Jazzeum's Watch List (2 Viewers)

[jazzeum]

Movies recently watched.

Cowboys

Starring Glenn Ford and Jack Lemmon, and co-written by Dalton Trumbo, this is a fascinating look at a cattle drive. Ostensibly, the story revolves around a tenderfooted hotel clerk (Lemmon) convincing Ford to take him along on a cattle drive so he can try to win the hand of his Mexican girl friend; his offer of marriage was rejected by her father. Along the way he turns into a tough cowboy. Ford is excellent as the hard bitten boss who will let nothing stand in his way. Throughout the movie, you see how the cattle drive works and includes a scene in a Mexican village where Ford and the husband of the now betrothed girlfriend have a very realistic looking bullfight. Well worth watching. Both Lemmon and Ford are wonderful in their roles, particularly Ford.

The Bad and the Beautiful

This 1952 movie starring Kirk Douglas, Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell and Barry Sullivan looks at the way Hollywood works. The story is told from the viewpoint of four people, all who have been wronged by Jonathan Shields (Douglas) on his way to the top. In the end they are persuaded that they never would have risen in the industry but for Douglas. It was nominated for six Academy Award and won five. Well worth watching.

Drums Along the Mohawk

Starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert from a 1939 production (so many good movies were made in 1939), the movie depicts American settlers trying to fend off the British (led by a devilish John Carradine) and its Indian Allies during the Revolutionary War. Although critically acclaimed, it didn't quite grab me as I couldn't see Colbert in that role. Moreover, when Fonda goes to help and is pursued by three Indians, they run all night and part of the next day. Still an interesting look at Revolutionary America.

Wuthering Heights

Starring Olivier, Merle Oberon, David Niven, Leo G. Carroll and Cecil Kallaway from 1939, what can one say about Olivier that hasn't been said already. Masterful. He is the haunted star-crossed lover of Cathy (Oberon). Niven is dasing and correct as the husband of Cathy, whom she loves but not truly. Undoubtedly, one of the great movies. Never read the book but may do so.

La Strada

Fellini's masterpiece from 1954, starring Anthony Quinn as the carnival strong man Zampano and Giulietta Masina as Gelsomina, the girl who is sold to Quinn for 10,000 Lira as his assistant. The movie is almost picaresque in telling her tale, which is full of pain, both emotional and physical, as Quinn beats her. Along the way Quinn, who is seeming always in a rage, kills another performer who had ridiculed Quinn but befriended Gelsomina, who is horrified. Ever the cur, Quinn abandons her in the snowy mountains and later learns that she died, which breaks him. At first, the movie puzzled me but then captivated me. Truly a remarkeable movie. Won the Best Foreign Film Academy Award and is considered a classic. Not hard to see why.

More to come...

 

[mikemiller1955]

Jack Lemmon was great in Cowboys...loved that show...

but then again...he was pretty good in everything he did..

 

[lancer]

Seen them all and enjoyed them all. La Strada was a bit difficult for me but it was impossible to walk away from. -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

Agreed Al. After you sort of get with the flow, it becomes hard to turn away. It's a movie that needs to be seen a few times.

The Man in the White Suit

This is a 1951 movie starring Alec Guinness as a scientist who invents a fabric that never needs to be cleaned or replaced. Although billed as a comedy, it's about how people react to changes in technology. In the movie, management and the unions unite to try to stop this development because it will affect the bottom line and their jobs. Guinness is a marked man. Well worth seeing. Surprised no one has tried to do a re-make.

Wings of Desire

This is a 1987 movie from Wim Wenders with Bruno Ganz (better known for his role in Downfall), Solveig Dommartin and, starring himself, Peter Falk (in a small role). This is one of the most amazing movies I've seen. Bruno Ganz (Damiel) and other angels oversee Berlin and monitor what humans are doing down there. They are only visible to other angels and children. Damiel, by chance, sees a trapeze artist and is smitten and decides he wants to become human so he can spend the rest of his life with her. It won numerous awards, including Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival but oddly enough was not nominated for an Academy Award.

 

[jazzeum]

Battle of Algiers

I saw this 1966 movie tonight, which depicts the revolt by the people of Algiers between 1954 and 1958 and the French response. After numerous atrocities by the guerrilla organization, FLN, against French people in the European quarter, the French call in the paratroopers who, led by Colonel Mathieu, systematically destroy the FLN. Tortures by both sides and terrorist attacks against civilians are realistically depicted. The movie ends when the Muslims of Algiers spontaneously demonstrate against the French and a French official cries out what do you want and people yell back our independence.

The movie is gripping because it is shot in documentary style and in a gritty black and white type of news footage. You can never turn away because it is as if you are watching history unfold. It is so realistically shot that audiences were told that this was not actual news footage.

The movie was nominated for numerous awards and won several, although no Academy's.

It is one of the most remarkable movies I've ever seen. The movie was banned in France until 1974. Highly recommended and it is still studied today, by both the military and guerrilla movements. It gives you a taste for tactics used today.

 

[lancer]

Battle of Algiers

I saw this 1966 movie tonight, which depicts the revolt by the people of Algiers between 1954 and 1958 and the French response. After numerous atrocities by the guerrilla organization, FLN, against French people in the European quarter, the French call in the paratroopers who, led by Colonel Mathieu, systematically destroy the FLN. Tortures by both sides and terrorist attacks against civilians are realistically depicted. The movie ends when the Muslims of Algiers spontaneously demonstrate against the French and a French official cries out what do you want and people yell back our independence.

The movie is gripping because it is shot in documentary style and in a gritty black and white type of news footage. You can never turn away because it is as if you are watching history unfold. It is so realistically shot that audiences were told that this was not actual news footage.

The movie was nominated for numerous awards and won several, although no Academy's.

It is one of the most remarkable movies I've ever seen. The movie was banned in France until 1974. Highly recommended and it is still studied today, by both the military and guerrilla movements. It gives you a taste for tactics used today.

Good timing with this review. Just watched it again 2 days ago. A very good film which gives a very realistic idea of what urban warfare is. The French seem to be sensitive about certain subject matters being depicted on film. I believe that France also banned the Kirk Douglas film Paths of Glory for many years. I thought Battle of Algiers was pretty even-handed in it's depiction of what the two sides were resorting to in order to win. There was another good movie on the Algerian struggle called The Lost Command, starring Anthony Quinn and George Segal. -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

Assume you saw it on TCM Al. I had taped it. I watched Shop on Main Street just now. Have you seen it?

Brad

 

[lancer]

Assume you saw it on TCM Al. I had taped it. I watched Shop on Main Street just now. Have you seen it?

Brad

Right you are, it was TCM. I have not seen Shop on Main Street. I just googled it as I do not know it. Any good? -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

Al,

The Shop on Main Street is very good. It's a Czech film from 1965 or 1966. It takes place in 1942 Slovakia. The main character Tony is an itinerant carpenter and work is not a big concern to him. He also doesn't show deference to the Slovakian fascists who are led in his town by his brother in law. The brother is looking for someone to take over a store since it's operated by an old Jewish woman (Mrs. Lauttmann) and the brother in law says it's yours. She is elderly and not really in touch with what is going on in the world and a little deaf to boot. She doesn't understand that he is now the owner but a friend who is aware that all Jewish businesses are being replaced with non-Jewish ownership does understand and convinces her that he just wants to work there and she takes him on. They become friends but as you can guess the day is coming when all the Jews will be deported from the town.

I don't want to say anymore as it will ruin the film.

Even though it's already been on TCM, if you subscribe to Watch TCM (which is free), you can still watch it through your computer. I watched Dr. Zhivago last night that way.

Brad

 

[lancer]

Al,

The Shop on Main Street is very good. It's a Czech film from 1965 or 1966. It takes place in 1942 Slovakia. The main character Tony is an itinerant carpenter and work is not a big concern to him. He also doesn't show deference to the Slovakian fascists who are led in his town by his brother in law. The brother is looking for someone to take over a store since it's operated by an old Jewish woman (Mrs. Lauttmann) and the brother in law says it's yours. She is elderly and not really in touch with what is going on in the world and a little deaf to boot. She doesn't understand that he is now the owner but a friend who is aware that all Jewish businesses are being replaced with non-Jewish ownership does understand and convinces her that he just wants to work there and she takes him on. They become friends but as you can guess the day is coming when all the Jews will be deported from the town.

I don't want to say anymore as it will ruin the film.

Even though it's already been on TCM, if you subscribe to Watch TCM (which is free), you can still watch it through your computer. I watched Dr. Zhivago last night that way.

Brad

Thanks, Brad. I'll put it on the list. Just watched Zhivago again yesterday on TCM. Watched it in HD and it was like seeing it in the theater again. Thanks to my daughter, who gave me the HD TV for Christmas, I have been re-watching many old favorites that I have only seen on old tube technology TV. I haven't seen any pre-60's film in a theater, so the HD gives me a whole new viewing experience. Really an unbelievable difference. I will be watching All Quiet on the Western Front in HD this Saturday night on TCM and I am really looking forward to a truly sharp, detailed picture. The preview TCM ran for it was enough to make me know it will be a viewing that is head and shoulders above any other print I have ever seen of it. I sure love HD TV.^&grin -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

I've never seen the 1930 All Quiet on the Western Front so will be watching that for the first time.

 

[lancer]

I've never seen the 1930 All Quiet on the Western Front so will be watching that for the first time.

Hope you like it, Brad. Even with all the excellent war films that have been done, I still count this as the best I have seen. It may be 84 years old, but when it's right, it's right. -- Al

 

[lancer]

Thanks, Brad. I'll put it on the list. Just watched Zhivago again yesterday on TCM. Watched it in HD and it was like seeing it in the theater again. Thanks to my daughter, who gave me the HD TV for Christmas, I have been re-watching many old favorites that I have only seen on old tube technology TV. I haven't seen any pre-60's film in a theater, so the HD gives me a whole new viewing experience. Really an unbelievable difference. I will be watching All Quiet on the Western Front in HD this Saturday night on TCM and I am really looking forward to a truly sharp, detailed picture. The preview TCM ran for it was enough to make me know it will be a viewing that is head and shoulders above any other print I have ever seen of it. I sure love HD TV.^&grin -- Al

Got to watch this in HD and I saw plenty of details I have missed over the years, mainly in terms of background action, terrain details, clothing details, etc. One thing that has always impressed me on a technical level are the excellent action scenes and the details therein. The uniforms and weapons are all accurate to the war with the nice touch of the passage of time being highlighted by the helmets the troops are wearing. The early war pickelhaube gives way to the stahlhelm, which was issued in mid-1916. The only other specific date occurs when a poster of a theater show is being discussed and it is noted that the poster is from May, 1917, four months ago in terms of the characters talking of it, meaning they are in September, 1917. Best detail, I was finally able to confirm that the plane that was dropping the bombs on Kat and Paul is an actual DH-4, an actual British 2-seat recon/bomber aircraft from WW1. I has suspected this for years but had not clear picture until I saw it in HD. Technology is good for something. -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

I got home yesterday, too tired to watch All Quiet so taped it to watch later.

I just watched Crossroads. This is a very good 1947 film noire murder mystery whose theme is anti-semitism in post war society. It stars Robert Young as the police captain with very young but excellent Robert Ryan and Robert Mitchum. The film received a best picture nomination, first for a B movie, and nominations for Ryan and Gloria Graeme.

 

[jazzeum]

Young Lions. Saw this years ago. Tells WWII through three soldiers: Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin and Marlon Brando. Although Brando is good, the other two seem to play stereotypes of themselves and the movie lacks any dynamic quality. All three actors only meet at the end. Overall, a disappointment and exceedingly long. May Britt and Maximilian Schell are excellent in brief roles.

Decision Before Dawn. I had forgotten I had seen this. In the dying days of WWII, the US Army recruits captured German soldiers to obtain German Army secrets and shows the disregard that the Army has for the Germans who would help them. As this was filmed in 1951 in Germany, the building ruins are real. Richard Basehart isn't bad but Oskar Werner is terrific as the German soldier who wants to end Hitler's regime. Hildegarde Knef has a small but vital role as a Woman who befriends Werner's character. There are many other German actors who are excellent in small roles. Filmed realistically. Fantastic movie all around.

The Caine Mutiny. Thought I had seen this before but have no recollection of much of the movie. Bogart is, of course, terrific but Fred MacMurray is delicious as a weasel. A classic, of course.

 

[jazzeum]

Got to watch this in HD and I saw plenty of details I have missed over the years, mainly in terms of background action, terrain details, clothing details, etc. One thing that has always impressed me on a technical level are the excellent action scenes and the details therein. The uniforms and weapons are all accurate to the war with the nice touch of the passage of time being highlighted by the helmets the troops are wearing. The early war pickelhaube gives way to the stahlhelm, which was issued in mid-1916. The only other specific date occurs when a poster of a theater show is being discussed and it is noted that the poster is from May, 1917, four months ago in terms of the characters talking of it, meaning they are in September, 1917. Best detail, I was finally able to confirm that the plane that was dropping the bombs on Kat and Paul is an actual DH-4, an actual British 2-seat recon/bomber aircraft from WW1. I has suspected this for years but had not clear picture until I saw it in HD. Technology is good for something. -- Al

I saw this tonight and this is one of the finest movies that I've seen. I can only thank goodness that I never had to fight in a war of such futility. The action scenes are some of the best I've ever seen. The scenes that stuck for me was the stupid teacher exhorting his students to go volunteer and when Paul returns home his father and friends arguing about strategy as if the soldiers were mere chess pieces to be moved on a board.

As if seeing All Quiet was not enough I saw Grand Illusion this week, undoubtedly one of the best movies ever made. Although you could spend a lot of time discussing the grandeur of this movie, it will suffice to point out that the title of Stalag 17 was borrowed from this movie; the singing of the Marsellaise in Casablanca was first done in Grand Illusion; and the digging of the tunnel and the novel way of getting rid of the dirt in the Great Escape was done in Grand Illusion. All homages to this wonderful movie. Although the acting is superb Von Stroheim is off the charts.

 

[Go for Broke]

Not to digress, but the book is good too. If you have had not read, The Forgotten Soldier, get it. It one of my favorite books. While I'm rambling, "None but the Brave", with Frank Sinatra & Clint Walker, is one of my favorite war movies.

 

[jazzeum]

I have read the book twice and of course a classic. I think but can't remember if I have seen None but the Brave but will have to look for it.

 

[lancer]

Not to digress, but the book is good too. If you have had not read, The Forgotten Soldier, get it. It one of my favorite books. While I'm rambling, "None but the Brave", with Frank Sinatra & Clint Walker, is one of my favorite war movies.

None But the Brave is mainly notable as one of the few US war movies that presents the Japanese soldier in a sympathetic light, a human being.The Thin Red Line and Letters From Iwo Jima are others. -- Al

 

[Go for Broke]

Interesting. That never occurred to me. What I liked about the movie was that both sides had similar characters and personalities. What's both fun and hokey is that both sides lose soldiers at about the same rate. The shooting action is great. The Japanese soldiers act in typical Japanese cinema. Very dramatic.