If the movie covers the real story pretty closely it’s fascinating. No “mincemeat” in the sense of what you’d bring to mind when thinking about a war movie.
And Operation Mincemeat is what the actual, historic operation was called.
Apparently, operation names were assigned without regard for aptness. That’s the impression I got from reading The Man Who Never Was.
Well, naming it “The man who never was” would be a bit of (python) “Ohhhh what a giveaway!” (python).
See post #4188. Hope you properly appreciated the brocade!! 
I watched two films on a flight back from Costa Rica:
Old is another M. Night Shyamalan stinker. Although the funniest scene I’ve seen all year was the one involving the two youngest characters. It was meant to be tragic, but was so hilarious that people five rows back could probably hear me laughing.
Licorice Pizza Not much of a plot but the era, locale, and the theme of conflict between juvenile and mature desires really struck home with me. Except for some cartoonish cameos based on real people (I’m looking at you, Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper) the acting was superb.
This movie was:
- Great
- Unintentionally Hilarious
- Terrible
Yes, great and terrible all in the same movie. I can tell you this: I remember Old and I forget many other movies. It’s certainly…something.
Over the weekend, I read Marathon Man. It was pretty good. When I realized that the movie version starred Dustin Hoffman, I had to see it.
Well, the movie was painfully bad. It was mostly dark, important dialogue was muttered or shrieked, there were occasional weird sound effects in the background that upset my dogs, and it seemed to me that the filmmakers were intentionally trying to obfuscate the story. Which is odd, because the author and scriptwriter were the same guy (William Goldman, of Princess Bride fame). The movie started off with two assholes dying in a road rage incident, then switched to a schlemiel running and going to class, then a different guy in a different city, then that guy gets attacked in still another city, plus some memory flashbacks and even a glimpse of something from the schlemiel’s imagination. If I hadn’t just read the novel, I’d have ditched the movie by this point, because I couldn’t have followed at all. There were finally some well-lighted scenes (in my opinion, that’s why everyone actually remembers the torture session, because it was pretty brief), and maybe the last fifteen minutes were good. I think someone should take a shot at remaking this one, although it’s a real shame Dustin Hoffman couldn’t play the role again.
Where did you catch Marathon Man? It’s been so long since I would have seen it I can’t remember if I have seen it, tbh.
Free on Amazon Prime.
Marathon Man is the setting for a great Hollywood story: Dustin Hoffman is getting into his role, preparing for a scene in which his character is supposed to be breathless from having just completed a run (he’s a marathon runner, hence the title) so Hoffman is actually running back and forth. His costar Laurene Olivier asks him: “My dear boy…have you considered acting?”
I’ve heard this story so many times, but I have another. I believe this one was Katherine Hepburn. Someone got to work with her when she was getting older and they were in awe. They asked her how she is able to act so well and she just answered, “I pretend, my dear. I pretend.”
I watched Midsommar. Basically Wicker Man without Nicolas Cage in a bear suit or bees.
“Not the bees!!!”
Oh… I guess not.
On D-Day, the British named their beaches after fish; Gold, Jelly and Sword.
The Canadians balked at the idea of storming ‘Jelly Beach’ so they changed it to Juno.
Well, there is a bear suit, but you are right that Nic Cage isn’t in it.
My most recent five:
What We Left Behind
An interesting crowdfunded documentary about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Good interviews with the cast, top production brass, tech folks, studio poobahs etc. A highlight was a reunion of several key writers, talking through the first episode of a hypothetical new season of the show. Highly recommended for any fan.
Noises Off
Unfunny comedy about a no-tal theater company trying to put on a show and failing miserably, both on stage and off.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
A 1949 Disney cartoon retelling of the tale of Ichabod Crane and his spooky rendezvous with destiny in the form of the Headless Horseman. Meh.
The 39 Steps
Having just seen a comic stage adaptation of the 1935 Hitchcock movie, which I first saw in college, I decided to see it again - exciting, clever, well-crafted and funny as always.
The Three Musketeers
Saw the 1973 version - with Michael York, Oliver Reed, a lovely Raquel Welch etc. and a surprisingly well-cast Charlton Heston as Cardinal Richelieu - for the first time since it was released. Still good swashbuckling fun.
I don’t know why, but farce rarely works on film; there’s something about the immediacy of live theatre that makes it work, and something about film that sucks all the energy out of it. Noises Off is insanely good on stage, which makes it such a pity the film fell so flat.
That’s basic operational security. If you accidentally pick a name at random that is even slightly apt, it gets changed (as I understand it). This doesn’t apply to names of non-secret operations (like “Desert Storm”), of course.
Got around to watching The Worst Person in the World, which is my favorite movie in quite a while (though, I don’t watch so much these days). Renate Reinsve is terrific.