What movies have you seen recently?

[SuperBowlNachos]

What parts didn't make sense?

I'll put this in spoilers just in case (though there aren't any real content spoilers):

Spoiler

The point was far from the acting in the film. It was about this not being your typical horror film despite what you expected. Perhaps that didn't make sense to you, but if you knew nothing about this film going into it, you should have been able to crack up about everything, and in a good way.

Spoiler

I get it was on big metaphor. I am assuming the button to release all of the monsters into their own facility was one of the purposely placed cliches? That is what bugged me the most haha.

I'm still just missing what makes it one of the greatest horror movies of all time.

[goh]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Anyone see Pain and Gain? Haven't heard much on it here, can't decide between seeing that or 42 tomorrow. Been waiting to see both of these for awhile.

Haven't seen it but I've mostly heard it's terrible,it's a good story with poor execution has 38 montages (exagerating I'm sure) and I've seen more than one say they'd want to see the story again but done right. There's also going to be an extended cut on blu-ray when it's already 2 hours and 9 minutes.

[Chrisksaint]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Saw Pain and Gain, I thought it was great. The first 20 minutes I thought was oh this is weird, but kinda funny then once it settled down it was good. Oddly enough this was the better performances i've seen The Rock give

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Jack Reacher. Nice "whodunit" action thriller. Tom Cruise was solid as usual. Can't say it was all that original though.

The Thieves. A very fun action movie if you can deal with English Subtitles. It a Korean flick that is a cross between Mission Impossible and Oceans 11.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Black Angel (1946)

Plot Summary:

Singing star Mavis Marlowe is murdered just after receiving a heart shaped ruby brooch. Before Kirk Bennett, who discovers the body, can call the police, the brooch is taken by someone he can't see, and he flees in panic. Of course, circumstantial evidence ensures Bennett's conviction. But his loyal wife Catherine doggedly searches for the truth...aided by alcoholic songwriter Marty Blair, ex-husband of the victim, who finds that he and Catherine make a good team.

This is another film starring the underrated Dan Duryea. I actually wasn't looking to watch another Duryea film but was going through one of the On Demand channels and noticed it in the "last chance" section so I just had to watch it. This movie is a little gem of a film and done by a studio I don't see a lot of old films from in Universal Pictures. When I think of Universal in the classic Hollywood days it's either the monster movies or the period when it was owned by British movie magnate J. Arthur Rank under the heading of Universal-International.

Anyway, this was a fantastic little crime noir though its limitations as a B production and its laid back feel kind of dampens the grit needed for these kind of movies. Dan Duryea is the best thing in the movie and that's not a bad thing at all. Here he gets to play a pretty nice guy for the most part though seriously flawed. He does very well with the alcoholism scenes and the last 10 minutes or so of the movie rivals that of Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945) for sheer drunkenness.

The other players in the movie are all pretty good themselves. The lady who plays Bennett's wife Cathy (June Vincent) is easy on the eyes and you really sympathize with what she's going through. Early in the film she goes to Duryea to seek his help in the matter but he's in a flophouse after a bender and finding out his ex-wife has been killed. Duryea offers no help and tells her he saw her husband go into the building before the murder. Well Vincent then proceeds to grasp at straws by accusing Duryea of killing his ex wife citing motive and him having enough time to do so. It's only when Duryea's friend comes in and explains that he's been on a bender and locked up in the room does she realize she made a mistake and apologizes profusely. It's a very good scene that shows the desperation of a wife trying to save her husband from the electric chair.

Eventually they DO start working together after seeing a picture of her husband Duryea realizes it WASN'T Bennett he saw but rather Marko (played here by the great Peter Lorre) and the key to the whole thing is a brooch that Duryea had given his wife which Bennett claimed to have seen but which was no longer at the crime scene. Duryea and Vincent are convinced that Lorre has it in his possession and tries to weasel into his nightclub as a music act in order to get close to him and find said brooch.

Lorre is his usual somewhat creepy self here and you really buy him as a mobbed up nightclub operator who wields lots of power. The interaction between he and his bodyguard Lucky (Freddie Steele) has a somewhat quasi homosexual vibe going for it. Maybe I was completely misreading but Lorre seemed to have more sway than usual over Steele in a dominating way what with Lucky having to always light his cigarettes and such.

The last player worth mentioning is Broderick Crawford as the ultra laid back police captain Flood. He doesn't get too much to do here but is a welcome sight.

The last 10-15 minutes of the movie contains a twist that once it becomes apparent one will realize that the clues were littered all over the place. I found that the resolution was a little limp in its execution but it fit the story and Duryea nails it throughout the picture with his acting.

2 1/2 stars

My likely next film will also be a crime pic and set in the same area as this movie was set in Hollywood while the next film takes place in LA. Said film is a police/crime film done by a studio that wasn't really known for the gritty stuff in MGM.

[PVarck31]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Not a movie but all I've been watching lately is rewatching the XFiles.

Still one of the greatest shows ever made. Also, the opening, for as low quality as it is, is beautiful in it's simplicity.

That theme has been my main ringtone for as long as I can remember.

The last movie I watched was this is 40. Nothing great, but it was entertaining.

I was a huge X-Files fan. I have seen every episode. Its too bad the most recent movie was crap because I'm sure that's the last we will ever see of Mulder and Scully.

And as far as movies go, I need some suggestions. I always see previews of movies I want to see, then forget all about them.

[Burns11]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Dark Skies - Pretty interesting take on what is essentially a haunted house story. Think Poltergeist, which it borrowed from A LOT. 7/10

Mama - Most of the movie was pretty good, really liked the look and feel of it. The ending was a change of pace, but a little silly. The last 1/4 or so of the movie had some really lame effects, laughable effects are not good for a serious horror movie. 5/10

[DonkeyJote]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I saw The Great Gatsby. I really enjoyed, despite the fact that I hate Tobey Maguire, and thought his performance wasn't all that great. Everyone else was fantastic though. Especially Leo. Made me want to read the book.

It's pretty long, though. And very theatrical, I thought. I love those two traits in movies, but I know a lot of people don't. The music was absolutely amazing.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I saw The Great Gatsby. I really enjoyed, despite the fact that I hate Tobey Maguire, and thought his performance wasn't all that great. Everyone else was fantastic though. Especially Leo. Made me want to read the book.

It's pretty long, though. And very theatrical, I thought. I love those two traits in movies, but I know a lot of people don't. The music was absolutely amazing.

Thanks for that review as i've been thinking about seeing this movie myself.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Pain and Gain. I really wanted to like this movie, but came away feeling meh. As absurd as the over the top action got....it was based on a true story.

[BlueNGold]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I saw The Great Gatsby. I really enjoyed, despite the fact that I hate Tobey Maguire, and thought his performance wasn't all that great. Everyone else was fantastic though. Especially Leo. Made me want to read the book.

It's pretty long, though. And very theatrical, I thought. I love those two traits in movies, but I know a lot of people don't. The music was absolutely amazing.

After seeing on Twitter that there's a scene where "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" by Jay-Z plays while Leo drives into the city, I've decided I need to see this movie.

[daflyboys]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

After seeing on Twitter that there's a scene where "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" by Jay-Z plays while Leo drives into the city, I've decided I need to see this movie.

Please tell me that's a joke.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Well I watched not one, but TWO noirs/noirish movies by MGM which again, was not a studio known for those kind of movies.

Scene of the Crime (1949)

Plot Summary:

Police Detective Mike Conovan, for personal and professional reasons, sets out to solve the murder of a fellow-detective, in whose pockets are found thousand-dollar bills. He has only two slim clues but those lead to a fixer and a bookmaker, and the striptease-dancer girlfriend of the bookmaker. The latter, along with Conovan's wife, who wants him off the case as she fears for his safety, cause Conovan some trials and tribulations while he is trying to find the killer

Personally the story didn't really deliver for a myriad of reasons. The biggest of which is the way the material is presented. The movie comes off as a bit insincere and trite. Normally that can be balanced out by good acting and indeed there are some good actors in this. I especially liked John McIntyre as Piper, an older detective who is hiding the fact that he's going blind and you feel sorry for him when Mike catches on to it late in the movie. Piper does put his life on the line toward the end and he pays for it but he did it because he felt that he was letting Mike down by losing the guys he's supposed to track down and such because of his eroding vision.

Van Johnson plays the lead role of Mike and while he was usually a pretty good actor he just doesn't quite gel as a tough minded but caring police detective. A lot of the police slang and lingo comes across wrong when he uses it. That being said I thought he had a great chemistry with Gloria DeHaven who played the dance hall stripper. He tries to woo her in order for her to give the information he needs so it comes across well. DeHaven was perfect in her role and I love the description about her in the movie:

"Lili, a sizzler at the Fol-de-Rol. A figure like champagne and a heart like the cork."

That being said, while there were some good elements to the film, the story just wasn't engaging as the police slang early on doesn't really put people in the emotional frame of mind to care too much about the killing and you add all that with a complicated story of a crime organization offing bookies etc etc and one begins to lose interest about halfway through. The other thing that really grated on my nerves was the relationship between Mike and his wife Gloria. (Arlene Dahl) Dahl didn't have much to work with as her character basically whines and cries throughout the movie about how she fears that Mike will die etc etc and at one point Mike says what was on my mind throughout, that she knew what she was getting into marrying a cop. The conclusion to their storyline at the end of the movie was also WAY too pat and tacked on for my liking which made the movie feel all the more stupid and contrived.

I give this 2 stars for the elements of a good flick, the overall very good acting (apart from Johnson who did alright but wasn't credible) and the relationship between Johnson and DeHaven.


So I felt a bit spurned by this so I watched another noir from MGM directed by the great Anthony Mann

The Tall Target (1951)

Plot Summary

The story of a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln as he travels on the Ohio & Baltimore Railway to his inauguration in 1861. A discredited detective tries in the face of disbelief to foil the plotters, who hate the President's policies.

This was a very good film and one based on fact as this is historically known as "The Baltimore Plot". Interestingly, the detective out to save Lincoln's life is named John Kennedy! This was a "moving train thriller" so much of this film takes place on the train and the atmosphere is quite palpable with Kennedy (Dick Powell) trying to find and apprehend the plotters of the assassination scheme. There are plenty of suspects such as the guy that kills Kennedy's friend, takes over his railroad ticket and belongings, a southern Lt. Coulter who is strongly anti-Lincoln. Powell is aided by Colonel Caleb Jeffers (Adolphe Menjou) who doesn't care for Lincoln but seems to want to help Powell out.

There's a lot going on in this movie despite the slight 78 minute running time as Powell through circumstance becomes wanted by the NY and Philadelphia police departments and there's a few good scenes of him eluding capture. I rather like the relationship between Powell and Menjou especially

Spoiler

once Powell finds out that Menjou is the man that's plotting the assassination

. There's a bit of a cat and mouse game played by Powell and the assassination plot leader and it pays off nicely.

As with most movies of this type you need a good cast and interesting characters and this movie has quite a few including the old catankerous anti-Lincoln man, an elderly abolitionist and a young Ruby Dee who plays the maid to Lt. Coulter's wife.

This isn't Mann's best noir by a longshot but it's a lot more enjoyable, tense and taut than the previous film. It's also a bit different in that it takes a real life event and fictionalizes it a bit to create an interesting film. I give this a solid 3 stars.

[UWfan206]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

End Of Watch: I loved this movie...Not gonna spoil it but this is a very good cop movie in my opinion..

[DonkeyJote]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Please tell me that's a joke.

It's not, and it's awesome. There's also like 2 or 3 songs from Watch the Throne in there, and cover of "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce.