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I've Been Going to the...MOOOOvies


bigstickbonzo

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There are a lot of bad Shakespeare adaptations on film. Kurosawa is one of the few who got the Bard right. His "Macbeth" adaptation "Throne of Blood" is rightly considered one of the best Shakespeare films. In 1985, towards the end of his life, Kurosawa came out with "Ran", his version of Shakespeare's "King Lear". A feast for the eyes and mind...it demands to be seen on the big screen. Mieko Harada stands out as the Lady Macbeth-type Lady Kaede...reminiscent of Isuzu Yamada's chilling performance in "Throne of Blood".

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"Kwaidan" is Masaki Kobayashi's 1964 anthology of four Japanese ghost stories. A little hit-and-miss as some stories are more intriguing than outright scary. This was a restored print and I had never seen the film on the big screen, so it was still worth it. The second and fourth stories were my favourite.

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Edited by Strider
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Last week the New Beverly had a killer double-bill. I love cop/crime movies from the 1970s...especially 1970-75. "Dirty Harry". "French Connection". "Cisco Pike". "Laughing Policeman". "Taking of Pelham 123". "Across 110th St." "Hickey & Boggs".

Two I had not seen since forever and almost forgot about were "Freebie & the Bean" and "Busting". Both made in 1974..."Freebie" in San Francisco (with the Super Bowl in the background) and "Busting" in Los Angeles. Both feature great chemistry between the two leads. "Freebie" has incredible car-chase scenes. No CGI bullshit. "Busting" has a pre-crazy Robert Blake (at his "Baretta" peak) and lots of L.A. locations that don't exist anymore....and Antonio Fargas! Obviously, the chance of you being able to see these in a theatre are slim but you can find these on streaming services or movie channels. It's a helluva double-feature.

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I gave JoJo Rabbit a try but only made it halfway before my ADD kicked in. I thought it started off well, a quirky satire on the happenstances of Nazis and Jews, but after 30 minutes it turns into a stream of dialogue that didn't seem that intriguing. That's where I left off. 

Yesterday- finally caught this one on HBO and was pretty impressed. I was expecting something rather low key and oddball but it's actually a well made film in all areas. The plot runs kinda shallow after the initial concept wears off, but the excellent writing and acting keep it interesting. I wonder how they could afford all those Beatles songs? Maybe because they never played the actual studio tracks, just covers. I think this movie should be remade with several different bands, including Zep.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I watched a good bit of TCM this weekend and saw Hitchcock’s “Dial M For Murder” (one of my favs) as well as a few others (I Married a Witch, Steve McQueen in “Bullit” including a very well done Cinematography Documentary earlier). 
 

R😎

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Normally when I post on this thread, I post about movies I saw that night (or fairly recently) at a theatre. But because of the coronavirus shutdown I haven't been able to go to the movies...or anywhere...for the past fortnight. In fact, the Noir City Hollywood festival was shut down midstream.

Fortunately, between my DVD collection, Netflix and Prime Video streaming, I have plenty to watch at home. This past week I watched these three "deadly virus" themed films. Give them all a try. "Andromeda Strain" has always been, and still is, my favourite of this type of movie. "Satan Bug" suffers a little from its low-budget but has a score by the great Jerry Goldsmith, and stars George Maharis (one of the "three Georges"...Peppard, Maharis, Chakiris) and the hot Anne Francis. Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion" I missed somehow when it was released in 2011. But it was a remarkably prescient movie.

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3 great movies, Strider.

I just watched 'All Quiet On The Western Front' (1979). Some scenes were hard to watch: The wounded horses......Paul in the shellhole with the French soldier......Paul's friends Mother as he tried to tell her he didn't suffer before dying.....Paul carrying Ernest Borgnine to the aid station.....and finally Paul being killed while drawing a bird. The original film is just as powerful.

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I am a sucker for the Harry Palmer movies with Michael Caine. Tis a pity nobody thought to put Harry Palmer and James Bond together in a movie. Imagine a young Michael Caine and Sean Connery together. They were fantastic together in "The Man Who Would Be King".

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Quarantine Cinema. Introduced my nephew to this classic for the first time. Is there a child that doesn't thrill to his/her first watching of "King Kong"? 

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My favourite Paul Schrader movie. Good cast...Richard Pryor was never better. Gritty realistic costume and production design. With the ever-widening gap between CEOs and their workers, this movie resonates even more today.

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Two off the beaten path. 

Raquel Welch wasn't a great actress but she sure was fun to watch. And I will always watch any movie that features Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam, Strother Martin AND Christopher Lee!

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A dark bitter satire of Hollywood. One of the funniest movies I have ever seen and one of Blake Edwards' best. Good cast with Robert Preston a hoot, as always. Music by Henry Mancini. Boobs by Julie Andrews.

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21 minutes ago, Stryder1978 said:

So true!  The ONLY re-make I can think of that is better than the original is the 1959 re-make of "Ben-Hur".

Add these to your list...

1939 Wizard of Oz

1940 His Girl Friday

1941 Maltese Falcon

1954 A Star is Born

All remakes.

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