Return Of The Film Corner Thread

[Brad]

8 hours ago, ejp626 said:

Borat - the Sequel.

I don't care for the Borat movies (too much like shooting fish in a barrel), but my question is how does he get the people he puts in these films to sign releases?  I know that in a lot of cases people will sign the release and never see the final edit, but for instance, there is this scene with Rudy Giuliani in the sequel.  Given what we know about this scene, how could he ever have gotten a signed release?  Or is he relying on some sort of "public figure" exemption?  I wouldn't think that would apply in this case.  Just daring Rudy to sue him?  I don't get it.

In the first Borat movie (which was riotous), the people in the movie signed extensive releases.  However, your question seems to be not what they signed but what compelled them to do so. In other words, why? That seems a question only answerable by those people.

Here’s an article on the releases involved in the first movie, Borat Tricked Me: Can’t I Sue Him or Something?

[ejp626]

30 minutes ago, Brad said:

In the first Borat movie (which was riotous), the people in the movie signed extensive releases.  However, your question seems to be not what they signed but what compelled them to do so. In other words, why? That seems a question only answerable by those people.

Here’s an article on the releases involved in the first movie, Borat Tricked Me: Can’t I Sue Him or Something?

I probably didn't phrase that well.  I'm not truly that surprised by the folks in the first movie did sign releases.  Mostly it points to the fact that people don't read or understand most of what they are signing.  Though it does surprise me a bit that footage perhaps taken from hidden cameras and certainly taken in what I would consider a fraudulent manner can be covered by such a release.  Maybe this is in the article. 

It is a surprise that Giuliani signed such a release -- or did he?

[jlhoots]

On The Rocks - Apple+ TV

[ejp626]

Watched Dr. No last night (for obvious reasons).  I don't believe I had seen this one before, which is odd, as I thought I had seen all the Connery and Moore Bonds but only a handful of the others.  (I'm essentially taking the position that the Daniel Craig ones don't even exist...) 

At the risk of being heretical, it's kind of creaky and not particularly thrilling (all the plot twists are visible a mile away) -- and with a complete absence of interesting spy gadgets.  It's actually a bit surprising that they built the franchise from such a beginning.

I found myself more interested in what had been lifted directly from this movie for Austin Powers.

[ejp626]

From Russia with Love - This was a much stronger outing in my view, clearly the budget had been increased, and we have the appearance of the first spy-rigged suitcase.  While all Bond villains talk too much, this one actually appeared ready to kill Bond and was only tripped up a bit by his greed.

[Dave James]

On 10/14/2020 at 1:25 PM, Matthew said:

Nice article, meditation, on the book store scene in The Big Sleep

 

A bit hard to follow at times, but it's Bogie and Bacall so who cares?  Over and above the bookstore scenes, I'm partial to this swatch of thinly veiled dialog between Marlowe and Vivian Rutledge.  The censors must have had a ball (no pun intended) deciding if someone was trying to do an end run around the Hays Production Code.

 

    

[Matthew]

3 hours ago, Dave James said:

A bit hard to follow at times, but it's Bogie and Bacall so who cares?  Over and above the bookstore scenes, I'm partial to this swatch of thinly veiled dialog between Marlowe and Vivian Rutledge.  The censors must have had a ball (no pun intended) deciding if someone was trying to do an end run around the Hays Production Code.

 

    

That's what makes The Big Sleep such a great film, the acting and dialogue are so great, that you don't care you never find out how Owen died, they asked Chandler, and he had no idea either!

[gmonahan]

4 hours ago, Matthew said:

That's what makes The Big Sleep such a great film, the acting and dialogue are so great, that you don't care you never find out how Owen died, they asked Chandler, and he had no idea either!

It may be the greatest movie ever made that made no sense at all.

 

 

 

 

gregmo

[jlhoots]

Sorry We Missed You - dir. by Ken Loach

[medjuck]

On 11/2/2020 at 9:29 AM, Matthew said:

That's what makes The Big Sleep such a great film, the acting and dialogue are so great, that you don't care you never find out how Owen died, they asked Chandler, and he had no idea either!

There are two versions of this movie.  They sent the earlier version to Armed Forces abroad. Then To Have and Have Not came out and Bacall's agent fought to have more scenes with her put intoThe Big Sleep .  You can get both versions on the same DVD.   Some people have claimed that the earlier version made more sense: It doesn't. BTW to me the book points to Joe Brody as the killer o.Owen Taylor.   Brody  keeps changing his story, each time admitting that he was with Owen closer to his death than in his previous story, and he does end up with  the photos Owen was carrying. 

On 10/14/2020 at 1:25 PM, Matthew said:

Nice article, meditation, on the book store scene in The Big Sleep

 

In the book she is referred to as "an intelligent  Jewess" and someone has written a whole book with her as the protagonist. 

Edited November 5, 2020 by medjuck

[gmonahan]

Trying to see all of AFI's "Ten Top Ten." Only one to go after this one:

 

[duaneiac]

It's been decades since i read the book, but this seems like yet another only partially successful Cornell Woolrich adaptation.  The main reason to watch it is there in the small print -- "Directed by Robert Siodmak".  He creates some nice noirish scenes in the film -- moments which are both beautiful to look and and eerily uncomfortable to watch.  It's not giving much away to say Franchot Tone is the villain in the film.  He hams it up like he's starring in one of Universal's monster flicks. Elisha Cook Jr. plays the world's horniest drummer.   Interesting to note the song played on the jukebox in the opening scene, "I'll Remember April" which I assume the always budget conscious Universal had some financial rights/interest in since the song made its debut in another Universal film, Abbot & Costello's Ride 'Em Cowboy.

[Larry Kart]

5 hours ago, duaneiac said:

It's been decades since i read the book, but this seems like yet another only partially successful Cornell Woolrich adaptation.  The main reason to watch it is there in the small print -- "Directed by Robert Siodmak".  He creates some nice noirish scenes in the film -- moments which are both beautiful to look and and eerily uncomfortable to watch.  It's not giving much away to say Franchot Tone is the villain in the film.  He hams it up like he's starring in one of Universal's monster flicks. Elisha Cook Jr. plays the world's horniest drummer.   Interesting to note the song played on the jukebox in the opening scene, "I'll Remember April" which I assume the always budget conscious Universal had some financial rights/interest in since the song made its debut in another Universal film, Abbot & Costello's Ride 'Em Cowboy.

Ella Raines is out of sight in general and especially in and after the great scene where she induces Elisha Cook Jr. to flip out during a jam session.

[duaneiac]

3 hours ago, Larry Kart said:

Ella Raines is out of sight in general and especially in and after the great scene where she induces Elisha Cook Jr. to flip out during a jam session.

Yes, she was good.  That scene and the scene where she learns the truth about the villain are good.  What I always delight in are the outstanding character actors one can find even in lower budget films of those days.  The two cops who accompany the principal detective have this air of weariness and casual brutality about them.  The woman in charge of the millinery shop which created the hat which plays a pivotal role in the film -- few lines but the actress who portrayed her made her a memorable character.

[duaneiac]

For which Raymond Chandler wrote his own Cornell Woolrich tale of an innocent man, suspected of killing his wife, on the run from the law and out to find the real killer.  I like the scene when his character is on the lam, he listens to a radio broadcast in which they give a description of him as a man wanted by the police.  The description includes what he was last seen wearing, weight -- but no mention of height!   A touchy subject for the petite Mr. Ladd, allegedly.  I think this and Shane are the only Alan Ladd movies I've ever seen. 

[medjuck]

4 hours ago, duaneiac said:

For which Raymond Chandler wrote his own Cornell Woolrich tale of an innocent man, suspected of killing his wife, on the run from the law and out to find the real killer.  I like the scene when his character is on the lam, he listens to a radio broadcast in which they give a description of him as a man wanted by the police.  The description includes what he was last seen wearing, weight -- but no mention of height!   A touchy subject for the petite Mr. Ladd, allegedly.  I think this and Shane are the only Alan Ladd movies I've ever seen. 

Sounds a bit like a Hitchcock thriller when described this way. (Hitch  did make  one film, Rear Window, from a Woolrich story.)  I've only read a couple of Cornell Woolrich books.: which ones most parallel Blue Dahlia? 

[duaneiac]

15 hours ago, medjuck said:

Sounds a bit like a Hitchcock thriller when described this way. (Hitch  did make  one film, Rear Window, from a Woolrich story.)  I've only read a couple of Cornell Woolrich books.: which ones most parallel Blue Dahlia? 

Phantom Lady might be the closest comparison.  That is perhaps why these two films were included in this 3 CD set I bought --

The Black Path of Fear kind of fits that plot mold, but the protagonist runs off to Cuba with a mob boss' woman (so he's not exactly an "innocent" man) and when she gets killed, he is the patsy fingered for the murder and he has to outrace and outwit both the police and the mob boss to stay alive and prove his innocence.  I wrote about the less than satisfying film adaptation of this book last year here.

[duaneiac]

They can't all be gems.  Granted, the curiosity factor got the best of me and roped me into watching this "movie" ("stationarie" would be more like it).  This film must have been made with a budget even thinner than its plot.  To pad out a story about these vaudeville headlining sisters, the producers tossed in a number of other vaudeville performers -- folks neither Ed Sullivan nor Ted Mack would have endured for a minute -- to "entertain" us with their entire acts.  Admittedly, the accordionist playing the "William Tell Overture" is perhaps the most enjoyable thing in this film, but then he goes and spoils that by playing a second number!  No!  Bad accordionist!  No!

Whew!  According to Wikipedia, the Hilton Sisters had an even more unpleasant life than that which was portrayed here.  However, also worth noting is :  "Violet was a skilled saxophonist and Daisy a violinist."  Now, everybody be honest -- you kinda want to see that!  It's just human nature.  But when the producers got so desperate they even put in a juggler who can juggle three -- count 'em, three -- plates, they could have at least given a couple of minutes to the sax and violin playing conjoined twins performing "Shuffle Off To Buffalo"!

[Dave James]

When it comes to Veronica Lake, I'm certifiable.  Don't ask me why or how, but I got hooked on her years ago.  I have books, photos, autographs, DVD's...you name it.  Bette Davis said she was the most photogenic actress in the history of Hollywood.  No argument here.

 

[Larry Kart]

Lake was married for a good stretch of years (1944-52) to the excellent director Andre De Toth, who directed her in at least one notable film, the noir western "Ramrod" (1947) with Joel McRea. It's definitely worth seeing.

[ghost of miles]

On 11/13/2020 at 5:24 AM, duaneiac said:

For which Raymond Chandler wrote his own Cornell Woolrich tale of an innocent man, suspected of killing his wife, on the run from the law and out to find the real killer.  I like the scene when his character is on the lam, he listens to a radio broadcast in which they give a description of him as a man wanted by the police.  The description includes what he was last seen wearing, weight -- but no mention of height!   A touchy subject for the petite Mr. Ladd, allegedly.  I think this and Shane are the only Alan Ladd movies I've ever seen. 

Chander was infamously pressured to change the identity of the murderer.  I don't want to give away any spoilers for those who've never watched it; it's a classic noir, but the first time I saw it the reveal struck me as weird and forced.  Didn't read the account of the script change & reasons behind it till years later.  

[JSngry]

3 hours ago, Dave James said:

When it comes to Veronica Lake, I'm certifiable.  Don't ask me why or how, but I got hooked on her years ago.  I have books, photos, autographs, DVD's...you name it.  Bette Davis said she was the most photogenic actress in the history of Hollywood.  No argument here.

 

It's the hair.

[ghost of miles]

12 minutes ago, JSngry said:

It's the hair.

The peekaboo!

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

Chander was infamously pressured to change the identity of the murderer.  I don't want to give away any spoilers for those who've never watched it; it's a classic noir, but the first time I saw it the reveal struck me as weird and forced.  Didn't read the account of the script change & reasons behind it till years later.  

Fair enough, but where did you learn this?  I've probably read  it  but don't remember it.  ( I can say that about a lot of things nowadays.)

[ghost of miles]

I think one source was Otto Friedrich’s City Of Nets (I just pulled it off the shelf and found the relevant section on pg 231-33), but I’m pretty sure that I also read about it in one of the Chandler bios. The Wikipedia entry for the film makes a brief allusion to Chandler’s original intended ending and why he had to change it.