This kind of wasn’t the Turkish delight they speak of there. The traditional one you’d get in Turkey (and probably most places) would be a jelly with powdered sugar on top.
It’s the same middle, but there’s a dark chocolate covered version of it, and was sold in the UK, and probably still is, Frys Turkish Delight. He has a point, it was different, but I quite liked it on occasion. Not every day, so not the most popular thing, but still not that bad.
In her subsequent rewriting of the story as a play she added a young mistress for Leonard, who does not appear until the end of the play.
Spoilered by What Exit?
The mistress and Leonard are about to leave Romaine (called “Christine” in all film and television versions, and most stage productions after the original Broadway production, until the [the 2016 television version] and stabs and kills Leonard. She will be defended by the same attorney she tricked into getting Leonard acquitted in the first place. This remained the standard production format until Sarah Phelps’ 2016 television version, which restored the original ending but changed the fates of other characters.
They say no one likes Turkish Delight, but it keeps getting made and purchased.
I loved the 2016 remake of Witness for the Prosecution, FWIW. Much darker, much spookier than the Laughton version (much as I enjoyed his performance). The remake focuses much more on the defendant’s solicitor, not his barrister, and goes in some very twisted but interesting directions.
Skyfall, which was Judi Dench’s last turn as “M”. Standard 007 fare, with Daniel Craig doing a sold job as Bond, and Javier Bardem being appropriately eeeeeevil.
I’ve just watched “Salome’s Last Dance” (1988), starring Glenda Jackson, Stratford Johns and Nickolas Grace, through Amazon Prime Video. I have the VHS tape but I’d like to see it come out on DVD.
I sorta like them (and I have somewhat distant Balkan roots as well ). But I don’t think I’d be likely to throw over my family and talking lion-pseudo-Christ for them. Once I found out what they were as a kid, I immediately felt sad for the children of C.S. Lewis’s generation. That Turkish Delight (no doubt rose water-flavored for that extra bit of blandness) was the most alluring treat he could come up with speaks to what must have been a horrifyingly depauperate British candy ecosystem back in the day.
In the Underrated Movies thread, @CalMeacham mentioned The Last of Sheila, and there it was this morning on TCM. So, I watched. Now, I’d seen it maybe 40 years ago (30?), anyway, a looooooong time ago. I didn’t remember much. I remembered that Sheila was a person and an anagram, and I had a feeling about the actual killer. Nothing changed my mind as events played out, so I “guessed” it, but I don’t know how much unconscious memory was there.
Dyan Cannon was great comic relief. I always enjoyed her in movies. She hasn’t acted in ages, has she?
But the biggest WTF (spoilered in case in provides too big a clue), was pretty amazing how James Mason being a child molester was considered such a very minor offense. Different times indeed.
Halfway through Saving Private Ryan. Yes, I am not a movie person. It took til the halfway point to get over the violence and into the story.
Next up-Forrest Gump.
I’ve seen a few, so I’ll just give a brief gist of what I thought.
Pact of Vengeance
This is a Len Kabazinski movie. He still has a long way to go, but for a micro-budget movie, he did a good job. Neat. Leo Fong is in it, his final movie before his death.
Vengeance
This was made by BJ Novak, who did a very risky thing. He wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the movie. No one to blame if it goes wrong. It’s not amazing, but it is quite good and he is good in it. I kind of liked it. Murder mystery of sorts, but also about how Texas is kind of nuts, but lovable if you can get over their right-wing craziness.
This is a bit of a hijack, but it’s movie-related and didn’t warrant its own thread, and I simply must share.
Two of my most beloved and influential films of my youth are Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and Zulu (1964). Today I learned that they have an actor in common: Nigel Green plays Hercules and Colour Sergeant Borne.
I was gobsmacked. Seen them both a million times and never noticed.
This is an excellent movie about raising kids, how hard it is, and how difficult it is in the end to let go of them. I think I loved it. The mother in this movie is probably one of the best portrayals of a mother I’ve seen in a movie. This entire movie is charming and wonderful. I’d recommend it to anyone.
Like Mahaloth we saw Vengeance. But I’d like to give it a stronger, and longer, review.
B.J. Novak plays a smug, clueless New Yorker writer who gets talked into going to a funeral of a woman he hooked up with in Nowhere, Texas. Her death seems mysterious. He stays with her family, starts to learn things and, since this is 2022, dreams of a podcast ensue.
There’s some funny bits. But since there’s a death involved some darker stuff. I wouldn’t call it a “dark comedy” since all of the films I’ve seen lately with that label are not remotely funny.
Novak has a very limited acting range. But since he wrote/directed/produced this for himself he is acting just like he’s supposed to. Although the name appears in the opening credits I’m going to blur it. Ashton Kutcher does a surprisingly good job. The character is one of those types that could talk you into kissing an armadillo. J. Smith-Cameron plays the mom quite well. Something she also did well in Rectify. Eli Bickel steals all his scenes just with his haircut. Issa Rae is good as the editor/podcast producer. Etc.
Because of the comedy/drama blur it’s never clear if they are making fun of, for example, the “everybody is doing a podcast” meme or not. But things go another way than I expected so it all fits.
Give it 5 Frito pies.
Note: Frito pie consists of Fritos, chili and cheese. All layered in a bowl. I’ve been eating it since the 70s and had it just two weeks ago. It must have cheese, dagnabit.
I tried to rewatch The Last Detail, Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid. I used to like this film, as it seemed to reflect my own experience in the Navy. But now, it just seems sad and depressing, and I didn’t finish.
The Lost City, with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, now streaming.
As just about every review says, this movie tries to harken back to action/adventure/rom coms of the 80s. Though it makes a game attempt, Romancing the Stone this is not.
Bullock has no flair for comedy, at least not here. Tatum is dumb and bland. Brad Pitt takes a paycheck for what must have been one day’s work. Daniel Radcliffe as the baddy seems too young for the role.
I also just couldn’t buy Bullock and Tatum ending-up as some kind of couple. There’s just no chemistry there. (In real life, they are 16 years different in age.) However, I could have accepted Pitt in the Tatum role.
On the positive side, the basic story idea is pretty good for this kind of movie, even if the dialog isn’t, and the special effects are adequate.
It’s an attempt at a fun movie that just doesn’t deliver much fun, but at least it will take less than two hours of your life.
I was on an airline flight yesterday so I watched a couple of movies that I hadn’t yet seen. One was Uncharted with Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland. It was an okay treasure hunt movie. These movies can be fun as long as you don’t question things, like why those ancient mechanisms still work. The other one was The Outfit with Mark Rylance, set in a tailor’s shop in Chicago and involving a crime gang. That was well-done and Rylance was good as always.