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Post by berkley on Apr 27, 2020 0:35:38 GMT -5
La Ronde (1950) - Max Ophüls:
Film version of a late 1890s play by Arthur Schnitzler (also author of the story that Kubrick adapted for Eyes Wide Shut). The movie is made up of a series of vignettes connected by a character from one going on to appear in the next, hence the title. All the episodes are centred around a male-female sexual relationship of one kind or another. Really well-made film, everything is first-rate - the actors, the writing, the production as a whole. The movie retains the fin-de-siècle setting of the original, so it was nice to see the period costumes and set designs, especially since I've been reading a lot of stuff from that era the last year or so. I haven't read much by Schnitzler yet but I have a couple story collectons that I should be getting into soon.
The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur) (1953) - Henri-Georges Clouzot
Whereas I found La Ronde enjoyable and interesting in a sort of clinical, analytical way, The Wages of Fear is much more emotionally engaging - actually, that's much too mild a way to phrase it: I found it extremely powerful. The most obvious Hollywood film to compare it to would be Treasure of the Sierra Madre, for the Latin American setting and the down-and-out, desparate characters. Treasure is one of the greatest films of all time, Hollywood or wotherwise, but Wages does not suffer at all by the comparison. It's its own film though - I didn't look them up to see which one was made first, but I have no reason to think either was influenced by the other. Anyway, I thought this was an utter masterpiece (not an original thought, of course, it's a very famous work in film history). I've been thnking about and replaying some of the scenes in my head since I watched it about a week or two ago.
La Strada (1954) - Fellini
Another very famous film - usually I'd watch something a little lighter between two such big, heavy works, but I was pressed for time and really wanted to get La Strada in before the end of the month since it was partly my desire to see it that inspired this month's theme. I only saw it a couple nights ago so it hasn't had as much time for its impressions to settle in my brain but this one too, though in a completely different way to Wages, has left a deep impression. A simple story, its strength is all in the telling. Interesting how Fellini chose two non-Italian-speaking actors to play the two main supporting roles: dubbing usually turns me off but it didn't bother me here and both Quinn and Basegart turned in fine performances. Fellini is such a unique stylist, I'm almost surprised he's so universally acclaimed - though I did read afterwards that it took a few years before La Strada was recognised by critics as the masterpiece (that word again, but unavoidable) it has since been acknowledged to be. Giulietta Masina is amazng as the lead.
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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 28, 2020 9:44:10 GMT -5
berkley , if you are interested, Wages was remade as Sorcerer, which came out in 1977. William Friedkin directed (he often has said it's his favorite of his films) and Roy Scheider starred in what was a highly anticipated film from two big Hollywood names fresh from enormous hits, The Exorcist and Jaws. However, it was an ill-starred production from start to finish. The final blow was that although it came out to good reviews and audience response and the word of mouth was also good, the week after it opened, an SF movie opened that became all the rage there for a while, and Sorcerer was drowned in its wake and disappeared. I haven't seen it since it came out; I recall it as a grueling experience (in a good way!). Your review made me think of it again for the first time in ages. I checked and there is a DVD available, so I may give it a shot. 
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Post by berkley on Apr 28, 2020 17:02:37 GMT -5
I remember when Sorceror came out but never have seen it - though, oddly enough, I bought the soundtrack album purely on the basis of being a Tangerine Dream fan and used to listen to it quite a bit back in the day. Looking it up on wiki, I see that Friedkin described it as another movie version of the same novel Clouzot's film was based on rather than a remake of that earlier film, but I'm still put off by the idea. I might watch it all the same though, one of these days. Friedkin's stuff is usually worth a look, at the very least.
Great poster, I always thought - the same still was also used for that soundtrack album cover. I do think it was a badly-chosen title, though: when William "The Exorcist" Friedkin comes out with a new movie named "Sorceror" not too many years after, it's the most natural thing in the world for people to assume it's another supernatural horror story, and this wasn't.
Hoping to get one more movie in but it'll probably be the very last evening of the month, if at all.
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 1, 2020 19:06:22 GMT -5
If my count is correct it looks like shaxper is our winner for this month |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on May 1, 2020 22:12:04 GMT -5
If my count is correct it looks like shaxper is our winner for this month Oh wow, and I still have one more to add to my list. I'll wait until tomorrow in case anyone else hasn't tabulated and ends up beating me. |
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Post by shaxper on May 2, 2020 8:52:26 GMT -5
Well, I really did not expect to win last month, and I feel really bad that I didn't find time to post about what I was watching, but I'll try to make it right with this month's topic: Journey Into Mysteries! The great mystery films -- Christie, Hitchcock, Shamalan, and everyone else that drops clues so that you can solve the riddle before the protagonists do. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 2, 2020 9:53:59 GMT -5
Can I get a ruling on Noir's a la Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep? I'm not saying I'm going to have time for movies. But I like to know.
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Post by shaxper on May 2, 2020 11:45:30 GMT -5
Can I get a ruling on Noir's a la Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep? I'm not saying I'm going to have time for movies. But I like to know. Maltese Falcon is definitely a mystery. I honestly don't recall the plot of the Big Sleep, but I leave it to your judgment. |
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Post by Prince Hal on May 2, 2020 14:11:08 GMT -5
Can I get a ruling on Noir's a la Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep? I'm not saying I'm going to have time for movies. But I like to know. Maltese Falcon is definitely a mystery. I honestly don't recall the plot of the Big Sleep, but I leave it to your judgment. No one can, which further ensures its status as a mystery.  |
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Post by brutalis on May 3, 2020 13:55:59 GMT -5
Starting off April mysteries with 3 Days of the Condor. The 1975 CIA mystery/thriller with Redford struggling to solve why he & the office of "readers" were targeted for assassination. Complex plot with superb cast including Max Von Sydow, Cliff Robertson & Faye Dunaway. Originally saw this one at the theater with my grandfather in the day & saw it today thanks to MoviesTVNetwork.
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Post by berkley on May 3, 2020 20:18:57 GMT -5
Nothing definite planned so far. I have a couple noir or crime films coming up but I won't know if they're mysteries until I watch them later on in the month.
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Post by brutalis on May 4, 2020 7:50:30 GMT -5
Sunday nights mystery movie before bedtime: 1978's The Big Sleep starring a wealth of stars: Robert Mitchum, Richard Boone, Jimmy Stewart, Oliver Reed, Joan Collins, Sarah Miles, Edward Fox, Candy Clark and scores of British faces you may well know from television and movies all wrapped up in a film which leaves you wondering. The movie is updated from the novel's American 1940's settings into the current 1970's London which does provide some nice scenery and presumably makes the movie more contemporary.
There are things to enjoy within the movie and while Mitchum is the ONLY actor to ever play Marlowe more than once in a movie on the big screen, he seems tired and only going through the routine of being anything more than himself. I found myself looking beyond the main actors and into the settings and sets and details surrounding them while watching. If time allows I hope to watch the Bogart and Bacall version before the end of the month as I know it should be much better...
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Post by brutalis on May 11, 2020 8:22:37 GMT -5
3 more mysteries watched over the weekend. 1st up been on my watch pile for a bit now: 2017's Wind River with Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch...oops, mean Renner and Olsen investigating a rape/murder case on a Wyoming Indian Reservation during winter. Olsen the FBI agent and Renner the US Wildlife Tracker in a real character driven story that is both intense and visually gorgeous.
Next up was 1963's Charade starring ary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau and James Coburn in a romantic/comedy/mystery which is stylish and humorous and entertaining as all get out. Grant alias Peter Joshy alias Brian Cruikshank alisa Alexander Dyle alias Adam Canfield becomes involved with Hepburn's Reggie Lampert when her husband is found dead, thrown off a train. Turns out her husband was part of a OSS operation and stole $250,000 in gold during the war and his criminal colleagues are out to get their just rewards from her. Turns out Grant is the US government official for recovering stolen property and the song and dance he has been playing with the criminals and Reggie all along was his effort to find the missing money. Along the way boy and girl falls in love (who wouldn't fall in love with Audrey Hepburn?) and the movie ends happily ever after. Great fun!
Number 3 for the weekend was 1988's Sunset comedy/mystery with Bruce Willis as Tom Mix and James Garner as Wyatt Earp brought together in 1929 Hollywood when Earp is technical advisor on a Mix western of the OK Corral shoot up. The 2 become fast friends and involved in a real case of murder, prostitution and corruption involving Malcom McDowell's Alfie Alperin who is the film studio boss. A real smooth move from Blake Edwards with wonderful Mancini music suiting the time and place. A personal favorite of mine!
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on May 11, 2020 8:42:13 GMT -5
Next up was 1963's Charade starring ary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau and James Coburn in a romantic/comedy/mystery which is stylish and humorous and entertaining as all get out. Grant alias Peter Joshy alias Brian Cruikshank alisa Alexander Dyle alias Adam Canfield becomes involved with Hepburn's Reggie Lampert when her husband is found dead, thrown off a train. Turns out her husband was part of a OSS operation and stole $250,000 in gold during the war and his criminal colleagues are out to get their just rewards from her. Turns out Grant is the US government official for recovering stolen property and the song and dance he has been playing with the criminals and Reggie all along was his effort to find the missing money. Along the way boy and girl falls in love (who wouldn't fall in love with Audrey Hepburn?) and the movie ends happily ever after. Great fun! We watched this one just a few weeks back. So much fun, but I have to say I found the solution upsetting. I absolutely knew who the real villain was long before it was revealed, and I don't mind that too much, but I found Hepbern's helplessness and completely insane willingness to trust a man she had just met, even when it came out that he was repeatedly lying to and manpipulating her, infuriating. I was waiting for it to be revealed that she was playing him all along. She wasn't. Also, don't some of the rarest stamps in the world sort of lose a huge amount of their value if they are all pasted to the same envelope? How is the stamp collector not utterly devastated by this fact? |
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Post by brutalis on May 11, 2020 9:14:43 GMT -5
Next up was 1963's Charade starring ary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau and James Coburn in a romantic/comedy/mystery which is stylish and humorous and entertaining as all get out. Grant alias Peter Joshy alias Brian Cruikshank alisa Alexander Dyle alias Adam Canfield becomes involved with Hepburn's Reggie Lampert when her husband is found dead, thrown off a train. Turns out her husband was part of a OSS operation and stole $250,000 in gold during the war and his criminal colleagues are out to get their just rewards from her. Turns out Grant is the US government official for recovering stolen property and the song and dance he has been playing with the criminals and Reggie all along was his effort to find the missing money. Along the way boy and girl falls in love (who wouldn't fall in love with Audrey Hepburn?) and the movie ends happily ever after. Great fun! We watched this one just a few weeks back. So much fun, but I have to say I found the solution upsetting. I absolutely knew who the real villain was long before it was revealed, and I don't mind that too much, but I found Hepbern's helplessness and completely insane willingness to trust a man she had just met, even when it came out that he was repeatedly lying to and manpipulating her, infuriating. I was waiting for it to be revealed that she was playing him all along. She wasn't. Also, don't some of the rarest stamps in the world sort of lose a huge amount of their value if they are all pasted to the same envelope? How is the stamp collector not utterly devastated by this fact? Letting flaws in plot disrupt your enjoyment of a movie? There is the teacher's need for accuracy again!  This is where you go and assign your students essay questions to explore and explain or rationalize the errors in within the movie. |
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This is where you go and assign your students essay questions to explore and explain or rationalize the errors in within the movie.