Friday, September 2, 2022

What i Watched in August

 

 

That's moi with Harley on Lake Erie wishing I brought my bathing suit. I do more than watch movies :)) but, at night, I will put in a film which hubby and I watch. This is what I saw in August...

1. ROPE-1948

Excellent Hitchcock film. Not as good as his golden films but better than I thought. 2 gay students kill a "friend" for fun, stash him in a huge trunk and have a gathering of people, including Jimmy Stewart as their former professor, just for the kicks. It's an experimental film for Hitchcock to film it as one continuous shot. There was only 10 minutes before film ran out so the camera centers on the back of someone for the change in film. It's a trifle annoying but nothing major. Stewart Granger and John Dall are excellent as the killers.

2. THE BIRDS-1963

Tippi Hedren plays a madcap heiress who buys lovebirds to bring it out to a lawyer's home in a small fishing village. Little does she know that the birds, not the lovebirds, are very, very angry and about to cause mayhem. I feel this film is all about Hitchcock's mind. Yikes!

3. AT ETERNITY'S GATE - 2018

Willem Dafoe plays Van Gogh during the time he ventures down to the South of France, Gauguin's visit, ear coming off, visit to the sanitarium etc.. This is more of a character study than a biography. It's good but I still prefer Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh.

4. BRIDGE AT REMEGEN-1969

WW2 movie about the allies trying to stop the Krauts from getting that bridge. It's a good war flick starring George Segal.

5. THE TRAIN- 1964

Burt Lancaster plays a Frenchman( go with it) who has a high position on the train yards and is a leader of the Resistance movement. This leader now must try and stop this nasty Nazi from taking priceless works of art out of France and into Germany. Excellent movie based on fact.

6. ROB ROY- 1995

Liam Neeson plays the title character who values honour over anything. When a nasty dandy wrecks havoc over his home, he makes Rob very angry. Based, somewhat, on the actual Roy and events. Well done, acted and photographed. It put Liam on the map 

7. MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN- 2019

Ed Norton's baby, since he directed and stars in this film about a very smart PI wannabe, with Tourettes, who is trying to solve the murder of his boss. Better than I thought it would be. Clearly, he loves the old films of the film Noir.

8. RED JOAN - 2018

Another film based on a true story starring Judi Dench as an old lady who, for decades, gave over top secret documents to the enemy thinking she was defending her land. Of course, it's wonderfully acted by Dame Judi. Quite a nice gem.

TENDERNESS- 2009

Russell Crowe plays a homicide detective watching over a young man, who killed his parents, when he was a teen, let out of jail for delinquents. Crowe believes the kid is a psychopath and serial killer. On another storyline  this sad, troubled girl  who lets men use her, has an unhealthy wish to meet the young man. This is a did he, will he, wtf is that little girl thinking kind if movie. Not an uplifting one but not bad. Not sure I'll watch it again any time soon.

10. SAINTS & SOLDIERS: THE VOID- 2014

This is the 3rd in a trilogy but you can watch each separately. Takes place during the last days of WW2 where we see men trying to stay alive but also the prejudice the African American men felt while fighting for their country that treats them like shit. It's not great by any means but, again, better than I thought it would be. I did like the fact that they showed tgat not all Germans were Nazi loving vampires wanting to bathe in everyone's blood. 

11. LADY HAMILTON COMMENTARY-1941

I watched the film a couple of month's back but finally saw the commentary by a film historian and really enjoyed it. THE film is excellent and I loved listening to all the little tidbits even though I knew most but it was beat to hear some extras on this great film.

TV SHOWS

1. PICARD SEASON 2- 2022

I loved watching this show with Q being a pain in the ass to Picard sending him and his small group into an alternate reality. Now everything's changed to the worse and they realize that it changed back in..yup, our time. They must go back in time and find out what needs to change..or not change to set things right. Along the way we learn more about Picard and what makes him ...him. I enjoyed it and don't care if they screw up the prime directive..who cares...it's fun.

2. CRAFTERS - 2022


it still playing so I don't know the ending but this has the Prince of Wales involved. You have 8 artists who do a craft that is slowly becoming a, somewhat, lost art from forgers, and weavers to marble sculpting and glass making. Each learn the others' craft before, at the end, the Prince chooses a craft from one that  he feels  is extraordinary. I'm enjoying this and looking forward to the ending. 

3. THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: MARION ANDERSON-2012

I saw a picture of this lady, in my Life Magazine book of famous photos, when I was a kid, and always wanted to know more about her. I instantly disliked the Daughters of the American Revolution for being a bunch of prejudiced prigs for not allowing her to sing in their hall. The great Eleanor Roosevelt, told them off  took her name off of their list and set it up so Marion could si g in front of the Lincoln Memorial. This lady could sing!!! A contralto,  soprano who could also sing Alto brought many kings, Queens and the ordinary Joe to tears in Europe only to face bigotry in her own homeland just makes my head shake in disgust. If you ever get a chance, watch this.

Lengthy.. sorry. Have a fab weekend everyone 

9 comments:

  1. Next time bring your suit!
    I got maybe halfway into season two of Picard and just gave up. Too corny and other things.
    Been a long time since I saw Rob Roy.

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  2. We strolled along the sand
    Walking hand in hand
    Then you kissed me and I knew
    That I would love you my whole life through

    Hi, Birgit!

    Yessum, that picture at the top of the post was taken moments before my buddy Harley clamped his jaws around a rotten crab and then gave your face a good licking. As we recall the surfin' musical comedies made by Franke & Annette, the caption for that image might read, "Rotten Mussel Beach Party." :)

    Thanks for showing us the movies you watched in August 2022. Hitchcock's psycho crime thriller Rope is another film I studied in college. I remember it well. I have always been a fan of Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart and Farley Granger. It blew my mind that the story unfolded in real time and that the camera and editing technique you referred to, the "long take," was used to string the scenes together. There are only 11 shots in the entire movie.

    I love Alfred Hitchcock's imaginative trailers as much as the films they promote. I have seen The Birds numerous times, but don't consider it as scary as other Hitchcock films I could name. I like Tippi Hedren, who is still with us at age 92. I was also fond of the late Suzanne Pleshette. Tippi went on to become an animal rights activist and established a preserve for lions and tigers. I read the following interesting tidbits about the connection between Tippi and fellow actresses Naomi Watts and Jodie Foster: "Naomi Watts stated that her character interpretation in Mulholland Drive (2001) was influenced by the look and performances of Hedren in Hitchcock films. Watts and Hedren both appeared in I Heart Huckabees (2004), but did not share any scenes together. Watts dressed up as Hedren's title character from Marnie for a photo shoot for the March 2008 issue of Vanity Fair. In the same issue, Jodie Foster dressed up as Hedren's character, Melanie Daniels, from The Birds."

    I will tell Mrs. Shady about At Eternity's Gate. She is an artist and a fan of Dutch master Vincent van Gogh. She is also a WWII buff, has seen Saving Private Ryan many times, and would therefore appreciate Bridge At Remagen. I liked Rob't Vaughn who died six years ago just short of his 84th birthday. She would also enjoy The Train with Burt Lancaster. A few months ago, we watched Burt, Monty Clift, Deb Kerr, Donna Reed and Sinatra in From Here to Eternity. Ditto for Saints & Soldiers: The Void.

    Motherless Brooklyn looks great. I like modern takes on the classic Noir genre, and Mrs. S and I are fascinated by characters with Tourettes and those on the autism spectrum such as "Jerry," one of the lawyers on Boston Legal, who suffers from Asperger syndrome.

    Red Joan is also must see for Mrs. Shady and me because we love all things British. We like Nina Sosanya, the actress who appears in that trailer and in the film as "Ms Hart." We enjoyed watching Nina in two British TV series - Silk and Last Tango In Halifax. both highly recommended.

    Tenderness would interest me because of the subject matter. I also like time travel stories, and so Picard is a safe bet. We would both appreciate the Marion Anderson documentary and be equally outraged by the prejudice that existed at the time and indeed still exists in this country.

    Have a safe and happy weekend, dear friend BB!

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  3. Loved Red Joan but them anything Judi Dench does has my approval…have a great weekend xxxx

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  4. I loved the Picard season 2 finale. It made the whole season worth it. That Marion Anderson part made it into The First Lady, which was a show on Showtime about three first ladies. Eleanor Roosevelt was one of them. I think I saw that back in June.

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  5. I've never seen any of these, but I've seen snippets of The Birds.

    Too bad Marion Anderson was mistreated due to who we were and still are. If you are Native American or African American, you still feel the scars from being mistreated. We are such a shameful country.

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  6. Interesting list of movies, some of them you've mentioned before and I've had the privilege to be introduced to them. That walk on the beach looks refreshing and fun!

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  7. Your walk on the beach must have been fun. Does Harley like the water? Wish mine did! Some interesting movies here, but I've only seen The Birds and Bridge at Remagen. I loved Picard too! It says video unavailable, but you and I are in the same country. Weird!

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  8. The Birds was awesome! I never looked at a seagull in the same way after watching that. In fact, I would willingly give up my french fries whenever any of them were around.

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  9. That’s a wonderful photo of you and your Harley. I like your dress, the color, like the sky, and the style. Looks very comfy. You saw lots of interesting movies. I’ve seen Rob Roy and Red Joan Ed Norton’s movie sound familiar.

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