I've never seen that, even tho it was on TV a ton in my youth. All-star casts were all the rage in that period... and they were expecting a lot, as the writer was Carl Foreman of High Noon, The Guns of Navarone (also w/ Peck and same director).
iMdB trivia:
One of George Lucas's projects while a student in film school was documenting the making of this film. While he was on set, he actually made suggestions (which were used) on how to rehearse and shoot some scenes.
The film was originally planned to be shown in single lens Cinerama with reserved seat roadshow engagements, but Columbia execs changed their minds and pulled the plug on that idea. The film was drastically cut down from nearly three hours plus an intermission to just over two hours. Although most of the film was photographed on 65mm stock, to save a buck, a handful of scenes were filmed in 35mm anamorphic and then optically blown up with disastrous results. The blown-up scenes are exceedingly grainy and have bad color.
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 20 May 2012 07:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
Putney Swope (1969, Robert Downey) 3/5The Family Jewels (1965, Jerry Lewis) 3/5No More Excuses (1968, Robert Downey) 3/5Chafed Elbows (1966, Robert Downey) 4/5Babo 73 (1964, Robert Downey) 3/5A River Runs Through It (1992, Robert Redford) 3/5The Death of Maria Malibran (1971, Werner Schroeter) 3/5The Kid with a Bike (2011, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne) 4/5The Vortex (1928, Adrian Brunel) 2/5Dark Shadows (2012, Tim Burton) 2/5The Observers (2011, Jacqueline Goss) 3/5Une Femme Douce (1969, Robert Bresson) 4/5
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 20 May 2012 08:05 (1 year ago) Permalink
Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans (Werner Herzog, 2009) 4/5Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011) 3.5/5The Damned United (Tom Hooper, 2009) 3.5/5Beowulf (Robert Zemeckis, 2007) 3/5Kevin and Perry Go Large (Ed Bye, 2000) 3/5
― Michael B Higgins (Michael B), Monday, 21 May 2012 12:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
la dolce vita ('60, fellini) 3.5/5love in the afternoon ('72 rohmer) 4/5hour of the wolf ('68 bergman) 2.5/5the passion of anna ('69 bergman) 3/5phase iv ('74 saul bass) 2/510 ('79 edwards) 2.5/5bad teacher ('11 kasdan) 2.5/5hiroshima mon amour ('59 resnais) 3/5
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 24 May 2012 13:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
psycho ('60 hitchcock) 5/5mauvais sang ('86 carax) 2/5the lovers on the bridge ('91 carax) 2.5/5autumn sonata ('78 bergman) 4/5art history ('11 swanberg) 2.5/5take this waltz ('11 polley) 0.5/5toy story 3 ('10 lee unkrich) 3/5out of the blue ('80 hopper) 2.5/5
― johnny crunch, Saturday, 2 June 2012 16:11 (11 months ago) Permalink
The Wicker Man 3.5/5Inception 2/5
Man, Inception was way whinier than I expected. Was hoping for dumb fun, instead got a bunch of dull moping about a dead wife. Christopher Nolan remains my favorite Hollywood example of the difference between clever and smart.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 2 June 2012 17:36 (11 months ago) Permalink
Also I'm probably being a half-star generous with Wicker Man, but it was fun. (the original, obv)
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 2 June 2012 17:37 (11 months ago) Permalink
i dont think id want to see Inception again, i enjoyed it in the cinema but i bet it would suck if i saw it again
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (Cassavetes, 1976) 4/5
An odd movie but brilliant. sloppy yet so naturalistic. what was up with that strip joint? who would pay money to go to a place like that? i wasnt even dissapointed by the unresolved ending.
Chronicle (Trank, 2012) 2/5
This had its moments but the whole found footage thing became annoying and overly contrived after a while.
A History of Violence (Cronenberg, 2005) 3.5/5
This is my second time watching this and the comic book style in which he dispatches people is like something from a different movie. Neverthless, the rest of the movie is well done and its a great story.
― Michael B Higgins (Michael B), Saturday, 2 June 2012 20:37 (11 months ago) Permalink
One Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Ceylan, 2011) - 3/5Le Quai Des Brunes (Marcel Carne, 1939) - 442399777201/5.*Pepe Le Moko (julien Duvivier, 1937) - ((332937010-1)/83759275020)/5Alice in the Cities (Wim Wenders, 1974) - 83649142421-489-14-1248-124-24-12-124-1248-248-184-184/////5Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987) - hfahejwgqoje83-2-1u/5**Xala - (Sembene, 1975) - 6746293419/78While the City Sleeps (Fritz Lang, 1956) - xxxxxxx/5Ashes of Time (Wong Kar-wai, 1994)***
* = the Gabin retrospective was a good opportunity to make my way through French film in the 40s, really liking it so far. They are great date films, despite the somewhat tragic endings, but who cares about endings?** = This was a Wenders dbl bill and I guess you can map what happened to Euro art cinema from this.*** = possibly Kar-wai's best film.
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 3 June 2012 09:23 (11 months ago) Permalink
aw it's his prettiest film, visually, but far from his best i think. i found it pretty trying, though'd concede some of that's my tastes; i prefer all of hou's modern stuff to his historical epics
― blossom smulch (schlump), Sunday, 3 June 2012 10:16 (11 months ago) Permalink
have to admit I had a hard time staying awake during Ashes of Time.
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 3 June 2012 12:27 (11 months ago) Permalink
The PornographersCoriolanusMan of the WestWild Reeds
― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 3 June 2012 12:32 (11 months ago) Permalink
ashes of time redux screening i attended was improved considerably by christopher doyle galloping on stage uninvited, after, & pulling mic from MC
― blossom smulch (schlump), Sunday, 3 June 2012 12:36 (11 months ago) Permalink
I often have a hard time staying awake during slow cinema screenings and I also feel this is part of the pleasure I get from this kind of cinema. Although I saw Ashes of Time at 11pm last night, no problems. Looks incredible, even by kar-wai/Doyle's very high standards.
Today, at the cinema: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp: very moving, "very much".
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 3 June 2012 17:39 (11 months ago) Permalink
La ReligieuseDuelleL'Amor Fou
Keeping the apparently seriously ill Rivette in my thoughts this week. Sad.
― Pacific Rinko (Capitaine Jay Vee), Sunday, 3 June 2012 18:27 (11 months ago) Permalink
ashes of time redux screening i attended was improved considerably by christopher doyle galloping on stage uninvited, after, & pulling mic from MC― blossom smulch (schlump)
― blossom smulch (schlump)
this reminds me of the q&a after the fallen angels premiere at the berlinale. wong kar wai was asked why the camera was so shaky all the time, and he replied, well, the cameraman was drunk. everybody laughed. wkw looked quizzically at the interpreter, the interpreter shrugged.
― ☆, Sunday, 3 June 2012 22:51 (11 months ago) Permalink
Downhill (Hitchcock, 1927) 3/5Frankenstein (J. Searle Dawley, 1910) 3/5The Darkest Hour (Chris Gorak, 2011) 2/528 Weeks Later (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, 2007) 3/5Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2012) 4/5Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011) 1.5/5Lucifer Rising (Kenneth Anger, 1972) 1.5/5The Designated Victim (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, 1971) 2.5/5
― DavidM, Wednesday, 6 June 2012 19:02 (11 months ago) Permalink
Haven't done one of these for a few weeks:
21 Jump Street (Phil Lord, Chris Miller, 2011) 3.5/5Shame (Steve McQueen) 4/5The Green Man (Robert Day, 1956) 3.5/5Slade in Flame (Richard Loncraine, 1975) 4/5The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher, 2011) 4.5/5The Debt (John Madden, 2011) 3/5The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011) 3/5Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957) 4/5Resistance (Amit Gupta, 2011) 2.5/5Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2012) 4/5Poor Cow (Ken Loach, 1967) 4/5
― fun loving and xtremely tolrant (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 6 June 2012 19:15 (11 months ago) Permalink
Ghost Dog (Jim Jarmusch, 1999) 3.5/5 - A bad comedy made bearable by beautiful cinematography and a kick-ass soundtrack.Social Network (David Fincher, 2010) 4/5 - Magnificently competent.Get Shorty (Barry Sonnenfeld, 1995) 4/5 - Pretty good despite iffy pacingAll Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (Adam Curtis, 2011) 4.5/5 - The kind of documentary that is entirely absorbing even thought it may well all be fiction.Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1974) 4/5 - lol bulgy eyes
― give me back my 200 dollars (NotEnough), Thursday, 7 June 2012 13:45 (11 months ago) Permalink
New Adam Curtis?!
― the mating calls of sarcastic sharks (jer.fairall), Friday, 8 June 2012 00:04 (11 months ago) Permalink
not that new, I saw it... last fall?
― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Friday, 15 June 2012 02:41 (11 months ago) Permalink
Days of Being Wild (1991, Wong Kar-wai) 4/5Django Kill ... If You Live, Shoot! (1967, Giulio Questi) 3/5Kicking and Screaming (1995, Noah Baumbach) 3/5Oslo, August 31st (2011, Joachim Trier) 3/5The Color Wheel (2011. Alex Ross Perry) 3/5Hide Away (2011, Chris Eyre) 2/5Pink Ribbons, Inc. (2011, Lea Pool) 3/5Passion Fish (1992, John Sayles) 4/5Thundercrack! (1975, Curt McDowell) 3/5Two Tons of Turquoise to Taos Tonight (1975/2011?, Robert Downey Sr) 3/5
― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Friday, 15 June 2012 03:28 (11 months ago) Permalink
Passion Fish is such a great movie
― Michael B Higgins (Michael B), Friday, 15 June 2012 13:09 (11 months ago) Permalink
not quite, but it stands up very well. Had forgotten the "anal probe" actress monologue.
― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Friday, 15 June 2012 14:20 (11 months ago) Permalink
"i didnt ask for an anal probe!"....isnt that line uttered by someone in 'Communion' also?
― Michael B Higgins (Michael B), Friday, 15 June 2012 15:21 (11 months ago) Permalink
The last few weeks, almost all rep & netflix (haven't disturbed the personal collection much as of late):
Come Back To The Five & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982, Robert Altman) 3.5/5Reality Bites (1994, Ben Stiller) 3/5 (would have been a 2, but added a point for Winona--you forget how purely engaging she was in her prime(and also because that doily dress on the big screen will not be easily forgotten))Walking and Talking (1996, Nicole Holofcener) 4/5 (one of the best films showing the true dynamics of friendship)Pardners (1956, Norman Taurog) 3/5 (cool prologue)Hollywood or Bust (1956, Frank Tashlin) 3/5 (cool Chrysler)Film (1965, Alan Schneider) 3.5/5Play of The Week: "Waiting For Godot" (1961, Alan Schneider) 3/5 (Burgess Meredith & Zero Mostel as the leads, but overall kind of a slog seeing it all at once)Lovely & Amazing (2002, Nicole Holofcener) 3.5/5Shame (2011, Steve McQueen) 3/5 (didn't find this boring; funny if anything, even when it wasn't supposed to be)Haywire (2011, Steven Soderbergh) 3.5/5 (Fun!)David Holzman's Diary (1967, Jim McBride) 4.5/5
― Electro-Shock Rory (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 15 June 2012 17:35 (11 months ago) Permalink
so hard to correlate nicole holofcener films w/the titles of nicole holofcener films & remember which i've seen. walking & talking sounds good.
― blossom smulch (schlump), Friday, 15 June 2012 17:52 (11 months ago) Permalink
love crime (2010, corneau) 3/5full moon in paris (1984, rohmer) 4.5/5who'll stop the rain (1978, reisz) 4/5what happened was... (1994, noonan) 4/5suzanne's career (1963, rohmer) 3/5hemingway & gelhorn (2012, kaufman) 2/5moonrise kingdom (2012, wes anderson) 2.5/5that's my boy (2012, sean anders) 1.5/5
― johnny crunch, Friday, 15 June 2012 20:59 (11 months ago) Permalink
American Graffiti (Lucas, '73) 2.5/5Nightwatch (Ole Bornedal, '98) 3/5Haywire (Soderbergh, '11) 3.5/5The Wicker Tree (Robin Hardy, '11) 1.5/5There Will Be Blood (PTA, '07) 3.5/5Equilibrium (Kurt Wimmer, '02) 1.5/5Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, '11) 4/5
― DavidM, Friday, 15 June 2012 21:56 (11 months ago) Permalink
guys, the whole point of 5-star scale is you don't get to use halves.
― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 16 June 2012 00:05 (11 months ago) Permalink
decimals?
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 16 June 2012 01:04 (11 months ago) Permalink
i am legit gonna start using π/5
― johnny crunch, Saturday, 16 June 2012 01:21 (11 months ago) Permalink
Prometheus (3/5)Reservoir Dogs (4/5)Pull My Daisy (4/5)
― Pacific Rinko (Capitaine Jay Vee), Saturday, 16 June 2012 04:23 (11 months ago) Permalink
Klute the Jane Fonda/Donald Sutherland detective yarn from the early 70s. He almost monk like, she a callgirl who's seen better days & is now trying to break into acting.Cinematography is pretty awesome, and dialogue sounds like its too good to be real. Maybe too much Dorthy Parker or something, I just don't know if people really have the wit to talk like that. Not sure if it even sounds artificial, just possibly too noticeable.
Great late noir.
― Stevolende, Saturday, 16 June 2012 10:37 (11 months ago) Permalink
Saw a few bits of Klute last night - the passages where Fonda was talking about her life as a call girl -- and who she thinks is 'on top' -- strangely (or maybe not so strangely) pre-date the 'call girl diary' claptrap.
Some of this overlaps with Godard (and Fonda was doing work with the Vertov group at that time), so I wish I was paying more attention.
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 16 June 2012 10:57 (11 months ago) Permalink
Mauvis Sang (1986) 3/5The Harder They Come (1972) 2.5/5Moonrise Kingdom (2012) 4/5The Avengers (2012) 3/5Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns (2003) 2.5/5Kiss Me Deadly (1955; 2nd viewing) 4.5/5Routine Pleasures (1986) 3/5Divorce, Italian Style (1961) 4/5
― Chris L, Saturday, 16 June 2012 15:46 (11 months ago) Permalink
crazy, stupid, love (ficarra, requa 2011) 1/5the birds (hitchcock '63) 4/5and the pursuit of happiness (malle '86) 4/5phenomena (argento '85) 1.5/5a good marriage (rohmer '82) 3/5basket case (henenlotter '82) 3.5/5safe men (john hamburg '98) 1.5/5
― johnny crunch, Friday, 29 June 2012 15:46 (10 months ago) Permalink
oh i also saw
green fish (lee chang-dong '97) 4/5the innocents (jack clayton '61) 2.5/5
― johnny crunch, Friday, 29 June 2012 15:51 (10 months ago) Permalink
John Carter (Andrew Stanton, 2012) 2/5Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005) 4/5Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2012) 4/5The Black Balloon (Elisa Down, 2008) 3/5The Rocky Road To Dublin (Peter Lennon, 1968) 5/5To Live And Die In LA (William Friedkin, 1985) 4/5Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, 2011) 3.5/5
― Michael B Higgins (Michael B), Friday, 29 June 2012 16:20 (10 months ago) Permalink
Dance, Girl, Dance (Arzner, 1940) 2/5 (D-)Chronicle (Trank, 2012) 4/5 (B+)Rampart (Moverman, 2011) 4/5 (B+)Dick (Fleming, 1999) 3/5 (C+)Creative Nonfiction (Dunham, 2009) 4/5 (B-)Tiny Furniture (Dunham, 2010) 3/5 (C)The Ides of March (Clooney, 2011) 4/5 (B)Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Shatner, 1989) 2/5 (D)Cars 2 (Lasseter and Lewis, 2011) 2/5 (D-)The Incredible Shrinkng Man (Arnold, 1957) 4/5 (B-)The China Syndrome (Bridges, 1979) 4/5 (B)
― to welcome jer.fairall, pie is served. (jer.fairall), Friday, 29 June 2012 16:56 (10 months ago) Permalink
Burma Soldier biography of a normal ranking soldier in the Burmese army who had been in a unit mapping the locations of landmines and blown up. Talked about how the higher ranks had ordered the use of villagers as (I think) unpaid porters and human shields.
After the accident the protaganist became an activist speaking out about the system he had been part of which got him in serious trouble with that system.
Interesting fact thrown up as background is that Ne Win supposedly the Burmese socialist leader at one point devalued all currency not divisible by the number 9. I need to find out more about him but he seems to have been the leader of the native freedom fighting in WWII. once he came to power in 1962 he made his own ethnic group centrally powerful. I think there are 18 main ethnicities in Burma and there has been a lot of oppression of ethnicities since that point.
Burma sounds like its seriously messed up, especially since its thought by some that getting outside investment in the prevailing regime is going to cut down on atrocities. I really need to find out what the best material to read on the country is since it does sound atrocious and has been so for the last 50 years plus.
― Stevolende, Friday, 29 June 2012 17:17 (10 months ago) Permalink
Into The Family played for a couple of days and am glad I caught it -- bloody marvelous.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 29 June 2012 17:32 (10 months ago) Permalink
Wanna see this, though who knows whel I'll get a chance
― to welcome jer.fairall, pie is served. (jer.fairall), Friday, 29 June 2012 17:33 (10 months ago) Permalink
Will watch Magic Mike and the Wes Anderson this weekend.
In the last week:
Eyes of Laura MarsWe Need To Talk About What a Terrible Movie Kevin IsOn Dangerous Ground
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 29 June 2012 18:17 (10 months ago) Permalink
On We Need To Talk...
Everyone seems to hate this with the exception of Walter Chaw, often my most trusted critic. He compares Ramsey to Arbus on film.
― to welcome jer.fairall, pie is served. (jer.fairall), Friday, 29 June 2012 18:38 (10 months ago) Permalink
John Carter (2011): C+The Thing (1982): A-Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (1974): C-Prometheus (2012): B-Moonrise Kingdom (2012): B+
― polyphonic, Friday, 29 June 2012 18:42 (10 months ago) Permalink
Big Fun in the Big Town (1986): A
― polyphonic, Friday, 29 June 2012 18:44 (10 months ago) Permalink
Everyone seems to hate this with the exception of Walter Chaw
I liked Kevin quite a bit too, but not enough to drown myself in the sea of negative takes. Better to shore myself up to howl about how terrible the new Dardennes BS is.
― old people are made of poop (Eric H.), Friday, 29 June 2012 18:46 (10 months ago) Permalink
Still never seen a dardennes joint.
― to welcome jer.fairall, pie is served. (jer.fairall), Friday, 29 June 2012 19:11 (10 months ago) Permalink
See The Son. Skip the rest.
― old people are made of poop (Eric H.), Saturday, 30 June 2012 01:24 (10 months ago) Permalink