Spoilers What Movie Are You Watching?

[S.B.G]

I remember that and the mouse-spider thingy. Someone got eaten too which always gives me shivers of horror.

If watching old sci-fi/monster movies try The Giant Behemoth, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The Thing From Another World, The Tingler, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Caltiki, The Immortal Monster (watched with a coat over my head), Gorgo, Invaders From Mars and Konga.

Thanks! I'll look for them.

I just finished up a wonderful classic, Jane Eyre (1943). I enjoyed it quite immensely.

Orson Welles stars as Edward Rochester, the brooding employer of governess Jane Eyre in this adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's novel.

After a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house to care for his young daughter.

 

[D.T.]

I remember that and the mouse-spider thingy. Someone got eaten too which always gives me shivers of horror.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
The Thing From Another World

Beast from 20K Fathoms is really terrific, beautiful stop motion work from the immortal Ray Harryhausen.

The Thing [...] is kind of a classic-ish, but the ’82 Carpenter film is simply fantastic, and what an amazing display of practical effects from Bottin and Winston. Plus Kurt Russell - automatic win

The Carpenter film is actually right on with the plot of the original Campbell story Who Goes There?

 

[S.B.G]

Watching 12 Angry Men (1957).

A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.

I've previously seen the 1997 version, though not for quite a while. This is my first time viewing the 1957 version.

This is always such a great film, very powerful, and very well written.

 

[LizKat]

Margin Call, and not for the first time. Kevin Spacey is wonderful but I really enjoyed most the acting of Paul Bettany, who played the character of the head trader, Will Emerson. He has a way of using his face to express the pure puzzlement of a person who lacks empathy when he encounters the emotions of another person who is just acting like a normal human being under stress.

When he steps into the office of his boss to discuss the next day's very tricky trading program, only to see his boss practically in tears, it's priceless to see Bettany's facial expressions change as Kevin Spacey's character Sam Rogers reveals the source of his stress is not the near collapse of the firm but that fact that his dog is dying. Will Emerson just doesn't know what to do for a second there in the face of his boss's obvious suffering over the impending loss of his pet. He's at a complete loss, emptied out. Shows you that without saying a word.

You can't fake that kind of acting. Either you do or don't get what it's like to lack empathy and to be just plain puzzled by people's emotions. You can tell Bettany has really worked at understanding the backstory of the character and what Emerson has had to become during his rise to where he is at that moment. Shields up 24-7? As a lifestyle, it carries a heavy price and we get a glimpse of the cost. I have new respect for this actor having watched him in that movie.

 

[S.B.G]

Margin Call, and not for the first time. Kevin Spacey is wonderful but I really enjoyed most the acting of Paul Bettany, who played the character of the head trader, Will Emerson. He has a way of using his face to express the pure puzzlement of a person who lacks empathy when he encounters the emotions of another person who is just acting like a normal human being under stress.

When he steps into the office of his boss to discuss the next day's very tricky trading program, only to see his boss practically in tears, it's priceless to see Bettany's facial expressions change as Kevin Spacey's character Sam Rogers reveals the source of his stress is not the near collapse of the firm but that fact that his dog is dying. Will Emerson just doesn't know what to do for a second there in the face of his boss's obvious suffering over the impending loss of his pet. He's at a complete loss, emptied out. Shows you that without saying a word.

You can't fake that kind of acting. Either you do or don't get what it's like to lack empathy and to be just plain puzzled by people's emotions. You can tell Bettany has really worked at understanding the backstory of the character and what Emerson has had to become during his rise to where he is at that moment. Shields up 24-7? As a lifestyle, it carries a heavy price and we get a glimpse of the cost. I have new respect for this actor having watched him in that movie.

Nice review. I'm going to add this to my list, a long list, of movies to watch.

I seem to watch an awful lot of movies!

 

[Shrink]

Margin Call, and not for the first time. Kevin Spacey is wonderful but I really enjoyed most the acting of Paul Bettany, who played the character of the head trader, Will Emerson. He has a way of using his face to express the pure puzzlement of a person who lacks empathy when he encounters the emotions of another person who is just acting like a normal human being under stress.

When he steps into the office of his boss to discuss the next day's very tricky trading program, only to see his boss practically in tears, it's priceless to see Bettany's facial expressions change as Kevin Spacey's character Sam Rogers reveals the source of his stress is not the near collapse of the firm but that fact that his dog is dying. Will Emerson just doesn't know what to do for a second there in the face of his boss's obvious suffering over the impending loss of his pet. He's at a complete loss, emptied out. Shows you that without saying a word.

You can't fake that kind of acting. Either you do or don't get what it's like to lack empathy and to be just plain puzzled by people's emotions. You can tell Bettany has really worked at understanding the backstory of the character and what Emerson has had to become during his rise to where he is at that moment. Shields up 24-7? As a lifestyle, it carries a heavy price and we get a glimpse of the cost. I have new respect for this actor having watched him in that movie.

Paul Bettany is, imo, brilliant in a 2000 British crime drama called "Gangster No. 1". Amaingly violent at times, but justified, I think, by the plot. He is really unbelievable in this terrific film. I think he is one of the few truly terrific young actors today.

 

[LizKat]

~snip~ I really like Three Days of The Condor, book and movie.

That's actually next on MY long long list of movies. I wound up with a DVD copy of that awhile back behind some B&N coupon I think. Anyway it's queued up on the coffee table for tonight if I get a couple of chores finished, so I'm outta here. Happy movie watching to everyone!

 

[Thejrace]

Three days of the condor is excellent. I recall catching it for the first time and just enjoying it soo much.

 

[Huntn]

Beast from 20K Fathoms is really terrific, beautiful stop motion work from the immortal Ray Harryhausen.

The Thing [...] is kind of a classic-ish, but the ’82 Carpenter film is simply fantastic, and what an amazing display of practical effects from Bottin and Winston. Plus Kurt Russell - automatic win

The Carpenter film is actually right on with the plot of the original Campbell story Who Goes There?

Harryhausen was state of the art back then. The original Thing is really a fantastic movie considering what special effects they had to work with. It's got a quality story telling atmosphere. I was really scared as a kid watching it. The 82 Carpenter version is superb. I still love it. Generally, I'm not a big Kurt Russell fan, but he was fantastic here. I was on deployment in the Navy when I saw this, and one of our crew members names was Clark. The big joke after that movie was , "Where's Clark?"

 

[S.B.G]

The Flight That Disappeared (1961)

A cross-country airliner, whose passengers include a nuclear physicist, a rocket expert, and a mathematical genius, is drawn beyond radar range by an unknown, unbreakable force.

 

[Suture]

Rented that sequel to 300 off my Apple TV the other night. Visually it looked nice, but Snyder's style is getting old to me. Movie was so-so to me. Didn't do anything new. I enjoyed the first one, however.

Also if those Athenians were "mostly farmers" as they kept pointing out... they sure did fight a lot like Spartans if you ask me.

 

[millerj123]

Last night I watched Enough Said with James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Overall, I thought it was pretty good. The main characters are flawed, but are still looking for someone to be interested in. I did find that Eva consistently made bad choices, which dropped the movie into Soap Opera land. Maybe that was the intent.

 

[Huntn]

Rented that sequel to 300 off my Apple TV the other night. Visually it looked nice, but Snyder's style is getting old to me. Movie was so-so to me. Didn't do anything new. I enjoyed the first one, however.

Also if those Athenians were "mostly farmers" as they kept pointing out... they sure did fight a lot like Spartans if you ask me.

I have a strong dislike of highly stylized movies filmed in a warehouse with digital backdrops. This is why both Sin City, and 300 do not appeal to me. And why I can barely stomach The Crow although officially I like The Crow. The stylization is oppressive. If everything in the background is fake, I don't want to be continuously reminded of it. IMO, the future of CGI lies with films along the lines of Avatar where you've got photo-realism and live action blended seemingly with it.

 

[kazmac]

Harryhausen was state of the art back then. The original Thing is really a fantastic movie considering what special effects they had to work with. It's got a quality story telling atmosphere. I was really scared as a kid watching it. The 82 Carpenter version is superb. I still love it. Generally, I'm not a big Kurt Russell fan, but he was fantastic here. I was on deployment in the Navy when I saw this, and one of our crew members names was Clark. The big joke after that movie was , "Where's Clark?"

Kurt's MacReady is my favorite performance of his. The novella is probably up there in my top 5 stories ever. LOL about your personal little Clark story (I liked that character too. "What do you have in mind, MacReady?")

I did not know there was a Three Days of the Condor novel.

>>

Yesterday I watched the Australian "bikie" flick Stone again. Enjoy the first 20 minutes immensely but once Ken Shorter's 'undercover' cop comes in and the almost giallo plot line gets pushed aside for some biker antics with Stone, that just goes south pretty quick. The ending is quite good though (despite my favorite two gang members getting snuffed.)

>>

Hyperstylized movies: I am very partial to colors in some. 300 looks exactly like the comic it drew that take of the Spartan 300 on and Zhang Yimou's recent martial arts epics have been utterly wonderful. I do not like many C.G.I. environs, but some work, especially when the practical effects elements are apparent too.

 

[Huntn]

Kurt's MacReady is my favorite performance of his. The novella is probably up there in my top 5 stories ever. LOL about your personal little Clark story (I liked that character too. "What do you have in mind, MacReady?")

I did not know there was a Three Days of the Condor novel.

>>

Yesterday I watched the Australian "bikie" flick Stone again. Enjoy the first 20 minutes immensely but once Ken Shorter's 'undercover' cop comes in and the almost giallo plot line gets pushed aside for some biker antics with Stone, that just goes south pretty quick. The ending is quite good though (despite my favorite two gang members getting snuffed.)

>>

Hyperstylized movies: I am very partial to colors in some. 300 looks exactly like the comic it drew that take of the Spartan 300 on and Zhang Yimou's recent martial arts epics have been utterly wonderful. I do not like many C.G.I. environs, but some work, especially when the practical effects elements are apparent too.

As I recall, the book is Six Days Of The Condor.

 

[TomHardyy]

Bad Neighbors.. it is not a family movie bad made it on one family...
Inception is another movie i recently watched and my worth it has amazing story

 

[twietee]

^TomHardy? You got quite some fans over here!

Saw The Internship with the family yesterday on the telly - what an extremely terrible movie! And I even consider myself guilty of really enjoying Owen Wilson in general.

 

[kazmac]

and my biker schlock rerun continues...

Angels from Hell; Tom Stern always seemed to screw up every biker/counterculture flick he appeared in through his hammy acting, but I was watching for Jack Starrett (who also wound up directing a lot of drive in fare in the 70s) and Stephen Oliver (Werewolves on Wheels).

>>>

Also watched Mad Max again and saw a lot of A Clockwork Orange in Toecutter's gang, but here it works extremely well. I think these guys handled that source material perfectly while still doing their own thing. I love Hugh Keays-Byrne as TC, so utterly evil. This is his movie.

@LOL at twietee...

 

[twietee]

@LOL at twietee...

Don't be cruel!

What about that Knights (?) movie by Romero? Bikeploitation as its finest? Should I give it a shot - you know how I like his early stuff!

 

[ritmomundo]

The Hundred-Foot Journey - It's a decent movie about a restaurant cook making it. Light-hearted fare, few laughs. But overall, nothing spectacular. It did make me hungry though.

 

[D.T.]

Kurt's MacReady is my favorite performance of his. The novella is probably up there in my top 5 stories ever.

Love Kurt.

The Thing
Big Trouble in Little China
Escape from New York
Tombstone

Some of my favorite movies of all time.

Have you ever read the short story “The Things” byPeter Watts? Very interesting, it’s the movie, The Thing, but told from the perspective of the alien. Definitely worth a read:

http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/

*Warning* contains spoilers for the movie.

 

[ipodlover77]

Well The Giver was a tad bit disappointing to say the least.

Jeff Bridges was great like always. Always get him mixed up with Kurt Russell though. Two handsome men I tell you.

 

[Thejrace]

Just finished watching Rush, the formula 1 racing movie. Really enjoyed it.

 

[AZhappyjack]

I introduced my grandsons to Doc Brown and Marty McFly by watching the Back to the Future trilogy. They loved it almost as much as I did!

 

[kazmac]

Don't be cruel!

What about that Knights (?) movie by Romero? Bikeploitation as its finest? Should I give it a shot - you know how I like his early stuff!

You're lucky I cannot imitate Elvis

Knightrider here in the States. Not so much Bikesploitation rather Ren Faire guys using motorcycles rather than horses for jousting and stuff.

Ed Harris, Tom Savini and Stephen King were a hoot, but it's an okay film. If you can rent it, do so, Martin and the Crazies (non zombie Romero goodness) it is not.

Love Kurt.

The Thing
Big Trouble in Little China
Escape from New York
Tombstone

Some of my favorite movies of all time.

Have you ever read the short story “The Things” byPeter Watts? Very interesting, it’s the movie, The Thing, but told from the perspective of the alien. Definitely worth a read:

http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/

*Warning* contains spoilers for the movie.

Never read that story, will have to. Thanks, D.T. Yeah, I was a huge Kurt Russell fan for decades (even got to interview the man for Soldier - very nice guy, but he does not take crap and hates when people fawn all over him.) The Thing and Big Trouble are among my faves too, I go back and forth between the Thing and EFNY being my favorite Russell films, so yeah I agree. Tombstone, Kurt was good but Val Kilmer stole that one for me. I keep hoping John Carpenter has one more insane film in him and does it with Kurt. I really enjoy when they work together.