I watched some crap called The Turning. Really bad horror/ghost movie. Completely pointless and a total waste of time. Don’t step in this.
I think there’s something to your criticism, and I had some similar thoughts when I first saw it, but it’s got such a great cast and is so moody and atmospheric and noir-ishly evocative that I think it just works.
We watched Superintelligence, Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse, and Uncle Frank over the weekend. I’d recommend the latter two.
Thanks for the acknowledgement, and attempt at explanation. I hate it when I don’t “get” things and I’m honestly curious as to what I’m missing!
The final scene of the book The Maltese Falcon (by Dashiell Hammett) is nearly the same as the movie. The point is that Bogart’s character has started to fall in love with this woman. Then he discovers that she was the one that killed his detective partner and double-crossed a bunch of other people. She asks Bogart’s character why he would turn her into the police when he might be in love with her. Bogart’s character says that in fact he didn’t even like his partner nor the characters played by Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. His point is that it doesn’t matter. He can’t let her get away with a murder and all the other bad things she did, even if he was sure that he loved her and she loved him. He says that you can’t let someone get away with such crimes even if you’re in love with them.
I understood that much, but prior to the last few minutes of the movie, I hadn’t gotten the sense that there was supposed to be anything more than physical attraction between them. If Spade was in love with anybody, it ought to have been his kick-ass secretary. 
It has been a while, but I can recall not being so impressed when I first saw “Maltese Falcon”. For starters, I got confused as to just who was who, etc…
But years later, I happened to catch it on TCM, and seeing it a 2nd time gave me a whole new appreciation for the movie. It really boils down to the 3 main characters: the girl, Peter Lorre, and Greenstreet all, not only after the same thing (the dingus), but also none of them having any scruples about obtaining it. Each is willing to “play” whoever - even amongst themselves - to achieve their goal. They each “know” this (or have learned it the hard way) about the other, too. Spade figures this out pretty quickly, and decides to play along. But is really more interested in finding out who killed his partner. As noted, his feelings for Archer in the book may have been different, but in the movie it is pretty clear Spade is pretty loyal to his partner, and is determined to find out who killed him.
I would agree that his falling in love with the girl was a bit…contrived. It also doesn’t make much sense given that she lies to him, and Spade even calls her on it. My best theory is 1) what was “attractive” back in the day has since changed 
and 2) she excuses her behavior because (she tells Spade) her life was in danger, and this is Spade’s Achille’s heel - saving/helping the damsel in distress. After peeling away layers of deceit, Spade feels he is finally “seeing” the real person, and she’s in this vulnerable position. And that is what attracts her to him most. It’s like he knows she’s a player, and he’s likely being played, but he can’t help but be attracted to her.
The other thing I picked up on that I hadn’t before is how much humor is in the movie. Some of it is pretty subtle, but it really adds to the film.
I would recommend giving it another try. It really is worthy of the “classic” status that it has achieved.
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse may well be my favorite superhero film. Apart from being a clever story that balances humor*, pathos and action well and pioneering various visual effects, it’s a massive love letter to comic books and the Spider-Man franchise as a whole. I saw it in the cinema and was overstimulated by the time the opening credits were done - a crazy ride.
*bagel!
Glad to help, D-B!
I really enjoyed that movie too, Gyrate, but The Incredibles remains my favorite superhero movie, followed not too far behind by the first movies each of Iron Man, Superman and The Avengers. To each their own.
I readily agree. I went to the movie theater having not seen any of the previews (just a poster) and left wanting to watch again. Not only was the visual style unique, the story was great and the soundtrack fantastic. I have re-watched many times (though not recently so it doesn’t quite count for this thread).
//i\\I have watched many noir films from the 40s and 50s, and from other genres, and that is a consistent theme/ Theme being that 2 people who have just met ‘fall in love’ with other after knowing each other for less than 48 hours and knowing fuck-all about each other.
I was really looking forward to Mank (Netflix). I was really disappointed. Note that this review is based on the first 90 minutes – I bailed out.
I thought it would be the story of the writing of Citizen Kane…but that is merely a framing device, on which to hang (through flashbacks) the story of Herman Mankiewicz and his Hollywood friends. (What actual films he’s writing in this time is never made clear).
The script tries to name-check as many Hollywood icons as possible. Of course Hearst and Marion Davies have big roles, but so do Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg, and brother Joe M. and John Houseman. Orson Welles is barely in it – mostly as a voice on the phone. At one point a character is introduced to the boys in the writer’s room: Ben Hecht, Charles Macarthur, George Kaufman, S.J. Perlman, and then they have a meeting with David O Selznick and Josef von Sternberg…none of whom appear again. Charlie Chaplin plays the piano at a Hearst party.
Because Mankiewicz can write good dialog apparently he’s supposed to speak in witty aphorisms 24/7.
Meh.
The cleverest line in The Maltese Falcon is Sam Spade (Bogart) saying, “I hope they don’t hang you, precious, by that sweet neck. Yes, angel, I’m going to send you over. The chances are you’ll get off with life. That means if you’re a good girl, you’ll be out in twenty years. I’ll be waiting for you. If they hang you, I’ll always remember you.” This is Spade right on the edge between admitting he has to turn in a woman he was in love with and making a sarcastic comment about it.
Rented Daniel Isn’t Real on Amazon last night. It was alright. Essentially Drop Dead Fred as a horror film. There were some twists and turns I didn’t expect. Both my wife and I didn’t think it was scary necessarily, but creepy rather, and at least it kept us entertained.
We both wouldn’t run out to people and recommend it, but at $4 we got our monies worth.
I’ve been watching some 1930s/40s/50s era movies over several months now and one thing I really enjoy is there was a kind of character who is old, quirky, a bit of a loner on the face of it. Yet also gentle and kind to strangers and full of wisdom to help the main character in time of trouble who initially looked down on him.
That kind of character resonates a lot with me as it brings back memories of when I was a young man trying to get by in an environment where everything felt to pass me by. Some of the best advice I ever received was from kind-hearted elderly strangers who I struck a conversation sitting together at a park bench or public library. They’d seen so much change in their lifetime and advice from a person who you never saw before and never met again struck a chord more than people I encountered on a daily basis.
I’m watching 1917 right now, and about an hour and a half in, it is becoming quite tedious. Get on with it, fer Christ’s sake!
Last night we watched The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, special effects by Ray Harryhausen. Now that’s what I call a good flick. 
I pretty much dig any movie with fighting skeletons. It’s a mark of good quality, like helicopter sounds in a rock song.
One of my all-time favorites. I first saw it in a movie theater, which helped.
Watching it all these years later, I have to admit that it bugs me that, after establishing that Sinbad’s sailing a pretty traditional Arabian dhow they then treat us to several scenes – both long shots and close-ups – of him sailing a circa 18th century European 3-masted frigate. I suppose it was what they could get.
The combination of Harryhausen effects (not just the animation, but all the technical details people tend to miss*, plus the “force field”, the colored “genie” smoke, and so forth), along with Bernard Hermann’s perfect score makes it especially enjoyable.
*like the way the Cyclops grabs Sinbad by the boot and hauls him up. Only the cyclops hand is an animated miniature, and it’s clearly gripping the boot.
In the book Spade makes it plain that maybe, but only maybe, he loves Bridget. In the movie after he lists the many reasons that he is turning Brigid in she says, “You know whether you love me or not.” And Spade replies, “Maybe I do.” In the original he replies, “I don’t . It’s easy enough to be nuts about you.”
However, in the movie they skip the bit where Brigid spends the night at Spade’s apartment. While she is sleeping he goes to where she is staying and breaks in and searches the place. The script also eliminates Spade’s strip search of Brigid, looking for the missing $1,000 bill, in the final confrontation with Gutman. Hardly love bird stuff. Those damn censors change everything.
And remember that, when Spade explains everything to Brigid ( and we readers/viewers), it is obvious that he has known all along that she had murdered Miles. Even before he slept with her.