As compared to yesteryear.Don't get me wrong,there are some pretty good movies acted,produced and directed today.But not like those in the 50's,and especially the 60's. Where War Movies were believable,and often intense.Like War. Where Westerns,even though over done { too many } were not bad. Standardfare plots and action.Sci-fi originated and was unusually spacey and original.Tacky schlock movies were good and tacky and also interesting.Like those made by Roger Corman - Bucket of Blood - { 1959 } Same with Horror { especially Hammer Horror }. The stars { actors and actress } emerging from the 50's were truly incomparable.Then again so were those Like John Barrymore, Spencer Tracy and Jimmy Stewart of the Golden Age.PLus actors,one will no longer hear about like Paul Muni,and character actor Walter Brennan. Their acting skills are now no longer around. Today it's mostly Action adventure and stuff I have no interest in Like Iron Man or superhero stuff.I've never seen - Star Wars -.Have no interest in that kinda space Fantasy.Nor Horror that is just boringly cheap like - Night of the Living Dead - { 1968 }.Director George Romero's stuff just sucks.Everything he touches. Again Real Directors like Genius Billy Wilder and Alfred Hitchcock of the 50's and 60's and his TV series - Alfred Hitchcock Presents - are irreplacable.As is another Genius { Rod Serling } and - Twilight Zone -. Today's actors and Actress' are way to quick to sell-out due to Political peer pressure.Almost shoving each other out of the way in acting class to be the latest rendition of a Woke participant. Remarkably depressing.Instead of a Golden Age the acting community has deconstructed into an Emboldened Age.Not requiring acting skills, but instead subservient skills.Whoever sucks-up best,gets the role. No longer is celebrated the theme Jimmy Stewart perfected. The common man.Showcasing honesty,true grit and acting american. Now almost a lost art.No wonder Disney was forced into being Woke. By Hulu.Or Netflix likes it that we have lockdowns.The better to stay home or in ones. apartment watching Net Flicks. Where even the manly way top actors used to flick a cigarette is no longer around.Tink about it.
Great post. All this CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) is so phony. Old time scary movies were frightening because there was a hint it might just happen. My favorite actor remains Jimmy Cagney. My favorite movie is his "13 Rue Madeleine"... one of the best war flicks ever made.
The "old" movies are about the only ones I watch. One gets, well, JADED, with explicit EVERYTHING (and I'm no prude by ANY measure).The old ones could convey so much, like sex, violence and everything else The Code forbade with skillful innuendo alone, which leaves the viewer to pick up on it and see it in their imaginations.
I like Cagney in movies like - Angels with Dirty Faces - { 1938 } The overall plot was a neighborhood small time hoodlum { Cagney } who was admired by the Dead End Kids.It took the efforts of Father Connolly { former hood and friend of Cagney } to turn this admiration around since Rocky { Cagney } and Connolly did their time and knew the lessons of admiring a neighborhood Big Shot { Tough guy,Wise Guy }. As the rambunctous Dead End Kids suffered no shortage of wanting to also be Like their Hero Rocky.A Tough guy. The scene where the Kids are shown in a Church Gym playing basketball is a hoot.They barely dribbled and it looked more like Tackle football. Then there is another classic - White Heat - { 1949 } interesting to say the least. Cagney is again a hood,only a big time hood.Who has a deadly serious Mother Complex.He also suffers headaches.The Mother is a trip. Bossy,giving orders and looking mean at all times.Crooked to the bone. But Cagney { Cody Jarrett } Literally adores mom { Ma Jarrett }. Also dependable action and chase scenes.But it's the personalities of Ma and Cody that dominate interest. James Cagney left *Hollywood before he became a Senior.In order to live a nice quiet Farm Life in New York state.I guess not too far from the big city.But far enough.He Raised and Trained horses.Shunning attempts to be interviewed. Basically gave up acting in 1961 after the disappointing German film - One,Two,Three - which did showcase the difference between German cities and American cities.The overall flavor of that movie seemed very Euro.Cagney once explained why he was quitting acting. It was due to German hearthrob Horst Buchholz. BTW ... Pat O'Brien who was Father Connolly, starred as Knute Rockne.Beating out Cagey for the role. Wrote of the 62 movies that he starred,one of the five best was with Doris Day - Love Me or Leave Me -.{ 1955 The same year of the classic - Mister Roberts - { 1955 } one of my favorite movies.
Don't forget "Roaring Twenties" where he faced off against an evil Bogart. What a team! And another film... another one of his last... made in 1960... "Gallant Hours" where he played Admiral "Bull" Halsey... FANTASTIC! Cagney came back in the 70's to play in "Ragtime". My parents were extras in the big beach scene which was filmed at the beach outside of the fabled "Essex and Sussex" Hotel. I actually got to meet Gagney briefly when he visited West Point in the 1980's.
Can't watch the new stuff... all made for kids.. all where they have special powers, be it vampires or mutants or super heroes. Screwed up and watched something called "bills' and amazon movie.. I did that thing people do.. watched a bad movie to end.
There are still some new ones I like, but few. Its all CGI and special effects. Nothing like the great acting and magic of yesteryear as in Desperate Journey or any Bogie-Bacall movie.
A true original and also personification of { tough as nails }. Handsome and snappy in his youth.Somewhat craggy in his last roles. - One,Two,Three - { 1961 } was not a bad movie.But not good enough to be hyped and marketted.Keep in mind the lenghts to which Hollywood Hyped movies around this time.In the Late 50's and certain horror flicks the hype was really original and intense.Like the way Director William Castle hyped his movies.For ex. - The Tingler - { 1959 } maintaining that outside each movie theatre there will be an ambulance outside on standby. Because of the scare factor.Movie goers passing out with fright. I kinda dug the Hype behind a 60's Movie starring a very young Warren Beatty. - All Fall Down - { 1962 } Never saw the movie but was so taken aback by a trailer { advertisement I saw played on TMC } I was determined to get a copy.So I ordered one at Barnes & Noble. Mainly because Eva Marie Saint and Karl Malden also starred. Two main characters in my favorite movie of all time. - On the Waterfront - { 1954 } which became the impetus for my lifelong Love of all things movieish. Dig Daddios !
" Cagney,when signed by Warner Bros. became a star within a year on the strength of his performance in - The Public Enemy - as a ruthless Prohibition gangster who,in a memorable scene,smashes a grapefruit into the face of gang moll Mae Clarke.This heralded the cocky, pugnacious characters he was to portray in subsequent films.An atypical Hollywood star,he was short, and ordinary looking,but his eager energy and two-fisted vitality,made him an ideal lead for gangster films and the social dramas of the Depression era. " -- Ephraim Katz { The Film Encyclopedia }.
That wonderful dance down the steps in the White House at the end of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" was totally ad lib. It wasn't in the script at all. Cagney was GREAT!
I admit.There are some movies I can't stomach.Like Dance movies. I have seen the key dancing scenes in - Yankee Doodle Dandy -. But Drama is my cup of Tea.I also can't stomach Action-Adventure movies.Nor Troma and Psychotronic Flicks.They reek. Watching cruddy home movies { Super 8 } is time better spent. BTW ... Cagney was the first actor to receive the Life Achievement Award of the American Film Institute. There are many Cagney Movies i have never seen. I'd like to see - The Mayor of Hell - { 1933 } dealing with teenage gang members in a State Reformatory. A Really good movie - Sleepers - { 1996 } starring Kevin Bacon, Brat Pitt,Jason Patrick and Robert De Niro as a Priest.Really good backdrop of Juvenile deliquents sent to the reformatory.And how that experience dramatically impacted their later life.
Mayor of Hell is a good one. I also like Cagney in The West Point Story with Doris Day. They depict West Point as it really was... and still was when I graduated in 1975. Very, very different today.
Cagney directed one movie - Short Cut to Hell - { 1957 }. In 1942 Cagney formed Cagney Productions ,with his brother,William. Who was a former actor who produced several of James Cagney's movies. In 1980 he was honored by Washington's Kennedy Center and in 1984 The U.S. Government's highest Civilian Honor {Medal of Freedom } I still maintain that Bob Hope was highest honored actor of the United States.I read where he had a room { Lived at his Compound } that was chock full of medals,honors,and University Sheepskin. Hope received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by L.B.J. in November 1962.In September of 1962 J.F.K. Awarded Hope with The Congressional Gold Medal. Hope was a Great American.In fact,none greater.His decades of dutifully entertaining troops cannot be underplayed. Which was Irony.Since his many movie portrayals as a coward. Hope had an ironclad policy for his USO trips.When in Hospital visiting with actress or celebrities,there was No Crying allowed.Hope insisted that the Hospital visits had to bring Happiness and a good feeling to those,no matter how serious their condition. Make them laugh or feel happy. I watched a nice Hope movie the other day on TCM. - Bachelor in Paradise - { 1961 } Just long enough to get that Hope feeling.Man was he ever a master at the quick quip. Practically every smart aleck remark was a jewel. And predictably Lana Turner was her usual uppity and prim self.Nice conflict of characterization.
i tend to history documentaries and Christian based movies, altho' I ma very careful about accepting the "theology" in many of the Christian based.. and by christian based I don't mean those terrible movies they crank out , just movies that do not refute Christian mores and theology, and perhaps have characters that are certainly trying to live in the Word.... i.e. not overly preachy.
- The Last Temptation of Christ - { 1988 } was too accurate.It was politically targeted.The way the Unborn was targeted for elimination. Then when caught { Butchers like Kermit Gosnell } and the Movie - Gosnell : The Trial of Americas Biggest Serial Killer - { 1988 } were Ignored.
I’ve found I like some foreign movies with English subtitles better than most current American movies. Two I have particularly like are the Tri-color trilogy of about twenty five years ago https://medium.com/cinenation-show/...and-as-radical-as-the-flag-it-is-868db1f0903e and the three Netflix movies done on Dolores Redondo’ Baztan Trilogy books. https://www.fantasticfiction.com/r/dolores-redondo/baztan-trilogy/
I tried to appreciate Foreign Movies.But I always walked away missing.There was something important missing.That applies in particular to Ingmar Bergman movies.Since I like most Woody Allen movies and Woody never missed an opportunity to laud with huge respect Bergman.Plus a very good Swedish actor turned American actor Max Von Sydow,a star of many Bergman Tales. I kinda liked Federico Fellini movies.Especially La Strata. I can't stand Mario Bava style horror.It dwells too much on Imagery and explosive colorization. Some French Directed Movie are good.Like the Ones Starring Bridget Bardot and Gerard Depardieu. - ... And God Created Woman - { 1956 } with Bardot teaming up with an intense actor { Curt Jurgens }. I never understood the Popularity in France of actor Jean-Paul *Belmondo.Considering little more than an Unfunny Jerry Lewis clone. Ironically Jerry Lewis developed a huge following in France,in past decades. I like,even though one of the most depressing movies ever made, - Repulsion - { 1965 } with a unique performance by Catherine Deneuve. A french Movie I've seen a few times { not in near 20 years } is real cute and good summertime fun watching. - Monsieur Hulot's Holiday - { 1953 } Another one by Jacques Tati is - Mon Oncle - { 1958 }. More recently is - Amelie - { 2001 } and - Delicatessen - { 1991 }. * passed away 2 weeks ago. The star was athletic and smiled a lot.Too much.He didn't look French.More like a Boxer from S.America.But he was loved in France.
I think there is a dividing line somewhere. The overwhelming majority of actors born before a certain year were good and the overwhelming majority of those born after that year are bad. My guess is 1940.
Okey Dokey! here goes.I saw a movie last Friday night I bought at Wal*Mart.It was a 2020 movie.I think it was $ 9.99 I liked what the cover jacket Implied.That a small family was being stalked by a Wolf.They were living off the grid somewhere in the woods { Wilderness }. Turns out it was shot in Canada. The movie started out fairly good due to it's authenticity.I did notice that the clothes the Family was wearing { Outdoor gear } looked pretty new.Definately not tattered,torn or even dirty. They were supposed to struggling as they did the year before by earning a living trapping animals.The father looked every bit experienced and then some.The first 2 scenes were with the Father and a son.I figured the son to be an early teen.Maybe around 14,15. Turns out the son was a daughter wearing a stocking cap and had a boys face.The Cap was hiding all hair. The first few scenes were emotionally driven by an abject fear of this Wolf.Like it was some Wolf from hell. The Mother who helped sled the furs to the local General Store and also did chores was constanty going off about this Wolf. She was obsessed over the Wolf.Like some are over the Boogeyman. That's All I'll comment for now. The Tittle is ... : - HUNTER HUNTER - { 2020 } If anyone has seen this Movie in it's entirety please comment. There's a reason.Those who have seen it know what I mean. And don't cheat and go find some Movie Reviews.
I hope what hapenned in - Hunter Hunter - isn't some new move by Hollywood.To make movies by kind of falsely pushing a plot that is manipulated.I mean,yes Movie plots are regularly being exploited with all kinds of weird twists & turns and if need be,snips and snails and puppy dog tails.Or standard use of some Male hunk being infatuated over by some female goddess.Or vice-versa like some standard Don Knotts Disney presentation. Nevetheless the Folks who decide that kinda stuff already done took care of Disney.The days of silly hokum TV series as well.Like - Dukes of Hazard -. No matter how much sillier was - Here Comes Honey Boo Boo - { 2012 } Which did attract certain { questionably grown-up } males like Talk Radio Big Mouth Mike Gallagher.A dedicated devotee of all things My Pillow. I guess the days and nights of quality acting with dedicated actors who work overtime to improve their craft are now mere memories. As well those who are screenwriters and especially them Producers. Like a Chuck Lorre { definable weenie behind - Two and a Half Men - }. Forget all about the next Alfred Hitchcock.And forget even more of another genius like Billy Wilder { my favorite Director }. Or that dynamic duo who can never be replaced { Lemmon & Matthau } Even though Jack Klugman and Tony Randall came close.But not close enough.Maybe if close counts in a game of checkers ... huh. Yeah Right. Like how close Elmer Fudd came each episode he chased that wascally rabbitt. Which still beats chasing Americans from America.The new Sport of 2021.Or does it.
Calling "Dukes of Hazard"... hokum... is just wrong. The hot pants called "Daisy Dukes" in the show are part of Americana... a true milestone in American culture.
Somewhat credible point.Like the huge hit show which my wealthy Grandmother enjoyed { Hee Haw } along with her favorite show - Lawrence Welk - and even - Donny and Marie - long running Variety show. Grandma loved watching people play instruments,singing and dancing. But the plots and action were way too cartoonish.On purpose. Yes,the wardrobes were authentic Down home southern. So were all those 50's TV westerns.With stars like James Garner as - Maverick -. Even Steve McQueen in - Wantedead or Alive - { 1958-1961 } Even low level actors like Nick - The Rebel - { 1959-1961 } which I purchased a few years ago.
Great shows. Great memories. And entertaining without any garish sexual scenes or profanity. Imagine that.
Sorry that was Nick Adams.Had a lot of potential.Was friends with greats like James Dean.Had a nice starring role in - No Time for Sergeants - { 1958 } Starring Andy Griffith at his zenith. Was a true James Dean wannabe.Got arrested for speeding 9 times in one year. His downfall was the way he approached getting an Academy Award Nomination for - Twilight of Honor - { 1963 } I never saw dat one. Adams went a little overboard and started doing his own advertising for the Oscar.Word gets around in Hollywood and it discredited his name recognition.He lost out in Best Supporting Actor to Melvyn Douglas of - Hud - { 1963 } Douglas was old but his performance was sterling. Actual gold.I consider - Hud - to be Paul Newmans Best movie. The B & W cinematography was outstanding.Good B & W beats out Color most often.James Wong Howe took home the oscar for Cinematography.
