Return Of The Film Corner Thread

[kinuta]

Forsaken - Jon Cassar (2014)

Formulaic but very watchable. Certainly warrants a second look.

Cape Fear - Martin Scorsese (1991)

 

 

[duaneiac]

First time watching this version and I gotta admit, I was not impressed.  If the name "Alfred Hitchcock" (or the immortal "Nova Pilbeam") were not attached to this film, I think it would have been utterly forgotten by now.

[JSngry]

 

 

 

[gmonahan]

10 hours ago, JSngry said:

 

 

 

I swear, Jim, you can find the *goofiest* movies!! This one must have been far at the tail end of a drive-in double feature!! How was it?!

 

gregmo

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, gmonahan said:

I swear, Jim, you can find the *goofiest* movies!! This one must have been far at the tail end of a drive-in double feature!! How was it?!

 

gregmo

A lot better than you'd think, actually. A lot of it shot "on the streets" in L.A. in 1956, so you know pretty much everything you see (except the land itself) no longer exists. which in the case of Jack's at the Beach and the two used car lots where most of the action takes place (under their real names, with a special thanks to them both in the end credits, is a real visual treat (as is Joi Lansing, but hey, that's a no-brainer, right?). And the cars....oh the cars!

The plot is not about hot rods, it's about a multi-state stolen car racket and how an honest used-care salesman with a loving hot wife and a dangerously sick baby gets sucked into it all, does quite well, finally gets cold feet when the feds move in, and then gets framed for the murder of one of the feds by the outfit for whom he's been working (which of course involves an implied desperation quickie with Joi Lansing, who has of course also been used to bait this guy in from the git-go).

The final scene is absolutely Hitchcock-ian, taking place on/in  a roller coaster in an amusement park at what is now called Venice Beach but was then known as Ocean Park Pier, in Santa Monica (and which of course also no longer exists). It might make you dizzy, and I mean that as a compliment.

The whole thing lasts only 60 minutes and does not waste a second. And you get to see Dabs Greer as a Fed trying to buy his wife a new Chrysler that he suspects might be hot (it is) less than an hour before the racket murders him.

I would absolutely recommend this to anybody who is not put off by the above description. It's free with Amazon Prime.

 

[Larry Kart]

A few days ago watched an old favorite, Don Siegel’s “Charley Varrick” (1973) with Walter Matthau and Joe Don Baker. Held up like gangbusters. Probably impossible, though not for any obvious reasons I can think of right now, to make a movie like it these days, though Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown” was similar in some respects -- less compact though and with some tendency to lay out aspects of the plot in advance; "Charley Varrick" holds its cards very close to the vest. Indeed, the movie has one of the cleverest but loose-limbed/realistic and in the end most satisfying plots imaginable. Matthau is terrific. Joe Don Baker is a formidable bad guy, and John Vernon (a mid-level mob boss in “Point Blank” and here as well and Dean Wormer in "Animal House) ) is menacing too, with some creepy touches. 

[Brad]

41 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

A few days ago watched an old favorite, Don Siegel’s “Charley Varrick” (1973) with Walter Matthau and Joe Don Baker. Held up like gangbusters. Probably impossible, though not for any obvious reasons I can think of right now, to make a movie like it these days, though Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown” was similar in some respects -- less compact though and with some tendency to lay out aspects of the plot in advance; "Charley Varrick" holds its cards very close to the vest. Indeed, the movie has one of the cleverest but loose-limbed/realistic and in the end most satisfying plots imaginable. Matthau is terrific. Joe Don Baker is a formidable bad guy, and John Vernon (a mid-level mob boss in “Point Blank” and here as well and Dean Wormer in "Animal House) ) is menacing too, with some creepy touches. 

Great movie. I have seen it many times but not in the last few years. I wouldn't swear to this but this is the first movie where I think Matthau began the transition to more dramatic, less comedic roles. 

[kinuta]

It's A Wonderful Life - Frank Capra (1946)

[Larry Kart]

35 minutes ago, Brad said:

Great movie. I have seen it many times but not in the last few years. I wouldn't swear to this but this is the first movie where I think Matthau began the transition to more dramatic, less comedic roles. 

Note how the title character's gum-chewing become subtly emblematic. My guess is that this was Matthau's idea.

Speaking of those creepy touches, don't miss the scene where Vernon walks over to push the little girl in the swing outside the bank. What the heck that scene means I couldn't say, but it's immensely creepy.

[Dave James]

13 hours ago, JSngry said:

 i watched this the other day.  Very serviceable.  I'd call it low-rent mid-50"s noir.  And if you're just looking for a pretty face, there's always Joi Lansing.  

 

Edited June 5, 2019 by Dave James

[medjuck]

2 hours ago, Brad said:

Great movie. I have seen it many times but not in the last few years. I wouldn't swear to this but this is the first movie where I think Matthau began the transition to more dramatic, less comedic roles. 

IIRC he plays it pretty straight in Lonely Are the Brave and A Face in the Crowd. 

Edited June 6, 2019 by medjuck

[Brad]

4 hours ago, Larry Kart said:

Note how the title character's gum-chewing become subtly emblematic. My guess is that this was Matthau's idea.

Speaking of those creepy touches, don't miss the scene where Vernon walks over to push the little girl in the swing outside the bank. What the heck that scene means I couldn't say, but it's immensely creepy.

Yes, I remember that scene now. A weird one.  Matthau gives off that deadpan attitude but you know there’s more going on in his head. 

2 hours ago, medjuck said:

IIRC he plays it pretty straight in Lonely Are the Brave and A Face in the Crowd. 

Yes, you’re correct. He was very good in that movie, which is a fine, fine movie. William Schallert also has a memorable minor role, setting up Matthau for some good dialogue. 

Edited June 6, 2019 by Brad

[kinuta]

Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)

[gmonahan]

1 hour ago, kinuta said:

Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)

I just KNOW I've heard of this thing somewhere...........

 

 

gregmo

On 6/5/2019 at 2:07 PM, JSngry said:

A lot better than you'd think, actually. A lot of it shot "on the streets" in L.A. in 1956, so you know pretty much everything you see (except the land itself) no longer exists. which in the case of Jack's at the Beach and the two used car lots where most of the action takes place (under their real names, with a special thanks to them both in the end credits, is a real visual treat (as is Joi Lansing, but hey, that's a no-brainer, right?). And the cars....oh the cars!

The plot is not about hot rods, it's about a multi-state stolen car racket and how an honest used-care salesman with a loving hot wife and a dangerously sick baby gets sucked into it all, does quite well, finally gets cold feet when the feds move in, and then gets framed for the murder of one of the feds by the outfit for whom he's been working (which of course involves an implied desperation quickie with Joi Lansing, who has of course also been used to bait this guy in from the git-go).

The final scene is absolutely Hitchcock-ian, taking place on/in  a roller coaster in an amusement park at what is now called Venice Beach but was then known as Ocean Park Pier, in Santa Monica (and which of course also no longer exists). It might make you dizzy, and I mean that as a compliment.

The whole thing lasts only 60 minutes and does not waste a second. And you get to see Dabs Greer as a Fed trying to buy his wife a new Chrysler that he suspects might be hot (it is) less than an hour before the racket murders him.

I would absolutely recommend this to anybody who is not put off by the above description. It's free with Amazon Prime.

 

Ok, I'll check it out!!

 

 

gregmo

 

[Dave Garrett]

On 6/5/2019 at 4:07 PM, JSngry said:

A lot better than you'd think, actually. A lot of it shot "on the streets" in L.A. in 1956, so you know pretty much everything you see (except the land itself) no longer exists. which in the case of Jack's at the Beach and the two used car lots where most of the action takes place (under their real names, with a special thanks to them both in the end credits, is a real visual treat (as is Joi Lansing, but hey, that's a no-brainer, right?). And the cars....oh the cars!

The plot is not about hot rods, it's about a multi-state stolen car racket and how an honest used-care salesman with a loving hot wife and a dangerously sick baby gets sucked into it all, does quite well, finally gets cold feet when the feds move in, and then gets framed for the murder of one of the feds by the outfit for whom he's been working (which of course involves an implied desperation quickie with Joi Lansing, who has of course also been used to bait this guy in from the git-go).

The final scene is absolutely Hitchcock-ian, taking place on/in  a roller coaster in an amusement park at what is now called Venice Beach but was then known as Ocean Park Pier, in Santa Monica (and which of course also no longer exists). It might make you dizzy, and I mean that as a compliment.

The whole thing lasts only 60 minutes and does not waste a second. And you get to see Dabs Greer as a Fed trying to buy his wife a new Chrysler that he suspects might be hot (it is) less than an hour before the racket murders him.

I would absolutely recommend this to anybody who is not put off by the above description. It's free with Amazon Prime.

Put off by the above description? Shit, that sounds like a must see, and the framegrabs only serve to reinforce that feeling! Added to my Prime watchlist posthaste. 

[kinuta]

Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock (1960)

[kinuta]

Out Of The Past - Jacques Tourneur  (1947)

[kinuta]

Angel Face - Otto Preminger (1952)

[Brad]

Interesting in how it seamlessly merges actual war footage with the actual acting. 

[kinuta]

Letter From An Unknown Woman - Max Ophuls (1948)

[jlhoots]

Late Night

[medjuck]

7 hours ago, kinuta said:

Letter From An Unknown Woman - Max Ophuls (1948)

Great movie!

6 hours ago, jlhoots said:

Late Night

What did you think of it? 

On TCM last week. I always wanted to see it because it is based on The Maltese Falcon.  IMBD describes it as a parody of Falcon and that might be the best way to watch it.  Pretty awful but it has its moments. 

Edited June 11, 2019 by medjuck
Drunkenness

[jlhoots]

Liked Late Night.

Going to see The Souvenir today.

[gmonahan]

8 hours ago, jlhoots said:

Liked Late Night.

Going to see The Souvenir today.

I saw Souvenir yesterday. Have to admit I really didn't like it at all.

 

 

gregmo

[kinuta]

The Drop - Michael R Roskam (2014)