Recently watched movies

[Robert]

Five of my favourites :

Night of the Demon
Dr Terror's House of Horrors
Dead of Night
The Devil Rides Out
Frankenstein

[mariab]

Natalie Severn wrote:
I think Visconti"s preoccupation here is to expose the extent of the objectification of women as well as the extent of oppression of both women and children in his social strata.
Yes, I know. And how he shows it!

[Natalie Severn]

Hi Derrick,
good list that---Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid was brilliant.

[Natalie Severn]

Hello Norma,
I've seen The innocent with Laura Antonelli and I can only say . [B]

I think Visconti"s preoccupation here is to expose the extent of the objectification of women as well as the extent of oppression of both women and children in his social strata .

[mariab]

Derrick wrote:
The Big Chill is another film I could watch over and over again.
Me too, and that's precisely what we did with my friends in the last couple days. I must have the VCR tape since... a decade?

[Derrick]

Yesterday we watched The big chill again, and it really isn't as trivial as people keep saying.

Don't pay attention to other people; just give it a go BUT see The Shawshank Redemption ASAP.

The Big Chill is another film I could watch over and over again.

Another 9 (same criteria as emphasized) to make up another 10 are;

1. The League of Gentlemen (Jack Hawkins)
2. Get Carter (1971)
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark/Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (same film but both highly entertaining)
4. Inherit the Wind/To Kill a Mockingbird (similar themes)
5. The Lavender Hill Mob
6. Oliver!
7. Goodfellas
8. All The Presidents Men
9. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Derrick

[mariab]

Hello Norma,
I've seen The innocent with Laura Antonelli and I can only say . For its time it must have been very provocative. I think The leopard is more political. My favorite is Death in Venice, since it deals with art and death/decay, which are two of my favorite subjects...(No joke.)

[Divakind]

Just finished watching "Penn & Teller Get Killed" earlier this evening. It's part of the Warner Brothers Archive Collection of films that hadn't previously been available on DVD. I'm a huge P&T fan & my significant other gave it to me for Christmas. It's a fun little black comedy, directed by the late Arthur Penn, from the late 80's, when the "Bad Boys of Magic" were at the height of their popularity here in the US.

Also watched "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" again last night on Turner Classic Movies. Great film made even better by the fact we were watching it on my significant other's new HDTV. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like drunken fun & games with George & Martha!

Actually, I'm auditioning for a production of "..Woolf?" next year & have been reading it pretty religiously for a while. Didn't realize how much it was sinking in until I found myself mouthing about 90 percent of Liz Taylor's dialogue along with the movie! He was kidding me over lunch today & said "Next time we have movie night, we're watching something where you don't know all the lines!"

Has anyone here seen either "Black Swan" or the remake of "True Grit"? We're looking forward to seeing both of those...hopefully this week, while I'm still on vacation.

[Natalie Severn]

Well I am glad someone else likes the magnificent Visconti!My favourite of his is The Innocent with Laura Antonelli as the baby"s mother,and I also think Death In Venice was terrific but I think the Leopard was one of the the best films ever.
Some Like it Hot is a bit of a cult movie---but Marilyn ugly?Oh sacrilege--- never!
Merry Christmas to you too,Maria!

[mariab]

I've always wanted to see Shawshank Redemption, people keep telling me it's very-very good. From Norma's/Natalie's list my favorite is Dial “M“ for murder. My favorites by Visconti are (instead of The leopard) Death in Venice and (possibly) Conversation piece. À bout de souffle {Breathless} by Godard is very good too. We watched part of Some like it hot on Xmas Eve and I hope not to shock anybody if I say that I found it dated and Marilyn Monroe seriously UGLY in the movie. ()
Yesterday we watched The big chill again, and it really isn't as trivial as people keep saying. We're also keeping watching Salt on DVD, which just arrived, and I like it very much, even though it looks a bit diminutive on a TV screen. Merry Xmas to all

[Natalie Severn]

Must get to see Avatar!
"Time and the City" was a lovely film about Liverpool -
before it was trashed by developers and "transformers" in the last twenty years.

My top ten films :

Psycho
Some like it Hot
Street Car Named Desire or any film with Brando in it...!
Breathless by Jean luc Godard
Julie Christie in Billy Liar
One flew over the Cuckoo"s Nest
Reds
The Leopard
Dial M for Murder
Bonnie and Clyde

Norma

[Derrick]

Avatar

I watched Avatar for the first time, this morning on Sky Movies.

What an amazingly beautiful film it was too. The eco-message of man's trashing the planet came across strongly along with other metaphors for Vietnam napalming and 9/11. But both were committed by the same side here, ie humans against their own survival.

James Cameron's most successful films are not the most subtle in terms of character development. Perhaps not even in terms of the likely outcome (Titanic) yet Avatar had enough subtle touches that raises it above the average film fair. Like all good escapist films I was left wanting more.

My top 10 films of all time...those I could genuinely watch over and over again.

12 Angry Men (1957)
The Last Waltz (The Bands farewell concert)
Sleuth (1972)
Field of Dreams
Shawshank Redemption
Godfather Part II
Midnight Run
Life and Death Of Colonel Blimp
A League of Their Own
JFK

Derrick

[mariab]

sleekviper wrote:
one can never see a good film, or read a good book, too many times.
Totally with you on this.

[sleekviper]

Yes, they are the same. Do go to the Sony Center, one can never see a good film, or read a good book, too many times.

[mariab]

The professional is the same as Léon, right? For some reason I've never managed to see this flick, although it sounds very good. Natalie Portman is a very solid actress.
Jodie Foster was very good in Taxi Driver at 13, and Mariel Hemingway in Lipstick at 13 and in Manhattan at 16.
It's funny that in the other thread about movies I was expressing the wish to see The ghost writer again, well, they play it just once on Saturday afternoon at the Berlin Sony Center, and we may go.