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I have to say I am currently hooked on Californication, compelling viewing and some great music too - have picked up a few new artists and some great new music :)
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( oh and all the nude women running around is not too shabby either! )
Tim,
it’s a great and funny show. I saw all seven seasons and I think it was a good decision to stop the show. Unfortunately at least the last half of season 7 was most of the time very close to brainless slapstick.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim
Werner.
I'm on season 3 at the moment Werner, so it's still working for me - some of the women are truly glorious, does that make me a bad person :scratch:
Tim,
no, not at all! Embeth Davidtz as Felicia Koons, the Dean’s wife, is phantastic in season three. Actually the women and the occasional shots of Hank Moody’s vinyl based stereo system are what makes this show worth seeing ;-) Of course there are a lot of really great one-liners in the dialogues too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim
Prepare for even heavier visual female narcotics and major boobage in the upcoming seasons.
Werner.
Back to Si Fi tonight with a cracker... Soylent Green which was based on the book by Harry Harrison called "Make Room! Make Room!" ...at least I think it was.:scratch: Made in 1973, directed by Richard Fleischer(who directed the American part of the classic Tora Tora Tora) and starred Charlton(get your hand off my gun) Heston and Edward G Robinson(who was pretty ill and deaf as a post). In fact his deafness, was more of a problem than his cancer as he could only hear anyone if they shouted directly in his ear. This caused some problems, but old trouper that he was, he turned in a stellar performance again. This was his 101st and last film and he died a week or so later. There is a lot of nice classical music from the likes of Grieg, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky to soothe the sences, and at times the sences need a soothing. Soylent is a film that much of its content is very close to home now, as it represented our now; what we take for granted, and much of which our great grandkids could easily miss out on. Nowadays we don't seem to know or care what our governments and corporations are up to. Maybe its time we took the planet back before its too late. ;)
Loved Robinson's reply to Heston's remark of I know, Sol, you've told me a hundred times before. People were better, the world was better......Ah, people were always lousy... But there was a world, once; I was there, I can prove it. When I was a kid, you could buy meat anywhere. Eggs they had, real butter, not this... crap!!!!
This was the last film shot at MGM Studios back-lot on Overland Boulevard, as it was demolished and turned into housing. Going to really enjoy this as not seen it for a while. This thread has given me new life and vigour and along with my 160 restoration, a desire to live on for as long as I can get pleasure from it...So get your old films out folks and enjoy them...you know they are better than SKY:eek:
A classic film but a little sad. If you really want to depress yourself watch Silent Running straight after.
I don't have that one Martin.....probably as well; trying to keep happy :lol: quite enjoying it.... not too depressing, its a bit like Coen songs...makes you say, Hell, my life aint so bad:eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
now watching Red Dwarf iv.....my favorite series'
The film is so far removed from the book that Harrison disassociated himself from the film. In the book the future is suffering terribly from overpopulation due to the Catholic Church's prohibition of contraception. It seems the film's producers baulked at this idea - but came up with another similarly shocking, but idiotic, suggestion that the foodstuff of the future, "Soylent Green", is partly made of reprocessed human flesh of the recently dead. This is obviously nonsense, since the name, invented by Harrison, is derived from soybeans and lentils; far more plausable in a future which through necessity would be largely vegetarian.Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
Soylent Green is IMO one of the least plausable visions of a dystopian future - better ones, though none are easy viewing, are 1984, THX1138, A Boy and his Dog, A Clockwork Orange and possibly Videodrome.
'Soylent Green' is an all time Classic, you could parallel 'Logans Run' too, both of the same era and both movies struck a chord at the time depicting post apocalyptic humans finding their heritage and the awful truth of the conspiracies around them. Soylent Green is in my collection of movies. (Farenheit 451 with springs to mind too as a futuristic Classic)
Ah yes, I had forgotten about Farenheit 451; an excellent book and a reasonably good film.
I thought Logan's Run, naive and implausable; its viewing only ameliorated through the presence of the cute Jenny Agutter.
Sure I read somewhere some of the main reasons for changing the plot was their desire not to offend the catholic church and financial as always...I mean cannibalism is a bigger seller than lentil eating.
To be honest, I sometimes get the hump myself when good books are butchered but they are trying to make money and entertain. Most films of books are thus changed and many quite unrecognisably. A magnum for schneider/callan was pretty close while one of my favourite books the four feathers was unrecognisable.
None were great films, but they were fun!Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
The only movie that stands out for me really from back then is the slightly earlier, 'Cool Hand Luke'. Totally different context of course, but just marvellous and probably my favourite film of all, though I have many of those.
(years later Newman made 'Nobody's Fool' and portrayed a rather similar character beautifully. Not a well known movie, but so good and essential in a decent collection)
I would in general agree with you wholeheartedly: most of the stories by P. K. Dick have been badly translated to cinema, for example Paycheck and of course Total Recall. Whether this is down to the poor writing of the screenplay, or whether it is because some books have to have their content severely pruned to fit a two-hour film, I don't know. But as a counter example, one film based on a P. K. Dick novel Blade Runner differs so greatly from the book (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) that one wonders how it could have been successful. Yet it is IMO one of the best sci-fi films ever made (and no, I don't want to get into heated debate over which version was better).
Having said that I didn't think Minority Report was a bad film either.
Yes that's the book, wonderful film but horrifying. Not seen it in a few years though.Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
Regards Neil
Keeping up the Si Fi theme, tonight it is the 1956 MGM blockbusterThe TempestForbidden Planet directed by Fred Wilcox(who's claim to fame before this was interestingly the Lassie films, so I guess he liked working with animals). This was the first big budget si fi and reputedly the inspiration for Gene Roddenberry's star trek. A good strong cast including Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Earl Holliman and Robbie the Robot who stole the film.... One useless bit of info is Altaira's garden is a reuse of the Munchkin Village set from The Wizard of Oz 17 years earlier so was shot on the same set.
Excellent filmQuote:
Originally Posted by struth
Regards Neil
Where would we be without the Krells :D
Yes, that was a brilliant film!Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
Anne Francis was a doll.....legs that went all the way to yaya:eek:
UP POMPEII......ah!!! good old fashoned 70's sexism at its best.....nowt to touch it...love Frankie:lol:
nay nay...Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
"I wont play the sap for you!" ...the movie tonight is John Huston's The Maltese Falcon (1941) starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor...The movie that spawned a genre, and still as powerful today as it ever was.
Mary Astor got the role as she was notorious as a drunk, and had been married several times, something frowned upon in those days (and probably still should:eyebrows: )A newspaper had serialised her diary that had been stolen by a maid.
Bogey himself only got the role after George Raft turn it down...something Bogey gained from many times as Raft turned down High Sierra and Casablanca as well. Sydney Greenstreet was so large the chair he sat on had to be specially made.
My copy is the 2 disc W Bros special edition.....what else can I say except use bogey's Shakespearian paraphrase that its "The stuff that dreams are made of"
Must have watched it thirty times at least over the years. Funny how when I was young I never fancied Mary Astor in it. Couldn't work out what he saw in her. It was only when I got older I realised it's because she's a baaaad girl :)
"I hope they don't hang you, precious, by that sweet neck. Yes, angel, I'm gonna send you over. The chances are you'll get off with life. That means if you're a good girl, you'll be out in 20 years. I'll be waiting for you. If they hang you, I'll always remember you".
rarely does Bogie disappoint, a Fabulous actor and screen icon to this day.....just like me:lol:
Last nights viewing..
Collusus: The Forbin Project
Intelligent Science Fiction about the danger of mans reliance on technology.
Scared the bejezus out me as a kid, left me a bit quiet when I watched it again.
Not look at the display on my Dac the same way again!
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Tonight it is Ron Howard's Apollo 13 (1995) starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bil Paxton, Gary Sinese and Ed Harris. Not much can be saidabout this, as I'm sure you've all seen it on several occasions. Won 2 Oscars and thankfully Brad Pitt turned down an offer to star in this film and chose, instead, to star in Se7en (snigger).Going to be using the 2 disc special edition with all the extras which are as good as the film(maybe better).
Jim Lovell wore his old navy captain's uniform in the scene where he greets the astronauts aboard the Iwo Jima. When Ron Howard asked Lovell if he'd like to be in the film as the ship's admiral, Lovell agreed but pointed out, "I retired as a captain; a captain I will be."
Marlyn Lovell commented in the extras that Tom Hanks exactly portrays Jim Lovell's mannerisms and style of movement. Though not noted on screen, Marilyn Lovell's "premonition" of an accident on her husband's flight was triggered by her seeing the movie Marooned. After the premiere of the film, Ron Howard asked the audience members to write reviews of the film. While most of the reviews were positive, one review stated that there was no way the crew would have survived the mission. :doh: Apparently, the person who wrote it did not know the film is based on a true story.
Not seen that ons Gary, but will see it on-line sometime soon...looks interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
Hello, Houston, this is Odyssey; lt's good to see you again.:eek: ............. Never thought they'd make it!!
An excellent film - one which shows how in desparate measures, ingenuity can come to the rescue.Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
As a retired engineer, I am always impressed by the scene where the guys in Houston have to explain to the astronauts how to improvise an air filter, given the only items the astronauts have with them on Apollo 13. One of these items is the check-list folder with a cardboard binder; not something that would immediately come to mind, but it too is used in the construction. So to with the scene where they have to work out the start up sequence so that the total current drawn remains within capacity of the supply and the circuit breaker doesn't trip out.
NASA had some fantastic talent at their disposal Barry, that's for sure. They way they got those extra amps was nothing short of a brainwave. Gene Kranz summed it up perfectly. We've never lost an American in space, we're sure as hell not gonna lose one on my watch! Failure is not an option.
Tonights movie is St Martins Lane aka sidewalks of London (1938) Directed by Tim Wheelan and starring Charles Laughton, Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison. and featuring Larry Adler as Consintine Dan and Tyrone Guthrie; later to become Sir, playing Gentry.
Charles Laughton is one of my favorite actors and is on top form here as Charles Staggers, a street viruoso and besotted by Liberty (Vivien Leigh), and who wouldn't be. She goes on to great things while he, who helped and guided her is left in the gutter (familiar??):lol:
Erich Pommer, who produced Metropolis and Jamaca Inn, Co produced after coming to England to flee Hitler.
Loved the line from Leigh whem Laughton asks her to marry him.....Marry you, Joe? Have you gone out of your mind? I mean you had better look in the frying pan, hadn't you? ;) and one from Laughton which still holds true....There ain't no answer. You're after justice and logic. There ain't no justice, and there ain't no logic. The world ain't made that way. Everything's luck, see. And good temper. And if you can take a joke..... The whole of life's a joke.:eyebrows: shot on 35mm in B&W it is a rarely shown gem.
Viv Leigh shows up well and is an accomplished singer and especially dancer. She went pretty much straight on to Gone with the wind, 21 days and Waterloo Bridge. A rare talent but never outshined Charles Laughton who was by far the senior star of the film then.
Now watching Ice age 1......one of my guilty secrets.:eek:
Ah, but Viv Leigh's a bit easier on the eyes than Charles Laughton!
(The bells...) :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
She was a doll Gary....stunningly beautiful. talent + beauty are rare; sure she never need the casting couch.:eyebrows:
Apollo 13 - agreed excellent film.
Regards Neil
Lucy http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872732/...ef_=tt_trv_trv
Went and saw this yesterday and well I am not sure. Its in places very good, in other places dire and in others just completely bonkers. I think this is Luc Besson's attempt to make a 2001 typed film.
Its a weird mishmash of oriental crime/action film and sci fi, which involves a young lady getting involved in a drug smuggling ring, becoming a human drug smuggling mule in which an assault leaves her exposed to the drugs within her body - with dire consequences.
Where its plain crazy is the way no one - in particular the police - try to arrest her for murdering a number of innocent people in cold blood - never mind the bad guys. Where its different to lots of sci fi movies in the past is the way in which the scientists don't bring the army in to deal with Lucy, credible probably not, but refreshing.
The action scenes are good but clichéd, we have seen it before in many Asian action movies but Luc does try to do a number of newish things but sadly they end up looking like the Matrix meets 2001.
Acting is ok but again I think the film fails to show what a super evolved human would be like.
One very annoying aspect is the way the audience is treated every so often to Sheldon Cooper typed explanation of science, evolutionary theory and reproduction :doh: it was very patronising and not really required in my opinion and certainly not as clips of a documentary nature - plain weird.
Oh yes, very sudden ending which leaves one going is that it :scratch:
Overall 5 out of 10
Ah Scarlett Johansson is rather charming, but have heard that its a bit of a mix Neil. Nice write up and saves me watching it as the boy will likely want it.
If you like short girls with large behinds (bit like Penelope Cruz, but she comes with a moustache too). I think Scarlett may have lost a bit of weight lately though.Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
Scarlett Johansson is pleasant on the eye, sort of, not really my type but in regards to her acting frankly its workman like but not particularly inspired, someone much better was required but I am not sure who :scratch:
Frankly I think this needed to be longer, which would have allowed the themes to be given more space to develop and the massive plot holes and crazy oversights in how the police would have reacted in a situation like this could have been addressed and explored more.
Regards Neil
I'll say it twice..charming, charming;)
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Tonight's film isn't a film but a 2 part Star Trek TV episode of the Next Generation first transmitted in 1992. Taken from the Fan Collective box set; Time Travel, the episodes are Times Arrow pt 1 & 2. Stars the usual suspects plus Jerry Hardin as Mark Twain. A role he like so much he created a one-man touring show about him. This was also Gene Roddenberry's last episode as Exec Producer to mark his death a year before.Set in 1893 in San Francisco. All the exterior scenes in San Francisco were shot on location, like the historic Pico house and along Olvera Street, the restored area near the first mission in old Los Angeles.
next up; Red Dwarf 5....we're the posse party ;)
Tonight it is Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) directed by Sergio Leone, and starring Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale(one of the most beautiful women ever), Jason Robards and ol blue eyes himself, Henry Fonda in his first baddy role.
This Leone film was, again shot using the Techniscope process which gave the advantage of being able derive the 2.35:1 aspect ratio while shooting with spherical lenses which avoided the distortion created by anamorphics during certain camera moves and extreme close-ups (such as those used by Sergio Leone). This film, together with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)(also directed by Leone and shot by Tonino Delli Colli) are now considered masterpieces in the use of the Techniscope system.
The original script called for Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach to be the trio gunned down at the train station. Eastwood, whose star was rising in Hollywood, did not want to be seen as a villain and objected. When he did, Wallach backed out as well.
Although mostly shot in Andalucia, some of it was shot at Monument Valley, Arizona where Leone's hero John Ford shot Stagecoach and The Searchers.
I have Ennio Morricone's soundtrack - not bad, not bad at all. I hope you can have sound via your speakers and not the TV.Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrei
yes I can if I wish Andrei, although at night I don't....its nice to run it through the Yamaha soundbar downstairs, but tonight just through the tv.
well, my alltime favourite film never lets me down, and this was no exception. The final scene with train and Claudia handing out the water is so evocative of the making of America, and the main theme music running through it makes for a stunning finale...the best I know....think I'll watch it all over again:eyebrows:
God, Cardinale is so gorgeous :wow: .
Leone is my favourite director of all time. He is only in the past few years getting the credit he deserves. Critics have always looked down their noses at his films and it didn't help that his long films were often cut to ribbons for cinema and TV. Like Kubrick he understood that film is primarily a visual medium and you don't need acres of dialogue to set the scene when you can do it with one or two clever shots. Never afraid to let the camera linger. And linger...I like that. But...this is not as good a film as Once Upon a Time in America, even if it does have the admittedly handsome Ms Cardinale in it ;)
Funny that. But on Once upon a time the American one was my favourite Leone film but the West overtook it in my estimation a while ago for some reason out with Claudia:) ...I think it might have been the hope portrayed in the west(unrealised admittedly) in comparison to the drearier yet more beautifully shot America. Not much in it, or the gbu for that matter. And I've yet to mention Duck ya sucker/ fistful of dynamite/once upon a time in the revolution coming soon to a cinema near me:lol:
Those blue eyes...
Who'da thunk he'd a been a murderous villain!
Mr Fonda's idea to do that...so Im told. :)
In memory of Dickie Attenborough, tonight's offering will be his first screen role, Noel Coward's In Which We Serve(1942). Written by Noel and directed by David Lean(his first) and starring Coward himself, Celia Johnson(her screen debut), John Mills(reputedly, his role was written in by his friend Coward to give Mills a job), Bernard Miles, and in a fairly minor role Richard Attenborough(his first too). his part, although small was important to the story and he played it superbly. needless to say he went on to make over 70 films and collected 2 oscars.
Lean got the job on a recommendation of Mills, who thought him to be the best editor he knew. John Mills character in the film had a baby(well his wife did) :lol: that was played by his daughter Juliet.
When dive bombers fire on the survivors clinging to a life raft, the effect of the strafing fire hitting the water was achieved by blowing gusts of air into submerged condoms. These would then float to surface after the director had shouted cut.
Tragically, Chief electrician Jock Dymore was killed by an exposion while setting up an explosion effect. Coward, who was a close friend of churchill spared no one on the set and sacked William Hartnell on the first day for being late. He also built a full-size replica of a destroyer to represent HMS Torrin in the Denham Studios outside London.
During filming, stories would continually appear in the Daily Express, ridiculing the production. The paper's proprietor, Lord Beaverbrook, couldn't understand how an effete actor like Noel Coward could possibly portray a Mountbatten-type character. Coward got his own back by including a shot of one of the paper's more infamous headlines from 1939, proclaiming "No War This Year".
will be watching the digitally remastered Carlton version which is in decent nick. The film originally was dedicated to the Royal Navy, "whereon under the good providence of God, the wealth, safety and strength of the Kingdom chiefly depend." , but tonight it is dedicated to Dickie, and I hope he is watching.;)