Now Screening - What Are You Watching Right Now?

[struth]

Carry On Dick, 1974... great quote: Lady Daley: All this talk of Big Dick. I've had enough of it!






The film was banned in South Africa in the 1970s as the South African authorities considered it anti-Christian. This was because of Sidney James's role as a parish priest as being corrupt having an alias as a robber.

Some of the film's literal English language translations of its foreign language titles were "Go on Dick" (Hungary), "Carry on Robber" (Germany), "The Totally Crazy Mugger" (West Germany), "Do it again, Dick" (Eastern Germany [former GDR]) and "Way to Go...of Gurnard Unleashed" (Portugal).

[struth]

Picnic at Hanging Rock, 1975. Peter Weir Cut...Bluray. From the original 1967 novel by Joan Lindsay ....







Picnic at Hanging Rock is a cautionary tale about societies so afraid of uncertainty that they demand conformity to social norms. To be free, this story says, we must embrace the unknowability and complexity of human existence.

In the first draft of the book, Lindsay included a final chapter with an explicit explanation of what happened. Her editor astutely suggested removing it.
" The speculative aboriginal legend that “nobody stayed there after dark because it’s where spirits roamed.” "

So it initially published with only a brief epilogue: a newspaper clipping set thirteen years after the main events. It explained that records of the disappearances were all mysteriously burned in a bush fire. Regardless, the search for the girls continued -- though only a piece of a dress was ever found.
The final chapter was published after her death, and caused even more confusion.lol

Executive producer Patricia Lovell admits to being genuinely afraid of Hanging Rock. In an interview, she explained that she has only gone back to Hanging Rock once since the shooting. It was 10 years later in 1985 and Lovell said she got so frightened at the location she left almost immediately. She refuses to go back to this day.

While filming on location at Hanging Rock, actress Anne-Louise Lambert (Miranda) had a most surreal encounter. During a break from shooting, Lambert went for a walk through the woods. She turned to see Joan Lindsay, author of the novel 'Picnic at Hanging Rock', stumbling toward her. Lambert said Lindsay then embraced her with strong, joyful emotion and called her Miranda. It was a powerful moment for both of them.

[struth]

Blast from the Past, 1999...






While living in the bunker, Calvin unsuccessfully attempts to explain the game of baseball to a young Adam. When Adam finally leaves the bunker, he gets to witness a game, upon which he states "Now I get it! You have to actually see it to understand it!" The game he is watching is in fact softball, not baseball.

The jet that crashes into Calvin and Helen's house is a North American F-86 Sabre.

[struth]

Runaway Train, 1985... Arrow bluray..







Danny Trejo was visiting a friend who was working as a production assistant on the set when he was offered a job as an extra. Edward Bunker recognized Trejo because they served time in San Quentin State Prison together. Bunker helped Trejo get hired as Eric Roberts' boxing coach. Director Andrey Konchalovskiy was so impressed with Trejo that he gave him a small role. Trejo later stated that he was staggered to find out that the coaching job earned him $320 per day, which was more than he had ever gotten from a robbery. He went on to a good acting career.

Jon Voight was persuaded to take the lead role of convict Oscar "Manny" Manheim by director Andrey Konchalovskiy. Voight had thought that the character was "all wrong" for him until Konchalovsky advised Voight that the best villains in movies are "actors who play against type." Voight ended up winning the Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama award for this film, as well as receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Publicity for this picture stated: "The train sequences were filmed on the seward main track of the Alaska Railroad, which runs from Seward, through Anchorage, and up to Fairbanks. The company shot on locations sixty miles up the mountains, with no roads, and were only accessible by helicopter or train. It was a wild environment, where bald eagles, moose, and jack rabbits were seen almost daily."

[Barry]

A surprisingly good film.

[Barry]

Picnic at Hanging Rock, 1975. Peter Weir Cut...Bluray. From the original 1967 novel by Joan Lindsay ....







Picnic at Hanging Rock is a cautionary tale about societies so afraid of uncertainty that they demand conformity to social norms. To be free, this story says, we must embrace the unknowability and complexity of human existence.

In the first draft of the book, Lindsay included a final chapter with an explicit explanation of what happened. Her editor astutely suggested removing it.
" The speculative aboriginal legend that “nobody stayed there after dark because it’s where spirits roamed.” "

So it initially published with only a brief epilogue: a newspaper clipping set thirteen years after the main events. It explained that records of the disappearances were all mysteriously burned in a bush fire. Regardless, the search for the girls continued -- though only a piece of a dress was ever found.
The final chapter was published after her death, and caused even more confusion.lol

Executive producer Patricia Lovell admits to being genuinely afraid of Hanging Rock. In an interview, she explained that she has only gone back to Hanging Rock once since the shooting. It was 10 years later in 1985 and Lovell said she got so frightened at the location she left almost immediately. She refuses to go back to this day.

While filming on location at Hanging Rock, actress Anne-Louise Lambert (Miranda) had a most surreal encounter. During a break from shooting, Lambert went for a walk through the woods. She turned to see Joan Lindsay, author of the novel 'Picnic at Hanging Rock', stumbling toward her. Lambert said Lindsay then embraced her with strong, joyful emotion and called her Miranda. It was a powerful moment for both of them.

In what way does the 'directors' cut' differ from the theatre version? Good film!

[struth]

To Have And Have Not, 1944..





On a ten-day fishing trip, independent director Howard Hawks tried to persuade Ernest Hemingway to write him a script, but Hemingway was not interested in working in Hollywood. Hawks insisted he could make a film from Hemingway's "worst story". Although Hawks had a high regard for Hemingway's works in general, he considered To Have and Have Not his worst book, a "bunch of junk", and told Hemingway so. Hemingway and Hawks worked on the screenplay during the remainder of the fishing trip. They decided the film would not resemble the novel, but rather would tell the story of how Morgan met Marie. Marie's character was extensively altered for the film as well.

In May 1939, Hemingway sold the book rights to the Hughes Tool Company, with whom Hawks had connections. Hawks bought the book rights in October 1943, then sold them to Warner Bros. Because the rights to the novel bounced between sellers, Hawks made ten times more money selling the rights than Hemingway did. On learning this, Hemingway reportedly refused to speak to Hawks for "three months". The screenplay for To Have and Have Not bears little resemblance to Hemingway's novel. The only similarities include the title, the name and a few personality traits of the main character Harry Morgan, the name of Marie, the name of Eddie, and the name and character traits of Johnson. Johnson is the only character that remained the same in the novel, in every revised screenplay, and in the film. The film bears resemblance to only the novel's first four chapters.

[struth]

In what way does the 'directors' cut' differ from the theatre version? Good film!

actually the directors cut is a bit shorter as some of the less interesting bits were cut. there is an alternate ending although it wasnt used in either.

[Macca]

'Lonely Are The Brave' (1962)

Kirk Douglas is a war veteran and cowboy drifter who is at odds with the modern world. This is a western, but set in 1962. Supporting cast includes Walter Matthau, George Kennedy, Gena Rowlands and Carol O'Conner so you wonder how it could go wrong - well, it doesn't.

One of those films where the story is quite slight, but that you can watch many times. It was Douglas's favourite film of all those he made, which when you consider the number of great films he was in, is really saying something.

''President John F. Kennedy watched the movie in the White House in November 1962. In his memoir Conversations with Kennedy, Ben Bradlee wrote, "Jackie read off the list of what was available, and the President selected the one film we had all unanimously voted against, a brutal, sadistic little Western called Lonely Are the Brave."

[struth]

'Lonely Are The Brave' (1962)

Kirk Douglas is a war veteran and cowboy drifter who is at odds with the modern world. This is a western, but set in 1962. Supporting cast includes Walter Matthau, George Kennedy, Gena Rowlands and Carol O'Conner so you wonder how it could go wrong - well, it doesn't.

One of those films where the story is quite slight, but that you can watch many times. It was Douglas's favourite film of all those he made, which when you consider the number of great films he was in, is really saying something.

''President John F. Kennedy watched the movie in the White House in November 1962. In his memoir Conversations with Kennedy, Ben Bradlee wrote, "Jackie read off the list of what was available, and the President selected the one film we had all unanimously voted against, a brutal, sadistic little Western called Lonely Are the Brave."

not seen it for years. interesting film, and fairly sad yet uplifting too