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Member of the Official OS Bills Backers Club
"Baseball is the most important thing that doesn't matter at all" - Robert B. Parker -
GO 'HAWKS!
OS Dibs: Anna Kendrick
Elite Dangerous on One X has become my life.
Proud PS5 and Xbox Series X Owner
"Best of Both Worlds"Comment
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LEEERRROOOOYYY
...and from the golden child love that where the monk dude wipes a booger on his robe, Eddie Murphy's reaction is just hilarious.Originally posted by Edmund BurkeComment
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Yes fellas it took me that long to see "Big Trouble In Little China" and I am glad I finally watched it. I guess I was living under a rock all these time. Guess I was never a Kurt Russell fan....
Oh and for the record I never watched a Star Wars movie until last week. lolComment
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
PLEASE watch 'Tombstone'.
"You're a daisy if you do."
Great Russell film, but it's more of an ensemble piece and Val Kilmer gives an Oscar-worthy turn as Doc Holliday.
Another fun one was 'Executive Decision', another great action thriller from the late 90's. Loved Russell's character in that, Halle Berry, Steven Seagal in a 'surprising' performance. Fun movie.Last edited by Lieutenant Dan; 06-25-2013, 04:53 PM.GO 'HAWKS!
OS Dibs: Anna Kendrick
Elite Dangerous on One X has become my life.
Proud PS5 and Xbox Series X Owner
"Best of Both Worlds"Comment
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Basket Case
This was pretty good. The special effects really don't hold up but otherwise a good time.
Basket Case 2
Only half as good as the first. Which makes it not so great.
Basket Case 3
Oh dear lawd why was this made!? What in all of blue hell were they thinking?! A total disgrace to...well everything. The NHL '12 of movies. I can only assume the first two did well enough and the original creators lost control entirely. (Reading the IMDB page for the second that may well have been the case. It's the same people but...)
Depends on the segment as with any anthology type thing.Comment
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Escape from New York anyone?Last edited by Fresh Tendrils; 06-25-2013, 05:31 PM.
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Some of the '80s stuff Kurt Russell did was quite good though my favorite movie of his has to be Breakdown (1997). It's a pretty well done mystery/crime thriller. It's a bit low key but it reminded me of something that might've been tried in the '70s. Dark Blue (2002) is another good film of his.
Anywho, time to go plumbing into the 1950s cinema again:
The Unguarded Moment (1956)
Plot Summary:
This movie can be categorized as "Trash Cinema" that was the rage in the 1950s though I think there's more to this flick than it's given credit for. This was brought to us by the fine folks at Universal-International. (which i've detailed a little bit of why it's billed as UI during this period in another review) UI was quite good at the medium to cheaper budget western but it was also in this period that the studio snatched up former MGM stars and gave them roles they'd never get at that glamor studio. One such acquisition was Esther Williams the famous swimmer who was known for her "water musicals" at MGM. This is her first film for UI and boy howdy was it ever a real departure from the light and fluffy stuff she did at MGM.Contemporary bachelorette Lois Conway is the music teacher and cheerleading director at Ogden Central High. She receives some lurid notes addressed in crayon to 'TEACHER DEAR' and is subsequently assaulted and harassed by a troubled teen, the son of a stern and overly-protective businessman. Lois finds herself at the center of unfavorable high school politics and the victim of a bit of sexism. There's also been a rash of assaults on women, one ending in murder, and Lieutenant Graham searches for a connection while wooing Miss Conway.
First though, I have to say I was never a fan of Esther Williams. She was in one movie that I kinda liked in Texas Carnival (1951) with Red Skelton. Other than that her movies bored me terrifically. So it was definitely a surprise when I spotted this flick which also stars George Nader (as Graham) and a very young John Saxon (the troubled teen named Leonard Bennett) in what was possibly his first MAJOR role. The movie is peppered with a couple other familiar character actors of the time period so unlike some Juvenile Delinquent films of the '50s this one has some competency to it.
The movie starts off a bit awkwardly as it didn't quite know how to get into the plot without being a bit herky jerky. The movie starts off as a bit of a teenage high school movie then morphs into a Peyton Place-esque soaper. Eventually though once Williams starts getting the notes and nearly gets sexually assaulted the movie finds its footing. I have to say they treat the whole matter of it pretty well and the scene of Williams locked in the locker room tunnel of the stadium in the dark with the attacker was pretty chilling. There's something to be said for being suggestive than outright showing brutality that makes one's skin crawl.
Anyways, the cops get involved and tough cop Nader hits it off wonderfully with Williams (NOT!) as he basically wants to know what's going on and is determined she knows more than she's letting on. Eventually things unravel to the point that she accuses Saxon who's the son of the big shot businessman in town played to sick effect by Edward Andrews.
I really don't want to give away too much of this movie because it's available on DVD and i'm recommending it but let's just say that there's far more to Andrews than one would think. As the movie goes along you realize that Andrews and Saxon have some deep seated psychological issues what with the father being a misogynist who imposes his will on his star athlete son to the point that he forbids the boy to date a girl much less look at one.
Andrews basically turns up the heat on Williams to the point that the entire town knows of what happens but only a slanted view as everyone thinks Williams is seducing the boy and having a lurid affair. You get the classic "town gangs up on victim" type storyline but it's played all very effectively and you can't help but feel for Williams. This is where the story kind of loses me a bit because Williams is SO virtuous that she tries to find a way to clear her name and fix everything without involving the police which gets her reputation dragged even further into the mud and Nader HAS to be involved.
That being said this movie does tackle some serious stuff especially for 1950s cinema and Williams does very well in this dramatic role. The rest of the cast ranges from serviceable to good with Andrews having a strangely monotone delivery when he's calm but there's a twisted perversity to it all that is compelling to watch.
As I've said i'm recommending this and give it 2 1/2 stars. I think as a time capsule of the JD genre of films and as something that tries to be frank with material that could easily be used for titillation it succeeds, though um, people will be people as Williams is at times seen wearing bullet bra outfits and a couple scenes of her fixing/taking off her pantyhose are filmed lingeringly though the latter drives home the point of how sick Andrews is.Member of the Official OS Bills Backers Club
"Baseball is the most important thing that doesn't matter at all" - Robert B. ParkerComment
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Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Batman Begins. Hadn't seen this in forever. Still amazing.Comment
Fun stuff from the 80's
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