Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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I love Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation. It's silly, but contains one of my all-time favorite movie lines, Jimmy Stewart's "How about a little son on the beach?" which his his housekeeper misinterprets as "son of a bitch" still a no-no in 1962.
I'll add my two cents to the Bad Girl discussion. While I generally love Borzage's movies, this has never been one of my favorites, but it's easy to see why this was popular with Depression era audiences. It was one of the rare films of the day about real people's real struggles that was not a comedy or set in the happier days of the Roaring 20s.
The two stars are very appealing. Though forgotten now, Sally Eilers, who was once married to cowboy legend Hoot Gibson, was popular in the day and Jimmy Dunn had a career that lasted until his death in 1967. Heck, he was even in a TV movie that debuted a year after he died. His most famous roles, aside from Bad Girl and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn were in three Shirley Temple hits, Baby, Take a Bow, Stand Up and Cheer and Bright Eyes, all in 1934.
He later starred in a popular TV series of the mid-1950s called It's a Great Life. His last theatrical release was the infamous 1966 film, The Oscar in which he played a network executive.
I'll add my two cents to the Bad Girl discussion. While I generally love Borzage's movies, this has never been one of my favorites, but it's easy to see why this was popular with Depression era audiences. It was one of the rare films of the day about real people's real struggles that was not a comedy or set in the happier days of the Roaring 20s.
The two stars are very appealing. Though forgotten now, Sally Eilers, who was once married to cowboy legend Hoot Gibson, was popular in the day and Jimmy Dunn had a career that lasted until his death in 1967. Heck, he was even in a TV movie that debuted a year after he died. His most famous roles, aside from Bad Girl and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn were in three Shirley Temple hits, Baby, Take a Bow, Stand Up and Cheer and Bright Eyes, all in 1934.
He later starred in a popular TV series of the mid-1950s called It's a Great Life. His last theatrical release was the infamous 1966 film, The Oscar in which he played a network executive.
The Original BJ wrote:Plus, Bad Girl is also the kind of film which I think really could have benefited from stronger actors in the lead roles -- it's easy to see why those two remained unknown, as neither made much of an impression for me.
Both Sally Eillers and James Dunn were very popular players for Depression-era audiences, and in fact were quite a team, appearing in 7 pictures together. Dunn, of course, won an Oscar for A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.
Although neither is well-known today the way the top '30s stars are (hell, Irene Dunne and Jean Arthur and Fredric March are non-entities to people today), it's a gross mis-statement to say that the Bad Girl stars "remained unknown."
Edited By Damien on 1245571425
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It's always so interesting to me how once relatively easy to find films can now be obscure, and vice versa. Case in point: Bad Girl, which it seems like Mister Tee has been searching for for quite a while. Well, a couple months ago I decided to get through the last couple Oscar Directing winners I hadn't seen, went on to Netflix, and easily added Bad Girl to my queue. I would have had no idea it has been so elusive over the years.
One of the things that's always struck me about Frank Borzage is how dynamic (and ahead-of-his-time) his staging was. I don't think Bad Girl hits the level some of his silents do, but it certainly seems to have an awareness of screen space in a way a lot of early sound films don't. (Though, as you say, it's thin stew both visually and narratively when held up to The Crowd.) Plus, Bad Girl is also the kind of film which I think really could have benefited from stronger actors in the lead roles -- it's easy to see why those two remained unknown, as neither made much of an impression for me. The title's also curious -- it certainly suggests a much more scandalous story than the one we're presented with, which doesn't much have to do with a bad girl at all. Certainly the film isn't anything really special, but it's an interesting reflection of the era.
And to comment on 3:10 to Yuma as well, yes, that ending is RIDICULOUS. I have a really low tolerance for movies where two men spend the whole picture trying to kill/harm/destroy/capture/etc. one another, only for both to step back and come to respect one another's swaggering manly machismo in the last reel. The film has a rugged, old-fashioned western sensibility that I found welcome at the time...but then a couple weeks later I saw The Assassination of Jesse James and that's the end of that story.
One of the things that's always struck me about Frank Borzage is how dynamic (and ahead-of-his-time) his staging was. I don't think Bad Girl hits the level some of his silents do, but it certainly seems to have an awareness of screen space in a way a lot of early sound films don't. (Though, as you say, it's thin stew both visually and narratively when held up to The Crowd.) Plus, Bad Girl is also the kind of film which I think really could have benefited from stronger actors in the lead roles -- it's easy to see why those two remained unknown, as neither made much of an impression for me. The title's also curious -- it certainly suggests a much more scandalous story than the one we're presented with, which doesn't much have to do with a bad girl at all. Certainly the film isn't anything really special, but it's an interesting reflection of the era.
And to comment on 3:10 to Yuma as well, yes, that ending is RIDICULOUS. I have a really low tolerance for movies where two men spend the whole picture trying to kill/harm/destroy/capture/etc. one another, only for both to step back and come to respect one another's swaggering manly machismo in the last reel. The film has a rugged, old-fashioned western sensibility that I found welcome at the time...but then a couple weeks later I saw The Assassination of Jesse James and that's the end of that story.
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Catching up on a few oldies:
I finally tracked down the long-elusive Bad Girl, director/screenplay Oscar winner of 1931/32. I can actually see why it won those two categories and failed at best picture, because it really felt like a thin premise elevated by sensitive execution. The writing isn't brilliant -- certainly not in terms of plotting (it feels like a more pedestrian version of The Crowd) -- but the way the characters interact is just off-center enough (e.g., the way the heroine's best friend insults the husband to his face but lets the heroine know he' s agreat catch) to make the whole thing feel fresh. And of course you can always count on Borzage, like McCarey, to make his characters feel fully human.
I also caught up to The Bride Wore Black the other night, another film that's stayed out of my reach for years. I found it extremely enjoyable, though perhaps not as complex as the same film might have been under the direction of Truffaut's muse Hitchcock. (Truffaut's obsessions, esp. womanizing, were much on display, but they didn't seem to gibe thematically as well as the subtexts in Hitichcock's films typically did) Very clever film, though, with a nifty ending.
Finally, something far more recent, but too late for me to write about in an individual thread...I watched the '07 remake of 3:10 to Yuma. It was engaging enough, but, unless I missed something important (alot of dialogue was mumbled), Russell Crowe's actions in the final act were beyond ludicrous. I was supposed to believe this guy who cold-bloodedly killed a compatriot would essentially turn himself in because he admired Christian Bale's moxie? And how ridiculous is it when the kid says, Dad, you did it; you got him here? Well, it's a lot easier when the prisoner actively aids in his capture; had he wanted to escape, he could have done it ten times over. I'm not much for westerns in general -- not at Oscar Guy level of antipathy, but enough that even an above-average example of the genre has to work to pull me in. This was nowhere near that level.
I finally tracked down the long-elusive Bad Girl, director/screenplay Oscar winner of 1931/32. I can actually see why it won those two categories and failed at best picture, because it really felt like a thin premise elevated by sensitive execution. The writing isn't brilliant -- certainly not in terms of plotting (it feels like a more pedestrian version of The Crowd) -- but the way the characters interact is just off-center enough (e.g., the way the heroine's best friend insults the husband to his face but lets the heroine know he' s agreat catch) to make the whole thing feel fresh. And of course you can always count on Borzage, like McCarey, to make his characters feel fully human.
I also caught up to The Bride Wore Black the other night, another film that's stayed out of my reach for years. I found it extremely enjoyable, though perhaps not as complex as the same film might have been under the direction of Truffaut's muse Hitchcock. (Truffaut's obsessions, esp. womanizing, were much on display, but they didn't seem to gibe thematically as well as the subtexts in Hitichcock's films typically did) Very clever film, though, with a nifty ending.
Finally, something far more recent, but too late for me to write about in an individual thread...I watched the '07 remake of 3:10 to Yuma. It was engaging enough, but, unless I missed something important (alot of dialogue was mumbled), Russell Crowe's actions in the final act were beyond ludicrous. I was supposed to believe this guy who cold-bloodedly killed a compatriot would essentially turn himself in because he admired Christian Bale's moxie? And how ridiculous is it when the kid says, Dad, you did it; you got him here? Well, it's a lot easier when the prisoner actively aids in his capture; had he wanted to escape, he could have done it ten times over. I'm not much for westerns in general -- not at Oscar Guy level of antipathy, but enough that even an above-average example of the genre has to work to pull me in. This was nowhere near that level.
Easy Virtue (2008; Stephan Elliott) 4/10
[Included here due to recent US release.]
Uneven, unsatisfying adaptation of Noel Coward play; Elliott's direction is a scattershot mess, and young leads Jessica Biel and Ben Barnes are easily out-shined by experienced pros Kristen Scott Thomas and Colin Firth.
[Included here due to recent US release.]
Uneven, unsatisfying adaptation of Noel Coward play; Elliott's direction is a scattershot mess, and young leads Jessica Biel and Ben Barnes are easily out-shined by experienced pros Kristen Scott Thomas and Colin Firth.
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
Requiem (Hans-Christian Schmid, 2006) 2.5/10
Ganes (J-P Siili, 2007) 6/10
Getaway (Sam Peckinpah, 1972) 3.5/10
--A terrible screenplay not redeemed by good direction
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Kevin Smith, 2008) 4.5/10
--Some good ideas, but overall, it just doesn't work
A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956) 10/10
--By far my favourite Bresson; I hadn't watched it in a long time
Reprise (Joachim Trier, 2008) maybe between 7.5 and 8/10
--I'm very much drawn about this film. I still need to think about it.
Ganes (J-P Siili, 2007) 6/10
Getaway (Sam Peckinpah, 1972) 3.5/10
--A terrible screenplay not redeemed by good direction
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Kevin Smith, 2008) 4.5/10
--Some good ideas, but overall, it just doesn't work
A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956) 10/10
--By far my favourite Bresson; I hadn't watched it in a long time
Reprise (Joachim Trier, 2008) maybe between 7.5 and 8/10
--I'm very much drawn about this film. I still need to think about it.
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Shall We Kiss (2008) Emmanuel Mouret 4/10
The Year One (2009) Harold Ramis 5/10
I Love You Man (2009) John Hamburg 6/10
An American Crime (2007) Tommy O'Haver 1/10
Nasty Neighbors (2000) Debbie Isitt 4/10
The Escapees (1981) Jean Rollin 5/10
Hot Saturday (1932) William Seiter 4/10
Home Sweet Home (1982) Mike Leigh 6/10
The Year One (2009) Harold Ramis 5/10
I Love You Man (2009) John Hamburg 6/10
An American Crime (2007) Tommy O'Haver 1/10
Nasty Neighbors (2000) Debbie Isitt 4/10
The Escapees (1981) Jean Rollin 5/10
Hot Saturday (1932) William Seiter 4/10
Home Sweet Home (1982) Mike Leigh 6/10
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Death of a Salesman is available on commercial DVD.
Ashfault has hard to find selections but the quality is often crappy. The copy I bought of Private Worlds is almost unwatchable. The faces are virtually featureless. Sound quality is good, though.
Generally speaking if a film has been out of circulation for a long time, the bootlegs are going to be taken from old VHS tapes of local TV broadcasts from the early 80s.
Ashfault has hard to find selections but the quality is often crappy. The copy I bought of Private Worlds is almost unwatchable. The faces are virtually featureless. Sound quality is good, though.
Generally speaking if a film has been out of circulation for a long time, the bootlegs are going to be taken from old VHS tapes of local TV broadcasts from the early 80s.
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Still catching up on TV series and films I have to review for my DVD report, but a couple of others that I've watched in the last few days:
Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948) Basil Dearden 6/10
Flora Robson is the whole show here as she proves Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Playing a German countess whose lover (Stewart Granger) dumps her for Joan Greenwood, the wife of the England's future George I (Peter Bull), she plots the lovers' demise. Historically questionable, but largely accurate though rather bloodless. Ripe for updating.
This Can't Be Love (1994) Anthony Harvey 5/10
Made-for-TV movie was one of Katharine Hepburn's last. Plying a retired actress pretty much like herself, she's involved in a plot by down at heel Anthony Quinn, a former co-star who was secretly married to her for five days fifty years earlier. He needs her sign-off on his pending memoirs. Slight but engaging.
Quinn did not become a star until late in his career so the alleged pairing of the two fifty years earlier hardly makes sense, but then all the major stars of the era who might actually have been Hepburn's co-stars then, Tracy, Grant, Boyer, Fonda, Olivier, were gone.
Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948) Basil Dearden 6/10
Flora Robson is the whole show here as she proves Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Playing a German countess whose lover (Stewart Granger) dumps her for Joan Greenwood, the wife of the England's future George I (Peter Bull), she plots the lovers' demise. Historically questionable, but largely accurate though rather bloodless. Ripe for updating.
This Can't Be Love (1994) Anthony Harvey 5/10
Made-for-TV movie was one of Katharine Hepburn's last. Plying a retired actress pretty much like herself, she's involved in a plot by down at heel Anthony Quinn, a former co-star who was secretly married to her for five days fifty years earlier. He needs her sign-off on his pending memoirs. Slight but engaging.
Quinn did not become a star until late in his career so the alleged pairing of the two fifty years earlier hardly makes sense, but then all the major stars of the era who might actually have been Hepburn's co-stars then, Tracy, Grant, Boyer, Fonda, Olivier, were gone.