Return Of The Film Corner Thread

[Matthew]

Island of Lost Souls (1932). Nicest version to my mind, Charles Laughton is very good, and seemingly very young.

[kinuta]

Mr Dynamite : The Rise Of James Brown - Alex Gibney (2014)

I enjoyed this a lot, especially the footage of The Famous Flames early days.

Thanks to the previous poster for drawing my attention to this overlooked gem.

When We Were Kings - Taylor Hackford, Leon Gast (1996)

Compliments the James Brown documentary very well. A classic.

[kinuta]

To Walk Invisible - Sally Wainwright (2016) BBC

Engrossing and beautifully realised tale of the three Bronte sisters and the effort to get their work published.

Everything is shadowed by the pitiful decline of alcoholic brother Branwell.

I thought it was really good, well scripted and acted, with production values that, while modest, lifted it above a mere tv movie.

[jlhoots]

I Am Not Your Negro - doc. re: James Baldwin

[medjuck]

9 hours ago, jlhoots said:

I Am Not Your Negro - doc. re: James Baldwin

It did a lot of things I don't like in documentaries like using generic footage while talking about something specific.  Nevertheless I thought it was great-- one of the best documentaries I've ever seen and I've seen a lot. 

[T.D.]

[Matthew]

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. I always find this an interesting watch.

[kinuta]

Gold - Stephen Gaghan (2016)

All that glitters is not gold. This turkey isn't even bronze.

The Missus fell asleep, which, in retrospect, was a wise move.

 

[BillF]

An old favourite.

[Brad]

On 2/13/2017 at 5:18 PM, jlhoots said:

I Am Not Your Negro - doc. re: James Baldwin

There was a recent article in the New Yorker about it. It's something I definitely wish to see. 

Recently saw Louis Malle's Au Revoir Les Enfants.  A very moving movie, particularly since it was based on actual events. 

Edited February 16, 2017 by Brad

[duaneiac]

An astoundingly absurd plot for which the viewer must be willing to suspend belief in huge chunks.  Still, there's the lovely Gene Tierney to watch and some great atmospheric b&w cinematography.  The movie listed the screenplay as by Ben Hecht and Andrew Solt, but I notice on the poster here it was listed as being by Lester Bartow & Andrew Solt.  Did Mr. Hecht have to use a pseudonym?

Two questions came to my mind while watching this silly movie.  One, at one point one of the detectives announces he is from the Los Angeles police department and he pronounces it "Los Ang-uh-les".  I have noticed that pronunciation in some other old movies as well.  At what point did the "Los Anj-uh-les" pronunciation that we are familiar with today become the norm?

At another point, a detective arrives home late at night and picks up the bottle of milk left on his doorstep.  Why was it considered necessary or even preferred for milk to be home delivered at one time?  I mean, if that milk had been sitting on his doorstep all day, or even for a few hours on a hot day, it's not exactly safe to consume.  Why couldn't people in the 1930's and '40's just go to the store for milk like they did for other food staples.  I mean, they wouldn't have expected a baconman to come by and leave a pound of bacon on their doorstep every other day or so, so why milk?

Edited February 16, 2017 by duaneiac

[jlhoots]

Toni Erdmann

[kinuta]

4 hours ago, duaneiac said:

An astoundingly absurd plot for which the viewer must be willing to suspend belief in huge chunks.  Still, there's the lovely Gene Tierney to watch and some great atmospheric b&w cinematography.  The movie listed the screenplay as by Ben Hecht and Andrew Solt, but I notice on the poster here it was listed as being by Lester Bartow & Andrew Solt.  Did Mr. Hecht have to use a pseudonym?

Two questions came to my mind while watching this silly movie.  One, at one point one of the detectives announces he is from the Los Angeles police department and he pronounces it "Los Ang-uh-les".  I have noticed that pronunciation in some other old movies as well.  At what point did the "Los Anj-uh-les" pronunciation that we are familiar with today become the norm?

At another point, a detective arrives home late at night and picks up the bottle of milk left on his doorstep.  Why was it considered necessary or even preferred for milk to be home delivered at one time?  I mean, if that milk had been sitting on his doorstep all day, or even for a few hours on a hot day, it's not exactly safe to consume.  Why couldn't people in the 1930's and '40's just go to the store for milk like they did for other food staples.  I mean, they wouldn't have expected a baconman to come by and leave a pound of bacon on their doorstep every other day or so, so why milk?

Milk was delivered all the time in UK up to at least the '90's and was by far the most common method of purchase.

Besides a choice of two types of milk, customers could also have optional delivery of eggs and yoghurt

I even had a milk round when I was about 15, which would be  in '61.

 

I agree it's a ludicrous plot, which hasn't stopped me from watching it several times.

Edited February 16, 2017 by kinuta

[Ted O'Reilly]

On ‎15‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 4:37 PM, BillF said:

An old favourite.

Go to imdb.com and check 'way down the actors.  You'll find the name of Gene DiNovi, who has had a side career of acting in addition to his lengthy musical career working with well, dozens of jazz artists.

You can read his memoirs for free at https://www.wattpad.com/user/genedinovi

[BillF]

9 hours ago, Ted O'Reilly said:

Go to imdb.com and check 'way down the actors.  You'll find the name of Gene DiNovi, who has had a side career of acting in addition to his lengthy musical career working with well, dozens of jazz artists.

You can read his memoirs for free at https://www.wattpad.com/user/genedinovi

Well, how interesting! I've long loved his work on the Pres Aladdin sides and there he is as the Italian restaurateur in this movie!

[GA Russell]

Duane, I think the milk was delivered every other day because most families had only one car (at most), which Dad took to work.  So Mom could get her fresh milk without the lengthy walk to the store.

But that's just a guess.  Anybody disagree?

[kinuta]

1 hour ago, GA Russell said:

Duane, I think the milk was delivered every other day because most families had only one car (at most), which Dad took to work.  So Mom could get her fresh milk without the lengthy walk to the store.

But that's just a guess.  Anybody disagree?

Can't speak for America but when I was growing up, the majority of houses had a milkbox, which was taken for granted as much as a mailbox.

Another reason was that the milk delivered was from a local dairy and was better quality than the shop bought stuff. Yet another reason is that milk came in real glass bottles which were pretty heavy for mum to carry home along with the other grocery items.

[kinuta]

Grandma - Paul Weitz (2015)

 

Rewatched this great little film. Lili Tomlin is wonderful as the cantankerous, smart and very real lead character.

Funny, well written and a lovely nod to the '60's. It fits really well in a double bill with 20th Century Women.

[duaneiac]

14 hours ago, GA Russell said:

Duane, I think the milk was delivered every other day because most families had only one car (at most), which Dad took to work.  So Mom could get her fresh milk without the lengthy walk to the store.

But that's just a guess.  Anybody disagree?

But keep in mind that a lot of grocery stores, and drug stores too, back in those days offered home delivery to their customers.  One just had to call the store with an order and some kid on a bicycle would bring it to your house, so there still would have been no problem with the customer having to lug the bottles of milk home --some poor teenage kid would have had to deal with it.

It just seems odd that it was commonplace to leave a highly perishable food product sitting on some one's doorstep.

When I was a kid there was still a local dairy which had its own store and that's where we got our milk from, usually in large glass gallon bottles.  Back then one could also buy a glass gallon jug of A & W root beer from the local A & W drive-in restaurant.

On 2/16/2017 at 2:27 PM, kinuta said:

Milk was delivered all the time in UK up to at least the '90's and was by far the most common method of purchase.

Besides a choice of two types of milk, customers could also have optional delivery of eggs and yoghurt

I even had a milk round when I was about 15, which would be  in '61.

 

Wow -- they still did milk deliveries like that into the 90's?!?!  I remember I had a Matchbox cars milk truck kind of like that  vehicle in the video you posted, with crates of milk bottles stacked up in the back.  I never really thought about it as a kid, but I guess that was a contemporary vehicle at that time in the 1960's.

[kinuta]

1 hour ago, duaneiac said:

But keep in mind that a lot of grocery stores, and drug stores too, back in those days offered home delivery to their customers.  One just had to call the store with an order and some kid on a bicycle would bring it to your house, so there still would have been no problem with the customer having to lug the bottles of milk home --some poor teenage kid would have had to deal with it.

It just seems odd that it was commonplace to leave a highly perishable food product sitting on some one's doorstep.

When I was a kid there was still a local dairy which had its own store and that's where we got our milk from, usually in large glass gallon bottles.  Back then one could also buy a glass gallon jug of A & W root beer from the local A & W drive-in restaurant.

Wow -- they still did milk deliveries like that into the 90's?!?!  I remember I had a Matchbox cars milk truck kind of like that  vehicle in the video you posted, with crates of milk bottles stacked up in the back.  I never really thought about it as a kid, but I guess that was a contemporary vehicle at that time in the 1960's.

The vehicles were electric battery powered to keep noise to a minimum and not wake people in the very early morning hours.

Delivery by bicycle was unknown in UK. To my knowledge bicycles have never been used as a method of hauling around goods.

Japan is, of course, the diametric opposite, with almost every home having at least one bicycle, which are used heavily, daily, for shopping, taking kids to preschool etc.  It's common to see people with kids on the back and front of a bicycle and shopping bags to boot. Battery pack assisted bicycles are so common that they've almost pushed out the old fashioned manual type. We have two, and all our neighbours use power assisted types.

 And now, back to films !

Edited February 17, 2017 by kinuta

[sidewinder]

10 hours ago, kinuta said:

The vehicles were electric battery powered to keep noise to a minimum and not wake people in the very early morning hours.

Delivery by bicycle was unknown in UK. To my knowledge bicycles have never been used as a method of hauling around goods.

Japan is, of course, the diametric opposite, with almost every home having at least one bicycle, which are used heavily, daily, for shopping, taking kids to preschool etc.  It's common to see people with kids on the back and front of a bicycle and shopping bags to boot. Battery pack assisted bicycles are so common that they've almost pushed out the old fashioned manual type. We have two, and all our neighbours use power assisted types.

 And now, back to films !

I used to get stuck behind one in the traffic to work on a regular basis - and this was well within the last 10 years !!! Pretty sure I saw one on the road not too long ago too.

You could get deliveries of regular milk, half top, double top, cream, yoghurt and eggs I think from most of these guys. In latter days most were operated by 'Unigate'.

Check out the Father Ted 'Milk Float' episode - a classic.

Edited February 18, 2017 by sidewinder

[duaneiac]

Too Forrest Gumpy for my taste.

[Morganized]

On 2/17/2017 at 3:30 PM, kinuta said:

Grandma - Paul Weitz (2015)

 

Rewatched this great little film. Lili Tomlin is wonderful as the cantankerous, smart and very real lead character.

Funny, well written and a lovely nod to the '60's. It fits really well in a double bill with 20th Century Women.

Ha... I agree about the double bill!! Never thought of it that way but now that you mention it................ :-)

[kinuta]

Rewatched Julieta.

A great film imho and, despite some negative reviews, one of 

Almodovar's best films. I enjoy most of his films but often at arms length. This one fully connected.

Edited February 19, 2017 by kinuta

[kinuta]

Manhattan Murder Mystery - Woody Allen (1993) HD copy from tv.