What was the last film you watched?

[Angela Channing]

Respect (2021)

A biopic of Aretha Franklin. It's a good film and Jennifer Hudson is outstanding in the lead role. However, the film only seems to cover the good side of the singer and she come out of it a bit like a saint. I don't know enough about her true life story so I may be wrong, but I would expect most people to have more than one side to them.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Jennifer Hudson is outstanding in the lead role.

I remember fifteen years ago when Dreamgirls came out a lot of reviewers likened her to Aretha, so she was probably meant for this role.

However, the film only seems to cover the good side of the singer and she come out of it a bit like a saint. I don't know enough about her true life story so I may be wrong, but I would expect most people to have more than one side to them.

Oh, that's a shame. I wonder if the sanitised production means it's an "authorised" film, with input from her estate (I can't find anything to indicate either way after a little online search).

I'd still be up for watching it as I really like her music and I know very little about the woman herself.

 

[Angela Channing]

I remember fifteen years ago when Dreamgirls came out a lot of reviewers likened her to Aretha, so she was probably meant for this role.

Apparently, Aretha personally picked Jennifer Hudson to play her in the film. She made a good choice.

Oh, that's a shame. I wonder if the sanitised production means it's an "authorised" film, with input from her estate (I can't find anything to indicate either way after a little online search).

I probably exaggerated a bit when I said the film made her come out looking saintly but the focus was heavily on how she was the victim of abuse and how she overcame that to build her career. There was a lot about how she was successful at a time when women and black people weren't treated with much respect (pun intended) and her role in the civil rights movement. The film only briefly covered her alcoholism and her underage pregnancies (1 wasn't even mentioned) and it felt like they could have explored these and other issues further to give a more rounded picture of who she was.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Aretha was heavily involved in the pre-production of the film so I imagine she had some say on what she wanted the film to focus on. It didn't make it a bad film, I still think it's a good film, but it didn't feel like they told her whole story.

I'd still be up for watching it as I really like her music and I know very little about the woman herself.

I wasn't that familiar with the music of Aretha Franklin beyond a few songs until the first lockdown when I downloaded a lot of "new" music to listen to during my daily walks. I was blown away by some of her albums, not just by the quality of her voice but how she reworked songs to make them sound completely original. So I was very much looking forward to this film and by and large, I wasn't disappointed.

 

[DallasFanForever]

The Harder They Fall (1956)

Sadly this was Humphrey Bogart’s final film. He plays an out of work sportswriter who ends up working for a corrupt boxing promoter as his PR man for an Argentine fighter. The problem is the boxer basically has no fighting talent, and therefore all of his fights have been fixed, unbeknownst to most. It was actually a very compelling story.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

I just watched the first two NAKED GUN movies on Youtube for free.

So many DALLAS and DYNASTY actors!

 

[DallasFanForever]

Wild Stallion (1952)

Touching movie about a boy who’s parents are killed, leaving him an orphan, and his quest to find his long lost horse that fled after his family’s murder.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

I just watched the first two NAKED GUN movies on Youtube for free.

So many DALLAS and DYNASTY actors!

Well, I watched the third NAKED GUN installment today. I hadn't seen the three films since they were released.

I think the second one is the funniest.

Poor OJ and his victims.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Well, I watched the third NAKED GUN installment today. I hadn't seen the three films since they were released.

I love the Naked Gun movies! I remember when I first heard that Priscilla would be in those and I just couldn’t see her doing comedy. It just didn’t seem to work for me. But she was hilarious in those movies! She and Leslie Nielsen were terrific together.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Well! This made my cup of Earlies Grey overfloweth real horrorshow.

 

[DallasFanForever]

The Proud Valley (1940)
A seaman joins a mining community, where he must make a huge sacrifice when a disaster in the mine threatens everyone’s life. It starts kind of slow, perhaps even by 1940 standards, but the last half hour of the film is very exhilarating.

 

[Seaviewer]

He's Just Not That Into You (2009)
A rom-com that tries very hard to position itself as the anti-rom-com.
A younger Ginnifer Goodwin here than the one I've just been watching in Why Women Kill, but she never stops being perky, does she? I think she's this generation's Sally Field.

 

[DallasFanForever]

The Road to Eternity (1959)

I didn’t realize this was the second movie in The Human Condition trilogy when I started watching it, so now I need to go back and watch the first movie. It’s basically about a Japanese soldier in World War 2 Era Japan and his struggles to cope with everything going on around him. He even becomes a Soviet POW at one point. It can be quite sad at times and I notice the entire trilogy is almost 10 hours in length so this might be a chore to get through.

 

[Willie Oleson]

The movie has an extremely detailed and opulent visual style, which reminded me of Alice Through The Looking Glass. And maybe the stories aren't that different anyway.
I think it's very well made, like a gay Christmas on acid, over-the-top glittery with a few eerie and few emotional touches. It also made me laugh a few times so I guess it was an all-inclusive event for me.

It's not a great adventure for kids because the main character doesn't take the viewer on a journey. The opulent Christmas world starts from the very beginning, even before she arrives in Christmas Tree Land or whatever it is. There's no contrast, it doesn't look funny or bedazzling to her. It's almost like literally stepping out of a Harry Potter movie and then into a Narnia movie.
Maybe it's a little too relentless to make the "wow" moments pop. It over-indulges, but it never stimulates. That wasn't a problem for me because I only watched it for the pretty shiny stuff, but without stimulation it never becomes part of the young viewer. There's nothing for them to do and it won't create any links or associations that could gradually develop into fond memories and nostalgia.
Clara is also too perfect and princessy for a misfit character, maybe they should have given the story to her brother Fritz.

I enjoyed it but I can see why it didn't became the smash hit movie it was supposed to be.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Network (1976)

Star studded cast and a really good story. Peter Finch is great in this as the mad and crazy anchorman.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Black Narcissus (1947)

Deborah Kerr leads a group of nuns up to a mountain to run a school and hospital. I had never seen this one before and I can’t believe I haven’t cause it was very enjoyable. It far surpassed my expectations.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Network (1976)

This is on my to-rewatch-list!

 

[DallasFanForever]

This is on my to-rewatch-list!

As well it should be! I hadn’t seen it in quite a few years but I have to say it holds up pretty well.

 

[darkshadows38]

I' ve never seen Network (1976) but i've heard more than once that it told us the future on how things are today compared to than sadly. the last films i watched were the Lethal Weapon (1987-1998) films as i own them all on dvd. Fantastic Series and i love them all i think the one i've seen the most would be part 2 i think (1989)
and sadly they just do not make em like that anymore NO f... shaky Cam and that's how it should be ya know? cause i f... hate Shaky Cam and for those who don' t

know what that is, it's where the director shakes the camera so damn hard you can't tell what is going on and it can give you a headache. See The last Jason Bourne movie it had so much of it that when i went and saw it with my folks. i got a bad headache and my mom got sick

 

[Angela Channing]

Network (1976)

Star studded cast and a really good story. Peter Finch is great in this as the mad and crazy anchorman.

One of my all time favourite films. Ken Kercheval also had a small role in the film.

 

[Angela Channing]

Old (2021)

A group of people on holiday agree to go to a secret beach not knowing that once there they will start aging rapidly. I so wanted to like this film more but I veered from thinking it was just ok overall to it being a bit of a mess. Without giving away what is the secret of the beach, I felt the idea was interesting but the execution left something to be desired. I didn't warm to any of the characters and didn't care what happened to them. The film also had too many plot holes. It wasn't terrible but it could have been so much better.