My granddaughter chose it and actually I thought it was delightful. Much better than watching Peter Rabbit 2 again!
4 Likes
4 Likes
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 2 C minor “Resurrection”
From the Bluray set
Mahler Symphonies
Claudio Abbado
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
A charming if rather dated 1957 tale about a young couple who inherit a run-down fleapit cinema. It’s supposed to be a comedy, but it’s not a side-splitter. The chief pleasure lies in the cast – Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna, Peter Sellars, Margaret Rutherford, Bernard Miles and Leslie Phillips.
4 Likes
Nothing like the poster.
A wonderful wordy script written by a young Truman Capote that allows the actors to work against each other under John Houston’s direction
Humphrey, Gina, Peter Lorre and Robert Morley looking a ringer for Our Boris.
Most review pages offer it at least four cult stars and worth reading for the riotous back stories.
On Amazon Prime in U.K.
Most enjoyable.
5 Likes
Superb film. Studio Ghibli films are worth watching.
Amazon Prime. 4K picture.
I started to watch this with my finger poised over the Dismiss this nonsense button.
But it isn’t too bad in a low key way. No John Wick or Bond actioneer just a story of a black ops mission that goes horribly wrong.
You have to suspend belief at (most)times. I enjoyed the blood transfusion in the sewer.
Trainspotting 2 tonight that should bring me back to reality.
1 Like
I am a big “pictures-spun-off-from-UK-sitcoms” buff, but it was with some trepidation that i approached this movie version of the fondly-remembered (if now hopelessly dated) mid-70s sitcom Man About The House.
This movie, from Hammer Studios, is not really funny and its plot is (to quote a contemporary review), flimsier than a bedsit wall, but it passes 90 minutes pleasantly enough, and the cast – including Paula Wilcox (sigh), Sally Thomsett, Richard O’Sullivan, Yootha joyce, Brian Murphy, Bill Maynard, Peter Cellier, Spike Milligan, Arthur Lowe, Julian Orchard, Patrick Newell, Melvyn Hayes, Johnny Briggs, Dough Fisher and Amii MacDonald – is fab.
6 Likes
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - 1948
I am not sure that I have ever watched the whole of this film, it is superb. Bogart chose to play the flawed central character, a man who starts well and ends badly. A man full of the best of intentions who bends and breaks under pressure.
A great movie that I will be watching again, probably annually.
M
5 Likes
I Married a Witch - 1942
I love this movie. I suspect that a few younger adults may find its older gender assumptions difficult, to their loss. This is a delightful romantic comedy that I find just improves with repeat viewing, much like putting on a comfortable pair of old slippers.
A pair of witches is burned and imprisoned in an oak tree. The daughter curses the man who was their accuser that he and his descendants will never find married bliss. Two hundred and fifty years later the non-corporeal evil spirits are released when lightning strikes the tree, and the fun ensues.
Good humoured light rom-com.
M
2 Likes
Dracula - 1931
The Bela Logosi version. This is far better than I feared, in fact I would include it on my regular viewing list apart from, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
The good here includes the acting, cinematography and above all the script. The story is very sympathetically contracted. Renfrew is now the solicitor who visits Dracula, this allows for a far more succinct introduction. Harker is now just introduced as a suitor to Mina, but all the characters are heavily edited. A nice addition to the story is some added interactions between Dracula and Van Helsing.
The weakness in this film is the resolution, which is disappointingly curt & flat.
I am glad to have watched it as an historical curioisity. My preferred version will remain the BBC Louis Jourdan two parter, certainly NOT the recent Gatiss & Moffat abomination.
M
3 Likes
I think it was ITV3 that recently did a re-run of the Man About the House series, and I managed to catch a few episodes.
I must confess they held up to modern scrutiny very well. A lightweight but entertaining watch.
Totally agree re Paula Wilcox btw 
3 Likes
An amusing 1960 comedy crime caper with a clever twist. Three crooks nearing the end of their sentences in prison plan a daring jewel heist – to achieve their aims, they have to break out of prison, grab the loot, stash it and then break into prison. They get out the next day anyway, and they’ve got the perfect alibi. I won’t spoil the plot for those who’ve not seen it, it’s a good watch, but it’s the cast that really makes it: Peter Sellers, Bernard Cribbins and David Lodge as the criminal trio; Wilfred Hyde Whyte, outstanding as treacherous con-man/criminal mastermind Soapy Stevens; Lionel Jeffries as an officious prison officer; Maurice Denham as a kindly but naive prison governor; Liz Fraser as Sellers’ girlfriend/help and Irene Handl as her mum. Plus there are cameo turns by the likes of Thorley Walters, Beryl Reid and Warren Mitchell.
5 Likes
Elizabeth - Cate Blanchett
1 Like
The scenes & setting are absolutely stunning…
Louis jourdans Dracula was not as spectacular as George Hamiltons Dracula.
2 Likes
If you are of mature years,loose your dog and find yourself as a result even more lonely you might enjoy this delicate, well acted comedy.
Blyth Danner has a face that looks familiar but I had not been aware of her skills. Other faces will be recognised especially Sam Elliott.He plays Sam Elliott.
Critically praised. Most enjoyable if you enjoy films peopled by real humans.
On Amazon Prime U.K.
1 Like
Very true. How could I dis-Count the most faithful telling of this gothic tale. A spell binding and Oscar winning performance and adaptation, I now seem to remember.
I stand chastened and rightfully corrected.
1 Like
Thx, I will give it a go.
A test of whether I am mature or just a wrinkly teenager.
1 Like