The Criterion Channel

[fdm]

Just finished The Savages, which will probably be the best for me this time around. Well done, great watch. Been meaning to watch it for a long while. Recommended.

Prior to that was So Fine which turned out better that I expected, but given the cast it's an easy watch regardless.

I might give The Garden Of Words a watch tonight. My Cousin Vinnie is another possibility. Or something else altogether…

[Star Lord]

How did it take me this long to find the thread!

Watched My Cousin Vinny last week, hopefully Days of Heaven soon before it leaves. I wish some films stayed for a longer period though.

[DaBargainHunta]

Days of Heaven is awesome!

At only 94 minutes, it's well worth fitting in before it expires later tonight.

I'm half-tempted to watch that goofy Ryan O'Neal '80s sex comedy So Fine before it goes, but he's never been any good - he just chooses good films and roles, but I can't imagine this being one of them.

[arrggghh]

Highly recommend Good Neighbor Sam. Very funny romantic comedy. Not a genre I would usually choose, but very entertaining.

[Cpt. Feeney]

In the end I watched China Girl, which I remember renting on vhs as a kid. It has plenty of cool street scenes from 80's New York. Not sure if it quite earns the tragic finale though.

Also Absence of Malice, which I'd largely forgotten. Great story, carried along well by the stars. Love Wilford Brimley's character turning up in the final act to put everyone in their place.

I tried that So Fine when it turned up. Goofy is the word alright. I can't get along with comedy that careless.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by Cpt. Feeney

I tried that So Fine when it turned up. Goofy is the word alright. I can't get along with comedy that careless.

Now I'm morbidly curious! Going to try it...

Update: I watched it!

"Do you have rooms here?"

"This is a house of pancakes, ma'am!"

I'm fond of obscure '80s comedies that don't quite work but still offer up several quirky and amusing scenes.

[fdm]

Well I thought I checked again yesterday, just in case, but if I did I apparently didn't do a very good job of it… I watched My Cousin Vinny last night… and just looked again and sure enough I have the blu-ray somewhere or other… hate it when that happens. Enjoyed it (possibly saw it upon release, so long ago, wife doesn't remember either). Funny thing that Fred Gwynne was in both this and So Fine.

[Cpt. Feeney]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Now I'm morbidly curious! Going to try it...

Update: I watched it!

"Do you have rooms here?"

"This is a house of pancakes, ma'am!"

I'm fond of obscure '80s comedies that don't quite work but still offer up several quirky and amusing scenes.

hehe, nice to know my warnings serve as encouragement.

[Cpt. Feeney]

The Channel is really going all in on the October horror this year.
I never usually make a big deal out of Halloween, but no avoiding it now I guess.

Always liked the Stephen King New England backdrops, so that's an easy one.
Who knows what else I'll get through.

[Star Lord]

What films are y'all watching lately? A lot of great stuff seems to be leaving at the end of the month.

[Cpt. Feeney]

Originally Posted by Star Lord

What films are y'all watching lately? A lot of great stuff seems to be leaving at the end of the month.

I've been watching a few horrors. Saw one that surprised me and would recommend - The Entity, with a young Barbara Hershey. At first it seemed a bit exploity, but it's a very professional film so I stuck with it, and found that I could not figure out where it was headed, at all. When the conclusion finally arrived, I found it be fresh, and satisfying, in a haunting way. The film avoids tropes and really tackles the genre well.

Also watched Witness for the Prosecution, which is leaving. Enjoyed the Charles Laughton performance, and much of the humour, but ultimately the Agatha Christie approach of hiding the truth, then revealing the truth, then adding another twist for good measure, is not for me.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by Star Lord

What films are y'all watching lately? A lot of great stuff seems to be leaving at the end of the month.

Haven't checked yet what is or isn't expiring, but these are the horror movies I've watched so far this month on the Channel or will be watching:

• An American Werewolf in London
• Don't Torture a Duckling
• The Fly (re-watching this week, but on Blu-ray)

Any recommendations for horror movies that are specifically expiring?

[Cpt. Feeney]

Oops, looking at the list again, Witness for the Prosecution is not leaving, but The Entity is.

[fdm]

The only expiring horror I've seen: The Fly, Rosemary's Baby, American Werewolf, and Eyes Of Laura Mars. All worth a watch.

Not so sure about The Entity, pretty good chance I have not seen it, but I do have it on disc somewhere.

[DaBargainHunta]

I'm late to the party because I've been binge-watching horror movies all month for Halloween.

These are the expiring picks I saw before October - either on the Channel or elsewhere:

• Bernie
• Capote
• The Fly (1986)
• His Kind of Woman
• Smoke

Most of these are ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (out of 4) movies in my book.

In October, I watched or re-watched:

• An American Werewolf in London
• The Fly (1986)
• The Lady from Shanghai
• My America (...or honk if you love Buddha)

The Fly still holds up magnificently (I also watched the sequel and the old Vincent Price versions - all outside the Channel).

Before now, I had only ever seen bits and pieces of An American Werewolf in London. I really liked it, and it was cool to recognize the reference to it in the foreign horror movie Livide, of all places (also outside the Channel).

The Lady in Shanghai was a first-time watch, and while I don't consider it top-tier noir, the final fifteen minutes certainly are!

I just finished My America (...or honk if you love Buddha). It's a road trip documentary. I highly recommend it!

I'm going to re-watch Christine tomorrow for my film club, and I'll try to get to Pecker and maybe some shorts before the month is up, but that's it.

[Cpt. Feeney]

I caught Lady From Shanghai and loved it. True to form for Orson Welles it's full of bold expression. Even now, so many years later, it still has a sharp edge.

If I only get to one tonight it might be The Great McGinty, which I haven't seen, although I'm always a bit wary of outright comedies, of any era.
I'm horrored out, but The Fly is one of my most watched blurays, a very tight, tense, fascinating film.

Ladies in Retirement, with Ida Lupino, returns tomorrow, which I'd been wanting to catch again. There is no blu-ray available yet, hopefully one day. Roll on the moody black and whites for November.

[fdm]

My sleep patterns and stamina and whatnot been kinda messed up this whole month with some bug or other the wife probably brought back with her from Seattle, though it could be something else… Mostly ok now though except haven't been able to stay awake late enough to do any serious watching, usually just nod off (lots of cough syrups involved all month long though tapered off this past week or so). Watched some other things elsewhere here and there though, e.g., Copshop comes to mind.

And it hasn't helped that this week we've had all our windows replaced… the week before that was moving (a whole lotta) stuff out of the way. So end of the month pretty much a bust this time around. Lots of stuff still to move back again too.

Started to watch Pecker a week or so ago, but nodded off fairly quickly. Some guy will be here later today, supposedly most of the day, to do some drywalling around the last unfinished window and depending on how late that goes, I may be able to give Pecker another shot. Maybe try something else if there's time/energy (finally just gave up altogether with the cough syrups yesterday which might help some, though the coughing persists some). Plus he's gonna be here in about 5.25 hours or so, so I best get some sleep while I can…

Think I might finally get some decent sleep around Sunday…

[Cpt. Feeney]

Sounds like a bellyful, fdm, but hey, a spruced-up house should make for a cosy winter.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

I'll try to get to Pecker

Originally Posted by fdm

Started to watch Pecker a week or so ago, but nodded off fairly quickly.

I watched Pecker last night and really enjoyed it. It's under 90 minutes, so it's not a lengthy time commitment.

[fdm]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

I watched Pecker last night and really enjoyed it. It's under 90 minutes, so it's not a lengthy time commitment.

I liked what I saw, and it being short-ish was part of going for it, but each day seems a bit different recently with whether I'll make it through one or two or no movies after watching other things first. Think I'll manage tonight though (wife is actually at work today, still with her late shift; I can't even remember the last day she didn't have off. . But then again there's the guy now working on the drywall around the window in the bathroom…)

(Starting next year she'll be home by 7 (instead of 10:30) or so on her 4 work days.)

Oh well, time to start putting back together my home office network and all its other doodads.