Revisiting old-timers...

[George Bellefontaine]

I've been taking a break from new releases and re-visiting some old timers in my collection. I watched Bridge On The River Kwai last night, Tombstone the night before and tonight I will be watching the Jimmy Stewart classic western WINCHESTER 73.

What are you folks watching lately ?




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[Burke Strickland]

Revisiting old-timers...

Class Reunion? :>)

The past couple of weeks I’ve been revisiting a few back catalog titles, as well:

Evita (for anyone who says Madonna can’t act – given the right role and director, she can – just watch this movie)
Enemy of the State (maybe they were talking about the Patriot Act and didn’t even know it)
Forrest Gump (It may not be Shakespeare, but I still think it’s a fascinating tale. And that’s all I have to say about that.)
Bowfinger (if the big stars in Hollywood were as screwed up as Eddie Murphy’s character in this one, they’d be touting screwy stuff like Scientology… er… never mind) :>)
Shakespeare In Love (this one IS Shakespeare, but with Oscars coming up in two days, I’ve been reading comments by people still upset about this one winning Best Pic – another viewing demonstrated once again that it wasn’t an upset; it deserved it)
Twister(sinister evil force controls people’s lives and destroys property)

But none of those movies are Casablanca, so I watched:
Casablanca (sinister evil force destroys peoples lives and controls property)

Burke

[David Meek]

Lately, I've spun up:

The Maltese Falcon
Rio Bravo
Tombstone
The 13th Warrior
Tears Of The Sun
The Replacement Killers

and

Twister - "Where's my truck?"




David - HTGuide flunky
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[Chris D]

Well, I've been watching some award winning movies lately, as well as others. Here's some:

Rocky (did you know the original was a multiple Oscar winner?)
Chorus Line
Almost Famous
Rock Star
Spy Kids series
James Bond movies
Antwone Fisher
Anger Management (not all that great)




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[BradF]

Here's what I've been watching lately...

Blow-Up ('68 ) - One of my favourite films, finally on DVD. I wasn't disappointed.

Grand Hotel ('32) - I was hoping for a better print. Miss Crawford's close-ups show excessive grain -- a shame, 'cause she steals the picture. Garbo really does say, "I vant to be alone". Three times, in fact.

Mutiny On The Bounty ('35) - A good looking print. Charles Laughton is a hoot as Capt'n Bligh.

The Quiet American ('02) - Some nice work from Michael Caine. I'd like to see the original version sometime.

Sunrise ('27) - The best silent movie I've ever seen. Actually, it's one of the best movies I've ever seen, period.

Solaris ('02) - I guess I liked this one more than the critics. I like George Clooney. He's the closest thing we've got to a Gable or Grant.

To Live And Die In L.A. ('85) - A gritty neo-noir that features one of the best car chases ever put to film.

The Best of Abbott and Costello Vol.1 - I managed to hang in through three of these movies and half of another. That's all the Abbott and Costello I'll ever need, thank-you. Beautiful looking prints, though.



A "what are you watching lately" thread is a good idea. It gives folks a chance to tout a few favourites, throw some brick-bats around, and pick up some good ideas for future viewings.

[David Meek]

To Live And Die In L.A. ('85) - A gritty neo-noir that features one of the best car chases ever put to film.

A "what are you watching lately" thread is a good idea. It gives folks a chance to tout a few favourites, throw some brick-bats around, and pick up some good ideas for future viewings.

Great movie Brad! :banana: I'd forgotten it had been released, so next trip to the mainland I'm going to have to snag a copy of it. Thanks for the memory jog.

We have these threads come up every so often. It was good timing for this one to appear.




David - HTGuide flunky
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[David Meek]

It's funny how your moods affect your viewing. One classic I normally love is The Maltese Falcon, but on viewing it the other night I just wasn't captivated and shut it down about 1/3 of the way through. Hmmmph, bad biorythm day I guess. . . .




David - HTGuide flunky
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[Chris D]

David, that one's on my list of award winning movies to buy. Long list...




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[BradF]

David, I hear you about moods. I think shutting it down was the smart thing to do. It'll keep for a better day.

Ya know, sometimes the mood of others comes into play, as well. If I can sense that other folks in the room just aren't into the movie as much as I am, then it destroys any hope I've got of enjoying it too. I guess that's why I usually prefer watching movies by myself, unless it's a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

This mention of The Maltese Falcon, and award winners, just reminded me that I've been seeing Chinatown going for pretty good prices in the stores lately... I think if a person was in a mood for a good film noir, but wanted to fire up something from the modern era, then you'd sure want to have Chinatown in your collection. Worth it just for the haunting theme music, alone. And no more evil character abounds than John Huston's Mr. Noah Cross.

[George Bellefontaine]

Yeah mood does have a lot to do with enjoyment of previously viewed films. I decided to watch a Bond flick a few nights back ( Octopussy) and after 30 minutes or so realized I wasn't enjoying it, so I put The Wild Bunch on instead and that I did enjoy, even though I've watched it a dozen times in the past.

Re: Live And Die in L.A., I got that baby as soon as it was released. Sure is fun watching a younger, thinner William Petersen exercising his acting chops.

Brad, that is an interesting list of titles there.

Oh, and last night I watched an older title I picked up in the bargain bin ($6.88) at Walmart: THE BEAST. It's about the Russian war in Afghanistan and is well done indeed.




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[George Bellefontaine]

On the viewing block this week, more titles from yesteryear:

DEATH WISH
DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES
THE SWIMMER ( a little known film starring Burt Lancaster, based on a John Cheever story.)
THE BIG EASY

May not get them all in this week. :tired:




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[BradF]

George, I look forward to your thoughts on Wine And Roses. I was gonna get the new DVD, but then too many other ones took precedence, so I ended up passing.

The Swimmer is a great little movie that I haven't seen in a long, long time. I remember being surprised by the brief appearance of Joan Rivers, of all people, in that one... attempting some serious acting in a scene, I think, with Lancaster. I wonder how she ever got that gig.

Your earlier topic reminded me that it's about time to re-visit the Coen Bros again... so, up next for me will be Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing and then Barton Fink. After all that, I should be ready for a first viewing of Intolerable Cruelty. That's the plan anyway.

[George Bellefontaine]

I only had Wine and Roses on VHS tape, Brad, so I am looking forward to see how good the B&W quality is. If you are not familiar with the story, it is a tale of a man and a woman who become alcoholics and stars Lee Remick and Jack Lemmon. Both do a dynamic job here. It is a very touching and sad story, a little different for Blake Edwards.

The Swimmer is one I am really looking forward to as I haven't seen it since it was released in the theater. I recall Lancasterdoing a fantastic acting job in this one.

Looks like you have an interesting viewing list ahead of you. You should get a charge out of Intolerable Cruelty




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[Ducan]

I have been doing the same thing lately with regards to older films over the last 6 months or so but seeing them for the first time rather than rewatching. I used to have a mental block aginst watching black and white movies but that quicky went away. The best of these I discovered so far was the Criterion release of The Third Man which has become my favorite movie. I also really loved the previosly mentioned Chinatown and Maltese Falcon. BradF is dead on with his coment on John Houston's character in Chinatown who i found very disturbing.

[Chris D]

Yup, Ducan, The Third Man is another movie on my long list of flicks to buy.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[John Holmes]

Chris,

I just watched "Antwone Fisher" for the first time a few days ago. ops:

This is a very good film. Very detailed story. And powerful portrayals of the main characters. This is a must see film. Denzel should have won his oscar for this.




"I came here, to chew bubble gum and kickass. And I'm all out of bubble gum!!!" My DVD's

[Dean McManis]

These are some of the DVDs that I've recenty watched that I own (not including rentals):

Star Trek VI-SE /recently bought
To Live and Die in LA /bought a little while ago
Young Sherlock Holmes /bought a little while ago
X2 /bought a little while ago
Ben Hur /HT visitor request
King of Hearts /HT visitor request
Firestarter /revisit
Contact /revisit
Scanners /revisit
Enemy of the State /revisit
Notorious /revisit
Frequency /revisit
Better Off Dead /revisit

Usually I'll get on a track where I'm thinking of a certain theme, or an actor/actress/director and rent a bunch of their movies, and then watch the ones of their films that I own after that.

-Dean.

[David Meek]

I've noticed that I do the same. I'm on a Russell Crowe kick right now with L. A. Confidential, Proof Of Life and of course, Gladiator.
;zx




David - HTGuide flunky
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[George Bellefontaine]

I'm on a Dennis Quaid kick right now. After recently watching The Big Easy and Cold Creek Manor, I picked up a copy of EVERYBODY'S ALL AMERICAN. Dennis plays a college football hero ( who later turns pro) and Jessica Lange his Homecoming Queen sweetheart. It follows them through 30 years of their lives together as husband and wife, and deals with the bitterness and frustration of life after football for Dennis, and the effect that has on his wife and children. This is an excellent film from 1988 and the dvd has a pretty good picture. Sound is nothing spectacula, and the football action is nothing like some recent stuff, but still pretty darn realistic. This is a football story, a drama and a love story all wrapped up in one. If you like football and these kinds of family dramas, you will certainly want to see this one. Quaid is excellent as the Gray Ghost, and so is Jessica as Babs.




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[Patt]

Just finished watching Chorus Line on a 27" TV and I look forward to seeing it again on a much larger screen. :T

[bamaredwingsfan]

The last few days i have watched the following DVD's

The Right Stuff

The Wall

U-571

Slap Shot

Star Trek II

Any Which Way You Can

[Chris D]

This last week, I watched some classic films. Not sure if many people have heard of them. Star Wars 4, 5, and 6.

[saurabh]

Chris... I have watched the Star Wars earlier episodes when I was a Kid but I have very few faint memories of the same and was wondering, are the earlier episodes available in DVD as a pack ???.

[David Meek]

I'm not Chris but yes they are:

Star Wars Trilogy





.

[David Meek]

Lately, I've watched

Star Wars: Eps 1 & 2 - Jeez, I wonder why? :

The Civil War: A Film By Ken Burns
Gettysburg
Silverado
Purgatory

[George Bellefontaine]

Some recent watches of oldies from my collection:

SCARY MOVIE (1)
BATTLE OF THE BULGE
SHANE ( watch this once a year every year )
THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE
FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX ( original)
GOLDENEYE
THE GETAWAY ( original )

Just a few. I go back to the oldies a lot. Will be watching CASABLANCA tonight.

[Chris D]

What he said.