FINALLY someone who agrees with me! It nearly ruins an otherwise pretty good flick. Every time he calls her “baby” I cringe.
Disagree. Although my wife would agree. She’s tried to watch it several times; every time, she falls asleep.
Bogart is at the top of his game. Lots of humorous lines from Claude Raines. Drama. Nazis. What’s not to love? I love the writing. You see the depth in Rick’s character. There’s a lot of interesting side characters. Is it perfect? Of course not. If you are looking for the non-stop action of an MCU movie, you’re not going to get it.
I think about the Oscars ceremonies the way some people think about the Superbowl. It’s just a chance to watch what various people think about recent movies. It’s a chance to see the people who make the movies interact with each other. It’s a chance to get together with friends who also enjoy watching and talking about movies. I don’t think that my personal favorites have to exactly match other people’s favorites. I don’t think that i can predict who the winners will be. For a long time I watched the Oscars by myself. Then I began going to a party that a film society I belong to has for the Oscars. It’s held at a movie theater that’s set up so people can sit in chairs with a table in front of them. They can thus eat and drink while watching the Oscars on a screen like in an ordinary movie theater. The food and drink is like that in a bar. We can eat, drink, and talk with friends, some of whom you haven’t seen for a while. Watching movies is a major part of my life, and I do it mostly at local movie theaters, not by myself at home. I don’t remotely think that the movies I watch or the movies that I particularly like has to be similar to those that my movie-loving friends watch or particularly like.
I wouldn’t go too out of my way to watch it as I’ve seen it a few times, but it is a fantastic film. I used to own it years ago back when prerecorded VHS was a thing. I assume a large part of its appeal is that the ending is not the traditional clichéd happy one, and Rick can see beyond his own happiness to what is best for the world. Also there are so many brilliant lines. Perhaps familiarity with these beforehand (as I’m sure you would have heard many of them) spoiled it a bit. The La Marseillaise scene is superb.
Casablanca is an example of a genre that I often like. For lack of a better term, I call them anti-romantic comedies or anti-romantic dramas, but I wish I could come up with a better term. The films have the couple getting together. They seem destined to be together forever. Then they both realize that they’re not going to stay together. They break up, but they’re relatively happy because they know that they each will eventually find a happier life ahead with someone else. Some examples are Casablanca, La La Land, (500) Days of Summer, Annie Hall, Play It Again, Sam, Celeste and Jesse Forever, Her, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Way We Were, and Manhattan.
I watched the animated movie Flow the other day. A cat and a menagerie of other animals have to escape a rising flood, so board a boat, which takes them along on an adventure. There’s no dialogue, but the animals do understand each other to an extent, and also have a level of intelligence and comprehension that is a little more anthropomorphised than I expected, but the story wouldn’t have worked without it.
It’s quite beautiful. The style and storyline, especially as it’s mostly from the point of view of the cat, reminded me a lot of playing a video game. Not just the obvious ones like Stray, but any game where you are determinedly crossing a land of perils and puzzles in order to reach a sanctuary (Journey; Rime; ABZU, etc).
It’s family-friendly, though there are some dark and mystic moments, and enthralling to watch. I definitely recommend it.
I watched Casablanca not terribly long ago, and what struck me was how efficiently the story was told. There are no extraneous scenes; hardly even any extraneous lines. Even after multiple viewings, it holds my attention all the way through.
So everyone is able to overlook the mysterious “letters of transit”, possibly signed by De Gaulle? (Kiddding; I love the movie even though they’re definitely a Mcguffin.)
I did love the final 30 minutes or so of the movie. I chucked at how quickly they say, “Round up the usual suspects…” and Rick is able to get away with it. Ah, to shoot someone in 1942! So much easier!
I hardly think anything I’ve said about other movies indicates I’m exclusively looking for that in a movie.
Even though I know that the actor is saying “Weygand”, my mind finds it impossible to hear that. So it’s still de Gaulle to me.
It’s hard to tell who he’s claiming the letters of transit are signed by in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BztF71vFpnE .
Tough question and depends on my mood. But I will say the first one that pops to my mind is Maniac (1934). It’s a totally WTF movie that has a lot going on in the background.
That was the general “you”, not you specifically; sorry for any confusion.
ProTip: “One”.
If one thinks…
The Gorge dropped on Apple. They’ve had a good run with sci fi productions and this starts out promising.
WOW what a dud.
I just finished it and liked it, but the final 15 minutes were pretty sappy and lame.
I was on board all the way until Sigourney Weaver came out to “handle the situation” at the towers.
Not a bad way to spend some time, though.
I know I’ve told this story before. Not going to say “stop me…” because I like the story.
I first saw Casablanca circa 1972, in the dining hall of my college residence. On film, projected onto a screen. This being pre-internet, pre-home video, pre-TCM – none of us had seen it (hard to believe). The dining hall was packed with 19 year old pseudo-intellectual jaded college radicals.
And we were entranced. When Claude Rains says “Major Strasser has been shot…” you could hear a pin drop. On “…Round up the usual suspects” the room exploded into cheers.
I can picture that, actually. Great story.
Vamps on Prime. A slightly older film, but pretty entertaining. Krysten Ritter and Alicia Silverstone play young(ish) clubby vampires. Also has Wallace Shawn as Van Helsing (of Homeland Security), Malcolm McDowell as Vlad Tepish, and Sigourney as a bloodthirsty elder vamp. A few interesting ideas, and Ritter as usual is great.
I watched this (Flow) last night and it was engaging. You need to be ready for a “chill” movie, but it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen (in a good way).
The small-palette, watercolor-like art style initially was off-putting but I got past it quickly.
I am pretty sure I’ve never seen a film with no spoken dialogue. But a fair amount of communication.