What was the last film you watched?

[Angela Channing]

Book Club (2018)
Another entry in the four-female-friends-talk-about-their-lives-for-two-hours genre.
This one could almost be a long lost episode of Love, American Style: "Love and the Older Women."
Four interconnected rom-coms with - spoiler alert! - everybody ending up with just who they're meant to be with.

Wish I had seen this film because the sequel, The Book Club: The Next Chapter, is currently at cinemas but I don't want to watch it before I seen the original. The four elderly female friends film sound a bit like the film 80 For Brady which I quite enjoyed when I watched it a few months ago so I'm curious about these films too.

 

[Angela Channing]

Bud and Lou (1978)

A while back I watched the film Stan and Ollie (2018) which was a biopic of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy and it got me curious to see what this biopic of the Abbott and Costello comedy partnership was like. This film tells the story from how Bud Abbott and Lou Costello first met until up until Lou is on his deathbed. Harvey Korman played Abbott, and in an inspired piece of casting because of his uncanny resemblance to his partner, Buddy Hackett played Costello. The film included recreations of some of the duos iconic routines such as "Who's on First?" and "Mudders and Fodders". However, there is too much focus on Costello and we find out very little about Abbott. We see a lot Lou's wife Anne (played by Michelle Lee) throughout the film, we follow the birth and accidental death of their son how their grief impacted on them and we see Costello's transformation into a demanding star that affected those closest to him. By contrast, Bud's wife and 2 children were never mentioned and his epilepsy and alcoholism was also only touched on briefly. It was almost as if Bud was a background artist in his own life story. There was a lot of the 2 men bickering over who should get the most money. The film is ok but it's far from telling their full story.

 

[Seaviewer]

an inspired piece of casting because of his uncanny resemblance to his partner, Buddy Hackett played Costello.

In fact, Hackett co-starred with Hugh O'Brian in the 1954 film Fireman Save My Child, which was originally intended as an Abbott & Costello vehicle.

We see a lot Lou's wife Anne (played by Michelle Lee)

That's interesting, too. Lee played Dick Van Dyke's wife in The Comic (1969), a film partly inspired by the life of Stan Laurel.

 

[Angela Channing]

Martin and Lewis (2002)

Watching the film Bud and Lou (1978) inspired me to check out this film about another famous American double act, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. I wasn't particular familiar with their work together, I mainly think of them as solo artists in the second phase of their careers, so there was less in this film of which I was previously aware.

The film starts with how the 2 men met and ends with their split and between those 2 bookends we learn about how they became a double act supporting headliners in small venues to become headliners themselves in some of the biggest venues across the USA before moving to Hollywood where they had huge success in films. I think this film was a little unfair to Dean Martin as he is portrayed as an average singer who wouldn't have made it without teaming up with Jerry Lewis. I always thought Dean had a great voice, a great stage presence and was incredibly funny and would have made it on his own whereas Jerry Lewis was more of an acquired taste who probably needed Dean to broaden his appeal.

When they recreated parts of their act for the film, I found Lewis's manic and chaotic humour to be almost unwatchable and found him to be more annoying than funny. However, Sean Hayes (Jack from Will and Grace) did a fabulous job in portraying Lewis who came across as being totally obnoxious, envious, bad-tempered, destructive, self-centred and attention seeking.

Of the 3 biopics I seen recently about comedy double acts (Stan and Ollie, Bud and Lou and Martin and Lewis) this was the weakest but it still had some great performances and an interesting narrative.

 

[Rove]

​

If you watched the first one then the sequel is the same...just add water. I had no intentions of seeing this 3 hour plus movie at the theatre as my bladder couldn't handle that longevity so waited until it popped up on Disney+. Visually stunning but I found the story too similar to the first and it could easily have been trimmed down. I won't be adding this to my DVD collection.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

The Dammed Don't Cry- with Joan Crawford. Joan was a tad Joan Crawfordish, if that makes sense, but it was still good.

 

[Seaviewer]

Lou's wife Anne (played by Michelle Lee)

Of course, I forgot that Hackett and Lee appeared together in The Love Bug.

 

[Angela Channing]

Flamin' Hot (2023)

This film was an unexpected delight. Based on the true story of how Richard Montanez went from being a hoodlum constantly in trouble with the police, to being a janitor at a snack manufacturer, to developing a new flavour of the Cheeto snack, the Flamin' Hot, and ultimately becoming a director at the company. The film has many of the cliches of past films of the underdog challenging established procedures of resistant large corporations but the story to told with such style and humour that this really isn't a negative. Former Desperate Housewives star, Eva Longoria, in her directorial debut shows a real flare and talent in the role and a strong affection for Latino culture. The films pacing, the vibrant colours and some lovely cinematic techniques to show the passage of time were impressive.

 

[Willie Oleson]

just add water

to developing a new flavour of the Cheeto snack,

the very last story that hadn't been filmed yet. Hollywood may as well close up shop because from now on it will only be more of the same.

 

[Angela Channing]

the very last story that hadn't been filmed yet. Hollywood may as well close up shop because from now on it will only be more of the same.

That’s why I described the film as being *an unexpected delight* because the premise of the film doesn’t sound particularly promising but the managed to create something that is fascinating, funny, positive, entertaining and inspiring out of what at first seems to be a pretty lame subject.

 

[Angela Channing]

Daliland (2023)

Not exactly a biopic, more a story about a period in the life of the artist when in his November years. Set in the early 1973, a young art gallery assistant goes to work for the great man to help his preparations for a big exhibition in New York. Dali is no longer focussed on his work and spend a lot of time trying to please wife Gala and partying. Meanwhile the people around him are trying to exploit his fame to make money, not always legally. Ben Kingsley is wonderful as Dali but even his strong performance can't save this meandering and slightly confused film from mediocrity. Fans of Dali will like it but people who are neutral or not particularly knowledgeable about his work may not find it adequately engaging.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Daliland (2023)

My first thought was, who's playing Amanda Lear?

 

[Angela Channing]

My first thought was, who's playing Amanda Lear?

A brilliant actress called Andreja Pejic, who I hadn't previously seen in anything. I think she is transgender even though the film was ambiguous about whether or not Amanda Lear was a transwoman.

 

[Jessie]

The Apology

Great film about a Mother who’s child went missing.

 

[Jessie]

Significant Other

While on a remote backpacking trip through the Pacific Northwest, a young couple sense they may not be alone. As things take a dark turn, they find there is no one to trust -- not even each other.

The film was creepy

 

[Seaviewer]

The Da Vinci Code (2006)
I read the book some time ago and the film hews fairly close to it.
The underlying idea of Jesus having descendants was pretty controversial when mooted in the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail in the 80s but here it plays out as rather ordinary follow-the-clues treasure hunt.

 

[darkshadows38]

i just got done watching what many consider one of the greatest films ever made i'm not not even kidding the AFI has it's on it's list. but personally for me it had a good cast, and what it really needed was a better script. and that's Don't Bother To Knock (1952) i will say that Marylin Monroe was believable as a nutcase the film felt too long and it was only 76 minutes. i watched it cause it's Anne Bancroft's 1st film and i adore her and her husband of course. i'd say avoid but i'm sure there are some on here that loved it. my rating hmm let's see 5/10. i've seen far worse and i've seen better of course, i will say that i didn't realize it was even Monroe at first when she first showed up on screen i know the film is black and white but not seeing her with Blond hair was a bit of a startle and the fact that her hair by the looks of it was her real hair color i think? it was nice to see her in a different kind of role rather than play a hoe who only cares about the old mighty dollar.

i just wish the film had been better written that's all, i was reading some of the reviews on wikipedia that were on there i think were from the film when it first came out and one reviewer wrote how the film ends with Widmark realizing who''s he's in love with by what does happen to Monroe's character was poorly written. i disgress i liked the ending actually it was a hopeful ending and it could have ended differently.

 

[Biggie]

i just got done watching what many consider one of the greatest films ever made i'm not not even kidding the AFI has it's on it's list. but personally for me it had a good cast, and what it really needed was a better script. and that's Don't Bother To Knock (1952) i will say that Marylin Monroe was believable as a nutcase the film felt too long and it was only 76 minutes. i watched it cause it's Anne Bancroft's 1st film and i adore her and her husband of course. i'd say avoid but i'm sure there are some on here that loved it. my rating hmm let's see 5/10. i've seen far worse and i've seen better of course, i will say that i didn't realize it was even Monroe at first when she first showed up on screen i know the film is black and white but not seeing her with Blond hair was a bit of a startle and the fact that her hair by the looks of it was her real hair color i think? it was nice to see her in a different kind of role rather than play a hoe who only cares about the old mighty dollar.

i just wish the film had been better written that's all, i was reading some of the reviews on wikipedia that were on there i think were from the film when it first came out and one reviewer wrote how the film ends with Widmark realizing who''s he's in love with by what does happen to Monroe's character was poorly written. i disgress i liked the ending actually it was a hopeful ending and it could have ended differently.

I've never heard of this film. But in similar vein, Brief Encounters is often said to be a landmark in the history of the talking pictures. I went out of my way to watch Brief Encounters....it's a hefty steaming pile of what the local bull expelled.

Ginger Snaps is a whole lot better...Ginger Snaps is some unique nonsense.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I'm currently watching The Bee Movie on Film 4 before that I watched Snoopy and Charlie Brown The Peanuts movie.

 

[darkshadows38]

you made me think of no country for old men (2007) one of the worst movies i've ever seen in my life holy f.. was that one bad and boring. i don't hate the Cohen brothers you want a good one that i consider a masterpiece watch Barton Fink (1991) a far better and far better written film in my opinion.

yet that film is on list of being on one of the best ever f.. made my question is uh HOW? that one too my mom 2 days to watch cause it was just so bad. i'm prolly gonna get down votes on that and that's fine but that is my opinion when you i had to go online and ask someone what the hell was that ending? and what the hell happened to it's lead? cause it didn't dawn on me or occur to me what did happen that's bad writing. and that's Troll 2 (1990) bad though the acting is far worse in Troll 2 (1990) to be fair, but to be i never did watch that one all the way through No Country for old men (2007) i did suffer through