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  1. #16
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    The Louis Malle was not-so-great due to the silly premise, but I still thought it was fantastic.
    When he gets locked inside the elevator I said aloud: "Ooh this is gonna get interesting!"-- and it did. A murder plot within a murder plot!
    I felt it was silly that he left his grappling hook at the scene. Some hitman!

    The Polanski debut was well-shot and taut- you never quite know where the story leads, with a nice twist (of the knife?!) at the end.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  2. #17
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    Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

    Just watched this James Dean classic. Not bad.
    He turns in a compelling performance. Nice to see a really young Dennis Hopper and classic 50's cars!
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  3. #18
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    I like Malle's THE LOVERS (though it might seem corny, so romantic and great use of baroque music)
    GOODBYE, CHILDREN/AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS deeply moving WWII story from personal experience.

    LACOMBE, LUCIEN which now I connect to Georges Siminon's "roman dur" La neige était sale/The snow was Dirty

    and others. NOT MY DINNER WITH ANDRE. That was a A/O.
    It's a mixed bag, Malle's filmography.

    Can't remember REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. James Dean is the classic brilliant, doomed young actor. My heart is with River Phoenix.
    Last edited by Chris Knipp; 06-19-2020 at 09:29 PM.

  4. #19
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    A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

    Just saw this enchanting masterpiece from Powell and Pressburger, part of TCM's "The Essentials" series with Mank & director Brad Bird.

    I'd never seen this one before, and now it's a favorite.
    David Niven plays Peter Carter, an RAF bomber squadron commander in WWII who gets shot down and jumps from his Lancaster with no parachute.
    He should die, right?
    You would think so, and this movie explores how and why he didn't, with color sequences showing Earth and black & white showing Heaven. (or "the Afterlife")

    Kim Hunter plays a beautiful American girl who talks with Peter over the radio in his final moments and they fall in love, without meeting.
    Peter is visited by a dandy French spirit guide who figures prominently.
    Long story short, he goes to an eternal "court" where his fate is decided. This part blew me away- what vision and bravado by Powell & Pressburger!
    The defence and prosecution deftly battle it out, and Love Triumphs. (and why Shouldn't it?)
    See it. It is a Special film from 2 of the biggest names in movie history.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  5. #20
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    Double Indemnity (1944)

    "Hello Baby...C'Mon Baby...Look Baby...Goodbye Baby..."



    This is a must-see film.
    Excellent movie, with snappy Raymond Chandler dialogue.
    Fred MacMurray stars as Walter Neff, an insurance salesman who falls for a married woman (Barbara Stanwyck) who wants to kill her husband for the insurance money.
    Walter is smart and he knows better, but Love is blind. He hatches an elaborate plan to "Get the Money and Get the Girl"...
    He's even gonna attempt to get double the money, with a double indemnity clause in the policy.
    Problems arise in the execution of the plan, not least of which from Lola, Stanwyck's step-daughter and Walter's boss Keyes. (Played by Edward G. Robinson)
    See it.
    It's one of the must-see classics.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  6. #21
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    Underworld U.S.A. (1961)

    Directed by cinema legend Sam Fuller, this is one gritty slice of film noir.

    Tolly Devlin (Cliff Robertson- "The Big Kahuna" in Gidget) is 14 when he witnesses his dad get beaten to death by 4 thugs.
    He's no "Fink", so he vows that he'll find them and mete Justice out personally.
    And he does, some 20 years later.
    Dolores Dorn is his pretty love interest Cuddles, and his mother figures prominently with juicy scenes.

    "NOIR ALLEY" TCM host Eddie Muller called it Fuller's signature "Smash-Mouth Cinema", and it was.
    I loved it. Movies like this are why I watch TCM!
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  7. #22
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    The Seven Year Itch (1955)

    It's Billy Wilder day today on TCM, and it's awesome.

    This is Marilyn Monroe in her prime, at her most playful, funny and innocent.
    She plays "THE GIRL", and who else can? There's a great in-joke where Tom Ewell says he's got Marilyn Monroe in his kitchen.
    This is a funny movie, and my second favorite starring Monroe. (After BUS STOP).
    Tommy sends his wife and son off for a vacation from NYC and he "meets" the Girl after she almost kills him with a tomato plant from the floor above his.
    He invites her for a drink, and comedy ensues for the rest of the picture.
    The famous dress Marilyn wears in the subway grate scene sold for $5.5 Million in 2011!!!
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  8. #23
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    Some Like it Hot (1959)

    I gotta be honest, the only selling point of this one is Marilyn Monroe.

    I know that this film is revered as a classic, but I don't really like it.
    Who wants to see Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in ridiculous drag for a whole movie?
    Lemmon is over-acting to cartoonish levels and Curtis seemed too comfy in drag for comfort.
    They play two loser musicians who dress in drag to avoid the mafia after witnessing a gangland murder spree.

    They get a job in Florida as women musicians where they meet "Sugar", (Marilyn)- a ukelele-playing Lush.
    Slapstick cornball Non-hilarity ensues...I found this flick tiresome, save for the 2 songs Marilyn sings.
    I'm amazed at how this movie gets tons of praise. It's a stinker in my view.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  9. #24
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    Why did they like it so much? Would real drag queens like it?
    I guess a matter of individual taste. But It never seemed funny to me either. I'm watching A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH, by the way. Powell and Pressberger are unbeatable.

  10. #25
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    I'm not sure why they like it so much- it's definitely a matter of taste- I found little humour in it, but others may find it hilarious.
    I don't think a bottle of vermouth would make it any funnier to me. I'd be curious to know what real drag queens think.
    No one in the movie (besides the gangsters hunting them) thinks they're anything but women!

    Very cool that you're checking out A Matter of Life and Death---that one is still on my mind. It's Magical.
    Jack Cardiff's dreamlike cinematography is legendary. Did you know his own breath was breathed onto the lens to fog it up?
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  11. #26
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    The Apartment (1961)

    Jack Lemmon was far more toned down for Billy Wilder's THE APARTMENT, a great classic film.
    Shirley MacLaine is gorgeous as the elevator girl eternally looking for love.
    Fred MacMurray is back with Wilder, as Lemmon's boss Mr. Sheldrake.

    The story is simple: Jack is C.C. Baxter, a hardworking "company man" trying to get ahead at a massive company.
    He loans out his apartment to co-workers as favors, and the boss catches wind of it. Sheldrake wants in, as he constantly needs cover for his numerous affairs.
    He promotes Baxter, and a love triangle gets exposed-Sheldrake is seeing the elevator girl (who Baxter likes) but his divorce has yet to be finalized.
    In the end Baxter sticks it to his boss and forfeits his job.
    Little does he know that elevator girl loves him too, after realizing what a sweet, kind guy he is.
    A great little christmas holiday movie, where the nice guy finishes First.
    Last edited by Johann; 06-22-2020 at 07:30 PM.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  12. #27
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    Your thumbnail descriptions/reviews of classics are now honed more and more to perfection, if they might not yet quite compete with Pauline Kael's ones (that listing doesn't seem to include THE APARTMENT, which some high-toned critics scorned at the time). A Guardian writer reassesses rather favorably Andrew Sarris's putting Billy Wilder in his "Less Than Meets the Eye" category. But that's as a director - considering all the stuff he wrote or co-wrote, he meets the eye. Who would you compare Jack Lemmon to today?

  13. #28
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    Bikini Beach (1964)

    A rich dude (Keenan Wynne) wants to prove that teenagers are no different from apes.
    That's all the "plot" you need for this incredibly silly movie.

    I was entertained, but only in terms of how cheesy and off-the-charts cartoonish this is.
    Frankie Avalon pulls off two roles here, as himself and as an archetype for a Beatle named "Potato Bug"-you have to see him to believe him.
    Annette Funicello is cute, and sings a cute song "This time it's Love".
    Guest stars include Stevie Wonder, Boris Karloff and Don Rickles.
    Have a few beers or get stoned and you will laugh I'm sure...
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

  14. #29
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    You seem to be lowering your standards, but maybe this is a good time for silliness.
    I however (seeing it's in Mike D'Angelo's 2019 Top Ten List) want to carry on watching Casey Afflecks LIGHT OF MY LIFE, which is about a man and his young kid surviving a pandemic that has wiped out the earth. It may be timely. It's free with Amazon Prime.
    In a bleak future where women have been wiped out by a deadly plague, a forlorn man and his young daughter, disguised as a boy, make their way through the wilderness.-AO Scott, NYTimes.
    I seem to have started it earlier and left it after 4 minutes.
    I am still getting new movies to watch and I have reviews coming here when they come out in July of
    THE OUTPOST (Afghan war thriller, good)
    RELIC (classy horror flick)
    THE CLIMB (nice, funny feature debut)
    HOUSE OF HUMMINGBIRD (sensitive Korean coming-of-age film)
    NOSE TO TAIL (drama about a chef)
    THE MEDICINE (doc about ayahuasca)
    JOHN LEWIS-GOOD TROUBLE (doc about the veteran congressman and pioneer civil rights fighter)
    wWE ARE LITTLE ZOMBIES (busy, clever Japanese youth film)
    and
    THE PAINTED BIRD (a film in black and white from the famous Jerzy Kozinski novel of the sixties)
    - not in chronological order.
    Last edited by Chris Knipp; 06-25-2020 at 01:33 PM.

  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Knipp View Post
    You seem to be lowering your standards, but maybe this is a good time for silliness.
    I'm wiling to watch almost anything, but the last two days have been weak for TCM in my view.
    I saw Beach Blanket Bingo and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini-talk about lowering standards!
    Both had Buster Keaton as a guest-star!!! Inconceivable.

    I'm jealous of your film consumption Chris.
    "Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd

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