Yeah, finding an online streamer was a challenge but The Roku Channel has it (free w/ads). Watching it now. Thanks for the reminder!
In honor of Halloween, The Black Cat (1934) starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff Some good, creepy atmosphere with effectively sinister Karloff, but jumbled overall, terrible acting by the supporting cast, and inappropriate and distracting musical score throughout. Sorry.
Appreciate the link, the commercials weren't too annoying for the chance to see this sprawling epic again and continue the story of Wenders' angels.
I like noir and I like neo-noir. Flawed but atmospheric and stylish. Title song by Marianne Faithful fits right in. Reminded of Performance at times. Trouble in Mind Directed by Alan Rudolph • 1985 • United States Starring Kris Kristofferson, Keith Carradine, Lori Singer
Loved this! The Crowd Directed by King Vidor • 1928 • United States Starring James Murray, Eleanor Boardman, Bert Roach King Vidor’s ode to the everyman is one of the crowning achievements of silent cinema. Born on the Fourth of July in the year 1900, John Sims (James Murray) believes himself destined for greatness when he heads to New York City at the age of twenty-one—but he soon finds himself merely part of the faceless crowd, an underpaid clerk working in a huge office building and struggling to support a wife (Eleanor Boardman) and children. Strikingly blending Murnau-influenced expressionism with documentary-like location shooting on the streets of New York, Vidor powerfully portrays one man’s journey through the rat race of modern life.
Finally joined the Criterion Channel. Long time DVD/Blu buyer, tried Filmstruck but after 6 months slowly ran out of things I wanted to watch. I like that Criterion Channel has some non-Criterion stuff that fits the bill, like Niagara and Sabrina. The app is easy enough to go through on my Apple TV and I liked the "collections" and teasers to browse through. Last night watched Pick Up On South Street. Nice film noir, didn't know much about it but I love noir. Pretty solid one, didnt expect the commie angle or some unexpected depth to characters like Thelma Ritter who was fantastic. And on my tv, it may not be 4K, but it looked fantastic.
One of my favorites. Yeah, the whole better dead than red attitude that runs through the film is tiresome but Ritter is great. Just realized that none of it was actually shot in New York. Give credit to Fuller for that hat trick.
Watched Funeral Parade of Roses last night, a wildly experimental Japanese film from 1969 that loosely centers on a love triangle between two transsexuals and the owner of the bar they hang out at, but is as much about “happenings” and breaking the structures of standard movie narrative as anything. Godard fans looking for something different should check it out.
I have been a fan of this film for many years, although I still find the ending to be an incredibly difficult watch. Without wanting to give too much away, it is a 20th century Japanese underground reimagining of an Ancient Greek tragedy. It was also an influence on Kubrick’s film of A Clockwork Orange. A masterpiece of the Japanese New Wave, bursting with visual ideas.
Niagara - hadn't seen it in 30 years at least. Joseph Cotten, Marilyn Monroe in a technicolor noir. Fun but nothing amazing, again, it looked fantastic. Sometimes those 3 strip technicolor movies can be a little fuzzy (Giant comes to mind), but this looked stunning. Cotten looks like he aged 20 years between this and Third Man less than 5 years prior. Looking at wiki on the film after, I see that Jean Peters is in this too. Dont think I'd ever seen her before this weekend, and I end up seeing two of her films back to back (Pick up on South Street). Didnt realize she was Howard Hughes wife. Fun film for a movie where I didn't want anything too heavy, just seeing all the old cars and styles.
I just signed up for the Criterion app and had a quick scan through. Anyway, I watched Little Murders yesterday and that might be one of the darkest comedies I’ve ever seen. I had no idea it existed and only watched because I’m a huge Alan Arkin fan. This movie seems very relevant in today’s world, I could relate scarily to Elliot Gould’s “apathy “ towards the city and events around him. There were a few monologues in this movie that had me laughing my head off, the Judge and the Minister were funny as hell. Anyway, I’m going to have to let this movie digest and I’ll likely watch it again to get a deeper take if there is one. I would highly recommend this film if you enjoy dark comedies, but it will not leave you feeling happy when it’s over.
Now that is one bizarrely funny movie. I suppose it could become a very underground minor classic, if it isn't already. Thanks for the recommendation.
this was a bizarre film, I’ve been thinking about it a lot since I watched and found out that it is based on a play. The funniest thing that I’ve realized since I watched, was that Elliot Gould was completely apathetic to everything except that he did not want “the deity mentioned in his wedding ceremony. Also, when he did agree to have empathy, his world fell apart immediately, that must have been an intentional irony. His character also won awards for photographs of crap, literally! It looks like this movie is leaving Criterion at the end of the month unfortunately.
Got hooked into watching some of the Elia Kazan films they are playing. Mostly the ones I have not seen or haven't seen lately. East Of Eden- I love this movie and had not seen it in a very long time. Baby Doll- Another excellent Kazan and Tennessee Williams film. So many great performances! Panic In The Streets- Very relevant to what's going on these days. It wasn't my favorite, but it's worth a watch as we deal with our own panic in the streets. It's also the first Jack Palance film. Wild River- I need to finish this one. I only watched half of it and got interrupted. I wasn't completely feeling it, but it did have a great performance by Jo Van Fleet. I then had to re-watch Rebel Without A Cause after watching East of Eden. Next up is Giant. Too bad these two are not on Criterion. Out of the 12 Kazan movies playing on Criterion, I have also seen On The Waterfront and A Face In The Crowd before, but may re-visit those as well. The other six I have never seen. Anyone have any favorites?
The Music Room (1958, Satyajit Ray) A fallen aristocrat (the beloved actor Chhabi Biswas) desperately clinging to a fading way of life. His greatest joy is the music room in which he has hosted lavish concerts over the years—now a shadow of its former vivid self. One of my favorites. In the video above director, Mira Nair, talks about the film's director and it's influence.
TCM showed this recently, with a few handfuls of other Indian movies. I haven't seen that YouTube video you posted (but will later).. Was the movie basically about status and trying to keep it, regardless of how much it cost him? It didn't even seem like he cared about the music, and instead just cared maintaining his ego.
Hi there. No, I wouldn't go that far: Roy's character is lost in a reverie of the past through music. Music keeps him there. He seems to care little for actual power but merely wants maintain his lofty status - to remain high, to put it crudely.
The Player - One of the first artsy, semi outside the norm movie I ever saw. I loved it then, with all the cameos, the Hollywood ending. Hadn't seen it since, I don't think. Tim Robbins looks like a baby, so did Vincent D'Onofrio who I barely recognized. I completely forgot Lyle Lovett was in it, so when he showed up, I had a huge smile, that's the whole reason we went to see the movie in the first place, because I was a freshman at A&M and had to see a favorite old ag on the big screen. Whoopi is great in this and really funny. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing it again. Now I need to see Bob Roberts again, although I have a feeling it may hit a little too close to home with the way things went the last few years. I understand why Robbins never put out the music, but I still have those songs run through my head occasionally (and they'll complain and complain and complain...) and a brief scene with Kelly Willis really stuck out at the time and got me to check out her music. Back then I really thought Kenneth Branagh and Robbins were going to be the next generation of brilliant film makers and actors, but they both seemed to lose steam in the 2000's, but I still like both of them and glad to see them when they pop up, liek watching marvel movies with my kids and seeing Branagh directed Thor! Anyway, started Thief a bit too late and dozed off, but that was one I'd wanted to check out for a while. Didn't realize Willie Nelson was in it. fun vibe, would probably make a great guys night double feature with Eddie Coyle