New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

[Kepler]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

When I read, I read books, which I actually do quite often.

Kepler: Plot; drama, adventure or mystery; epic or location films. Whatcha got for me. (really, I'm up for anything, but I only sprinkle them in about 1 every 4 or 5 movies, so I don't really watch them quickly)

edit: I've also seen Lawrence of Arabia

I'll just spitball. You've probably seen some of these.

The Maltese Falcon
Sleuth
Double Indemnity
The Man Who Would Be King
Casablanca
It Happened One Night
Shane
Sunset Boulevard
The Thirty Nine Steps
Twelve O'Clock High
The Third Man
Vertigo
Ben Hur
The Deer Hunter
The Agony and the Ecstasy
In the Heat of the Night

Outside your genre choices but still worth stretching for:

Singin in the Rain
All About Eve
West Side Story
A Clockwork Orange
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Dr. Strangelove
The Bank Dick (W.C. Fields)
A Night at the Opera (The Marx Brothers)
The General (Buster Keaton)
Safety Last (Harold Lloyd)
Any Max Fleisher pre-code Betty Boop cartoon (1930-34)

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

As part of my attempt to watch more of the classic movies, I watched Casablanca tonight. The first 3 I watched were Hitchcock movies and none of them really resonated with me, so I wanted to change it up and try something different. I thought Casablanca was very good, I'd put it ahead of all of the 3 Hitchcock movies I watched. It took a little while to build, but really not long enough for me to really care, since that is just what many good movies do. I'm now more encouraged that I'll enjoy many older movies, so I should keep mixing them into my queue. Any suggestions on what I should tackle next?

Stagecoach
His Girl Friday

 

[St. Clown]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

Any Max Fleisher pre-code Betty Boop cartoon (1930-34)

What "pre-code"?

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

Thanks for the suggestions, I have added a bunch to my queue.

 

[The Rube]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

What "pre-code"?

Basically MPAA stuff, IIRC.

And West Side Story was great. Clockwork Orange and Deer Hunter were a bit overrated, but good.

Apocalypse Now is another slightly overrated, but quality movie. Of course, The Ride Of The Valkyries is the best scene out of that movie. Love that scene.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

Clockwork Orange was terrible. As was 75% of 2001.

Kubrick is the single most overrated Director of all time.

 

[The Rube]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

Clockwork Orange was terrible. As was 75% of 2001.

Kubrick is the single most overrated Director of all time.

My only beef with Clockwork was the made up slang. That bugged the hell outta me. You NEED subtitles on that.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

My only beef with Clockwork was the made up slang. That bugged the hell outta me. You NEED subtitles on that.

In my opinion, he toned it down from the book.

Interesting note, every single movie Kubrick made started out as a book or short story which he then adapted.

I thought Clockwork Orange was great. The story is great allegory for society taking things too far - the destruction on one end and the overreaction the other. I have to admit, it was tough to watch the first time through when they were in the midst of "curing" him. It wasn't the images of the films they were showing him, it was watching McDowell himself that was difficult.

 

[French Rage]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

It Happened One Night

There really is a great timeless quality about this movie. It's 77 years old and it works just as well now as it did then. Plus you can watch Clark Gable chew the scenery for 100 minutes.

 

[duper]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

In my opinion, he toned it down from the book.

Interesting note, every single movie Kubrick made started out as a book or short story which he then adapted.

I thought Clockwork Orange was great. The story is great allegory for society taking things too far - the destruction on one end and the overreaction the other. I have to admit, it was tough to watch the first time through when they were in the midst of "curing" him. It wasn't the images of the films they were showing him, it was watching McDowell himself that was difficult.

I really think it's a shame that he made the movie with the American ending and not the original one. (The American publisher thought the book was too long, so they shortened it by literally just not including the last chapter.) If you enjoy either the book or the movie, get your hands on a copy that includes the final chapter (which was first made available in the US about ten years ago). To me, the last chapter dramatically changes the story. (You can tell whether the last chapter is there because Burgess wrote three 7-chapter sections. If the third section has one chapter less than the others, it is the American version.)

That said, I didn't like the movie, and agree that Kubrick was over-rated.

One thing that made the book more interesting to me is that it makes it clear that the slang Brent mentioned comes from a Russian/English hybrid (think Spanglish but with Russian) and you actually understand what they are saying when they say it.

 

[Kepler]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

Stagecoach
His Girl Friday

Also brilliant!

 

[duper]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

Oh, and bbdl, I, too, have spent my life pretty opposed to old movies until recently. And I also agree that Casablanca > Any Hitchcock I have seen. The other Bogart movies I have seen are The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen. Both were good, I still liked Casablanca better.

 

[Kepler]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

What "pre-code"?

Hays Code. The blue noses were complaining in the 30's about Mae West's tits, so production companies self-censored to avoid Congressional action.

There have been Tipper Gores in every age.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

Oh, and bbdl, I, too, have spent my life pretty opposed to old movies until recently. And I also agree that Casablanca > Any Hitchcock I have seen. The other Bogart movies I have seen are The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen. Both were good, I still liked Casablanca better.

There was something about Bogart that reminded me of a modern actor, I think it was the way his voice sounded, but I just can't place who it is.

 

[Kepler]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

Oh, and bbdl, I, too, have spent my life pretty opposed to old movies until recently. And I also agree that Casablanca > Any Hitchcock I have seen. The other Bogart movies I have seen are The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen. Both were good, I still liked Casablanca better.

I also recommend:

To Have and Have Not (the classic Bogie-Bacall movie)
The Caine Mutiny (Bogart's best pure acting performance, not his typical role at all)
Beat the Devil (great screwball comedy with guys like Robert Morley)
In a Lonely Place (very quiet, introspective role)
Key Largo (fantastic drama with Edward G. Robinson)
The Big Sleep (best Philip Marlowe film)
High Sierra (his best gangster role)
They Drive by Night (great suspense opposite George Raft)

 

[Kepler]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

There was something about Bogart that reminded me of a modern actor, I think it was the way his voice sounded, but I just can't place who it is.

Bogart's characters are often ironic and irony is (hyper) pervasive in modern movies. That makes him seem very modern.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

All 4 Bogie-Bacall movies are worth it.

The Big Sleep is my fave.
To Have and Have Not is my other fave. Can't pick between the two.
Key Largo is pretty good.
Dark Passage is a little strange but an ok film.

 

[Kepler]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

The Big Sleep is my fave.

It's also one of Hollywood's great "problem plays." To this day, it doesn't quite make sense but nobody can figure out why. Chandler didn't even know. It's sort of like an optical illusion -- really disconcerting.

It's one of the great noirs ever made, up there with Double Indemnity, Maltese Falcon and Sunset Boulevard.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

Hitchcock movies are pretty good, but tend to be predictable. He was pretty much the originator of the "get 'em" scene that has long since become ubiquitous in every suspense/mystery/horror from the A list to LMN.

 

[Kepler]

Re: New/Rented Movies: Have Mercy on Michael Bay's Soul, He Knows Not What He Does

Hitchcock movies are pretty good, but tend to be predictable. He was pretty much the originator of the "get 'em" scene that has long since become ubiquitous in every suspense/mystery/horror from the A list to LMN.

In some ways they are predictable because he created the template. Psycho is predictable because a thousand movies have exploited its twist.

The only thing I find really predictable in Hitchcock is his casting. Enough with the distant, frigid blondes, Alfred.

My favorite Hitch movies:

Saboteur
Rebecca
The Lady Vanishes
Suspicion
Lifeboat
Foreign Correspondent
Rope
Notorious
Strangers on a Train
Shadow of a Doubt


A cool thing about AH is his silents and early soundies are all in the public domain, so you can pick them up on a DVD dirt cheap or watch them streaming for free. They are very uneven, but some are amazing and if you like the atmospherics of early Brit film (like the Eeling Pie comedies) they are a lot of fun.

Here is a list of AH silents. Unfortunately most of the early ones are lost. I bolded the ones I think are great.

1920 The Great Day (titles) [lost]

1920 The Call of Youth (titles) [lost]

1921 The Princess of New York (titles) [lost]

1921 Appearances (titles) [lost]

1921 Dangerous Lies (titles) [lost]

1921 The Mystery Road (titles) [lost]

1921 Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush (titles) [lost]

1922 Three Live Ghosts (titles) [lost]

1922 Perpetua (titles) [lost]

1922 The Man from Home (titles) [lost]

1922 Spanish Jade (titles) [lost]

1922 Tell Your Children (titles) [lost]

1922 Number Thirteen (director/film unfinished) [lost]

1923 Always Tell Your Wife (co-replacement director) [one reel of two survives]

1923 Woman to Woman (co-script, assistant director, art director) [lost]

1923 The Prude’s Fall (script, assistant director, art director) [survives incomplete]

1924 The Passionate Adventure (co-script, assistant director, art director) [survives]

1924 The Blackguard (script, assistant director, art director) [survives]

1924 The White Shadow (art director) [lost] [update - discovered in 2011, see comments]

1925 The Pleasure Garden (director) [survives]

1926 The Mountain Eagle (director) [lost]

1926 The Lodger (director, actor) [survives]

1927 Downhill (director) [survives]

1927 Easy Virtue (director) [survives]

1927 The Ring (director, screenplay) [survives]

1927 The Farmer’s Wife (director) [survives]

1928 Champagne (director, adaptation) [survives]

1929 The Manxman (director) [survives]

1929 Blackmail (director, adaptation, actor) [silent and sound versions were made, both survive]

Hitchcock remade many of his silents as early soundies, sometimes with different names. "Number Seventeen" is one of the weirdest movies ever made.