Now Screening - What Are You Watching Right Now?

[struth]

Stagecoach, 1939. Directed by John Ford. Criterion Blu Ray reg A






When Plummer's poker hand (aces and eights, the dead man's hand) is shown in close-up, the ace of spades shows that the deck is a Bee brand deck of cards, first produced in 1892 by the U.S. Playing Card Co. (Hence the "92" on the ace.) The movie takes place in approximately 1880, so these cards would not yet be available.

John Wayne's salary was considerably less than all of his co-stars, apart from John Carradine.

In 1939 no paved road ran through Monument Valley: this is why it hadn't been used as a movie location before Stagecoach. (There wasn't a paved road until the 1950s.) Harry Goulding, who ran a trading post there, had heard that John Ford was planning a big-budget Western. So he traveled to Hollywood armed with over 100 photographs of Monument Valley and threatened to camp out on Ford's doorstep until the director saw him and the photographs. Ford saw him almost immediately. He was instantly sold on the location, particularly when he realized that its remoteness would free him from studio interference.

[Macca]

'Ad Astra' (2019)

Brad Pitt is an astronaut renowned for being calm under pressure. When electromagnetic shockwaves from space threaten life on earth he is ordered to travel to Mars and try to make contact with his estranged father who is on a spaceship somewhere out near Neptune, and who may have the solution to the problem.

Not sure what to make of this one. If you took '2001: A Space Odyssey', 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Gravity' and mixed them all up in a big bowl you might get something like this film. This is hard science fiction set in the near future, good production values and special effects, but I did find it quite difficult to watch. There's action and tension but at the same time it's all very detached. Do you really care if Pitt succeeds in his mission or ends up dying horribly? I wasn't sure.

The central theme is about emotional detachment so I suppose it isn't surprising that concept is baked-in to the film as a whole, but the result is that at the end it all feels a bit 'meh'.

Worth a watch but if you're anything like me you will need to make a conscious effort to stick with it to the conclusion.

[Pigmy Pony]

'Ad Astra' (2019)

Brad Pitt is an astronaut renowned for being calm under pressure. When electromagnetic shockwaves from space threaten life on earth he is ordered to travel to Mars and try to make contact with his estranged father who is on a spaceship somewhere out near Neptune, and who may have the solution to the problem.

Not sure what to make of this one. If you took '2001: A Space Odyssey', 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Gravity' and mixed them all up in a big bowl you might get something like this film. This is hard science fiction set in the near future, good production values and special effects, but I did find it quite difficult to watch. There's action and tension but at the same time it's all very detached. Do you really care if Pitt succeeds in his mission or ends up dying horribly? I wasn't sure.

The central theme is about emotional detachment so I suppose it isn't surprising that concept is baked-in to the film as a whole, but the result is that at the end it all feels a bit 'meh'.

Worth a watch but if you're anything like me you will need to make a conscious effort to stick with it to the conclusion.

I quite liked it, but as with most films made this century it failed miserably the "would you watch it again" test. I only saw it a few months ago but can't remember anything about it.

I have this on the planner, which I may watch later:



Because I like Michael Mann. He has a way with filming in cities that I find appealing. Hard to explain, but "Heat" has some good examples.

[struth]

I quite liked it, but as with most films made this century it failed miserably the "would you watch it again" test. I only saw it a few months ago but can't remember anything about it.

I have this on the planner, which I may watch later:



Because I like Michael Mann. He has a way with filming in cities that I find appealing. Hard to explain, but "Heat" has some good examples.

seen that one. its not bad. not great but not bad.

[Macca]

I quite liked it, but as with most films made this century it failed miserably the "would you watch it again" test. I only saw it a few months ago but can't remember anything about it.

I have this on the planner, which I may watch later:



Because I like Michael Mann. He has a way with filming in cities that I find appealing. Hard to explain, but "Heat" has some good examples.

Yes I think it fails my "would you watch it again" test too. On the other hand it's at least a film for adults and there was nothing in it that made me think 'This is crap', unlike with 'Ready Player One' which was objectionably shit in places.

I keep meaning to watch 'Heat' again but it's so long you really have to plan ahead for it, like with Godfather I and II, and I'm crap at planning ahead.

[Barry]

'Ad Astra' (2019)

Brad Pitt is an astronaut renowned for being calm under pressure. When electromagnetic shockwaves from space threaten life on earth he is ordered to travel to Mars and try to make contact with his estranged father who is on a spaceship somewhere out near Neptune, and who may have the solution to the problem.

Not sure what to make of this one. If you took '2001: A Space Odyssey', 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Gravity' and mixed them all up in a big bowl you might get something like this film. This is hard science fiction set in the near future, good production values and special effects, but I did find it quite difficult to watch. There's action and tension but at the same time it's all very detached. Do you really care if Pitt succeeds in his mission or ends up dying horribly? I wasn't sure.

The central theme is about emotional detachment so I suppose it isn't surprising that concept is baked-in to the film as a whole, but the result is that at the end it all feels a bit 'meh'.

Worth a watch but if you're anything like me you will need to make a conscious effort to stick with it to the conclusion.

I agree - your findings match mine. The only interesting idea for me was the presence of lunar bandits - which being as the film is set in the near future (towards the end of the 21st century), implies that any international treaty on the neutrality of the Moon was never established, or if it was was broken.

I would watch it again if it was shown in a year or so's time. I wouldn't bother owning a DVD.

[struth]

Jeremiah Johnson, 1972..




After burying her murdered family, Crazy Woman begins singing "Shall We Gather at the River" and Jeremiah joins in. This song was written by Robert Lowry in 1864 and first published in 1865, long after the time of the mountain men.

Based upon a real-life trapper named John Johnston, nicknamed "Crow Killer" and "Liver Eater Johnston" for his penchant for cutting out and eating the livers of Crow Indians he had killed (several Crows had murdered his wife and he swore vengeance against the entire tribe).

Liver Eatin' Johnston's wife (who was pregnant at the time) was actually killed by a random raiding party of Crow, not as revenge for a violation of their burial grounds. She was killed in the spring while Johnston was off trapping and he didn't return to find her body until several months later. He identified the band that had killed her because he recognized a Tennessee rifle he had given her in the possession of a Crow warrior. Also, rather than isolated incidents as shown in the movie, Johnston often recruited other mountain men as well as Indians (particularly Flatheads) to help him with his vendetta. The part about the warriors sent to kill him and told not to return without his scalp was true.

great quotes.... Del Gue : [to Jeremiah] You turn down this gift, and they'll slit you, me, Caleb and the horses from crotch to eyeball with a dull deer antler!

[Pieoftheday]

Hunderby and the latest I can get of two doors down , brilliant

[struth]

A New Leaf, 1971...




The film was a critical success upon its initial release. However, despite several accolades, award nominations, and a Radio City Music Hall run, A New Leaf fared poorly at the box office and remains little known by the general public. It is now considered a cult classic. In 2019, the film was selected by the Library Of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registary for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Great Quotes:
Henrietta Lowell: Did you hurt yourself?
Henry Graham: No, kneeling on glass is my favorite pastime. It keeps me from slouching.

Henry Graham: [as Sally Hart starts to remove her bra...] No, don't let them out!

Henry Graham: The only difference between us is I am a man and you are a woman and we don't have to let that interfere if we are reasonably careful.

[struth]

Avanti!, 1972....





Produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on Samuel A. Taylor's play, which had a short run for the 1968 Broadway season. The film follows a businessman attempting to deliver the body of his father from Italy. It premiered on December 17, 1972. Lemmon won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The film was nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Director, Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical and Best Screenplay.