Films You Have Watched

[Atticus]

I fianlly watched Mean Streets again, for the first time in ages. It didn't really resonate when I watched it on VHS back in the 90s. Maybe I wanted it to be more like Goodfellas and judged it for what it wasn't, not what it was. But actually, once tuned into the vibe of the film, it is very good. I really enjoyed it. It also benefits massively from the new 4k release and HDR (it's a dark film with a lot of red in places - looked pretty nasty on VHS as I remember). And like Taxi Driver it's a wonderful snapshot of an era.

[wakka]

Yeah, it's very raw and 70s and Goodfellas is very polished and 90s. They have very different feels to them and, while Goodfellas is certainly more accessible, I love the downbeat vibe of Mean Streets.

Every Scorsese gangster film is basically about how being a gangster sucks, and I think in this one you really see that crystallise and maybe even at its most potent. While the consequences of being a gangster are much more baroque in his later films, in this one you see how miserable the day to day life of an average hood is. And what's really interesting is that the characters don't even necessarily see it that way. But as observers we can perceive how dead-end their existence is so easily from Scorsese's subtle direction.

That's really cool you watched Sweet Home fuse. Been meaning to do that myself. I was going to watch it on some other YouTube version which was just a straightforward VHS capture, I had no idea this clean up was in progress. Great news and I will check that out now I know about it.

[Neon Ignition]

The 39 Steps
Just couldn't make it through, very dry and dull

Thor
Finally got the kids back on the train and this was next. Going back to it after a good few years and sequels proves quite a tonic to where the franchise is now, really solid entry

Captain America: The First Avenger
Stil a 101 in some of the many ways the MCU needs to refocus itself. Handles the sillier elements very well whilst not needing to go OTT on spectacle and still ensuring there's some heart to the character making you care what happens.

[fallenangle]

Which version of The Thirty Nine Steps? There are at least four film adaptations and now, I think, two TV ones.

Just finished watch The Company Of Wolves, Neil Jordan's 'adult' fairy tale adaptation of Angela Carter's book. The animatronics have not aged as well as, for instance, those in the John Carpenter's The Thing or American Werewolf In London. The whole film is very theatrical in look and feel, in part due to the use of mostly studio based sets, although they are amazingly well realised with outstanding art direction and set dressing.

It is still an enjoyable watch but you wonder what they could do today with state of the art CGI and the same source material.

They probably would not have the guts to do it being that the subject matter is death and awakening sexuality. Oh the fuss our woke moral guardians and feminist critics would make of it now; I'd love to see that.

[Neon Ignition]

Likely sacriligious to say but Hitchcock


The Avengers
Next in line, the kids enjoyed this one too. Going back to it the film is a nice reminder of simpler MCU days, being a massive event movie but the scale feels quite modest compared to what comes later. I might be wrong going from the top of my head but... other than this and Infinity War/Endgame I don't think they ever help the public out across the MCU. In fact, I think Spider-Man might be the only hero who actually does...

[CMcK]

Dune part 2. It's rather good. Arguably could have done with a little more run time as I felt some characters came and went with barely sufficient back story. I'm tempted to go see it again at the IMAX. The sound design is outstanding.

[Atticus]

Ghostwatch. Finally got round to watching after picking up the blu release last year. First time since its first (and only I think, it certainly caused a lot of fuss) airing in 1992. It's so well written and constructed it still stands up really well and still gives you the chills. Defo ahead of its time. Brave of the BBC for a Halloween spesh. Such a fun watch ...

... which is more than can be said for Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning. I normally enjoy these McQuarrie ones. None are as good as the De Palma one but as action films they're great fun. But this one I struggled with. I don't know if they've changed writers or something but the spoon-feeding of endless exposition spoils the whole thing. It was a slog to sit through this one.

[fallenangle]

Likely sacriligious to say but Hitchcock


.

Shame on you. That one is a classic, Robert Donat, Madeleine Carrol, John Laurie and even Peggy Ashcroft in the cast list.

I was hoping you meant either the latest TV version or the Robert Powell 1978 or the 1959 Kenneth More films neither of which is as good as the original.

[Lebowski]

Spaceman, Netflix, Adam Sandler playing a serious role for a change on a solo mission to investigate a strange phenomenon of particles just past Jupiter that are moving slowly towards earth, he finds he's not alone on the ship and is sharing it with a very eloquent but horrific looking giant talking spider, Weirdly captivating.

Based on the 2017 novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař.

[prinnysquad]

Neon Ignition - shame on you.

Shame. On. You.

[fallenangle]

Just finished watching The Thirty Nine Steps Kenneth More version on Talking Pictures TV.

Just as mediocre and dated in its own way, very 1950s, as I remembered it in comparison to the original but still decent enough entertainment.

[prinnysquad]

Sid James with a neat cameo.

That’s the best channel out there. Jigsaw (1962) was on again recently. That’s a great film.

[fallenangle]

Yes that version of The Thirty Nine Steps is a veritable whose who was around at that time of minor British supporting actors. Only weird thing was the unknown female lead played by the Finnish Taina Elisabeth Elg who is apparently still alive and had a moderately successful film and theatre career after that. Never heard of her myself before or since.

[prinnysquad]

She’s a wad.

Was a wad. Was.

I watched something called My Brother’s Keeper on TPTV today. 1948 flick about two cons on the run, handcuffed together. Jack Warner in a rare bad guy role, George Cole tied to him, David Tomlinson a reporter on their trail, and Bill Owen in a bizarre turn playing a bloke about twice his age.

[fallenangle]

Probably showing my ignorance but "WAD" meaning what in that case?