Now Screening - What Are You Watching Right Now?

golden oldie ww2 naval film today... In Which We Serve, 1942..

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...wzACyjpZK3QdU3


Three Sirs' and a Dame in the lineup... some might say 2 and 2 with Noel lol, plus Michael Wilding who was married to Liz... Taylor that is, not Truss lol.

Noël Coward vetoed the casting of James Mason in a key role because of his stance on the war.

Noël Coward was a friend of Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was Captain of the Royal Navy destroyer H.M.S. Kelly from the outbreak of World War II until the Kelly was sunk by enemy action in May 1941. Coward wrote the screenplay for this movie based on Mountbatten's experiences on H.M.S. Kelly. Coward's character in this movie, Captain E.V. Kinross R.N./Captain "D", was also based on Mountbatten's experiences.

Went the Day Well?, 1942..

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/...yNw@@._V1_.jpg


When the man running the pub in the village where the film was being shot discovered that he had used up his alcohol ration on the film crew, he was so distraught he committed suicide.

This is the same church that was used in "The Vicar Of Dibley."

The Interrupted Journey, 1949..

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...bWZcihSbFswmD1

The reason for the crash which was due to Richard Todd pulling the communication cord mirrors an actual crash the previous year near Winsford in Cheshire when a serviceman on his way home did the same thing so he could get home quicker rather than continuing to Crewe and then catching a train back to Winsford.

On 17 April 1948, 24 people died when the 17:40 Glasgow to London Euston train hauled by LMS Princess Royal Class 4-6-2 No 6207 Princess Arthur of Connaught was stopped after the communication cord was pulled by a passenger (a soldier on leave who presumably lived near Winsford and was seen to leave the train after it had stopped). The stopped train was then run into by a following postal express hauled by LMS Coronation Class 4-6-2 No 6251 City of Nottingham.

The collision happened at between 40 and 45 mph (64 and 72 km/h) and was so severe that only five of the ten passenger coaches could be pulled away on their wheels and only the rear eight of the 13 Postal coaches could be pulled back. 24 passengers were killed. The signalman at Winsford had, in error, reported the passenger train clear of the section and accepted the postal train.

The person who pulled the emergency cord was a railway employee who worked as a signalbox lad in Winsford Junction, but was currently serving in the army having been called up. He thought that the train would be perfectly safe because he knew how the signalling equipment of the time in that area worked; but he did not know that the train had stopped short of the track circuit, which would have reminded the signalman of its presence. He attended the enquiry to confess, and was still a signalman in Winsford Junction until he retired in the 1990s.

David Copperfield, 1969..

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...KC35-gnmBeq0Ln

https://i.ibb.co/19mzJD5/Star-Wars-The-Last-Jedi.jpg

'Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi' (2017)

Let's be honest here there are only two really good Star Wars films - the original (now Episode IV) and 'The Empire Strikes Back (ep. V). So no point in expecting too much almost 40 years on especially as it's now a Disney franchise.

It's watchable, though, with only a few really lame bits and nothing like as bad as Episode I, so that's something at least.

As with most things that get flogged to death they lose sight of what made the early ones so successful. Here they have opted for a succession of set-pieces that are only just barely linked together by the plot (a bit like that 'Harry Potter' film I saw once).

It does seem to me that they have the inevitable video game tie-in in mind when they write these things. There's no structure or tightness to it, and the tone is uneven. Did people who lived a long time ago in a galaxy far away really use transiently fashionable 21st century expressions? Well, who knows? - but it certainly jars you out of the moment (see also: the 'Lord Of The Rings films) - and that's never a good thing.



Also watched episode IX - 'The Rise Of Skywalker' - not doing a separate review as it's just more of the same except they have Richard E Grant in it as a baddie but don't do anything with him. What a waste of probably the best actor they've had in the series since Alec Guinness.

Will there be more? - well it grossed over a billion dollars world wide from a budget of $275 million so I think we can expect episode X at some point not too far distant, and there doesn't seem to be any incentive for them to try harder next time. Oh well.

i aw the 2 originals way back, and wasnt impressed but they were at least competent. i expected all the others were just gravy. so it appears. good write up tho.

the original (which was unquestionably ground-breaking at the time) came out when I was nine years old, so I was an impressionable age...

The original was genius really, a fabulous combination of archetypes that everyone of any age could relate to, but it was never trite or child-like.

I bought a copy of the original theatrical release of it earlier this year - it does not have all the crappy additions and edits of the 'Special Edition' re-release. Han kills Greedo in cold blood and there's no Jawas doing a comedy act in the background.

Okay it's in letterbox format and the print is a bit muddy but it's still a much better watch.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Macca

the original (which was unquestionably ground-breaking at the time) came out when I was nine years old, so I was an impressionable age...

The original was genius really, a fabulous combination of archetypes that everyone of any age could relate to, but it was never trite or child-like.

I bought a copy of the original theatrical release of it earlier this year - it does not have all the crappy additions and edits of the 'Special Edition' re-release. Han kills Greedo in cold blood and there's no Jawas doing a comedy act in the background.

Okay it's in letterbox format and the print is a bit muddy but it's still a much better watch.

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my older brother loved it, yeah. dunno why but it was just ok to me and i never watched it or second one again. still haven't... not like me i guess..

on the other hand i love these oddly.... Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, 2003...

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...fLEZNlSjHQBj_i

great acting and sets maybe the sea is more in my blood than space..

I've seen the first one of those, have to say first time I watched it didn't get past 15 minutes but tried again once I sort of understood where they were going with the tone of it and I quite enjoyed it.

Depp is really good in it, carries it really.

Not seen any of the others as they don't seem to come on the telly very often, but I'll look out for them.