Now Screening - What Are You Watching Right Now?

[Barry]

Straw dogs, been looking for ages on the internet for this one, to stream I mean, which is why I bought the DVD player, gonna watch it tonight, such a classic. Also watched Hoffman last night in Marathon Man, another classic, 70s thrillers really are the creme a la creme of film making for me.

I find the films of Sam Peckinpah too 'over the top' for my tastes - but would agree that "Straw dogs' is one of the more watchable.

And Dustin Hoffman is very good in 'Marathon Man', as is Lawrence Olivier who makes an excellent villain - one who could make you never want to see a dentist again!

[Macca]

I find the films of Sam Peckinpah too 'over the top' for my tastes - but would agree that "Straw dogs' is one of the more watchable.

And Dustin Hoffman is very good in 'Marathon Man', as is Lawrence Olivier who makes an excellent villain - one who could make you never want to see a dentist again!

You don't like 'The Wild Bunch', 'Ride The High Country', 'The Ballad Of Cable Hogue' and 'Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid' ?

[Mikeandvan]

You don't like 'The Wild Bunch', 'Ride The High Country', 'The Ballad Of Cable Hogue' and 'Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid' ?

The Wild bunch is awesome, those other 3 films I don't know, but look forward to watching them! And of course 'Find me the head of Alfredo Garcia', I was exhausted after watching that one in the cinema! non stop shoot em ups. Didn't he do 'The Iron cross' too?

[Barry]

That is exactly my complaint with Peckinpah - it's all "shoot ups" and little else.

Is 'Pat Garrat and Billy the Kid' the one with Bob Dylan in it? In general Westerns and war films leave me cold, whereas I'm much more interested in Japanese samurai films.

[Macca]

That is exactly my complaint with Peckinpah - it's all "shoot ups" and little else.

Is 'Pat Garrat and Billy the Kid' the one with Bob Dylan in it? In general Westerns and war films leave me cold, whereas I'm much more interested in Japanese samurai films.

Yes that's the one with Dylan. 'Wild Bunch' really only has two shoot-outs, one at the start and one at the end. Most of the film is devoted to the explaining the character's motivations and how they cope psychologically (or not) in a brutal world. In a lot of ways it's quite like a classic samurai film.

[Barry]

The Ballard of Cable Hogue




Described as a Technicolor Western Comedy by Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_Cable_Hogue (!) I have seen it but I don't remember too much about it.

[Barry]

Now for something a bit different:

Revengers Tragedy



A adaptation of Thomas Middleton's celebrated play of 1607. Revengers Tagedy tells the story of a man whose wife is murdered on their wedding day, and his desire to exact revenge on the murderer. In the post apocalyptic Liverpool of the future, Vindici (played by Christopher Ecclestone) returns from a self-imposed exile to bring down those responsible for his wife's murder. While Vindici's family have fallen on hard times, the murderer, know as the Duke (played by Derek Jacobi, as a creepy bi-sexual) has become rich, powerful and virtually untouchable. Employing all his wit and cunning, Vindici sets out to gain the Duke's confidence and get close enough to kill him.

I think Peckinpah would have liked this adaptation, as in the end everybody ends up being killed. Visually it is very stylish and imaginative, but the actual plot is hard to follow at times. Definitely merits a repeated viewing.

However wikipedia report the critics thought differently. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revengers_Tragedy

IMO, it is one of director Alex Cox's better movies.

[Barry]

Manina - The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter


1952 Black and White.

A very young (18) Brigitte Bardot in her first film.

A 25-year-old Parisian student, Gérard Morere (Calvé), hears a lecture about a treasure Troilus lost at sea after the Peloponnesian War. Gérard thinks he knows where it is, thanks to a discovery he made five years earlier when diving near the island of Levezzi, in Corsica. He gets friends and an innkeeper to invest in his dream, enough to get him to Tangiers where he convinces a cigarette smuggler, Eric (Vernon), to take him to the island on Eric's boat.

There they find 18-year-old Manina (Bardot), the light-keeper's daughter, who is beautiful and pure. Manina and Gérard fall in love. Eric thinks Gérard may have conned him, but Gérard's belief in the treasure compels patience. Gérard dives by day and romances Manina at night. Gérard finds the treasure, though Eric betrays him and absconds with it. However, Eric's boat is shipwrecked in a storm and sinks. The film ends with Manina and Gérard embracing.

The film is slow moving with a least half of it taken up with Gérard's plans and arrangements for the proposed recovery of the treasure. There is a risable scene where a fight breaks out in a nightclub in Tangiers, and the local police are called in and proceed to hit everybody with their truncheons, knocking them all out. Even so, it is worth watching to see the young Bardot before she developed her trademark pout and wiggle.

[Barry]

Norma Jean & Marilyn



Norma Jean & Marilyn is a 1996 American biographical drama television film directed by Tim Fywell, based on the 1985 book Goddess, the Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe by Anthony Summers. The film stars Ashley Judd as Norma Jean Dougherty and Mira Sorvino as Marilyn Monroe. It premiered on HBO on May 18, 1996.

The tagline for the highly fictionalized film summarizes the plot: "Marilyn Monroe was our fantasy. Norma Jean was her reality." In dream-like scenes, Monroe and her former self appear together, with Norma Jean sometimes taunting Monroe.

Norma Jean & Marilyn received mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 60% based on 5 reviews, with a rating average of 4.8/10.

Worth watching to see how despite being told she would never make it in the movies, Norma Jean is doggedly determined to succeed, and basically fucks her way into meeting producers and directors who reluctantly give her a chance.

[Barry]

And for a little light relief:

Asterix & Obelix - Take on Caesar, Mission Cleopatra, Asterix at the Olympic Games and Asterix & Obelix in the Service of Her Majesty.


1999, 2002, 2006



2012.


Based on the comic book series originally written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo.

All of these films feature Gérard Depardieu as Obelix, but the character of Asterix is played by different actors in each film.