fi thriller this afternoon - not seen it in years - and enjoyed it greatly. Charlie Sheen is the hero and this is an intelligent alien invasion film with great effects when required and quite good aliens. I suspect most of the budget went on the underground base and alien weapon scenes - a rotating sphere capable of sucking items, buildings etc into a singularity.
Most of the 'terribly good' (1) films the sci-fi channel shows and produces could learn a great deal from this film re how to do a lot, well, with not much money.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arrival_(film)
Regards Neil
(1) Awful piles of festering dung, with awful effects, crap stories, crap acting - just terrible.
Not seen that one yet Neil, but will try to soon.Sounds interestng
Spectral Morn
01-09-2014, 10:03
Not seen that one yet Neil, but will try to soon.Sounds interestng
It was showing on the Horror Channel but is available as a DVD or Blu Ray. I would avoid the follow up film which is not very good.
Regards Neil
It was showing on the Horror Channel but is available as a DVD or Blu Ray. I would avoid the follow up film which is not very good.
Regards Neil
I've put the DVD in my Amazon basket Neil, so when I next get something I'll slip that onto the order.sounds interesting, and if I don't like it my son will.
In fact I better check he doesn't already have it
Spectral Morn
01-09-2014, 12:53
I've put the DVD in my Amazon basket Neil, so when I next get something I'll slip that onto the order.sounds interesting, and if I don't like it my son will.
In fact I better check he doesn't already have it
Hope you enjoy it Grant.
Regards Neil
Two excellent b&w horror films spring to mind.
The sixties Japanese Classic 'Onibaba': https://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/onibaba
And Roman Polanski's bizarre 'Repulsion': http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/repulsion/
Both excellent films Geoff.
Don't know about that. Repulsion is a bit too weird to be 'good' in any normal sense. If we're talking Polanski then it has to be Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby, both of which are masterpieces and superbly directed.
tonight it is Laughter in Paradise(1951) starring Alistair Simm, George Cole, John Laurie, Fay Compton and Joyce Grenfell.
Audrey Hepburn and Stanley Hollaway were both initially earmarked for this but for one reason or another didn't, although I believe Hepburn gets a very small part to play. Simm as usual Steals the whole film and his scenes with Grenfell are hilarious. A rich practical joking relative dies and in his will, he leaves conditions for the family to receive their lucre. Simm has to go to prison and Compton who is a terrible employer, has to work as a servant...all good fun, and worth the admission price.
...and now on to A Matter of Life and Death. A Powell & Pressburger production for the Archers starring David Niven, Roger Livesey and Kim Hunter. I think it was made after the war ended tbh but not sure....
One of these fabulous films that come along, and the delectable Kim Hunter was a tip from the one and only Hitchcock himself. The escalator was in fact real and cost a sizable 3 grand to make. Nicknamed operation Ethel, it had over 100 stairs and was driven by a petrol engine.
Joan Maude who plays the chief recorder was lovely as well.... Her grandmother was Swedish nightingale Jenny Lind.
Spectral Morn
02-09-2014, 10:38
...and now on to A Matter of Life and Death. A Powell & Pressburger production for the Archers starring David Niven, Roger Livesey and Kim Hunter. I think it was made after the war ended tbh but not sure....
One of these fabulous films that come along, and the delectable Kim Hunter was a tip from the one and only Hitchcock himself. The escalator was in fact real and cost a sizable 3 grand to make. Nicknamed operation Ethel, it had over 100 stairs and was driven by a petrol engine.
Joan Maude who plays the chief recorder was lovely as well.... Her grandmother was Swedish nightingale Jenny Lind.
Amazing film, never grow tired of seeing it.
Regards Neil
Your right there Neil. West and enjoyable , great actors too. Raymond Massey as the prosecutor is great. Love his sinister looks...oddly he and Niven died on the same day.
Don't know about that. Repulsion is a bit too weird to be 'good' in any normal sense. If we're talking Polanski then it has to be Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby, both of which are masterpieces and superbly directed.
It may be weird and difficult viewing, but it is an excellent depiction and portrayal of a woman descending into terminal psychosis. Knife in the Water is also a good early film of Polanski.
Agree about Chinatown and less so with Rosemary's Baby.
I used to think Rosemary's Baby wasn't up to much until I watched it again for the first time in a long time last year. There really are so many very clever little techniques in the way that film is directed and put together that I never really apreciated when I was younger.
walpurgis
02-09-2014, 15:06
I used to think Rosemary's Baby wasn't up to much until I watched it again for the first time in a long time last year. There really are so many very clever little techniques in the way that film is directed and put together that I never really apreciated when I was younger.
I always loved that film. It has a slightly tongue in cheek approach, but still remains creepy. Well acted by a fine cast and nicely directed by Polanski. (never did find out what Tannis Root was though)
Around the same time, Polanski also made 'Dance of The Vampires' (renamed The Fearless Vampire Killers). That was a hoot. Great fun, with Alfie Bass becoming a Jewish vampire who was immune to crucifixes and Dracula's gay vampire son camping it up. Polanski's unfortunate wife Sharon Tate looked truly stunning.
Tannis root was supposedly a herb of the devil. Would have been better spelt tanas as then it would be an anagram of one of the devils aliases :)
Tonight it is BLACK BOOK; the 2006 film directed by Paul Verhoeven, probably better known for Robocop and Total Recall. Verhoeven and Gerard Soeteman wrote the scrit over a period of 20 years, finally getting right in so many ways. This Dutch film is a classic.
Starring Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman and Derek de Lint of Soldier of Orange (1977) also by Verhoeven.
Lovely lush camera work from Karl Walter Lindenlaub and superb music by Ann Dudley, this is an atmospheric film about the Germans versus the Dutch underground with one shocking twist after another. Shown as a memory from 1956 back to wartime, this film is very well done for such a small budget, and yet again shows Hollywood and all its fancy priced stars where the real movies are made. Without doubt Paul Verhoeven's best film, and he has many a lot of good 'uns; if you aint seen it then you must.
Tonight it is BLACK BOOK; the 2006 film directed by Paul Verhoeven, probably better known for Robocop and Total Recall. Verhoeven and Gerard Soeteman wrote the scrit over a period of 20 years, finally getting right in so many ways. This Dutch film is a classic.
Starring Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman and Derek de Lint of Soldier of Orange (1977) also by Verhoeven.
Lovely lush camera work from Karl Walter Lindenlaub and superb music by Ann Dudley, this is an atmospheric film about the Germans versus the Dutch underground with one shocking twist after another. Shown as a memory from 1956 back to wartime, this film is very well done for such a small budget, and yet again shows Hollywood and all its fancy priced stars where the real movies are made. Without doubt Paul Verhoeven's best film, and he has many a lot of good 'uns; if you aint seen it then you must.
Verhoeven made some stinkers, but Black Book is probably one of his better made films. Typically for Verhoeven, he has to include some titillating content: in this case it's the Jewish girl who has her pubic hair bleached to make her appear more 'Aryan'!
He likes his soft porn:lol:
Tonight it is the 1956 classic Duke western, The Searchers directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond and Natalie Wood....and a special mention for Ken Curtis who played Charlie McCory. Ken originally started out as a Singer for the Tommy Dorsey orchestra in the 30's. Ford used him a lot as he was his father in law(jobs for family eh) in his westerns. Curtis later became a producer of low-budget monster films, The Killer Shrews (1959) and The Giant Gila Monster (1959), but is likely to be better remembered for his role in Gunsmoke.
Reportedly this film was seen in a theater in Texas by Buddy Holly and his friends in the summer of 1956. They were so impressed with Ethan's (John Wayne) repeated use of the phrase "That'll be the day" that they used it as the title for their now standard rock song, which they composed soon after.
John Wayne's son Patrick has a small role at Lt Greenhill(keep it in the family):eek: Originally from Alan Le May's 1954 novel of the same name, that was first serialized as a short story in late fall 1954 issues of the Saturday Evening Post, and first titled, "The Avenging Texans".
an amazing performance from Marion. This, the Cowboys and the Shootist are probably his greatest woks....maybe Stagecoach too. Have not seen it for some time, and think I may watch the second disc with the extras again too.....Loved the pink Gingham shirt as well:eyebrows:
walpurgis
03-09-2014, 23:14
I rate 'The Searchers' myself.
(and I really liked 'The Sons of Katie Elder')
I rate 'The Searchers' myself.
(and I really liked 'The Sons of Katie Elder')
Yes Katie elder is a good in...the Duke had just had an operation for lung cancer a few months earlier to filming, but still did his own stunts...all at the age of 57...a tough customer
A super Don Siegal movie tonight...The 1973 thriller, Charley Varrick, starring Walter matthau as Charley, Joe Don Baker as the sadistic killer, Molly, on his trail and the delectable Felicia Farr as Walter's love interest(shortly after his wife dies). Felicia was actually his pal Jack Lemmon's wife..now thats what I call friendship:eyebrows:
From the Novel, "The Looters" by John Reese, there is always lots going on in this intelligent film, and Siegal milks the tension and confusion too the end. There are a lot of directors who could learn from Don.
In the book about Rory Gallagher(Riding Shotgun) it is said he wrote the song, The Last of the Independents(which was to be the original title, and is the slogan of Varrick's crop dusting company) after seeing the film. One of Matthau and Siegal's best and if its good enough for Rory, then its good enough for me....ENJOY....oops, I will:lol:
walpurgis
04-09-2014, 19:00
Excellent choice. Got that in my collection!
Excellent choice. Got that in my collection!
It is one of the best of its type ever made and rarely sees the light of the airways for some reason. Andrew Robinson did one of his trademark sleezeball character jobs as in Dirty Harry..Like Bruce Dern in the Cowboys he is so hateable, you are as pleased as punch when Don Baker eliminates him.:eek:
Charley Varrick
Now you're talking, love the American 'car chase' movies from that era, Thunderbolt & Lightfoot & Fear is the key spring to mind
walpurgis
04-09-2014, 22:14
And when Joe Don Baker eliminates himself near the end!
Do you remember 'The Flim Flam Man' with George C Scott from about the same time? I've been dying to see that again. Not seen it for probably forty years (I was three at the time :lol:).
walpurgis
04-09-2014, 22:20
Now you're talking, love the American 'car chase' movies from that era, Thunderbolt & Lightfoot & Fear is the key spring to mind
Nobody mentions 'Two Lane Blacktop' these days or 'Fireball 500'. I loved both when they came out (even though Fireball 500 was a bit naff). Not exactly chase movies but they've got fast cars in.
Do you remember 'The Flim Flam Man'
Don't think I've ever seen that one, IMDB's summary sounds interesting, I'll have to look it out. Another of my favourties is Two lane blacktop (although there's not much of a plot)
walpurgis
04-09-2014, 22:36
James Taylor's very sorted '55 Chevy BelAir made the film for me. A beast!
Another film nobody talks about: 'Electraglide in Blue' I've got that one too!
James Taylor's very sorted '55 Chevy BelAir made the film for me. A beast!
Another film nobody talks about: 'Electraglide in Blue' I've got that one too!
'454! no shit!"
Was that the one with the shortarse motorbike cop?
walpurgis
04-09-2014, 22:47
'454! no shit!"
Was that the one with the shortarse motorbike cop?
Yup. 454 'Vette lump with trick bits!
That was Robert Blake playing 'officer Wintergreen'. I loved that movie.
Blake was a very strange character in 'Lost Highway'.
'In Cold Blood' was excellent with his performance powering the film along (wish I had a copy).
Actually, that one reminds me of another film (I do have). 'Badlands' with Cissy Spacek and Martin Sheen, another great movie.
Yup. 454 'Vette lump with trick bits!
That was Robert Blake playing 'officer Wintergreen'. I loved that movie.
Blake was a very strange character in 'Lost Highway'.
'In Cold Blood' was excellent with his performance powering the film along (wish I had a copy).
Actually, that one reminds me of another film (I do have). 'Badlands' with Cissy Spacek and Martin Sheen, another great movie.
its available Geoff.....
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cold-Blood-DVD-Robert-Blake/dp/B00005N52L
walpurgis
05-09-2014, 09:42
Thanks Grant. I may get that.
Tonight I am watching The Lavender Hill Mob(1951) Starring Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sidney James and Alfie Bass. Directed by Charles Crichton who also did The Titfield Thunderbolt and A Fish Called Wanda.
T.E.B. Clarke wrote the screenplay for this but a major credit has to go to a the special committee of the Bank of England who came up with the plan after Ealing Studios asked them how it could be done. The crooks had to be caught to allow the film to be shown in the US, as their censorship laws at the time demanded that crooks always got caught, unlike Britain where it would have been allowable.
Delightful performances from Stanley and Alec make this lark into a minor classic.
........and now Ice Age 3_dawn of the dinosaurs ....Fab film..:lol:
On to Black Adder Series 2. Astonishingly funny if that's a word.
Just remembered how to spell it lol
Your just an old quack....I'd rather be a quack than a ducky:D
BBC Electric Proms, just watched The Who now on to Oasis (don't think I'll bother with Robbie Williams)
What! ............don't like Robbie?;)
What! ............don't like Robbie?;)
Best I can say about him is he's a 'showman', watched Robert Plant & Band of Joy instead
walpurgis
06-09-2014, 15:26
Best I can say about him is he's a 'showman', watched Robert Plant & Band of Joy instead
Saw Plant on the box a couple of weeks ago. He looks a mess, very crumbly and clapped out. He certainly looks rougher than I do and he's younger (just).
Saw Plant on the box a couple of weeks ago. He looks a mess, very crumbly and clapped out. He certainly looks rougher than I do and he's younger (just).
Maybe the split from Patty Griffin has hit him hard
Classic Albums: Steely Dan 'Aja'
on U-tube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8GwEX7nn6o
The thinking man's Spinal Tap:
Walter Becker: ''I like it when people come up to me and say 'Hey are you that guy out of Steely Dan?' and I say 'Yes that's right.' And they say 'No, no. You're not him.' That's what I like.''
Tonight it is Star Trek; First Contact (1996), Directed and Starring Jonathan Frakes, with Patrick Stewart and Bret Spiner, who is terrific as Data.
Tom Hanks was considered for the role of Zefram Cochrane. Hanks, being an avid Star Trek fan, was receptive to the part, but had to pass due to his commitment to directing and starring in That Thing You Do! (1996). Zefram Cochrane played by James Cromwell, who was in both the Green Mile and LA Confidential, loved and was dancing to one of my favorite songs, Ooby Dooby by Roy Orbison AKA the Big O.
LeVar Burton playing Geordi La Forge finally had his requests to have his visor replaced with ocular implants granted here. All the scenes filmed inside the silo and of the Phoenix were taken at the Titan Missile Museum, located in Green Valley, 20 miles South of Tucson, Arizona. This site is the only Intercontinental Missile (ICBM) silo complex in the world that is open to the public. The 110 foot tall Titan II rocket has been "de-militarized" (no fuel or nuclear payload) and, per the SALT treaty and SMART (Strategic Missile Arms Reduction Treaty), one of the two silo doors must remain blocked open for Russian satellite verification.
The best of the Star Trek films this, and I never tire of it.
.
The best of the Star Trek films this, and I never tire of it.
Controversial! Of the modern efforts I prefer 'Generations', with this one second best, maybe. Of the old films I don't think they bettered Wrath Of Khan. Don't forget the Star Trek film rule of thumb, folks. Even numbers good, odd numbers bad :)
Of the old ones I think I prefer the search for Spock, although its close with Khan as films. The Voyage home is obviously the most fun. Liked the way Shatner managed to drag his nemisis, Nimoy into the water at the end, and how unhappy Spock was :lol:
Saying that, I dont think there is a bad one among them.....Must look out my Voyager dvd sets.. I packed them away for safe keeping as I was short of space a few years ago. Hope they are ok?
Hypothermia
Sort of a low budget Jaws on ice. A family go for their annual mid-winter frozen lake fishing expedition (as you do) only to discover there is something sinister under the ice...
It is a bit low budget but it doesn't try to do too much with too little and the acting is pretty good. In the trailer one bloke says to the other 'You're gonna need a bigger hole!' which made me laugh and got me to watch it.
istari_knight
06-09-2014, 20:41
Currently watching "9/11 102 minutes that changed America" on the tellybox... Utterly harrowing but feel compelled to watch it.
'You're gonna need a bigger hole!' nice take off of Jaws.
Well, back to Blackadder series 2 I think.....I need a laugh.
Sand Dancin Donkey Walker
07-09-2014, 17:19
An old favourite of mine, even after all these Years
2010 The Year We Make Contact
Last one for a while, and it will be the 1945 David Lean fantasy comedy Blythe Spirit Starring Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, Kay Hammond and stealing the show, Margaret Rutherford as Madame Arcati. I think good old Noel Coward penned this story entirely about the incarnations of a man,s 2 dead wives haunting him(puts shivers down the back)
Coward especially gave this to Lean to direct even though all of Hollywood was after it..Later Coward was less than complimentary about the job Lean did saying "How the hell did you f**k up the best thing I ever did?" No double exposure photography was used although it appears that way. I quite like this, and especially the madcap antics of Margaret Rutherford.
I last saw that when I was off sick from school. I recall that I didn't think much of it even though I knew even as a callow youth that it was rated, so maybe Noel was right?
Just watched Ransom with Mel Gibson. Saw that at the fliks when it came out, it's okay, but not as pacey as I remember. As we all know Mel's career height was Lethal Weapon 2 but he always does a good job whatever he is in.
Have seen Ransom, but not for years Martin...It was well enough done, but did not think there was enough in the script for the likes of Gibson. He is better with pacey stuff IMO.
First watch of Blythe Spirit for a while too and it was good enough without really enjoying it.....one for the BOY pile I think.
Talking about pacey films one I don't have and must get is the original Taking Of Pelham 123. I watched it for the first time in a long time last Christmas when it was on TV and it is brilliant but totally economical at the same time. Never flags for a second. I've seen the re-make and you have to think whoever made that never watched the original.
Talking about pacey films one I don't have and must get is the original Taking Of Pelham 123. I watched it for the first time in a long time last Christmas when it was on TV and it is brilliant but totally economical at the same time. Never flags for a second. I've seen the re-make and you have to think whoever made that never watched the original.
got that in my collection...as you say the remake was awful in comparison ....Good cast and a slight change of pace for Matthau .....interestingly the original costs about £9.50 and the remake is under £3...says it all really
.....interestingly the original costs about £9.50 and the remake is under £3...says it all really
It certainly does.
Spectral Morn
07-09-2014, 22:25
Tonight it is Star Trek; First Contact (1996), Directed and Starring Jonathan Frakes, with Patrick Stewart and Bret Spiner, who is terrific as Data.
Tom Hanks was considered for the role of Zefram Cochrane. Hanks, being an avid Star Trek fan, was receptive to the part, but had to pass due to his commitment to directing and starring in That Thing You Do! (1996). Zefram Cochrane played by James Cromwell, who was in both the Green Mile and LA Confidential, loved and was dancing to one of my favorite songs, Ooby Dooby by Roy Orbison AKA the Big O.
LeVar Burton playing Geordi La Forge finally had his requests to have his visor replaced with ocular implants granted here. All the scenes filmed inside the silo and of the Phoenix were taken at the Titan Missile Museum, located in Green Valley, 20 miles South of Tucson, Arizona. This site is the only Intercontinental Missile (ICBM) silo complex in the world that is open to the public. The 110 foot tall Titan II rocket has been "de-militarized" (no fuel or nuclear payload) and, per the SALT treaty and SMART (Strategic Missile Arms Reduction Treaty), one of the two silo doors must remain blocked open for Russian satellite verification.
The best of the Star Trek films this, and I never tire of it.
Ummmm I disagree - Wrath of Khan imho deserves that honour.
Regards Neil
Spectral Morn
07-09-2014, 22:30
Hypothermia
Sort of a low budget Jaws on ice. A family go for their annual mid-winter frozen lake fishing expedition (as you do) only to discover there is something sinister under the ice...
It is a bit low budget but it doesn't try to do too much with too little and the acting is pretty good. In the trailer one bloke says to the other 'You're gonna need a bigger hole!' which made me laugh and got me to watch it.
Saw this about 5 months ago on the Horror Channel and enjoyed it and they used the budget well though we see a bit too much of the monster at the end and its only then the budget constraints show but in saying that its still not a bad creature.
Regards Neil
Spectral Morn
07-09-2014, 22:32
An old favourite of mine, even after all these Years
2010 The Year We Make Contact
Good film - more enjoyable that 2001 :sofa:
Regards Neil
Saw this about 5 months ago on the Horror Channel and enjoyed it and they used the budget well though we see a bit too much of the monster at the end and its only then the budget constraints show but in saying that its still not a bad creature.
The same is true of Jaws but it didn't ruin that film. With the monster I thought they had a bit of the Chookacobra (no idea how you spell it) going on.
walpurgis
07-09-2014, 23:04
'Chupacabra' ;)
Spectral Morn
07-09-2014, 23:08
'Chupacabra' ;)
I knew what you mean't.
Yes the shark in Jaws at the end is awful but back in the 70s that was pretty good by the days standard.
Regards Neil
Just watched that Houdini 2 parter on Channel4. Its a bit schmaltzy but I grew up reading about him and have always been fascinated.
An amazing talent.
Ummmm I disagree - Wrath of Khan imho deserves that honour.
Regards Neil
First Contact is certainly the best of the "next generation" films imo, directed by Commander Riker himself, Jonathan Frakes.
The musical score was great, big fan of Jerry Goldsmith and was good to have him compose new music for Trek. The new theme was fantastic and some genuinely touching stuff in there, like what he did for Trek 5. (Shame about the movie though!)
His son Joel was brought in to help as Goldsmith Snr was juggling a lot of projects.
He did the electronic stuff with the Borg scenes.
Joel Goldsmith went on to do the music for Stargate Universe TV series, which reminded me a lot of Vangelis' Blade Runner.
But Yeah, for me Khan's the best movie. :)
James Horner's score is fantastic too. I think of his music for Trek 2 and 3 as a part of the same album really, one flows so well into the other and compliment each other well.
Good film - more enjoyable that 2001 :sofa:
Regards Neil
"That comment will look splendid on the front page of Pravda..." :)
Good to see Chief Brodie again, Roy Scheider played the part very like what he did on Jaws I thought.
Spectral Morn
08-09-2014, 09:35
"That comment will look splendid on the front page of Pravda..." :)
Good to see Chief Brodie again, Roy Scheider played the part very like what he did on Jaws I thought.
2001 is a big budget art house movie and while its beautiful, visual stunning, great music it is pretty boring in places.
I thought he did a great job in it and overall it was an enjoyable continuation of the story.
Regards Neil
Spectral Morn
08-09-2014, 09:40
But Yeah, for me Khan's the best movie. :)
James Horner's score is fantastic too. I think of his music for Trek 2 and 3 as a part of the same album really, one flows so well into the other and compliment each other well.
Yes 2 and 3 are really the one story and while 3 is flawed I thought Christopher Lloyd did a great job as the Klingon commander, so good in fact I didn't recognise him at all.
Must say I wasn't that keen on any of the Next Gen movies except maybe Generations but its very flawed.
Regards Neil
walpurgis
08-09-2014, 12:20
I suppose the 'Trek' films are OK if you're under 11 years old, but the music is ghastly! :eek: :lol:
After a few beers my mental age is under 11 so that works just fine :)
After a few beers my mental age is under 11 so that works just fine :)
Does not compute! I thought alcohol was supposed to make women look more attractive? :->
Except for 7 of 9 and that green bird the women of Star Trek are either deeply unattractive or really annoying. Or both.
I suppose the 'Trek' films are OK if you're under 11 years old, but the music is ghastly! :eek: :lol:
nob.:lol:
Spectral Morn
08-09-2014, 14:10
Except for 7 of 9 and that green bird the women of Star Trek are either deeply unattractive or really annoying. Or both.
Hardly ugly http://deadnancy.com/blog/images/orion_slave_girls.jpg
and http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/8500000/Jolene-Blalock-T-Pol-tpol-8530551-350-500.jpg
and there are more lol
I don't mind being 11 when you are rapidly approaching 50 being 11 would be nice
Regards Neil
Wouldn't mind being 18 again but not sure about 11. Having to go through school again? No thanks, it was bad enough the first time :)
Always loved all the trek stuff . Although tbh I'm more of a dwarfer. Voyager was great and Jeri Ryan is not only gorgeous but a good actress too. As was Kate mulgrew in early series especially ...nice bit of mature totty
https://sp2.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608018273894662450&pid=15.1&P=0
No complaints from me! (written by someone who has no interest at all in either Star Trek or Star Wars)
https://sp2.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608018273894662450&pid=15.1&P=0
No complaints from me! (written by someone who has no interest at all in either Star Trek or Star Wars)
Hot!!!!GGRRRRRR
Just been watching Blackadder 4 . excellent series and a fitting end.....was never to much taken with the first series but with a change in writers and personel /parts it turned into something special that will imo never age......do you agree Darling?:eyebrows:
Mein Führer! I can walk!
Think I'll watch Dr Strangelove tonight. Stanley Kubrick's insane 1964 take on the insanity of the nuclear arms race. Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden and the one and only Slim Pickens as King Kong sitting on the biggest phallus in town.
James Earl Jones' initially thought Slim Pickens was staying in character off camera, until being told he wasn't putting on the character, that's the way he always talked. Picken's comment about the survival kit was originally "A fella could have a pretty good weekend in Dallas with all that stuff". "Dallas" was overdubbed with "Vegas" after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Kong still mouths the word "Dallas".
an interesting piece of trivia is that Dr. Strangelove apparently suffers from agonistic apraxia, also known as "alien hand syndrome". It's caused by damage to the corpus callosum, the nerve fibers that connect the brain's two hemispheres. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen who identified it named it Dr. Strangelove Syndrome. According to Professor Sergio Della Sala, the patients "slam their hand and shout 'My hand does things that I don't want it to do!'"
I'll leave you with this : Fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face!!:eek:
Peter Bull could not keep a straight face during Sellers legendary bunker performance, and Kubrick was hiding as he was laughing so much......
We'll meet again as the ending was magical. 10 out of 10.
'No fighting in the War Room!'
God willing, we will prevail, in peace and freedom from fear, and in true health, through the purity and essence of our natural... fluids. God bless you all"
Not generally a letch but...
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/media/folder_138/display_1373740.jpg
What's that all about Dave?
looks like a rendering...?
More trek pervin' methinks!
Oh is it that Vulcan bird from 'Enterprise'? I only ever wtched a couple of them since it was so dire (not as bad as Deep Shit Nine, admittedly, but still dire) and Scott Bakula has always got on my tits ever since Quantum Leap.
Never watched enterprise, although "The Boy" did. DS9 was for me very up and down. a tad too slow for me, although there were some excellent episodes and characters.
What to watch tonight is the next question????
Oh is it that Vulcan bird from 'Enterprise'? I only ever wtched a couple of them since it was so dire (not as bad as Deep Shit Nine, admittedly, but still dire) and Scott Bakula has always got on my tits ever since Quantum Leap.
It took a good while to get going but series 3 was excellent. The whole Xindi plot running right the way through the series was gripping from start to finish. But yes, if you never liked Scott Bakula then you're unlikely to be a convert. The last episode of series 3 is very Quantum Leap!
One simple rule for DS9 - Cisco with hair and no beard - RUBBISH! Cisco with no hair and beard - WAY BETTER!
Gonna watch Dirty Harry! some Clint dialogue is what I need. Don Siegel's 1971 was that start of many, and I will be watching from the boxset I have. have not watched for some time and cant remember who wins:eyebrows:
Clint Eastwood directed the scene with the suicide jumper (Bill Couch). However, it is often claimed he directed the scene only because Don Siegel was ill. This is inaccurate. Siegel was indeed ill, and wasn't on the set, but Eastwood had always been scheduled to direct that scene, due to the difficult logistics of getting the actors, director, camera-man and sound-man all together on the top of a small ledge. In the shooting schedule, 6 nights had been set aside for the shooting of the scene. Eastwood told the studio he could shoot it in two nights. In the end, he shot the entire scene in one night. He performed all his own stunts, including the stunt where he jumps onto the roof of the hijacked school bus from a bridge. His face is clearly visible throughout the shot.
In 1972, a copycat crime took place in the state of Victoria in Australia, in which two men kidnapped a teacher and six pupils at gunpoint and demanded a $1 million ransom. The state government agreed to pay but the children managed to escape and the kidnappers were subsequently jailed. One of them was called Eastwood.:doh:
Made in the golden days before political correctness destroyed life as we knew it, a great set of lines from the film go as follows.....
Gonzales: There is one question, Inspector Callahan: Why do they call you "Dirty Harry"?
De Georgio: Ah that's one thing about our Harry, doesn't play any favorites! Harry hates everybody: Limeys, Micks, Hebes, Fat Dagos, Niggers, Honkies, Chinks, you name it.
Gonzales: How does he feel about Mexicans?
De Georgio: Ask him.
Harry Callahan: Especially Spics.
When reading up on this film again, I found this about the guy that played Scorpio, Andrew Robinson. He was in Charlie Varrick that I watched earlier and was Garak in DS9.
In real life, Andrew Robinson is a pacifist who despises guns. In the early days of principal photography, Robinson would flinch violently every time he fired. Director Don Siegel was forced to shut down production for a time and sent Robinson to a school to learn to fire a gun convincingly. However, he still blinks noticeably when he shoots. Robinson was also squeamish about filming the scene where he verbally and physically abuses several schoolchildren, and the scene where he racially insults the man he pays to beat him up. When Harry finally meets Scorpio in Mount Davidson Park, Scorpio orders him to show his gun with his left hand. Harry pulls it from his holster and Scorpio ad-libs the line, "My, that's a big one!" This line caused the crew to crack up and the scene had to be re-shot, but the line stayed. After the film was released,he received several death threats, and had to get an unlisted phone number.
Great film that further embellished a fantasic career for Clint as Mr Cool.
Just watched '10 Rillington Place' on BBC4.
Phew! I knew it was a powerful film (I have seen it before), but this time it really struck home. If anyone has any doubts about the use of capital punishment, and of miscarriages of justice that would lead to this ultimate sanction, just watch this film!
Just watched '10 Rillington Place' on BBC4.
Phew! I knew it was a powerful film (I have seen it before), but this time it really struck home.
A comment on Rotten Tomatoes calls it "... probably the worst date movie ever."
Just watched '10 Rillington Place' on BBC4.
Phew! I knew it was a powerful film (I have seen it before), but this time it really struck home. If anyone has any doubts about the use of capital punishment, and of miscarriages of justice that would lead to this ultimate sanction, just watch this film!
It was THEfilm that changed my attitude to capital punishment. as much as there are plenty of people in need of it, one error makes us all murderers.
Perhaps a tad early but going to watch a Michael Curtiz classic that was badly remade in 1989...remakes are a bad idea generally and I have not actually seen the De Niro version.
I'll be watching the 1955 one starring Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray as the three convicts on the lam, and big bad Basil Rathbone as Andre Trochard(a masterful performance). Everyone does their bit to make this film version of Albert Husson's play La cuisine des anges, a joy to watch. Bogey's comic timing is as good as anything he's done and Ustinov as usual take things in his stride easily. Aldo Ray did very well too as the dumb but kind hearted villian who falls in love but cannot have the lovely Gloria Talbott.Oh and I better not forget Adolphe, who gets his man in the end :eyebrows:
Cinematography is by Loyal Griggs, won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for that wonderful Western Shane(1953) starring Alan Ladd.
Tonight I am going to watch The man who wasn't there (2001), directed by the Coen Bros and starring one of my favourite actors, Billy Bob Thornton.
"Sooner or later everyone needs a haircut".
Billy Bob Thornton agreed to do the movie before even reading the script, such is trust. This and Sling Blade are two exceptional films
Sky Arts 1 HD - Gary Moore: Blues for Jimi Hendrix to be followed by Rory Gallagher: Ghost Blues :)
Trading Places
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FM9VXSQAL.jpg
Nothing heavy - just a rather witty film about 'getting even'. This was the film that brought both Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis to prominence.
A true modern classic that one Barry. Really needs to be watched at Christmas for full effect, same with Die Hard. Eddie Murphy at the height of his powers. I love the bit where he plays Harlem Globetrotters with the Ming vase:
'Want me to break something else?'
'NO!'
Excellent film that Trading Places....love the Santa bit with the smoked salmon.
.....I'm now on to Drums along the Mohawk(1939) directed by John Ford(his first in colour). very roughly about the battle of Oriskany in 1777, although gets most of the facts wrong. Still, its a great piece, and Fonda is in excellent form.
walpurgis
13-09-2014, 22:47
Tonight I am going to watch The man who wasn't there (2001)
Yes, excellent. Got that in my collection too. Billy Bob Thornton just keeps on making great films (bit like William H Macy).
Eclectic is the word I think for your taste in movies Grant. Not that much different to mine though. Did you track down 'The Flim Flam Man'?
Here's another for you. You'll have a hell of a job finding a R2 copy: 'Jerry and Tom'. Wonderful US crime movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120867/
Yes, excellent. Got that in my collection too. Billy Bob Thornton just keeps on making great films (bit like William H Macy).
Eclectic is the word I think for your taste in movies Grant. Not that much different to mine though. Did you track down 'The Flim Flam Man'?
Here's another for you. You'll have a hell of a job finding a R2 copy: 'Jerry and Tom'. Wonderful US crime movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120867/
Very eclectic, but they need to be well done, a bit like my music tastes Geoff.....Flim Flam all I could find was foreign versions at a high price so far, and Jerry and Tom I have never seen to my knowlege and cannot find it in any region currently/On my list though
walpurgis
13-09-2014, 23:07
Thought of another goodie. 'Rogue Male' with Peter O'Toole. Made in the seventies as a BBC film, it's excellent.
Just found this free download, not tried it though: http://free-classic-movies.com/movies-07/07-1977-09-16-Rogue-Male/#.VBTNpZAtC70
Thought of another goodie. 'Rogue Male' with Peter O'Toole. Made in the seventies as a BBC film, it's excellent.
Just found this free download, not tried it though: http://free-classic-movies.com/movies-07/07-1977-09-16-Rogue-Male/#.VBTNpZAtC70
Clicked on the link to have a nose and ended up watching it, thanks Geoff, enjoyed that.
walpurgis
14-09-2014, 09:40
I'll download it today. Ran out of time last night.
Got that link too. Didn't realise you could download it!might watch it later. I have seen it but a long time ago, and if memory serves it was rather good.
Anyone seen the mini series Taken. I have the box set here, and was wondering what folks thought of it?
Spectral Morn
14-09-2014, 15:02
Anyone seen the mini series Taken. I have the box set here, and was wondering what folks thought of it?
Its quiet good scifi, tense and fairly intelligent alien visitation series.
Regards Neil
Spectral Morn
14-09-2014, 15:06
Space Above and Beyond
Excellent but sadly cancelled scifi series that made it to the end of a first season but not to a second. In away very much a proto Battlestar Galactica (re-imagined series) but SAB was the right show at the wrong time so got axed :(
Regards Neil
That's why I tend to avoid these American serials. Either they get cancelled in the middle of a run or after the first two seasons it begins to become too obvious that the writers are making it up as they go along whilst introducing new characters and plotlines based on audience surveys/demographics.
Its quiet good scifi, tense and fairly intelligent alien visitation series.
Regards Neil
Cheers Neil for the input.....I'll give it a whirl.;)
My neigbour picked it up for me in a charity shop for £3.00 good nick too.
Spectral Morn
14-09-2014, 15:18
Cheers Neil for the input.....I'll give it a whirl.;)
My neigbour picked it up for me in a charity shop for £3.00 good nick too.
Nice one - I paid at least £20 for the copy I got and that was in a sale.
Regards Neil
Spectral Morn
14-09-2014, 15:22
That's why I tend to avoid these American serials. Either they get cancelled in the middle of a run or after the first two seasons it begins to become too obvious that the writers are making it up as they go along whilst introducing new characters and plotlines based on audience surveys/demographics.
I hear you and I hate investing time in something that might get axed but a little magic is often better than none and Space Above and Beyond was very good just the studio didn't run with it - despite folks involved in the X Files being behind it.
I started watching the Last Ship the other night and enjoyed it and I have high hopes for it as I do The Strain which is due to start next week on Watch in the UK.
Regards Neil
Nice one - I paid at least £20 for the copy I got and that was in a sale.
Regards Neil
He's a professional Charity shop bargain finder the bugger:lol: He got me a lovely as new big book called A Century of Jazz for a quid too......He specializes in books. Has found umpteen 1st editions worth hundreds each.
walpurgis
14-09-2014, 15:38
Here's a treat. Jim Broadbent in a BBC film 'A Sense of History'. I believe it's available on DVD.
12 minutes clip on YouYube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaBG-p80jd0
He hanged himself from this tree. It was three days before he was found and the sad thing is no one missed him. Oh look, some of the rope is still here. :eyebrows:
Watched the first episode of Taken, and was taken by it and will watch more later....
...Tonight's film will be Brian Hutton's 1970 war/crime caper based on true events, Kelly's Heroes, starring Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles and Donald Sutherland...oh, and The Love Boat captain Gavin MacLeod as Moriarty, the mechanical genius.
No need to introduce this one here as its a favourite of many including me.
http://imageshack.com/a/img907/8995/uQ50r1.gif
I take it you enjoyed that one then? :)
I've not watched it in a few years now because I was in danger of spoiling it for myself.
Just about to watch the first episode of The Curse of Oak Island which is a documentary series about this place:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Island
I did....the Oak Island thing sounds interesting.
I am back on to ep 2 of Taken.
This TAKEN is damned compulsive DOH!
CAN SEE ME BEING UP ALL NIGHT
Last night, on BBC2, I watched the "final directors cut" of Bladerunner. Apart from a couple of extended scenes (previously edited, I assume as they might have seemed a bit explicit/violent) there was not much between this and the previous "directors cut".
It was followed by a very interesting film about the making of the Bladerunner, why the original theatre version used a voice-over and why the studio insisted on 'the happy ending'. It also revealed that Tyrell himself was a replicant, something that was not obvious (well not to me) in any of the film versions.
An interesting film (I have seen it many times) but one almost totally divorced from the book on which it is based: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
Spectral Morn
15-09-2014, 18:22
Last night, on BBC2, I watched the "final directors cut" of Bladerunner. Apart from a couple of extended scenes (previously edited, I assume as they might have seemed a bit explicit/violent) there was not much between this and the previous "directors cut".
It was followed by a very interesting film about the making of the Bladerunner, why the original theatre version used a voice-over and why the studio insisted on 'the happy ending'. It also revealed that Tyrell himself was a replicant, something that was not obvious (well not to me) in any of the film versions.
An interesting film (I have seen it many times) but one almost totally divorced from the book on which it is based: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
I always preferred the first version with the voice over - the noir 30's feel suits the film.
Regards Neil
Used to have the boxset somewhere with all the versions, but think the boy must have nicked them. Huh!
I always preferred the first version with the voice over - the noir 30's feel suits the film.
Regards Neil
I agree, but the first version makes the fatal error of failing to show the significance in Deckard finding the origami paper unicorn, as he and Rachael are leaving for the off-worlds. The exclusion of the unicorn dream sequence makes a mockery of the whole question of Deckard's identity.
I'll take a break from the mini series and watch a favourite of mine and a bit of a rarity, The Password Is Courage (1962) Directed by Andrew Stone, who was nominated for an Oscar with the film Julie and also did The last voyage with Robert Stack.
Starring Dirk Bogarde and Alfred Lynch in the lead roles, it is based very loosely on the story of Sergant-Major Charles Coward's time in a PoW camp/camps and his assorted escapes. He apparently was awarded the Iron Cross in error. LOL. Love interest for Bogarde in the film is Austrian actress Maria Perschy who is rather a dish, and was well wasted on Dirk.:eyebrows:
I got this dvd from raremovies and the print is excellent.
some more info on Charlie Coward: in December 1943, he was transferred to Auschwitz III (Monowitz) labour camp (Arbeitslager) only five miles from the better-known extermination camp of Auschwitz II (Birkenau). Monowitz was under the direction of the industrial company IG Farben, who were building a Buna (synthetic rubber) and liquid fuel plant there. It housed over 10,000 Jewish slave labourers, as well as POWs and forced labourers from all over occupied Europe. Coward and other British POWs were housed in sub-camp E715, administered by Stalag VIII-B.
Thanks to his command of the German language, Coward was appointed Red Cross liaison officer for the 1,200-1,400 British prisoners. In this trusted role he was allowed to move fairly freely throughout the camp and often to surrounding towns. He witnessed the arrival of trainloads of Jews to the extermination camp, followed by their 'selection' for either slave labour or the gas chambers. Coward and the other British prisoners smuggled food and other items to the Jewish inmates. He also exchanged coded messages with the British authorities via letters to a fictitious Mr. William Orange, giving military information, notes on the conditions of POWs and prisoners in the camps, as well as dates and numbers of the arrival of trainloads of Jews to the extermination camp.
On one occasion a note was smuggled to him from a Jewish-British ship's doctor who was being held in Monowitz. Coward determined to contact him directly and managed to swap clothes with an inmate on a work detail and spent the night in the Jewish camp, seeing at first hand the horrific conditions in which they were held. His experience formed the basis for his subsequent testimonies in post-war legal proceedings.
Determined to do something about it, he used Red Cross supplies, particularly chocolate, to "buy" corpses of dead prisoners, including Belgian and French civilian forced labourers, from the SS guards. Coward then directed healthy Jewish prisoners to join the nightly marches of Jews considered unfit for further work from Auschwitz III Monowitz to the Birkenau gas chambers. During the course of the march the healthy men dropped out of procession to hide in ditches; Coward scattered the corpses he had purchased on the road to give the impression that they were members of the column who had died on the march. He then gave the documents and clothes taken from the non-Jewish corpses to the Jewish escapees, who adopted these new identities and were then smuggled out of the camp altogether. Coward carried out this scheme on numerous occasions and is estimated to have saved at least 400 Jewish slave labourers.
It was said that Hitler made 2 mistakes..starting a war and capturing Charlie Coward.
Some great musical ditties played in the film...Banjo and squeezebox.....could swear it was Chic Murray on the Banjo as well ...... Chic was a great guy and I used to go into his hotel up Bruntsfield way along with his wife Maidie...they were a double act for years. He was the funniest guy I ever met, and Maidie was terrific hostess at under 5 ft tall, a bit like my daughter, but used to play the accordion which was about the same size as her.
No way of knowing now I guess.
Watched another ep of Taken...very good; and a nice Grateful Dead song to out on that I remember well called Ripple.....always nice when programs use good ol songs.
The Password is Courage is a great film, but I seem to remember it ending a bit abruptly. It's a few years since I saw it last though.
Interesting fact about Dirk Bogarde - he was a skinny fellow and he couldn't be arsed to go to the gym like the American leading men. So he used to put a pullover on over his vest and then wear his shirt on top of that to bulk himself out a bit.
Interesting Martin, I didn't know that. He was an interesting guy in many ways. Had a bit of an imagination though and claimed to have liberated N
Belsen I think though didn't. He was brave to take on the film Victim, which at the time could have destroyed his career
I don't think he liberated Belsen single handed but I do recall reading that he was there 'at the time' so they say. I've never seen 'Victim' I'll have to put it on my list. Actually one of my favourite performances of his is as Lt General Frederick Arthur Montague 'Boy' Browning in 'A Bridge Too Far'.
How the West Was Won (1962) was a saga type film spanning across the civil war to the end of the gunslinging west. Directed in three parts by Henry Hathaway, George Marshall and John Ford, and with a stellar cast including Karl Malden, James Stewart, John Wayne,George Peppard, Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark and Eli Wallach....with the love interests being Debbie Reynolds, the lovely Carroll Baker and Morticia Addams herself, Carolyn Jones.
Narrated by Spencer Tracy, this is a great film, although the transfer to Video due to the triple lens on the Cinerama camera, causing two vertical lines. They were camouflaged to some extent on the big screen due to well positioned scenery but it does not work as well when reduced.The triple lens system caused the actors problems too as the often appear to be looking off, and not at the other actors. John Ford could also not get to sit next to the camera as he kept appearing in shot. 4 cinematographers were used to make this film,
William H. Daniels, Milton Krasner, Charles Lang Jr and Joseph LaShelle who had all won Oscars previously shows the care taken to get this right.
As Henry Hathaway was famous for hisbad language, Debbie Reynolds instigated a swear jar on the set in an effort to curb him of his excesses. Every time he swore, she would have to put some coins into the jar. Reynolds ended up losing quite a bit of money. The opening pan across the Rockies is actually an out-take from This Is Cinerama (1952). The same holds true for the closing aerial sweep.
Got the intermission on so I can change all the reels :eyebrows:
Colour is fantastic, and the screen looks to be a mile wide...stunning camera work. When the wagon goes rolling down, they had to make a special track for it.
A pretty decent film that. The photography alone is worth the admission price. Because the film stock was so expensive, the actors were all briefed to heave their lines spot on to avoid multiple takes, and apparently the actors all felt pressure to be better than normal because they were a little intimidated by the camera's. Interestingly George Peppard was several years older than his mom.:doh:
Now, back to the next episode of that sifi boxset, Taken that I am enjoying.
Was up till 2 in morning watching Taken! It is compulsive viewing.a bit like like a rabid Dallas at times but nevertheless enjoyable
As its the eve of a possible Scottish Land again, I thought what better than the 1949 film by Compton Mackenzie, WHISKY GALORE. starring in order of Scottishness, The well travelled Wylie Watson as Joseph Macroon, the also well travelled Jean Cadell as Gordon Jackson's God fearin' mum, J R Justice as the Doctor, and Basil Radford as the pompus and finally beaten Captain Waggett HOORAY!!! well, he was after oor whisky.This was Alexander Mackendrick's first film and got it as Ronald Neame turned it down(silly laddie)
Based on a real-life incident that occurred in 1941 on the Hebridean island of Eriskay when the SS Politician ran aground. The tale of how a group of local Scottish islanders raided a shipwreck for its consignment of 24,000 cases of whisky quickly became legend. What's less well reported, however, was the fact that the ship was also carrying a sizeable amount of hard cash. According to official files recently released by the Home Office, there was nearly 290,000 ten shilling notes on board as well (this would be the equivalent of several million pounds at today's prices), not all of which was ever recovered.Real life was a lot less amusing for the islanders due to imprisonment of offenders etc, Aye, thats typical of ra engeesh:eyebrows:
In France, the film was called "Whisky a Go-Go". This proved so popular a title, it became the name of one of the leading Parisian nightclubs.
Ealing chief Michael Balcon was furious at how expensive the film was becoming (in excess of £20,000) until he finally saw the initial footage. This was the first Ealing comedy to achieve some measure of box office success in the USA. It was followed within 12 months by Passport to Pimlico (1949) and Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), quickly establishing Ealing as a leading light of comedy films.The film was shot on the island of Barra.(no English were harmed in the making of this film):lol:
A cameo role was reserved for writer Compton MacKenzie who plays the doomed ship's captain(he was unimpressed by the amount of times MacKendrick made him do it as well)
A grand film that I will enjoy whatever way the vote goes.....Here's to Honest men and bonnie lassies, and A h-uile la sona dhuibh‘s gun la idir dona dhuibh!
Great film, and Waggett got his lol. now back to the mini series TAKEN.....a typically slick and inventive Spielberg production it is too
Spectral Morn
17-09-2014, 21:51
The Strain
Read the book, watching the mini series - so far pretty good :)
Regards Neil
Spectral Morn
17-09-2014, 21:59
How the West Was Won (1962) was a saga type film spanning across the civil war to the end of the gunslinging west. Directed in three parts by Henry Hathaway, George Marshall and John Ford, and with a stellar cast including Karl Malden, James Stewart, John Wayne,George Peppard, Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark and Eli Wallach....with the love interests being Debbie Reynolds, the lovely Carroll Baker and Morticia Addams herself, Carolyn Jones.
Narrated by Spencer Tracy, this is a great film, although the transfer to Video due to the triple lens on the Cinerama camera, causing two vertical lines. They were camouflaged to some extent on the big screen due to well positioned scenery but it does not work as well when reduced.The triple lens system caused the actors problems too as the often appear to be looking off, and not at the other actors. John Ford could also not get to sit next to the camera as he kept appearing in shot. 4 cinematographers were used to make this film,
William H. Daniels, Milton Krasner, Charles Lang Jr and Joseph LaShelle who had all won Oscars previously shows the care taken to get this right.
As Henry Hathaway was famous for hisbad language, Debbie Reynolds instigated a swear jar on the set in an effort to curb him of his excesses. Every time he swore, she would have to put some coins into the jar. Reynolds ended up losing quite a bit of money. The opening pan across the Rockies is actually an out-take from This Is Cinerama (1952). The same holds true for the closing aerial sweep.
Excellent film and the first super wide screen film (Cinerama), filmed with three cameras and shown on three screens. If you watch carefully there are times you can see the lines denoting the three 4:3 images and occasionally the images don't line up right, particularly obvious during the fight scene on top of the logs on the train when the chain breaks and they swing outwards.
Regards Neil
Excellent film and the first super wide screen film (Cinerama), filmed with three cameras and shown on three screens. If you watch carefully there are times you can see the lines denoting the three 4:3 images and occasionally the images don't line up right, particularly obvious during the fight scene on top of the logs on the train when the chain breaks and they swing outwards.
Regards Neil
Thats right Neil. Think I wrote it wrong. £ cameras was what I meant. apparently there were only 2 films done with this process at 24 fps to allow the film to be used out of the cinerama circuit and go on a more general release
The Strain
Read the book, watching the mini series - so far pretty good :)
Regards Neil
didnt know there was a mini series.doh! The 3 books are available on kindle. I have them in my wish list but as I am keeping my funds for my TT the'll have to wait. Heard good things.
Spectral Morn
17-09-2014, 22:29
didnt know there was a mini series.doh! The 3 books are available on kindle. I have them in my wish list but as I am keeping my funds for my TT the'll have to wait. Heard good things.
On at the minute on Watch - pretty faithful to the book so far.
Regards Neil
The Curse of Oak Island
On the History Channel. A bit better than the typical 'reality' documentary show this one and worth a watch if you are at all interested in the Oak Island mystery.
Why does an island off the coast of Nova Scotia have tons of coconut fibre under the beach? Coconut fibre that dates from the 14th century? #
It's a bit like 'Lost' only it's for real...
Tonight it is Hitchcock's 1951 Film-Noir, Strangers on a Train starring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker(his last film) and Leo G. Carroll, who was also in We're no Angels that was featured earlier.
Although Raymond Chandler is credited as the main author of the script, but it was almost completely written by Czenzi Ormonde who was credited as second author. Chandler disliked director Hitchcock for some reason, and when Hitchcock arrived at Chandler's home for a story meeting, Chandler shouted from the window, "Look at the fat bastard trying to get out of his car!"
When the movie was released in Germany in 1952, about five minutes were removed which were considered too brutal or sadistic. Later the scenes were re-added for TV, but they are subtitled, while the rest of the movie is dubbed, which is strange, considering Germans' past record in that department :eyebrows: Maybe they did not want to arouse them in case WW3 erupted.
Hitchcock bought the rights to the original novel anonymously to keep the price down, and got them for just $7,500(possibly why Chandler was irked), cost 1.2 mil dollars to make using 8 different locations plus studio work, and it turned into one of his most successful box office films, grossing over 7 mil dollars in the US alone.
The stunt where the man crawled under the carousel was not done with trick photography. Alfred Hitchcock claimed that this was the most dangerous stunt ever performed under his direction, and would never allow it to be done again.
For the record, Hitch's cameo is at the beginning getting on the train, I think with a double bass while Farley Granger gets off.
One of the most memorable single shots in the Hitchcock canon — it "is studied by film classes", says Laura Elliott, who played Miriam—is her character's strangulation by Bruno on the Isle of Love. "In one of the most unexpected, most aesthetically justified moments in film,"the slow, almost graceful, murder is shown as a reflection in the victim's eyeglasses, which have been jarred loose from her head and dropped to the ground. The unusual angle was a more complex proposition than it seems. First Hitchcock got the exterior shots in Canoga Park, using both actors, then later he had Elliott alone report to a sound stage where there was a large concave reflector set on the floor. The camera was on one side of the reflector, Elliott was on the other, and Hitchcock directed Elliott to turn her back to the reflector and "float backwards, all the way to the floor... like you were doing the limbo." The first six takes went badly—Elliott thudded to the floor with several feet yet to go, but on the seventh take, she floated smoothly all the way. Hitchcock's even-strained response: "Cut. Next shot." Hitchcock then had the two elements "ingeniously" double printed, yielding a shot of "oddly appealing originality with a stark fusion of the grotesque and the beautiful.... Thus the asthetics of the horror somehow enables the audience to contemplate more fully its reality." Or so I'm told :eek:
finished Taken...not bad at all, although they could have had a better end...felt kinda rushed TBH
....now on to The Way Ahead....again, David Niven stars in a nce propaganda war film about the training of new recruits, all from differing class levels and showing how they eventually blend into a cohesive unit and duff up the hun. :D
Was going to watch Braveheart followed by Tunes of Glory, but they were A Bridge too Far for me, and since it is All Quiet on the Western Front I have decided to end this the Longest Day with PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED (1986), Directed by The Godfather of cool himself, Francis Ford Coppola. Starring the lovely Kathleen Turner, Helen Hunt, Catherine Hicks(of Star Trek iv fame), Nick Cage and Jim Carrey. One of my guilty secrets series, its about a 43-year-old mother and housewife who's facing divorce is thrust back in time when she attends her high-school reunion. Given the chance to change the course of her life, she ends up pretty much doing the same things again, as we all do :doh: Some nice ideas about making a fortune out of things yet to be invented and the buying of shares in the original script were mostly removed although some remain. Some nice period music in this including the film title which was a Buddy Holly Number, and her attempt to steal she loves you yeah yeah yeah was botched by Cage's character who changes it to oooh oooh oooh....Pheasant!!
Cinematography is by Jordan Cronenweth, and did the opening shot of the film as an optical illusion cecause the camera and crew would have been seen in the reflection of the mirror had the scene been shot in a conventional manner. there is a body double for Turner (only she can be seen from behind in the shot) on the other side of the "mirror", doing the exact opposite of the star's movements, giving the illusion that Turner and Hunt are reflections, when in fact they are the real actors in tableau with a body double sitting in front of them with her back to the camera in front of an empty mirror frame, framing a hole in the wall of the set. All very clever, as you'd expect from the man that shot Bladerunner. Nicolas Cage based his character's voice on Pokey of The Gumby Show (1956). Francis Ford Coppola and the producers hated the voice and Cage was nearly fired. But Cage managed to convince Coppola he was making a good choice.
Budget for this was $18 mill and it did rather well grossing about $42 mil.
Nice homely film that. I like Kathleen, and think Cage is, although a nutter, is a great actor....loved grandpa's Secret society and all the Hats...."you cant have a secret society without hats" :eek:
Now got Ice Age 2 on again..... only class acts tonight.:eyebrows:
....and now, and yet again "A Matter of Life and Death" .....one of the great films, and should not be missed the next time its on Telly...
Not that many read it, but I enjoy doing it, so tonight is Michael Caine night. Going to start with The Ipcress File (1965) Directed by Sydney Furie from the book by Len Daighton. Michael Caine plays Harry Palmer (the first of 3 outings for him in this role of Daighton films ; the others being Funeral in Berlin and Billion dollar Brain I think). Also starring Gordon Jackson, Nigel Green, Sue lloyd and Guy Doleman. Glynn Edwards gets in the show as always(I like Glynn). He was once married to Youtha Joyce and was in Zulu, Get Carter and the barman in minder.
A nice bit of trivia was that Harry's glasses frames were dark brown, contrary to the widely held view that they were black. They were a style called "Teviot 74" manufactured by a company called UK Optical. They were already popular at the time for being a stylish and inexpensive alternative to the standard models that were issued for free by the National Health Service in Britain. They became even more popular after the success of this film. Len Deighton wore the same frames at this time. Those frames have been described by some as the first affordable "designer" frames available in the UK.
On the first day of shooting, Sidney J. Furie gathered the cast and said, "This is what I think of the script". He then set it on fire.:eek:
Michael Caine's Harry Palmer character is depicted as an accomplished cook, but when you see Palmer skillfully break a couple of eggs, the hands in the close-up belong to Len Deighton, author of the book on which the movie is based. Deighton himself was an accomplished cook and also wrote a comic strip about cooking for The Observer. The walls of Palmer's kitchen are full of these strips.
The main melody in the movie's score was played on a cimbalom - a type of Hungarian dulcimer - that provided the forlorn mood that composer John Barry was eager to create.
The IPCRESS File. It has won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award for best British film. In 1999 it was included at number 59 on the BFI list of the 100 best British films of the 20th century.
. Glynn Edwards gets in the show as always(I like Glynn). He was once married to Youtha Joyce and was in Zulu, Get Carter and the barman in minder.
.
Yes Glynn Edwards is a great stalwart of stage and screen. There is an excellent interview with him where he talks about his role in 'Zulu' in which he describes how he gets badly wounded but nevertheless manages to drag an ammunition box around the ramparts to help the men still firing. '..And that is how I won the Victoria Cross' he concludes with a big grin.
Yes Glynn Edwards is a great stalwart of stage and screen. There is an excellent interview with him where he talks about his role in 'Zulu' in which he describes how he gets badly wounded but nevertheless manages to drag an ammunition box around the ramparts to help the men still firing. '..And that is how I won the Victoria Cross' he concludes with a big grin.
Was that the one for the fans of minder ? still as he used to say, "Yeah I'll make a statement. A drink's too wet without one!" :lol:
Now watching a More4 program . how the Bismark sunk the Hood...I recorded it earlier and although I've seen it, it was quite good and will enjoy it again.
'Yes Minister' episodes one and two.
No-one is doing anything as good as this nowadays. Brilliant writing and acting.
'Sexy Beast' on channel 4 (it's the sheer fuckoffness of it all)
'Sexy Beast' on channel 4 (it's the sheer fuckoffness of it all)
quite a good film that. I have it in my collection; Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane are fabulously OTT
quite a good film that. I have it in my collection; Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane are fabulously OTT
Got the DVD somewhere but just came across it while surfing. Love a gangster film, good with Ray 'the Daddy' Winstone, might stick 'Love, Honour & Obey' on after this.
'the Daddy' , A reference to that Borstal film that I cannot quite name.. was a very powerful film for its time, and is still very watchable today. Love, Honour & Obey vaguely rings a bell too.
A reference to that Borstal film that I cannot quite name.. was a very powerful film for its time, and is still very watchable today. Love, Honour & Obey vaguely rings a bell too.
'Scum' Grant 'I'm the Daddy now' ;)
Love, Honour & Obey vaguely rings a bell too.
ERjcdy9a4Nc
Cheers Roy. thats the one...it was beginning to bug me :lol: I had it on video tape in 70's. Got it and a few others free when I bought a JVC video in the day...Big piano key job, that were a nightmare to work on.
Good clips too..They do ring bells.............
Not 70s Grant, came out in 2000, mobile phones like bricks. Me & me cousin's favourite film, Roy & Reg :eyebrows:
No, I meant Scum (might even have been early 80's).... the other one as I say I have seen at least some of but it is only vague.
Had a desire to watch the Jerk tonight, but cannot lay my hands on him, so have decided to bring out my gentler side by watching Mobsters(1991) starring Cristian Slater, Costas Mandylor, Richard Grieco and Patrick Dempsey as the lads, and Michael Gambon as Don Salvatore Faranzano, Anthony Quinn as Don Giuseppe 'Joe the Boss' Masseria ,the old guard. One of my favourite mob films although it failed to make a return on its $23 mil outlay which I thought odd.
Anthony Quinn was a close friend of gangster Frank Costello so I'm sure he got some nice tips on mob etiquette there. This was also Michael Gambon's first film in the states interestingly.
The film focuses primarily on Luciano and Lansky. They start as young men victimized by the current mafia. They rise from petty criminals and bootleggers to push aside the old guard of the Mafia and eventually establish The Commission ...... It's all pretty loosly based but entertaining all the same as long as you like this sort of thing. Personally I love the music by Michael Small, who also did Mountains of the Moon(reviewed earlier) and Target that starred Gene Hackman and Matt Dillon.
The movie was loosely based on the book, The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano written in 1974 by Martin A. Gosch and Richard Hammer. The film is generally in line with historical truth although The Castellammarese War from 1928 to 1931, is never actually named.
"What's the secret of America?" .... "It's MONEY! ...Everything is MONEY, Charlie. But you'll never make any money, because you dress like a schmuck"....sounds like My Dad:eek:
Goodfellas sparked a whole raft of gangster films around that time but that is not one of the better ones IMO. Although Goodfellas did set the bar pretty damn high. Donny Brasco would be my choice.
I've always thought that someone should do a remake of The Valachi Papers in the Goodfellas style. The original was a lost opportunity and the book is very similar to 'Wiseguy' on which Goodfellas was based. I've always wanted to do a tour of New York with a copy of the Valachi Papers and visit all of the 'battlefields' of the Castellammerese War. Most are in The Bronx if memory serves.
Goodfellas set the modern bar in a way, and I watch it often. love the narrative style and the general dialogue; and even though the budgets were fairly similar it did rather better, especially in rentals.Better Director, better actors helped a better script, but Mobsters imo was a lot better than it got credit for.
Have you read 'Wiseguy'? The screenwriters did not have to do a lot as pretty much all of the voice over is just chunks lifted from the book. That doesn't include Joe Pesci's 'Am I a clown? Do I amuse you?' bit which he pretty much ad-libbed, basing it on a true incident he had witnessed in his youth.
Not Yet, no, but it is in my Kindle lists. Have to say I have been a tad lazy reading wise lately and have a number of books still to read b4 I buy anymore Martin. I also have the moneytrain of the TT to think of lol, although That, spend wise is now pretty much over. I have done the sums and it was not as bad as I thought actually. so, once I catch up, I will get a few on my list, and convert them to my master list(dont trust Kindle). That way I can read the books on any device I choose in any format.
There were some discrepancies I believe but as you say it was a pretty good facsimile of the book.
moving on now, I think next up will be Red Dwarf.....not sure which, I think the last series as it was a return to the quality humour of old(although I admit it is a niche).
Micsmacs (directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTgwOTc4OTk3NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzc0MjMzMw@@._ V1_SX214_AL_.jpg
From the director of Delicatessen, City of Lost Children and Amelie, comes another delightful film about ‘getting even’.
The cover of the UK DVD describes the film as a “live-action Wallace and Gromet”, which says it all.
Avid movie-watcher and video store clerk Bazil has had his life all but ruined by weapons of war. His father was killed by a landmine in Morocco and one fateful night a stray bullet from a nearby shootout embeds itself in his skull, leaving him on the verge of instantaneous death. Losing his job and his home, Bazil wanders the streets until he meets Slammer, a pardoned convict who introduces him to a band of eccentric junkyard dealers including Calculator, a math expert and statistician, Buster, a record-holder in human cannonball feats, Tiny Pete, an artistic craftsman of automatons, and Elastic Girl, a sassy contortionist. When chance reveals to Bazil the two weapons manufacturers responsible for building the instruments of his destruction, he constructs a complex scheme for revenge that his newfound family is all too happy to help set in motion.
Not actually seen Wallace and Grommit embarrassingly. Looks and sounds quite good though.
The Boy bought Pompeii today so I'll get it off him when he's watched it. It received approval from every vulcanologist and historian he has shown the movie to, having received "high marks for both scientific and historical accuracy" but other than that it was classed as old fashioned by many and got poor reviews. That means it'll probably be good!
Tonight it is the ww2 blockbuster, The Dam Busters (1955) directed by Michael Anderson, who also did The Yangtse Incident and the 1956 version of 1984 starring Edmond O'Brien and Michael Redgrave.
Real Dam Buster developer Barnes Wallis is portrayed by Redgrave coincidentally, and Richard Todd plays Guy Gibson. Todd also played Major John Howard in "The Longest Day". Major Howard led the first action on D Day, the attack and seizure of the bridges over the Orne River and Caen Canal,now known as Pegasus Bridge In reality, Richard Todd, who was a paratroop Captain on D Day, led the first of the main force paratroops sent to relieve the Pegasus Bridge attackers.
This is one of the films that George Lucas used clips from to edit the rough cut of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) (which utilizes many features of the finale of this film quite closely, notably the briefing, the ground staff waiting for news, the troika formation of the attacking aircraft and so on). In Addition, the following exchange from this film is reproduced almost verbatim (with the exception of the characters' names) in "Star Wars": Gibson: "How many guns d'you think there are, Trevor?" Trevor: "I'd say there's about 10 guns - some in the field and some in the tower".
Footage used to show the bombs as they skipped on the surface of the water towards the dams was drawn from footage of the bombs being tested. The backspin placed on the bombs, which was secret at the time, gave them gyroscopic stability when skipping across the water, then held them against the dams as they sank. To conceal the backspin, the bombs in the footage were painted over frame by frame.
The Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire (the test area for the real raids) doubled as the Ruhr valley for the film. The scene where the Dutch coast is crossed was filmed between Boston, Lincolnshire and King's Lynn, Norfolk, and other coastal scenes near Skegness. Additional aerial footage was shot above Windermere, in the Lake District.
An Avro Lancaster B.VII modified for the film with cut-out bomb bay and mock bouncing bomb demonstrating to a crowd at Coventry Airport in 1954
While RAF Scampton, where the real raid launched, was used for some scenes, the principal airfield used for ground location shooting was RAF Hemswell, a few miles north and still an operational RAF station at the time of filming.
Leighton Lucas, a Former ballet dancer and had served in the RAF during WW2, did the incidental music for this, and Ice cold in Alex, which coming to a cinema near me. The DamBusters march was done by Eric Coates athough he had composed it before he was asked to do the job, he submitted it and it is now a classic. He turned down the job of doing the whole film, and died 2 years later, so a fine epitaph.Elgar was one of his admirers.
Jolly good show....Gibson's dog was buried supposedly that night, but at a later date he was dug up(no pun intended) and low and behold the bones were not that of a dog.....I wonder what happened? Ufo bodysnatching:eyebrows:
56 men died I think...tragic losses, but it did divert enemy time and material away from other areas. My salute to the whole RAF, which my dad was one.
Now on to Escape from Alcatraz (1979) directed by Don Siegel and Starring Big Clint Eastwood. Although unlikely any got away, it has never been proved conclusively, and a launch without lights was seen in the area at the time. one body in a prison uniform was supposedly found but I have no real evidence of it. The dangerous escape down the prison wall and into the water was performed without stunt doubles. It was performed by Clint Eastwood, Fred Ward, and Jack Thibeau, the latter two were cast in the film partially due to their athletic ability. The prison was closed shortly after.
Spectral Morn
23-09-2014, 10:05
Tonight it is the ww2 blockbuster, The Dam Busters (1955) directed by Michael Anderson, who also did The Yangtse Incident and the 1956 version of 1984 starring Edmond O'Brien and Michael Redgrave.
Real Dam Buster developer Barnes Wallis is portrayed by Redgrave coincidentally, and Richard Todd plays Guy Gibson. Todd also played Major John Howard in "The Longest Day". Major Howard led the first action on D Day, the attack and seizure of the bridges over the Orne River and Caen Canal,now known as Pegasus Bridge In reality, Richard Todd, who was a paratroop Captain on D Day, led the first of the main force paratroops sent to relieve the Pegasus Bridge attackers.
This is one of the films that George Lucas used clips from to edit the rough cut of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) (which utilizes many features of the finale of this film quite closely, notably the briefing, the ground staff waiting for news, the troika formation of the attacking aircraft and so on). In Addition, the following exchange from this film is reproduced almost verbatim (with the exception of the characters' names) in "Star Wars": Gibson: "How many guns d'you think there are, Trevor?" Trevor: "I'd say there's about 10 guns - some in the field and some in the tower".
Footage used to show the bombs as they skipped on the surface of the water towards the dams was drawn from footage of the bombs being tested. The backspin placed on the bombs, which was secret at the time, gave them gyroscopic stability when skipping across the water, then held them against the dams as they sank. To conceal the backspin, the bombs in the footage were painted over frame by frame.
The Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire (the test area for the real raids) doubled as the Ruhr valley for the film. The scene where the Dutch coast is crossed was filmed between Boston, Lincolnshire and King's Lynn, Norfolk, and other coastal scenes near Skegness. Additional aerial footage was shot above Windermere, in the Lake District.
An Avro Lancaster B.VII modified for the film with cut-out bomb bay and mock bouncing bomb demonstrating to a crowd at Coventry Airport in 1954
While RAF Scampton, where the real raid launched, was used for some scenes, the principal airfield used for ground location shooting was RAF Hemswell, a few miles north and still an operational RAF station at the time of filming.
Leighton Lucas, a Former ballet dancer and had served in the RAF during WW2, did the incidental music for this, and Ice cold in Alex, which coming to a cinema near me. The DamBusters march was done by Eric Coates athough he had composed it before he was asked to do the job, he submitted it and it is now a classic. He turned down the job of doing the whole film, and died 2 years later, so a fine epitaph.Elgar was one of his admirers.
Fabulous film The Dam Busters......
Grant you mention one of my favourite naval war films above which alongside the Bedford Incident is The Yangtse Incident, not well known but a very interesting film based on a true story which tells the tale of a British warship - HMS Amethyst - getting trapped up the Yangtse river in China in 1949, after coming under heavy fire from Chinese PLA (this happened during the Chinese civil war) an attack that damages HMS Amethyst so badly that this results in her running aground. The film documents the attempts to rescue Amethyst both by her crew and other British warships. Nice pacy film, very moving in places, with good action scenes, quality acting and a wonderfully moving soundtrack.
HMS Amethyst plays herself in the film but as she was taken from a state of having been deactivated and in storage her sister-ship - Magpie - plays the moving parts as Amethyst's engines were no longer functional. Richard Todd plays Lieutenant Commander John Kerans who took command of the ship after her Captain had been killed in the initial attack on Amethyst and led the ships survivors into a daring plan to get Amethyst to safety. A great tale of courage under fire, inventiveness and its a movie to make one proud of the Navy.
I saw this movie first as a young teenager and it is just as thrilling and moving a watch now as it was then - I will be watching this later today as I have it on DVD. Channel 4 show the film every so often in the afternoon.
More about the Incident here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amethyst_Incident
Theme Music
L-mSpsHq4ek
Footage from the film of the initial attack on HMS Amethyst
bbdjD9jSjS8
Actual footage of HMS Amethyst's return to Hong Kong
nsV8b7tV5tg
Regards Neil
It is super film. I saw it not all that long ago on telly but forgot to record it as don't have the dvd.hopefully it'll be on again. Liked the way they changed the shape of her to fool the Chinese.
Spectral Morn
23-09-2014, 13:10
It is super film. I saw it not all that long ago on telly but forgot to record it as don't have the dvd.hopefully it'll be on again. Liked the way they changed the shape of her to fool the Chinese.
Yes it was on TV not that long ago, maybe 5 months ago.
Regards Neil
Tonight I will be watching FARGO (1996) Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen and starring William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, John Carroll Lynch and Steve Buscemi.
Although supposedly set in Fargo, Minnesota, the region was experiencing its second-warmest winter in 100 years. Filming of outdoor scenes had to be moved all over Minnesota, North Dakota, and Canada.
William H. Macy begged the directors for the role of Jerry Lundegaard. He did two readings for the part, and became convinced he was the best man for the role. When the Coens didn't get back to him, he flew to New York (where they were starting production) and said, "I'm very, very worried that you are going to screw up this movie by giving this role to somebody else. It's my role, and I'll shoot your dogs if you don't give it to me." He was joking, of course.(or was he?)
The film is not actually "Based on a true story". Joel Coen & Ethan Coen later admitted that they added that disclaimer so the viewer would be more willing to suspend disbelief in the story. (An urban legend even says that people have gone to search Minnesota for the briefcase of money, and come to a bad end.)
While the specific crimes in the movie didn't happen, the plot has elements of two well-known Minnesota crimes. In 1962, a St. Paul attorney named Eugene Thompson hired someone to kill his wife Carol. Unbeknownst to Thompson, his man hired someone else to do the job. The second man fatally wounded Mrs Thompson in her house, but she managed to escape him. She went to a neighbour's house for help while her assailant fled the scene. The sloppiness and brutality of the crime attracted great attention. The murderers were quickly caught and gave up Thompson, who denied knowing anything about the crime for many years afterwards.
In 1972, Virginia Piper, the wife of a wealthy banker, was kidnapped. A million-dollar ransom was paid, one of the largest in U.S. history. Mrs Piper was found tied to a tree in a state park. Two men were convicted of the crime, but were acquitted after a re-trial. One of them later went on a shooting spree after his wife left him, killing her, their 5-year-old son, her son from a previous marriage, her new boyfriend, and one of his sons. Only $4,000 of the money was ever recovered.
Despite hints to the contrary at the time of the film's release and in the closing credits, Prince does not play the Victim in the Field; this is J. Todd Anderson, who was actually a storyboard artist on the film. This was yet another Coen Brothers in-joke, since Prince was a famous native of Minneapolis, Minnesota. To further muddle matters, this moment in the film was memorialised in a "Snow-Globe" promotion included with a special edition version of the DVD, subtly hinting that the dead victim in the snow was a famous cameo.
Got to hand it to the Coens', they are masters of hype and sweary words....Fuck" and its derivatives are said 75 times, mostly by Carl Showalter. He says 10 of these during the scene where Steve Buscemi shoots Harve Presnell.:doh: I've said it now :eek:
A super film, along with much of the output of the Brothers Coen. (We'll quickly side-step and overlook the awful remake of The Ladykillers)
One of my favourites, along with The Big Labowski.
A super film, along with much of the output of the Brothers Coen. (We'll quickly side-step and overlook the awful remake of The Ladykillers)
One of my favourites, along with The Big Labowski.
Its a good film. I also like Miller's Crossing. TBL I never got into for some reason, and although not seen their Ladykillers in full but what i saw was pretty awful.
Now watching The Long Arm with Jack Hawkins which was on telly recently
http://s2.thcdn.com/productimg/0/600/600/91/9994791-1309426568-921748.jpg
i5-z4iMBFZA
Ha. Gave that to the wife to watch tonight and she didn't like it...oh! Shes now watching open all hours
Watching an old Steptoe and Son on telly, with Youtha Joyce as Harold,s love interest:lol:
Watching an old Steptoe and Son on telly, with Youtha Joyce as Harold,s love interest:lol:
Grant! you take me back - steptoe! Sneezing on steak and then buying it at a reduced price 'cause it had been sneezed on! I love that man!!
(oops, steptoe wasn't a rellie of yours was he?)
Wish I was retired :( you've got The Professionals and The New Avengers back to back in the mornings at the moment. Daytime telly has never been better. When I was a kid if you were off sick it was all bloody puppet shows for under fives followed by Take The High Road.
No doubt when I finally get my cards and get to put my feet up on a weekday they will be back to showing Take the frigging High Road again.
Getting an afternoon to myself for once ....Harold has just said his "you dirty old man" line that only he could!
I was forcibly retired but would be out at work if could ! ...its no fun tbh.
Tonight its a slight tongue in cheek horror from 1981 by John Landis. An American Werewolf in London Starring David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne and John Woodvine. Cameo's from Frank Oz(as per), Rik Mayall and Brian Glover as chess players are a nice touch.
Shooting took place mostly in London but also in Surrey and Wales. It was released in the United States on August 21, 1981 and grossed $30.56 million at the box office. Critics generally gave the film favourable reviews. The film won the 1981 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and an Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup. Empire magazine named An American Werewolf in London as the 107th greatest film of all time in September 2008. On August 15, 2013, the film was announced to be used as the seventh maze to be featured at Universal Orlando Resort's annual Halloween Horror Nights event in 2013. The maze was popular enough to be used in Universal Studios Hollywood's 2014 Halloween Horror Nights event.The location filming of the front of Alex's flat and surroundings was filmed on or around Lupus Street in Pimlico, London (lupus is Latin for wolf).
John Landis came up with the story while he worked in Yugoslavia as a production assistant on the film Kelly's Heroes (1970). He and a Yugoslavian member of the crew were driving in the back of a car on location when they came across a group of gypsies. The gypsies appeared to be performing rituals on a man being buried so that he would not "rise from the grave." Landis wrote the first draft of An American Werewolf in London in 1969 and shelved it for over a decade.
Only four American work permits were requested of the British government for the production: for director John Landis, makeup artist Rick Baker, and actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne. The first three work permits were granted by the British government without question. But the British office of Actors' Equity questioned the necessity of a work permit for actor Dunne, claiming that there were already plenty of young American actors living in Great Britain who could portray the role of Jack. It was only when director/screenwriter Landis threatened to rewrite the script and re-title the movie "An American Werewolf in Paris" that the equity office reconsidered the application and granted Dunne his work permit.
Going to be watching the Blu Ray version with the reworked Dolby stereo. Hopefully Jenny will get her kit off again :eyebrows:
It's been a long time since I watched the film, but I don't think Agutter does "get her kit off". For that, you have to watch the last five minutes or so of the Nicholas Roeg film 'Walkabout'.
Tonight its a slight tongue in cheek horror from 1981 by John Landis. An American Werewolf in London Starring David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne and John Woodvine. Cameo's from Frank Oz(as per), Rik Mayall and Brian Glover as chess players are a nice touch.
Shooting took place mostly in London but also in Surrey and Wales. It was released in the United States on August 21, 1981 and grossed $30.56 million at the box office. Critics generally gave the film favourable reviews. The film won the 1981 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and an Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup. Empire magazine named An American Werewolf in London as the 107th greatest film of all time in September 2008. On August 15, 2013, the film was announced to be used as the seventh maze to be featured at Universal Orlando Resort's annual Halloween Horror Nights event in 2013. The maze was popular enough to be used in Universal Studios Hollywood's 2014 Halloween Horror Nights event.The location filming of the front of Alex's flat and surroundings was filmed on or around Lupus Street in Pimlico, London (lupus is Latin for wolf).
John Landis came up with the story while he worked in Yugoslavia as a production assistant on the film Kelly's Heroes (1970). He and a Yugoslavian member of the crew were driving in the back of a car on location when they came across a group of gypsies. The gypsies appeared to be performing rituals on a man being buried so that he would not "rise from the grave." Landis wrote the first draft of An American Werewolf in London in 1969 and shelved it for over a decade.
Only four American work permits were requested of the British government for the production: for director John Landis, makeup artist Rick Baker, and actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne. The first three work permits were granted by the British government without question. But the British office of Actors' Equity questioned the necessity of a work permit for actor Dunne, claiming that there were already plenty of young American actors living in Great Britain who could portray the role of Jack. It was only when director/screenwriter Landis threatened to rewrite the script and re-title the movie "An American Werewolf in Paris" that the equity office reconsidered the application and granted Dunne his work permit.
Going to be watching the Blu Ray version with the reworked Dolby stereo. Hopefully Jenny will get her kit off again :eyebrows:
Now this one brings back some fond memories of me and my mates piling into our local cinema for a very late night screening of this. It was also the first film I bought on video, Betamax no less... hehe
Spectral Morn
24-09-2014, 19:04
It's been a long time since I watched the film, but I don't think Agutter does "get her kit off". For that, you have to watch the last five minutes or so of the Nicholas Roeg film 'Walkabout'.
Or Logan's Run ;)
Regards Neil
Spectral Morn
24-09-2014, 19:05
Tonight its a slight tongue in cheek horror from 1981 by John Landis. An American Werewolf in London Starring David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne and John Woodvine. Cameo's from Frank Oz(as per), Rik Mayall and Brian Glover as chess players are a nice touch.
Shooting took place mostly in London but also in Surrey and Wales. It was released in the United States on August 21, 1981 and grossed $30.56 million at the box office. Critics generally gave the film favourable reviews. The film won the 1981 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and an Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup. Empire magazine named An American Werewolf in London as the 107th greatest film of all time in September 2008. On August 15, 2013, the film was announced to be used as the seventh maze to be featured at Universal Orlando Resort's annual Halloween Horror Nights event in 2013. The maze was popular enough to be used in Universal Studios Hollywood's 2014 Halloween Horror Nights event.The location filming of the front of Alex's flat and surroundings was filmed on or around Lupus Street in Pimlico, London (lupus is Latin for wolf).
John Landis came up with the story while he worked in Yugoslavia as a production assistant on the film Kelly's Heroes (1970). He and a Yugoslavian member of the crew were driving in the back of a car on location when they came across a group of gypsies. The gypsies appeared to be performing rituals on a man being buried so that he would not "rise from the grave." Landis wrote the first draft of An American Werewolf in London in 1969 and shelved it for over a decade.
Only four American work permits were requested of the British government for the production: for director John Landis, makeup artist Rick Baker, and actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne. The first three work permits were granted by the British government without question. But the British office of Actors' Equity questioned the necessity of a work permit for actor Dunne, claiming that there were already plenty of young American actors living in Great Britain who could portray the role of Jack. It was only when director/screenwriter Landis threatened to rewrite the script and re-title the movie "An American Werewolf in Paris" that the equity office reconsidered the application and granted Dunne his work permit.
Going to be watching the Blu Ray version with the reworked Dolby stereo. Hopefully Jenny will get her kit off again :eyebrows:
Great film.
Regards Neil
Or Logan's Run ;)
Regards Neil
Ah yes - I had forgotten about Logans Run. Understandable, since in my opinion it's a lousy SF film.
Enjoyed that and the Blu ray is excellent..Jenny did by the way:eyebrows:.....she was a lovely lass....interesting that she was younger than Sally Thompsett who played her much younger sister in the Railway children; a film that's high on my list, and one of the few that the remake, which she played the mother, was almost as good.
Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PQ7CT0PQL.jpg
In Jean De Florette an old man and his only remaining relative in a rural French village cast their covetous eyes on an adjoining vacant property. They need its spring water for growing their flowers, so are dismayed to hear the man who has inherited it is moving in. They block up the spring and watch as their new neighbour tries to keep his crops watered from wells far afield through the hot summer. Though they see his desperate efforts are breaking his health and his wife and daughter's hearts they think only of getting the water. In the sequel, Manon Des Sources, Manon (Beart) has grown into a beautiful young shepherdess living in the idyllic Provencal countryside. She determines to take revenge upon the men responsible for the death of her father in the first film.
More films about “getting even” – with the added bonus of having the delightful Emanuel Beart dancing around naked in the second film. Great acting by Gerard Depardieu and a surprisingly competent and creepy turn by Yves Montand.
Sounds good. Don't remember seeing them although don't mean much with my memory. I do like Depardeu though. He was in Green card I think which was very watchable
Jerry Anderson's fantastic
The Secret Service
a must have for Stanley Unwin and Marionette fans alike
wonderful
Got that film The Arrival today so will have a look soon. In English on the front but turn over and it is in Dutch so can't read the synopsis.
Currently watching the Arrival, and is is quite an interesting film.
Spectral Morn
25-09-2014, 21:28
Currently watching the Arrival, and is is quite an interesting film.
:)
Regards Neil
:)
Regards Neil
Aye, it was very good. I believe they made a follow up, that was not so good. I will watch it again.
now on to an excellent Alistair Sim mystery, An Inspector Calls......This is a super little film that is deeper than it appears initially.
Hadn't watched that one in many years. It was even better than I remembered. Worth the watching if you get the chance.
Operation Petticoat is on telly this afternoon, so going to record or watch that depending on what comes down on me today.
Jerry Anderson's fantastic
The Secret Service
a must have for Stanley Unwin and Marionette fans alike
wonderful
Was that a Supermarionation programming Paul? Not seen it!
Tonight I will be watching the 1970 war film Tora Tora Tora, Directed mostly by Richard Fleischer. Fleischer did all the American scene, and although originally Akira Kurosawa was to do all the Japanese scenes, they were eventually done by Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda. Kurosawa only took the job as he was told David Lean was doing the American stuff. When Twentieth Century Fox found out Kurosawa was attempting to cast friends and business associates, including some high-level industrialists, in key roles in the film's Japanese segments as a quid-pro-quo for later funding of future films, they used this as the reason to give him his desire; to be FIRED. Only 1 minute of his work is included in the film although he used sizable chunks of the budget.
Four cinematographers were involved in the main photography: Charles F. Wheeler, Sinsaku Himeda, Masamichi Satoh and Osami Furuya. They were jointly nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
As no flyable Zeros, Kates and Vals were available anywhere, several American trainers (AT-6's and BT-13's) were converted at about 30k$ a piece. These planes were also used in other war films like The Battle of Midway before being sold off to private buyers like the Confederate Air Force. They are pretty much all still flying today.
The Battleship Admiral Yamamoto met his officers on was a full scale replica, complete from bow to stern, and had even a mock-up plane on a catapult. It was built on a beach in Japan, next to the replica of the aircraft-carrier "Akagi." The Akagi set consisted of about two-thirds of the deck and the island area.
Although the "one wheel up" emergency landing by a B-17 was NOT an unplanned accident during filming, (The director states it was planned for and covered with five cameras to make sure it was captured) the P-40 crashing in the flight line was an unplanned accident - it was a life-sized mockup powered by a gasoline engine turning the propeller and steered by using the wheel brakes, just like real airplanes, but was specifically designed not to fly. The aircraft shown was loaded with explosives which were to be detonated by radio control at a specific point down the runway. Stunt actors were strategically located and rehearsed in which way to run. However shortly after the plane began taxiing down the runway it did begin to lift off the ground and turn to the left. The left turn would have taken it into a group of other mockups which had also been wired with explosives, but weren't scheduled to be destroyed until later. The explosives in the first P-40 were detonated on the spot in order to keep it from destroying the other planes, so the explosion occurred in a location the stunt men weren't prepared for. When it looks like they were running for their lives, they really were. This special effect was filmed with multiple camera so that it could be reused in other shots in the film, as were all the major special effects.
The mockups of the American ships in Pearl Harbor were constructed upon ocean-going barges which were extremely expensive to rent, causing director Richard Fleischer to comment during production, "If the Japanese had attacked us with ocean-going barges, we couldn't afford to make this film!". The budget of about $30 mil dollars was recouped in the US alone(although it was deemed a failure), the film was very much more popular abroad, and especially in Japan, although Tatsuya Mihashi, who played Commander Genda, had been a highly popular and prolific actor throughout the 1950s and 1960s, but after completing this film, it would be 10 years before he would appear in another film. The Japanese must not have appreciated his role :eyebrows:
Admiral Yamamoto laments the fact that the Americans did not receive the declaration of war until after the attack had started, noting that nothing would infuriate the Americans more. He says: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." ...Although he is quoted as saying this at the time, he did not. It is believed to have been his feelings on the matter, and it has been suggested that he wrote in down in a diary, so who knows.;) If he did, HE WAS WAY RIGHT:guns:
Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten, E.G. Marshall, James Whitmore and Jason Robards head an impressive cast in, what is still to this day the definitive film version of the infamous Pearl Harbour attack.
Spectral Morn
26-09-2014, 20:06
Aye, it was very good. I believe they made a follow up, that was not so good. I will watch it again.
now on to an excellent Alistair Sim mystery, An Inspector Calls......This is a super little film that is deeper than it appears initially.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Regards Neil
Spectral Morn
26-09-2014, 20:09
Tonight I will be watching the 1970 war film Tora Tora Tora, Directed mostly by Richard Fleischer. Fleischer did all the American scene, and although originally Akira Kurosawa was to do all the Japanese scenes, they were eventually done by Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda. Kurosawa only took the job as he was told David Lean was doing the American stuff. When Twentieth Century Fox found out Kurosawa was attempting to cast friends and business associates, including some high-level industrialists, in key roles in the film's Japanese segments as a quid-pro-quo for later funding of future films, they used this as the reason to give him his desire; to be FIRED. Only 1 minute of his work is included in the film although he used sizable chunks of the budget.
Four cinematographers were involved in the main photography: Charles F. Wheeler, Sinsaku Himeda, Masamichi Satoh and Osami Furuya. They were jointly nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
As no flyable Zeros, Kates and Vals were available anywhere, several American trainers (AT-6's and BT-13's) were converted at about 30k$ a piece. These planes were also used in other war films like The Battle of Midway before being sold off to private buyers like the Confederate Air Force. They are pretty much all still flying today.
The Battleship Admiral Yamamoto met his officers on was a full scale replica, complete from bow to stern, and had even a mock-up plane on a catapult. It was built on a beach in Japan, next to the replica of the aircraft-carrier "Akagi." The Akagi set consisted of about two-thirds of the deck and the island area.
Although the "one wheel up" emergency landing by a B-17 was NOT an unplanned accident during filming, (The director states it was planned for and covered with five cameras to make sure it was captured) the P-40 crashing in the flight line was an unplanned accident - it was a life-sized mockup powered by a gasoline engine turning the propeller and steered by using the wheel brakes, just like real airplanes, but was specifically designed not to fly. The aircraft shown was loaded with explosives which were to be detonated by radio control at a specific point down the runway. Stunt actors were strategically located and rehearsed in which way to run. However shortly after the plane began taxiing down the runway it did begin to lift off the ground and turn to the left. The left turn would have taken it into a group of other mockups which had also been wired with explosives, but weren't scheduled to be destroyed until later. The explosives in the first P-40 were detonated on the spot in order to keep it from destroying the other planes, so the explosion occurred in a location the stunt men weren't prepared for. When it looks like they were running for their lives, they really were. This special effect was filmed with multiple camera so that it could be reused in other shots in the film, as were all the major special effects.
The mockups of the American ships in Pearl Harbor were constructed upon ocean-going barges which were extremely expensive to rent, causing director Richard Fleischer to comment during production, "If the Japanese had attacked us with ocean-going barges, we couldn't afford to make this film!". The budget of about $30 mil dollars was recouped in the US alone(although it was deemed a failure), the film was very much more popular abroad, and especially in Japan, although Tatsuya Mihashi, who played Commander Genda, had been a highly popular and prolific actor throughout the 1950s and 1960s, but after completing this film, it would be 10 years before he would appear in another film. The Japanese must not have appreciated his role :eyebrows:
Admiral Yamamoto laments the fact that the Americans did not receive the declaration of war until after the attack had started, noting that nothing would infuriate the Americans more. He says: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." ...Although he is quoted as saying this at the time, he did not. It is believed to have been his feelings on the matter, and it has been suggested that he wrote in down in a diary, so who knows.;) If he did, HE WAS WAY RIGHT:guns:
Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten, E.G. Marshall, James Whitmore and Jason Robards head an impressive cast in, what is still to this day the definitive film version of the infamous Pearl Harbour attack.
Good film
Regards Neil
Not had a chance to watch the film as Gazjam came over for a visit. Might now watch tomorrow as I am knackered and just poured a large Balvenie Signature.....it wont be the only one either:eyebrows:
Agreed Neil, it was one of the best of kind, along with Midway as a close second, although they cheated and stole footage from Tora.
Good to see you again Grant, the Thorens looks the business in the living room and system sounding great.
Hear you on the Balvenie...sitting down to a nice Jura.
Like the peaty ones.
...nice.
Good to see you again Grant, the Thorens looks the business in the living room and system sounding great.
Hear you on the Balvenie...sitting down to a nice Jura.
Like the peaty ones.
...nice.
Thanks again mate. like a peat job mysel' ...just worked out what was wrong with me....had forgotten to take me medication and BP was through roof...:doh: was wondering why I was perspiring like it was going out of fashion......ah well the balvenie has now turned into Buffalo juice.lol
just watched American Hustle and the best thing about it was
the Scott PS-48 turntable in the closing scene well that and
Christian Bale's stomach :stalks:
Thanks again mate. like a peat job mysel' ...just worked out what was wrong with me....had forgotten to take me medication and BP was through roof...:doh: was wondering why I was perspiring like it was going out of fashion......ah well the balvenie has now turned into Buffalo juice.lol
heh! :)
Those two bottles got a sore face:lol: ..star trek v the final frontier is coming on film four shortly so will watch that til the heid settles.
Went to see The Equaliser (Denzel Washington) last night - WHAT A FILM….!! :eek: Beautifully atmospheric and action-packed throughout, with some superb acting from DW, who is one cool dude for a 60-year old!
For those who like thrill-a-minute action, ‘gangster gore’, with the ‘cool vibe’ of Pulp Fiction, all slickly presented in atmospherically-lit (beautifully staged) settings, this film comes highly recommended :)
Marco.
Went to see The Equaliser (Denzel Washington) last night - WHAT A FILM….!! :eek: Beautifully atmospheric and action-packed throughout, with some superb acting from DW, who is one cool dude for a 60-year old!
For those who like thrill-a-minute action, ‘gangster gore’,
Marco.
So it was graphic then?
Yes… Just an extremely watchable and enjoyable film, with no boring bits whatsoever! :)
Marco.
I am awaiting its DVD release Marco....It was based on the Edward Woodward TV series, and interestingly Melissa Leo who was a star in the film was also in the TV series.
Looking forward to seeing it
Speaking of the original series,
the Equalizer himself Edward Woodward was married to Frank Spencer's missus from Some Mothers Do Av 'Em... :)
It was based on the Edward Woodward TV series… Looking forward to seeing it
Yes, I remember the original series very well, and loved it, which is why I wanted to see the new film. I used to also enjoy EW in Callan:
IDdSWjpPJDg
Listen to that title music - so beautifully dark and eerie, and so 70s!
I admire the whole concept of an ‘Equaliser’. (I can certainly think of a few folk I myself would like to ‘equalise’) …. I think you’ll enjoy it :)
Marco.
Stewart Copeland of the Police did the music for Equalizer...pretty cool it was too.
I remember Budgie the TV series....Adam Faith and Iain Cuthbertson....It was a good series.....Faith gave up acting after a car crash and no more were made.
Going to watch Tora now...
Zoidburg
27-09-2014, 18:00
Iv just got hold of the first Edward Woodward equaliser series from the 80s. Not watched it yet but doubt it compares to the new one in terms of violence anyway. Looking forward to watching the new one Washington is usually worth through price of a ticket.
Went to see The Equaliser (Denzel Washington) last night - WHAT A FILM….!! :eek: Beautifully atmospheric and action-packed throughout, with some superb acting from DW, who is one cool dude for a 60-year old!
For those who like thrill-a-minute action, ‘gangster gore’, with the ‘cool vibe’ of Pulp Fiction, all slickly presented in atmospherically-lit (beautifully staged) settings, this film comes highly recommended :)
Marco.
Zoidburg
27-09-2014, 18:07
The missus recently bought us the first series of the new (ish) american tv show Hannibal. Based on the Dr Lector of silence of the lambs fame so far it is very promising indeed after 2 episodes.
Hull to Kurusu; YOU SANK MY BATTLESHIP!!!!!!
Iv just got hold of the first Edward Woodward equaliser series from the 80s. Not watched it yet but doubt it compares to the new one in terms of violence anyway. Looking forward to watching the new one Washington is usually worth through price of a ticket.
Don't have any of the Equalizer bt have all available Callan episodes, and are very much worth getting....superbly dark.
Don't have any of the Equalizer bt have all available Callan episodes, and are very much worth getting....superbly dark.
Are they still available? Where - Amazon? I have the original film of Callan; it might have been the pilot. Like Marco, I also loved the theme music.
Anyway, last night on BBC2 I watched 'The Lives of Others'.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GT-evfaTL.jpg
A superb film and one that I have seen a few times - it really does give you a sense of the paranoia and nature of state-surveillance in East Berlin during the time of Erich Honecker. Well worth watching, if only to appreciate that even the most committed and diligent of wrongdoers can achieve redemption.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Callan-The-Colour-Years-DVD/dp/B0038409WE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411853404&sr=8-1&keywords=callan
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Callan-The-Monochrome-Years-DVD/dp/B002ZJ1JR2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1411853404&sr=8-2&keywords=callan
Now on to Red Dwarf season 2........marvellous stuff on a low budget.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Callan-The-Colour-Years-DVD/dp/B0038409WE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411853404&sr=8-1&keywords=callan
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Callan-The-Monochrome-Years-DVD/dp/B002ZJ1JR2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1411853404&sr=8-2&keywords=callan
Cheers! :)
Are they still available? Where - Amazon? I have the original film of Callan; it might have been the pilot. Like Marco, I also loved the theme music.
Anyway, last night on BBC2 I watched 'The Lives of Others'.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GT-evfaTL.jpg
A superb film and one that I have seen a few times - it really does give you a sense of the paranoia and nature of state-surveillance in East Berlin during the time of Erich Honecker. Well worth watching, if only to appreciate that even the most committed and diligent of wrongdoers can achieve redemption.
I have that film somewhere...its really scary stuff, and makes you glad we live in a relatively free and open society...
see above post for the Callan stuff Barry
Watching Julia Bradbury,s German Wanderlust....Lust being the operative word for me:lol:
Watching Julia Bradbury,s German Wanderlust....Lust being the operative word for me:lol:
Yes - the hill-walkers 'totty'.
Julia Bradbury? Really?
Oh yes! :)
Totty, Totty, Totty.
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/28/40649ec79d191c2ae9c07cdef9f512f4.jpg
Totty, Totty, Totty.
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/28/40649ec79d191c2ae9c07cdef9f512f4.jpg
Stop it, stop it - I already have high blood pressure!
This,ll send you bananas then!
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/28/406ae0dd03c1e6512a4871d2f2233981.jpg
No fair Grant... Back soon, need to change me kegs... :o :D
:p
Does for me! Every time I see her I think of that pic
Gonna listen to a record then look out a film for tonight....dunno what tho
This'll send you bananas then!
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/28/406ae0dd03c1e6512a4871d2f2233981.jpg
Does anyone recall the nude photo of her which appeared in the Radio Times a year or so ago?
Showing on BBC2 tonight at 10.00pm:
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
http://www.find-dvd.co.uk/pictures/1100319.jpg
Biographical drama charting the life and rise to fame of “punk poet laureate” Ian Dury, starring Andy Serkis. Despite contracting polio as a child, the singer defied expectations to become one of the pioneers of the British punk rock scene in the late 1970s.
Serkis (he of Gollum fame) gives a tour de force performance as the late great Ian Dury – a rôle he was born to play, in much the same way that Stephen Fry was born to play Oscar Wilde, (or Jeeves in ‘Jeeves and Wooster’).
Yep, but I better not post it here:D
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
not seen that but like Ian Dury
Well, my quandary has been solved as "the boy" popped in and gave me POMPEII(2014) to watch. Starring Kit Harington, Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss and Kiefer Sutherland, while being directed by Paul Anderson of Alien vs. Predator and The Three Musketeers fame.
Kit Harington underwent an extreme physical transformation for the film at his own behest. After he read the script, he went up to director Paul W.S. Anderson and told him that to portray the character as written in the script (his character Milo is described as "absolutely ripped"), he would transform his physique completely. Consequently, Kit Harington undertook a heavy 'bulking' regime and a diet of 3000 calories a day to put on 2 stones (12.7kg/28lbs) of weight in 5 weeks. He then went on a very severe diet and 'cutting' regime for 4 weeks to cut back from 12 stone (76.2kg/168lbs) to 10 stone (63.5kg/140lbs) acquiring intense muscle definition in the process. Harington later said that he was very pleased with the results and that it was the best shape of his life. Sounds pretty extreme to me, and have to say I don't really like the look.
Probably not my thing but "No Watch No Know" comes to mind, and I like to sample things I would not normally (sometimes you find a gem)
Cinematographer Glen MacPherson joined Anderson again to make this, and although the Heafty Budget was $80 mil, it made $110 in the States alone. People do love these things :D
Well, my quandary has been solved as "the boy" popped in and gave me POMPEII(2014) to watch. Starring Kit Harington, Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss and Kiefer Sutherland, while being directed by Paul Anderson of Alien vs. Predator and The Three Musketeers fame.
Kit Harington underwent an extreme physical transformation for the film at his own behest. After he read the script, he went up to director Paul W.S. Anderson and told him that to portray the character as written in the script (his character Milo is described as "absolutely ripped"), he would transform his physique completely. Consequently, Kit Harington undertook a heavy 'bulking' regime and a diet of 3000 calories a day to put on 2 stones (12.7kg/28lbs) of weight in 5 weeks. He then went on a very severe diet and 'cutting' regime for 4 weeks to cut back from 12 stone (76.2kg/168lbs) to 10 stone (63.5kg/140lbs) acquiring intense muscle definition in the process. Harington later said that he was very pleased with the results and that it was the best shape of his life. Sounds pretty extreme to me, and have to say I don't really like the look.
Probably not my thing but "No Watch No Know" comes to mind, and I like to sample things I would not normally (sometimes you find a gem)
Cinematographer Glen MacPherson joined Anderson again to make this, and although the Heafty Budget was $80 mil, it made $110 in the States alone. People do love these things :D
Well, not me! That is one seriously poor excuse for a film.....or I'm just too old ......nah, It was bad. Acting was woeful, although tbf the script was non existent. Special affects were, ...well nothing special, although it was apparently aimed at 3d audiences. Thats probably why they decided to ignore history and destroy Pompeii with fireballs:doh:
Russell Crowe has little to fear me thinks, and as time passes this one will be forgotten
Yep, but I better not post it here :D
Here you go:
http://nowmagazine.media.ipcdigital.co.uk/11140/00001099d/427d_orh100000w360/File1-Julia-Bradbury--076v3-by-JasonBell.jpg
Nice.....but not the one I have :eyebrows:
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.