What are you watching? (Old films edition)

[VoR]

I often watch random old movies that are far too obscure to justify having a thread+poll, but I do wish I had a place to shitpost about them. So maybe this will be that place.

I watched two very different films this weekend that I thoroughly enjoyed on very different levels.

The first was The House of Mirth starring Gillian Anderson, which I loved. Adapted from an Edith Wharton novel, it starts out as a fairly typical Merchant Ivory style costume piece, but my God it's bleak! Instead of choosing which of her many potential suitors to marry as the first half leads you to expect, she winds up

Spoiler: spoiler

crippled by gambling debts, cast out of society and dying of a laudanum overdose in a flop house!

Anderson is magnificent, there's a breakdown scene near the end that really moved me. I think the film was a complete flop, but if it had been better marketed I see no reason why she couldn't have won an Oscar for it. Also Laura Linney as a VILLAINOUS society girl, which is always fun. Rentable on Amazon Prime and a total recommend!

 

[VoR]

On the other end of the spectrum, last night I watched a complete piece of garbage called Music From Another Room, starring a young Jude Law, Gretchen Moll and Jennifer Tilly as a BLIND GIRL

It was one of those films where everybody acts like they are an alien from the planet bad screenwriting. There were a couple of scenes that had my jaw on the floor, not least the one near the beginning where

Spoiler: spoiler

a 5 year old boy sticks his hands up Brenda Blethyn's vagina to save a baby!

I was also increasingly amused by the way they used the same Savage Garden song as a romantic needle drop THREE TIMES in the space of about 20 minutes

Also on Amazon prime if you fancy a very dated laugh.

 

[Ellie]

Is 2000 now considered “old”?

 

[Christian]

I've never seen House Of Mirth but I've heard great things. I didn't know it was a Terence Davies film, so I must get around to it soonish.

(On a side note, has anyone seen his recent Siegfried Sassoon film Benediction? It's on streaming now after a very limited release and is supposed to be a stunner.)

 

[Christian]

Is 2000 now considered “old”?

I did wonder that too, but twenty two years before that was 1978 and that seemed VERY old at the time

 

[Ellie]

Anyway, I had a lazy TV watching day yesterday and after Neighbours just felt like watching very very familiar stuff.

 

[COB]

I watched Soapdish the other week, which I hadn't seen since I was quite young. It was fun and had some great scenes (obviously Carrie Fisher's scenes are iconic), but I do feel like it takes a bit TOO much of a hard turn into melodrama near the end that doesn't quite come off - I know that emulating ridiculous soap plots is part of the point, but the big twist sort of knocks the film a bit too far off the rails for me. Also the ending where

Spoiler

Cathy Moriarty's villain is revealed to be a trans woman (including being deadnamed) and mocked for it by the rest of the cast - even apparently reverting back to living as a man following her career being ruined

obviously left QUITE a bad taste in the mouth viewing it in 2022...

 

[Ellie]

I watched Soapdish the other week, which I hadn't seen since I was quite young. It was fun and had some great scenes (obviously Carrie Fisher's scenes are iconic), but I do feel like it takes a bit TOO much of a hard turn into melodrama near the end that doesn't quite come off - I know that emulating ridiculous soap plots is part of the point, but the big twist sort of knocks the film a bit too far off the rails for me. Also the ending where

Spoiler

Cathy Moriarty's villain is revealed to be a trans woman (including being deadnamed) and mocked for it by the rest of the cast - even apparently reverting back to living as a man following her career being ruined

obviously left QUITE a bad taste in the mouth viewing it in 2022...

Yes, but at the same time

 

[VoR]

Yeah, the end of Soapdish is a total yikes, which is a real shame as it's otherwise fabulous.

"What I feel like is GLORIA FUCKING SWANSON!"

 

[jyxz]

You know, you have beautiful eyes.

Oh, you should see my tits.

 

[COB]

You know, you have beautiful eyes.

Oh, you should see my tits.

I genuinely choked on my drink at that line

 

[Ellie]

Whenever my friends and I are having a frivolous disagreement and one person isn’t listening to the other, we frequently yell “HE DOESN’T HAVE A HEAD!”

 

[VoR]

Watched the original Stepford Wives movie tonight, then subjected myself to the utterly dreadful 2004 remake, which is even more disastrously awful and nonsensical than I'd remembered.

The original though - amazing! I love how chilly it is, the encroaching sense of dread...

"I'll just DIE if I don't get this recipe..."

 

[jivafox]

I had no idea until recently that The Stepford Wives has THREE sequels, albeit made for TV movies.

 

[VoR]

I assume they’re all garbage.

 

[jivafox]

I imagine they are but I’m dying to see them just to check out the CAMP VALUE

 

[GNL]

I had no idea until recently that The Stepford Wives has THREE sequels, albeit made for TV movies.

They're actually very faithful adaptations of Ira Levin's later novels, The Revenge of the Stepford Wives, Stepford Wives 3, and Step4d Wives.

 

[Christian]

I went to see the Stepford Wives remake in the cinema

The power of Queen NIC

I remember it had some disastrous production history which is supposedly why it's so terrible. At least it's still got an amazing poster though.

 

[Suomi]

Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924)

I was fascinated by the costumes and clips shown at Moderna Museum in Stockholm, and so was delighted to find this on YouTube in English. I was disappointed that it took so long to get to Mars and so skipped over lots of the plot. The Socialist propaganda in the last quarter of the film - with the workers breaking free - was very powerful but I appreciate this movie as an historical artefact rather than for its qualities as a film. The woman who played Aelita was fabulous though

He’s Just Not That Into You (2009)

I don’t know why I watched this when I knew it would be dreadful. I was disappointed that it took so long to get to Mars and so skipped over lots of the plot. The Socialist propaganda in the last quarter of the film - with the workers breaking free - was very powerful but I appreciate this movie as an historical artefact rather than for its qualities as a film. Would not recommend.

 

[Pipo]

Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?

I take recommendations Mopsy posters

 

[foopy]

I've never seen House Of Mirth but I've heard great things. I didn't know it was a Terence Davies film, so I must get around to it soonish.

(On a side note, has anyone seen his recent Siegfried Sassoon film Benediction? It's on streaming now after a very limited release and is supposed to be a stunner.)

i just watched it on the netflix. there's nothing quite like a tezza d film. oh! that ivor novello

 

[VoR]

I've been on a bit of a random Annette Bening binge this week and I just finished The Grifters. What a WILD movie Definitely one to watch with zero context for where it goes...

 

[Phoenix]

With nothing good coming out in august, I’ve watched a few old classics

Xanadu - utter crap
The Last of Sheila - hilarious and really the blueprint for Glass Onion
War & Peace - the Russian version, very pretty but lots of it is just confusing battles

 

[VoR]

I watched a 2021 documentary called Maisie, Britain's Oldest Drag Artiste on Amazon Prime last night. Lovely, in a slightly haunting sort of way.



I imagine people who've been around the Brighton scene might know her well. It was nice to see Miss Dave Lynn from Beautiful Thing cropping up too.

 

[VoR]

Inspired by a mention on a recent episode of Be Kind, Rewind, I watched a 1969 teen drama called Last Summer.

It's quite arthousey in places in both good and bad ways, but features some surprisingly edgy material for the time, plus two really striking performances by a very young Barbara Hershey as a sociopathic beach babe who just LOVES getting her tits out, and particularly an actress named Catherine Burns, who was deservedly Oscar nominated for a monologue scene that has been touted as one of the greatest performances of the era. She lost to Goldie Hawn (the subject of the Be Kind, Rewind episode) and was so traumatised by her brief experience of celebrity that she left the industry shortly thereafter and became so reclusive that her death in 2019 wasn't noted until about a year after the fact when the Hollywood Reporter tried to track her down for a 'Whatever happened to...?' piece.

Good film!

 

[GNL]

Inspired by a mention on a recent episode of Be Kind, Rewind, I watched a 1969 teen drama called Last Summer.

It's quite arthousey in places in both good and bad ways, but features some surprisingly edgy material for the time, plus two really striking performances by a very young Barbara Hershey as a sociopathic beach babe who just LOVES getting her tits out, and particularly an actress named Catherine Burns, who was deservedly Oscar nominated for a monologue scene that has been touted as one of the greatest performances of the era. She lost to Goldie Hawn (the subject of the Be Kind, Rewind episode) and was so traumatised by her brief experience of celebrity that she left the industry shortly thereafter and became so reclusive that her death in 2019 wasn't noted until about a year after the fact when the Hollywood Reporter tried to track her down for a 'Whatever happened to...?' piece.

Good film!

Fun tidbit from that Hollywood Reporter article; it was directed by Katy Perry's uncle (who also directed Mommie Dearest).

 

[VoR]

And now I've watched Cactus Flower, which I didn't love much. Goldie was definitely the best thing in it - easy to see what a breath of fresh air she must have seemed at the time, but when she's not onscreen the film feels weirdly stiff and stagey. I can't recall ever seeing two movie stars with less chemistry than Walter Mathau and Ingrid Bergman.

That said, the scene of Bergman FRUGGING was worth the price of admission.

 

[Joseph]

I have probably watched this a good 30 times in my life if not more. I just watched it again this past weekend and while it’s not CLASSIC CINEMA it’s one of those movies that imprint on you as a kid and I never get tired of it

 

[Inner Smile]

Still wanna see Breakfast at Tiffany's

 

[VoR]

Clockwatchers


Been on my to-watch list for ages so my current convalescence seemed as good a time as any.

Very good, almost a noir film set in the most boring work environment imaginable. I had semi-traumatic flashbacks to my own temping days. The lack of stakes, the isolation from permanent staff, the tedium and anonymity. It was all really well observed.

Stacked cast too.

8/10

 

[Ellie]

Clockwatchers


Been on my to-watch list for ages so my current convalescence seemed as good a time as any.

Very good, almost a noir film set in the most boring work environment imaginable. I had semi-traumatic flashbacks to my own temping days. The lack of stakes, the isolation from permanent staff, the tedium and anonymity. It was all really well observed.

Stacked cast too.

8/10

I watched this randomly a few weeks ago too! I’d left PlutoTV running on a Sunday morning. Don’t even think I’d heard of it before either, and it pre-dates Office Space!

 

[Ellie]

One I also saw on Prime the other day. Can’t believe Meryl put on this performance in the same year as Sophie’s Choice. Worlds apart!

 

[VoR]

I watched Clockwatchers back to back with Office Space in the end, and the former was much better!

 

[GNL]

I watched What's Up, Doc? on the BBC today. So good. Barbra Streisand is SO FUN, and Ryan O'Neal SO FIT.

 

[disneyteletubby]

Thanks to Kim Goody and wondering what the BBC production she was part of at 15 (though she looks quite a bit older) bits of this BBC Christmas production from 50 years ago

Also Sinitta's mother was in it!