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  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,906MI6 Agent
    edited February 2021
    Rope
    Hitchcock, 1948

    One of Hitchcock's more experimental films. Adapted from a stageplay (by Patrick Hamilton, also author of Gaslight, a much better film). The experiment is that it is filmed in all very long unbroken shots, most of them linked by seamless transitions to give the illusion of continuous action. The camera is in constant motion, even moreso than most Hitchcock films.

    Now that I know to watch for them, most of the transitions are blatant, as the camera will for no reason pan to the centre of a character's back in shadow, zoom in so all is black, then zoom back out showing the characters in the same position. The only reason why such a camera move might not draw attention to itself is that in this film the camera is always drifting away from the characters speaking, to focus on certain objects or down an empty hallway .

    You know some here complain about the opening of SPECTRE, saying the takes weren't that long and the transitions weren't really needed etc. But the transitions in SPECTRE are a lot harder to spot than what Hitchcock was doing here, so let's give Mendes a little credit.


    Plot is about two young men who have strangled their friend just before the film begins, and concealed his body in a chest. They invite the dead friends' family over for dinner, served buffet-style on top of the chest, and also invite Jimmy Stewart, their old housemaster from Prep School. Stewart used to discuss Neitzsche with them when they were all lads, so they believe he would have approved of their rise above Good and Evil.

    More interesting than the plot and dialog is that the two murderers are clearly a gay couple, at the height of the Hayes Code living together in a fabulous Manhattan penthouse, and the dominant one, who has bullied his partner into committing this murder, seems to have a mancrush on his old mentor Stewart.
    Farley Granger is the reluctant murderer, and he would find himself in a similar position three years later in the much superior Strangers on a Train.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    Not only are the two murderers homosexuals, if I remember correctly Hitchcock and Stewart were about the only straight persons involved in the production :))
  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent
    I actually watched this film a few days ago but have had to wait a few days to post about it so I could compose myself.

    CATS

    I had read the reviews but thought 'how bad can it be?' I know the stage show. I know the soundtrack. I know what the story is supposed to be.

    Well, it was a load of cr@p. They have killed it. They managed to make the songs very boring. The've messed about with the story and the hardest thing to get my head around was the 'cats' are too small for their surroundings. They have the proportions all wrong.

    Jennifer Hudson absolutely murders 'Memory' and I can't even begin to mention Rebel Wilson's performance.

    Don't bother ... even if you're very, very bored. Read a book instead.
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,238MI6 Agent
    Jack Reacher: No Going Back

    if I've got the title right. I expected Rosamund Pike to show up in this but she was in the first one. Now, this has an apt title as that first film seems to be never shown on TV, whereas this one is on all the time. What gives?
    It's a B-movie. Enjoyable, but is more of a B movie as it goes on.
    B-movies used to have a potentially darker side, like a pop band's B-sides it might offer a chance to go off piste, less mainstream, less commercial and more exciting. But they can also be a retirement village for fading A listers such as Arnie and so on. It's like watching McEnroe take on Borg in a match at at the Albert Hall.
    It's the usual 39 Steps man on the run thing, this time Reacher is helping some Army major whose being set up, then someone who appears to be his daughter is involved - daft thing to do for an action hero, imagine! - but it avoids the whole man who works alone ethos. That said, Cruise is an actor who always needs others around to bounce off so he's not well cast for this really along for all the other well-documented reasons. He does try to squint a bit and gurn like Clint Eastwood as the film goes on.
    We get Army allies who turn brusque and say 'Stand down, Major!' near the beginning but later obligingly let the accused make their case for their innocence rather than shooting them on sight when the plot demands.
    Mobile phones are a bugbear for this, they have to be bought and discarded etc.

    It's a wholly generic piece but I did enjoy it - just felt a bit sullied later!
    You'd feel cheated forking out a packet at the cinema for this.
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • The Spy Who Never DiesThe Spy Who Never Dies UKPosts: 644MI6 Agent
    Our Man Flint (1966)

    I was in the mood for some light relief. And this provided it. Flint getting locked in the safe and the villains hooking it to a van and driving off with it was brilliant. I preferred it to the Matt Helm films although they do have funny parts in them. I find Helm a bit too sleazy.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    I prefer the Matt Helm films to the Flint ones- as you can probably tell by https://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/46144/the-60s-james-bond-rivals-1-matt-helm/

    But, each to his own.
  • The Spy Who Never DiesThe Spy Who Never Dies UKPosts: 644MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    I prefer the Matt Helm films to the Flint ones- as you can probably tell by https://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/46144/the-60s-james-bond-rivals-1-matt-helm/

    But, each to his own.


    I did enjoy Ironhead being picked up by the magnet and like you said very similar to Jaws.
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,238MI6 Agent
    I saw a bit of War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise (he got bored and walked out, he's seen it before ha ha).

    Anyway, good sci-fi effects but it doesn't quite work to have Cruise as a dowdy unidealistic everyman, he's playing against type. As I stated before, he needs people to bounce off and go 'C'mon guys!' to be a star, it's been the case since Risky Business.
    Not saying his acting is bad or he's bad to watch.
    But there doesn't seem to be much going on here - it's just, let's pile on different set pieces and make them far out and scary! Okay I guess. Some of it that which does impress is a bit sadistic - a trait Spielberg sometimes has. Shots of cars plummeting under the water from falling off a ferry - underwater we see the passengers trapped, against the windscreens. Impressive, just a bit tasteless in this context. It's a disaster film where nobody seems to really care about anyone - Cruise is protecting his family but he doesn't seem too connected, it's no Poiseidon Adventure.
    A scene where Cruise's car is overrun by crowds and he wards them off with a single handgun and punches is a bit risible. That said, there are nice things in this film - the shot of the speeding freight train in the night that turns out to be totally ablaze and unstoppable.
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • The Spy Who Never DiesThe Spy Who Never Dies UKPosts: 644MI6 Agent
    Cool Hand Luke (1967)

    I had never seen this film before so had no idea what to expect. I liked the first half better than the last half. I was expecting Luke to overcome in some way, to somehow beat or change the system (the optimistic side of me). It was hard to watch the brutality of the guards especially with the brutality of some cops being highlighted in the real world right now. And all over a few parking meters.

    I can’t stand egg yolk so was glad they only showed whole eggs. But seeing him eating them, still made me feel slightly ill. Part way through that scene I must have rewritten the script in my head because I thought it was 100 eggs he had to eat! Such a relief to know I’d got it wrong!
  • GrindelwaldGrindelwald Posts: 1,294MI6 Agent
    So Cats was cat litter then :))

    Jake the Snake is a CHL fan , never seen it myself

    Gonna watch Kellys Heroes for the 50 anniversary , Oddball rules {[]
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,030MI6 Agent
    Cool Hand Luke (1967)

    I had never seen this film before so had no idea what to expect. I liked the first half better than the last half. I was expecting Luke to overcome in some way, to somehow beat or change the system (the optimistic side of me). It was hard to watch the brutality of the guards especially with the brutality of some cops being highlighted in the real world right now. And all over a few parking meters.

    I can’t stand egg yolk so was glad they only showed whole eggs. But seeing him eating them, still made me feel slightly ill. Part way through that scene I must have rewritten the script in my head because I thought it was 100 eggs he had to eat! Such a relief to know I’d got it wrong!

    This movie is in my top 10 list. I first saw this in the cinema upon release when I was 11 and it made a big impression on me. Lucas Jackson is one of cinema’s great characters. Along with the James Bond craze, Paul Newman OWNED the 60’s cinema with his performances in The Hustler, Sweet Bird Of Youth, Hud, The Moving Target (Harper) and Butch Cassidy.

    Cool Hand Luke is full of iconic scenes and imagery and it also led to my lifelong love of poker :))

    If you haven’t seen it, do so, it is lamentable that Newman didn’t get the best actor Oscar for this movie. Steiger got it for In The Heat Of The Night, another great movie, but Newman’s performance was in another stratosphere.

    I guess everyone can tell that I love this movie :D
    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    I agree on everything apart from one short shot where the action gets over the top and cartoony. Hawkeye fires two muskets at the same time, something that doesn't fit the style of the rest of the movie. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful movie. :)
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    True
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    I've loved that soundtrack since I saw The Last of the Mohicans at the cinema :)
  • The Spy Who Never DiesThe Spy Who Never Dies UKPosts: 644MI6 Agent
    This is a great movie. I've seen it 2 or 3 times but not for ages. I, too loved the music. Can hear it now :)
  • The Spy Who Never DiesThe Spy Who Never Dies UKPosts: 644MI6 Agent
    Spartacus (1960)

    I'd been meaning to watch this for a while as I'd never seen it. (yeah I know!) It was too hot yesterday to do anything except be a couch potato so a three hour film was perfect! Kirk Douglas was brilliant, along with everyone else. Jean Simmons looking beautiful as always. I was delighted to see Herbert Lom. There's nothing I could write that would do this film justice. Many here are a lot better at movie reviews than I am. I came away thinking that history does sadly keep repeating itself, and how much stronger in spirit the oppressed can be than the oppressors.
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,030MI6 Agent
    Carry On Up The Jungle (1970). Suffice to say that this will probably never get a terrestrial showing in the UK ever again :)) . Frankie Howerd joins the gang, minus Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor. Bernard Bresslaw stars as a blacked up native. A lot of near the knuckle double entendres in the usual Carry On style, this time spoofing the Tarzan movies. The last act is reminiscent of Hammer’s “Prehistoric Women”!

    50 years old now and totally un-pc. I love it!
    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • silvertoesilvertoe Posts: 34MI6 Agent
    Carry On Up The Jungle (1970). Suffice to say that this will probably never get a terrestrial showing in the UK ever again :)) . Frankie Howerd joins the gang, minus Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor. Bernard Bresslaw stars as a blacked up native. A lot of near the knuckle double entendres in the usual Carry On style, this time spoofing the Tarzan movies. The last act is reminiscent of Hammer’s “Prehistoric Women”!

    50 years old now and totally un-pc. I love it!
    I love the carry ons and this was one of the best imo and yes soooo un-pc :))
    ive smelt that aftershave before and both times ive smelt a rat
  • silvertoesilvertoe Posts: 34MI6 Agent
    Not seen it for years so i decided to watch Eraserhead on my "dodgy" firestick. If you haven't seen this film and you like weird than this is one you should watch, you will be sickened and amused at the same time and by the end you will be both baffled and bemused :#
    ive smelt that aftershave before and both times ive smelt a rat
  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,418Quartermasters
    I watched several good films over the weekend but the pick of the bunch for me was Anatomy of a Murder. I found it to be a gripping drama, well over 2 and a half hours in length but at no point did my interest wane and I felt the time went by quite swiftly. Jimmy Stewart plays the lead role of a lawyer defending Ben Gazzara's character in a murder trial, up against a formidable legal opponent in George C. Scott's character. Despite the serious nature of the drama, there are refreshing moments of levity sprinkled throughout, in many cases provided by the judge who is presiding over the case. The score is provided by Duke Ellington, and the main titles designed by Saul Bass are legendary and iconic. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was quite surprised to realise that this is the first film that I have seen that was directed by Otto Preminger. There are a few more of his that are on my watchlist.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    silvertoe wrote:
    Carry On Up The Jungle (1970). Suffice to say that this will probably never get a terrestrial showing in the UK ever again :)) . Frankie Howerd joins the gang, minus Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor. Bernard Bresslaw stars as a blacked up native. A lot of near the knuckle double entendres in the usual Carry On style, this time spoofing the Tarzan movies. The last act is reminiscent of Hammer’s “Prehistoric Women”!

    50 years old now and totally un-pc. I love it!
    I love the carry ons and this was one of the best imo and yes soooo un-pc :))

    I've never seen a Carry On film :o
    What's the best one? What's the best one to start on?
  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,418Quartermasters
    Number24 wrote:
    silvertoe wrote:
    Carry On Up The Jungle (1970). Suffice to say that this will probably never get a terrestrial showing in the UK ever again :)) . Frankie Howerd joins the gang, minus Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor. Bernard Bresslaw stars as a blacked up native. A lot of near the knuckle double entendres in the usual Carry On style, this time spoofing the Tarzan movies. The last act is reminiscent of Hammer’s “Prehistoric Women”!

    50 years old now and totally un-pc. I love it!
    I love the carry ons and this was one of the best imo and yes soooo un-pc :))

    I've never seen a Carry On film :o
    What's the best one? What's the best one to start on?

    My personal recommendations are Carry On Up the Khyber and Carry On Cleo as good ones to start with from the 'historical' ones, and Carry On Camping or Carry On at Your Convenience from the ones in a contemporary setting.

    I also like a couple of the early black-and-white ones, Carry On Spying is obviously enjoyable as an early Bond/spy spoof which also reference the likes of The Third Man, and Carry On Cabby is a good, underrated film.

    Carry On Screaming is another filme which is very popular, although it's not one of my personal favourites but if you're into Hammer horrors and the like, it might be one for you.
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,238MI6 Agent
    Sound recommendations, all, but a hospital based film is a cert, as three were set there, the best perhaps being Carry On Doctor.

    Many of them simply spoof the big film of that day - Carry On Screaming is Hammer Horror, for instance (looks up.. as previous poster acknowledges). Carry On... Follow That Camel is an odd one, as it stars Phil 'Bilko' Silvers and was aimed at breaking the US market - it failed to do so, but it's really a spoof on The Four Feathers, where a spurned coward goes off to foreign climes to prove his bravery. To be fair, many of these work best in the context of being a kid surrounded by your family laughing at the jokes.
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,238MI6 Agent
    Funny Face

    Late Fred Astaire vehicle and as Bond fans we can - seeing as it's mostly set in Paris - compare how a leading man in his late 50s romances a 27 Audrey Hepburn, still it's the movies, just like the creaky Moore going after 30-year-old Tanya Roberts in AVTAK.
    A good few films fail the MeToo test these days. Fred, who plays a fashion photographer, just kisses Hepburn while she's in conversation at their first meeting after the fashionistas just take over her book shop for a shoot. Actually, Hepburn does get generally abused and put upon during this film and it's meant to be funny.
    That said, she sings her own songs here unlike in My Fair Lady where she was dubbed - Hepburn also does a brilliant spiky punky New Wave dance in Paris Montmatre.
    This is really an excuse to show Astaire again - whose dancing is still very good indeed - and sing some old songs and show Paris again and that's good enough for me. It lacks a third wheel in the form of an Eric Blore - who died two years after this film I believe. I suppose there's no getting away from the idea that Woody Allen would love this film that said one shouldn't always judge a movie through the prism of the present; it was a bit of fun at the time and Astaire is clearly meant to be younger. It's around the same time as Vertigo, where of course Stewart was really too old for Novak and while that played well in France, Hitchcock blamed his star's age for its poor showing elsewhere.
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    Thanks for the recomendations. I've started watching "up the Khyber" since I'm a history buff :D
  • silvertoesilvertoe Posts: 34MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    Thanks for the recomendations. I've started watching "up the Khyber" since I'm a history buff :D
    Hi number 24, The carry on films are very British humour,i notice you are Norwegian so it would be interesting to hear if carry on films can appeal to a wider audience, my recommendations would be Camping, Cruising and screaming...Enjoy! ;)
    ive smelt that aftershave before and both times ive smelt a rat
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    Generaly we are used to British humor and often prefer it. We've been brough up on Allo' alllo', Fawlty towers, Blackadder, Yes minister/Prime Minster and so on.
  • Charmed & DangerousCharmed & Dangerous Posts: 7,358MI6 Agent
    silvertoe wrote:
    Hi number 24, The carry on films are very British humour,i notice you are Norwegian so it would be interesting to hear if carry on films can appeal to a wider audience, my recommendations would be Camping, Cruising and screaming...Enjoy! ;)

    Not forgetting, of course, the classic Bond spoof Carry on Spying! (Note how the gunbarrel shape differs in the two posters :o which clearly mimic the FRWL poster) -{


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    IMG-2987.jpg
    "How was your lamb?" "Skewered. One sympathises."
  • The Spy Who Never DiesThe Spy Who Never Dies UKPosts: 644MI6 Agent
    The Carry On films are often on tv (in UK). Carry on Cruising is the last one I watched. Very good. I think my favourite is Carry On Screaming. There is also a film called What a Carve Up! (1961) It has Sid James and Kenneth Connor in and is very funny.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    Carry on up the Khyber (1968)

    This is my first "Carry on". Please forgive me.
    After watching CR-67 this is a perfect example of how a comedy can be colourful and crazy and still have a plot ... even be coherent!
    In short the movie is set in the Raj (colonial India). It's been discovered the regiment guarding the gateway to India (please shut the gate) are wearing underwear under their kilts, proving they aren't as fearless as the locals feared, The Burpas attack!
    "Up the Khyber" is full of double entendres, brownfaces and other very PC behaviour and it's only highbrow in the Roger Moore sense.
    The only thing I didn't like was some of the humor that was childish falling over type humor, but the "Carry on" series is a part of the British cultural heritage I'll continue exploring.
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