What Was the Last Movie You Watched?

OldFeller said:
The Big Clock 1947
Charles Laughton
Ray Milland

Summary:

"A magazine tycoon commits a murder and pins it on an innocent man, who then tries to solve the murder himself."

Very good story and script. Can't believe I never heard of this film before.

IMDB Rating = 7.6/10

The film also has Harry Morgan (MASH's Col Potter & Dragnet). Here is how he looks in The Big Clock

Look for Noel Neill (TVs Lois Lane) as an elevator operator (far left in the photo).
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Nice write-up, OldFeller. I always enjoyed The Big Clock, mostly because of Charles Laughton's performance (I don't think he ever turned in a bad one). But it is a clever story with good screenwriting and great noir dialogue, both by Jonathan Latimer. I'm about due for a re-watch...
 

Just finished accidentally - I never check ahead just take em as they come and it was Silverado - not sure if I've got the spelling right even. Just started half watching cos I was having a bit of a boring arvo and then wham bam thank you Ma'am - it hit be - the best western I have seen in eons - straight out of a Boys Own magazine!! - mind you dropping John Cleese in as a temporary sheriff was a bit dafted but it was all make believe heh??

Yes loved every moment and I didn't even start from the beginning - I was brought up on them of cause as a lad every saturday without fail - we would burst forth from the cinema doors invisible guns blazing away all the way home and then some!!
 

Yesterday lunchtime, early afternoon, The, made in 1954, Glenn Miller Story was on some remote television channel. It was a perfect backdrop in the kitchen as we prepared our Sunday lunch. The wistful look in my lady's eyes, made me smile, as we reminisced our dancing days.

The film follows big band leader Glenn Miller from his early days in the music business in 1929 through to his 1944 death when the airplane he was flying in was lost over the English Channel during World War Two.

Several turning points in Miller's career are depicted, including the success of an early jazz band arrangement; his departure from Broadway to front a band of his own; the failure of his first band on the road; and the subsequent re-forming of his successful big band and the establishment of the "Miller Sound."
 
I do keep a small collection of all time favorites: went over the top once and fell in love Heartbeat - 18 series and I have watched the complete set over perhaps 10 yrs some 23 times I think - loved all the characters and of course the scenes of the beautiful Yorkshire moors and the episode when a small group of them thought they were actually meeting Judy Garland was hilarious.

But this last time I seem to have become satiated and need quite a long rest. I have a few more box sets but perhaps later? and then singles like Frieda and Grand Budapest Hotel are remarkable in their own ways. May later of coffee, bourbon and mincepies??
 
Last night on Turner Classic Movies, I watched one of my favorite Gene Hackman movies' Hoosiers'86
He plays 'Norman Dale' a coach with a checkered past, who is hired to coach a small town high school basketball team and surprisingly go to the state finals in Indianapolis in the 50's
I've seen this movie a few times over the years but got tear eyed at times knowing Hackman is no longer with us,sadly died in Feb '25. He was my favorite #1 movie actor
 
Psycho and The Birds as a Hitchcock tour of the past. I remembered them years ago as frightening, but today, neither one is. Psycho is a study of psychological dynamics, although of the worst kind, and The Birds is interesting but too unrealistic to be scary.

One thing I've been noticing about these older films is that supporting actors with just brief appearances, seem to be used over and over again. Some make good bank tellers, some good police officers, bartenders, etc. I don't know their names, but they are as recognizable as the main stars.
 
JustDave said:
Psycho and The Birds as a Hitchcock tour of the past. I remembered them years ago as frightening, but today, neither one is. Psycho is a study of psychological dynamics, although of the worst kind, and The Birds is interesting but too unrealistic to be scary.

One thing I've been noticing about these older films is that supporting actors with just brief appearances, seem to be used over and over again. Some make good bank tellers, some good police officers, bartenders, etc. I don't know their names, but they are as recognizable as the main stars.
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Heh, heh. Well, in 1960 Psycho scared the tweet out of everyone who saw it, including me. It's been imitated thousands of times since, and of course the technical capacities for movies is many many times greater than it was then. IMO The Birds (1963) wasn't as shockingly scary as was Psycho, but it had dreadful suspense and a more slow burning fear in the way the story unfolded.

One interesting thing about Psycho was that it initially started out as a first class noir film, but after the shower scene it became a horror movie. It may have been the first slasher movie-- at least the first one that appeared so graphic. Tens of millions of people still think about that scene when they're taking a shower. It was truly a landmark film.
 
ChiroDoc said:
Heh, heh. Well, in 1960 Psycho scared the tweet out of everyone who saw it, including me. It's been imitated thousands of times since, and of course the technical capacities for movies is many many times greater than it was then. IMO The Birds (1963) wasn't as shockingly scary as was Psycho, but it had dreadful suspense and a more slow burning fear in the way the story unfolded.

One interesting thing about Psycho was that it initially started out as a first class noir film, but after the shower scene it became a horror movie. It may have been the first slasher movie-- at least the first one that appeared so graphic. Tens of millions of people still think about that scene when they're taking a shower. It was truly a landmark film.
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Yeah, everyone remembers the shower scene. Frankly, I remembered little else. It was almost like watching it for the first time, and you are right, it would definitely be a noir film, especially after the shower was over. Most of the film was about the investigation.

Another thing that was fun for me was finding out that the police officer was played by a guy I met in Montana, who lived up the road from me, John Mcintyre. When I say, "up the road," I mean about 50 miles, where he and his wife lived on a small ranch beyond the power grid in a remote area know as "The Yaak." Of course they also owned a home in Malibu and another in North Carolina, but the Yaak was where they wanted to be. My ex and I spend an afternoon drinking martinis with them in their log cabin, where his wife, Jeanette Nolan, was was cooking a roast on a wood stove and hanging their wash outside on a clothes line.
 
I get a kick out of what I call extranoir of the 1940s. The women are "dames" and show up in the private eye's office after dark smoking a cigarette. For some reason, the PI has forgotten to turn the lights on even though it's midnight. He's just sitting there in the dark, and the only light is from the hallway that dimly filters through the translucent glass of the office door.
 

Piranhaconda​


I was in the mood for some guilty mindless pleasure. This was it. One of those so bad it was good flicks. Lots of hot chicks in scanty attire getting eaten by a really groovy monster. I laughed so hard I almost gave myself a stomach ache.


 
Marcy Sheiner said:
Just watched The Prowler, a noir film with Van Heflin. Why is the music in these films always so overwrought? Other than that, pretty good movie.
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The Prowler (1951) is a first rate noir-- very tawdry with adult sexual themes. I'm surprised that Van Heflin agreed to play such a nasty character. Some actors of his stature wouldn't. Wasn't Evelyn Keyes lovely?

The screenplay was written by commie Dalton Trumbo, but credited to a friend of his. Even the director, Joseph Losey, was a Fellow Traveler; and rather than face the House Unamerican Activities Committee, he fled to England, where he had a good career.

Yeah, some of the music used for '40s and '50s films WAS overwrought, as you say, but that was standard for the era. They seem to want music in the majority of the film, I suppose to enhance the mood. I'd love to know why Lyn Murray was hired to do the score. He'd primarily been a radio and TV composer, and not at all known for noir.
 
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The Accountant 2 (2025)

I was expecting a little more from this picture. It's watchable but nothing at all special. It really amounts to a buddy type movie with plenty of violence, and a couple of cute animals thrown in for the "aww" factor.

I think there were supposed to be some laughs in the thriller, but I experienced only a few smiles. The acting wasn't bad-- just too much of it. Ben Affleck plays against type as a fastidious and unemotional oddball capable of Delta Force fighting and murdering. His brother (the "buddy") is played by scenery chewing Jon Bernthal. Daniella Pineda plays the hackneyed super badass assassin commando babe. J.K. Simmons is seen in surely his 200th part so far this year, but only for a few minutes in the beginning.

So if you're in mind for something mindless featuring name actors, this will fit the bill.

Doc's rating: 5/10
 
ChiroDoc said:
The Prowler (1951) is a first rate noir-- very tawdry with adult sexual themes. I'm surprised that Van Heflin agreed to play such a nasty character. Some actors of his stature wouldn't. Wasn't Evelyn Keyes lovely?

The screenplay was written by commie Dalton Trumbo, but credited to a friend of his. Even the director, Joseph Losey, was a Fellow Traveler; and rather than face the House Unamerican Activities Committee, he fled to England, where he had a good career.

Yeah, some of the music used for '40s and '50s films WAS overwrought, as you say, but that was standard for the era. They seem to want music in the majority of the film, I suppose to enhance the mood. I'd love to know why Lyn Murray was hired to do the score. He'd primarily been a radio and TV composer, and not at all known for noir.
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I love the things you say about film, esp. noir. Like, I didn't know Dalton Trumbo wrote the movie; I doubt it even credited him. Did you ever see Woody Allen's movie about this very topic, The Front? Great flick. Also I too thought it odd that Van Heflin was playing that part.
 
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