What did you watch today? v 22.0

Tell everyone what you watched, what you thought, and what's up next.

The first post in this thread is # 6460

And as ever, link your films please.

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Permalink Reply by The Professor on June 5, 2009 at 4:24pm: I watched Defiance, and was relatively unmoved.

Last night I caught Monty Woolley in As Young As You Feel, which is one of those interesting 50s films that dealt comedically with the lot of the average worker and the new fascination with the ways and means of corporate America. Thelma Ritter is wasted, but Wooley is very good. Marilyn Monroe has a minor role, but not realizing she was in the cast, my breath caught in my throat when she first appeared. This is available on IW right now.

I also watched Roz and Freddie Mac in Take a Letter, Darling. Solid gender reversal comedy from the 40s where Roz is the executive and Fred is her secretary. Very fun, good chemistry, a bit long.

Permalink Reply by Lester on June 5, 2009 at 4:36pm: Here's a good deal. Criterion is streaming six Palme D'or winners, and it's quite a collection: Harakari, L'avventura, Cleo from 5 to 7, The Cranes Are Flying, Black Orpheus, and Cría cuervos . . . The first four are all solid 5 stars for me, Black Orpheus not so much , and I haven't yet seen Cria cuervos. There's no charge: just go here and to sign up. (I re-watched Cleo and it all was fine.)

Permalink Reply by The Professor on June 5, 2009 at 4:42pm: Wonderful -- thanks!

Permalink Reply by Christopher on June 5, 2009 at 4:53pm: Instantly I watched

1. Hancock Oddly enough I enjoyed better the second time around.

On DVD I watched

1. Opry Video Classics: Duets Great collection of classic country duets videos. Really enjoyed this dvd. Now I gotta rent the rest in this series.

Permalink Reply by Sevorin on June 7, 2009 at 2:59am: Harakiri is probably the best (anti)-samurai movie ever made. The screenplay, direction, cinematography, are superb.

All the actors -- except for Tatsuya Nakadai -- are wonderful. I do not apply that adjective to Nakadai for the simple reason that "wonderful" is inadequate to describe him. His performance is one of the greatest I've ever seen on film, in any language.

I suppose L'avventura is still a great film, but its dick has gotten progressively limper over the past couple of decades. The psycho-philosophical angst that made it seem so hip has evaporated with the passing of the generation that found so much truth in it. We live in a different age now. The movie is well made, but a lot of the subtextual pizzazz is gone.

None of the others is within megaparsecs of Harakiri. That's the pick of this litter.

Permalink Reply by Lester on June 7, 2009 at 11:49am: I completely agree with your comments on Harakiri: sensational film making. It's also my favorite of the five of the Criterion streaming offerings that I've seen. However, because one megaparsec is 19,173,000,000,000,000,000 miles, I have to take issue with your claim concerning the distant that separates it from the others.:)

Permalink Reply by Knaldskalle on June 7, 2009 at 12:27pm: Actually, it's 19,173,489,372,160,700,000 miles.

Permalink Reply by Lester on June 7, 2009 at 3:50pm: Ohh. I guess that's what I get for using that cheap Walmart tape measure. :)

Permalink Reply by craig kurth on June 6, 2009 at 12:47pm: true blood season 1 - hbo series - 4/5 star - i like vampire shows and like the concept of humans and vampires trying to live together peacefully. i cant wait till season 2.
valkyrie - 3/5 star - im not a big tom cruise fan but i liked the movie anyway.
the big red one - 3/5 star - a good one to watch on d-day. i temporarily worked at fort riley, ks which is home to the big red one, so i had to check it out. lee marvin does a great job.

Permalink Reply by joeoftexas on June 6, 2009 at 6:33pm: Recently I've watched:

John Huston's Wise Blood (1979) 5 stars
Michael Powell's Age of Consent (1969) 3.5 stars
Jules Dassin's 10:30 P.M. Summer (1966) 3 stars
Terence Young's Black Tights / 1-2-3-4 ou Les Collants noirs (1960) 5 stars
Leonid Lavrovsky's Bolshoi Ballet '67 / Sekret uspekha (1967) 3.5 stars
Konrad Niewolski's Palimpsest: A Hypnotic Mystery (2006) 4 stars
Bryan Singer's Valkyrie (2008) 2.5 stars
Ulrich Grossenbacher's Hippie Masala / Für immer in Indien (2006) 3.5 stars
Bharat Nalluri's Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008) 4 stars
Peter Segal's Get Smart (2008) 3 stars

Permalink Reply by Lester on June 6, 2009 at 7:49pm: Hmm. I still have Wise Blood on Long Wait. I agree with your ratings on Age of Consent and Miss Pettigrew. You were being charitable on Get Smart.

Permalink Reply by Sevorin on June 7, 2009 at 3:52am: I rented Black Tights just to get another taste of Moira Shearer. I was not disappointed.