What movies have you seen recently?

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

More on my catching up tour: Finally watched Leon: The Professional.

Been wanting to see this since 1999. Just never made it a priority. Loved it. 5 stars for me. I can watch this film all over again and again without hesitation.

Did you watch the international cut (133 mins) or the US cut? I've seen both the US (when it first came to video) and the international cut (about 5 years ago) of the movie. It's one of the better films of the '90s IMO and well directed. Jean Reno played his part to perfection as a truly professional assassin but deep down still having some tenderness to him even if what he was teaching Mathilda wasn't exactly something kids should be learning.

The ending of the film is pretty damn good too!

This is the movie that made me become a fan (or at the very least an observer) of Jean Reno who I think is a very underrated actor. (probably not so much in his native France) He reminds me a bit of Robert Mitchum in some ways but a little less intimidating.

[CMH]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I'm not sure if it was the international cut. I had the option of theatrical and extended on the blu-ray. I went with extended.

I'm sure the extended was the international since it was definitely about two hours and 10 minutes. I remember checking that as soon as the film started. I'm curious to know what was added.

edit:
Just checked and whoa! All that stuff wasn't in the theatrical feature because it didn't fare well in testing? Who watched the test scenes? I hope those people never watch film again. That Russian Roulette scene was one of the film's best moments.

And the "love" scenes that pretty much put an exclamation point on their relationship.

If you've never seen this film, do not watch the theatrical cut. What a waste of reel without the additional scenes. Those scenes make the film a star better.

[Jonesy]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Thanks for reminding me of that movie fella's. Always wanted to see and never got around to it. I'll go look for the extended version....

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I remember buying that movie because Gary Oldman was in it, but I watch it again and again because of Natalie Portman and Jean Reno.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Yeah the US cut does no justice to the movie and takes away the meaning of the mathilda/Leon relationship.

Anyways back to the vaults we go




The Shopworn Angel (1938)

Well this is a pretty shopworn movie however the three leads make it well worth the time. The film stars Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan and Walter Pidgeon. Here's the synopsis:

During WWI Bill Pettigrew, a naive young Texan soldier is sent to New York for basic training. He meets worldly wise actress Daisy Heath when her car nearly runs him over. Daisy agrees to pretend to be Bill's girl to impress his friends, but then a real romance begins

The synopsis fails to mention Walter Pidgeon's part as Daisy's longtime agent and lover Sam Bailey. Anyways Daisy is one of those worldly bored actress types who wants more attention from Sam who she feels may be looking out for him but just doesn't have the fire to be her lover and is kinda sorta looking for a way out of the relationship. Meanwhile Jimmy Stewart plays a bumbling country bumpkin sort of guy who can't seem to find a gal for himself in NY while his army mates find a bevy of em.

At one point Bill (stewart) nearly gets run over by Daisy's car and the police force her to drive him down to his barracks. While in the car he falls madly in love with her and starts telling the boys that she's his gal. Well that's not the truth but he somehow gets her to act along with him after the guys try to make him look like a fool by introducing her to them. Needless to say this springs forth a relationship.

Sam gets wind of this and is pretty upset but stays cool. There's a great scene after Bill calls up Daisy and her maid (played by Hattie McDaniel) says that she's not feeling well Bill runs over to her penthouse apartment and plays nursemaid to her and wanting to be closer to her. Sam comes into the apartment and acts very cold towards the whole thing. When Bill asks for a small photo of Daisy to take with him Sam throws a whole bunch of model pix along with the small pix giving the hint that she shouldn't get too personal with Bill. She notices this and still acts really friendly and gives Bill a small personal pic to tweak Sam. As Bill is leaving Sam tries to escort him out but Bill says that Daisy is not feeling well and more or less gets Sam out of the apartment too!

Eventually though Daisy DOES fall for Bill but Sam shows his jealousy and shows that he really does love Daisy and they become close lovers again. Yet Bill has dogged determination and wins Daisy over to the point that she tells Sam that the love they had after meeting Bill was stealing the love and the dreams of love that Bill has in her which was a pretty emotional and powerful scene.

As you can see this story is pretty maudlin and predictable in some ways but Jimmy Stewart takes the bumpkin role and gives it some weight by being wiser than his appearance while Sullavan was a lot more classy and heartfelt in this role compared to the roles she'd be famous for which made her to be a bit shrewish. I especially loved the scenes when she sings "smile smile smile" in which she looked very fetching. Walter Pidgeon was his classy self and it was interesting to see him acting out in a jealous way as that wasn't a trait most of his characters exhibited.

All in all this movie took an old idea and gave it some life and charm.

2 1/2 stars


The Secret Six (1931)

This is a pretty notable film in some ways. It's a gangster film...How is that notable? Well it's notable because it wasn't a WB film but rather an MGM film. MGM wasn't known for gritty, forceful gangster pictures but this is one that would've fit like a glove at Warners.

Bootlegger/cafe owner Ralph Bellamy recruits crude working man Wallace Beery to join his gang which is masterminded by crooked criminal defense lawyer Lewis Stone. Beery eventually takes over Bellamy's operation, beats a rival gang, becomes wealthy and dominates the city for several years until a secret group of 6 masked businessmen have him prosecuted and sent to the electric chair with the help of rival crusading newspapermen Clark Gable and Johnny Mack Brown. Waitress Jean Harlow is torn between her love for the honest newsman Brown and her financial dependence on her generous boss, Beery.

(for those that don't know those are the actors' names not the characters)

As you can see this flick had a bit of everything in it. This movie was one of the earliest meatier roles for Clark Gable. In fact, Gable was so good that MGM chief Irving Thalberg saw fit to make what was a small part bigger for Gable and gave him an MGM contract after filming. The young Gable was definitely rough around the edges and didn't quite have the rugged good looks that he would be famous for in fact, he looked a bit thuggish!

Wallace Beery was quite excellent as the underworld boss Louie Scorpio. Beery was known for being a real ham (a very watchable one as he had a magnetism that made his scene chewing interesting) think current day Al Pacino in a John Goodman type body but he was quite restrained here much to the film's benefit. Beery was a rough, brickheaded thug who rose to power by killing Ralph Bellamy after Bellamy ratted him out for killing the rival gang leader's younger brother. (when in fact it was Bellamy who did it) The way Bellamy is offed tells a great deal about Beery's character as he was shot in the back. The rise to power of Beery's bootlegger character is very much in parallel with that of Al Capone. Actually the movie is pretty much a fictionalized Capone story as the "secret six" (who despite the title only have 2 scenes) are pretty much a representation of the same type of powerful men who helped to bring down Capone.

Lewis Stone is the lynchpin to the whole movie IMO because he made it seem believable that these thugs from the town of Centro could become the kings of the big city. Stone, who is best remembered today as Andy Rooney's father in the Andy Hardy films has a far more sinister role as the crooked defense attorney and brains behind the criminal outfit. He helped to grow the tentacles of villainy in the big city to the point where, during the trial of Johnny Mack Brown's crusading reporter's murder by Beery's men there was a payoff for the jury to find Beery not guilty.

This movie has quite a bit going on as I said before and it's very dark for an MGM film. In some ways I would say that this movie was a bit more bleaker than the WB films which at times had an air of probably glorifying the gangster just a tad. In this movie the gangsters are all thuggish men who thirst to take control of whatever they can by any means necessary.

Great early gangster film and one to catch if you're interested in seeing the genre from another studio. Unfortunately it's not available on video or DVD so if it ever airs on TCM again be sure to check it out.

3 stars

[CMH]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Are you watching these on Netflix Instant Watch?

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Are you watching these on Netflix Instant Watch?

Nope Turner Classic Movies via my DVR. I DVR the movies i'm interested in and watch at my convenience.

[CMH]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Nope Turner Classic Movies via my DVR. I DVR the movies i'm interested in and watch at my convenience.

Ah, yes, you did say that previously.

[sven]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Just finished Insidious. Started out pretty good but it just gets REALLY silly about half way through.

[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Just finished Insidious. Started out pretty good but it just gets REALLY silly about half way through.

Exactly how I felt. The final act felt completely unattached from the rest of the film. I didn't even mind the middle bit when the "professional" comes by, but there was a pretty bad turning point in there that totally threw this film onto the rental shelf.

[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

P.S. I Love You

As far as romantic comedy-dramas go, for all of the incredulous story moments that went down, it was still a pretty sweet film. There was kind of an unbelievable/unwantable relationship connection between Hilary Swank and the Irish-native Gerard Butler, but I was left sorely disappointed with the film's results. It could have done better, even if it wanted to be more cookie-cutter to do so.

On a technical standpoint, it relied too heavily on good editing with the nonlinear story, and it failed on that front miserably (the nonlinearity was okay, but the editing wasn't). The directing was only slightly outlandish for the simplicity of the film as well. Sometimes, less is more. As a tech buff, I was left underwhelmed.

For the rom-com fans out there though, I would recommend it. This came around the time they came out at a minimum (the only one around it at the time really was Music and Lyrics), and while it's not exactly the greatest couples' date movie, it's pretty good for a girls night in to get their emotions going on both ends of the spectrum. It was a good thing they had a rather strong/known cast, because they were the biggest selling point in any of this.

[goh]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Big Lebowski

The goh abides.
If you haven't seen it go get it on Blu-ray.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

For Love of the Game- Excellent baseball movie with a good romantic story.

Thirteen Days- Another excellent Kevin Costner movie. I thought Bruce Greenwood played JFK well. Other then excellent acting I enjoyed the way the movie and events were presented and the tension you felt.

Super- Good dark comedy. I love Rainn Wilson in The Office and was impressed with his performance. Ellen Page is great and she looked great in her costume.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Sphere on NetFlix.......haven't seen that movie in a long time. Even though it is old, it is still better then most modern movies.

[gopadres]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Lincoln Lawyer. Enjoyed it...A-. Matthew McConaughey actually didn't annoy me.

Angels and Demons. I give it a B+. Very interesting story and amazing recreation of Vatican and historical works of art. Just too formulaic and predictable.