Comments on She Blogged By Night: The Monday Morning Question: Yes, I Lied

Watched Van Heflin out-act Alan Ladd in Shane rece...

2008-12-10T11:50:00.000-06:00

Watched Van Heflin out-act Alan Ladd in Shane recently, which made me think of him in 1954's Black Widow. Also a French romantic comedy called Priceless which had its moments, but went for the sappy ending instead of the cynical one.

I also watched the Indiana Jones movie, and agree with the South Park episode. The Holy Grail was, to me, the perfect culmination of the series and Lucas should be shot. With frozen Ewok heads. Decorated with razor blades.

Chris McG.

Hey, Beerman, me too! I'm planning on watching "B...

2008-12-09T12:37:00.000-06:00

Hey, Beerman, me too! I'm planning on watching "Breathless" through Netflix this week, and it's also my first Godard, although I've seen a ton of clips from "Pierre le fou".

Augh, I missed "The Cat and the Canary"! Dang!

Ivan, I thought some parts of "Sidewalks of New York" were very funny, but it wasn't as good as any of his silents. Buster started out with a nice subtle snobbish accent but quickly fell back into his Midwestern twang. Anita Page just... well, she can't act. There, I said it.

I tried to see "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of t...

2008-12-09T05:25:00.000-06:00

I tried to see "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Geritol Tablets" but a tornado warning interrupted the film right before the climax. Alas, nothing I saw gives me any desire to see how it ends.

I did manage to catch Paul Leni's 1927 version of "The Cat and the Canary" a couple nights ago and enjoyed the heck out of it. (Full write-up here: microbrewreviews.blogspot.com)

Also caught a really strange movie called House a/k/a Hausa by Nobuhiko Obayashi about seven Japanese school girls who basically visit a haunted inn and get devoured by the furniture that completely blew my mind.

And I took a Criterion binge. "Le Doulos" was slick, spiffy and great, and if you'll forgive the euphemism, I'm about to pop my Godard cherry this weekend with "Breathless."

Several of the movies on your list are also on min...

2008-12-08T14:15:00.000-06:00

Several of the movies on your list are also on mine: Payment Deferred, Sidewalks of New York, Skyscraper Souls and 3:10 to Yuma (a rewatch). Yuma’s a movie for which I’ll drop anything I’m doing to sit down and stare; both Payment and Souls were new to me and I enjoyed the hell out of them—particularly for the Maureen O’Sullivan factor. Sidewalks of New York was severely disappointing—I keep hoping there’s a Keaton MGM talkie out there that will match even the poorest of his silent works (Speak Easily comes the closest, which still doesn’t speak well of Buster) but I get discouraged with each passing film.

I’ve been logging in quite a few B-films courtesy of Columbia’s film library with the likes of Blazing the Western Trail (The Durango Kid series) and Crime Doctor/Crime Doctor’s Strangest Case. All three movies are the equivalent of comfort food—no great shakes, but you’re guaranteed to be entertained for the better part of an hour. I also watched one of the few Roy Rogers Republic oaters that has eluded me for some time now—On the Old Spanish Trail…not prime Rogers to be sure, but any movie with noir icon Charles McGraw as the bad guy is worth something.

Add to this rewatchings of Rio Grande, Journey Into Fear (it had been so long since I saw this one it was almost like seeing it for the first time), The Magnificent Ambersons, The Parallax View and The Pelican Brief—don’t ask me why I sat through this last one again, I’m still trying to figure out that one myself. I’ve only managed to log time with one brand-new movie, 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days)—a fascinating suspense-thriller about two women attempting to get an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania. Definitely knocked my socks off.

I saw Coma when it was first released (it was part of a movie outing with some Sunday School people—it came down to either this or The Other Side of Midnight Part 2) and though I think I may have revisited once or twice since then, it’s still a crackerjack thriller. I think the main thing I took away from it was that when it came to cinematic rat bastards, Richard Widmark had no equal.

Ooh, I'm never going to see the most recent Indian...

2008-12-08T13:51:00.000-06:00

Ooh, I'm never going to see the most recent Indiana Jones movie. I have zero interest in it.

Shahn, I thought about that but it looks like I'd have to moderate everything on the blog, not just individual posts. Since I don't keep the same hours as everyone else, replies to Monday Morning Questions wouldn't show up until the afternoon or later, which kind of defeats the purpose.

Sidenote: I watched the latest INDY too; I didn...

2008-12-08T12:36:00.000-06:00

Sidenote: I watched the latest INDY too; I didn't mind some of it, but the use of CGI in certain action scenes totally ruined any sense of credibility and suspense. Granted, it's suppose to be a larky adventure movie, but there's a limit to over-the-top cartoon action in a live action film until it becomes a joke.

Otherwise, I'm in comfort-zone mode with DVDs lately--rewatching old favorites, including the newly reissued Abbott & Costello set. I have a stack of 2007/2008 movies awaiting viewing, but they take more committment in time and concentration.

I thought "14 Hours" was really impressive. In a m...

2008-12-08T08:47:00.000-06:00

I thought "14 Hours" was really impressive. In a more contemporary realm, I also enjoyed "Chapter 27" way more than I anticipated.

Too bad about the spammers' attack. I changed my comments setting to one where I have to approve any before they are posted. Have you tried that?

Excellent: The Fat Man (1951). Great little crime...

2008-12-08T07:34:00.000-06:00

Excellent: The Fat Man (1951). Great little crime movie with an early appearance by Rock Hudson and Julie London looking as great as ever.

Totally sucked hobbit-nuts: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). I WILL NEVER WATCH ANOTHER MOVIE WITH CGI. Thanks to Industrial Light and Magic for FUCKING that up for ALL eternity.

I watched Bottle Rocket recently and found interes...

2008-12-08T05:54:00.000-06:00

I watched Bottle Rocket recently and found interesting similarities between it and Darjeeling Limited (the emphasis on three guys, for instance).