Movies you've seen recently (Part 2)

Cafe Society
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In Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys, published in 1996, he talks about a guy he knew who sublimated his violent impulses into a love of fireworks and pyrotechnics. He says of him that, if he had been responsible for the 1993 Parking Garage bombing of the World Trade Center by al-Quaeda, “it would now be the World Trade Hole”. Five years later…

I haven’t been able to find an edition of DBCGtG published since 2011. I don’t know if they pulled it because of that line, or if they did republish it, but edited that out.

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Heretic (Theater) Horror. The advertized blurb: Two young missionaries become ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse when they knock on the door of the diabolical Mr. Reed (Hugh grant). Trapped in his home, they must turn to their faith if they want to make it out alive.

Recommended with caveats.

Recommended particularly if you see this in theaters. I would almost call it Horror ASMR and it wouldn’t work at all in the comfort of your own home with a mid surround speaker system. The film also goes out of it’s way to make the horror gradually believable, there is no hiding behind a wall of chainsaws or anything.

Caveats: I would suggest a warning for a staunchly faithful audience, Mormonism in particular takes a severe detailed metaphysical beating as well as all Organized Religion. Not that this film will ever change a persons identity, but some may not want to pay to have their identity challenged for 2 hours when they thought it was going to be religious themed horror entertainment like The Omen or The Exorcist.

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I just finished watching Virus (1980), Japanese version. 156 minutes of chances blown, stupid mistakes made and heroic gestures wasted.

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And I’ll betcha everyone’s mouth matched the spoken dialogue.

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Actually, it was bad at all.

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Atlanta to Seattle to Honolulu. In-flight movies on the “not so” big screen.
First up was The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare R
2024 ‧ Action/War ‧ 2 hours

Kind of a by the numbers buddy action film set in WWII. Misfits organized by GB (and Churchill) and sent on a secret mission behind enemy lines to disrupt the German U-boat attacks on Atlantic convoys. Impossible, not sanctioned, will disavow any knowledge, etc… Not direct mission sabotage but resistance within the War committee is a sub-plot. I’d give it 3/5 but add an additional star because these were real people. In the war, they did these same things with real bullets, explosions, threat of capture/torture. No green screen, no blanks, no gas bomb explosions. Gallows humor as well, I’ve experienced it. So 4/5 and a salute to the gentlemen and woman who stood up tall.

Next up was North by Northwest 1959, Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason and a much younger Martin Landau as a slimy evil assistant to Mason. Lots of old stars from memory too. Topper as the professor (CIA)! Been reviewed to death, excellent, some plot holes but snappy dialog and good pacing. Fun to see again.

Seattle to Honolulu began with Deadpool vs. Wolverine.
Great fun, a little to much stabby, but by golly; they got around to an actual plot eventually. They make up, save the day and become lovers (made the last part up). Humor, many of the old cast from previous movies. The fourth wall breaking didn’t bother me at all. Part of the show. When it starts late night streaming, it will be in rotation for me.

Twisters - It was light weight Smarmy guy with a heart of gold. Gal trying to erase old memories. Extra old friend who has fallen off the high road but recovers at the end. You’ve seen this stuff before. The main subject, the tornadoes, are a big deal. I’ve lived in Oklahoma a couple of times; the destruction and heartbreak are real. Same with the tornado chasers - not an exaggeration. See it and move on.

An hour 45 minutes left to touchdown. GODZILLA The 1954 start to the franchise.
Wow. Yes it’s incredibly crude CG with a man in a suit stomping highly detailed models. Just remember - 1954. A real portrayal of the H-bomb fears in a nation not that far removed from the atomic bombing. The acting looks very wooden, part of the culture to hide/suppress emotion. The older cast members are better and the women on the island have had it with the secrecy and cover-up (that was good to see). The method to destroy Godzilla is wildly impossible but gets the job done. Great personal sacrifice for one young scientist. Just remember - 1954.

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Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit 2014 Chris Pine

I was disappointed. It doesn’t meet the production quality of the original Ryan movies with Harrison Ford.

Chris Pine gave a good effort but had very little to work with.

I’d give it one star.

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Nitpick: the original Jack Ryan film was with Alec Baldwin.

Nitpick over.

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Charade with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. Ben Mankiewicz hosted it recently on TCM, explaining it’s considered the most Hitchcockian film not directed by Alfred Hitchcock. @smithsb mentioned North By Northwest, which Charade reminds me of. It’s a comedic murder mystery with a interesting MacGuffin.

Set in Paris in the early 1960s, Hepburn enlists the help of Grant to figure out who murdered her husband. With Walter Matthau and James Coburn. Hepburn really glows from the screen, and Cary Grant makes a fine comedian. Paris is a beautiful city, so we get to see some famous sights but also back alleys and street markets.

I love Hitchcock types of films, so I’m at a loss to explain why I’ve never seen Charade before. Maybe I thought that Hepburn is so cute and classy that any movie that she’s in can’t be a murder mystery. I thought wrong.

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It could never be a Hitchcock film if the leading lady is a brunette.

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I reviewed that film up thread- real people yes, but the film is pure fantasy- nazis were not based in Spanish territories, no one was rescued from a secret nazi base, and no, our band of heroes did not mow down hundreds of nazis- in fact, akaik, no one died- and it wasnt a secret U Boat resupply base either. Mind you, they did nab a german tugboat and an Italian cargo ship. I rated it 2 of 5.

I love those films.

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I saw Gladiator II today and enjoyed it.

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Jimmy Stewart collaborated with Anthony Mann on several excellent films.

They weren’t all Westerns. The Glen Miller Story, Thunder Bay, and Strategic Air Command are also directed by Mann.

They were on a roll until a disagreement over Night Passage. Mann told Stewart it was a weak script. Stewart got mad and did it anyway. Mann was right, it’s at best a B movie. Far Weaker than movies like Winchester 77 and Naked Spur.

I watched Bend of the River tonight. Settlers traveling to Oregon get their supplies stolen by a Town Boss. Stewart fights to get them back. 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

I’m watching The Far Country now. Similiar story except it’s settlers traveling to the Alaska Gold fields. Yup, Stewart’s cattle are stolen. He plans to sell them to the miners for a big profit. Also 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Both screenplays were written by Borden Chase and directed by Mann.

I’m going to watch more of these Stewart/Mann collaborations. Naked Spur features Stewart as a ruthless bounty hunter.

Mann helped him transition from the sweet, stuttering guy to a hardened and often bitter fighter. Willing to kill to get what he wanted.

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If you haven’t seen it, try Wait Until Dark

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Yes, but stay away from 2024’s “The First Omen”, a prequel to the happenings of the original "The Omen’’ from 1976. The trailer has great visuals but the movie is formulaic af, filled with cliches and a not very believable plot.

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I’m looking 4ward to the new Nosferatu also, especially since the director is Robert Eggers. His 1st film “The Witch” is totally suspenseful & creepy af, like a good horror movie should be. Check it out! :movie_camera: :sunglasses:

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This is also a favorite type of horror with me, and a movie I like a lot.

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One of my favorite films, as I’ve said (and explained) many times on this Board before. The screenplay by Peter Stone is incredible (look up his other mystery films – they’re worth it. He also wrote the book for the musical 1776, among others). Arguably the best line is the last one, by Audrey Hepburn, which unfortunately often gets lost in bad edits: “I hope we have a lot of boys, so we can name them all after you.”

Charade was remade as The Trouble with Charley, a film you should avoid at all costs.

The film was actually directed by Stanley Donen, but when the Mad parody of this came out, at the end Donen peels off his mask to reveal that he’s really “Alfred Hatchplot”

IMHO, though, this isn’t the most Hitchcockian film not by Hitchcock – that honor goes to Francois Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black. The story was taken from one by Cornell Woolrich, the guy who wrote the one Rear Window was based on. And Truffaut got Bernard Herrmann (who scored Psycho and The Man who Knew too Much and North by Northwest for Hitchcock) to do the score.

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The Truman Show 1998

I got talked into watching. I’m not a fan of Jim Carrey’s frantic mugging. Look at me! Look at Me!

I was pleasantly surprised. Jim kept his performance restrained.

Weird concept but this came out roughly when shows like Big Brother, Top Chef, and Survivor debuted.

Viewers love voyeurism and seeing Reality Shows cast members manipulated.

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Bring Out the Fear I came across this on Tubi. I’d not heard of it and didn’t expect much but I was happily proved wrong.

On the surface It’s one of those “people lost in the woods and encounter scary stuff” films but there is a lot more to it. I would have loved to see this in a theater, as the sound is great and would have been tremendous in surround sound. Unlike a lot of films - especially horror- the characters are believable and relatable. Highly recommended.

Btw, I don’t know how many of you watch Tubi but if you’ve avoided it because of the commercials, they’re not that bad. IIRC they only play one or two at a time.