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  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 7,372MI6 Agent

    FRENZY (1972)

    After a couple of bland outings Alfred Hitchcock returns to form in this smart thriller. A serial killer in London is strangling women with a necktie and the police have bad tempered Jon Finch as their main suspect, but does his friend Barry Foster know something more? Making good use of London locations Hitchcock serves up a grisly tale with several masterful camera sequences. It mixes comedy with extreme tension and all the cast give excellent performances. Even after 50 years the murders are shocking and brutal but Hitchcock directs in such a masterful fashion that what could have been just an ordinary exploitation movie in other hands is delivered as a delicious, outrageous tour de force.

    Essential viewing.

    9/10

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 38,078Chief of Staff

    Agreed, it's one of his best but often underrated (? due to the total lack of glamour). Watched it again a few months ago.

  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 22,425MI6 Agent

    I also agree.

  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent

    Top Gun: Maverick

    I put off watching this for some stupid reason but I really, really enjoyed it. I was a bit wary because so long had passed but it was worth waiting 36 years for. 😁

  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,484MI6 Agent

    Tried to get Dad to see that film at my local last month but couldn't get his wheelchair up the stairs, the only w/chair space was right at the front, not really appropriate for someone 93.

    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent

    I don't now why they bother with those seats. They are the worst on the house. Last time I had to sit there I left with massive headache because my eyes couldn't take being so close to such a massive screen. It amazes me that cinemas still only provide that area for wheelchair uses.

  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 4,140MI6 Agent

    CoolHandBond said:

    FRENZY (1972)

    _____________________________________

    by coincidence last week I watched

    Family Plot (1976)

    Hitchcock's final film (Frenzy was second last). I vaguely remember seeing this on teevee as a wee lad, long before I saw any of his classic films. I probably had seen his teevee show in syndication before that.

    This one's lightweight comedy, about two different con artist couples whose paths cross. The nice ones are phony psychic Barbara Harris and her cabdriver boyfriend turned amateur detective Bruce Dern. One of her clients is an elderly lady looking for a longlost heir given up for adoption, who offers Harris $10,000- reward to find him. The heir turns out to be creepy jeweler William Devane, who has a kidnap-and-ransom scheme going with his ladyfriend Karen Black. They kidnap prominent individuals, and lock them in a hidden rom in their basement in exchange for large diamonds. When Dern and Harris enter the life of the missing heir, he assumes the reason they're nosing around is because they know all about the kidnappings and the hidden room in the basement gets two final occupants.

  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 4,140MI6 Agent
    edited October 2022

    and last night at Cinema Potts

    Crossplot (1969)

    Roger Moore's first proper feature film as lead, after the end of The Saint. Much of the behind the scenes crew worked on The Saint, and this has the technical standards of a teevee movie, lots of back projection.

    Shamelessly recycles entire sequences from North by Northwest, and bits from other Hitchcock films. Moore is an advertising man who promises his boss (played by Bernard Lee(!)) to find a specific beautiful model for a photoshoot tomorrow, but is surprised to find the wrong woman's photo in the portfolio. When he finally tracks down mystery woman Claudie Lange, she turns out to be a Hungarian in the country illegally, hanging round with peace protesters (thus involving swinging hippy scene content), and an aunt who insists her niece is a habitual liar. Somehow this leads to an assassination plot that only one advertising man can prevent, and save the world.

    Amongst the scenes lifted intact from North by Northwest, is the one where the bad guys forcefed Cary Grant with liquor then put him behind the wheel of a car on a winding mountain road. Only this version the baddies somehow get our Roger stoned and plant a huge spliff in the ashtray of his car! The shot where he comes out of his haze and the police arrest him anticipates the equally classic scene from Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke "'ow fast was I goin' officer?"

    which makes me wonder: did our Roger smoke dope in real life?


  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,865MI6 Agent
    edited October 2022

    Funny you should mention it but when I was at secondary school (more than 20 years ago now) I remember one of my friends telling me one day that Roger Moore used to smoke dope. I have no other source for that assertion, but I assume they'd either read it in a newspaper or magazine or saw it on TV. I've no idea if it's true or not but I remember thinking at the time that it didn't sound much like our Roger. Of course, he was already a cigarette and cigar smoker so who knows?

    Edit: A rudimentary Google search found this: Roger Moore hints at marijuana use (digitalspy.com)

    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent

    Don't know if Roger tried the Devil's Lettuce but I do remember reading that when Making "The Persuaders"

    Tony Curtis Used it a lot, with Roger having to change some lines on the hop as Tony wasn't using the

    agreed script, and Tony Curtis kept his driving gloves on to hide the staining of his fingers from smoking it.

    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • chrisno1chrisno1 LondonPosts: 3,634MI6 Agent

    And there was I, thinking Tony was getting into character....

  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,865MI6 Agent
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • HardyboyHardyboy Posts: 5,912Chief of Staff

    This weekend I carved 2 hours and 45 minutes (about the length of NTTD) out of my time to watch BLONDE on Netflix. Our own Ana de Armas plays Marilyn Monroe, and she's downright superb--she nails the look and the voice (though a couple of times her Cuban accent slips out), and she creates a person who is vulnerable and sympathetic. If she doesn't get an Oscar nomination, the Academy is more corrupt and stupid than I thought. Despite Ana's performance, though, the film is pretty heavy-going--it's downbeat, Hollywood comes across as a hellhole, and Marilyn is tossed from abusive man to even more abusive man. Not sure if I can honestly recommend it, but I do think it's worth a look.

    Vox clamantis in deserto
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 7,372MI6 Agent

    I watched this a couple of weeks ago for the first time since it was released and I enjoyed it very much, it’s well worth a look.

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 7,372MI6 Agent

    THE VIKINGS (1958)

    I hadn’t seen this for over 50 years so when it turned up on the Hits Movies channel I recorded it and saw it last night. It’s a sumptuous production making good use of the spectacular Norwegian scenery and well designed, if obvious sets, but Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine and Janet Leigh all give good performances as we are treated to a soap opera style story of half brothers in conflict. Mario Nascimbene brings in the finest score of his career, he would later go on to score some Hammer productions. Richard Fleischer directs with style, he has a career of successful movies but seems strangely underrated by mainstream critics.

    Melodramatic, but certainly entertaining, and those longboats elevate this to another point scored.

    7/10

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 22,425MI6 Agent
    edited October 2022

    Fantastic beasts: The secrets of Dumbledore (2022)


    For those who don't know this is the third and final movie in the spinoff from Harry Potter. It takes place in the 1930's. Our own Mads Mikkelsen plays the main villan, Grindelwald. For me it isn't quite as good as the Harry Potter movies. I feel the action scenenes and the movie in general relies too much on CGI. Obviously a movie like this requires a lot of CGI, but I wish they'd used more real locations, physical sets and practical effects. When most of the scene is CGI something's wrong.

    It's also been suggested that the Kowalski character should've been the lead and not Eddie Redmayne's Newt. I suspect they're on to something. There's nothing wrong with Redmayne's performance, it's just that he's an insider in the wizarding world. Kowalski on the other hand is new to that world, even more so than Harry was. Even though the audience is fairly knowledgeable about that world after the Harry Potter stories I think we need someone relatable to join us into it. Kowalski is a very relatable person and he also has a better arch than Newt does.

    One of Dumbledore's secrets is that he and Grindelwald had a homosexual relationship in the past. I think this works well for the story and the character.

    Callum Turner had been mentioned as a candidate to be the next James Bond. His character in this movie wears a suit and moves around in a 30's environment, and I can see it. Especially when he's in the bar of a Orient Express-style train he looks really Bondian.

  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 4,140MI6 Agent
    edited October 2022

    ...and speaking of Cheech and Chong,

    two weeks ago in Cinema Potts was screened

    YellowBeard (1983)

    starring Graham Chapman and Peter Cook (who co-wrote the script along with David Sherlock and Bernard McKenna)...

    ...and Marty Feldman and John Cleese and Eric idle and Madeleine Kahn and Peter Boyle and Kenneth Mars and Cheech and Chong!

    ...and James Mason!!

    David Bowie and Spike Milligan are supposed to have cameos but I didnt spot them

    wow! some cast huh? note its not just three Pythons, its half the cast of Young Frankenstein too! I spotted this in the used book store a couple weeks ago and was an instant purchase, I didn't even know it was on dvd and dont think I've even heard it mentioned once in the 40 years since it was first released. Obviously an essential addition to the Python wing of the Potts Archives of Fine Films. Now if I can only find Rutland Weekend Television on dvd

    so, what is it you may ask? Chapman plays a filthy old pirate who breaks out of prison, and searches for his buried treasure along with the son he never knew he had and the son's more civilised stepfather (Cook) while followed by various rivals and the authorities. and since I mentioned them in my segue, Cheech and Chong play obscenely wealthy Spanish inquisitors who don't know they have the treasure on their island.

    So fars I can tell, this is the only solo project Chapman ever completed aside from various tv writing credits and the Liars Autobiography (Cleese always described his former writing partner as lazy and unreliable). The film has a poor reputation, and I remember it disappearing from theatres immediately after it came out. OK its no Brazil, but thats not a fair comparison, is it, because Brazil is the finest film ever made! but this is pretty funny, and weird, and multilayered with jokes in the background as the silly plot advances in the foreground. And nice to see Graham Chapman complete a solo project!

  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,421Quartermasters

    THE GUNFIGHTER (1950)

    I rewatched this classic Western which is currently streaming on The Criterion Channel (leaving at the end of this month if I'm not mistaken). I first saw it a few years ago and was utterly gripped by it. The same goes for my second viewing. Gregory Peck plays Jimmy Ringo, the fastest gunslinger around. His only wish is to reunite with his estranged wife and son, but his reputation as a gunfighter attracts young guns who want to provoke him. The film has a bit of ticking clock suspense element to it, which reminds me a bit of High Noon, as well as some memorable supporting players including two of my favourites - Karl Malden and Millard Mitchell. Highly recommended.

  • HardyboyHardyboy Posts: 5,912Chief of Staff


    Yes, alas, it's a pretty bad movie. It's probably more remembered now for being the film Marty Feldman was making when he died.

    Vox clamantis in deserto
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 22,425MI6 Agent

    I've just re-watched Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel". Like all his movies it's wonderful and if you haven't started watching his movies you're making a mistake.

    I had the strange at thought while watching Grand Budapest: What would a Wes Anderson Bond movie be like? Obviously he would be completely wrong for the series, but I still want to see that movie! 😁

  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 22,425MI6 Agent

    I hope so too. Anderson likes to work with actors again and again, and it looks like actors love working with him. Lea Seydoux is becoming one of the Wes Anderson regulars and in The French Dispatch he even treated us to Lea posing in the nude. 😍

    A cynic may say it's not that hard to get a French actress to appear naked in a movie, but I'm thankful for the gifts the gods of cinema offer.

  • chrisno1chrisno1 LondonPosts: 3,634MI6 Agent

    It's not that difficult to get Lea Seydoux to go naked in a movie. Her list of 'credits' is very long. If you can stomach it, look her up on MrSkin.

  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 22,425MI6 Agent

    I know. Lea isn't just European, She's French! Of course she does a lot of nudity!

  • chrisno1chrisno1 LondonPosts: 3,634MI6 Agent

    Thank God for the French !

  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 22,425MI6 Agent

    Many of the actors in that scene had escaped nazi-occupied France, giving an extra layer to the events. One extra had a family member in a concentration camp at the time. One can assume they put their hearts into the song.

  • chrisno1chrisno1 LondonPosts: 3,634MI6 Agent

    A brilliant scene in quite possibly the greatest movie ever made.

  • chrisno1chrisno1 LondonPosts: 3,634MI6 Agent

    Other than catching the occasion Vue / BFI presentations of OO7, I haven't watched a movie for some time, so i checked this out last night with our old mate D.C.:

    KNIVES OUT (2019)

    A good-looking murder-mystery from director Rian Johnson, who gave us the fabulous sci-fi / fantasy / action / drama Looper. This is much more low-key but benefits from a stellar ensemble cast headed up by Daniel Craig as the genius private investigator Benoit Blanc. Christopher Plummer, in his final completed role, is the victim, the successful octogenarian crime writer Harlan Thrombey, whose dysfunctional family are more concerned about their own future’s than his, hence he turns to a nurse for comfort and a conscience. When Thrombey dies, family squabbles ensue and Blanc is called in to resolve the case: is it suicide or is something else afoot? Ana de Armas and Chis Evans have a good time as the most likeable of the suspects. Well directed and scripted, but some of the performances are over-mannered, Craig’s included, and seems to date the film into an era it doesn’t belong. Interestingly, Rian Johnson is on record as admitting to watching a host of 1970s whodunnit movies and TV shows in preparation for this movie and the influences are fairly obvious. There’s some humour, but not a lot. I’d mostly call it awkwardness. The film isn’t dramatic enough for a thriller or funny enough as a comedy, so it occupies a median ground and isn’t enough of one when it’s focussing on the other.

    I was impressed they weaved Gordon Lightfoot’s classic folk hit Sundown into the soundtrack and got so carried away singing along to the Rolling Stones’ curtain calling Sweet Virginia that I ended up listening to Exile On Main Street at 1:00am this morning. Neither song seems appropriate to the action unfolding on screen, seeming more a hint to the seventies flavour I mentioned earlier.  

    Entertaining.

  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 7,372MI6 Agent

    QUADROPHENIA (1979)

    Taking The Who’s seminal rock opera album as the basis of the story, this movie portrays how the Mods and Rockers of Britain in the 1960’s clashed with authority and themselves, creating mayhem along the way. The film follows Phil Daniels as Jimmy, a post room clerk who is a Mod and lives for amphetamines, girls, parties and fighting Rockers. We get an insight into his family life as it gradually descends into destruction. Daniels was never better and many of the cast went on to greater things including the always excellent Phil Davis. Sting appears as the king of the Mods who Jimmy finds out is a lowly put upon bellboy in his working life. There are some very good scenes of the Mods and Rockers brawling on Brighton beach and Jimmy gets a knee trembler with lovely Lesley Ash in an alleyway. Kate Williams, usually taking TV sitcom roles, deserves a special mention in an electrifying performance as Jimmy’s exasperated mother, Michael Elphick plays his father and other roles are taken by Ray Winstone, Torah Wilcox, The Bill’s Mark Wingett and John Bindon, a real life bodyguard with underworld connections. The Americans had Grease and Britain had Quadrophenia, no contest.

    8/10

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 22,425MI6 Agent

    I enjoyed Knives Out a lot and I'm relieved to see that movies like that can do well in the CGI/ADHD market we have today.

  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 4,140MI6 Agent
    edited October 2022

    so has anybody been to see Black Adam, with Pierce Brosnan as Dr Fate? aside from the minor detail of whether the film is any good, what I want to know is how does our Pierce do as a mystic-powered superhero?

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