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Memphis Belle (1990)

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I seem to have got stuck in 1990 movies... and what a belter this is. I haven’t seen it in a long time, but prompted by doing a lot of reading, research and visits to abandoned American airbases in Norfolk and Suffolk this summer, I bought it a while back but hadn’t got round to watching it.

It’s harrowing, of course, but a very realistic portrayal of what it was like for those young airmen displaced from their country, 200,000 of whom never returned home.

What I didn’t realise until relatively recently is that there was an original Mphasis Belle film, made by the war department at the time when the crew became the first to complete their 25 missions and finish their tour of duty. The movie must have been based on it, as there are some striking comparisons. It’s available on YouTube if you’re interested and haven’t seen it. (The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress)

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Originally Posted by Alex_UK

Memphis Belle (1990)

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I seem to have got stuck in 1990 movies... and what a belter this is. I haven’t seen it in a long time, but prompted by doing a lot of reading, research and visits to abandoned American airbases in Norfolk and Suffolk this summer, I bought it a while back but hadn’t got round to watching it.

It’s harrowing, of course, but a very realistic portrayal of what it was like for those young airmen displaced from their country, 200,000 of whom never returned home.

What I didn’t realise until relatively recently is that there was an original Mphasis Belle film, made by the war department at the time when the crew became the first to complete their 25 missions and finish their tour of duty. The movie must have been based on it, as there are some striking comparisons. It’s available on YouTube if you’re interested and haven’t seen it. (The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress)

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good film. ive got that one myself Alex.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, 2007.



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At World's End had a gross worldwide total of $963m.

According to Xinhua, the state news agency of the People's Republic of China, ten minutes of footage containing Chow Yun-fat's portrayal of Singaporean pirate Sao Feng were trimmed from versions of the film which may be shown in China. Chow is onscreen for twenty minutes in the uncensored theatrical release of the film. No official reason for the censorship was given, but unofficial sources within China have indicated that the character gave a negative and stereotypical portrayal of Chinese people.

Never could get my head around issues in films and comedy in general with stereotypes. Some folk are far too touchy, and it shows them in an even worse light. History proves this too.

The Streisand Effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

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Originally Posted by Macca

The Streisand Effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

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That actually makes hilarious reading :). I'd not heard of it before.

An American Werewolf in London, 1981. Directed by John Landis.


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This film made a lot of money and was also a critical success, and at the 54th Academy Awards, An American Werewolf in London won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Makeup.

A true classic imo and you can never see it too often.

Darn it, I was going to watch that, wasn’t I? Watching some shitty Netflix Christmas film, wife’s choice, but she’s glued to her iPad, so if you can’t beat ‘em... :lol:


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The Front Page, 1974. Remake of the Howard Hawks version called His Girl Friday. Stars Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon and Susan Sarandon(all 3 Oscar winners); Its directed by Billy Wilder(who won 6).


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Walter Burns' idea for Hildy Johnson to surreptitiously snap a photo of Earl Williams' execution by strapping a camera to his ankle with the shutter release in his pocket is based on a real-life incident. On January 12, 1928, Ruth Brown Snyder and Henry Judd Gray were executed at New York's Sing Sing prison for the murder of Ruth's husband, Albert Snyder. Tom Howard, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, used a one-time-use camera strapped to his leg to snap a picture of Ruth's electrocution. The picture became a notorious example of the things some reporters would do to get an exclusive. The camera is now part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The Snyder and Gray case was also the basis for the novel later made into Double Indemnity (1944), also directed by Billy Wilder.

The Devil And Miss Jones, 1941. US import.


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Silver Streak, 1976. Jill Clayburgh, Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Directed by Arthur Hiller.



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On Channel 4, E4 and their "+1" later screenings, the animated Raymond Briggs stories:

'The Snowman', 'The Snowman and the Snow Dog', and 'Father Christmas'.

Well, Christmas is for children after all. ;)

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Originally Posted by Barry

On Channel 4, E4 and their "+1" later screenings, the animated Raymond Briggs stories:

'The Snowman', 'The Snowman and the Snow Dog', and 'Father Christmas'.

Well, Christmas is for children after all. ;)

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Do love the Snow Dog :)

The Revenant, 2015. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.



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"As starkly beautiful as it is harshly uncompromising". Alas no everyone agreed.. Canadian actor Roy Dupuis was strongly critical of the movie for portraying French-Canadian voyageurs as murderous rapists.

Old adage." you cant please everyone"

I have to say I didn't enjoy the film, despite agreeing with your first quotation.

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Originally Posted by Barry

I have to say I didn't enjoy the film, despite agreeing with your first quotation.

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Quite a film imo, but as you say, its disconcerting to say least, hence you have to be in the mood i think Barry.


Now, a 50's classic .. On the Waterfront, 1954. It was directed by Elia Kazan and starred Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger and Eva Marie Saint.


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On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a critical score of 99% from 99 reviews with an average rating of 9.2/10 and a critical consensus of "With his electrifying performance in Elia Kazan's thought-provoking, expertly constructed melodrama, Marlon Brando redefined the possibilities of acting for film and helped permanently alter the cinematic landscape". Brando's performance is regarded as one of the watershed moments in the history of movies.

"Some people think the Crucifixion only took place on Calvary. They better wise up!"

I'm not a fan of DiCrapio. Usually miscast and definitely overrated.

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Originally Posted by walpurgis

I'm not a fan of DiCrapio. Usually miscast and definitely overrated.

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me neither geoff, although he fitted this rather well.. no pretty boy thats for sure. the bear attack was incredibly realistic. his part was more clint eastwood in style as he doesnt say too much

I used to think of him a just a "pretty boy" actor, without any real substance. But his abilities as an actor are improving - unlike those of Tom Cruise who, IMO, is totally overrated. Keanu Reeves is also another totally overrated actor.

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Originally Posted by struth

Now, a 50's classic .. On the Waterfront, 1954. It was directed by Elia Kazan and starred Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger and Eva Marie Saint.


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On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a critical score of 99% from 99 reviews with an average rating of 9.2/10 and a critical consensus of "With his electrifying performance in Elia Kazan's thought-provoking, expertly constructed melodrama, Marlon Brando redefined the possibilities of acting for film and helped permanently alter the cinematic landscape". Brando's performance is regarded as one of the watershed moments in the history of movies.

"Some people think the Crucifixion only took place on Calvary. They better wise up!"

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An excellent film.

'He "could have been a contender" ' ( ;) )

Scrooge, 1951. the best of the versions for me. Alistair Sim stars.



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Originally Posted by Barry

I used to think of him a just a "pretty boy" actor, without any real substance. But his abilities as an actor are improving - unlike those of Tom Cruise who, IMO, is totally overrated. Keanu Reeves is also another totally overrated actor.

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I can't be doing with Keanu Reeves, he only has two looks - surprised or confused. I have enjoyed a few of his films, though I'm sure they would have been better if someone else had been cast.

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Originally Posted by struth

The Revenant, 2015. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.



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"As starkly beautiful as it is harshly uncompromising". Alas no everyone agreed.. Canadian actor Roy Dupuis was strongly critical of the movie for portraying French-Canadian voyageurs as murderous rapists.

Old adage." you cant please everyone"

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A brutal film for sure - I watched with my mate and his wife. She left the room after just 15 minutes, too uncomfortable a watch. I thought the camera work was incredible, really conveyed the chaos and confusion of the opening scenes, and much of the other "action".

And imo Tom Hardy was the star of the show.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

A brutal film for sure - I watched with my mate and his wife. She left the room after just 15 minutes, too uncomfortable a watch. I thought the camera work was incredible, really conveyed the chaos and confusion of the opening scenes, and much of the other "action".

And imo Tom Hardy was the star of the show.

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all the acting was very good.. in fact its a superb film, if a bit bleak and seamingly heartless

"are there no prisons?, are there no workhouses?" merry xmas

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

I can't be doing with Keanu Reeves, he only has two looks - surprised or confused. I have enjoyed a few of his films, though I'm sure they would have been better if someone else had been cast.

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I’d agree, with one exception - The Matrix. Apparently Will Smith was offered the role of Neo before Keanu- I couldn’t imagine that... (Samuel L. Jackson also turned down the role of Morpheus which evened everything up after Lawrence Fisburn turned down Pulp Fiction!)

Keanu Reeves isnt my first pic of actors i have to say, but in john wick he found his home:D

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Originally Posted by Alex_UK

I’d agree, with one exception - The Matrix

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I agree. The Matrix is still one of the most incredible movies and Reeves was just right. Seen the film many times, but the WOW factor remains!

As tiny Tim said. " God bless us, Everyone!

great film, and they just dont have the actors now to make films like that..


Now, The Belles Of St Trinians..1955. Inspired by the great cartoonist Ronald Searle, it was directed by Frank Launder and written by Launder and Sidney Gilliat.

It stars Alastair Sim stars in a dual role as the headmistress Miss Millicent Fritton and her twin brother Clarence Fritton. With Joyce Grenfell, George Cole and Hermione Baddeley.


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Pure Genius.

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Originally Posted by walpurgis

I agree. The Matrix is still one of the most incredible movies and Reeves was just right. Seen the film many times, but the WOW factor remains!

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I recently bought the trilogy on apple at a cheap price so will be revisiting them soon i guess. red pills and blue ones if memory serves.. some have classed covid vaccine this way:doh:

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Originally Posted by struth

I recently bought the trilogy on apple at a cheap price so will be revisiting them soon i guess. red pills and blue ones if memory serves.. some have classed covid vaccine this way:doh:

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Go ask Alice :).

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Originally Posted by walpurgis

Go ask Alice :).

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is that to do with white rabbit??

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Originally Posted by struth

is that to do with white rabbit??

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As from Jefferson Airplane, which is an allusion to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Didn't help Keanu Reeves, but then I only liked the first part of the Matrix trilogy. And if there was a 'star' - it was Hugo Weaving. (:sofa:)

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Originally Posted by Alex_UK

I’d agree, with one exception - The Matrix. Apparently Will Smith was offered the role of Neo before Keanu- I couldn’t imagine that... (Samuel L. Jackson also turned down the role of Morpheus which evened everything up after Lawrence Fisburn turned down Pulp Fiction!)

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I agree too that The Matrix is the exception - the premise, the story, the effects, and the casting of the other characters.

I think the central character (Neo) had to be a sufficiently "blank" canvas as he moved through the story, and nobody can do blank like Keanu. A stronger or comedic personality would have skewed and ruined the whole thing, and in that way Will Smith would have been a terrible choice imo.

There is a new Matrix film around the corner, with Reeves and Carrie Ann Moss. I wonder what that'll be like. It's almost 20 years now since the first one.

Defence Of The Realm, 1986. directed by David Drury, starring Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, and Denholm Elliott, with Robbie Coltrane in a supporting role.




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Originally Posted by struth

Defence Of The Rhelm, 1986. directed by David Drury, starring Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, and Denholm Elliott, with Robbie Coltrane in a supporting role.




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An excellent film. I have a copy somewhere.

Classic western now, with The Searchers, 1956. Directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, Vera Miles, Jeffrey Hunter, Natalie Wood and Ward Bond.

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The Searchers has been cited as one of the greatest films of all time, such as in the BFI's decennial Sight & Sound polls. In 1972, The Searchers was ranked 18th; in 1992, 5th; in 2002, 11th; in 2012, 7th. In a 1959 Cahiers du Cinema essay, Jean-Luc Godard compared the movie's ending to the reuniting of Odysseus with Telemachus in Homer's Odyssey. In 1963, he ranked The Searchers as the fourth-greatest American movie of the sound era, after Scarface (1932), The Great Dictator (1940), and Vertigo (1958)


The eccentric character of Mose Harper, played by Hank Worden, is loosely based on an actual historical personage called Mad Mose, a legendary half-crazy Indian fighter of the American southwest with a fondness for rocking chairs.

While on the desert locale, John Ford was stung by a scorpion. Worried about his investment, financial backer C.V. Whitney asked John Wayne, "What if we lose him? What are we going to do?" Wayne offered to check in on the "stricken" director. A few minutes later he came out of Ford's trailer and said to Whitney, "It's OK. John's fine, it's the scorpion that died."

The Criteron Bluray version of Lost In America, 1985, directed by Albert Brooks and stars Albert Brooks and Julie Hagerty.



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For the cross country across America shoot, thirty cast and crew were crammed into just two Winnebagos staying overnight in cheap motels. Actor-writer-director Albert Brooks has said: "We got about as far as Phoenix, Arizona before everyone stopped talking to each other."


Lost In America received mostly positive reviews from critics and holds a 97% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on thirty-six reviews. The site's consensus states: "A satire of the American fantasy of leaving it all behind, Lost in America features some of Albert Brooks' best, most consistent writing and cultural jabs."[4] The film was a commercial success, though not a blockbuster. The film's script won the National Society of Film Critics award for Best Screenplay.

Frenzy, 1972. The penultimate feature film of Hitchcock's extensive career. stars Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, and Barry Foster and features Billie Whitelaw, Anna Massey, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Bernard Cribbins and Vivien Merchant.


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Variety also posted a rave review, declaring: "Ingeniously fresh story-telling ideas, stamped with the same mischievous, audacious and often outrageous mixture of humor and suspense that first made him and later sustained him, make the Universal release one of Hitchcock's major achievements."

The Matrix, 1999. written and directed by the Wachowskis. Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano.



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A pirates life for me.....Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, 2003.


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Its directed by Gore Verbinski and stars Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush and Orlando Bloom.

Because of the quick schedule of the shoot, Industrial Light & Magic immediately began visual effects work. While the skeletal forms of the pirates revealed by moonlight take up relatively little screentime, the crew knew their computer-generated forms had to convince in terms of replicating performances and characteristics of the actors, or else the transition would not work. Each scene featuring them was shot twice: a reference plate with the actors, and then without them to add in the skeletons, an aesthetic complicated by Verbinski's decision to shoot the battles with handheld cameras. The actors also had to perform their scenes again on the motion capture stage. With the shoot only wrapping up four months before release, Verbinski spent 18-hour days on the edit, while at the same time spending time on 600 effects shots, 250 of which were merely removing modern sailboats from shots.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

I agree too that The Matrix is the exception.

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There's one other film he is good in, you're forgetting his performance as 'Ted' Theodore Logan in 'Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure', although in retrospect it turns out he was just playing himself.

Also there's 'Point Break' where he does sort of suit the character he is playing - with the added benefit of occasionally being unintentionally amusing. The film is so daft anyway that it kind of works.

Only films I watched over Xmas was 'Carry On Again Doctor' and 'Back to the Future'.

I'm developing a theory about 'Carry On' in that the best ones are those where Sid James' character is also called Sid. If he's called something else or he's not in it then it's almost always a bad one.

Great Expectations, 1946. Directed by the great David Lean and stars John Mills and Valerie Hobson. Co stars include Bernard Miles, Francis L. Sullivan, Anthony Wager, Jean Simmons, Finlay Currie, Martita Hunt and Alec Guinness.

It won 2 Oscars at the 20th Oscars.


This is the Bluray version.

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At the end, a shot of Valerie Hobson staring into a mirror was taking longer than anticipated and was suspended, it was lunchtime, and returned to in the afternoon. Approximately three months after this movie had been on exhibition, a moviegoer asked what was meant by a Chad being reflected in the mirror. It seems that a worker on the movie had drawn it on the wall during the break in filming, and it is dimly visible in the final scene behind Sir John Mills's shoulder as he says "I've never ceased to love you when there seemed no hope in my love."

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Originally Posted by Macca

There's one other film he is good in, you're forgetting his performance as 'Ted' Theodore Logan in 'Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure', although in retrospect it turns out he was just playing himself.

Also there's 'Point Break' where he does sort of suit the character he is playing - with the added benefit of occasionally being unintentionally amusing. The film is so daft anyway that it kind of works.

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Forgot all about Point Break, ("Death on a stick mate") Maybe I like Keanu Reeves after all.

Christmas telly was so grim, we gave 3 hours of our life to Netflix's "The Salisbury Poisonings", which was actually quite good. And it looks like New Year's Eve telly is gonna struggle to keep me out of the pubs.

The Hunt for Red October, 1990. directed by John McTiernan, and starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones, and Sam Neill. It is the first installment of the film series with the protagonist Jack Ryan.


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excellent soundtrack from Basil Poledouris.

The film caused a minor sensation in the black projects submarine warfare technology community. In one scene, where USS Dallas is chasing Red October through the submarine canyon, the crew can be heard calling out that they have various "milligal anomalies". This essentially revealed the use of gravimetry as a method of silent navigation in US submarines. Thought to be a billion dollar black project, the development of a full-tensor gravity gradiometer by Bell Aerospace was a classified technology at the time. It was thought to be deployed on only a few Ohio-class submarines after it was first developed in 1973. Bell Aerospace later sold the technology to Bell Geospace for oil exploration purposes. The last Typhoon-class submarine was officially laid down in 1986, under the name TK-210, but according to sources was never finished and scrapped in 1990.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

Christmas telly was so grim, we gave 3 hours of our life to Netflix's "The Salisbury Poisonings", which was actually quite good. And it looks like New Year's Eve telly is gonna struggle to keep me out of the pubs.

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It was shocking wasn't it? Neither 'Zulu' film was on and I couldn't find my DVD. So that was Christmas Night ruined. No Bond on any channel not even the rubbish later ones.

Manged to watch Christmas Top Of The Pops for about the first time in five years. Never even heard of any of the acts. Wall to wall crap, thought I'd tuned in to the open auditions for the local school dance by mistake.

Christmas telly has been crap since 1984 anyway, I don't expect anything different these days.

Back in the 70s, we only had 3 channels and we got by. Though to be fair I was down the pub 7 days a week, and that's no exaggeration. At present we have hundreds of channels and yet I struggle to find an evening's worth of viewing.

Further pisses me off that I couldn't afford a daily pub visit, because Sky, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix are swallowing most of my disposable :( Thank God for my records and CDs, without them I'd really lose my shit...

Maybe I should take up fishing, she bought me all the gear about ten years ago.

Edit: forget everything I just said, new series of Magnum pi starts Sunday. Yay!

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Originally Posted by Macca

Only films I watched over Xmas was 'Carry On Again Doctor' and 'Back to the Future'.

I'm developing a theory about 'Carry On' in that the best ones are those where Sid James' character is also called Sid. If he's called something else or he's not in it then it's almost always a bad one.

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Oh I don't know - 'Carry on Screaming' was pretty good.