TCM's 31 Days of Oscar

[RPM 26319]

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the War Room!

[mr. sunshine 2824]

1 hour ago, RPM said:

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the War Room!

I was rearranging some stuff in the media room the other day and realized Strangelove is missing from a Kubrick DVD box set I bought years ago. Yet Eyes Wide Shut was still in there. This must mean I can't have nice things

[RPM 26319]

Hud starting now on TCM. One of my all time favorite films. Did not know until Eddie Muller's intro that it was based off a Larry McMurtry book (even though it says so in the credits).

Edited May 16, 2019 by RPM

[mr. sunshine 2824]

43 minutes ago, RPM said:

Hud starting now on TCM. One of my all time favorite films. Did not know until Eddie Muller's intro that it was based off a Larry McMurtry book (even though it says so in the credits).

I hate to admit it but this is the first time I've watched it all the way through. But gotdamn if Patricia Neal isn't perfect

[RPM 26319]

2 minutes ago, mr. sunshine said:

But gotdamn if Patricia Neal isn't perfect

Won Best Actress

[mr. sunshine 2824]

plus Melvyn Douglas won best supporting actor and Brandon deWilde was also the kid in Shane and died in a car wreck when he was 30. What the fucking fuck

[RPM 26319]

Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean is on. I hated this movie when it came out. About 5 years ago I watched it again and my opinion did a 180. It has it's flaws, but so does the Mona Lisa. This movie is excellent. Couple of other Newman westerns on tonight, The Outrage and The Left Handed Gun. Don't think I've seen The Outrage.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

9 hours ago, RPM said:

Won Best Actress

Always liked HUD, but why did she win best actress ??  It's a supporting cast part IMO, and isn't what I'd call earth shattering.

[miguelito 11263]

I remember my parents really liking Judge Roy Bean.  I recorded it, will probably watch tonight.

 

Last night I watched The Trial, the 1962 Orson Welles flick with Anthony Perkins.  I really don't even know what to say about it.

Here's the first paragraph from Wiki:

Quote

The Trial (1962) is a dream-logic black comedy drama film directed by Orson Welles, who also wrote the screenplay based on the novel of the same name by Franz Kafka. Filmed in Europe, Welles stated immediately after completing the film: "The Trial is the best film I have ever made".^[2] The film begins with Welles narrating Kafka's parable "Before the Law" to pinscreen scenes created by the artist Alexandre Alexeieff. Anthony Perkins stars as Josef K., a bureaucrat who is accused of a never-specified crime, and Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, and Elsa Martinelli play women who become involved in various ways in Josef's trial and life. Welles plays the Advocate, Josef's lawyer and the film's principal antagonist.

The Trial has grown in reputation over the years, and some critics, including Roger Ebert, have called it a masterpiece.^[3] It is often praised for its scenic design and cinematography, the latter of which includes disorienting camera angles and unconventional use of focus.^[4]   (End of Wiki quote)

 

It almost felt like a long Twilight Zone episode.  The cinematography was pretty interesting, but most of the time I was thinking WTF.  The French chicks that kept hitting on Perkins were pretty hot.  I've liked Jeanne Moreau since I saw Elevator to the Gallows, which has a soundtrack by Miles Davis, which is the only reason I'd even heard of that movie, which is actually pretty good. 

Edited May 16, 2019 by miguelito
quote is fucked up for some reason

[phdhorn 6224]

2 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Always liked HUD, but why did she win best actress ??  It's a supporting cast part IMO, and isn't what I'd call earth shattering.

Yeah, her award is regarded as a pretty soft one, that is, not the best all-time performance, but the pool that year was especially weak.  Maybe Shirley MacLaine in Irma Le Douce, but other than that, unremarkable films, same with the Supporting Actor.  I think Douglas' performance captured the spirit of the book better than Neal's (BTW, the book was titled Horseman, Pass By, and not the movie title; Hud was a main character in the book (might as well take a second here to say that is there anyone better, ever (looking at Louis L'amour and Zane Gray) who was as amazingly brilliant in the Western Genre?  I doubt it).  Her character in the movie seemed to forced and contrived - in the novel, Alma's character is African-American and Hud (even more of a stinker in the book) finishes the rape (he also shoots his father after he's injured, to give you an idea of how much worse he was).  Even in the theaters, that kind of interaction was probably way too much in producers' eyes for the general public.  In the book, Homer's wife is alive and present.. so Alma in the movie seems to be a kind of directionless combination of the two.  I've never liked her character in this movie, it just seems she's there with no real explanation or context.  And her lines are always kind of cheeky responses but she has no depth, she's just a foil to play off Hud, she really doesn't take much of an active role in moving the story along.  And.. sorry... but I think her accent is kind of forced and just never rang naturally to me (for that matter the same with Newman).  I think the best performance in the entire cast is DeWilde as Lonnie (in the book he's the main character, or at least the narrator, and it's all by his perspective).  Not only is his character by far the most interesting and complex, but he magnificently plays off Hud's continual baiting and challenging him to get dragged down to his level, but he cooly never succumbs to it.  I think it is by far the most intriguing personality in the movie.  Anyway when Alma actually leaves at the bus stop, I didn't really feel much about it, it's almost as if she was this lightweight that showed up, and now she's going.  Okay.  When Lonnie leaves though, man that scene is packed with flavor - HUD continually baiting him and Lonnie just cooly swatting him off to give HUD his worst fear - not that he's an asshole, but worse - that he doesn't matter (and the ending confirms that - he's now got what he wants, the house and property (well, half), but he's completely, utterly alone.  With Lonnie you really hope that he finds his way as he cooly walks away (called the "Reverse Shane" since now he's the walker); he's a great guy and I always feel like I'm rooting for him to find his niche; with Alma it's like I don't care either way... she came out of nowhere and she's going nowhere.  I can't feel much sympathy for her.

Newman was of course nominated, but lost to Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field, which is up there in the top 10 of all-time actor performances (geezuz what a GREAT role and depiction  - is it ironic that the two actor awards that year went to guys who played a "Homer?").

I don't know what to think about HUD.   It's very watchable although ultimately depressing (ironically McMurtry would almost revise the dismal spirit of small town Texas a little over a decade later with The Last Picture Show, which I always have seen as "Hud 1970").   The plot I guess had to be watered down to be palatable for mainstream audiences, but the conflicts were much stormier in the book and would have more fully explained the characters.  Here, it's as if they scraped off a bunch of context and just had this kind of stale, light treatment of a much more dismal and desperate setting.  The Last Picture Show movie seems to in essence be a re-run of HUD with the characters much more engaged and melodramatic.  HUD wasn't nominated for Best Picture (though Ritt was for Director) but I think it's a B-level film, one which had "A" potential but never quite got to it.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

16 minutes ago, phdhorn said:

Yeah, her award is regarded as a pretty soft one, that is, not the best all-time performance, but the pool that year was especially weak.  Maybe Shirley MacLaine in Irma Le Douce, but other than that, unremarkable films, same with the Supporting Actor.  I think Douglas' performance captured the spirit of the book better than Neal's (BTW, the book was titled Horseman, Pass By, and not the movie title; Hud was a main character in the book (might as well take a second here to say that is there anyone better, ever (looking at Louis L'amour and Zane Gray) who was as amazingly brilliant in the Western Genre?  I doubt it).  Her character in the movie seemed to forced and contrived - in the novel, Alma's character is African-American and Hud (even more of a stinker in the book) finishes the rape (he also shoots his father after he's injured, to give you an idea of how much worse he was).  Even in the theaters, that kind of interaction was probably way too much in producers' eyes for the general public.  In the book, Homer's wife is alive and present.. so Alma in the movie seems to be a kind of directionless combination of the two.  I've never liked her character in this movie, it just seems she's there with no real explanation or context.  And her lines are always kind of cheeky responses but she has no depth, she's just a foil to play off Hud, she really doesn't take much of an active role in moving the story along.  And.. sorry... but I think her accent is kind of forced and just never rang naturally to me (for that matter the same with Newman).  I think the best performance in the entire cast is DeWilde as Lonnie (in the book he's the main character, or at least the narrator, and it's all by his perspective).  Not only is his character by far the most interesting and complex, but he magnificently plays off Hud's continual baiting and challenging him to get dragged down to his level, but he cooly never succumbs to it.  I think it is by far the most intriguing personality in the movie.  Anyway when Alma actually leaves at the bus stop, I didn't really feel much about it, it's almost as if she was this lightweight that showed up, and now she's going.  Okay.  When Lonnie leaves though, man that scene is packed with flavor - HUD continually baiting him and Lonnie just cooly swatting him off to give HUD his worst fear - not that he's an asshole, but worse - that he doesn't matter (and the ending confirms that - he's now got what he wants, the house and property (well, half), but he's completely, utterly alone.  With Lonnie you really hope that he finds his way as he cooly walks away (called the "Reverse Shane" since now he's the walker); he's a great guy and I always feel like I'm rooting for him to find his niche; with Alma it's like I don't care either way... she came out of nowhere and she's going nowhere.  I can't feel much sympathy for her.

Newman was of course nominated, but lost to Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field, which is up there in the top 10 of all-time actor performances (geezuz what a GREAT role and depiction  - is it ironic that the two actor awards that year went to guys who played a "Homer?").

I don't know what to think about HUD.   It's very watchable although ultimately depressing (ironically McMurtry would almost revise the dismal spirit of small town Texas a little over a decade later with The Last Picture Show, which I always have seen as "Hud 1970").   The plot I guess had to be watered down to be palatable for mainstream audiences, but the conflicts were much stormier in the book and would have more fully explained the characters.  Here, it's as if they scraped off a bunch of context and just had this kind of stale, light treatment of a much more dismal and desperate setting.  The Last Picture Show movie seems to in essence be a re-run of HUD with the characters much more engaged and melodramatic.  HUD wasn't nominated for Best Picture (though Ritt was for Director) but I think it's a B-level film, one which had "A" potential but never quite got to it.

Much o-bliged. I'd disagree about B movie status. It's quietly disturbing on many levels IMO..  Newman was so good, but Melvin Douglas was so good.  I'd have picked Newman over Sidneys role for best actor, but I like Lillies of the Field better.

[phdhorn 6224]

Well, to each his own... like I said, I don't think they nailed the spirit of the book, but it's a good story, yes, I agree.  Douglas' role didn't have enough depth to me, but the scene where he was sining "Clementine" at the movies was IMHO by far his best in the movie.  Lonnie looks over and sees, just for a second, the old Homer, the one with piss and vinegar who made and built that ranch and lifestyle (BTW Lonnie's look at him was priceless - that's what DeWilde did so well that the others didn't - underplayed the emotion, in a subtle way that still gave his scenes all the impact they called for).  But that was the only time I really enjoyed Douglas stepping out of his "old, tired" character that didn't seem to vary much.

[RPM 26319]

Newman vs Poitier is a helluva choice to make. Both were great performances, one good, one evil. Douglas was excellent. I just wanted him to say Ninotchka one time.

[BERT 4358]

Nobody watched Cat on a Hot Tin Roof last week? One of my favorite Newman films. Plus you get to watch a young Elizabeth Taylor, which is never a bad thing. 

I like The Sting better than Butch Cassidy. Once they leave for Bolivia it just kind of drops off for me, i can't explain it. 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

14 minutes ago, BERT said:

 Once they leave for Bolivia it just kind of drops off for me, i can't explain it. 

It's not a Western anymore...it's a southern ...

[BERT 4358]

41 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

It's not a Western anymore...it's a southern ...

well, that's gotta be it

[RPM 26319]

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 hour ago, RPM said:

I wish you'd stop being' so good to me boss.

[RPM 26319]

Disappointed in TCM's Memorial Day offering. They used to start on Saturday and run through Monday. Now it's Monday only and the movies are kinda weak. Sundance Channel has a much better lineup.

[miguelito 11263]

I noticed that too.  I was expecting to find some good war movies, but didn't see much.

Unrelated: Pink Panther on tonight.  I haven't seen it in years.  I don't even remember if it was that good, but it has Peter Sellers. 

[RPM 26319]

The original wasn't bad. Sellers hadn't totally pushed the Clouseau envelope and Niven carried much of the film.

[RPM 26319]

Kicking it off with From Here to Eternity. 2nd best WW2 flick Burt Lancaster ever made (#1 is Run Silent, Run Deep and they ain't showing it).

Edited May 27, 2019 by RPM

[RPM 26319]

Holy cow they have a killer lineup today. The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo, Monkey Business, Only Angels Have Wings, To Have and Have Not, The Outlaw, The Best Years of Our Lives, Hail the Conquering Hero. I might have arraigned them differently, but hard to find a bad pick.

Coming on Saturday at 2:30am. I love this movie.

 

[PittsburghTiger 6181]

1 hour ago, RPM said:

Holy cow they have a killer lineup today. The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo, Monkey Business, Only Angels Have Wings, To Have and Have Not, The Outlaw, The Best Years of Our Lives, Hail the Conquering Hero. I might have arraigned them differently, but hard to find a bad pick.

Coming on Saturday at 2:30am. I love this movie.

 

Monkey Business was really good. Ginger Rogers was too damn cute!

 

 

[Underdog 28622]

1 hour ago, RPM said:

Holy cow they have a killer lineup today. The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo, Monkey Business, Only Angels Have Wings, To Have and Have Not, The Outlaw, The Best Years of Our Lives, Hail the Conquering Hero. I might have arraigned them differently, but hard to find a bad pick.

Coming on Saturday at 2:30am. I love this movie.

 

May have to set the DVR for this, haven’t watched it in years...  Ending was not what I expected.  

[phdhorn 6224]

25 minutes ago, Underdog said:

May have to set the DVR for this, haven’t watched it in years...  Ending was not what I expected.  

... but what I was rooting for (sorry, this is a campy movie and all, kind of a "so bad it's good" Rotten Tomatoes thing, but man it's just painful to watch in most spots).
Poor Peter Fonda... always seems to have the same fate in movies... (semi-spoiler, don't give a shit, no one's listening anyway [/Harry Doyle]

[RPM 26319]

The helicopter pilot is a badass. His name is James Gavin and he's a Hollywood legend. When I was a kid, before I could look him up on the internet, I thought he was Ken Berry's brother. If there was a helicopter in a movie or tv, he was flying it.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

On 5/30/2019 at 9:06 AM, phdhorn said:

... but what I was rooting for (sorry, this is a campy movie and all, kind of a "so bad it's good" Rotten Tomatoes thing, but man it's just painful to watch in most spots).
Poor Peter Fonda... always seems to have the same fate in movies... (semi-spoiler, don't give a shit, no one's listening anyway [/Harry Doyle]

That whole genre is done so badly, but they're just fun as shit to watch.  B movie at best, but without em we wouldn't have Quinten T. movies,  and the whole  Grindhouse cinema thingy.

[Steamboat1874 4058]

Watched what may be the best Noir movie of all time Sunday morning....

The Asphalt Jungle.

Great story and an incredible cast. Sam Jaffe won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role.

However I think Marc Lawrence stole this movie. He was great.

[RPM 26319]

Did you listen to Muller's comments after? The girl dancing was the live model used for drawing Snow White and Cinderella dancing. It's a small world after all.

[Steamboat1874 4058]

2 minutes ago, RPM said:

Did you listen to Muller's comments after? The girl dancing was the live model used for drawing Snow White and Cinderella dancing. It's a small world after all.

Yes and that was fascinating.

Eddie Mueller is great and a big part of film restoration. Would love to have a drink with him.

[phdhorn 6224]

It's not lost on a few people that Ocean's Eleven (the original) didn't exactly avoid this flick for inspiration.

[RPM 26319]

Looks like they decided to do war movies for D-Day instead of Memorial Day this year. Just finished Battle of Britain. The Longest Day up next. A Bridge Too Far later tonight.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 minute ago, RPM said:

Looks like they decided to do war movies for D-Day instead of Memorial Day this year. Just finished Battle of Britain. The Longest Day up next. A Bridge Too Far later tonight.

I'll try to watch A Bridge Too Far, but I've never been able to sit thru it all since seeing it in the theater back in the day.  

[Continental Op 3934]

This week's edition of Noir Alley is greatness of Pickup on South Street.  Set your DVR if you haven't seen it.  

[miguelito 11263]

If a guy who calls himself Continental Op says a noir film is worth watching, you'd better take that advice.  My dvr is set.

PS, I'm re-reading The Maltese Falcon now.  I think it's my 3rd time through it.  I might follow it up with some more Hammett.  I also have the movie on my DVR, waiting for me to finish the book.

[RPM 26319]

The Wild Bunch comes on at 11.

 

[Continental Op 3934]

11 hours ago, miguelito said:

If a guy who calls himself Continental Op says a noir film is worth watching, you'd better take that advice. 

[RPM 26319]

WWII Thursdays in June. Excellent Pacific lineup today: Objective, Burma! , Air Force, Bataan, Back to Bataan, Flying Leathernecks, Operation Pacific, Sands of Iwo Jima, Tora Tora Tora, 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, Destination Tokyo and winding things up with They Were Expendable.

They're all great, but there are some personal favorites there. Bataan is an obscure early war morale film with Robert Taylor leading a last stand patrol. It also features a young Desi Arnaz. Operation Pacific and Destination Tokyo are great submarine films and They Were Expendable is one of the finest WWII films made.

Honestly, it's impossible to find a bad one to watch today. 

Edited June 13, 2019 by RPM

[RPM 26319]

Right turn, Clyde! Watching Every Which Way But Loose and while I like the movie, I have mixed feelings about TCM running it. Sure it came out in '78, but it doesn't feel like a "classic movie". I wish they would stick to pre-'75 films. That seems like a pretty good cutoff point, imho.

Edited June 24, 2019 by RPM

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

28 minutes ago, RPM said:

Right turn, Clyde! Watching Every Which Way But Loose and while I like the movie, I have mixed feelings about TCM running it. Sure it came out in '78, but it doesn't feel like a "classic movie". I wish they would stick to pre-'75 films. That seems like a pretty good cutoff point, imho.

It's a stretch, and doesn't help the franchise tag, it's a B movie to boot IMO.  A little more highbrow is expected, even if it's the Marx Bros.

[DougO 5245]

The Story of G.I. Joe on at 9PM. Great WWII movie.

 

[BornOrange 1441]

A Face in the Crowd is starting right now.

Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Walter Mathau, Lee Rimmick.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

5 minutes ago, BornOrange said:

A Face in the Crowd is starting right now.

Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Walter Mathau, Lee Rimmick.

Taking a break from strut rod replacement to watch this classic. Top 10 in my movie favorites.

[RPM 26319]

Vitajex whatcha doin' to me?

[RPM 26319]

It's hard to understate how great Eddie Muller is. The guy fits TCM like a glove. Watching his intro for The Tattooed Stranger is like sitting through a college lecture (in a good way).

[DoobieWah 1436]

10 hours ago, RPM said:

It's hard to understate how great Eddie Muller is. The guy fits TCM like a glove. Watching his intro for The Tattooed Stranger is like sitting through a college lecture (in a good way).

From the context, I feel certain you meant "...hard to overstate...".

Right?

[RPM 26319]

220, 221... whatever it takes.

[RPM 26319]

Noir Alley really good this week. The People Against O'Hara - Spencer Tracy, Pat O'Brien, James Arness. Eddie has a pretty good backstory.

[DougO 5245]

Glen Ford westerns on tonight.  Just missed most of The Fastest Gun Alive. Coming up at 8:45 is Jubal, a very good under the radar film. Then after that is the original 3:10 To Yuma, one of my top five all time westerns, criminally underrated, amazing performances by Ford, Van Heflen and a great supporting character cast.

Cowboy at 12:30 AM, with Ford and Jack Lemon. Not sure if I've seen that one in entirety, been many years if I have.