Last Movie You Watched - 2020

Today - and yesterday - I have mostly been watching W G Pabst's 1932 L'Atlantide.

Twice.

Simultaneously.

It's one of my favourite films of all time but I've only ever seen the English version (and only a very crappy print of that too in one of those 50 Movie Greatest compilations called Nightmare Worlds). L'Atlantide was made in three different language versions. English French and German. Three sets of actors - some overlap Brigitte Helm is in all three and does her part in three languages - all shot on the same days in the same locations. Take one in English. Get it in the can. Do the same camera moves with different actors in French... etc. etc. It's a strange, slow, little, dreamlike movie and I love it to bits.

The other day I found a far superior print online. A copy of the French version with some of the worst subtitles I have ever read - I guess some sort of machine auto-translation software was used because great chunks really do not make any sense. So I've been rewriting the things using my rudimentary French. I've got the French and English versions of the film up on one screen and the subtitle .srt file and Google translate open on the other and between them, and a couple of dictionaries and grammars, I'm getting a much better version of the script together. One problem is that great chunks of the dialogue in the English version are not the same as the French. There was obviously a lot of on-set improvisation/rewriting for at least one central character. It's great fun. An additional bonus is that there are short scenes and individual shots in the French version missing from the English. Stuff I have never seen before. And a couple of places where scenes have been lifted and moved somewhere else.

Here's the English version at Archive.org

It's short, 75 minutes, and not a lot happens very slowly but I love it.

archive.org

The Mistress of Atlantis : Seymour Nebenzal : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

A surreal fantasy adventure adapted from Pierre Benot's novel, L'Atlantide, which has a superficial resemblance to H Rider Haggard's She. Directed by...
archive.org
 
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I think it's about time to rewatch Idiocracy.
 
CROP_20200709T0948-395-CNS-MOVIE-REVIEW-GREYHOUND.jpg

I spent a portion of the afternoon watching Greyhound, the new Tom Hanks WWII film which premiered on Apple TV+. I have to say, it’s pretty darned good.Once the film gets going, it is one gripping, tense, and emotional ride right to the end. The premise is the story of a US Navy Destroyer and two other warships escorting a large group of troop and supply ships across the North Atlantic. Their job is to protect the helpless vessels from Nazi U-Boats, which becomes exceptionally difficult once they are out of range of air support. Hanks plays the captain of the titular ship, and this is his first time commanding the warship on this mission.

Interestingly, much of the film was shot on the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This is because the Kidd is the last WWII Destroyer that is still outfitted as it was during the war. It is now part of a Naval Museum. It adds a element of authenticity to the movie, which otherwise relies on a lot of CGI, although very good quality CGI.

This would have been a major motion picture if it were released in the theaters, but that was not possible this year.
 
Aren't Apple using it as a major coup for them- major film star, direct to Apple tv, etc...?

Here I finally got around to watching JoJo Rabbit. It was OK but not as amazing as some of the reviews would have you believe. Part Monty Python, part The Producers, it had a message that worked pretty well. Must have been a tough sell to get it made, though.

M.
 
Hobbit said:
Aren't Apple using it as a major coup for them- major film star, direct to Apple tv, etc...?
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Well, Apple is certainly claiming Greyhound as an Apple exclusive, etc. However, it was made by Sony for theatrical release. When that became impossible this year Apple saved the film buy buying it for a large sum of money. Tom Hanks had some mixed comments about that, but in the end he said Apple saved the film

https://appleinsider.com/articles/2...greyhound-film-was-rescued-at-sea-by-apple-tv
 
Thanks, PD. Wasn't aware of all that. I understand all the big streamers are now scrabbling to buy up anything to fill those spaces in the schedules for later in the year. Quite like the sound of this one, though. I do like a Tom Hanks movie...
 
Hobbit said:
Quite like the sound of this one, though. I do like a Tom Hanks movie...
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If you do get a chance to watch it, You might want to check out this website afterwards.

www.historyvshollywood.com

Greyhound Movie vs. the True Story of the Battle of the Atlantic

We pit the Tom Hanks Greyhound movie against the true story of the Battle of the Atlantic during WWII.
www.historyvshollywood.com www.historyvshollywood.com

It discusses the historical facts and describes where the movie gets these right, and where it takes liberties. It has spoilers though, so save it for after viewing the film.
 
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I rewatched Tropic Thunder the other day. A lot of fun. Some of the dialogue is a bit too drawn-out.
 
Oh, I love Young Frankenstein..... :)

Last night, I watched Knives Out: which was good, but a bit long. Seen some rave reviews of this.... which seem a little over-the-top, but I did enjoy it.

Good casting...

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Siren (2010) - three horrible British people, played by actors you've never heard of, go on a boat trip somewhere in the Adriatic(?) and given you know the title you can work out the rest - and then, once you have worked it all out, take out all the interesting stuff you came up with and add an evil lesbian because....erm... just because.... Ho hum. Another straight out of the DvD player and into the bin job. (which is probabaly why it was in a huge box of DVDs someone was throwing out free on Facebook). I think they thought they were making a Jean Rollin-like eroticish horrorish psychoweirdish film but forgot to put in any of the erotic, horrific, or weirdly psycho stuff and ended up with another wandering around in the woods being lost movie. Avoidable.
 
JunkMonkey said:
Siren (2010) - three horrible British people, played by actors you've never heard of, go on a boat trip somewhere in the Adriatic(?) and given you know the title you can work out the rest - and then, once you have worked it all out, take out all the interesting stuff you came up with and add an evil lesbian because....erm... just because.... Ho hum. Another straight out of the DvD player and into the bin job. (which is probabaly why it was in a huge box of DVDs someone was throwing out free on Facebook). I think they thought they were making a Jean Rollin-like eroticish horrorish psychoweirdish film but forgot to put in any of the erotic, horrific, or weirdly psycho stuff and ended up with another wandering around in the woods being lost movie. Avoidable.
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Sounds like more happened than in Antonioni's original.
 
Av Demeisen said:
Sounds like more happened than in Antonioni's original.
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Sorry, you're going to have to expand on that. I can't find a film by Antonioni called Siren/s.
Having seen Blow Up and Zabriski Point I can see where you're coming from, though - though given both of those come in at 112+ minutes and Siren clocked in at a mere 86 - I think I would be safe in saying less happened in Siren than either of the Antonionis - but more quickly.
 
I just noticed Professione: reporter was released on blu-ray some time ago. Now that's one I'd like to see again in better image quality.
 
JunkMonkey said:
Sorry, you're going to have to expand on that. I can't find a film by Antonioni called Siren/s.
Having seen Blow Up and Zabriski Point I can see where you're coming from, though - though given both of those come in at 112+ minutes and Siren clocked in at a mere 86 - I think I would be safe in saying less happened in Siren than either of the Antonionis - but more quickly.
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The famous trilogy starting with L'Avventura where nothing much happens three times? Followed by the pretty colour film L'Eclisse Il deserto rosso (Red Desert) where, uhh, nothing much happens.
 
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